1. Mystery Incorporated - So you know how Riverdale is grim dark Archie comics? Well a fan project is doing that for Scooby- Doo and as fan made media goes this is pretty damn good stuff it's kind of really tapping into the spirit of the animated Scooby-Doo films too.
(Note: The first full episode is up on Youtube free and all episodes will be free once they've made them, episode 2 is apparently presently still being made)
2. The first 3 episodes of Emerald City
A sort of Game of Thrones meets Wizard of OZ and I'm really enjoying it so far. I picked it up because it was being sold cheap on Prime Day and figured why the hell not give it a try.
Better Call Saul is back with the last batch of episodes for the series. Episode 8 marks a strong return, and makes me anxious to see what’ll happen with Kim and Jimmy. Plus episode 10 looks to have a cameo by Walt and Jesse.
Also speaking of Aaron Paul, Westworld is getting good in an unsettling kind of way. Those black goo bugs are the stuff of nightmares.
It's really not good at all. At this point I'm just gonna finish the season since there's only 1 ep left but all the show is is people talking about why the themes and plots are important but not really showing anything. It's really frustrating.
New Girl
I was in the mood for some really dumb light bullshit and started watching this sitcom that went off the air 5 years ago. It's dumb but it is exactly what I'm in the mood for. One's appreciation/tolerance for this show is 100% going to be based on one's appreciation/tolerance for Zoey Daschenal's whole thing. You know the whole cutesy whatever.
I will give her props for being a wonderful physical comedian- she reminds of me of Lucille Ball, also someone that figured out how to exaggerated an aspect of her personality to create this annoying likable woman that can get up to some involved site gags. I thought of this comparison in a wonderful scene where she had to act as a model while standing on a rotating platform in impossibly high heels. Sure, it's absurd, but so were the set-ups on I Love Lucy, and it resulted in classic TV moments like the chocolate conveyer belt or the grape stomping competition.
The show threatens to be buried under the increasingly preposterous drama romance plots which very much reminds me of Friends- that show was a mildly amusing but well-written hang-out show that devolved into fucking stupid wanna be soap opera bullshit with Ross and Rachel. Having finished season 3, New Girl seems to be moving into that territory.
It is also interesting to watch a TV show making topical/political references in 2013 and being reminded of how naive everyone was back then.
It's really not good at all. At this point I'm just gonna finish the season since there's only 1 ep left but all the show is is people talking about why the themes and plots are important but not really showing anything. It's really frustrating.
I'm still kinda enjoying it. This last episode though *whew* way too much waxing poetic. Normal human beings just do not talk in these ridiculous platitudes ALL the time. It was neat for a while, it got pretty groan worthy this last episode.
I'd forgotten the second season was out. First one was alright, fun for a bit, doesn't really know where to go or what to do with its premise. It's stuck somewhere between a parody of its own concept and a workplace comedy, doesn't really do either very well, and when given a choice will always try to be cute or likeable rather than funny. This and more of the same still plagues season two, which seems even more directionless than the first season. If I laugh once every episode is at Malkovich's thinly veiled surrounded-by-idiots schtick. No wonder it got cancelled.
I'd forgotten the second season was out. First one was alright, fun for a bit, doesn't really know where to go or what to do with its premise. It's stuck somewhere between a parody of its own concept and a workplace comedy, doesn't really do either very well, and when given a choice will always try to be cute or likeable rather than funny. This and more of the same still plagues season two, which seems even more directionless than the first season. If I laugh once every episode is at Malkovich's thinly veiled surrounded-by-idiots schtick. No wonder it got cancelled.
Space Force, either season, is just a weak comedy that feels like it's aiming for pleasant. It is trapped in this limp, nothingy position where it wants to make fun of people, but undermines it by not being prepared to let them lose and so surrenders any bite. A comedy of mockery, that wants to be heartwarming. The Space Force is embarrassing, but it's also the plucky underdog. The hero is a pompous buffoon, but is redeemed by his honour.
Space Force, either season, is just a weak comedy that feels like it's aiming for pleasant. It is trapped in this limp, nothingy position where it wants to make fun of people, but undermines it by not being prepared to let them lose and so surrenders any bite. A comedy of mockery, that wants to be heartwarming. The Space Force is embarrassing, but it's also the plucky underdog. The hero is a pompous buffoon, but is redeemed by his honour.
I think too it boils down to the nature of the 'comedy' in the show. Everyone is too nice and (bar Don Lake) too smart. Even when they act funny, nobody ever escalates a potentially funny situation. Michael Scott is a great character for a comedy: he creates problems where there are none, escalates them by trying to defuse them, then learns the wrong lesson. Mark Naird, in contrast, never seems responsible for the problems that fall on his lap, is fairly diligent in dealing with them and in the end justice always prevails. And then you have the Malkovich and Shwartz characters, who behave in a funny way but instead of affecting the plot merely react to it. Jean-Ralphio as a PR dude should lead to all sorts of hijinks but instead he is very good at his job - the press conference, the Chinese dinner, etc. Again, no interest in conflict.
Resident Evil, eh? How do they keep managing to be so poor? The initial film was adequate, and the rest are varyingly levels of bad. So surely they could do something interesting with a TV series, right?
Right?
Well... no.
We are introduced to two lines of narrative, past (2022) and future (~2040 or so). In the past, Jade and Billie are early-mid teen daughters of a scientist working on a dodgy drug for the Umbrella Corp called "Joy"*, who accidentally get a little bit too close to the dodgy research. Joy is supposed to promote happiness, the current iteration of which has - let's say in understatement - unfortunate side effects when taken in overdose. In the future, Jade is a field researcher on the run from Umbrella trying to get from the UK to France, with information for what appears to be some sort of resistance to Umbrella, which now seems to be the world's top military power. A virus - no guesses where from - has wracked the global population, to leave about 300 million uninfected and quite a few billion "zeroes" (i.e. zombies) plus some weird worse mutated monsters. Humanity seems to be in some dilapidated, fortified towns, and formed various sort of gangs and cults.
It's hard to put my finger on what's wrong. Nothing, obviously, is wrong. It's not actually bad, and it's certainly better than the films. But why is it so meh? Somehow nothing quite has that spark. In the 2022 version, the teenagers are mostly just annoying. In the 2040, Jade just seems to bounce between frying pan and fire. Despite the annoying leads, the 2022 subplot is probably better: perhaps the idea of how things are going to go wrong is more interesting than the bog-standard postapocalyptic zombie fare, but what should be a potent sense of looming dread isn't really there and the teen adventure dynamic doesn't help. The action-orientated 2040 section just feels like a deeply average action movie.
I am going to say I like some parts, like its take on a crazy cat lady, and the girls' father is played extremely well by Lance Reddick. There's one particularly superb scene where he is called into a school after Billie is in some trouble, lets the accusations play out the normal way for a while, and then with a big metaphorical sigh tells everyone methodically what the real power dynamic in the room is. He is just so good at this sort of role. But, honestly, these can't save an entire series.
Apparently, there's some major league hate going on for this through teh interwebz. I'd say it's probably excessive, but I'm not about to tell anyone this is unmissable either.
* What the fuck drug company calls its drug "Joy"? Has anyone actually looked at drug names, generic or branded?
An alternative take of the Wizard of Oz by way of Game of Thrones. Dorothy Gale grew up not knowing her real mother but has recently got a note saying that her mother is back and wants to talk with her. Eventually after her shift as a nurse Dorothy goes to see her mother as there's a Tornado approaching town only to find her trailer empty. Dorothy goes to a nearby storm cellar and finds the woman she believes to be her mother inside badly injured having clearly been attacked by some-one or something. Going back up when she heard a police siren she sees a deputy who demands she stand still. Problem is the Tornado comes up behind him sucking him up and forcing Dorothy to jump into his police car. After being sucked up in a Tornado the police car is launched along a snowy field and runs owner a woman. Dorothy not recognising where she is and seeing the car has hit some-one tries to seek help only to find she's not in Kansas anymore.
Cue Dorothy getting mixed up in the political machinations of the magic hating Wizard of Oz alongside the Witch of the West, who has banned all Witchcraft and the practice of Witchcraft and the plans of Gilda witch of the North all as The Wizard of Oz tries to prepare to once again fight the beast forever, an almost force of nature like entity that can take many forms but exists to try and bring ruin and chaos to Oz.
Thoughts:
A really amazing first chapter in a story that will never be told because the show was cancelled after season 1. It's really interesting to see this take on the classic tales and see how it sets so many things up and it's own different versions of them from the Scarecrow to the Tinman and even the Cowardly lion. I also quite like how screwed up it makes things. E.G. the Witch of the West runs a brother and relies on Opium to cope with what is essentially PTSD from when she and all the other Witches of Oz (not just the ones named after compass directions) tried and fail to stop the Beat forever previously only for the Wizard to do so and ascend to power on the back of his actions. Also for a 2017 series from NCB, wow do the effects (both CGI and practical) hold up remarkably well.
Not "bad," but the weakest overall LoT season. I think some of that has to do with general apathy from me and waning interest, but even all that aside, the season's biggest issue is that it just lacks overall focus.
Oh sure, there's stuff it focuses "on," such as Sara and Ava's wedding, or Mick's pregnancy (it's complicated), or Constantine's magic addiction, or Spooner's alien stuff, but the threads combining these plot points are pretty thin, and arguably work against each other (combining sci-fi alien tropes with occult magic is...unorthodox, to say the least). Ultimately, the show just kind of muddles its way through things, with some stand-out episodes (e.g. the bowling episode, the dance-off, the animated segment), but as a whole? Yeah.
Not in a good way, it's kind of telling how far the show has drifted from its inception. Season 1? Crack team assembled by crack guy to hunt down one person across time and space. Season 6? Bunch of idiots muddling their way through time and space. That's not bad per se, but, um, yeah.
Also, I might as well talk about the characters, since at this point, the only members of the original group now are Sara, Mick, and if you include her, Gideon. In one of the few good moments in the finale, it's something that Sara and Mick draw attention to, but we've had a 'character foundation' that's slowly withered away. Take Berard, who's only here because of shifts in the timeline, so while they do do stuff with him, it's not the same since he only popped into existence at the end of season 4, so all this stuff has happened with him that the characters retroactively know about because of timeline shifts, but not the viewer. And Spooner is...fine, I guess? I dunno, this might be because of the season more than her, but I dunno, didn't do much for me. And Zari 2.0 just isn't as good a character as Zari 1.0, so the show's kind of shot itself in the foot there.
Anyway, not bad, but it's the worst LoT season, and ranks low in my Arrowverse rankings (see below if you want).
26) The Flash: Season 7
25) Black Lightning: Season 2
24) Black Lightning: Season 1
23) Legends of Tomorrow: Season 6
22) The Flash: Season 5
21) Arrow: Season 3
20) Legends of Tomorrow: Season 3
19) The Flash: Season 4
18) The Flash: Season 6
17) Stargirl: Season 2
16) The Flash: Season 3
15) Supergirl: Season 1
14) Arrow: Season 5
13) Legends of Tomorrow: Season 1
12) Legends of Tomorrow: Season 2
11) Arrow: Season 6
10) Supergirl: Season 2
9) The Flash: Season 1
8) The Flash: Season 2
7) Legends of Tomorrow: Season 5
6) Superman and Lois: Season 1
5) Arrow: Season 4
4) Legends of Tomorrow: Season 4
3) Stargirl: Season 1
2) Arrow: Season 2
1) Arrow: Season 1
Legion Season 3 on Hulu.
Loved Season 1 and 2 but thought it canceled for some reason. Bad marketing I guess. But a pal told me that Season 3 is a thing so I got to see it.
I doubt they ever really knew were they wanted to go with this trippy show but it was a heck of a ride.
David is the title character. In the comics, he is the son of Charles Xavier. A very powerful mutant with multiple personality disorder. Charles does make an appearance in Season 3.
I'm glad I watched it. B+
Fun scene from the show...
A [so far] 8-part series about three friends in Tokyo who one day, following a brief bout of light-hearted mischief that finds them hiding in a subway restroom, find themselves alone in the city which has been abruptly abandoned. As they try to figure out what possibly could have happened to everyone else, the display on the side of building directs them to a specific place in the city where they find themselves in a “game” with life or death consequences.
Apparently, this came out before Squid Game, but I don’t think it’s as good. Starting to find myself less drawn to protracted series that have large, looming questions that keep getting deferred to later in the series. I’m not spoiling much by saying this, but after all 8 episodes, it’s never explained what happened to everyone not involved in the games, but it ends with a cliffhanger that suggests a second season is coming. Starting to get those familiar Lost vibes, and unlike McDonald’s fries, I’m not lovin’ it.
A [so far] 8-part series about three friends in Tokyo who one day, following a brief bout of light-hearted mischief that finds them hiding in a subway restroom, find themselves alone in the city which has been abruptly abandoned. As they try to figure out what possibly could have happened to everyone else, the display on the side of building directs them to a specific place in the city where they find themselves in a “game” with life or death consequences.
Apparently, this came out before Squid Game, but I don’t think it’s as good. Starting to find myself less drawn to protracted series that have large, looming questions that keep getting deferred to later in the series. I’m not spoiling much by saying this, but after all 8 episodes, it’s never explained what happened to everyone not involved in the games, but it ends with a cliffhanger that suggests a second season is coming. Starting to get those familiar Lost vibes, and unlike McDonald’s fries, I’m not lovin’ it.
The feeling I got watching the first episode was that this was probably based on something else that does a better job, like a book or manga. I don't know how true that is, but yeah I didn't make it past episode 1 and my girlfriend gave up on it as well.
Legion Season 3 on Hulu.
Loved Season 1 and 2 but thought it canceled for some reason. Bad marketing I guess. But a pal told me that Season 3 is a thing so I got to see it.
I doubt they ever really knew were they wanted to go with this trippy show but it was a heck of a ride.
David is the title character. In the comics, he is the son of Charles Xavier. A very powerful mutant with multiple personality disorder. Charles does make an appearance in Season 3.
I'm glad I watched it. B+
Fun scene from the show...
I do not understand why Farouk was so accepted and David wasn't for S3. They both did terrible things, why was one bad thing acceptable and the other not. Still a good season but the set up ruined it for me
You're not the only one who's had that feeling. This is something I noticed recently with the YoVideoGames crew. Steve said that the problem with Marvel movies and TV shows that you have to see them out of obligation now, instead of enjoying them. If that's the case, I'd rather look this stuff up on Wikipedia. Not the first time I've had to do that, as I skipped out on Ant Man movies.
You know, I've skipped out on Doctor Strange and Thor. I've done this other phases and just waited to stream it
I personally enjoyed Ms Marvel far more than most Marvel shows. This story should have been split over two seasons because its half-baked. It's also the first time I've EVER watched a weekly show with my daughter because why the fuck would you wait a week for episode. (She 9.) I still haven't watched The Boys season 3 yet because I find weekly programming obnoxious. Anyway, it's the first thing outside the Avengers movie where she actually cared about the movie/show. (Also, she hates spiderman for some reason I can't fathom.)
You know, I've skipped out on Doctor Strange and Thor. I've done this other phases and just waited to stream it
I personally enjoyed Ms Marvel far more than most Marvel shows. This story should have been split over two seasons because its half-baked. It's also the first time I've EVER watched a weekly show with my daughter because why the fuck would you wait a week for episode. (She 9.) I still haven't watched The Boys season 3 yet because I find weekly programming obnoxious. Anyway, it's the first thing outside the Avengers movie where she actually cared about the movie/show. (Also, she hates spiderman for some reason I can't fathom.)
Glad you enjoyed Miss Marvel. I have only minor interest, but I am happy to see get her own live action show. Also, a great way to introduce mutants into the MCU.
Does your daughter hate Tom Holland, Andrew Garfield, or Tobey Maguire? Or does she hate just any version of Spider-Man and the character itself?
The feeling I got watching the first episode was that this was probably based on something else that does a better job, like a book or manga. I don't know how true that is, but yeah I didn't make it past episode 1 and my girlfriend gave up on it as well.
I watched the whole wanting to at least know what happened to the rest of the population, or at least why the select few who remained for the games were chosen, but once it's established that these violent games/puzzles are the main draw, the former, arguably more interesting storyline just becomes an ambient fact and isn't really addressed save for the "survivors" wanting to finish the games and get back to the "real world."
This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
