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Reviews
English Teacher (2024)
Comes Up Short
The concept was an interesting one and promised to reinvent the workplace sitcom while weaving in a school setting with students coming of age. The previews conveniently shared the few mild jokes that exist in the show but when planted in the context of an entire episode they somehow felt even milder. The previews didn't include anything about the show's focus on LGBTQ topics, but the episodes are almost entirely focused on the topic. Was really hoping for a fun, modern sitcom with present-day scenarios, but the writers seem to have gone far beyond and spent so much time making the show relevant that they forgot to write a solid storyline....and jokes.
Workin' Man (2024)
Mostly Humorous
This whole special was filed with solid humor, but somehow it just didn't win me over. His dry style is typically exactly what I enjoy, but the entire thing just kind of felt...flat. One thing that seemed promising at first was that the crowd seemed to really love every word he said, but as the special drove on I wondered what I was missing since the crowd seemed to really laugh heavily at every single joke.
Ultimately, I wanted to enjoy this more, but it ended up just being mostly humorous.
I'll look for more from him in the future and hope other specials engage me more, but I don't think I'd revisit this one.
Renegades (2022)
Who Signed Off On This Project??
How do you take a tried-and-true revenge plot story and make it terrible? For starters, add in every cliche you ever learned about in film school. Make sure there's a totally down and out good guy who is homeless and strung out, but just needs a shower a good night's sleep to turn it around. Then bring in an attractive divorced woman whose father was his savior, add in some tension, then sadness, then support and WHAM you have a love story with lame string instrumental scoring.
Make sure someone says "what are you crazy? It's a suicide mission!" and then gives in and wants to join. That's almost never been done before in a film.
Don't forget the female inspector who has had so much plastic surgery you assume her scenes were done by a ventriloquist because she can't move her lips while talking.
This would be as boring as an unseasoned chicken breast except for the fact that it's so bad you can chuckle throughout their attempt at the UK's version of the Expendables.
The Consultant (2023)
I Don't Care What Happens Next
After five episodes in I'm giving up on this. I don't know what's going on, and I suspect that's done on purpose to build suspense, but what they didn't account for is that I don't feel any suspense because I don't care what happens next.
There's nothing to really pull me in and make me want to understand who this consultant is (or what) and to learn what's happening.
The two main employee characters do seem to have a cool hook to their story, but ultimately it's nots enough. I tried giving this a shot but it's just kind of a bad attempt at drama and suspense and maybe a bit of horror here and there? Whatever it is, it's definitely NOT a comedy.
Family Camp (2022)
Dear Lord
The storyline is an easy one to anticipate because there's a whole bunch of overused tropes in the plot. I wouldn't call it offensive, but it's far off the path from being impressive.
Production quality is good, but that's really the only aspect of this film that allowed me to continue.
With an attempt to merge silly jokes and a little bit of inspiration, it's tough to know if the film is mocking the Christian values the plot is based on, or supporting them. That doesn't matter all that much except besides being a goofy family comedy, it's hard to know if the writer's missed the mark on the comedy because maybe they were focused on something deeper, but....probably not.
It wasn't funny, and wasn't inspiring and some scenes were almost tough to sit through.
Blockbuster (2022)
Space Force All Over Again
Blockbuster keeps reminding me of Space Force. It's a great workplace comedy concept with modern sitcom format and some nostalgia for those of us that used to go to video stores. Great lineup of actors and actresses. Pretty good writing.
Yet somehow the whole thing just falls flat. The funniest moments are me just giving it an optimistic benefit of the doubt while attempting to find a reason to keep watching. Some moments I've felt bad for the team because I could see where they were going with a joke but never made it.
I wanted to love this workplace comedy, but there's just nothing to hang on to.
Bill Burr Presents: Friends Who Kill (2022)
How Many Synonyms Are There For "Awful"?
I think maybe there was a funny line or two from Jeff Ross but overall this entire special was a cringe-worthy, crapshow of lame attempts.
In an effort to be fair, I wondered if all these comics are just not used to having only 8-10 minutes to do their act and maybe were trying too hard to jump in and nail it rather than building up their act, but that's the only excuse I can come up with for this.
You should watch if you're curious, but you'll know within minutes if you're going to enjoy it or not. But, you won't.
The Little Hours (2017)
Say A Hail Mary
Nothing better than a comedy that pokes fun at religious moralism, but even with the star talent that graces every scene of this film, it ultimately misses the mark. The jokes fall flat with nothing to build on throughout the entire plot. A story develops, but it doesn't inspire a commitment to see it through.
Honestly, with all the talent in this film it should've been a huge win, but it just didn't work.
The Super Bob Einstein Movie (2021)
A Perfect Remembrance
Between the old clips and the modern commentary of Bob Einstein's peers, this documentary is a perfect remembrance of his genius. It isn't just a great story about his life and who he was, but it's also incredibly entertaining. Easily watchable more than once.
The Stand In (2020)
Stand Down
This isn't a comedy. In fact, it hinges on being a psychological thriller. After 20 minutes in I started thinking it was a new version of "Single White Female". It was fine to watch once, but just barely.
Thunder Force (2021)
Crab-ola
In fairness to this flick, I chose my 3 star rating after having seen only the first 45 minutes. Even if the remaining minutes were somehow a 10, it couldn't bring the average up above a 5 anyway.
Much of this cast is great, so you'd expect a lot from them. Even as a buddy super hero story, the concept is new and should've been a lot of fun. Instead the jokes are flat, the story is too forced to feel like you care about the characters, and ultimately just not entertaining.
A few moments scattered in the film do come together, but they're few and far between. Ultimately, as a whole, there just isn't enough to feel like watching was time well spent.
Hard Kill (2020)
Accidental Comedy
This is supposed to be a classic action drama where a former soldier working for hire is pulled into a dangerous job by an old military mate and then finds out the true nature of the job.... blah, blah...... it's a cookie cutter storyline that's been done a million times and is easy to make for a fun watch. Until, of course, the producers of Hard Kill came along and hard killed a classic storyline by using a team of actors who are so bad you will grimace while watching any of them attempt to be intimidating or dramatic. I went in for an action drama and came out with a comedy, because the acting in this all the way through is simply laughable. Bruce Willis should have paid the producers to keep him uncredited in this film.
Mr. Mayor (2021)
Mayor Maybe Not
My review probably isn't worth a lot because I formed a decision only 12 minutes into the pilot when I turned it off. Ted Danson should find a way to re-write history that says he never had anything to do this plunker. You'd think his talent could carry any show, but the rest of this is too much even for him to overcome. If they even finish with the first season I can't imagine it getting more tolerable than the opening scenes.
Space Force (2020)
Wanted So Bad For This To Work
Amazing cast and a genius concept would normally be a formula that sums up with a winner, but Space Force has somehow managed to implode on itself. The jokes don't land, the characters don't have chemistry and the videography uses overly dramatic movements to try and make up for every drab scene it attempts to capture.
So, so, so bummed that this show isn't even worth sitting through, much less anticipating another season.