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Reviews
The Terminal List (2022)
Technically Excellent; Good, Not Great
First, the show is technically superb in how it portrays the military, missions, firearms, brotherhood, etc. The technical advisors on this series lent their expertise and the directors listened. Sure, there are improbable, if not impossible, artistic license, but that's to be expected with this genre.
Now that out of the way. The acting and writing is uneven at best and very flat at times. There were moments when I felt Chris Pratt was giving the performance of his life, and others where he was out of his league. Some in the cast, performed very well (Constance Wu). Some characters were ridiculously wooden and genre driven (Jaí Courtney). I'm not blaming the actors. It falls to the writing and direction. The Steve Horn character was borderline cartoonish in his villainous behavior that his character alone took a star off for me. He just needed a handlebar mustache to twirl as he plotted against his foes.
Then there's the predictability of the story. Ben's involvement in the setup or coverup was obvious from the beginning. If you didn't see it coming from the time he picked Reece up when returning home, then you haven't read/seen stories like these in the past. At times, i doubted he could be involved because they dropped so many hints (CIA, Langley escalated the intelligence, Oberon is someone at the agency, etc). It was actually too obvious.
All in all, I rated this a 7. The action didn't disappoint for the most part and it kept me interested we'll enough to binge the show through a few days. It's a ride but not for everybody and not the greatest thing that's aired. I don't know that I'd anxiously await a season 2.
The Haunting of Hill House (2018)
Not a Simple Horror...and that's why it's so Great!
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
- Hamlet (1.5.167-8), Hamlet to Horatio
If you enter into the journey of watching Hill House expecting another Friday night horror fest, it will disappoint. This is not a horror movie. Don't get me wrong. It will scare you at times, but his is not a horror movie. Instead, it serves as, if not the best, one of the most well written, acted, and produced Netflix original series.
This series explores the simultaneous darkness and beauty of the life experience; how one does not come without another. It dives into the reality/finality of death, and the everlasting depth of familial love. By episode 4, I realized this is not a series about a haunted house, but instead about a haunted family...haunted by secrets, past pain, hurts, habits, and failures. Things that which all families can relate.
Per the Shakespeare quote above (and also quoted from the movie), this series explores the unknown realities of the world around us. Per episode one, where the very nature of the word, "supernatural" is challenged, this series examines how hauntings are likely a reality that we simply can't rationalize either in our own mind or in the context of what we understand of the world around us.
The story honors the Shirley Jackson book in many ways as it explores the psychological nature of hauntings. Stephen King listed the book as one of the finest horror novels of the late 20th century. In watching the book translated into this series, you can see the absolute echoes of The Shining, and appreciated the inspiration this book provided King. This series also reminded me of my favorite haunting movie of all time, The Changeling (1980) with George C Scott. Truthfully, it honors the horror/haunting genre in so many ways by being its own and hitting every note (including the scary ones) on key.
All-in-all absolutely great filmmaking.
Everything about this series hit very solid notes. Character development: Each intriguing, yet not cliche Cinematography: Subtle, yet captivating Acting: Could have overplayed (as often with this genre), but they did not and every character was awesome. Key side point, Carla Gugino and Timothy Hutton were brilliant. Casting: 9/10, the only area I couldn't understand was the choice to cast two separate actors for Hugh Crain (Henry Thomas & Timothy Hutton). They both played their roles admirably, but the appearance differences cased a hiccup in the suspension of disbelief at times.