Disenchantment, this may not be the greatest masterpiece in history, but it is a series rich in adventures, tales, remarkable and fun characters. I loved following this series
A wonderful summary of all the reasons why I despise the vast majority of all horror movies. The only scary parts were the dialogues and what the writers had planned next.
Hipster academics having Seinfeld conversations in a retro fabulous stage play that takes a post-Thunberg twistaroo into existentialism and crisis. Smart aesthetics, precocious kids, family drama. Heavy flavours of New York arthouse, Woody Allen and David Byrne. Early notes of tiresome pretentious satire but a lingering and satisfying aftertaste.
Hilarious from beginning to end with a solid throughline of Bender's disgruntledness with his human compatriots. The all-robot planet was a nice setting for both Trek-ian riffs on weird alien cultures, and some satire aimed at the still salient American xenophobia as well. But apart from the riffs and commentary and good character work with Bender, it's just a damn funny episode. The comedic rhythms of the show aren't settled yet, so the pace is a little slower, but bits like the robot elders saying "Silence" before everything, or Fry obliviously sticking with his "uninhabited planet" line, or Bender trying to get off for Robanukah are just a taste of the laughs in this one. It's striking how funny this show was this early in its run.
[9.5/10] Louise loves her family. Despite a certain mercenary bent, and above-it-all attitude, deep down, the youngest Belcher kid cannot help but appreciate her mom and dad and siblings as something that gives her holidays, and her life, incredible meaning. That is a simple idea, but a powerful one. The characters who put up the most emotional walls tearing them down in choice moments of openness and affections is an old trick, and also one that's undeniably effective.
So is the setup of “The Plight Before Christmas”. Three Belcher kids have important events at the same time in the lead-up to Xmas, and there’s only two Belcher parents to witness these important moments. What can they do?
The answer is try to make it work! There’s a great franticness to Bob and Linda trying to have at least one parent at Tina’s Thundergirls pageant, Gene’s xylophone recital, and Louise’s poetry readings all at the same time. Poor Linda being emotionally ripped in twain at not getting to see all of them is both hilariously over-the-top and sweet for how devoted a mom Linda is to her kids. Bob urgently trying to sneak out of Gene’s musical performance to cram in Louise’s poem, only to get messed up by a rock-headed cab driver and a jog to the wrong library makes for great stakes and great comedy.
So does Gene’s part in this episode. The humor comes from the fact that the music teacher is out with a family illness, In her place is a flummoxed substitute who knows nothing about music (Tina Fey) who has to try to make heads or tails of the regular instructor’s bizarre notation and a group of sixth graders who know as much about playing the xylophone as they do about social security taxes. The terrible, out-of-sync playing in the first half of their concert is a laugh all its own.
I really like the solution though. Gene proposes that they play “fewer notes”, actively removing some of the keys from the various xylophones so that they can better coordinate and play their parts. It is, admittedly, a bit of a stretch that they could go from junk to funk so easily. But it works in the moment, playing off Gene’s intuitive understanding of melody and sense of creativity, and the central idea of the episode -- that drilling down to something essential and earnest pays incredible dividends.
There’s a lot of laughs in Tina’s pageant as well. The Thundergirls’ troop leader and her overmatched efforts to put on this well-balanced but elaborate presentation of world traditions is a comic delight. Linda’s confusion with Tina being “a star”, not “the star” is on brand and very funny. And one of Tina’s fellow thundergirls envying Tina’s part in such a nothing play lends itself to both humor given the stakes, and eventually, one of the episode’s most clever twists.
In a sideways fashion, Tina may be my favorite part of this. I love the fact that she’s the one who realizes, despite Louise’s protests that she’s there to read a poem about poop, that she’s actually going to read something from the heart and is nervous about anyone else hearing it. I love that Tina selflessly encourages Linda to skip her pageant so that she can be there for Louise’s reading. And when Linda feels pressured to keep stage-handing the pageant, the twist of Tina giving the role of the star to her envious co-star, so that by god, someone will be there when Louise spills her guts, is one of the most wholesome and heartstring-tugging moments Bob’s Burgers has ever pulled off, which is saying something.
Not for nothing, “The Plight Before Christmas” is a tribute to the craft of their series. There is incredible power in a montage -- the way the cinematic form can blend images and sounds to capture something deeper, bigger, and more piercing than dialogue alone. The soundtrack of Gene’s performance, the smiles it puts on the faces of the people listening to these kids finding their way, the tension of whether Lousie will open her heart in public or take the ironic prankster route, the pathos of Linda unable to enjoy all her babies’ triumphs at once, the surprise of a loving sister making the frantic journey to a vulnerable moment to show support where it’s needed most -- I’m getting misty-eyed again just thinking about it. Bob’s Burgers rarely gets this artsy, but when it does, it packs a wallop.
So when Tina does arrive in time to show her sister that she cares, to give her the thumbs up, to listen to whatever she has to say, it’s extra moving. Tina, more than any member of the Belcher family, knows what it means to express yourself through the written word, and how vulnerable an experience that can be. She recognizes the opportunity to facilitate and foster a sister who sometimes struggles to present that more sincere side of herself, and vindicate the beauty and acceptance of that.
Louise’s poem is pitch perfect. It’s not overly flowery or tin-eared for something an elementary school student might write. And still, it’s earnest, about how on the day of the year when kids are supposed to be the most excited about the toys and trinkets under the tree, what she appreciates the most are the people she’s sharing the day with. The sentiment is lovely, and it has extra force and resonance coming from someone who’s stingy with that kind of sincerity, who finds the strength and feels the support, to where she’s comfortable expressing such a personal sentiment in front of the whole world (or at least the denizens of the Belcher’s local library).
“The Plight Before Christmas” cuts the treacle a bit with an adorable, teasing declaration of “You love your family!” from Tina on the drive home. But it leans back into the sweetness with another heartwarming montage of the exact sort of family joy that Louise penned a paean to. Linda tends to her husband’s knees while they remark on the gob-smacking poem their daughter wrote. Gene shares their momentous achievement with the teacher in the hospital via Bob’s camcorder. And most of all, the Belchers sit around the tree, opening their gifts, basking in the exact sort of enervating togetherness the youngest member of their clan gushed over in a tense but courageous way.
How is a show this good at a holiday episode in its eleventh at-bat? That's its own sort of Xmas miracle, one that's as worth of celebrating this time of year as any, and a vindication of the spirit of the season, that asks for kindness, support, honesty, and acceptance from all of us, and invites us to revel in the spaces where we find such comfort, solace, and care.
For me 1890 has the best story, followed by 2023. Didn’t like the 1941 timeline much yet.
Was funny when Ed said come over and have dinner and meet Annabelle, the next scene she looked devestated lol.
Timothee Chalamet absolutely won over my heart with this one. When I was growing up I loved both renditions of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory so when I heard they were making a prequel I was definitely intrigued. This was everything my heart could want and more, the songs were sombre and bittersweet - like something out of your childhood dreams. The acting was good, corny at times, but it was the sheer wittiness that gave this film its charm. I would definitely recommend checking this out.
I felt so many things watching this. It's stunning, it's twisted, it's weird, it's hot. One thing's for sure, it'll be on my mind for quite some time.
Unexpectedly theatrical and with substance - like gothic thrilling vice laden modern Shakespeare. This is a film about consumption, the weakness and naivety of arrogance, and a complex first love emotion rolling obsession/jealousy/narcissism into one driving force.
There are three acts for me: Oxford, Saltburn, & madness.
The first act didn't work for me till the second act kicked in. I was worried about a overly-parody-fied and caricatured script. Whilst I recognised the feelings and experiences of Oliver at Oxford, the people were too larger than life and the early laughs didn't land properly for me. Laughing at silly posh young people or uber geeks just wasn't my thing. Some of the cruelty and snobbery played out well though.
The second act puts the first into perspective. The first act which shows an alienated and floundering Oliver gain acceptance from a dislikeable group through the actually sane, kind-ish and likeable Felix sets up for the second act. More unlikeable rich people consuming each other and tossing people away like toys. But Oliver has Felix now and has picked up skills in getting things his way, seduction and sweet talking. But the acting from everyone at Saltburn estate is spot on - I properly laughed at Rosamund pikes and Richard e grants moments. Even though they are all spoilt, sheltered, unwittingly arrogant and judgemental - these characters you like, you see their vulnerabilities and insecurities - you have fun when they have fun.
Things start looking beautiful in the second act. Sometimes distractingly so. The light play, framing, and camera work are stunning. You feel you are in the throws of first love in the best summer of your life. Sometimes this was at odds with the drama or tension in the story.
Final act madness. The sympathy built up for the family now leads into the thrilling dramatic unwinding. The consumers become the consumed. Arrogance and haughty ideas of invincibility led to weakness and fractures.
This isn't an overly cohesive film for me, but I think that's intentional as mis direction. Clues for the real story are laid throughout and I had guessed the ending about two thirds of the way in. I really enjoyed the moments of summer headiness, where everyone is enjoying each other's company. Sometimes the inter-character drama and tensions were too much for me - almost descending into reality tv pettiness. I think thats intentional to show the unsympathetic side of the upper class and olivers push back - I just don't think it needed so much.
The pacing and focus was a little off for me at times. The film was full of symbolism and clever lines but it almost felt too full sometimes. Like vacillating rapidly between moods. There was a moment where I was full of tears at portrayal of grief when others were laughing - very interesting but it left me feeling a bit all Over the place. But excited!
The score and the setting and sterling acting efforts lift the film up into a grand feeling vision. I was a little disappointed that the tone of the trailers wasn't present in the film at all (bloc party song teaser trailer was amazing) . But the score takes this to a different place - British, establishment, old money, young love, hubris and longing - great score.
The film is exciting and there are unexpected moments and some brave choices too. I enjoyed watching this a lot and am excited for more films. There's a lot to enjoy here. Barry keoghans metamorphosis through the film is really really thrilling. Reliving 2006 is fun too - wish just a bit more was done with the music and feeling of that time. Some duff moments for me too so a 7.
Recommend
I'm half tempted to give this full marks just for daring to play Radiohead's Everything in Its Right Place during your typical military in dropship scene. Anyway my boy Gareth knocked out another cracking piece of scifi. You really don't mind when a director takes a few years off and comes back with something like this. There's certainly a fair amount of Rogue One, Blade Runner and Terminator in the mix, the latter of which he takes the Judgement Day plot and turns it on its head defying expectations where I assumed it was going just due to the tropes of the genre.
There's also a lot of stuff on screen for 80mill in comparison to other recent effects heavy films. Gets you wondering if budgets elsewhere escalate to $200 mill mark due to talent demands or that something like this has less behind the scenes VFX artists but take longer to bake? I dunno. Either way, check it out. The trailer gives too much away (as always my opinion) however there's plenty more that isn't shown.
NB. Watch out for the Scarif Easter egg
The first few episodes start off a bit shakey and a lot of the characters initially start off a bit dense and/or one dimensional. I would urge you to give it another go and get through a couple of episodes. After that, this show proves it is entirely worthy of the score and praise it gets.
Unfortunately a massive waste of time. The premise is good, the meat of the story drags a bit, but I was bought in to it until the ending which leaves you with little to no payoff. Some “high-brow” stuff was clearly being attempted. Meant to trigger discussions about the interpretation of the ending. This attempt fails so badly that I am not willing to spend an additional minute googling to find out what it was about. If the movie didn’t respect my time enough to tell me, it doesn’t deserve even more of my time.
Sure, there are movies with open endings. But you can guess at a few different possibilities and the fun comes from figuring out which, if any, is right. This movie is so open-ended that they had to explicitly show “The End” to clue viewers in that it had indeed ended. It’s almost as if they made half the movie and decided to call it quits.
Save yourself from this movie. If you really want to watch it, start the movie and stop at any point. You’ll still have a better movie than what this was. Harsh, surely, but true.
The actors are fantastic. The premise is great. The pacing is a tad slow but forgivable. The “ending” ruins everything.
Naked and Afraid is a surprisingly interesting survivalist show, where a man and woman try to survive in the wild for 21 days. And yes, they are naked... and blurry.
While I like the show, it has some flaws. Naked and Afraid often turns out to be Naked and Starving, since 21 days with little or no food is doable. Another problem is that participants are allowed only one survival item each, but really there are three necessary items: a knife, a firestarter, and a pot. So, most pairs go with the knife and firestarter and just hope to find a pot substitute. It adds some spice when someone varies from this, but mother nature punished duct tape boy and magnifying glass girl for their innovations.
There is survival information to be learned, but not a lot. You learn that drinking from questionable water sources is punishable by death (or close to it.) You learn that starting fires is a lot harder than it looks, especially in a wet environment. You see these things over and over, when it would be more enjoyable to keep learning new things. Perhaps the most important lesson is that there is just no way in hell you are going to survive in the wild with minimal tools, considering that some of these people have trained their whole lives for this and nearly all of them starved.
The spin-off show, Naked and Afraid XL, fixes a lot of the flaws.
the fart scene and entire bench conversation was a riot. hilarious show :sweat_smile::sweat_smile:
"You couldn't be anywhere near Epstein and not know." I have to say the retelling and production quality was outstanding. I had to blink twice with Rufus Sewells make-up and acting. Billie Piper, Gillian Anderson, and Keely Hawes all captivated the perfect amount of acting, "Like a walk in the park." The genius in dialogue and dramatisation, my eyes and ears were hooked. Power in the wrong hands is pure evil, If anything is to be learnt, it's to watch who we give our power to. I do wish it had gone deeper than surface level, but the inside to key events felt good enough.
Two of my favourite quotes from the show are are in this episode. One really funny one from Carolyn goes:
“I can’t stand breakfast. It’s just constant egg. Why? Who decided this?”
And another sad one from Villanelle undercover at AA “I hurt myself, I don’t feel it. I buy what I want, I don’t want it. I do what I like, I don’t like it.”
Both stick in my head.
What is going ON with this show! I usually find Eve and Vilanelle to be very distracting, but today I got bored halfway through and now I don't know all that transpired. This never ever could have happened during season one or two. I don't like the writer change.
I'm mainly watching because I like Eve. And it used to be for V's charms, too, but for one thing, I haven't forgiven her for shooting Eve; and for another, V hasn't been nearly as twinkly incandescent funny this season.
Not that their relationship will heal anytime soon- V is too busy stocking up kills and traumatizing Eve with grisly scenes.
What's the point of this season?
How many Muppets had to die for Villanelle's golf outfit?
Watchable because of the excellent cast but it definitely feels a shadow of its former self.
Jeez that was a tough episode to watch, I thought this was supposed to be a feel good comedy farming show! :cry:
“Do you have any lube”? …. “Lisa has some” haha
Kaleb:
‘Can you please help undress me?’
Jeremy:
‘Cut’
Once more Marisa carried the show, every other character is just a tragically lacklustre experience. And by every other I do mean every other.
Spoiler alert:
How they didn't explain at all that the dying character in the cube was "the Authority" is just another typical failure by the showrunners.
I first read these books just under 20 years ago and wouldn't have dreamed of seeing them adapted like this. There were some less liked changes for me and a few casting duds but the rest made up for it!
I'm glad they dedicated a whole episode to this section, it really deserved it.
Mary's love backstory tweak to falling in love with a woman fit surprisingly well and was beautifully depicted.
I was in tears through Will and Lyra's pain. The actor for Will could have been a bit stronger but crikey, Dafne Keen sure made up for it! Absolutely nailed this character for me.
A beautiful and bittersweet ending. And just as when I finished the book, I didn't want to leave this world.
Seeing reviews of this from places such as "The Guardian", then actually watching the show, made me realize there are a lot of people out there that just want to sh*t on other peoples work for no reason. This isn't Jeremy goofing around for 8 episodes, this is him actually working hard and trying his best. Yes, while he does goof around a bit, I feel like that's just part of who he is and his presenting style. This is definitely worth the watch, and maybe even a re-watch in the future.
