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Reviews
The Haunting of Bly Manor (2020)
Simply Effective!
Great characters, amazing setting, and a "show don't tell" plot make this a great piece.
If you enjoy cerebral suspense and artistic and deep plot lines this show is likely for you. If you are looking for gore, superhuman serial killers, and/or disposable characters you can't wait to see killed; this is NOT for you!
The show is very effective at building a bond with its characters through effective dialogue and SUBTLETY (are you paying attention Hollywood?). The acting and directing is amazingly well done and the end had me crying pretty good (never happens).
This show is also a great example of using "woke" themes that actually work. Using LGBTQ and diverse characters that fit and work and don't come off as just a giant virtue signal. So many modern works just seem like pandering to our new Cult of Woke. This does it right. Showing characters as individuals rather than sad stereotypes.
The only criticisms I really have is the special effects and pacing. Some of the effects look cheap. They are not a big focus of the show, but they are kind of off putting when they are featured.
Secondly, there is some "padding" in a couple episodes that seem to be more designed to facilitate the 55 minute runtime and get tiresome.
Highly recommend
Industrial Accident: The Story of Wax Trax! Records (2018)
Informative but ineffective
In short Wax Trax as a record label had a big influence on me. I was very excited for this doc.
The focus of the doc is very much on the founders and very little on the actual bands and music, except how they related to the founders. Though interesting, it really wasn't what I showed up for.
I found it repeating the same points over and over. Yes, the founders were gay and Wax Trax store was a meeting place for the subculture. Spend less time repeating this and showcase the awesome music that came out of that subculture.
I did enjoy how they timelined everything. I learned a lot about the history of bands I thought I knew. However they also missed reporting on some pretty significant events in the scene. They also seemed to really minimize the role of Jourgenson on the label and the scene I thought.
Overall it was a well informed documentary about 2 gay record store owners who started a label, but seemed to miss the mark on the music and the impact, with me anyway.