[7.4/10] Ugh, I want to give this episode a higher score. I really do. But the Roland story is so bad. He’s never been my favorite character, but when the show relegates him to the background, he’s not so bad. But now I fear that putting him as a regular presence at the hotel is going to mean more and more of his unfunny shtick.
Case-in-point, Roland once again acts like no human being would. Bringing a mini-fridge to work, watching Erin Brockovich in the middle of the workday, and playing video games on the T.V. you were told to leave at home is just over-the-top, cartoony behavior that has zero basis in reality and, worse yet, isn’t remotely funny. There’s a decent kicker with Jocelyn explaining that she needs him out of the house and Johnny relenting, but it’s pretty meager all things considered and drags the whole episode down.
The David/Stevie/Patrick story about David being unwilling to compromise is much better on a scene-for-scene basis. It’s hard to put my finger on why, but I get such a kick out of Stevie and Patrick scheming to bust David’s eminently bust-worthy chops. In this case, tweaking his inability to compromise with the prospect of plungers and other toilet accoutrement at the front of the store. David’s facial reactions and body language when trying not to betray his utter disgust and disdain are fantastic. The fact that his ensuing rant leads to the first time he refers to Patrick as his boyfriend is a cute button to put on the whole thing, and Stevie’s in rare form.
But the most interesting story in the episode is the one with Moira, Alexis, and Twyla. Moira’s realization that she hasn’t been involved in her own daughter’s life and her fumbling attempts to rectify that nicely walk the line between endearing and comedic. The cold open, with Moira obliviously talking about Ted’s “striking” new girlfriend, is a laugh riot, and Moira’s awkward efforts to learn about her daughter and give her advice for picking up a man, are all quite funny.
They’re also very touching. For one thing, Moira’s earlier clumsy attempts to help her daughter give way to a really sweet statement that Alexis is in her prime and deserves every happiness. It speaks to how mother and daughter are on the same page with how Alexis is once again using Twyla to channel feelings she can’t express herself, and Moira uses Twyla to communicate her feelings back. I’d feel bad for poor Twyla, but she’s touched by Moira’s vicarious compliment and goes home with someone who shares her second favorite color, so surely she’s on a winning streak here anyway.
Still, the best moment is the closing one, where Moira reassures her daughter, not in so many words, that even if you have to wait a year for the right person, when you know there’s something there, it’ll still work out, because it worked out with her and Johnny, so it can work out with her and Ted. It’s the exact reassurance Alexis needs to hear right then, and it’s the perfect counterpoint to her cluelessness in the episode’s cold open.
That story does so well in the end, and the shenanigans involving the Rose Apothecary crew are amusing, but the Roland storyline is so bad that it brings the whole thing down.
[7.1/10] I don’t really know how I feel about this episode. It has two stories that I am, at best, pretty meh on, and one that I like but have issues with.
Once again, the easiest storyline to be meh on is the Roland one. It’s really more of a running gag than a storyline, but the prospect of Johnny being overwhelmed by a charcoal grill, of all things, got no chuckles out of me (beyond, I suppose, Roland’s grill apron puns). It get that it’s a comic relief story, but it has to get some actual laughs for that to work.
The other one I’m meh on, for different reasons, is the Alexis text message story. I actually like her making friends with Rachel who, as far as she knows, is just a random guest at the motel, who helps her diagnose what is clearly an accidental text from Ted. There’s a quick friendship there that’s endearing.
And yet, it’s in service of an increasingly unpleasant instance of Alexis flirting and otherwise being low-key inappropriate with Ted when she knows he has a girlfriend. Again, I don’t need this show to focus on Alexis’s romantic trials and travails, and however much good work the show did last season in actually making me root for Ted and Alexis is undone by her acting this way, and the show reveling in the cringeyness of it.
I’m also of two minds about the David/Patrick story and reveal here. I like the bones of it. There’s something relatable about David having had bad luck in relationships, thinking he’s damaged goods, and it being hard for him to trust even in what’s plainly a good thing because of that bad history. There’s some cute David/Patrick moments and some sweet David/Moira moments in the different pairings recognizing this and encouraging David to push past it. It’s a very human side of David to show, and I like it.
I’m less enamored by the low-grade Jane Eyre-style reveal that Patrick was previously engaged to a woman who’s been contacting him. I said before that Patrick felt too good to be true, so I like the show trying to add some issues that give him more dimension than just perfect boyfriend. But this feels like a weird wedge to put between him and David. I get that it could be a lot of David to take in, but this changes nothing about their relationship, and he knew that this was Patrick’s first step out of the closet. It seems like making a mountain out of a molehill, or at least a moderately sized hill, rather than something important or revealing enough to give them real issues. Maybe the kick is that David has trust issues to begin with, as the episode tells us, so even a medium-sized bump in the road feels like armageddon, but I hope the show doesn’t linger on this as a distance between them and that they both react to it like adults.
Overall, this is a strange, mixed bag of an episode, but with enough good stuff to put it into positive territory.
[6.6/10] Eh, I didn’t love this one. The best of the three stories is the one about Johnny not being good at gifts and Stevie’s reaction to it, and even that was pretty mild. Stevie putting on all the makeup and deadpanning her way through an “appreciation” of Johnny’s gift was a laugh, but otherwise there wasn’t much to this one.
I didn’t really care for either of the other two storylines. Moira initially sidestepping Alexis’s “singles night” idea, then inadvertently stealing it, then taking credit so that she can lead the project did nothing for me. That sort of self-rationalizing self-centeredness is not out of character for Moira, and Alexis being thrust into a much bigger project than she expected is a good story engine, but there’s nothing really funny or endearing about the situation here.
(As an aside, how did Alexis get any kind of degree from Elmdale college in four months. Wouldn’t even an associate’s degree take longer than that?)
I didn’t much care for David’s storyline either. Again, it’s not out of character for David to prolong his break-up with Patrick because he likes being pampered with gifts, but at the same time, it’s not exactly the most likable behavior. Plus, there’s something that feels so broad and sitcom-y about David coming to make up only for Patrick to say he hears David’s silence loud and clear and won’t push him. The fact that David lip syncs to “Simply the Best” feels like a pretty meager apology, and the “I’m not used to this situation” excuse is mildly sympathetic, but requires a little more remunerative action than fake singing along to Patrick’s preferred eighties power ballad.
Overall, this one was mostly fine, but still one of the weaker episodes of the season.
Based on a novel of the same name, the premise of The Princess Diaries is certainly intriguing enough. A coming-of-age Cinderella story with a twist -- Cinderella is not the damsel in distress. She's comfortable in her own awkward shy teenager shell.
The film has all the ingredients of a successful film. And the film was wildly successful. It has a dream team of cast where everyone is as perfectly cast as they can be, starting with Julie Andrews as the queen and Anne Hathaway in her breakthrough debut as Mia. Directed by the veteran of Cinderella films Garry Marshall (Pretty Woman), the film was a low risk bet for Walt Disney.
For the intended audience (young and preteen girls), the film hits all the right notes. Mia's transformation scene is easily the highlight of the film, and it is very effective and well shot.
Yet, the film just didn't work for me. The movie is just all too familiar and predictable. The scene where Mia discovers her heritage carries surprisingly very little revelation and reactions. And the climax just didn't arouse warm reaction it intended to generate. Worse of all, there are just too many cliched and cringe inducing scenes.
All in all, the film is worth casual family viewing. But for me, the strong cast and competent direction couldn't overcome weak screenplay.
Just as slow as the original, but I'd argue it's a better film overall.
There isn't much between the two films, I admit. However, I found 'The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement' more enjoyable than 'The Princess Diaries'. The plot is probably just as interesting, but there's less cringe in this one and the villains are a big improvement.
Anne Hathaway (Mia) is very good once more, while Julie Andrews (Clarisse) does solid things again. John Rhys-Davies (Mabrey) and Chris Pine (Nicholas) are top additions, great casting on the latter by the way given it's Pine's feature film debut.
I also said in my review of the 2001 film that I don't like fictional places in live-action, non-fantasy productions. That's still the case here, but I didn't actually mind it all that much to be honest. "Genovia" is way more believable here, thanks to us actually getting to see it for real - as opposed to it just being referenced.
As noted, there are still a few cringey moments and it does run too long. There are some sweets parts, though. It's also kinda weird that, technically, Mia and Nicholas are related; a number of generations back sure, but still...
A sequel that (minorly) improves on its predecessor, that's always a positive in my book.
The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement is a 2004 American family comedy film starring Julie Andrews and Anne Hathaway. This film is also the sequel to 2001’s The Princess Diaries. In this film, Queen Clarisse (Andrews) is abdicating the throne, and Mia Thermopolis (Hathaway) learns that she needs to marry within a month in order to be Queen of Genovia. At Mia’s 21st birthday party, she meets the dashing Lord Nicholas Devereaux (played by Chris Pine in his film debut).
I’ve actually never watched the first film, but pop culture has filled me on the context of the characters, setting, etc. That being said, I was interested in watching this Disney classic, regardless of the order!
I thought that the acting, especially by Hathaway and Pine, were well done. Hathaway still portrays Mia as the down-to-earth, rambunctious girl I’ve come to perceive her as, and Pine is a charming and bantering young lord who often bickers with Mia throughout the film. And of course, Julie Andrews is superb as Queen Clarisse, as she is the definition of grace, class, and beauty.
The plot was honestly predictable, but c’mon... it’s a Disney film. It was still enjoyable to watch! And the music gave it a nostalgic touch (at least for me, watching it in 2021), making it a great feel-good movie.
With the plot being predictable, I wouldn’t rewatch the film.
Brace yourselves, dear viewers, for this episode will undoubtedly spark heated debates among fans. Some will love it, while others will loathe it—much like the game itself.
The Last of Us ends with a masterful coup de grâce, cementing this adaptation's place in the pantheon of prestige television.
It is sombre and dark yet replete with emotions that run deep. Joel, at long last, becomes a man of action. Whether his actions are morally defensible, however, is a subject of endless debate.
Staying true to the game, this episode does not falter in its execution, boasting a master-stroke opening that sets the stage for a gripping narrative to unfold. The strategic use of a flashback adds layers of complexity to already richly-wrought characters, serving as a catalyst for some of the most poignant dialogue between Joel and Ellie to date—dialogue sure to leave the audience teary-eyed.
The action is far from glorified, leaving viewers in a state of visceral shock and awe. The last couple of episodes have served to do some fantastic work for Joel, and this episode is the proverbial cherry on top, truly a beautiful and profound culmination of his character arc. Indeed, the show is a thing of beauty, but beauty that is shrouded in darkness.
Were a flaw to be ascribed, it would be that of brevity. At a mere 40 minutes, the finale feels curtailed. The absence of the Cordyceps is understandable, given the laser-focused narrative, though it marks a deviation from the source material.
By turns harrowing and humane, towering and intimate, this finale buries its hooks deeply in the viewer, capping off a brilliant maiden season. Love it or loathe it, impassioned discourse will assuredly abound in the wake of this uncompromising conclusion to the first chapter of The Last of Us.
01x09 - Look for the Light: 8.5/10 (Great)
[8.8/10] There’s a funny thing about these updated, transmogrified Shakespeare adaptations like 10 Things I Hate About You. If you didn’t know better, you could call the plots convoluted. There is a complicated web of relationships and deceptions, to the point that you practically need a diagram to explain it properly.
In short, Michael helps his friend Cameron woo Bianca by convincing Joey to pay Patrick to date Kat, because Bianca, per her father Mr. Stratford, cannot date until Kat does. With me? Well then, it turns out that Kat dated Joey, and after Bianca picks Cameron over Joey, Joey picks Bianca’s friend Chastity, while Michael pursues Kat’s friend Mandella, as Kat and Patrick’s tempestuous relationship takes root.
It’s a little dizzying, and yet the complex string of friends and enemies and relationships that tow the line between put-ons and genuine affection track nigh-perfectly into the high school setting. Despite the dense qualities of that big ball of string’s worth of plot threads, the complicated social structures and intersecting circles of high school make for the perfect way to realizes The Bard’s comedies in the modern day.
But 10 things is more than just a transmogrified version of The Taming of the Shrew. It also a charming tale that captures the heart and hazards of adolescence at the same time it exaggerates them for comic effect. What’s most impressive about the film is how it has its cake and eats it too on that front. There are goofy beats and subplots that only happen in teen movies, like unexpected party scenes and famous bands showing up to play contemporary (hopefully) chart-topping hits for the soundtrack.
But amid that broader material, there is a real examination of what it is to play up or down to expectation, a theme present in the work that inspired 10 Things, but which is given new life in the guise of the teenagers who are at that point in the fraught process of growing up where they’re deciding who and what they want to be, in love and in life. The gross wager that turns into real love is a hoary trope (see also: fellow 1990s borrower She’s All That) but by rooting the romance at the core of the film in two people who embrace a thorny image and find the hidden depths behind the prickers in one another, the film does justice to its source material and resonates with a target audience trying to figure out which parts of who they are malleable, which parts are non-negotiable, and which parts are fit to be broadcast to the rest of the world (or at least, the relevant social circles)>
It is also just damn charming. The film is full of quotable lines and crackerjack exchanges between characters. The cutting aside is wielded well and often, and side characters like teachers (including the great Allison Janney) and parents (Larry Miller, who nails both comedy and emotion as Mr. Stratford) provide a backdrop of colorful characters for the main story to flourish in. The writing stands out in 10 Things not just for the amusing lines which liven some otherwise familiar teen material, but for the way it allows the film to, in true Shakespeare form, shift tones into more serious material when it needs to.
The same goes for the characters. Kat shoots off the best zingers in the movie, and with her rebellious attitude and literary bent, it would be easy to turn her into a one-dimensional avatar rather than a character. Instead, the film roots her perspective and demeanor in an experience with Joey that gives form to her concerns of Bianca following in her footsteps, and gives just enough context to her mom leaving to make the crisis of conscience and turning point understandable.
By the same token, Bianca could easily be a generic popular girl, and in fairness, at certain points of the film, she is. But she too has a simple but meaningful arc of playing to expectations only to realize that she doesn’t necessarily like what that gets her, and it allows the two sisters to grow in their understanding of one another in strong scenes that deepen their relationship.
The objects of their affection receive a bit of shading as well. The reveal that Patrick, who puts on a gruff exterior and bears the reputation derived from many humorous urban legends about him, is not as wild as he seems is, perhaps, a predictable one. But he gains strength from the way that he and Kat see bits of themselves in one another, Cameron is a bit flatter, learning a trite if endearingly-put lesson about not accepting the notion that he doesn’t deserve what he wants, but there’s enough there to give ballast to the enjoyable-if-disposable teen romp elements.
Even Mr. Stratford, who is arguably the most outsized major character in the film, gets a bit of shading. While he spits out awkward-sounding nineties slang and is comically overprotective and paranoid of his daughters getting pregnant, the film balances that with a subtext to his insecurities about Kat leaving for Sarah Lawrence. There is a Daria-like quality to the film’s ability to poke fun at the parent-child relationship, but also find the sweetness and sincerity in it.
That’s what makes 10 Things more than the sum of its byzantine bets and love triangles. Some twists are convenient, some gestures a little too big to work anywhere but on the silver screen, and some bits of forgiveness come a little too easy. Still, the film keeps its plot, humor, and drama working in sync, where one scene can make you chuckle, the next will let you get to know a character a little better, and the one after will tug at your heartstrings, just a little bit.
The oh-so-nineties soundtrack immediately places in the film at a specific moment in time, but it speaks to the relatable qualities of that quest to figure out both who you are, and who’ll accept you for who you are, that feel like life and death for all seventeen-year-olds. 10 Things is a touchstone for those who grew up with it, both for the quips and clever asides that let the film crackle, and for the notion of young men and women, cutting through pretension and presentation, and finding something true beneath it, in themselves and in the people they love.
Though stylish like all the previous entries, this one simply felt like it had been directed by someone who had played a bit too many sessions of online shooters or really enjoyed the 'new mission / new setting' feel of the Hitman series. The fact that Keanu's word count in this movie is probably lower than 200 further cements this feeling.
There is almost no content of worth. The movie achieves something previously unimaginable by this series by making the fights feel like repetitive cookie cutter clutter and thus extremely boring to sit through. We get it, John is a superhuman assassin who's GunFoo is better than most. We do not need the same fights 7-8 times to hammer that home. With the body count growing to match that of a warzone, and not a single scratch on John, where are the stakes? Why should the audience care?
Then there are the spectators.
During some of these fights there are masses of spectators, just normal folks either dancing at a club or driving around Arc de Triomphe, that do not even blink as John is peppered with machine gun fire and men with axes come after him. As the bodies pile on, these spectators just continue their NPC activities like they are in a badly coded 90's video game.
It should be obvious to anyone that the series is running out of ideas when it needed to up the ante so much with the firefights that John's most used item is not the guns he wields, but the bullet proof suite he wears.
For most of the fights we see him cover his head with his jacket as he returns fire in generic setting after generic setting.
At the entirely too manieth such fight, roughly 2 hours into this 3 hour bore fest, I walked out.
This is the best episode of Silicon Valley in a few seasons. Richard's arc in this series frequently lacks context and judgment. I don't necessarily need to see him punished or learning from his actions, but I do wish that it was handled with more grace. His path towards megalomania is so steeped in a lack of self-awareness and arrogance that it seems to genuinely make me wonder how a guy like that wouldn't understand that he is no better than Belson. A few times Jared stepped in to attempt to center him, but it never works.
I don't think there's anything wrong with this execution so much as I don't feel like it resonates with me because I haven't really found a character to center myself around. In the sixth season, everyone feels to be their most caricaturized version of themselves. That's a frequent problem in comedy television, I know, but it's made worse by the fact that the first few seasons of this series did a really solid job at keeping the zany-ness of these characters limited to very specific moments, perhaps best characterized by Gilfoyle. In the early seasons, he was still the anarchy and code-loving satanist, but that humor became so good because it was rooted and really seemed to be the only guy really centering Richard. Now, that's all he is. He's not centered in anything other than messing with Dinesh.
This episode feels like it finally has the right balance between comedy and plot that the first couple seasons nailed so well. There's a drive to everything that we see that feels like it has a better understanding of doing bad things for relative good.
Not exactly a satisfying ending but I guess better than "it was successful, everyone got rich, the world changed for the better, the end." Pretty creative, albeit this and the previous episode started taking this AI concept a bit too far considering the state of that technology. The simple premise of using some fancy new compression technology that leads to all these interesting ideas is quite convincing and not so far from reality that it stays clear of being straight up science fiction. But this grounded approach is thrown out the window with this AI deux ex machina stuff. Maybe they should have thrown in some quantum computing while they were at it. It's a bit simplistic that Dinesh could just plug in a USB drive to upload the code. The rats were a clever touch though. The 10+ years later trope is always a bit of a cop out, and is even cliché at this point (cf Parks and Recreation, Veep …).
Wasn't expecting the season to end after only 7 episodes. Altogether a great series, unfortunate that the production hit some rough patches near the end and presumably cut some corners in order to end up where it needed to.
[6.5/10] Every story in this one was some mix of good and bad, or in one case, outright bad.
Let’s start with that one. Alexis is the worst here. So not only does she lie to Ted about keeping things from their former relationship, but then she plays a convoluted game of take-backsies with Twyla over a locket that Ted had given her, after insulting her appearance, no less. Sure, I guess Ted calls her on the lie eventually and Twyla ends up with a bunch of expensive jewelry because of it, but it’s a bad case of Alexis being shitty and there’s hardly a laugh to be had in it.
The biggest mixed bag is Moira’s story. Her going crazy after taking a host of Bosnian pep pills is the sort of broadest of broad humor that makes me roll my eyes. That said, Catherine O’Hara is a champ and manages to sell at least some of it. But the whole “Johnny’s secret love letters” bit hitting the gossip train is just a dumb storyline. That said, I like where they end up with it, with Johnny explaining that Moira wrote them herself while injured and on painkillers, and Johnny had taken them out because he missed her while she was filming in Bosnia. It’s still a dumb subplot, but it at least ends in a sweet place.
The really weird storyline is the one where David and Stevie get robbed. For what it’s worth, I thought the scene where the actually get robbed is hilarious. The two of them being caught like deer in the headlights and not knowing what to do, scrambling around to try to placate their would-be attacker, is a nice bit of comedy, especially with the performers’ reaction to the whole thing.
What’s strange, though, is how “Love Letters” follows that up. Apparently they “did it wrong” somehow? Apparently attempting to mollify a potential robber with luxury goods when you don’t have cash to hand over is bad for some reason? And they should have challenged him on not having a weapon despite the fact that they had no idea what was or wasn’t under his jacket? When someone in a mask threatens you and tells you they’re robbing you, you don’t have to risk bodily harm, especially if you’re someone like David who, let’s face it, probably isn’t much good in a fight. It’s really bizarre to me how both Patrick and the cop give him and Stevie shit over it. The two are very funny in their scenes, so I’m inclined to give it a pass on laughs alone, but it’s a really weird setup.
Overall, this one has a few funny and/or nice moments but a lot of problems on top of them.
[8.2/10] This one went in a few directions that I wasn’t expecting, and I liked all of them heartily, so it gets a “great” from me!
The storyline I was least into was Alexis fretting over a tarot card reading from Twyla that predicts bad things happening on their Galapagos trip. Maybe it’s just that I’m not a superstitious person, but it seems like a silly source of conflict. That said, it’s totally legitimate if it’s just reinforcing Alexis’s preexisting concerns, and I like the notion that she’s grappling with the prospect of missing her family for the first time. It’s more emotional growth for her, to the point that even experiencing that sort of longing is a foreign feeling to her. Ted reassuring her that if it feels wrong, they can go back home is a nice tonic to it, as is Twyla reassuring her that she sees a “golden ring” around the Rose family.
That certainly bears out for Johnny. What everyone worries is a heart attack turns out to just be a bit of severe heartburn. There’s not a lot of actual jeopardy, since it seems unlikely that the show would kill off Johnny at this point. Still, what’s heartening is seeing the reaction from the rest of the cast.
Let’s get this out of the way. Roland continues to be terrible and why they haven’t written him off the show by this point is beyond me. That said, I love Moira’s reaction to the prospect of Johnny being in mortal peril. Her freaking out at the hotel, telling Johnny that he’s the most important thing in the world to her, and all-around caring about her husband’s well-being is a really nice note to play from a character who can often be pretty self-centered. Even when the show was shaggier than it is now, the caring relationship between Johnny and Moira was always a highlight.
Likewise, I really like how clearly affected the less-than-emotive Stevie is over the prospect of Johnny being in trouble. Her sense of panic and relief that this surrogate father figure is okay has an understated but very potent sweetness to it that I really liked.
Speaking of sweetness, I was absolutely not expecting Patrick’s proposal. He and David bickering over the prospect of a hike felt like one of the standard, broad sitcom-esque setups that the show does now and then. Instead, it’s a great tribute to the way that Patrick and David can be on different pages but look out for one another when it really matters. David is obviously not the hiking type, but when Patrick is in trouble, he pushes out of his comfort zone and takes care of the man he loves.
The actual proposal is exceedingly sweet, full of another heartfelt performance from Noah Reid, and a great emotional reaction from Daniel Levy. There’s enough humor throughout all the serious stuff here to keep it funny and light, but the emotions feel honest, which makes the whole thing work.
Overall, this one went to some more significant places than I was expecting, but in a good way!
[7.9/10] I like that the finale is mostly a Stevie episode. She’s my favorite character on the show, so it’s nice to see her get that sort of focus. I’ll admit, I totally bought that she was still nursing some hurt feelings over David getting married. It’s not a well the show has gone to a lot in recent seasons, but if ever there was an occasion to bring up some season 1 romantic drama between them, this was it.
Instead, they swerve things to a lovely place. Her getting monogrammed towels for David is such a sweet gesture, one that ties into how their friendship started in a very cute way.
And yet, she is still struggling with the news, albeit not out of jealousy or regret. She’s just seeing people move on and grow in their lives while she fears staying stagnant “behind the front desk.” Once again, though, Moira has some wonderful reassuring words for her, affirming Stevie’s coolness, the way she knows who she is and stands her ground, and how that will serve her well whether she sets sail or stays put. It’s an emotional scene, and like most Moira/Stevie scenes a great one.
Even better is how it gets used in the show. Moira doesn’t just reassure Stevie, she tells her to use that feeling in the show. There’s a perfect dovetail between Stevie’s worries and those of Sally Bowles, and “Maybe This Time” makes for a great emotional climax for the character this season. It feels like a real community production, but also suffused with the truth that comes from the character’s journey.
On the comic side, there’s a lot of laughs to be had from everyone hearing David’s news before he has the chance to make an announcement. There’s also some nice spiraling out of control here and there, and Johnny feeling leery about his daughter leaving, which pays dividends both for the comedy quotient and the adorable dad quotient.
Of course the big cliffhanger is that Moira’s big movie is getting shelved, which devastates her, since she potentially viewed it as the start to her comeback and maybe even her ticket out. I’m curious to see where they go with it!
Overall, a lot of nice stuff here, particularly for Stevie, which is a good thing in my book.
[7.5/10] It speaks to the quality of the Alexis/Ted storyline here that I would rate this episode as pretty darn good overall, despite the fact that the other two storylines in this installment are crap. Once again, we’re in the bizarro world equivalent of the show’s early seasons, where Alexis’s arc is the backbone of the series rather than the albatross around its neck.
I have to admit, when Ted showed up on Alexis’s doorstep and seemed pensive, I worried he had just flown across the country to break up with her. Instead, it’s just a job offer to stay in the Galapagos for three more years and an admission that he’s not sure what to do.
Alexis isn’t either. As I’ve said before, some of my favorite stories in the series are the ones where Alexis shows genuine growth and maturity and this may very well be the peak of that. Her deciding that she couldn't bear to have the man she loves give up his dream job for her, nor could she live in the Galapagos, and so they both have to move on, amicably as friends, is one of the hardest but strongest decisions we’ve ever seen her make.
Ted, of course, affirms it, knowing that he wouldn’t want her to give the career she’s built anymore than she’d want him to give up his. So what follows is sad but sweet. Alexis expresses that they built each other up to this point, giving one another the support and comfort to realize their dreams. I’d be lying if I told you I wasn’t hoping for some “Five Years Later” tag in the finale where they reunite down the line. But in some ways it’s better if they don’t, because this moment, of toasting what you have when the mature thing to do is let go of it for now, may be the most grown-up, empathetic, and human Alexis has ever seemed. It’s been a hell of a journey for her, and this may be the high point of it.
That’s a good thing too, since the other two storylines bring almost nothing to the table. I called Patrick coming back from the spa with an orange glow tan from minute one. David as a bridezilla is getting really tiresome, and the gags here are predictable and weak. There’s something mildly cute about the two taking candids on Stevie’s cellphone afterward, but I really hope we’re building to something with David’s behavior with this stuff, otherwise it’s just unfunny shtick.
Likewise, Johnny waving off Roland, Jocelyn, and his wife from the “Presidential Suite” at the new motel is totally reasonable. Moira making a big production over how they should move there is more unpleasant behavior from her, and the Schitts sneaking into the suite after the Roses have already decided to break Johnny’s rule and stay there was, again, predictable. This whole portion of the show has been a graveyard of laughs in recent episodes, and that continues here.
Overall, the Alexis storyline works like gangbusters and is one of the character’s crowning moments. The other two stories are, at best, the fertilizer her narrative grows out of.
[7.7/10] Liked this one quite a bit. Two strong storylines that had great beats for a variety of characters.
I honestly don’t know which one I liked better. The one where Johnny struggles over whether he can pay for both the new second motel and his son’s wedding catering seemed like it was about to crater. The whole “business vs. family money trouble” bit is a cliché, and it started to lean into some more unpleasant bridezilla tropes for David. Plus the humor of Johnny trying to not-so-subtly find ways to go less expensive at the caterer’s was pretty tepid.
But from there things took a really nice turn. For one thing, David coming and telling his dad that the extra plates aren’t his dad’s financial responsibility and that if Johnny can’t afford the catering at all, David would totally understand helps mitigate his wedding-related nutso-ness. Likewise, Johnny’s predicament takes on a more emotional tone when he recalls that he and Moira had set aside their own nest egg for David’s wedding, involving flying people to Bali and other extravagance, and now he’s struggling to just pay for beef tenderloin. It’s not just about the financial situation it’s about being able to provide for your kid on a major day in their lives and the sense of not measuring up to your own expectations that reminds Johnny how far he’s fallen. Eugene Levy does some of his best work in the series in that moment.
The solution, though, is even better. Stevie using Johnny’s own techniques from his book to come up with a strategy to franchise the Rosebud and solve their financial woes is a nice beat for her. I’ll admit, it seems like a stretch, but it works within the willing suspension of disbelief of the show, rouses Johnny, and proves Stevie’s business mettle.
I also greatly enjoyed the Moira/Alexis story. For one thing, the soap opera humor is worth plenty of chunkles, and it’s a venerable strain of comedy. More than that though, I like the trajectory of Moira being ready to sign on for a reboot, being steered toward the truth by her daughter, and then getting a measure of revenge and perspective. Alexis having the shrewdness to research what happened and understand who has leverage continues her development, and Moira slapping the co-star who squeezed her out and “going after what she’s worth” at her daughter’s encouragement is a great corresponding note for her to play.
Overall, this one is a breath of fresh air in what’s otherwise been a weaker season, with quality things for almost all the major characters to do.
[7.1/10] What a weird finale. I guess the show wanted to save most of its pure sentiment for the prior episode, and let this one be mostly a wackier showcase with a few grace notes. I can respect the approach, but the execution was...strange.
Let’s start with the obvious. A happy ending? On the day of the wedding? And we’re treating it like some typical wacky sitcom occurrence? As David himself might say -- what the fuck? This is such a weird storyline, and maybe I’m just a prude, but I feel like someone having sexual contact with a stranger on the day of their wedding, whatever the implausible mix-up over it may be, should be a big serious deal and not some zany T.V. misunderstanding that gets cutely mentioned in one’s vows. I assumed the whole thing was a prank at first, because it’s a ludicrous and downright odd plot point to throw in at the eleventh hour.
On a lesser note, in what world would Alexis wear white to her brother’s wedding when she’s giving him away? Even assuming she would be oblivious or malevolent to want to draw focus, you’re telling me that David wouldn’t have vetted her dress seventy-eight times before the big day? Again, it’s wacky and just plain weird.
This is also a fairly formless episode. Nominally, everything is building to the nuptials, but there’s little structure or progression to it, more of just a hodgepodge of different scenes that have little to do with one another up to that point. Theoretically, you have the conflict of the outdoor wedding being rained out, but that becomes a pretty mild hurdle pretty quickly.
Despite that, there’s a lot of nice individual moments here. I like Alexis having the epiphany that the Roses losing their money was, ultimately, a good thing that nudged them to grow and made them better people. Her embrace of her mom and drinking in that this will be the last time they’ll all be together like this is really sweet. While my wife would probably have killed me if I tried to sing 90s pop during my vows, I like Patrick singing a snippet of Mariah Carey for David, not to mention the Jazzagals’ vocal rendition of “Simply the Best.” I like Johnny walking Stevie down the aisle and kissing her on the forehead, a nice bit of symbolism for the paternal relationship they’ve developed over the course of the show. I like David telling Alexis how consistently impressed by her he is. These moments have little to do with one another, but they’re all very nice.
Most of all I like Moira’s material here. Granted, her pope getup is a little too out there for my tastes, but your mileage may vary. But she’s more or less the only character in this episode with an arc. More than any member of the family, she’s been the most anxious and unwavering about wanting to leave Schitt’s Creek. Throughout the victory lap that is this day, she’s resisted being sentimental about the wedding or about leaving. But when she’s up in front of everyone, she melts more than a little, affirming that the fickle winds of life can lead you to unexpected places, but that she is, against her own judgment, grateful and touched that they brought the Rose family here in the company of so many wonderful people. It’s as fine a final statement and summation the show could possibly make, with the added power of it coming from arguably the show’s least sentimental main character.
So there’s hugs and final goodbyes and drives off into the sunset. It ends on a goofy note, with the Roses having been added to the town sign, in a bit that may cheekily be the culmination of people saying that it looks like David and Alexis are a married couple given her dress. Shrug.
In the end, Schitt’s Creek died as it lived: a show with unexpected heart and character growth that buoyed it even in lean times, but whose comedy was hit or miss, ranging from the undeniably hilarious to broad sitcom wackiness. It’s one of those series that I’m glad to have watched, but which I don’t think is going to stick with me the way some of my favorites have.
That’s because it felt like it could never seem to get all of its pieces working at the same time. When David was having real growth and development, Alexis was mired in romcom drama. When Alexis was changing as a person, David had more or less hit his limit and was playing out the string in his character arc. Johnny could be wrapped up with Stevie in ambitious projects and a warm quasi-parental relationship, or swallowed up by the usual dose of Roland’s crap. And Moira always had the strength of Catherine O’Hara’s performance, but the show didn’t always know what to do with her on a long term basis.
Season 3 is the closest Schitt’s Creek came to really firing on all cylinders, and seasons 2 and 5 hit some real high points as well. But you could also feel the show running out of gas or not being sure where to go with various characters during its run.
Still, I will also remember the show’s best moments, particularly its slow transformation of the Roses from high society snobs who disdained this place to better people who were grateful for what it gave to them and spurred within them. I’ll remember the particularly great comedy when that emerged when you could get all four Roses in the same room (and if Stevie’s there too, all the better). And I’ll remember its overall gentleness, the way it was easy to watch in bunches given its lightness and warmth. As both something of a throwback and a very modern sitcom, Schitt’s Creek was a bit of an odd duck, but also one worth stopping by the water to see.
When I started this show, the night of the multiple Emmy wins, I was confused. It seemed like an Arrested Development rip-off with a load of more conventional sitcom tropes thrown in, but without the laughter track.
After the first two seasons, I found myself asking people who'd watched it all about when it gets good. And now, having watched every episode, I find myself asking the same question. There were some great scenes and some good episodes, but never a consistent run of great episodes. At no point was it funny enough to justify the tedious and saccharine sentimentality (if I'd wanted to watch The Waltons, I would've done), nor emotionally striking enough to justify the comedy deficit. The only 'emotional' moment really that worked was the final scene with Alexis and Ted.
In its favour, it had great leads performing the thin material very well, and it was an easy, unchallenging watch. One of the key features of a good comedy is whether I'd want to watch it again, and in this case it is very unlikely.
So I'm still left wondering what merited all those Emmys, not least because every main character (other than maybe Alexis) had become a broad caricature of themselves by the weak final season. That said, the Emmy's picked a serviceable but unremarkable Rick & Morty episode over one of the greatest TV episodes ever (the penultimate episode of Bojack), so what the hell do they know?
Barbenheimer: Part 1 of 2
This is the kind of film I really don’t want to criticize, because we don’t get nearly enough other stuff like it. However, mr. Nolan has been in need of an intervention for a while now, and unfortunately all of the issues that have been plaguing his films since The Dark Knight Rises show up to some degree here. Visually it might just be his best film, and there’s some tremendous acting in here, particularly by Murphy and RDJ. However, it makes the common biopic mistake of treating its subject matter like a Wikipedia entry, thereby not focussing enough on character and perspective. As a whole, the film feels more like a long extended montage, I don’t think there are many scenes that go on for longer than 60 seconds. There’s a strong ‘and then this happened, and then this happened’ feel to it, which definitely keeps up the pace, but it refuses to stop and let an emotion or idea simmer for a while. There are moments where you get a look into Oppenheimer’s mind, but because the film wants to cover too much ground, it’s (like everything else) reduced to quick snippets. It’s the kind of approach that’d work for a 6 hour long miniseries where you can spend more time with the characters, not for a 3 hour film. I can already tell that I won’t retain much from this, in fact a lot of it is starting to blur together in my mind. There are also issues with some of the dialogue and exposition, such as moments where characters who are experts in their field talk in a way that feels dumbed down for the audience, or just straight up inauthentic. Einstein is given a couple of cheesy lines, college professors and students interact in a way that would never happen, Oppenheimer gives a lecture in what’s (according to the movie) supposed to be Dutch when it’s really German; you have to be way more careful with that when you’re making a serious drama. Finally, there are once again major issues with the sound mixing. I actually really loved the score, but occasionally it’s blaring at such a volume where it drowns out important dialogue in the mix. I’m lucky enough to have subtitles, but Nolan desperately needs to get his ears checked, or maybe he should’ve asked some advice from Benny Safdie since he’s pretty great with experimental sound mixing. My overall feelings are almost identical to the ones I had regarding Tenet; Nolan needs to rethink his approach to writing, editing and mixing. This film as a whole doesn’t work, but there are still more than a few admirable qualities to it.
Edit: I rewatched this at home to see whether my feeling would change. I still stand by what I wrote in July, though the sound mix seems to have been improved for the home media release. It sounds more balanced and I didn’t miss one line of dialogue this time around. I’m slightly raising my score because of that, but besides that I still think it’s unfocused, overedited, awkwardly staged and scripted etc.
5.5/10
[Edit] THIS MOVIE IS 3 HOURS LONG???? THREE HOURS???? Dear god one hour felt like an ETERNITY in the theater.
Unfortunately walked out because I got overstimulated cause it was a lot louder than expected, and also really fucking boring.
Visually stunning movie. Absolutely gorgeous. The effects done in camera, the cinematography, the acting, everything is just so much fun to look at. Christopher Nolan knows how to make a damn good looking movie. Hats off to the team that made this thing.
But writing wise... damn, it underperformed.
Other commenters mentioned that this feels like a Wikipedia entry or a montage of 60 second clips, and damn they are right. The writing just did. not. hit. It was hard to follow any of Oppenheimer's personal life and to actually feel anything for him or any of the people in his life. I don't expect a movie to hold my hand. But I do expect pace to be managed well and to have a bit of breathing room to be able to process stuff. This did not give you the time to do it lmao.
Also the characters just... didn't interact in an engaging way. Less than 20 minutes into the movie I was already checking my watch to see how much more of this I had to sit through! I didn't know half of the characters' names, or half of their relationships to each other, or why they were even relevant. Like the best example of this is Oppy and Einstein's interactions. They have beef, but it's hard to understand why? There's like... two interactions before the one hour mark that total less than a minute of on-screen time together. Einstein gets a few words in there and it's just very very unclear why they hate each other, or how they met, or what any of their background is. It's confusing!
Also let's talk about Oppenheimer's motivations. As a literal communist, I should empathize with Oppy and understand where he's coming from. But I don't! Because he's a fucking idiot! When he's talking with other leftists, he mentions "Isn't ownership theft?" and the person in the communist party is like "It's property, actually" and he's like "Well sorry I read all three volumes of Capital in original German" and he's like... just a dick??? But also no fucking leftist who is going around having read all three volumes of Capital talks about that shit! That's just dumb! And the entirety of his leftist politics are portrayed in a way that make him look like an egotistical maniac with dumb politics! One minute he's starting a union and pro-labor, another minute he's dropping all of that in order to be a dog of the US government! There's obviously an enormous jump happening there. Like something very, very clearly and very, very majorly changed for Oppenheimer there, and the film spends a grand total of 30 seconds in a single scene having him transition from brilliant labor activist to US government dog.
Also there are time jumps! Lots of them! The choice to jump back and forth between the McCarthyist interrogations of Oppenheimer and the past do. not. make. sense. They are hard to follow, extraordinarily boring, and absolutely ruin any sort of pacing the movie might have! There are several points in this movie where Oppenheimer starts to be fleshed out a bit more as a character or starts to be given more space for us to see what he's really like. And then it's randomly cut off and flashed forward to these utterly irrelevant black-and-white interviews. Oppenheimer has a leftist past! Of course he does! The movie literally shows us that! And instead of just telling things in a regular narrative way, the movie splits things up confusingly for absolutely no good fucking reason, and ends up showing us and telling us the same information twice! That is shit writing! If you cut all of these scenes you would be missing nothing from the movie, and you'd have more time to actually tell us about the characters, instead of them feeling like one-dimensional caricatures.
I don't know any of Oppenheimer's history, and I left this not understanding any more of it! I left after an hour because it felt like two and a half because it was just this firehose of information. And Nolan didn't present it in a way that actually made a story! He just shat this all out on the screen (and it's a beautiful shit, don't get me wrong!!), and expected the audience to love it! His characters are one-dimensional, they aren't given the space, the motivations, or the background really for us to understand where they're coming from or why they do what they do. And that ends up with this being a visually stunning but really fucking boring movie that I just walked out of because I couldn't take it anymore lol.
I cannot stand seeing visually gorgeous movies produced by people who clearly have god-level talent that seem to have a complete and utter inability to get the basics of movie-making, story, correct! I have ADHD. For a lot of people, sitting through a boring movie is just boring. For me, it is exhausting. It is excruciating. I can't fidget in a movie theater, I can't move, I can't pause the movie and come back later when I'm feeling more focused. And so if a movie is boring, I just leave! And it is so fucking annoying to miss out on a chance to see a movie that is, outside of its story, fucking beautiful because its director and writer couldn't do the extremely basic job of making a movie that holds people's interest and communicates things in even a slightly clear way. God what a waste.
Whether you like this show or not, you must admit that it has one of the most memorable intros ever. A rap intro was perhaps more revolutionary in the 90s but it's still a work of genius: before every episode you get a story recap how Will ended up in Bel-Air in the first place.
I'm too young to understand many of the references and jokes. But sometimes it's like a fascinating time capsule bank to the 90s. I hate the fake laughter. The show is often a bit silly and shallow but now and then the show delves into more serious issues like parenting, race, puberty, coming of age, social injustice, capitalism and so forth. I don't even like Will best. I like Hillary, Phil and Carlton better to be honest. But all characters are likeable and it's a true feel good sitcom.
But that's perhaps not what the show was really known for. I guess it made a major impact during 90s TV. It's one of the first sitcoms and perhaps one of the first primetime shows with mostly black characters. And - as a surprise to many - they showed a regular all-American and financially privileged family.
Towards the end the show starts to limp and Will's one man show becomes increasingly annoying. I remember that I liked him a lot back in the 90s. My younger self was convinced he was the coolest guy ever. I think totally different know. He almost ruins the show.
Would I ever re-re-watch this show? Probably not...
PS: sadly this show was recorded on tape it seems, thus can't be remastered easily and looks horrible by today's standards
