Mighty No. 9

Oh hey shit yeah, a video game! Too bad it wasn't any good. Womp!

Of course, everyone warned me this wasn't any good. They were right. But ten dollars and a few hours of my time felt like a worthwhile flier for a game I'd been excited about for years on end.

You know, in hindsight, I only ever really even loved one or two Mega Man games; this might have been as good as half of them. At least it was something different - but then, shit, all we wanted was an old school Mega Man knockoff. Can't win with us petulant gamers, can ya?

The biggest issue here was the gameplay. It wasn't bad or broken, but it added this weird emphasis on speed to a side-scrolling shooter platformer. Why? Mega Man wasn't exactly a slow game, but at its best-designed it made you think about your plan of attack as you wound through levels and increasingly difficult obstacles. Mighty No. 9 had this weird combo-power-up system that emphasized rushing in blindly which doesn't really make sense when you can't see the layout of the level ahead of you.

It just never really clicked for me! Or anyone else, apparently. Oh well. Like I said - an easy flier. No harm done.

Santa Clarita Diet: Season 1

Timothy Olyphant and Drew Barrymore in a ten-episode Netflix comedy about a zombie virus. What's not to like? This was short and silly and, honestly, more fun than I expected it to be. It's like a cross between Dexter and Married - Barrymore's become a zombie, and it's given her a new attitude on life, and her marriage improves because of it as she and her husband (Olyphant) find and kill people for her to eat. What's sort of impressive is that this was, in spite of everything, a self-contained and well-formed first season of a story I'd happily continue watching. If I have any complaint here it's that Olyphant, although he's funny, is just too hammy by a hair here. But otherwise, I'm good - this is a really easy watch. By no means necessary, but what really is these days?

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend: Season 2

A month and a half back when talking about Season 1 of this show, I said something to the effect of, "This will be an uphill sell, so I won't bother, but here, please check out these four or five video clips." Not sure how many of you did, but I do know Sweeney and Katie gave the show a shot... and almost promptly dropped it. Danielle did the same thing a year or so back when giving the show a chance long before I did. The consensus - and I get this, definitely - is that it's "a bit much" and "uncomfortable to watch." It's true - the pilot is more cringeworthy than funny, with the show making sure to nail the "crazy" in its title before worrying about the humor or the heart.

But as with so many other shows, it gets better. I was skeptical after the pilot, but ended up liking Season 1 plenty. Granted, I didn't love Season 1. I liked it, but the songs that popped up two or three times per episode were easily my favorite part of the show.

Here now, after Season 2, I can safely say that I love this show. Season 2 was only thirteen episodes long (and Season 1 was eighteen, so really, this isn't a typical network hour-long commitment) and while watching it I was no longer merely looking forward to the songs, but actually invested in these characters, their lives, their conflicts and friendships.

But I still know it's an uphill sell! And I know in the age of #PeakTV we all need to be wary of oversaturating our watchlists, and that checking something out and deciding to bail after one episode is, hey, very responsible, actually. But let me double down on my recommendation of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend after Season 2. This one's going to end up pretty high on the year-end list.

Trev's Movie Dump: February 2017

John Wick: Chapter 2

John Wick is shaping up to be Harry Potter... only instead of wizards, we've got assassins. John Wick: Chapter 2 expands the Wick-universe by showing how assassins are everywhere, hiding in plain sight with "fun" disguises. And I love that idea -- a world of merciless contract-killers surrounding us non-assassin muggles. Bound by strict ethics and rules that bring some sense of order to an otherwise chaotic career choice, this Wick-universe is a fascinating place to explore.

All that said... this movie is fun. Just plain fun. It's everything I want from a gut-busting action film. If you're even somewhat into action films, the Wick series is completely worth a watch. Catch up on them before the teased third installment comes out.

Jason Bourne

Did I hear anyone clamoring for another Bourne film? Didn't we say all that there had to be say with the last three movies? Bourne traces his scattered memories all the way back to Project Treadstone, gets back to America, meets his maker, and confronts his demons. We're done, right?

Wrong. Bourne is still a deeply troubled soul, apparently battling more troubled memories.  (How convenient it is for another memory to pop-up with every new film?) This time a memory of his deceased father from a life before Bourne is enrolled in Treadstone emerges. 

Now, if what you're looking for is Bourne running around, staying one step ahead of the enemy, while the CIA (or whatever) shouts orders from a command room surrounded with satellite images of the world... then maybe you'll get behind this. 

I didn't. It's basically a visual rip-off of the rest of the movies with one half-way decent car chase at the end. The only good thing I can say is that I didn't have to endure Julia Style's shitty acting for long. (That's a bit of a spoiler that might actually help you get into the movie.)

Manchester by the Sea

This is a beautiful movie that my love for has only grown with time (albeit, it's only been a few weeks). Within two weeks, I watched it twice... and I think I like this film more than I want to admit. Just watching this guy struggling with an impossible guilt and grief that's forced him away from home, finds that another tragedy will give him another chance to return home.

I'm curious how others view the ending of this film? For me, I thought it was a very happy ending. Just the right amount of optimism for me to hope (maybe even know) that things are going to work out for the best in due time. And that lasting image just makes me feel all mushy inside -- a big accomplishment considering there are points in the film where I feel like I couldn't be any sadder at such tragic events.

While this wasn't my top pick for the best film of 2016, it was our group's collective #1 film of the year... and I'm fine with that. 

Alice Through the Looking Glass

I think if I had been stoned and watching this on IMAX... I might have enjoyed it purely for all the CGI visual effects. Instead I watched it sober on my tiny bedroom TV. Needless to say, it was painful to sit through loaded with many eye rolls at Johnny Depp's Mad-Hatter performance. This franchise must be dead by now. 

Moonlight

Sometimes I wish I was more on top of my movie-game so I could enter into films without any preconceived notion on whether this is an amazing film or not. I didn't have that luxury with this movie. I came into Moonlight hearing nothing but positive things -- listening to it by constantly praised by film-buff podcasts, seeing it ranked consistently at the top on Internet polls, etc. This is a movie I expected the world from... And it delivered.

The story about a boy who's an outcast in a community that doesn't accept him in a world that doesn't accept his community. And then that boy growing up and figuring out who he really is. It's some powerful stuff.

The one aspect I applaud the most are the performances. Three different actors playing the same character at three different points in his life. I totally bought this was the character growing up. Not because all three actors looked similar, but because they embodied the character just so perfectly. 

Oscar post-mortem: I would have hands-down given director Barry Jenkins best director instead of Damien Chazelle -- who's other film Whiplash is arguably better than La La Land. Instead it got best picture (which I believe is the alt-category for best director... because, really, what's the difference between praising a movie, or praising the main person who's vision was responsible for making the movie what it is?).

Hacksaw Ridge

Confession time: This is the first Mel Gibson movie I've seen from beginning to end. Sure, I've "seen" Braveheart as much as I've seen most of the scenes of the film over the years that I can essentially piece together the movie in my mind. But Passion of the Christ... fell asleep in the first 10 minutes, and Apaclypto... never saw it. 

That said, this was an OK movie. It's a movie I liked, but never loved. I think it's biggest praise was the second-half of the film that was nothing but war scenes. Those action shots were so intense, it's probably the most horrific war scenes captured on film since Saving Private Ryan. It literally felt as though these soldiers were wandering into Hell, which is quite an appropriate analogy considering there was such a heavy emphasis on Christ/redemption/ascension in this film. 

Speaking of the heavy-handed Christ metaphors peppered all throughout this film, was that an interesting subject choice for Gibson's return to the limelight? I'm not saying yes or no... just connecting the preverbal dots here. 

High-Rise

Stan praised this. I loathed it. This was pretentious piece of bullshit. I arguably felt less for these characters then they felt for themselves as they lost their self-identities in favor for their need to be apart of the caste system contained in a... High-rise. 

Some compare this to Snowpiercer, a movie I also disliked. However, I think I hated Snowpiercer more just because it was loved by so many (something I still can't understand). This film, however, looks to have fairly lukewarm reviews. And that makes sense. While I can see some people really liking it -- like Stan -- I couldn't see everyone liking it -- such as myself. And that brings me comfort that I'm not some weird outlying who feels like they're taking crazy pills!

O.J.: Made in America

First off... this is not a documentary. It's a mini-series. Albeit, a documentary mini-series, but not a fucking movie! However, the fine folks over at ESPN figured out how to cut through all the red tape the Academy Awards puts up to distinguish what films are worthy of their consideration. And their effort was not in vain as this "film" won an Oscar for best documentary.

All that aside, it's truly deserving of the accolade. This is a fucking engrossing documentary that explores the life of O.J. Simpson. How he started out as a football all-star, then transitioned into an actor and L.A. celebrity, then, of course... his tragic relationship with Nicole Brown. While the trial of O.J. does fill up a significant part of the documentary -- a 7-fucking-hours-long documentary -- there's plenty of footage that explores his life after the trial. After he loses millions in civil court. After he's forced to move away from L.A. After he establishes a different identity and life in Miami. And then, after he gets caught for trying to steal back his own sports memorabilia in Las Vegas -- which ultimately sends him back to the clinker for 30-something years.

Now, while O.J.'s story is fascinating/horrifying... that's not where this documentary really shines. What it does best is giving you context for where society was at the time this whole things was going down. How mistreated the black-minorities of L.A. were going back to the Watt's Riots up till Rodney King. Time and time again, losing their day at court. Then when you had one of black communities most prominent celebrities get under fire, you begin to see why there was a such a strong support for O.J.'s defense. I don't think this documentary seeks to definitively state whether or not O.J. did murder Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman (although I certainly believe he did), but I does lend understanding to why things happened the way they did. Why he won the trial. Why the people loved him. Then why he was later shunned away from the aristocratic community he fought so hard to be a part of.

I heard there was something like 80 hours of interview footage they had to cut down to a "lean" 467 minute final runtime. But some of those subjects they got... impressive. No, O.J. doesn't have a direct interview here, but there are people who serve on the LAPD during the trail, the prosecution, the defense, Mark Furhman (the guy accused of planting the infamous glove), two jurors, the helicopter pilot who filmed the L.A. riots and O.J.'s car chase, and a slew of O.J.'s friends/colleagues from each stage of his life.

The documentary paints a really interesting tapestry of where America was leading into the early 90's and helps add context to a story that was way over my 8-year-old head at the time when it was occurring. 

There's a lot of great films I managed to squeeze in this month. Many worth seeing. This one, while the runtime can be intimidating, is definitely something that's worth a watch. Right now I know it's on Hulu in three-parts. Give it a go!

Man Seeking Woman: Season 3

When it began, Man Seeking Woman was a show about, obviously, a man seeking a woman. It was more clever than funny - though still usually plenty funny - with all kinds of common phrases and feelings turned into bad puns and played out to absurd conclusions. It's hard to describe. It's kind of like a sketch show, but not really.

Anyway, here in the third season the showrunners wisely decided, "Hey, know what? Our hapless idiot main character can't stay single forever, and we've already dried up that well. So let's give him a girlfriend already." And that's exactly what they did, and they spent these last ten episodes visiting new territory and doing the same thing to "man finds a woman" that they used to do to "man seeking woman."

This has never been my favorite show or even close to it, but it's always been a show I've rooted for and enjoyed. It's original and relentless with whatever it sets its sites on. Some episodes over the years have completely tanked for me, but at least they aren't afraid to go all out for it, you know? Pivoting tone and joke alike sometimes two or three times per episode. So if this ends up being the last season of Man Seeking Woman I'll be sorry to see it go, but impressed that it lasted for three straight seasons of all-out absurdity. (And it ends with a wedding, and its got miserable ratings, so really, why not? Where do they even go next? Having kids? That's an entirely different show for an almost entirely different demographic.)

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Season 12

By the time a show hits twelve seasons there really isn't that much left to say. Sunny has been kind of hit or miss for me for, oh, six years now - half its damn life - but when it hits, it hits, and I do think this season was heavy on the hits. Good!

In fact, I think I've finally been able to put my finger on what makes a great Sunny episode for me. It's a lack of gimmicks. It's when the gang just sort of makes terrible decisions, either together or against each other, and reaps the rewards. My favorite episode of this season was probably the second one, entitled "The Gang Goes to a Water Park." Three plots, all of them involving our favorite group of five excitedly making bad decisions out in public in the pursuit of something as simple as having a blast at a water park.

But that's just highlighting one gem in a season full of them. And let's not ignore some of the monumental payoffs to gags that have run for, literally over a decade. Mac? Finally out of the closet! Charlie? Finally banged the Waitress! (And was immediately over her.)

Rumor has it that Glenn Howerton is leaving the show after this season. I'm absolutely fine with this. It's been twelve years, Dennis has always been my least favorite character, and I'm sure the show could make absolute hay out of rolling in a series of guest stars as potential Dennis replacements to "run the bar" who are immediately horrified and scarred by the gang, or even just by elevating its own supporting players - Cricket! The McPoyles! Bill Ponderosa! Uncle Jack! Ben the Soldier! Why not?

Another rumor is that Sunny might go on an extended hiatus before returning for the already contracted thirteenth and fourteenth seasons. Again, fine - this is just what, like, half of the shows on television seem to do now. (And most of the good ones!)

Either way, I'm very happy with how Season 12 unfolded. Only a year ago, I said of Sunny something like, "can we just put this old dog to rest?" And then along came these ten episodes. Nothing like a solid, bounceback year from an old favorite.

Schitt's Creek: Season 2

I realized that last time I posted about this low stakes bingeworthy comedy, I didn't describe the premise whatsoever. Ready? A wealthy family gets screwed out of their entire fortune by a corrupt business manager and has to "rough it" out in Middle America (actually Middle Canada I think but who cares) while they await... actually, I'm not sure. They're just kind of there. The situation feels neither permanent nor temporary.

Like I said last time around, it's not great. But Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara are here, doing their thing as well as they do it, and Eugene Levy's son Dan is here too, definitely the breakout star insofar as there is one. Oh, and Chris Elliott's here too! Doing his thing, playing Roland Schitt, the mayor of Schitt's Creek. Your mileage may vary - apparently he's a lot of people's favorite part of this dang show - but man, have I never been one for Chris Elliott.

I dunno. I've come this far - I might as well catch up with the current season of Schitt's Creek - the third one - but I can't pretend that this is above-average viewing. Good enough, easy enough, sure - and hey, sometimes a quick and easy comedy makes for wonderful DVR fodder, like that "clubhouse guy" in the locker room, you know?

Okay here's a thought that might adequately summarize how I feel about this show. I think the best parts of a lot of episodes are the cold opens. Does that sum it up? That might not sum it up. I'm sorry.  Forget we had this conversation. Carry on.

Victoria: Season 1

I said - at least I think I said - back when I reviewed The Crown a few months ago that it was sliding right in as a Downton Abbey replacement for people who loved themselves some noble British melodrama. I wasn't wrong, but now we've got an even better Downton Abbey replacement in Victoria, which aired Sunday nights on PBS from January through early March after debuting in the UK last year to - wait a second, this absolutely is the Downton Abbey heir apparent.

This one's about the young Queen Victoria, which places it somewhere in the 1830s or '40s. It's such easy bubblegum viewing, the conflicts pitting a headstrong young queen against a one-dimensionally villainous old patriarchy, mostly embodied by a bitter old uncle figure who feels like he was passed over for the monarchy even though the law's as clear as day and has been for centuries when it comes to British heredity. Vicki marries her first cousin, and it's NBD, even though his name is Prince Albert (tee-hee). She rides horses and throws parties and goes dancing and thinks late-term pregnancy is just so goddamn boring. Even when she survives an assassination attempt, she's not all "Mr. Bates is a murderer" about it; she just breathes a little heavily for a little while and then wishes everyone would get over it already. What a gal! And she has the cutest little Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, too!

But seriously, this is take-it-or-leave-it viewing at its finest, a show that knows exactly what it is so far and doesn't strive to be anything else. The Crown takes itself far more seriously, which means it's got a higher ceiling but a much bigger fall should it stumble; Victoria is - so far at least - Downton Abbey at its happiest, maybe without all the sass. Like imagine if Lady Mary had Lady Ethel's attitude. Scratch that. Just imagine Lady Sybil. Swoon.

Lethal Weapon 3

Okay - this is perhaps the most embarrassing and infuriating blog-related anecdote I have ever shared in eight years on this blog. And it ends with a weird lesson I haven't really fully parsed out yet. Bear with me.

I have never seen Lethal Weapon. It came out before I was born and I just never got around to it. But its reputation precedes it, and through the years I'd say I'm at least familiar with the movie. It's Mel Gibson and Danny Glover, and they're cops, Gibson being the brash young hothead and Glover being "too old for this shit," and they're partners, and it's widely regarded as the greatest "buddy cop" movie ever made, and Shane Black wrote it, and everyone loves it, and even It's Always Sunny has devoted multiple episodes to shitty fan-made sequels in the franchise.

Anyway, for a while I've known I had to correct this and see Lethal Weapon. I also needed a "prestige movie" hiatus after barreling through so many Oscar contenders in February. What better palate cleanser than a 1987 action comedy movie? And lo - there it was, listed as free on demand in the very small and shitty and limited Verizon Fios library. And the movie's thirtieth birthday is this weekend! Why not? I pressed play and gave it a watch. Lethal Weapon. Verizon, On Demand. Lethal Weapon.

The movie plays. It's a little cheesy right out of the gate, but in a way that boasts a certain confidence in its characters, in its writing, hell, even in its audience. Here are Riggs and Murtaugh defusing a bomb, cracking jokes, Murtaugh worrying, Riggs completely reckless. Murtaugh is, right from the outset, counting down the days until his retirement. There are only seven left! (Ha! Is this the movie that made that into a trope?) The best thing I can say for the movie is that it's instantly comfortable in its own skin. It almost feels like a parody of itself, with smooth saxophone playing over and between action scenes, with Riggs and Murtaugh riffing on each other in a way that leads the audience to assume that they're long-time partners. But I mean, I've seen Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and The Other Guys, and weird, frantic plots are kind of Shane Black's thing. None of this is coming as a surprise to me. Shane Black's movies often seem to feel a little bit like self parody - maybe he was just a bit duller in his first effort. That shouldn't be surprising, right? Plus, it's the eighties - everything was duller, blunter, dumber back then. 

So when Joe Pesci showed up, playing a caricature, like Joe Pesci does, I didn't bat an eye. And when Murtaugh kept making jokes about Riggs trying to sleep with his daughter even though the two hadn't even interacted, I didn't think twice. Still, the whole thing felt like... so much less than what I was expecting from an all-time action comedy classic. The eighties weren't that bad. Nostalgia isn't that powerful. But I trusted the masses and the conventional wisdom and convinced myself that what I was watching was, sure, pretty good, when viewed through the right lens. I was all set to give it a three and a half out of five on Letterboxd, even though it felt like more of a two and a half or a straight three, because I really had been hoping for and expecting a four.

And then I'm on Letterboxd, ready to log the movie, and I notice that Gary Busey has third billing. And I'm like, "wait, what? I didn't recognize Gary Busey at all." And then I see that Joe Pesci doesn't appear anywhere among the cast. And I'm like, "but I swear that was Joe Pesci." And then suddenly it hits me. Despite what Verizon On Demand had said - Lethal Weapon (1987) - and despite the poster art saying the same, I had not actually just watched Lethal Weapon.

I had just watched Lethal Weapon 3.

And suddenly it all made sense. Immediately comfortable in its own skin? No shit, it came after two movies of groundwork establishing these characters and their relationship. Murtaugh just a week away from retirement? Ha - a payoff to the idea that he's been getting too old for this shit! The idea that it was all a little dumb and not very clever? Well, no shit - Shane Black had nothing to do with it at all. Riggs having some sort of history with Murtaugh's daughter? Entirely plausible as a callback to a previous incident rather than random dad fear played for jokes!

Wow. I will now field some of your questions.

Seriously? You had no idea? You thought you were watching Lethal Weapon the whole time?

Seriously! I had no idea! I thought I was watching Lethal Weapon the whole time!

But there was no Gary Busey.

I know! But I didn't know Gary Busey was supposed to be in the first Lethal Weapon.

But Murdaugh was retiring.

Yes, and we've been over this - all I knew about the character was that he'd been getting "too old for this shit!" It fit!

But that line's not even in the movie.

Yes - and in hindsight, maybe I should have noticed that it was missing. But for all I knew, it came from one of the sequels!

Seriously, you confused the half-ass sequel for the original? You couldn't tell, based on how bad it was?

Okay - it wasn't that bad! As I said, two and a half or three stars out of five. Totally passable. And for all I knew, that's all the original Lethal Weapon was! I already said, it never quite struck me as this iconic, quotable gem of a movie - and now at least I know the consensus happens to agree with me.

Okay, but the opening titles. Did Lethal Weapon 3 not pop up on the screen right at the beginning?

I went back and checked the opening credits on YouTube just to make sure I wasn't losing my mind, and they're done in this very fiery motif, and when the movie title finally comes in, Lethal Weapon is written in an actual typeface and the Arabic numeral 3 is made out of flames, which, again, had been the background and motif for the entire opening sequence. In hindsight, it's as clear as day to anyone knowingly watching Lethal Weapon 3 that the title says Lethal Weapon 3. But when you think you're watching Lethal Weapon - which I was - I promise you, the 3 is more subtle.

But yeah, like I led off with up top, the whole thing is embarrassing and infuriating. Like, how did I not know? Fucking Verizon...

Which brings me to that last point, the weird little lesson I haven't fully parsed. It has something to do with hype and expectations, but it cuts both ways. Lethal Weapon 3 wasn't a great movie, but I was able to convince myself it was at least a good movie, briefly, because I didn't want to be "the guy" who hates on Lethal Weapon, which is what I thought I was watching. But at the same time, maybe - maybe! - Lethal Weapon 3 is a fine little movie that gets over-criticized by people who loved (and expected) more of the first movie. I wasn't tired of these characters or their schtick, nor did I have previous, more well-defined versions of these characters to compare them to in an unfavorable light.

This also serves as a stark callback to a time (the early '90s) when movie sequels were made without it being expressly assumed that audiences had seen every previous installment in a franchise. This movie works just fine as a standalone. It doesn't work all that well, but it does work! And I don't think that'd be the case with something like The Hunger Games or Harry Potter.

Bottom line, draw what moral you will from this story - I had myself convinced this might have been a great movie mostly because I didn't want to hate on Lethal Weapon, but that sort of means I cratered and let the masses dictate my own reaction to something, so boo on me, but also let's not ignore that this sequel "passed" fully convincingly for the original, so maybe the things the rest of the world cherishes and loves about the original aren't what made it a great movie in the first place, if it even was one, which, hey, this jury's still out.

Fuck. What a gaffe!

Chewing Gum: Season 1

Here's a British import available on Netflix. Nice and short at just six episodes long, this one. It's a lot like Fleabag, with a heroine awkwardly sharing the details of her sex life and other insecurities directly to the camera in an overt fourth wall break. The premise is that a 24-year-old woman breaks up with her long-time super-religious boyfriend, and they've never had sex or even so much as kissed, and so now she's both willing and able to do some overdue exploring - both outwardly and inwardly, know what I'm saying? - and that leaves her ready for all kinds of predicaments and situations and hijinks.

It works! The tone's a little zanier than you might expect from a British comedy, and the whole thing's maybe not quite as clever. Still, for my money, Fleabag is the better show - both funnier and deeper and also a British import that's only six episodes long, so hey, maybe give that one a shot over on Amazon Prime. I can't strongly recommend Chewing Gum but I enjoyed it just fine and I'll probably be back for the second season later this spring.