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johnnykashed
Reviews
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023)
Unearned violence sandwich on boring bread
The first hour of this movie is dreadfully boring. I actually fell asleep in the theater for the first time in my life, and that's what compelled me to write this. I understand the importance of singing to the story, but it doesn't match the tone of the movie AT ALL. We're just bursting out into song like it's a 2010 Disney channel movie. I feel like I got whiplash every time she started singing because of how wrong it is for the tone of this film. Additionally, I felt embarrassed for the actors during several of the dramatic scenes leading up to the games. And then you get to the actual games...
I don't know that I've ever seen a film with such an unearned display of violence. It's genuinely brutal. I normally applaud a film that has the balls to kill a kid. It's usually unexpected, and when done well, it creates incredible tension. In this movie, you're expecting kids to die, which somehow just adds to how distasteful the actual violence is. It's completely unearned. We've had random singing, terrible dramatic acting, scenes that feel like TikTok fan fiction, and everyone in the capital is twirling their moustache like a Bond villain. Whether the writers like it or not, this movie is WAY too campy to allow for this kind of brutal violence and social metaphor.
I don't even really want to get into the last 45 minutes, or whatever it was. The main guy acts like a sociopath the entire film, and we know who he becomes, so I don't feel I'm spoiling anything by saying that he continues to be a sociopath, and everyone acts accordingly. And it's boring, and confusing. So its boring until it's violent, and then it's boring again, with a little bit of pointless confusion sprinkled on top.
American Dad!: Gold Top Nuts (2022)
This is American Dad! Doing What it Does Best
This episode is a top 5 all time, right up there with Rabbit Ears. This is what American Dad! Does best. When the writers are allowed to really run with these bizarre ideas it always pays off. Also, over the last few seasons they've really managed to make me care about this family that's made up of terrible people. The humor has also evolved away from pop culture references into absurdism and jokes that rely on the characters or the world they've built. They've been consistently pulling the rug out from under my expectations this entire season. If you're a true fan and like the weird episodes, this will be one of your favorites for sure.