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Reviews
Animal Control (2023)
Had high hopes, but it's just Generic Sitcom #253
I guess I have been spoiled by gems such as Community and Crazy Ex Girlfriend. I was excited when I saw Joel McHale, and got even more excited when I saw Vella Lovell. I haven't watched a network sitcom in a while, and now I remember that this is the kind of show that used to be on TV all the time. It really makes me appreciate the incredibly strong writing and likable characters of other better shows. This show has none of that. McHale's character is a mean cynic, but with absolutely no likable traits whatsoever. The other characters are doing whatever goofy thing they do, it's meant to be funny but it's just... not. Jokes are very meh, characters feel so cartoonish (not in an entertaining way) and when there is an attempt to give them any depth, it feels so forced. I saw another review that said it very well: it feels "safe" and "by the numbers". There were no risks taken or any attempt to make anything about this show unique. I don't know if that's what they were going for or if they just had a very low budget, or low effort writers, producers, etc. There is absolutely nothing about this show that stands out, and it's so disappointing. I'm most of the way through the second season and I think I'm done.
A Quiet Place: Day One (2024)
Unbelievably Boring
I liked the first movie, didn't see part 2, and decided to check this one out. Turns out it's a generic monster-disaster movie with literally nothing that sets the movie apart. Characters are either unlikeable or boring. The film makers knew this, so they do the logical thing and try to emotionally manipulate audiences by throwing in an animal in there so people can go "awww look at the cat. I hope it survives". Even though half the time the cat runs off and almost gets people killed, which had me rolling my eyes the entire time. Even so, if there was no cat this movie's 6.8 star rating would probably be more like 4. I got really bored like halfway through the movie. It's just so unremarkable, it's almost remarkably unremarkable. I haven't been this bored watching a movie in a veeeeery long time. There is no real horror besides the jump scares you can see coming miles away. The whole sound thing is inconsistent. A loud backup generator doesn't draw monsters, but when a characters rips his shirt, it immediately pounces on him? Lol ok. Also don't they have space ships? Why are they confined to land? If they are blind how can they tell when there is a body of water in front of them? Idk half this stuff doesn't make sense. Don't waste your time.
Mo (2022)
An honest review: has potential but severely held back by the MC and writing
So I am not muslim, not well versed in the middle eastern situation politically, nor am I an immigration lawyer of any sorts. My review is based on the content of the show and how I liked the characters, the story, etc.
I really wanted to love this show, because I absolutely loved the show Ramy. I recognized Mo and saw Ramy Yussef's name attached to this show so of course I would be interested. So it's impossible not to draw comparisons, but they are for the most part their own things. But I do want to point out that both the main characters are utterly pathetic and stupid. Seriously, Mo talks a big game but he just doesn't know when to shut up and keeps running his mouth, and almost always ends up making his situations worse. He also is just mean for no reason, like telling off that lady in the grocery store over hummus since he took that personally for whatever reason. He keeps saying one thing to his girlfriend but then to his friends and family he says something else, like that she will convert so they can get married. Mo seems to be incapable of any kind of mature communication like a child. It's so frustrating to watch. The rest of the characters are mostly fine, particularly Mo's mother and the lawyers. The Palestinian lawyer was really funny in the few scenes she had. I wish we got some more with Sameer and the sister, I think Nadia was her name. Ramy's main character was also a loser, but that show gave a lot of love for its very well written and fleshed out side characters who at times even had their own episodes.
The worst part of this show is simply how outlandish some of the scenarios in the show happen to manufacture drama and conflict. For those people who want led representation, I don't think this is it. Because the things that happen in this show are not representative of ANYONE's life. OF COURSE he is in a grocery store and randomly gets shot to bring up the "illegal immigrants can't go to the hospital" issue. OF COURSE he goes to a back alley doctor who gets him addicted to lean to bring up a drug addiction element. OF COURSE his addiction leads him to antagonize some random nobody and get him fired. OF COURSE Maria refuses to press charger against her deadbeat dad to clear her credit, so she can't get a loan, has to go to her rich friend, who after agreeing to said loan, immediately starts treating her like the help, and then they fight. OF COURSE Mo just decides to sell fake watches to some drug kingpin who brings in a kidnapping victim (who turns out to be the same back alley doctor from before OF COURSE) and then to save him has to agree to run drugs under threat to his family. OF COURSE he has drugs in the car, with his friends in the car, and there is just a random vehicle inspection checkpoint, and he has to get out of it in a "humorous" (using the word very loosely) way, ALL on the day of his friend's wedding. OF COURSE the judge for his asylum case was also his father's lawyer so he has to recuse himself (but he said his father suddenly disappeared but didn't bother to contact his family to find out what happened? Some lawyer). And then to top it all off, he ends up in Mexico chasing his boss's stolen Olive trees which have a tracker instead of just calling the cops, and then has to get coyotes to get him across the border, and then the tunnel explodes for no reason, some random people come out of nowhere and attack the coyotes, then Mo escapes getting shot at. All the while Mo has been lying to his girlfriend and family and only tells the truth when it's too late anyways. Who the eff wrote this script and was like "yeah this sounds good". Who approved this??? Who watched this show and thought this was well written? Because it's not. An average episode of the twilight zone is more believable than this show.
When you take out the scenarios above, you are left with mainly side stories, which aren't bad, but they are usually dragged down by having Mo in them doing or saying something stupid. I would've enjoyed some more focus on the interesting side characters. The mother and brother have tons of potential to be bigger parts of the show, even the sister.
Overall I enjoyed seeing a different kind of story about the struggle of an illegal immigrant in the US from the Middle East, but it's like the writers couldn't think of anything good outside of that for the main character so they had to make up some really unrealistic stuff. It's not terrible, it's just super frustrating sometimes. There is potential if they have Mo grow out of his perpetually self destructive state and focus more on side characters, so I will remain cautiously optimistic.
Primo (2023)
Has potential, but right now is only OK
I really wanted to love this show. I always am looking for Latino comedies, but this show is only average with a lot of cliches. You know how TV dads were notorious for being dumber than a bag of rocks? This is like that except times 5. Actually, every male character is really stupid and the mother in the show is basically the only reasonable character (for the most part). No one can make their own breakfast, even eating their nephew's food everyday, but they have been fixing their sister's food in secret for over a decade? Rollie is dumb enough to sincerely believe that being in and out of jail is a good thing, then when Rafa asks him to do his thing, all of a sudden he's like "wait a minute... this is actually bad!". Ryan is so insecure and selfish that he is willing to engage in outrageous competition with his teenage nephew because a grown adult lacks a single ounce of maturity... and then they resolve the episode by appealing to his selfishness. Another cliche.
Every episode seems to end with a shallow message, such as stealing is bad, etc, but usually the message is about how they all love each other and looking out for your family. But the very next episode they are all acting so incredibly selfish, screwing each other over as if they are like 8 year olds playing mean pranks, and just generally lack any kind of maturity. These messages about family do not feel earned.
The rest of the show is fine, if cliche. Boy likes girl but is too dumb to know how to ask her out, but also incredibly smart and on track to be the first in his family to graduate college. It's not that great but it's watchable.
Overall I guess I shouldn't have expected another George Lopez or One Day At A Time, but I expected more than this. If this show gets a season two, I hope the show runners ditch some of the cliches and try to have the show be more of its own thing because the concept is not bad, it just feels like generic sitcom #82,493.
Upload (2020)
Not great, not terrible, just very very okayish
I really needed something to watch because I already watched the two interesting looking shows on Amazon Prime. I just decided to watch this because the premise was interesting, but that was the only interesting thing about this show. I watched both seasons. First off, the tone is pretty inconsistent. Most of the time it's a goofy comedy with romance, and then there's the murder mystery part which tries to be serious with the main characters trying to solve Nathan's murder, but then it's like they forget about it and just kinda goof off for a few episodes. The show randomly tries to be serious another few episodes later, but I know they're just gonna stop and go do pointless things with other characters so it's very hard to care about any dilemmas happening. What was the whole plotline with Nathan's cousin investigating the murder? Seems no one cared, neither the characters in the show nor the writers. Season 1 end and season 2 start was the most cliche way to transition in a love story possible. Season 2 plotline with the people who live off the grid, and Nora's new love interest was just... not handled well, as well as, you guessed it, cliche.
Also the entire concept of being uploaded to a place like Lakeview or any kind of afterlife made zero sense. There's no way anyone would willingly spend eternity in a place where they nickel and dime you for virtual soda and other amenities, and ESPECIALLY no one would willingly go to a place like the two gigs. It's eternity and they don't even give you clothes? Why would anyone want that? There's just too much that doesn't make sense, even in an ultra capitalist future like in the show.
By far the worst part of the show is the characters. At worst, they are just a-holes for no reason. At best, they are dull and painfully uninteresting. Not to mention they are just walking cliches, pretty much every character. Main character is good looking and supposedly has a soft spot for his niece and the down-trodden, but he is also a huge d**k to all his friends. Love interest starts out not liking said d**k but then starts to like him because he cares about poor people. Nathan's best friend which starts out normal and then the writers made him overly clingy from episode 2 onward. Vain rich girlfriend who, to the show's credit, gets some much needed depth in season 2, even though she is still not totally likable. Annoying coworker who somehow gets a bigger role in season 2 for the Ludd plotline even though it made no sense. Alesha, I think is how you spell it, was the only character who wasn't annoying and I actually kind of liked, though I guess she was still the cliche of the sassy best friend. It's crazy that the character I liked the most was Nora's and Alesha's boss because at least she was funny with how much of a b***h she was, and her character was fairly consistent. And also outside of the main characters everyone was so painfully one dimensional, not like almost of the main characters had much depth to begin with. Nathan is supposed to be this genius programmer but he can't figure out that when a girl storms off after talking to you she is upset. Also every girl seems to fall in love with Nathan after he shows them the tiniest shred of human decency, which makes absolutely zero sense. There was the subplot with Nora and her dad just came off as her being unable to respect anyone's wishes, which seems to be a recurring theme with many characters, making them even more unlikeable. But then at some point the main two characters become these goody two shoes where all they want to do is help people and I guess we are supposed to root for them but it's hard to.
Season 1 had some interesting ideas and I wanted to see where it went. It was fine if I didn't think too hard about it. Season 2 was definitely less interesting but whatever. Overall it's watchable. I guess. More like something to just turn on in the background.
Yellowjackets: Burial (2023)
I love the show but this episode was just pointless
Like the title says, this whole episode could be skipped and you wouldn't miss anything important. I was excited to see all the women come together finally, and to see the aftermath from the previous episode, and then... nothing. It's crazy how you can go from a pretty great episode like the previous one, and then the momentum just comes to a SCREECHING halt. It was killing me for weeks waiting for the next episode, but now I'm thinking I'll just wait till all the episodes come out. Speaking of which, why are we waiting for weekly episodes, even a mid season break of all things? Wasn't the whole point of streaming to not have to deal with this? But I digress.
Yellowjackets (2021)
Some criticisms are valid, but personally I loved it
The premise was really intriguing and I finally got around to watching this show. First episode gives us a glimpse into the "horrible thing they did" that the characters CONSTANTLY being up but never elaborate on. It makes it real interesting and makes you want to watch to see how the survivors devolve into such a state. So the storyline is split up between two stories: 1996 with the team trying to survive while dealing with angsty teenage bull, and the present, with the surviving girls dealing with uninteresting family drama in their personal lives and a mysterious threat that seems to be trying to dredge up the past. So, the strongest parts are showing the team trying to survive in the wilderness, and the present day women trying to find who is behind some weird stuff happening in the present. The weakest parts of the show are easily all the marital problems some of the women are facing in the present. Generic affair happens with Shauna that seems to be heading in one direction, but at the end went in an unexpected direction, so I will give it that. Tai's wife being the typical nagging wife who's all "our son is acting out and it's all your fault because you are not home 24/7" and refuses to hold her son accountable for ANYTHING, like dam chill girl. Nat was fine, and I loved the character of Misty, easily the funniest and most interesting character in the whole show. However, in the past, the character of Travis was just the most ANNOYING character in the whole show. Dude is angtsy AF the ENTIRE show. Literally as soon as the plane crashes he's all "leave me alone I need to be alone and brooding" and im over here like, you sure this is the best time to be a huge d**k to everybody because you are all emo or whatever? There are way more important things to worry about. It made no sense whatsoever and it was grating to have to watch this while I just wanted to see how the rest of the group was doing. Meanwhile Nat keeps going after him even though he is an ass, and then of course the two bestest friends have secrets that doesn't end well. And the amount of girls that are crazy AF in ONE soccer time is startlingly high, but I suppose that makes things interesting.
I will say that season 1 doesn't tell the whole story, you won't see them at the point of the first episode, but it sets it up to get there in the next season, I know that kind of thing annoys a lot of people. However, the finale had some interesting reveals that sets up the next season and introduces some new elements at play.
I know I mostly talked about my complaints, but overall for me, the good definitely outweighs the bad. The story of the struggle for survival is great, and the desire to see these girls descend into full on madness compels me to keep watching, even if it starts to get old when characters in the present keep calling it "what we did" or "what happened" instead of just saying it. The whole blackmail plot and doing detective work in the present was interesting, and because of something that is revealed at the very end, I think the present half of the show will get a lot better in season 2. So I will keep watching.
The Boys: The Instant White-Hot Wild (2022)
Bizarre choices solely for artificially lengthening the show
Title says it all. I seriously can't explain how stupid, unsatisfying, and bewildering butcher's choice was, along with the others. Am I seriously supposed to believe that he sided with Homelander, literally the most powerful villain who could kill everyone on earth, the guy he's been hunting the entire show, to fight Soldier Boy? Who is a d bag, sure, but nowhere near as bad as Homelander. What, just because he was gonna laser Ryan? And what is up with the rest of the team having weird priorities all of a sudden, somehow they forgot how bad HL is and they have to fight Solider Boy? At least let him kill HL before subduing him. The only person who at least kind of made sense was Maeve I guess. But this stupidity just felt like a slap in the face and made this entire season seem absolutely pointless. I know The Boys is one of Amazon's big cash cows, but this was such a lazy and blatant attempt to "reset" things because I guess they can't write anything good without having HL, or at least an ending that makes sense. And the congresswoman, Nadia/Victoria or whatever her name was, was introduced in S2 and set up to be a major villain, didn't do much past the first couple of episodes, I guess is now gonna be the main target for S4. What, you guys forget about HL? The evilest, most powerful, most unstable bad guy? Well they basically just kind of let him go so I better not hear them whine about how bad things get with him cuz they just let it happen.
The Boys was such a refreshing and great show when it first came out, and I've loved every episode until this one. Now I'm just in disbelief.
Russian Doll (2019)
Season 1 was amazing but Season 2 is just straight up bad, I'm sorry
I loved season 1 when it first came out, the ending reminded me of Maniac in the sense that it ultimately felt like it was about people needing other people. It wrapped up with a hint of vagueness but felt satisfying.
Then season 2 was announced and I was wondering how they could possibly continue it? Well at the end of the first episode I'm like "oh so s2 is about Nadia coming to terms with her mother and their relationship" but then another few episodes in and now it's WW2 era and stuff with her grandma, then stuff with Alan's grandma, and I'm just like what is even the point anymore? It was so hard to stay interested because I never really sat there and wanted a huge backstory for all these characters. Not to mention none of the characters were really likable besides Nadia's two friends (I can't remember their names) because although they were kinda weird they were generally pretty funny. And I liked Ruth too. I like Alan but his character was an afterthought until the final episode. Nadia is SO unlikable in this season it makes me question how did I put up with season 1 if she was always so annoying? Just blabbering on and on making obscure references and I don't know how many times she was in the past and said stuff like "I'm my daughter/granddaughter!" And nobody blinks an eye over how insane she must sound. Not to mention the sets are so ugly, it's bad enough we have to look at New York already, but 1980s New York? And those hideous apartments? At least the first season was either ok or had her cool looking bathroom with the weird glowy thing.
So, season 2 is unbearable, ugly, unfunny, and uninteresting. Season 1 was great when I saw it, but idk how it would hold up if I rewatched it. If you liked it, I suggest you stop at the end of S1.
Only Murders in the Building (2021)
First 4 episodes suuuuuucked but it got way better
I think I'll start with the bad stuff first. I was really looking forward to this show for a while and then after months of waiting I finally got around to watching it and at first I was very disappointed. So I seem to be in the very minority in that I didn't mind Selena Gomez's character, her acting didn't blow me away but it was fine. Her character wasn't actively annoying like the other 2 main characters were. I get they are great actors and I used to love Steve Martin in his older movies when I was younger, but I think the characters themselves were just so unlikable, but that's just me.
But aside from that, it took me over a week to get through the first four episodes, they were just so boring and nothing happened and no meaningful progress in the plot happened aside from a few seemingly interesting cliffhangers. I almost decided to stop watching completely. A character later in the season actually referenced an earlier episode and it seems the writers were self aware of how pointless the first few episodes were: "A whole episode with no stakes." Except I would say it was multiple episodes.
But starting at episode 5, stuff actually starts happening and the pacing becomes much better. I won't spoil it but it starts getting some interesting reveals and the characters become slightly less full of themselves and more bearable. I don't typically like whodunit murder mysteries, but I think the differing personalities of the main trio and the intriguing premise ultimately paid off, even though it was incredibly slow to start, so I don't really blame people who quit a few episodes in.