Sasquatch Bill Money Cosmo

This show is another example of why live action projects should stay away from written works, the race swapping of characters who a described with clear ethnic features; or more grievously - tell a story rushed for the sake of getting to an imaginary point in a story that spans 14 Books! There is good in this show; at least in some of the casting of characters. Rand is actually being played by a ginger. Moiraine (played by Rosamund Pike) is a step in the right direction - but Rosamund is TOO TALL. Here's a question to all the people who don't see a problem with the "race swapping" let me ask you this, are you not a little disturbed that two vilest characters in this story were race swapped to be Black? If this is any indication, I am certain that this show is going to suffer the same fate as Game of Thrones. Mark my words.

Nothing but a lefty shill.

The Umbrella Academy (a failure to launch.) In this Netflix series, we are treated to a visual adaptation of the comic by Gerard Way, who introduces us to a super-powered team of young heroes destined to save the world. While the comic this series is based on plays an annoying pronoun game where the audience is spared from guessing by convenient "flashbacks," the first 3 episodes try to flesh out the story in a ham-fisted, rushed way. Instead of giving us the action which the comic delivers, we are drowned in talking and the all too often "over-acting" of millennial Ellen Page. That's just the tip of this iceberg. Ellen is in good company. Robert Sheehan who plays #4 "Klaus" (AKA "The Séance") tries to embody this character Sheehan falls back into the trap of "overdoing it." Tom Hopper who plays "Spaceboy" is another example of a missed opportunity where it came to making this character his; instead, we get a cardboard performance. The only standouts in this series are Mary J. Blige who is given the role of "Cha-Cha" which was originally a male character in the comics; Mary J. owned it. Likewise, Cameron Britton earns a gold star for his role as "Hazel" who plays off of his castmate (M.J.) we are treated to a lot of this time jumping two person hit squad; more than the initial run of the comics treated us to. What about #5? Aidan Gallagher comes across like he's being directed by Wes Anderson; which for the tone of the comic itself might have been better if the director of "Life Aquatic" had helmed this series. Alas, he didn't. All in all the 10 episodes were boring, full of too much talking and not enough fighting the bad guys. The sister act between Emmy Raver-Lampman and Ellen Page came across more like an MTV reality show, though Emmy did her best to fill the role of "Rumor" it's dismantled too often by the failings of her cast mates. As a comic fan and someone who has read comic (including this one), my overall anticipation for this series was tempered by the fact that it was being produced by Netflix, and staring the half-pint drama princess Page as the "White Violin." Why she was miscast in this role I think has more to do with Netflix progressive liberal leaning boardroom and less to do with merit. If there is a season 2 for The Umbrella Academy he's hoping they focus on the younger versions of these characters as they head to Dallas 1963.