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Reptile (2023)
Basically the 2nd best season of True Detective
What a pleasant surprise this was. I got the same vibe watching this as I did watching the first season of True Detective, though it never feels like it's ripping it off. It's a bit of a red herring fest though, and it throws so many things at you that the ending can't possibly tie everything up (if you need that sort of thing). The cast is superb and the direction is top notch (can't believe this was basically his first feature). To anyone saying it was boring and/or hard to follow, I wonder how many of these people were on their phones half the time. If Netflix funded more stuff like this instead of expensive action snoozefests like Red Notice I (almost) wouldn't mind when they raise their prices.
Prodigal Son: Speak of the Devil (2021)
Silly and tonally awkward episode
Binging this series after it ended - so far it's been a fun guilty pleasure (at least the first season was), but I wonder if it's episodes like this that caused viewership to decline. The police racism subplot with JT (which was rather clumsily introduced in the last episode along with all the COVID references) was a bit eye-rolling to begin with, but the decision to continue it in this episode where it has to awkwardly sit alongside a very silly exorcism storyline, was just plain dumb. As for the main plot, yeesh. Maybe in The Exorcist they should've checked Reagan's room for lead paint first? I'll give it a generous three stars for the sister's turtleneck joke.
Trainwreck: Woodstock '99 (2022)
A bit better than the previous doc
Slightly longer than last year's "Woodstock: Peace Love and Rage" documentary, and the 3-episode chronological format (covering each day) works better and seems more focused. As another reviewer pointed out, this could've been several episodes longer, or at least longer than 45 mins an episode; for anyone who listened to music critic Steven Hyden's 10-episode podcast in 2019 ("Break Stuff: The Story of Woodstock 99") both of these documentaries seem lightweight by comparison. But in the end, I guess there's only so much available footage to use and people to interview.
And to the reviewers who said they never mention Woodstock 94 or blame the organizers instead of the bands, what documentary were you watching? 94 is mentioned in the first episode, and the organizers are painted throughout as being ignorant to the many problems happening, and then spinning the truth for damage control and refusing to accept any blame in the aftermath.
The Sinner: Part VIII (2021)
Big improvement over season 3
I was glad this show rebounded nicely from the dreadful last season, although I didn't realize this was going to be the last one. This didn't really feel like a series finale - I'm sure they made this season before that decision came down - but it was a decent end to a pretty satisfying season (with these mystery shows, rarely does the finale live up to expectations, but at least the overall season was intriguing enough). I thought all of the cast was great and was happy Ambrose wasn't making ridiculous decisions like he was in the back half of season 3. It's a shame his partner Sonya was basically written out halfway through, it seems they just had nothing for her to do. Would love to see Ambrose back at some point, maybe for a TV movie or something.
The Sinner: Part VIII (2020)
Frustrating end to a frustrating season
Season 3's story could have easily been told in half the amount of episodes, or at the very least they could have pared it down to six (why does every season have to be the same amount of episodes, how bout letting each season's story naturally play out the way it should?). It's a testament to Bill Pullman and the rest of the cast that they keep this watchable, but whatever was intriguing about the first episode is long gone by episode 3 or 4. You're left figuring "well surely this will have a big payoff that'll make this all worthwhile," but it never really gets there. Any suspense generated in the final couple episodes is solely due to Pullman's character seemingly losing all common sense and making really dumb decisions. I'm glad the show is getting another chance with season 4, here's hoping it's much better.
9/11: One Day in America (2021)
Maybe the definitive 9/11 documentary
Having watched more than a few specials, documentaries and movies on 9/11 over the past 19 years, this is unquestionably one of the very best. The amount of footage they managed to gather and assemble is astounding (a lot of which I can almost guarantee you haven't seen before), and you feel like you're right in the middle of it most of the time. Of course, this also means that it's incredibly difficult to watch at times, but then again it should be.
Infinite (2021)
A baffling mess
I refuse to believe Antoine Fuqua directed this, or even that Wahlberg actually read the script and thought, "sure this seems good." The whole thing looks and feels like a mashup of The Matrix, Highlander and XXX that would've come out in the early 2000's. All of the action scenes have a cheesy CGI look to them, a far cry from the grittier action Fuqua usually excels at, and Wahlberg sleepwalks through this as if he finally read the script after he had already signed on. As for the plot, you won't fully get it and you won't really care. A character dies in the beginning which is set in 1985, and he gets reincarnated as Wahlberg, who I guess we're supposed to believe is 36? In the finale, Wahlberg jumps out of an airplane holding a samurai sword and grabs onto some metal case that's plummeting to the ground with one hand, lets go so he can fight the bad guy in midair, then pushes off the guy to propel himself back to the metal thing, all while still holding the damn sword. Just so you know what you're signing up for here...
The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers: Game On (2021)
Off to a pretty good start
This could've been doomed from the start if the new cast of kids were even the slightest bit annoying, but thankfully that's not the case (so far). The jury's out on Bombay, I'm sure they'll explain why he's seemingly done nothing these past 25 years and supposedly hates hockey now, but it's great to see Emilio Estevez. I like the commentary on how some parents are so obsessive about their kids' sports even though practically none of them actually go on to have careers as athletes. There's a handful of funny lines and it's nice to know Steven Brill (who wrote all three movies) had an active hand in this, maybe he's making up for D3!
Rambo: Last Blood (2019)
A solid Rambo entry but not much of a finale
So most of the critics are dogpiling on this one, no surprise there considering every Rambo after the original got bad reviews too. The plot here is the one that Stallone considered for the fourth one in 2008, before deciding to do the Burma story instead. As a result it feels like another self-contained Rambo adventure, nothing wrong with that but considering they called it Last Blood it doesn't feel like you're watching the grand sendoff of an iconic character (compared to Rocky Balboa, for example). I also think Rambo's best when he's in the jungle or woods, but that's just me. The action and violence here is simple but brutal (no detectable CGI either) and Stallone is still in great shape while thankfully not depicting Rambo as some invincible superhero