Trakt for iOS
Works on iPhone and iPad.
As strong as some of the cast members were, this deserved to be a lot better than it was. Instead, it was a completely overbaked, neo-noir series that strayed from facts to tell an alternative history story of the Jewish mob in Los Angeles. It was shocking that Frank Darabont had a hand in this, b/c the dialogue was awful in this show.
This was far and away my favorite of the Marvel TV/mini-series. I thought that storyline, the characters and their arcs, the writing, and the acting all meshed well together. The cast was top-notch. Hailee Steinfeld turned in another terrific performance, as did Florence Pugh, and newcomer Alaqua Cox was truly impressive, all the more so as an actor in their first role. I'm particularly looking forward to Ms. Cox continuing on w/ her character in Marvel's upcoming Echo. I also hope to see Ms. Steinfeld continue on w/ her character, as well. All in all, this was just a really well-produced, well-written, and well-acted mini-series.
What began w/ such great promise ended w/ lots of questions for what might have been. This show began as an original production of an old idea repackaged in a way that was fresh and new. I think the problem w/ this was the backstory was particularly interesting, but the writers let the audience in on the secret much too early on. There wasn't enough here to sustain nine full episodes. Instead, they should've slowly let out details of what was going on. However, as w/ many Marvel/DC vehicles, this was also used to setup a future project, so the introduction of certain characters took precedence over the total effects of the storyline.
On a related note, I will say that the production value of this show was quite high. I never looked at the CGI and thought about suspending disbelief. All the way through, it was an enjoyable watch. In comparable DC television shows, such as Titan, for example, one of the main problems, aside from the awful writing, was the undeniably bad CGI. It was such a problem, main storylines and characters had to be rearranged in order to facilitate a reduced reliance on these effects. One of the reasons why She-Hulk's CGI effects were called into question was that it was an anomaly for a Marvel show, whereas in DC shows, it's been commonplace across their spectrum of television offerings. But, I digress. This show looked great, but unfortunately, we were let in on the secret far too early.
The writing on this show, as on all shows created by Greg Berlanti and Geoff Johns, is just awful. Their storyline continuity couldn't be found by a team of writing experts w/ the most advanced tools known to humankind. They write teleplays that confound, have no bearing on the overarching state of the series, and combine it w/ the need for terrible CGI, intentionally dark lighting to mask those effects, and formulaic tripe they consider quality storytelling. I had hopes for this series, since Akiva Goldsman involved in the creation of it, but even his prodigious talents were weighted down by Berlanti and John's incessant need to be inferior. It's a shame, really, b/c there are actors who participated in this who are quite talented, and given a reasonable storyline, they could've turned this into a decent show.
A couple episodes really saved this mini-series for me. Throughout most of this, I kept asking myself what I was watching, but in the end, there was enough semblance of a storyline that I was able to see the true purpose of this series.
This was a fine piece of storytelling. Were there liberties taken in Albert Ruddy's original material? Most likely. But, that doesn't make this mini-series any less entertaining. The story, coupled w/ some really amazing performances, made this quite an enjoyable watch. Juno Temple and Matthew Goode particularly stood out as having given tremendous renditions of their characters. Upon a rewatching, Ms. Temple was simply phenomenal. She is a terribly underrated actor. Burn Gorman, Dan Fogler, Nora Arnezeder, Miles Teller, Colin Hanks, Josh Zuckerman, Anthony Ippolito, Justin Chambers, and Giovanni Ribisi were all great, as well. If my rating were based solely on acting, I would've awarded this a 10/10.
I enjoy these period pieces that take a deep-dive into the era from which the story derived. It adds a lot of authenticity to the creation, and this was no different. If you're a fan of The Godfather, you'll likely love this. If you enjoy stories w/ lush arrangements of well-defined characters and multiple moving pieces that make it seem as if the well-known finished product would never come together, this may be the story for you.
Having seen this once before, I was recently having a discussion w/ someone about this documentary, which prompted me to view it again. As many others have complained about, this documentary was way, way too long. This could've been wrapped up in a 90-minute documentary w/out any loose ends or missing components. Instead, the filmmakers decided to tell everyone's sob stories about this fiasco, but the problem was, the sob stories were coming from those who perpetrated the crime. Therefore, my interest immediately waned in their stories.
Also, the filmmakers' choices for interviewees was really suspect. Doug Matthews, the FBI agent that started this investigation, was just a clown. It's actually embarrassing that someone like that was able to become employed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He has zero critical thinking skills. As for the other interviewees, there were two who I considered to have any credibility at all. Other than that, it was a lot of self-serving crap that had no place in a documentary that should've been designed to simply tell the story of what had happened, not make victims out of criminals.
If you're intent on watching this, I would suggest skipping the first five episodes of this documentary, and only watch the last episode. The entire summation of what happened w/ this story is covered in a clip from a news segment that encompasses less than 60 seconds. This should give you an idea of the fluff involved over the course of six episodes.
I think that this received a lot of unfairly placed hatred from those who simply don't like Disney, b/c people like Ron DeSantis tell them not to like Disney. As someone who isn't overly invested in the whole Star Wars universe, I will say that this was an interesting watch, and I enjoyed the storyline. I liked how they connected Obi-Wan to Leia and Luke, as it fills in some of the backstory that was missing from later films in the series.
I think the thing that stood out most for me, though, was the acting. Both Moses Ingram and Vivien Lyra Blair were fantastic in their roles. Ms. Igram really captured her role quite well, as it called for a wide-range of emotions, and she played it remarkably well. She's been impressive in other roles, and I think that she's only going to become a much bigger star on the big screen. As for Ms. Blair, she was tremendous, especially for such a young actor. She played her role as someone w/ much more worldly knowledge than her age would indicate. She really nailed it, and I think that she has a bright future, as well.
Watching this reminded me of watching an overhyped boxing match. It's supposed to be two world-class fighters, and in the first half of the fight, a few solid shots are landed, but it's mostly a feeling out process. In the latter half of the fight, just when you think things are about to get interesting, both fighters show signs of tiring which become more significant, as the fight carries on into the last few rounds. By the time the last round comes to pass, you're basically over the fight, thinking that even one, big, knockout blow couldn't salvage this mess of a fight, and when the knockout doesn't come, the fight goes to the judges' scorecards. In a split-decision, one fight is awarded the victory, although, in reality, they both fought not to lose rather than to win, and you're left w/ that empty feeling wondering why you just wasted $50 on a pay-per-view boxing match that once again didn't live up to its billing.
This story started off well, then just imploded down the stretch. This was a made-for-TV movie back in the '80s, I believe it was, w/ essentially the same storyline. If not for the cast in this film, I would've probably rated it a four on story alone.
