Rich Badone

Pretty slow until episode 3, which was so heartbreaking and beautiful, yet never seen on tv before. So honest and raw. Ah, The difficulties of a relationship. Life is just full of ups and downs, and the show bares them all. Really powerful TV and not a dry eye in the place I have always been reminded of. I heard an English class in college that one of themes of literature is man’s inhumanity to man. We don’t kill each other for food, we kill each other for spite. There is a wonderful mix of personalities in the show that appears to be the most honest dating show ever

Is it where yes. Does it make any sense? No. This seems to be someone’s dream divided into three different sections. Of course the acting is spectacular. There are three separate stories, if they connect, it’s beyond me. But they are all very interesting, and deserve some praise. Unfortunately, I was in a theater where there was one other person. So I assume this movie is moving on, Straight to streaming.

The trials and tribulations of a recent immigrant trying to deal with difficult people. In some parts, sort of like a Larry David rant on weird crazy twists and turns of a society that doesn’t work for anyone. But also a shootout to the crazies, who demand that the system fix itself. Some wild idea here. Like banks charging customers $35 overdraft fees for an $8 sandwich but that’s the system and you can’t fight “the Policy “.

The worst. Impossible to follow. The direction is so off, trying to be arty with shots that are of nothing but walls and picture frames. The editing must have been done by a food slicer. Oh there, a shot of bare feet. Wow. Zoom in please! Who is interviewing him now? Oh, watch his outfit change to figure it out. Their English is also perfect which is amazing for recent immigrants who do not code switch, which is common in foreigners. Oh, now an alligator in the pool, for no apparent reason. One wonders how it got in the pool. But never mind. Now jump around more locations in a nightclub which can’t be doing so well as tables are 20 feet apart. This is unbearable.

Episode was mostly in Spanish, an odd choice. Some of the sketches fell apart and weekend update was mediocre. Bad Bunny brought in a new audience so if thats the goal, thats great for them. The material was especially weak but the cameos kept on coming, from Jagger to regulars Fred, and Pablo. I guess we should expect this every week. I think Lorne is losing it and going with AI.

The creators didn’t get the memo about not casting 27 year olds as teens. Some of the characters look like FedEx drivers. The stories are way over the top, aiming for sensationalism and I had a problem with the stereotypes being almost comical. Some of the ideas however are spot on for teens which is a good thing but I’m hoping securing the rights to the constant music infusion cost them dearly. The acting is fine if you accept a student having the hots for a guy well into his 20’s but ok. I will say it held my interest.

I have seen NPH in Assassins, Company, and other great performances, I’m so sad to see him shrink to this level. Its so over the top and unnecessary. Is everyone in NYC so filthy rich and living in incredible luxury? Way, way overdone. Not 1 bit of reality in this show.

Another Tom Cruise vanity movie. It is so obvious Tom must look good in every shot it’s laughable. The writing team worked hard to make sure no one had to speak a sentence with more than 5 words. Every one a snappy retort. Great pains are taken to make sure Tom doesn’t look short. Any scene in the office, or hanger, or home is shot in almost complete darkness. Any veteran or serviceman will love the heroics and military themes. Its a male dominated flick and the cheering crowd scenes are guys who would love the recent Supreme Court decision. For Men, by Men, the plot holds no surprises, conclusion is telegraphed from start to finish. This is what audiences wanted after the pandemic and this is what we get, nothing you have to think about.

Please please let there be a real season 2 on HBO Max. So well acted, so much depth of story. One of the gems of this horrible, debilitating pandemic curse.