Dickinson: Overview

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Hailee Steinfeld stars as famed poet Emily Dickinson. However this is not wholly a period piece.

So as Dickinson draws to a close I am left divided. Torn. There were good elements here and a few episodes where the show really sung however, there was also a myriad of problems some of which only became more apparent and egregious as the series went on. As this is an overview of the show itself and all of its seasons I won’t be talking specifics about any one episode particularly instead I’ll tackle it more broadly.

I think the things Dickinson does right are two fold, firstly it taps into the immense talent of Steinfeld and gives her a lot of room to flex her acting chops and secondly it has a strong visual identity that lends itself quite nicely to the screen and leads to some very memorable moments such as when Emily takes a carriage ride with Death, played by Wiz Khalifa.

However, what Dickinson does wrong is largely down to the writing. Firstly the major issue with the show is that about a third of its episodes could be cut and it would make no real difference to the storyline of the show as there is so much filler that to chop it down would probably make it better, this show had no business being ten episodes a season. Secondly, and this one might be controversial, Dickinson is incredibly preachy, at times it gets to the point where it feels like the show is trying to shove the political agenda of it’s writers down your throat and that can of course be off putting.

Overall, I think this series is watchable but it could have been so much more if the political agenda wasn’t there and if the season were smaller perhaps five or six episodes so the writers don’t have to produce so much filler.

Pros.

Steinfeld

The visual style

It is watchable

Cons.

The preaching

The pacing

The humour never really landed for me

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The Breaker Upperers: Taking The Awkwardness Out Of Ending Your Relationship

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Jen, played by Jackie Van Beek, and Mel, played by Madeleine Sami, run a business where they break up couples.

I enjoy quirky comedies and this was just the ticket for me. I thought it was frequently funny as well as quite heart-warming. The film has a nice message of remaining optimistic in life and staying open to love. It managed to balance heart and comedy well giving each both room to excel whilst also knowing how far to go with the sentimentality before it would be overly so.

I thought both of the leads were good though I would probably say Sami stole the show for me and just pipped it to be the breakout here. Sami’s Mel is easy to root for and her enthusiasm is heart not to be infected by.

Though it was only a small cameo I loved that Jemaine Clements was in this film, though it was only one scene Clements was terrific and his whole scene had me laughing continuously, my one regret for this film is that they didn’t use him more.

Overall, a comedy film that makes you laugh and feel, very sweet.

Pros.

Clements

Sami

The humour

The heart

Cons.

A slight case of pacing issues

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Death To 2021: 2022 Doesn’t Look Much Better

3.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A comical stand-up of major world events from 2021.

For the most part I thought this was good, it made me laugh several times though not every joke landed. Moreover, I also appreciated the fact that though it covered some hot button issues it never really came down hard on one side or another politically and just tried to lampoon everything, that is how comedy should be.

In terms of the fictional talking head characters created for the special I thought Hugh Grant’s MBE wielding combater of the woke had many strong comedic lines and Cristin Milioti’s QAnon tinged Kathy Flowers once again stole the show. It is a huge shame that the world has yet to learn about Milioti’s fantastic comedic chops enough to land her leading roles in comedy films, hopefully soon that will be rectified.

My only real criticism would be that there were pacing issues in parts and not all of the jokes landed, these two things weren’t major issues but they did team up and when they did it led to a few bad segments where unfunny jokes were stretched out for far too long.

Overall, a funny stand up to an otherwise quite troubling year.

Pros.

Grant

Milioti

The jokes

It never chose one side politically

Cons.

Pacing issues

A few bad jokes

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Don’t Look Up: A Gender Swapped Trump

0.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A group of scientists and astronomers must convince the world that a giant asteroid is about to wipe them out.

This was a deeply unlikeable film it seems to be just over two hours of Adam McKay being smug. The runtime in and of itself is excessive and indulgent but that could be remedied if the film had something interesting to say, but it does not. The film makes a lot of rather obvious and on the nose political points about how Hollywood saw America during the Trump presidency, honestly all of these points have been made before and though the film gender swaps the president role it is incredibly obvious what it is trying to say. It is several years out of date.

Moreover, this is the big film that Jennifer Lawrence used as her comeback to acting, after to quote her ‘audiences got sick of her’, well that isn’t about to change anytime soon as her character here is incredibly annoying and is written as a one note flat character. Her character is given nothing to do beyond freak out, and that quickly gets tiresome. Furthermore, the film features Jonah Hill being equally as annoying, only the film doesn’t seem to realise this and instead thinks he is being hilarious and quick witted, not only does this film prove to you that Hill should stay in drama roles it also shows you how desperately this film wants to be something like The Wolf Of Wallstreet.

Overall, a smug film that is too busy giving itself a pat on the back to do anything else.

Pros.

Leonardo DiCaprio is trying his best

A few funny moments

Cons.

It is smug

It is incredibly on the nose

It has pacing issues

Lawrence is awful

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Yes God Yes: Chat Rooms, The Portal To Self Discovery

3.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A catholic school girl, played by Natalie Dyer, learns the importance of self-love after she gives in to sin.

I thought this film was in many ways genius, I think for a long time the sex comedy genre has been heavily male dominated and in recent years we have seen more sex comedy films told from the female point of view and this is much needed, this is one of those films. I think it is important to do this to demystify ideas around female sex and masturbation and in many ways these have been stigmatised within society.

I would say the film is funny about three quarters of the time, not every joke lands but enough do that it still works as a comedy. In terms of the dramatic elements I think the film does a good job of making us see the repressed world of this catholic school girl just looking to explore her sexuality and shows the adversity she faces.

Dyer does a good job here and does more than enough to distance herself from her other role of Nancy Myers on Stranger Things, I think there is a believable naivety here and a believable innocence that really plays into the performance and makes it seem more genuine.

Overall, an important film for many reasons but one that doesn’t totally stick the landing.

Pros.

The female focus

Demystifying female sexual experiences

The jokes

The ending

Cons.

Not all the jokes land

Pacing issues, it may have worked better as a short

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Reno 911 The Hunt For QAnon: Trapped At Sea With Conspiracy Theorists

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The Reno County Sheriff’s Department try and hunt down the leader of QAnon.

I will preface this review by saying that before this I had never seen any episodes of Reno 911 so if there were references and call backs to things that happened in previous episodes and specials of the show I will not have got them.

Did this special make me want to go back and watch the show? Maybe. I appreciated that though the focus of the special was on a very contemporary issue with QAnon it did not feel dated. However, I didn’t find it particularly funny either, there were one or two funny moments but on the whole a lot of the jokes fell flat for me.

There is not a lot to say about this one because it was just fine, it was watchable but not very funny. Did it need to exist? Probably not as I doubt it is likely to spark much renewed interest in the show, but I was never a fan so what do I know.

Overall, it was very watchable, but not very funny.

Pros.

It is very watchable

It doesn’t date itself

It is relatively well paced

Cons.

A lot of the jokes don’t land

It doesn’t justify its existence

The ending feels weak

True Memoirs Of An International Assassin: The Shlub And The Model

2/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Kevin James’ character is mistaken for a famous assassin and forced into a dangerous situation.

Honestly, I only really watched this film as a means to turn my brain off, at no point before, during or after was I under the impression that it was going to be/ or was good. However, it is not as bad as you might expect it to be, it is fairly tame and harmless. It is neither good nor bad, rather just watchable.

James brings an everyman sort of appeal to the role which for parts makes the character more accessible however, at other times James’ portrayal borders on the irritating, we understand he is being presented to us as weak willed and as something of a coward but sometimes he is almost caricature like in this respect.

The romantic relationship between James’ character and Zulay Henao’s Rosa comes across as Hollywood wish fulfilment at its most egregious, once again we are presented with an almost cartoon like pairing of the model and the shlub and are asked to believe it, well in all honestly it is starting to get more than a little trite.

Overall, it is fine nothing more nothing less.

Pros.

It is watchable

A few funny moments

Cons.

James

The romantic pairing

It drags on

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The Last Train To Christmas: Ruining An Interview By Urinating On The Tape Recorder

4.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Tony Towers, played by Michael Sheen, is a club owner on the verge of bankruptcy, however when he enters a train that allows him to travel to other decades of his life he tries to change things in order to be a success, however, as he does this he realises what really matters to him.

This was a powerful film; I know the above summary might make the plot sound a bit generic but trust me it really isn’t. As Tony begins to learn that his success comes at the cost of his brother’s, played by Cary Elwes, physical and mental health and then tries to save him it hits you like a ton of bricks. The bond between these two characters is incredibly strong and Sheen and Elwes play off each other really well over the course of the film.

I found the morality of the film and the impact of Tony’s choices to be fascinating and not go in a way that I was expecting. I thought the ending of the film felt incredibly well done and earned, the one thing that bothered me about it though was that the two didn’t talk, I felt like this was needed for us to know that Sheen’s Tony had been truly successful.

Overall, potentially a new Christmas classic.

Pros.

Elwes

Sheen

The emotion

The morality

Cons.

The ending

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C’mon C’mon: Joaquin Phoenix Proving Why He Got An Oscar

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Johnny, played by Joaquin Phoenix, must look after his young nephew Jessie, played by Woodie Norman.

For the most part I thought this was a beautiful film about lonely souls finding each other and bonding. I thought Phoenix was at his most paternal here and his relationship with Norman’s Jessie felt very organic, powerful and real. A number of times the scenes between the two as well as some of the scenes where Phoenix’s character is talking into his radio equipment about Jessie were so sweet and wholesome that they almost brought me to tears.

Now this film won’t be for everyone there will be some that view it as boring or as pretentious, especially because it chooses to be entirely in black and white, however I think the intimate focus and this colour choice help the film to stand out and give it personality.

The only thing I don’t like about this film is the long drawn out sequences where the children that Johnny interviews go on about their fears for the future. To me I thought these were dull and took away from a tight and compelling main story about the bond between boy and uncle.

Overall, Phoenix is an incredible talent.

Pros.

Phoenix

Norman

The emotion

The style

Cons.

Some of the sections drag on

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South Park The Return Of Covid: We All Wish We Could Escape This Bleak Future

3.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The residents of South Park try to travel back in time and stop the outbreak of the covid epidemic.

I enjoyed this special far more than I did the last, mainly because I thought the message of learning to live with the disease, saying enough is enough, and trying to regain a semblance of our old lives, where being locked down for several months a year isn’t the norm, is not only agreeable but should be encouraged. It is nice to see things like this as a counter weight to the scare-mongering.

I enjoyed the friendship of the boys being the central focus and thought that the future Cartman, voiced by Trey Parker, storyline was actually quite sweet and well done. I know some fans will not like the final fate of Cartman but I thought in some ways it was poetic to the character we knew all along, though this is by no means the end and probably a series of the show years from now will give him a whole different future.

This special I also found to be funnier than the last and it made me chuckle a good number of times during it. I am still quite apathetic to the topic of covid and hopefully this will be the last time the show mentions it as the jokes are starting to run dry.

Overall, better than the last and hopefully the last time we will see the series tackle covid.

Pros.

The message

The ending

The jokes

Cons.

The covid jokes have been done to death

It goes on for a bit too long

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