swordsnare Reviews

Superstore: Maternity Leave (2018) Season 4, Episode 6

Ugh...

[4/10 · 13 March 2024]

Second attempt at watching this show & episodes like this is the reason why I struggled to engage with this in the first place. The indictment of the US's health care system is one thing, but Mateo & Cheyenne quibbling over Amy's choice for her child's name sent me. The cattiness is of these two is unbearable at times.

The one thing I found amusing & salvageable about this episode was Eden Sher's appearance, doing her best to come across as annoying as a seasonal hire for the store. Instead only giving her best known character, Sue Heck. Many of the existing characters are objectively more annoying than her.

Nashville (2012–2018)

Seasons 1-3, Forget 4-6.

[7/10 · 11 February 2024]

Much like it has already been stated, seasons 1-3 are the most watchable of this series. Past that it becomes a overly-dramatic hot mess soap opera.

Struggled through season 4 & part 5 until one of the main leads departs the show. Obviously the writing was on the wall by that stage and couldn't fathom continuing past this point.

The acting is quite good considering two of the cast aren't even American. Unfortunately they don't have much to work with.

Juliette Barnes (Hayden Panettiere) is one of the most divisive characters is such an erratic self-entitled diva narcissist and find difficult to feel anything positive toward this character.

Deacon Claybourne (Charles Esten) is probably the highlight of this show.

7/10 for Seasons 1-3. Forget the rest as the show quickly drops off from Season 4.

C*A*U*G*H*T (2023– )

Mediocre Aussie Comedy

[4/10 · 28 September 2023]

Stan has been plugging this pretty hard boasting that it's biggest cast for a Stan Original. Although this maybe factual, it doesn't really distract for the mediocrity of this comedy & that most appearances are more cameo roles.

Watched the entirety of the six episodes to offer up a honest review rather than seemingly being a 'hater.' Unfortunately, this didn't offer up any better insight into any probability that it would improve. The none-to-subtle association with Channel Nine with Karl Stefanovic & A Current Affair appearances made it all seem a bit more cringe, on top of the already crass nature of this production.

Only wish Australian comedies were a little more thought provoking & a little less obnoxious & obvious with their stylings. Honestly, if they only reigned Kick Gurry a little more & reduced this down to a film rather than a six-part series, it may have been more endearing.

4/10 for the effort & not the execution.

Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011)

Underrated.

[8/10 · 22 September 2023]

Watched this movie not long after it's original release. At the time it seemed a little underwhelming. This has since become a comfort film for myself, watching it so many times since.

There is so many classic scenes in this film, especially the climactic unexpected twist. The dynamic friendship between Gosling and Carell is quite endearing. As much as Emma Stone is lovely in her own right, the development of their friendship through of the film trumps the underlining love story behind Gosling & Stone.

There is so many good actors in this film, with notable mentions to Julianne Moore, Marisa Tomei & Kevin Bacon. Much better than most modern day comedies.

David Lindhagen. David Lindhagen.

Something Borrowed (2011)

Something Borrowed from every Romcom

[3/10 · 20 July 2023]

Ginnifer Goodwin, Kate Hudson and even John Krasinski are generally all likeable, but struggled to find anything redeemable about the characters they played. This movie borrows from every RomCom trope in the book, but without the desire for anyone to end up happy ever after.

SPOILERS:

You can see a mile off that John Krasinki's character, Ethan had a thing on Rachel (Ginnifer Goodwin) from the get-go, but she pursued her friend's Darcy's (Kate Hudson) fiancé instead after a crush from law school & subsequent one-night stand. Don't think Colin Egglesfield was likeable enough as a lead role either.

So much of a forgone conclusion that one could guess the ending by watching the trailer alone.

A generous 3/10 for Ginnifer Goodwin, Kate Hudson and John Krasinski only.

Weeds (2005–2012)

Toxic Nancy Botwin

[7/10 · 4 January 2023]

Have watched this in entirety a number of times over the years. The most recent watch seemed to have lost its charm that I once held for it. It's entertaining, don't get me wrong. It's a bit of deliberate roller coaster of story.

***SPOILER ALERT***

Nancy Botwin (Mary-Louise Parker) becomes increasingly toxic, narcissistic & entitled throughout the series which gets a bit tiring by its conclusion. It's no wonder her sons are messed up.

Uncle Andy is the one of the few redeeming characters as a loveable goofball. Unfortunately he simps after Nancy who uses his affection for her to keep him around.

Blockbuster (2022)

Formulaic & Overdone.

[3/10 · 4 November 2022]

Using the last goodwill or nostalgia that the term 'Blockbuster' once had makes for a lacklustre TV series. Even utilising actors chops from Melissa Fumero and Randall Park couldn't save this from the dull, unfunny, politically correct writing.

I personally worked in video stores in the 90's and the franchise stores never had more than three (3) employees on at one time. And this was peak video and DVD rental era!!! But seemingly this store, in its decline for the last decade or more has four or more staff standing around in non-peak times.

I couldn't even get past the 'Pilot' as it was so formulaic and an overdone.

The Matrix Resurrections (I) (2021)

"You gotta be kidding" - Neo

[3/10 · 17 September 2022]

The gatekeepers are forcing one to utilise 600 characters to encapsulate this lacklustre 4th-in-a-series money grab.

They should have made this much earlier instead of leaving 20 years to do a shot-for l-shot remake with a more-or-less "blue hair." Feels like a fan fiction student film with cameos for the actual stars. There's way too much talkie-talkie to over explain and over analyse everything. The whole premise feels like you've been subjected to the same therapy season that Thomas Anderson is having to endure with The Analyst (Neil Patrick Harris).

I'm sure there's some deeper subtext to this movie but on the whole it is simply too arduous and should have spent more time in editing suite trimming some much needed bloat & pretense. Trimming the runtime down to 2 hours would have made this more palatable.

Resident Evil (2022)

Can't Defend This Anymore

[2/10 · 28 August 2022]

Much like some others, my previous review got removed as some clearly got triggered, despite adhering to community guidelines. Thankfully this show got cancelled due to the consensus that this a simply an objectively low quality production.

The intellectual property was already exhausted due to the number of movies in the franchise starring Milla Jovovich. The previous movies declined in quality by the end and than failing yet again to revive it.

There's nothing redeemable about this show, clearly. As it is pretty much a self own. It is badly written, casted and actors look like the phoned it in, other than the teen sisters who were over dramatic. I used to like Resident Evil quite a bit, but this another example that they should just leave some intellectual property alone.

The Gray Man (2022)

Derivative Action Netflix.

[6/10 · 6 August 2022]

Don't overthink it, it's only a Netflix film after all. It's reasonable but it's clearly derivative of other notable action franchises. If they truly had faith in it, it would have had a theatrical release. But better than I expected overall.

Bill Burr: Live at Red Rocks (2022 TV Special)

Stop Getting in the Trunk of the Car.

[8/10 · 21 July 2022]

Reasonable effort for his fifth solo special. Not as objectively funny as previous specials the likes of 'Paper Tiger', but is far superior to that 'Friends who Kill' atrocity.

It was very much in keeping with his traditional divisive angry-man humour that is sure to offend. One may not agree with all of his talking points, but he has to risk offending to actually be funny.

7.5/10.

The Switch (I) (2010)

Switch to Another Film.

[3/10 · 18 June 2022]

One said this didn't age well. Watched this around the time of its original release, and the premise and script back then was far from good.

The cast is great, but no one believes that someone that was friendzoned, ends up being forgiven, to end up with the girl. Especially after one did something so heinous. The cast is only thing that carries this film past this odd and egregious script.

Bill Burr Presents: Friends Who Kill (2022 TV Special)

Comedy for Californians.

[2/10 · 11 June 2022]

Fiends who kill Comedy, should have been the title. Much like everyone, being a fan of Bill Burr prompted me to click on it. Even Jimmy Carr's performance made his last standup special look like a masterpiece. Ronny Chieng got up and sang?

The two stars reflected the number of times I "chuckled" throughout this special. I'd give this a wide berth.

Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022)

It's another DisneyStarWars.

[1/10 · 3 June 2022]

Selling a series on the goodwill of a beloved character and credible actor with writers that have little to no understanding of Star Wars, that's Disney Star Wars.

The acting, character development and writing is abhorrent. Disney simply deflects any criticism of this by preemptively mockIng it's audience. Rotten Tomatoes has the audience score at 60% currently, which seems closer to reality than here, but still way too high nonetheless.

That Sugar Film (2014)

Performative Documentary

[3/10 · 17 May 2022]

That Sugar Film is so highly processed, and so laden with chintzy, artificial arguments, that its many weaknesses are hidden from the public. Cameos by a couple celebrities to make this more digestible doesn't have the clout it once did.

One of Damon's "experts" was David Wolfe, is a known conspiracy theorist who has worked closely with "Paleo" Pete Evans. This throws into question the whole motivation of the film, considering Damon's usually seemingly 'paleo' diet?

Simply put, Gameau's one-man experiment is not rigorous enough to prove anything at all, however striking his results seem.

Last Man Standing: Circle of Life (2012) Season 2, Episode 6

Why is Ryan always hanging around?

[5/10 · 2 May 2022]

He's Boyd's father, I get it, but he's there all the time. Eating, watching TV. He's a deliberately antagonistic counterpoint of a character. He constantly comes off as male-Karen, being all sanctimonious when he himself abandoned Boyd for the first two years of his life.

Anatomy of a Scandal (2022)

Well-Acted British Legal Drama

[5/10 · 23 April 2022]

...but if you are expecting anything but a predictable conclusion, you would be mistaken. Could've condensed the whole limited series down to one movie, but I suppose they made it a limited series to suit the Netflix format.

Friends: The One After Joey and Rachel Kiss (2003) Season 10, Episode 1

The One with Monica's Double Standards

[7/10 · 17 April 2022]

The irony that Monica gets her hair braided with Cowrie Shells and thinks it's great, when she gave Chandler grief over a wearing a Puka Shell Necklace after their honeymoon.

Boston Legal (2004–2008)

Loose Cannons.

[7/10 · 27 February 2022]

The.best part of this show is the dynamic duo relationship between Denny Crane (William Shatner) and Alan Shore (James Spader). Yes, they are hilariously politically incorrect and inappropriate at times, but it's not like anyone actually really condoned their behaviour. It's meant to be for humour's sake.

James Spader plays an outstanding role with many of his courtroom convincing monologues. It's a great show overall, but it ends up taking itself too seriously by Season 5 and becomes a bit too political with Alan Shore playing the conflicted outraged liberal saviour too often.

As a few have mentioned, the wavering character development around the main leads to disappear and reappear with a certain.amount of presupposition required for this to occur. I understand budgetary the wavering ratings and budgets had something to do with it in reality.

7.5/10.

Space Force (2020–2022)

Space Forced.

[5/10 · 27 February 2022]

***CANCELLED***

Inconsistent in tone and humour from Season One to Two. They rested their laurels on the goodwill of Steve Carell and John Malkovich to carry this show. Some of the humour is pretty forced and it has the typical Netflix continuing to Netflix overtone.

Overall it's ok and watchable enough, it's just not 'laugh out loud' funny. Not surprisingly this has since been cancelled, unlike shows like Santa Clarita Diet, Glow, etc. That didn't deserve cancelling.

You Don't Mess with the Zohan (2008)

Disco, Disco.

[8/10 · 25 February 2022]

This is Old School Sandler from the 90's, in a good way. I have watched this numerous times over the years and still love it, despite the certain amount of cheese.

Sandler must have worked out for this movie, despite being his own Happy Madison Production. Still one of my favourite Sandler films. Amongst Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore, Wedding Singer, etc. An point for being underrated in my mind.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no." "What is that? A motorboat?"

The Tinder Swindler (2022)

Tinder is Squarely to Blame.

[5/10 · 25 February 2022]

Entertaining yes, but it is more a sad indictment on today's dating marketplace more than anything. The 'Swindler' knew how best to exploit it also. The old adage of if it is too good to be true, it usually is, still rings true.

Tinder has changed the dating culture, not for the better, but degraded it into judging people on their superficialities. This is a case study of victims naively pursuing partners who are earners over any common sense and better judgement. If you truly expect to find anything more than a hookup from Tinder, you would be gravely mistaken.

Takers (2010)

TV Crime Show Stylings.

[4/10 · 10 February 2022]

From cinematographer, Michael Barrett, who has done such work as CSI Miami, this looks stylistically like an extended TV Show. The soundscapes are also reminiscent of a crime show. The acting chops of some musicians they engaged to act was a questionable choice also. This all wears pretty thin quickly. Style over substance has already been mentioned and very apt.

How I Met Your Mother: Legendaddy (2011) Season 6, Episode 19

Neil Patrick Harris.

[8/10 · 4 February 2022]

Neil Patrick Harris seems to be one the outstanding constant throughout this series. In conjunction with the great John Lithgow, playing Jerry, this is memorable episode with a more serious tone.

How I Met Your Mother: Say Cheese (2010) Season 5, Episode 18

Everyone hates the Group Photo.

[4/10 · 31 January 2022]

Lily having a whinge about Ted when everyone hates the group photos. Making Ted out to be the bad guy when Lily is horribly self-serving. Calling her birthday Lily-day says enough.

Barney is still the remaining comic relief that this show needs during these episodes.