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ben-19029
Reviews
12 Monkeys (2015)
A solid adaptation with significant differences
SPOILER ALERT: If you have not seen the original twelve monkeys, i will be discussing key differences between the original and this, so if you don't want me to ruin the original, go and watch it before reading this.
This show is an intentional departure from the source material that deviates in about the same way as the bourne series, which is also a welcome departure from the original source material. In the bourne movies, the main antagonist, Carlos the Jackel, is left out to keep the series period appropriate and that changes the dynamic between bourne and treadstone and completely changes the ending as well as the sequels. (in the books the bourne supremacy is set in hong kong) But the main difference in 12 monkeys instead of subtracting an antagonist, is adding several. The army of the 12 monkeys is much more significant, and there appears to be a greater conspiracy surrounding the time loops. There is also a surrealist element to a lot of it, and suffice to say he doesn't die in the end, so whether this contains the same nihilistic tone as the original remains to be seen. Brad Pitts crazy character in the original is now played by a woman, but is not so different in character other than the fact that she has a weird psycho crush on him. It also explores a lot of his own future timeline and the society that he comes from, and bounces back and forth between many times, as well as explores the idea of time paradoxes very nicely, i thought.
So the biggest differences are actually exploring the things the original film never really got to touch on, which is kind of nice, it keeps it fresh, but its also source faithful where it counts. As far as adaptations go i have seen much, much worse. This show is probably moderately above average, although i wouldn't say it is one of my favorites, it is still well made and enjoyable to watch.
Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
I liked it
I feel like it really wasn't as bad as everyone said it was. A movie like this generates a lot of hype, but i see no reason why it didn't live up to that hype. The effects were spectacular, and Ultron as a villain was ultimately very compelling and entertaining. The vision was also a very nice addition. Out of all the movies in the MCU, this scores pretty high on my list. I mean come on, any movie that shows Tony Stark in full hulkbuster armor, taking on the hulk can't be that bad, right?
"The city is flying, we're fighting an army of robots, and I have a bow and arrow. None of this makes sense."
I mean come on, man! That line is classic! Hopefully when Civil War comes out people won't bitch about it as much.
Breaking Bad (2008)
Overrated yawn fest
SOOOOOOO boring. so f*cking boring. and its not just the gritty depressing cinema verite thing. everyone quotes it like its so badass or something "i am the one who knocks!" like seriously? 6 seasons and thats the best quotable line? I did think that scene where the dude dies by the pond or the other dude got half his face blown off was pretty cool but daredevil had WAYYY more badass moments in its first season than breaking bad had in its entire series. (the hallway scene and the car door scene alone top that) I only watched it all the way through because i expected based off of what everyone said that at some point this yawn fest would actually get good. It didn't. One of the few scenes i enjoyed was the one in the finale where Jesse is crying tears of joy tearing away from the compound, because thats exactly how i felt finally being done with this god-awful series.
Lets start with the fact that everything is just painfully slow paced. It always starts with an establishing shot of some insignificant detail that is later revealed to the viewer, yeah that gimmick was cute the first time but the fact that you have to do it EVERY. SINGLE. EPISODE. It just shows how lazy and gratuitous you are with faux- profundity and wannabe art-house bullsh*t. Trying to be all Gaspar Noe with it but you really end up like granny at the family reunion with a camcorder. I feel like stewie from family guy, "every hot girl with a camera thinks she's a photographer, ooh, you took a black and white picture of a lawn chair and its shadow and developed it at save-on, you must be so brooding and deep." Thats exactly the impression i get from this show. Its poorly shot, generally hand-held instead of jib, the colors all washed out like they shot it on a hi-8 back in the 90s, and i get that its an artistic choice, but its a completely superficial artistic choice that combined with the droll acting, minimal action, and just general lack of any compelling anything provides a general air of a show that is trying immensely hard to give the appearance of a thoughtful reflection on the somewhat misanthropic nature of good and evil and humanity, but in fact, is just sincerely full of itself.
Walter White cooks meth. Walter white makes a deal with a drug dealer. it goes south and he has to kill him. Walter White makes a deal with his boss. it goes south and he has to kill him. Walter White makes a deal with his bosses boss. it goes south and he has to kill him. all of this could have taken place within a single season, without all this unnecessary talk about veggie bacon and star trek and speaker systems, its like they were trying so hard to capture dialog that wasn't clichéd or hadn't been done before, that instead they just literally picked the most boring parts of the human experience and captured it on tape. I spent 6 seasons thinking to myself, i don't give a f*ck about any of these characters. Why should i give a f*ck about any of these characters? Which one am i supposed to be rooting for? Emotionally invested in? Its trying to be like that whole pulp fiction royale with cheese thing where people are just gabbing about something unrelated but the reason that scene was so effective was because it was juxtaposed against what they were there in that car to do. But this whole show, even the spin off, it literally took them 20 minutes to do a scene to illustrate, Saul can't sleep. Kim just woke up. Saul left a voice mail with a off key song on it. 20 f*cking minutes. SO. BORING. None of this is important, or vital to the plot, or interesting, or relevant, or, as it tries so desperately hard to be, an exploration of the human condition. And i get the need to not be some pulp action film that is just filled with gratuitous violence and explosions, but i'd rather that than gratuitous boredom and obnoxiousness. If not a show that is primarily kinetic and physical, then at least provide a PSYCHOLOGICAL, cerebral experience that doesn't feel like scraping a cheese grater across my forehead.
Archer (2009)
Instant Classic; Irreverent and intelligent. One of the best comedies of all time
So this is one of those shows where words doesn't really do it justice because if i try to explain everything that is awesome about this show i will surely leave something out. But it was great from the beginning, had pretty much everything already figured out from the pilot. It is comedic gold on so many levels, and they even invented their own style of comedy, a sort of snarky reference laden inside joke within an inside joke within a sex joke, within... oh i don't know, a dead pig. Each one of the characters has their own unique quirks is a bit insane in their own little way and is one of my favorites of all time;
Krieger, the perverted mad scientist who is not actually a doctor. No wait, he's definitely a doctor. Cheryl, the filthy rich masochistic psycho nymph, who is certifiably off her rocker. Pam, the overweight obnoxious dweeby HR director, who is secretly a low key thug who participates in underground fight clubs and drift races with the yakuza in her free time. Mallory Archer, the shamelessly self absorbed, bigoted boss of a completely incompetent spy agency who constantly calls bomb threats in places she would like to eat or stay at for free so she can get ISIS hired to protect it. Sterling Archer, her aloof, cocky son, who is surprisingly competent in the field despite the fact that he constantly screws around on every mission and just generally skates by on luck alone. And of course Lana and Cyril, who are the least funny of the gang, but still pretty funny regardless. They both generally take turns being the voice of reason, while Lana exists to just generally be annoyed by archer and act like a bitch and Cyril exists to be tormented by basically everyone else who taunt his sexual insecurities, or just be a buzzkill when necessary.
This is of course just scratching the surface, we can't forget Barry, Archers cyborg nemesis, Brett, whose superpower is just randomly getting shot, and a whole bunch more. Again, a review doesn't really do it justice.
Then there's a whole host of one liners and hilarious inside jokes. To name a few: "Phrasing!" "I swear i had something for this" "are you not?" "can't or won't?" "pick one!" "LANNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!"
And thats not even scratching the surface of obscure references to literature or culture or history: "Johnny bench called." "Hello, Clyde? Its me, J Edgar Hoovers Mother!" "Beloved illustrator of gnomes? Jesus read a coffee table book!" "I'd rather not. Bartleby the scrivener? Its not an easy read."
I'm still learning new things just from googling archer references. The writers of the show are seriously well read but still insist on being completely immature and childish. Just my kind of people.
I mean just watch this. This will go down as one of the funniest scenes in television, forever. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDA5jVadw68
And its not just that its completely hilarious. The plots are also interesting, and there's action, and in the latest seasons the visual effects have gotten leagues better. I've watched the entire series at least 5 times. I could not have asked for a better comedy series.