Tag: Good Watch

Good Watch: What We Do in the Shadows @Natasia1andonly @porksmith @m_proksch @HARVEYGUILLEN @DougJones @TaikaWaititi @hulu #GoodWatch #QuarantineLife

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What We Do in the Shadows isn’t the kind of show I would have expected to like. I liked Galaxy Quest because it made fun of my favorite intellectual property, Star Trek, but I’m no into horror movies at all, so I didn’t expect this to appeal to me. However, after the first few episodes, I found it hilarious, which is unsurprising considering Taika Waititi’s warped brain is behind it. Kayvan Novak absolutely steals the show, but the entire cast has some great moments. 

WWDitS airs on Hulu, with new episodes every Thursday night. Catching up would be a snap, as each episode is less than 30 minutes long. That makes it easy to sneak in an episode whenever you have a moment. Plus, each season is only 10 episodes long, and they haven’t finished the second season yet.

As always, YMMV.

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Good Watch: F Is for Family @billburr @netflix #GoodWatch #QuarantineLife

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F Is for Family is the R-rated brainchild of my favorite active comedian, Bill Burr. There are currently three seasons posted on Netfilx, with the fourth set to be released on June 12, 2020. It’s a sitcom about middle-class, suburban America in the 70s.

Mr. Burr isn’t even a month younger than I, so he’s writing a story that I’ve lived as well, and thus is something to which I relate. There are other parallels to my personal life. Half of my family tree is essentially Irish and Scottish, and my nuclear family consists of an eldest son, a middle-child son (me), and a youngest daughter. For about a decade, until my younger brother came along, that was my family’s dynamic. The middle-child in the show is named Bill, leading me to believe that Mr. Burr, like me, is the middle child.

By the start of season 3, the father’s yelling seemed to get more annoying than funny. I’m not sure if  that’s because it grew old or if the scripts changed, but that’s the only thing I don’t like about this series.

I don’t know if I like this show because I related to a lot of it, but Bill Burr has a large fan base. If you’re a part of it, you may like it too.

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Casey Biggs and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine @netflix @arenastage #QuarantineLife #StarTrek #DS9

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My favorite movie and television property is Star Trek. I wasn’t fond of Star Trek Into Darkness but otherwise am an apologist for the property. However, Star Trek Deep Space Nine wrapped up while I was in law school, so it’s the only series for which I haven’t seen all the episodes. I’m currently remedying that situation by watching seasons 6 and 7.

There’s nothing I can say about the series that hasn’t been said before. Instead, I’ll mention a personal anecdote. I’ve been attending the theater since I was 5 years old, so over 4 decades. However, it wasn’t just any theater; it was Arena Stage. Arena is high-quality theater. I can’t tell you how many now-famous actors I’ve seen cut their teeth at Arena, as well as stop by for a visit after getting their big break.

So, when I saw that Casey Biggs had joined the cast of Deep Space Nine as Damar, I was thrilled. Mr. Biggs has a history with Arena. He was the first actor I had ever seen on TV (L.A. Law) that I first saw at Arena. My favorite two roles for him were that of Odysseus in Homer’s Odyssey and Petruchio in Taming of the Shrew. He appears to be assigned to soap opera hell but consistently gets one-shot roles on prominent TV shows.

He remains an obscure actor, but I’ve paid attention and appreciate what he’s done through these years.

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Good Watch: #Dolemite Is My Name @netflix #GoodWatch #QuarantineLife

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Dolemite Is My Name has been on my list since it came out, but I never got around to seeing it. Enter SARS-COV-2. It’s the story of Rudy Ray Moore, who made and released his first blaxploitation film, Dolemite, in 1975. I’d never heard this story and have never seen any of the Dolemite movies. It was a good blend of funny and serious. It showed how difficult it was for Moore and others in 70s America but kept it lighthearted. At times, it was even inspirational.

I wasn’t the target demographic for blaxploitation films, but this story still appealed to me. As always, YMMV.

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Good Watch: Oliver & Company @billyjoel @disneyplus #GoodWatch #QuarantineLife

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In February of 1988, I babysat for my brother’s birthday party. About 15 10-year-olds and only two adults. 🙂 We saw this animated movie as part of the party. It’s definitely a kids movie, and didn’t appeal to me even then (I was 19), but I was curious how well I remembered it. Besides, it’s only 75 minutes long, and I still listen to the theme song, “Why Should I Worry?” by Billy Joel to this day.

I looked up the cast and saw that Roscoe Lee Brown voiced Francis, which sent me down a rabbit hole. As soon as I saw his image, it lead me to this vague memory from childhood: Doctor Scorpion (1978). I can’t find any details on the plot but would love to stream it if I can find it. I’m certain it didn’t hold up well.

Oliver and Company streams on Disney+. If you have young kids, it’s probably a good watch.

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Good Watch: Under the Skin (Not So Good) @netflix #GoodWatch #QuarantineLife

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I saw a video entitled Alien Movies on Netflix That Should Be Required Viewing. Some of the movies I’d seen, and a couple were on my saved list. I decided to give Under the Skin a shot. In the interests of avoiding spoilers, I’ll simply say that Scarlett Johansson plays a believable predator killing men. Her origins are in the real of science fiction.

I thought it was going to be a morality play, and it disappointed me that it wasn’t. While murder can never be justified, as I’ve discussed many times before, filmmakers often deal in extremes so that the less attentive in the audience won’t miss the point. So putting aside the inherent evil of murder, I was hoping her selection of targets would be based on their character. It wasn’t. She killed as many sympathetic men as she did unsympathetic ones. That soured me to the movie. A morality play could have resulted in an interesting ending, so unsurprisingly this one’s ending fell flat. It just … ended.

One interesting coincidence: It takes place in Scotland, and there’s a bus in the movie (during a particularly horrid but pivotal scene) that’s apparently from Lochgilphead. I’m planning a trip to Scotland and really want to visit the town. One of my paternal great-grandfathers was born there.

As always, YMMV.

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Good Watch: Dark Side of the Ring on @Vice #GoodWatch #QuarantineLife #DSotR

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My Good Watch series isn’t about me forcing my opinion on you as film and food critics always do. Instead, I explain to you why I like (or don’t like) a show so that you can predict whether the same type of genre or dramatic theme appeals to you. This post arguably crosses that line a little bit in that I encourage you to give Dark Side of the Ring a watch. Even if you were never a fan of pro wrestling, you may really like it.

Pro wrestling has always been a train wreck behind the scenes. There are countless stories of wrestlers taking massive risks with their health in order be paid a pittance, all the while being accused of being “fakes.” (Would you treat a movie star that way? What about a singer whose lyrics tell a story they never lived themselves?) What this leads to is an industry of self-destructive — even crazy — wrestlers being mistreated by rotten promoters and owners.

This is what gives the Dark Side of the Ring its stories, and they’re fascinating.

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Good Watch: Solar Opposites @JustinRoiland @MikeMcMahanTM @hulu #GoodWatch #QuarantineLife

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This is an easy post to write. Justin Roiland and MikeMcMahan created Rick & Morty, and now they’ve created Solar Opposites, a show about aliens who escaped the destruction of their planet and crashed on Earth about a year before season 1 starts. Like Rick Sanchez, the family has trouble dealing with aspects of society that we all take for granted, such as homeowners associations and restrictions on criminal behavior. Okay, we actually don’t take those things for granted. Then there’s the racism.

If Rick & Morty is your thing, this may be as well. It’s stupid fun in a similar way. Season 1 has 8 episodes of less that 30 minutes each, so you can binge the entire season in an afternoon.

Solar Opposites streams on Hulu.

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Good Watch: Dead to Me @1capplegate @lindacardellini @netflix @deadtome #GoodWatch #QuarantineLife

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Dead to Me, season 2 just dropped, which has ten, 30-35 minute episodes, all of which I watched on Saturday. It’s both comedic and tragic. Linda Cardellini plays Judy, a complete screw up that brings tragedy with her everywhere she goes. This brings her to Christina Applegate’s Jen, and it spirals down from there. Saying anything more would require at least mild spoilers.

With respect to Ms. Applegate, this is literally the best I’ve ever seen her act. She’s phenomenal.  Ms. Cardellini’s Judy plays a naive and self-destructive character that usually frustrates me and keeps me from liking a show, but though her performance overall is really good, what most keeps me on board is her comedic timing. We’re all familiar with the notion of how difficult it can be to formulate and maintain a lie. Watching Jen and Judy navigate those waters made me laugh every time. However, this is far from a comedy. The tragedies follow one after the other, with the big ones self-inflicted and creating a snowball effect. There should be another season, and however many there are, I’m very curious as to how this series will end.

Dead to Me streams on Netflix.

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Good Watch: Josie & the Pussycats @russburlingame @HarryElfont @RealDebKaplan @RachaelLCook @rosariodawson @tarareid @missipyle @ComicBook @HBO #GoodWatch #QuarantineWatchParty #JosieAndThePussycats

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This week’s ComicBook.com quarantine watch party (“QWP”) was Josie and the Pussycats. It was the first hosted by Russ Burlingame, who apparently has fond feelings for it. I had never seen it. Also contributing were Deb  Kaplan and Harry Elfont, as in

There was a QWP earlier in the week that I joined despite not being fond of the film, and because I didn’t want to rain on anyone’s parade, I don’t think I tweeted a single thing during the movie. Josie and the Pussycats wasn’t a movie I expected to like, so I expected to say nothing for this one as well.

I counted 68 tweets.

This was a fun movie. The gist is a trio of high-school kids from Riverdale (see the Archie Comics) that have formed a rock band. They get famous because of their talent, but the stereotypical greedy executives try and split the band’s leader, Josie, from the group and jettison Melodie and Valerie. Friendship, and music, prevails. Trite? Sure, but it’s all in the execution.

The movie is geared towards people far younger than I was even in 2001 when it was released, but it still made me laugh and had some nice moments between the on-screen friends. Also, going back to my days attending Arena Stage and seeing soon-to-be-famous actors getting their starts, I love seeing actors at the beginning of their career. This movie had a ton of them.

Josie and the Pussycats is currently streaming on HBO.

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