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joseph_smyth
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Better Call Saul (2015)
Average at best
Not really sure what I'm missing here. Why people seem to think this is such a great show. I've watched it all (eventually) and was very much 'meh' when it all concluded. Cast are great, some really brilliant but the story itself is so slow and frankly boring at times is soporific. I think most people stuck with it expecting something (anything) to happen and it never really does. It picks up at little with the cartel involvement but then kinda meanders off to a very uninspiring end. I kinda shrugged my shoulders and rewatched breaking bad which is many (many) times better. So if your hoping for Breaking Bad you won't find it here.
Bottom (1991)
Incredibly high level
The quality level of Bottom is insane. Seriously I can't think of a poor episode in the entire run. If it's your type of humour then this is from the very top drawer. Two comedians on their a game probably delivering the best output of their careers. I'd say it's actually up there if not surpassing Fawlty Towers.
Rik Mayall was a comedic genius and a real loss since he passed, can only imagine Ade feels lost without him.
From Gas in Season 1 to Dough in Season 3 you have absolute gems at almost every step.
I've just rewatched all 3 series again and it's aged brilliantly for me. It's British TV gold and will be thoroughly enjoyed for years. So slap on your laughing pants and settle in for British comedy at its absolute best!
Ozark (2017)
What makes a series great
I hate to see you go but love to watch you leave.
Line from travolta in face off and always comes back to me when watching the last episode or ending to a movie I've really enjoyed. The great ones I can watch over and over and even though I'm sad the show is over it's great to see them go out with a bang. Sadly I can't say that for Ozark. It feels flat at the end. Maybe the show runners felt it was keeping with the styling of the show but it just left everyone (or certainly most) feeling cheated of a satisfying conclusion. Fed the line this is how real life is I'm left with the afterthought of 'we don't want real life. That's why we're watching a tv show'.
It's not a show I will ever go back to unlike the often compared Breaking Bad which was able to end on such a high. What's really sad is it has taken massively away from a really good show.
If you want to watch a show with a great beginning middle and end then watch Snowfall.
Wonka (2023)
Missing the gravitas of wilder
Let's start by saying it's a good movie. Certainly watch it. Actors and storyline are pretty solid and as for young wonka yeah not bad.
Issues with the film are two fold. One I think there are too many songs. There was song every 10 mins or so. Simply too many. They were generally ok with some actually good but with so many the good are lost amongst the noise.
Secondly and I think this is a director issue really the film lacks that real lasting impact later that comes from moments. It dosnt structure some of the scenes with enough emotion or platform the moment enough to let the very good actors (aside from the little girl who wasn't great, sorry) shine and take the audience to a height which leaves a last mark. Like when Wilder opens the doors to the chocolate room or tells Charlie that he's won from the original. I think that's down to director/producers to create the moment. The actors certainly looked capable.
All that said the movie is still good and has a couple of elected moments. Grant is excellent (as he tends to be these days having found a comfort level in just being himself) and the best song in the movie remains imagination and a good rendition of it towards the end of the movie.
Game of Thrones: Battle of the Bastards (2016)
As good an episode of TV you'll ever see
To get an episode of this quality so far into a series is incredible. It is without shadow of a doubt as good an episode of TV you will ever see.
The visceral nature of the battle. The highs and low within such a short period of time are an achievement in itself. But the lasting legacy rewatching it now is a touch of sadness at how badly the conclusion was handled.
Keep in mind that there was no guidance in the book for this episode. Unless of course they had access to the fabled Winds of Winter and lifted it from that. So to fall so truly flat in the final season is a tragedy (entertainment wise) when they were able to produce an episode of such incredible quality.
Fake Doctors, Real Friends with Zach and Donald (2020)
Anchor through COVID
I fell into the show during COVID. The team carried you along with them through COVIDs ups and downs. The main stream of the podcast was about scrubs but also just about their lives and in particular the chemistry they share and their close bond which really came across.
In relation to Scrubs it was great to hear them talk through the episodes especially some of my personal favourites and of course they were able to call on guests to give some great additional insight. Personal highlights Richard Kind & John C McGinley but honestly most of them were great. They went off and some tangents from time to time but hey so did scrubs.
I loved it and the team definitely made COVID a little bit better with the show PLUS best theme tune ever. Mmm hmmm.
Snowfall (2017)
Undiscovered brilliance
How more people are not talking about this show I simply don't know. It is one of the best shows I've seen in the last 10 years, probably since breaking bad finished. The core characters follow satisfying arcs and the story itself hits on almost every level. The lead character is terrific is underplayed. Cool and calm - think robert de Niro in Godfather Part 2.
Exploring the rise of heroin in LA and the impact it has on the very community they live in and pertain to support is dramatic. Shows the usual lure of money and its inevitable corruption.
But the characters make this.
Honestly great and if your gangster movie fan or breaking bad then this is 100% for you. Hell even if you just like bingeing great series. Settle in and enjoy the ride.
Oppenheimer (2023)
Over Hyped, under delivered
The casting is phenomenal. A lot of people will go just on that basis. Sadly that's the only phenomenal element to the movie. The movie jumps around oddly without creating satisfying tales. There are missed opportunities to create and impact the real scale of the subject matter. This was a pivotal moment in human history but feels almost unremarkable because of how it was told here.
Easily it could have been 30 mins shorter and cut some of the characters screen time to focus the narrative more effectively. Florence Pugh (thesp darling) was solid & her character got a lot of time (relatively) but felt minor to overall arc and Emily Blunt was excellent but her influence was largely ignored. Some of the scientists where barely mentioned then had major roles to play.
Nolan had chance to smash it. Everything was there for him. He dropped the ball (or bomb if you like) and it's just simply a shame. Ah well.
Game of Thrones: Winterfell (2019)
Ah Meh...
A bit run of the mill to be honest. Not much happened. Very little real drama. The new interactions felt pretty forced. The dragon riding scene with Jon and Danni was running dangerously close to Anakin & Padme territory. It was certainly no an opening with a bang more of an opening with a - well we kind of knew this is what was what. I hope the fact that they are well and truly diverging from the books now that they don't fall flat on their faces. Lets see.
Overall rating - Must do better.
Would hate to see this great show go out with a whimper.
Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017)
So bad.
Its not that the Last Jedi is bad. Its that its soo bad...I really don't understand what move the critics were watching with this or if they are just so afraid of Disney at this point that they dare not give it a bad rating? The biggest disappointment for me on this is that after that massive success of Rogue One (I'm not talking about number of toys sold here but more to the fact that it was such a good movie) for someone not to sit back at Disney and say 'Well we've cracked it! This is the formula to make Star Wars great again.' instead they sat back and said 'Well lets not make another one of those!' There is honestly so much wrong with this film I don't know where to start. I think it may actually (whisper it) be worse than Phantom Menace. Phantom Menace had some glaring issues that if fixed would have made for a decent film. There is nothing that would redeem this. Luke hams it up, Leia (bless her) dials it in and Chewie is on steroids. I'll not bore you all with the problems with the film but simply choose one of my personal worst moments. The scenes with Snoke in are probably the worst CGI I have seen in any star wars movie. His throne room looks like something out of an original series star trek set design and the cgi for snoke himself is just awful and thats before I even start on the characters role in the movie. So disappointed and the only light at the end of the tunnel is a JJ (I'll do whatever Disney tell me to) Abrahams shaped train heading the way of the Star Wars franchise. Sad times.
The Walking Dead: The Day Will Come When You Won't Be (2016)
Nope too much for me
I've watch TWD from day one. The characters have been strong and the development on the whole well paced with excellent twists until this episode. Over the top. Yep. Unnecessary. Certainly. Really weak pacing and scripting. Surprisingly, yes. I feel like they have let the fans down and seem to be moving from a show which has a wide(r) appeal to a more gruesome horror gore audience. Killing Abraham and Glenn felt gratuitous and unnecessary for the plot to develop. There was still plenty of room for those characters to grow into but clearly the showrunners felt the audience needed this twist or they lacked the imagination to achieve the 'impact' in any other way.
Its not for me for sure. I'll leave it with the great series with the Guvnor and even last seasons 'No Way Out' as personal highlights. For the undoubted millions who will stick with it I hope you enjoy and it improves.
The Walking Dead: The Grove (2014)
Brutal.
Well. That was brutal. Truly. I mean for anyone watching that and not feeling incredibly uncomfortable and a gut wrenching distress at seeing Carol kill Lizzie or Lizzie stabbing her little sister. Seriously heavy stuff. Just when you think you have a handle on this show it sucker punches you. Not sure if I liked it but I guess its trying to illustrate that this is not all zombie killing and food hunts. Its a really brutal existence where inconceivable decisions have to be made. From an episode that started slowly you get pulled right in.
I remain a little unconvinced on the structure of the 2nd half of this season with the group scattered but there are certainly more human questions being asked.