VHSdynamite Reviews

Midsommar (2019)

A joke and a cliché

[3/10 · 5 December 2023]

Horrible events happens in this film, but the film doesn't present them in a compelling way. It never gets frightening or suspenseful, only sickening, and the dialogue is drab chatter all the way. Too much talking and inquisition, no room for mystery here!

The characters are as expendable as can be, no personality or charm in any of them. Too bad, because William Jackson Harper and Will Poulter are good actors. But they all behave like normal people just going "wtf I'm going home" all the time, or with scientific curiosity. No enough fear response to make it interesting.

Swedes being cast as exotic pagans (for Americans) is just a silly trope. And of course the Americans demonize communal living. Any lifestyle other than the suburban nuclear family has to be a cult, right?

Full Circle (2023)

Badly written and forgettable

[3/10 · 13 July 2023]

There's so much backstory and universe building being set up in this show, but all this and all the characters are just too bland and uninteresting for me to care. There's really not much happening either, except a crime gone wrong and lot of people asking each other questions and answering with "why do you ask?" It feels like watching bad impro with people blocking each other. And the actors are overacting to get something out of the empty dialogue.

The dialogue is too mundane, to detailed. ("We're gonna use NYPD vehicles. We can't wait for ours to be dispatched.") It's repetitous too, the same info is told to different characters. Writer Ed Solomon tries too hard to write casual and clever lines, but they feel contrived and often too self-conscious.

The star of the show is the postal inspector. She's diagnosed borderline to explain her annoying acting style, which is too-cool-for-school and inappropriately casual. Nothing frightens her the whole time, and she's never in doubt, she's a hollow character even with the borderline label. None of the other characters are memorable either.

Solomon is a comedy writer, which explains the weird tone in this show. There are too many jokes for it to be an engaging drama, but not enough humor to be a comedy, nor enough suspense or mystery to be a thriller. Instead it's this half-serious, non-engaging story.

The Vow (2020–2022)

Rich people drama

[4/10 · 21 November 2022]

The Vow is a tedious show. Its bad guy is not a morbidly compelling Manson-like character, just a manchild surrounded by enablers and doormats. He finds a way of exploiting rich people and their daughters. Raniere is not a monster, just a deviant dork without healthy people to say no to him. Without them he would be nothing. If anything the show gives insight in the yes (wo)man culture in business leadership. Like the wizard of Oz, the monster is created by us.

It's especially frustrating to watch all the useful idiots falling for Raniere's scheme, especially the completely oblivious parrot Salzman. When a country don't educate people they fall for false prophets.

The amount of archive footage makes it a weird show. The border between real footage and reenactment is blurred. It all seems made up somehow. Certainly not relevant for ordinary people, just Hollywood elite and heiresses with too much money.

Avenue 5 (2020–2022)

It could have been funny

[3/10 · 5 November 2022]

This show tries so hard, and every joke falls flat. Why isn't a show about a bunch of morons in space funnier than this? The setup is great. It should be more like Faulty Towers or something.

The problem is that there's no funny situations happening, so all of the comedy is meta commentary by the characters forced into the drama to try to make it funny. It doesn't work, because all the writers' tools are swearing, randomness, awkwardness and stupidity. There's something about the cinematography and editing that doesn't serve the jokes either.

The writers are averagely intelligent people thinking they are smart. And basically all they want is to show is how dumb people are. That's why there's no heart in this show to save it from the dumbness. A show like Parks & Recreation is also about dumb people, but it's funny and has heart. A show like Seinfeld is cynic, but written by actually smart people.

Joe Pera Talks with You (2018–2021)

Artful anti-comedy

[9/10 · 18 October 2022]

This show being labeled as comedy show us that the greatest taboo for many people is being boring and uncool. Joe Pera is sort of a exaggerated young geriatric character in the tradition of Steve Urkel. He's somewhat bizarre and out of place in his world, but never framed as a crazy character. He's sincere and knowledgeable, also taboos in pop culture. The show is not comedy nor drama, but welcoming, interesting and delightful. It shows the complexity, simplicity, strength and vulnerability of ordinary life and relationships.

The show is not without conflicts and jerks, though. Pera meets them at work and in other settings. But his patience and ability to not judge but see something good in everybody redeems them. He's not being naive either, but truly kind. He's a great and unlikely role model in a society where people struggle with letting go of youth and grow up. He showcases healthy masculinity, true 1950s dadness.

"Joe Pera" could easily have been shot in a mockumentary way with zooms to highlight the awkwardness, but the creators know that's old. Instead, they use steady camera a lot. The result is tableaus that brings a calmness and artfulness to the show. Combined with using charming, inexperienced actors it reminds me of Portlandia and the films by Roy Andersson. Taika Waititi's debut Eagle vs. Shark also comes to mind. Mark Borchardt from America Movie playing a minor role is also significant. All these titles navigate in the same landscape of heartfelt awkwardness that's a refreshing break from the ironic.

Days of Our Lives (1965– )

Hellishly bad, and not in a fun way

[1/10 · 26 August 2022]

It's hard to overstate what a vile show this is. It depicts the worst side of humanity and television, one episode's worth is stretched to fill five, and the dialogue is unbearably vapid and repetitious. The plot comes across as the most terrible improv, and the show universe feels like a claustrophobic faux-luxurious Hollywood set, a true golden cage. No wonder it drives anyone within it mad! There no heart, no glimpses of humanity there. No cleverness. The characters have nothing else to do except deceive, exploit and hurt each other. It's really a horror show in the disguise of daytime soap, it's like an unintentional Lynchian nightmare.

There's no artistic quality in this show, no respect for the audience, its production is as evil as Salem itself. A show like this could easily have been better, there are enough creative minds out there, so its awfulness is a deliberate choice. The narrative is supposed to be mindless sensationalism to lull people and feed them commercials. The show lures people in and gets them addicted, because people are bored, sad or lonely and love routines and what's familiar, even if it's bad for them. Days of Our Lives is 100 percent exploitation, a truly hellish show.

America's Funniest Videos: Animal Edition (2021– )

Stale, dumb and tiresome

[3/10 · 9 July 2022]

I thought this format was dead, and it certainly should be. You can find these videos online nowadays.

The script is dumb and unfunny and can only appeal to small children. Which makes the sexual jokes very inappropriate. "She made him ink!" is the joke when an octopus squirts. Obviously, the writers are just joylessly churning out some words to fill their quota. And Ribeiro is too tiresome and loud for my taste, but I like him when he sometimes gets to be a self-deprecating nerd.

The animal videos are entertaining, and with some creative thinking, they could make a better and more modern show around them. I guess the network only greenlights stale old formats known to work.

In the Earth (2021)

Boring amateur flick

[4/10 · 1 May 2022]

Interesting premise with the mycorrhiza (someone's watched Star Trek, I presume), but that's it. Everything from visuals to sound design shout amateur student production. Or a episode from a meidocre TV show. Nothing cinematic about it. Acting is decent though, but the leading man is amazingly meek. He doesn't know anything and doesn't do anything. (Reminds me of Arthur Dent.)

Then the film turns into a boring kidnapping plot after a while. Even touches Monty Pytonesque absurdity, what's up with that? And then some Lost-type science stuff. Not at all engaging, interesting og thrilling.

A Discovery of Witches (2018–2022)

Simple guilty pleasure

[7/10 · 6 February 2022]

This show reminds me of budget youth series I would watch on telly after school. It's a fantasy universe that's very serious and profound with a lot at stake all the time, typical adolescent prententiousness (even though the main character is an adult woman). It's (rather refeshingly) free of any irony.

So it's a nice guilty pleasure with simple racism themes with clear-cut good and bad people and our heroes lounging around in libraries and big houses reading books older than USA itself (the All Souls Trilogy is an American romantic view on Brits after all). Ah, the pleasures of the privileged...

Sociologically, it's interesting to se the white American middle class woman's fantasy to be smitten by an immortal British vampire, break free of her boring settler life and discover her European roots and true chaotic self, the witch within.

Jay Leno's Garage (2015–2022)

Actors in cars getting promotion

[6/10 · 2 February 2022]

Jay Leno is quick-witted and funny, but this production is mostly just the same Hollywood promotion talkshow apperarance, only in car seats instead of chairs. We saw this shift, the gameification of talkshows, with Ellen Show and next-gen late show hosts like Jimmy Fallon and James Corden.

There are some segments that only showcase cars, but mostly they're structured as a tiresome guessing game. I just want to watch car nerds talk about cars in a calm, adult setting -- this show is too hyperactive for me.

The Righteous Gemstones (2019– )

More of a drama than a comedy show

[3/10 · 23 January 2022]

This show is a strange mix of overly (almost parodically) sentimental and outright plump. It loves to make a huge sentimental scene and - because it doesn't dare to stay in that territory - just tear everything down with the lowest effort form of humor with bodily fluids and foul language.

It's presented as a black comedy, but the production has more of a drama vibe. The characters are sooo wacky, but they and their jokes fall flat because there's no support in the production, no good timing in the editing. It's like those sitcom clips with the laugh track removed. The whole thing is just bizarre and depressing, and in the end there no significant critique of TV evangelists either. The Gemstones are ultimately likable despite all their faults.

The only thing that makes Gemstones watchable is the love for the early '90s. Set designers did a good job recreating that period.

Good Sam (2022)

Fluffy soapy power struggle

[4/10 · 20 January 2022]

You can go two ways with a medical show: a serious baseline with comedic touches like House, or a comedic baseline with dramatic touches like Scrubs. Both works. Good Sam is just a tonal mess that turns into soap.

The main character is privileged rich prettygirl, bland as they come. Plays piano and eats dinner in the lab because she's so perfect. She keeps whining abut her "best friend" like she's 14 and not a hospital fellow.

The ensemble diagnostics scenes and walk-and-talks are getting so old now.

Toy Story 4 (2019)

Lots o' potential, but I want better characters, dramaturgy and gags

[6/10 · 28 December 2021]

Toy Story 4 has Woody dealing with the loss of Andy, and it ends with Woody finally choosing his own happiness for once after always being Andy's patron. As an adult, I find Woody's protective and parental love for Andy the most interesting theme in the franchise, and Woody's «emancipation» is a very bold move -- and a logical follow-up to Andy's own emancipation in Toy Story 3. But I don't want it to end here. Woody's bond to Andy has always been the heart of Toy Story and his character, and I still feel it's Woodys fate to find back to Andy. I'm hoping Toy Story 5 will resolve this.

I liked that Bo Peep was reintroduced as a tough Mad Max character in a skunk radio car with a tiny «Polly Pocket» doll on her shoulder. What a character development! (although somewhat cliche). But I don't think good ol' Woody is a suitable match for Bo Peep outside Andy's room, so the happy ending felt forced. Though I wonder who Woody will become after living the same life in the field as Bo Peep. He's (literally) a softie and not suitable for that kind of life, I think. That's why I think he will want to find back to Andy.

The original Toy Story had a lot of physical comedy and clever gags and jokes throughout, but the screenplay in TS4 wasn't as entertaining as I hoped for. Key and Peele as comedic relief duo infuses another style of humor than Ratzenberg and Rickles' Hamm and Potato Head's more classic jokes, but I don't think K&P's self-aware, improv style of banter fits the Toy Story universe. It seems like the writers thought having K&P would be funny enough just by letting them do their thing, but the duo didn't get enough jokes or gags.

The Forky character was very endearing as a concept and introduced some physical comedy, but his «suicidal» tendendy in the beginning was actually too dark and depressing to watch and dragged on too long. Forky was a cute Frankenstein's monster and literally brought to life from the dead, but his «I am not a toy» delusion (mirroring Buzz' in TS1) was resolved early, and after that he was just used as a mere plot device. Forky had the potential to develop more and create an army of funny trash toys in the funfair if the screenwriters had allowed it, either as a villain or a savior.

The antiques store setting showed a lot of potential too for introducing new interesting toys, but I don't think the potential was released. Gabby and her goal was quite cliche, and her ventriloquist dummy mob as well. (The "toy that's never been played with" theme was treated in Toy Story 2 with Stinky Pete, so why do it again?) Duke Caboom wasn't funny to me either, although they tried hard to make him funny through his stiff mannerisms. But weirdness isn't the same as comedy.

I also felt throughout that the music score and dramaturgy was a bit lackluster. It was like watching a TV episode, not a feature film.

Despite my negative review, I'm awaiting Toy Story 5 to see Woody being reunited with Andy. My fan theory and dream is that Andy finally will see that Woody is alive, something that will break the "spell" and make Woody a real person -- just like Pinocchio, another Disney classic. Perhaps Woody was Andy's father trapped as a toy all this time? That would be a magical ending to the magical world of Toy Story.

Santa Inc. (2021)

Depressing and cynical

[3/10 · 3 December 2021]

Charming and retro animation, but I didn't care for the script. Cheap violence, gore, sexual content and swearing dominate. No cleverness whatsoever.

And is it woke or anti-woke? One of the jokes is an Easter basket being organic. Besides not being funny at all, "everything has to be organic" is anti-woke comedy, and there's a lot of these "jokes". Still, the show advocates women's and workers' rights etc. But in a parodical way. This show doesn't really stand for anything, it seems.

Also, it's clearly written by Hollywood for Hollywood. What regular person knows what a "op-ed" is? Who others than scriptwriters themselves think it's funny to have the characters talk about a "character revealer"?

Ghosting: The Spirit of Christmas (2019 TV Movie)

Light-hearted but heartfelt "Ghost World", although no Christmas classic

[7/10 · 18 November 2021]

It's a TV movie, so I'll rate it as such. The performances were good, and I both laughed and cried a bit. The romance is cute. Perhaps a bit too light-hearted. The fast banter seems more in style with a modern sitcom.

The film references "It's a Wonderful Life" from 1946 both directly and in a character looking at life from outside. But I find "Ghosting" more of a spiritual companion to "Ghost World" (coincidentally). While "Ghost World" shows two childhood friends growing apart as young adults, "Ghosting" shows two friends staying together and keeping each other in check. Ultimately, also "Ghosting" shows the necessity of parting ways to grow. While an interesting theme, I don't see how it applies to the spirit of Christmas, and the California setting is not festive either.

All in all, I feel the story is unfocused and trying to tell too much or too little. It starts with a clear focus: Jess needs to ascend by finding true love, and Kara's her helper. But then the focus shifts to Kara's need of moving forward in life now that Jess is gone. The story tries to unite both these stories in one story that celebrates friendship, at the same time as it preaches going separate ways (!) Focusing on either Jess or Kara would make a better story, I think.

Heartbreak Hotel (2006)

Badly told story

[3/10 · 20 July 2021]

The premise is a Thelma and Louise style film about friendship between mature, but different women. We need films like that, but this one hasn't got the depth (even though it tries with a serious piano score and all). It treats heavy themes like divorce very lightly, but doesn't go fully into lighthearted comedy either. There's too much conflict and shouting for that. A conflict between a mother and her supportive daughter arise out of nowhere and gets resolved out of the blue later on. The writer shows little insight in why the characters behave the way they do.

The plot doesn't have any strong direction or development, it just meanders and throws in a couple of surprises. The film would have been etter as a full-fledged comedy like Smala Sussie. (It treads the waters, so why not dive all in?)

Food Factory (II) (2012– )

Annoying script and pure advertisment

[3/10 · 16 July 2021]

The narrators' script tries too hard to be funny to lighten up the sterile and depressing factory environment we see in this show. Workers performing soul-crushing repetetive tasks are given "funny" lines which they deliver with various success. The humor seems to be aimed at small children, but the script is no stranger to sexual innuendos as well.

Anything that could hurt the brands featured is avoided: When they coat candy in shellac (literally bug juice), the narrators conveniently avoid saying what it is. (They describe everything else.)

When you have watched a couple of episodes (4 products covered in each), you have seen it all. Processes are basically the same everywhere.

Deadly Recall (2019– )

Repetitive and depressing

[3/10 · 15 July 2021]

The episodes are murder cases spread super thin. It's material for ten minutes, but instead the scenes are recreated to fill air time and Postiglione is showing the simplest steps of the investigation. And everything is repeated at least once. Typical narration:

• We found a gun.

• The gun we found may or may not have belonged to the suspect.

• The gun we found that may or may not have belonged to the suspect, was sent to the lab.

(Commercial break.)

• The gun we found that may or may not have belonged to the suspect, and was sent to the lab, belonged to the suspect.

Etc.

It doesn't help that the cases are super bleak and depressing. What's supposed to be the takeaway from watching a show like this?

Aliens in Alaska (2021–2022)

Demon-haunted world

[2/10 · 6 April 2021]

UFO tales are always really about something else. They may serve as a hope for someone to come and make peace on earth, or a way of dealing with childhood trauma (abductions). Often they are a part of bigger belief system of conspiracies. People who believe in ufos, usually don't trust the government either.

In this show, these people get to tell their tales without being challenged. Debunked theories about aliens building the pyramids aren't opposed at all. The narrator is fueling the fire.

Life on other planets may exist, but are they visiting us? Extraordinary claims need extraordinary evidence. This show provides the usual photographic artefacts that can be given more ordinary explanations than ufos.

This show shows the importance of critical thinking. Without it you will draw the easiest conclusion that supports your existing belief. Everything becomes a nail if all you've got is a hammer.

I'd recommend people to read Carl Sagan's sobering book mentioned in my title. He had a good balance of scepticism and open-mindedness many can benefit from applying themselves.

The Uncanny Counter (2020–2023)

Campy and blunt Harry Potter meets Kill Bill show

[4/10 · 14 January 2021]

The whole series comes across as a revenge p**n against the corrupt Korean society. Moral speeches are held and fingers wagged. Nothing is subtext. On top of that there's some pure EVIL rich kids bullying the protagonist, some evil spirits and a longing for his dead parents, Harry Potter style. Harry Potter is even name-dropped.

It's also overacted and overly sentimental at times. With a bit of slapstick comedy - the tone is all over the place. Cliches are abundant, like Kill Bill music playing in action scenes. As a Westerner I roll my eyes.

A couple of moving scenes and the playboy chairman Choi (how convenient that he's super rich!) make it a four star show.

Hoarders (2009– )

In a mad world, sane people are deemed mad

[4/10 · 3 December 2020]

We live in a world with overproduction and overconsumption. The lifecycle of stuff is as short as ever. We learn to trash stuff with only minor faults, because buying new stuff is easier than repairing.

Hoarders see this madness. Like hundreds of generations before us they see the value in things. A simple plastic bag is an engineering marvel with a thousand uses. How can you trash something like that?

Sadly, there isn't room for this frugality today. You have to learn to trash useful stuff to survive, it's all turned upside down. And that's the mentality the show is forcing upon the poor hoarders.

Their houses are always put on stake to make the process as fast and hurtful as possible for maximum entertainment. And alternative idea for a show: Going through things with them, talking about their memories attached to their things and planning what do do with the things. This approach would fill a whole season out of every case and be much more supportive and interesting.

This show is all about creating conflict and entertaining. The cleaning is a fast and traumatic process that doesn't really help people, but just gives them space to start anew. Helpful downsizing must be a gradual process with time to reflect, mourn and change.

Groundhog Day (1993)

An inspiring, empowering and possibly life-changing comedy

[9/10 · 24 October 2020]

What would you do if you were stuck in an eternal 24 hour time loop?

Would you freak out? Phil Connors does that.

Would you use it to take advantage of people? Phil does that.

Would you get depressed and try to kill yourself? Phil does that too.

Would you start to help people and improve yourself? Phil ends up doing that.

Phil Connors has the most intriguing character arc I've ever seen. He's a Scrooge character, but the story does so much more than just scaring him into virtue. He goes through many stages before he reaches the best version of himself.

And thats what's so inspiring about this film. Phil wakes up each day with exactly the same possibilities, and only his mindset decides whether his day ends in failure or success. He can choose to hate the town and his job and become miserable, or engage in them and become happy.

Now most of us don't have the luxury (or curse) of getting the chance to improve while the rest of the world is put on hold. How wonderful it would be to be essentially a thousands of year old, all-knowing demigod among men. But still, life's shortness is just an extra motivation to make our best out of it.

I believe Groundhod Day carries an extremely important life lesson, while being very cleverly written and full of good oneliners.

Oldboy (2013)

Why you shouldn't date people young enough to be your kids

[4/10 · 23 October 2020]

I'm reviewing this on its own merits, since I haven't seen the original.

The antihero is like a '60s (m)ad man, ticking off all the cliches. Mad Men did it in the right historical environment, but Oldboy is taking place in the '90s. It seems like a cultural trope from Korea that doesn't fit contemporary Western times.

Then the man is imprisoned for 20 years. Finding his dauther motivates him to pull through, even though his daughter (presumably) is perfectly off without him! His goal is purely egotistical and makes him even more unlikeable. It also reveals conservative morals that doesn't fit contemporary Western culture either: that only genetic parents are "real" parents.

The bad guy turns out to be a corrupted and incestous European, and he trolls our antihero in the worst and most oddly specific way possible: by making also him committing incest through an incredible farfetched long game. It's comes off more like a Ha Ha! moment than a sad twist. That's what you get for going after women young enough to be your daughter.

Perhaps Korea has an incest problem or hang-up, but I don't see the need for tackling such an issue here in the West.

MacGyver (2016–2021)

BratGyver

[5/10 · 7 October 2020]

It's possible the original MacGyver wasn't as good as we think. Rose-colored glassed and all that. But that show was a better balance of action, comedy and drama, while this underestimates the viewers and takes the light comedy route as many reboots do.

And Richard Dean Anderson carried the role confidently and cool. Lucas Till is younger and smug. He comes off as a brat, to say it bluntly. Too cool for school. I don't believe that Till's MacGyver would know all the stuff he seemingly does.

I like George Eads much better. His Jack Dalton is tough, but also somewhat self-deprecating and goofy. But MacGyver seems embarrassed or annoyed with him all the time, yet again like a child, so there's not much of a chemistry there.

MacGyver is surrounded by friends this time, but he's still hyped as a mysterious loner character. Depth and secrets are introduced frequently, and his childhood friend Bozer is there to explain the dark or sad secret by MacGyver's odd behaviour.

A hacker, Riley, is also introduced, even though a contemporary MacGyver would probably be a hacker himself.

It's difficult to continue the MacGyver franchise after SNL's MacGruber spoof. So the writers try to run with the joke and be self-conscious, but it gets old after the fifth "make an X out of Y and Z" joke. And when MacGyver's friends decorate his birthday cake with a paper clip, it's just trying too hard.

And about the MacGyverisms, I've seem much more impressive stuff in life hack videos! This show is just lazy writing and a waste of an iconic character who in better hands would still be relevant today.

Real Time with Bill Maher (2003– )

Misogynistic writers

[5/10 · 3 September 2020]

I'm disappointed by all the jokes sexualizing women and what seems to be a disrespect for women among the writers. A joke about Amazon is about the useless "candles, driftwood art and moisturizer", which are things mostly women buy. What about all the useless electronic gadgets mostly men buy? A small example, but it tells much about the juvenile misogyny among the writers.