eoswaldbigred Reviews

Doctor Who: Boom (2024) Season 1, Episode 3

One of the more nerve-wracking episodes

[10/10 · 18 May 2024]

After the fluff and humor of the first two new episodes, we are back to an edge-of-your-seat, harrowing episode with some unexpected twists and turns. Almost along the lines of "Blink" with its more gut-wrenching moments. Quite a simple premise, yet so much packed into one episode. With allegories to the horrors of the "business" of war and more indirect condemnations of those who go to war in the name of their god or religion.

There were a couple of moments that made me jump and yell out loud briefly at the screen. Very well written by Steven Moffat, who also gives us a little more of a hint behind the arc of Ruby Sunday. One of the best episodes in quite some time!

Hacks: Just for Laughs (2024) Season 3, Episode 1

Who directed this "shaky" episode??

[8/10 · 3 May 2024]

I LOVE this show and am so happy it's back, but who directed this episode? I had to pause it about 15 minutes in because I was getting dizzy from the constant shaky camera. The writing and acting is still fantastic in this show, but the shaky handheld camera feel in today's TV shows and movies needs to stop. It was giving me the Blair Witch Effect - the non-stop shaky camera shots gave me nausea. I don't mind it for a scene or two, but they used it through the WHOLE episode. They invented the Steadicam for a reason.

Loved seeing Jordan Gavaris in this episode! He was so good in "Orphan Black" and it was good to see him in something new.

And OMIGAWD HELEN HUNT!!!

The camaraderie between the characters of Ava and Deborah is just as strong as ever - a love-hate dynamic that really works. You can just tell that the characters don't want to admit that they really LIKE each other.

Argylle (2024)

You made one great film, Matthew, then what happened?

[6/10 · 2 February 2024]

I went in with great hopes for this film. What a cast!! Fun idea. But...

The first third of the film was campy fun. A bit over the top, but exaggerated for effect since it's Bryce Dallas Howard's character's novels sort of brought to life.

Then we get twists. I was expecting one, but this was twist upon twist and more and more ridiculous until it was just stupid. But I thought, "Maybe it will pick up for the last third?"

No, we got Kingsman 2 BAD. Ugh. Such a waste of so many good actors and ideas. Ariana DeBose was especially done wrong with a tiny part. She deserved way more.

The first Kingsman was SO good (save a few unnecessarily raunchy jokes), but the sequel was SO bad. The prequel was at least decent, so I was holding out hope for this film.

Save this one for a streaming service down the road, not cinemas.

The Marvels (2023)

Good first hour... then???

[8/10 · 21 January 2024]

For the first hour, it was great, but then there was 20 minutes of musical numbers (?) followed by lots of cats. Whoever decided that section of script was a good idea... oy vey. Just bad.

After that, it went back to being a good movie

But then I also realized the reason I enjoyed the film was due to my having watched "Wandavision," "Loki," "Hawkeye," and "Ms Marvel."

If you have not watched "Ms Marvel," you're not going to understand a lot of the story. The other three series are not as important, but you might not recognize character appearances and references without having seen them.

So I do recommend watching "Ms Marvel," which is only six episodes about 35 to 50 minutes long each before watching this movie.

PS - there is a scene midway through the end credits that ties in a whole other universe!!

PPS - no final scene after the VERY end of the credits.

The Morning Show: The Overview Effect (2023) Season 3, Episode 10

A disjointed season finally pulled together

[8/10 · 12 November 2023]

Just finished watching the Season 3 finale. Finally, a payoff after a very disjointed season.

Season 1 had the overall arc of the Me Too stories.

Season 2 had the overall arc of the Covid pandemic.

Season 3 had... a lot of separate stories that didn't seem to have a common thread and that were a bit too removed from each other. They didn't really come together until this final episode.

Not that it wasn't good - the whole series is so amazing. But it felt like it got too far from its title - The Morning Show. It had very little to do with The Morning Show itself for this third season and I think that's why every story felt so separate. The whole Paul Marks story felt too long to tell with very little substance until this episode.

Here's hoping they pull it back together next season. Take it back to The Morning Show and its behind the scenes machinations and give the fourth season some kind of overall arc and you'll take us back to what made it so good in the first place.

No One Will Save You (2023)

First hour was GREAT, then...

[7/10 · 23 September 2023]

Was SOOOO looking forward to this one. Turned off the lights and the first hour was TERRIFYING!! Not a single word is spoken, but EXACTLY what a scary movie should be - no gore, just edge of your seat scary. She did all the smart things, she fought tooth and nail, she surprised me with some of the moves she made. Yes, there are jump scares, but not typical - some didn't even need a music sting, the visual alone was enough to make you scream "OMIGAWD" out loud.

Then it went completely off the rails for the third act. Completely incongruous with the first two acts. I understand. The writer felt like he needed to give depth to the character, but that's something that should have happened in the first act, then terrify us for the rest of the film. The ending was just cringe-y.

So very disappointing for the last 25 minutes.

Murder Mystery 2 (2023)

JUST AS MUCH FUN AS THE FIRST ONE!

[9/10 · 1 April 2023]

So glad they kept the same energy as the first one!!

Yes, there are some cringey lines and moments, but the first movie had them, too.

But this time, the action is even more exciting and surprising than the first one. I actually yelled at the screen a couple of times and I haven't done that in a long time.

Aniston and Sandler work so well together and it's nice to see the actors/characters from the first film. I think that's why I like this one even more - you're rooting for all the characters from the first movie, not just Nick and Audrey.

There's also some really big surprises in this one - things which I did not see coming.

Yes, it's a bit more cringey this time around in the places where the action wanes, but when the movie is good, it's even better than the first one!

Here's hoping for more Nick and Audrey to come!

Up the Down Staircase (1967)

My fave book, but film has no humor

[6/10 · 20 February 2023]

This is my all time favorite book. I've read it more times than I can count. I have never laughed out loud more reading any other book. I finally had the chance to see the film version. It is almost completely devoid of the humor of the novel. That's not to say that it's a bad film - Sandy Dennis was an amazing actress and she surrounded here by many better-known character actors. The drama is still there. The craziness that inner city teachers had to deal with even back in the 1960s is still there. But there is zero humor and that is what made the novel great. The book is uniquely written in that it is made up of school memos, notes in the teacher's suggestion box, papers the students have written, letters the teacher writes to her college mentor, with hilarious results. The ridiculous way in which the school is managed is mostly missing from this film as well. The pathos is there, the direction, the poignancy, but the humor that is the heart of the novel is gone and it leaves the film sadly lacking.

Hunters: The Home (2023) Season 2, Episode 7

An "off-story" episode which really isn't

[10/10 · 23 January 2023]

At first, you wonder what is going on with this episode. You are seeing what you think will be a short story that somehow gives us a moral related to the episode. You wonder when it's going to get back to the thriller you had been watching. But what you get is an entire episode that feels like the first scene in Quentin Tarantino's "Inglorious Basterds" that gives you a back story you were not expecting. Like something out of "Pleasantville," you think it's going to be a quaint tale reminiscent of "Pushing Daisies" in its style, but there's more underneath. Beautiful, harrowing, unexpected. Well done.

Spirited (2022)

Up. Down. All over the place.

[7/10 · 19 November 2022]

Up. Down. All over the place.

This movie couldn't quite make up its mind what it wanted to be and where the story would go. It has painful cringey moments and then is fantastic.

The first 25 minutes are the hardest because Will Farrell is doing his "Look at me strain extra hard to be funny" shtick. It's when he stops that and is serious in the character that the comedy and the poignancy comes out.

I love that they sang with their real voices - pre-recorded, but definitely their voices. Octavia Spencer has a GREAT number with "The View From Here." And there is a nice nod to "Thank You Very Much" (from the 1970 movie musical "Scrooge") with the "Good Afternoon" number - there is also one of the greatest cameos ever.

It's only when Will Ferrell plays it dead serious that this movie really works - it brings out exactly what this movie needs. At times it is way too over the top, but those are the moments you're really liking everything, so you just let it go. A little tighter, a little less frenetic, and someone to better direct Will Farrell in the first 25 minutes and this would be the perfect movie.

The Midnight Club (2022)

Good, disjointed drama. But not really horror.

[6/10 · 14 October 2022]

Good, disjointed drama. But not really a horror series. Just finished the last episode.

This will not be everyone's cup of tea. A teenager gets a terminal diagnosis and has dreams about a hospice where she learned that many years ago, a young lady walked out of that hospice cured, yet nobody really knows how or why.

It's a hospice for teens to live our their remaining time on "their own terms." These teens meet in the library of the house every night to tell stories, some scary, some more dramatic. All while there are some creepy things happening around them.

This is the fourth horror series from Mike Flanagan. His first three - "The Haunting Of Hill House" (by far his scariest - some of my childhood nightmares brought to life); "The Haunting Of Bly Manor" (a very well done ghost story with surprising elements); and "Midnight Mass" (a bloody take on vampires with some unexpected twists).

This one starts well with some good jump scares throughout, but it becomes clunky with the stories the teens tell being acted out on screen. The stories can abruptly change the tone, sometimes rather jarringly. Some are light in tone, one is very creepy scary (Episode 8 - probably the best episode), but they all also give you a sort of backstory of each character.

The one major issue I had with it were some of the elements that were put out there, but never really finished. As if we were left hanging. Even one of the main horror elements was so very briefly glossed over with the last scene that although it made you finally understand it, it was almost a blink and you miss it.

This could have been tighter. Probably could have been done in eight episodes rather than ten. But Flanagan does know how to put on a good show.

Lou (I) (2022)

Would have given it a 9 if it wasn't for the story

[7/10 · 2 October 2022]

I would have given this movie a 9 if it wasn't for the ridiculous and wholly unnecessary twist halfway through the movie. I was digging it - Allison Janney can do no wrong. And I bought that her character Lou was going to help find a kidnapped kid. I mean, if Liam Neesom can become an action star at 62, then hells yes, Allison Janney can become one at 61. But the twist was so implausible, I didn't buy it - and it came across as if the actors didn't really buy it. I would have rather gotten a few more action scenes with Lou fighting the abusive father than the unbelievable storyline they threw in half way. They also could have better set up a sequel if the motivation behind the character of Lou has been different.

Memphis Belle (1990)

Best Film about what they went through

[10/10 · 20 August 2022]

My father was a Lt Col in the Air Force who flew bombing missions with the 490th Bomb Group out of Eye, England in WW II. He passed away five years after this film came out. He said "Memphis Belle" is the BEST representation of what they went through. He watched it many times before he passed. He said each plane had two crews who would alternate missions over Germany. One time, the other team went out and never came back. I watch this film every couple of years to remind myself of what he went through.

How We Roll (2022)

Waste of talented people

[5/10 · 1 April 2022]

If the first episode is any indication, this is a bland, by-the-book sitcom. And it's a shame, because it's a waste of the talent of two of my favorite actors: Chi McBride and Julie White. The writing is pretty bad and the lead, Pete Holmes, is one of those comedians whose acting is too "acty." Some comedians are meant to stay stand up comics and not become actors - he is one.

I will watch a few more episodes in the hopes that maybe the production and writing staff after this pilot do a much better job than thos starter.

The King's Man (2021)

This COULD have been a great movie

[7/10 · 5 March 2022]

I loved the first Kingman movie. Except for some unnecessary vulgarities, it was a VERY good movie.

The sequel was a disappointing abomination.

This movie would have been a great prequel were it not for the HORRIBLY bad Rasputin scenes about 45 minutes into the film. From the moment he's alone with Ralph Fiennes' character through the ridiculously bad fight scene, I almost stopped the movie at that point. Just stupid.

But glad I stuck it out, because the rest of the movie lived up to what it should have been. Hopefully there will be another film where they get it right.

The Afterparty: Maggie (2022) Season 1, Episode 8

Some great twists!

[8/10 · 4 March 2022]

The series got a little iffy around the cartoon episode, but this final episode was a really great story! Made me want to go back and watch it again to see all the clues I missed!

I wouldn't mind seeing this show continue with Tiffany Haddish's character solving a new crime each series!

Station Eleven: Unbroken Circle (2022) Season 1, Episode 10

One of the finest hours of television I've ever seen

[10/10 · 14 January 2022]

The build up to this final episode had me on edge. Having not read the novel, I had so much trepidation as to what would happen.

It was tense, moving, beautiful - had me wracked with sobs at one point. So very beautifully filmed, acted, edited, directed, with the music and cinematography adding so much to the tension and tragedy, and finally, hopefulness.

I will be honest that this was not an easy series altogether. Still living in the midst of this pandemic, the initial episodes filled me with so much anxiety, I had to stop and watch a couple of comedies before I got back to this. But I'm glad I did. The journey to this final hour was well worth it. Brava/Bravo to all involved.

The Stand (2020–2021)

I don't know why I stuck with it

[3/10 · 10 January 2022]

The original mini-series was so much closer to the novel. This one veered off the rails and was a total train wreck.

I remember being so caught up reading the novel, I read the first 2/3 of it in one eight hour sitting. It was so good, when I finally looked up after eight hours to see what time it was, my vision were blurry. Still my favorite Stephen King and still one of my all-time favorite novels.

Barely close to the novel and completely ruined with the flash forward/flash backward. What made the novel such a great read was how invested you became with each and every character in their journey across the country. King made you really care about every character and what would happen to them.

To not even introduce major characters until well into the series gave zero context and intrigue.

And that last episode that tried to go beyond the end of the novel and give you some sort of...what? It made zero sense. Did King write that? Or did the producers and writers want to add their own stamp to it?

Don't bother. If you want to watch an adaptation, watch the first mini-series. SOOOOO much better.

Or better yet, just read the novel again.

The Matrix Resurrections (I) (2021)

What a glorious mess

[5/10 · 25 December 2021]

What a glorious mess of a movie. While the effects were ultra-amazing, the story was a convoluted, confusing mess. I didn't get what was happening half the time. At least the original movies were somewhat easy to follow. Too much meta and "aren't we cute" during the first part of the movie.

I did enjoy seeing half of the cast of "Sense8" in roles throughout the movie - nice to know that the Wachowskis loved that cast enough to give them more work!

I had to watch the movie over two nights. Couldn't finish it all in one sitting - it is 2.5 hours after all.

I really missed Laurence Fishburne and Hugo Weaving. Jonathan Groff was a little too smug - as he usually plays, while Neil Patrick Harris was enjoyable as always.

If you have HBO Max, watch it. As to seeing it in theaters, only if you can sit for 2.5 hours - and I would pay a matinee price only.

Hawkeye: Echoes (2021) Season 1, Episode 3

A 10 for that car chase alone!!

[10/10 · 22 December 2021]

That car chase is one of the most incredible chase sequences I have ever seen filmed!! The camera in the back seat moving continuously in a circle as utter chaos is happening in the streets was just unbelievable! And that one shot appeared to be one take about three minutes long. Then to have Hailee Steinfeld hanging out the car window like that? As far as I could tell that was all real stunts, no CGI whatsoever! Hats off to the director, cinematographer, and stunt coordinator cuz that was spectacular. I had to rewind it to watch the whole sequence again! Great episode!!

The Flash: Armageddon, Part 1 (2021) Season 8, Episode 1

Rather blah for a Crossover opener

[6/10 · 17 November 2021]

Have watched The Flash since episode one. Have seen every episode and I love the crossover events. For a season opener and crossover in one, this was just meh.

The first minute and the last ten minutes were about all there was for the Armageddon story. The rest was devoted to character stories that were rather bland and from what I can see will have very little to do with the crossover storyline.

For all the hype, this first episode was a letdown.

Tucker's Witch (1982–1983)

I LOVED this show!

[10/10 · 13 November 2021]

It never stood a chance against Dynasty. We used to tape this show while watching Dynasty. Fantastic cast, fun premise, and the "witchcraft" didn't overpower the show. First time for me seeing Alfred Woodward and I've loved her ever since. Tim Matheson and Catharine Hicks were great together. Even more interesting was finding out that Ms Hicks was very allergic to cats, yet they made Tim's character the allergic one.

Barbara Barrie ends up being the most adorable character in this series as Amanda's mother.

If only CBS had moved this to a much better timeslot, this series might have stood a chance. Sort of a Murder She Wrote with a touch of ESP - quite a fun series!

Hereditary (2018)

Disturbing more than horrifying

[8/10 · 21 October 2021]

This was probably the most disturbing movie I've ever seen. But the payoff wasn't quite right. I don't think I've ever sworn out loud so much watching a movie. I had to stop it once or twice that's how much it affected me. But all the hints they dropped did NOT pay off. They outright mentioned that Annie's mother had D. I. D. And talked about Annie's sleepwalking so much, I was expecting the payoff of this movie to be that Annie ALSO had D. I. D., hence the name "Hereditary." I thought sure we'd find that Annie had killed everyone else while being one of her alters. I thought sure that she took on Charlie as yet another alter and it was as Charlie that she committed the remaining murders. I would have bought that.

But this ending was a little too out there, especially after a brilliant movie up until that ending. The payoff was all wrong.

Nebraska (2013)

One of the best payoffs in a movie, ever!!

[10/10 · 3 October 2021]

This film was heartbreaking and hard to watch for me, but for personal reasons - my own father believed the American Family Publishers sweepstakes letters late in his life, when Parkinson's dementia was affecting him. And this movie is all about this... affliction that has affected a number of senior citizens. They believe the "You may have won this...." mailers that still get mailed out today.

It made the film hard to watch at times, knowing there are other families dealing with this "sweepstakes dementia."

But this film slowly builds the characters until you have so much faith in all of them. You all want them to do right by each other.

This is possibly one of Bruce Dern's best performances - and June Squibb and is a hoot, especially in the cemetery scene.

And it's all worth it. Without giving away anything, this film has one of the best payoffs I have EVER seen in a movie. So much so that I rewound that entire sequence about three times the first time I watched it.

It is so unexpected and makes me so happy - it's worth the slow, sometimes agonizing build-up and makes you feel so good!

Ted Lasso: Beard After Hours (2021) Season 2, Episode 9

A departure - but a FANTASTIC episode!

[10/10 · 18 September 2021]

Loved every minute of tonight's episode! Such a departure from the rest of the series, but a great chance to delve into some of the other characters from the show! A great showcase for Brendan Hunt, as well as a great time for Baz, Jeremy, and Paul. So much fun to get to see Brendan Hunt break out a bit - and with a wicked Irish brogue at one point. As usual, this series has you worried for the characters, then cheering them on and having as great a time as they are having. Well done, Ted Lasso crew!!