Poker Face: A Shorter Slightly Worse Knives Out

Summary

A woman, Natasha Lyonne, who can always tell when people are lying heads out on the road to solve crimes. It is such a simple premise you wonder why it hasn’t been done before.

Rian Johnson is a controversial figure, a man of highs and lows, sometimes he makes something very good Looper sometimes he makes something very bad The Last Jedi. His Knives Out films were woefully not of the same quality, with the Netflix sequel being dumber and more distracted. Clearly he was working on other things whilst writing it. As such this series could have either been great or terrible, there was no room for in between.

Turns out life won’t be put in a box and despite my previous statement this is a pretty mixed show.

Now there are some things that it does well Lyonne is a strong and likable lead and you care about what happens to her character. I think if you had got someone who was less affable to do this show then it would have just been bad, as even in some of the harder to get through episodes Lyonne’s charm just about makes it bearable.

The episodes themselves fall into more of a villain of the week sort of thing, though the series tries for a wider overarching plot, for the most part it is oh the lead has tripped over a corpse better find out who killed them. Some of these episodes are good, usually the ones with notable guest stars who get to have fun, but some aren’t. The issue with villain of the week storytelling is that not all the episodes are created equal, some get the guest stars and more time to do interesting things and some are filler, and that is not just true here but in a lot of shows.

The issue with this show is that it can have a few bad episodes in a row before you get a good one and because of that it is a slog to get through.

If you are a Knives Out fan then you will almost certainly be into this show.

Overall, fun at times but mostly slow and predictable.

2.5/5

Pros.

Lyonne

Some of the episodes are fun

It has some good ideas

Cons.

Some of the episodes are dull

It is not as smart as it thinks it is

The ending is underwhelming

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Star Wars The Acolyte Opening Two Episodes: How Long Before They Start Blaming The Toxic Fans

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A live action Star Wars series based on the High Republic that no one wanted, I wonder how this will turn out?

Sometimes it keeps me awake at night what goes on at Lucasfilm, they have a massive era of the Star Wars universe that people really care about sitting right there and yet they do nothing with it. Why is that. In my mind the answer can only be that Disney wants to force people to like their Star Wars and even if they released films or series set when I am talking about it wouldn’t be theirs as they didn’t create it. I am of course talking about the Old Republic.

This series is set in the High Republic, an era that came into being under Disney and that they want you to like, bye bye Revan. Honestly, the setting alone is enough for me to loose interest, I just have no real reason to care about this era, and believe me from what I have seen so far they are not going to be doing anything to make anyone care.

So the idea of a secret Sith has some potential, however, in execution it all just falls apart. Amanda Stenberg cannot act, she behaves in much the same way many other girl boss characters have done in the past she has a pissed off look almost constantly plastered to her face and that’s it. She must have taken classes at the Alaqua Cox school of acting. At times I think to myself that Dafne Keen would have made a much better lead, as at least we know she can act.

The fact that the series tries to force us into believing that Carrie-Anne Moss is a still an action hero is frankly laughable. The fight scenes with her in the trailer looked incredibly fake and bad and I doubt you’d say they look much better in the show. That gets me to another point, the whole show from the sets to the makeup to the lightsabers all of it looks like it was done on the cheap. It looks very much like they didn’t have a budget and so just improvised, as I have said before it looks like a fan film not an actual production. I don’t know why this is, if they didn’t have faith in it and it got its budget slashed, if they wanted it to look bad for some reason, perhaps to own the trolls- the old She Hulk defence, or just because it was incompetently made. Could be a mix of all of them.

A final point and one that will no doubt get me some hate but it has to be pointed out, this series is very diverse as per the regulations over at Disney in order to try and get the most people in, but one key group seems to be missing out. There is a distinct lack of guys it feels a little strange that in this galaxy that is full of different races and species and what not that there is maybe only one or two here and there in minor roles. My question is again have Disney forgotten who the main audience for Star Wars is by all metrics and breakdowns, yes you guessed it young men. It seems like there is a desire to go out of their way with this one to have the cast be almost all female, that is fine if there was a reason for it, say a Nightsisters show, but this isn’t that this is supposed to be at the Jedi Temple. There are some guys around don’t get me wrong but it feels very heavily like Disney is pitching this show at women, and we get it Kathleen Kennedy thinks the force is female, but the viewing demographics aren’t. I guess my point here is that the show doesn’t actually feel very inclusive.

Overall, I think that unless it is a John and Dave venture I’ll be giving any future Star Wars project a miss.

1/5

Pros.

It had an interesting premise

Cons.

It isn’t inclusive

It doesn’t seem to know who it is for or what it wants to be

It doesn’t make you care about the characters, the setting, or the period

It looks cheap

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Hijack: Another Reason For Your Fear Of Flying

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Idris Elba has to talk his way out of a plane takeover.

Very much like In The Long Run this series is made by Elba’s sheer charm, if he wasn’t so charismatic then this series might get dull, but no.

I found the idea of the plane takeover to be a good one to base a series around, in creates high stakes very easily as there is no way off. In many senses this show reminded me a little of 24, very high stakes and a constantly ramping up of tension. If you will pardon the cliché as I was watching this I was on the edge of my seat and I did feel very tense so I guess the series did what it set out to.

I would say that apart from Elba the rest of the cast are either phoning it in or are underused, some I believe wanted to give better performances but could only do so much with the material they had been given. Even the villainous role left me cold, this was mainly because they were incredibly one note and not really fleshed out beyond what could only be described as cliches.

I can see how the series has been picked up for a second season though I would still alleged that it is better as a one and done journey, they could keep it going but will they be able to match the level of suspense that has already been done here, it is hard to say but I would guess not.

Overall, a good and fairly tense series but not one that is crying out for a season 2.

3/5

Pros.

Elba

The tension and the stakes

It has a solid premise

Cons.

A wasted wider cast

It has some pacing issues around the midpoint

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Life and Beth: The Show You Make When You No Longer Have Any Jokes Left About Your Vagina

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Amy Schumer continues to try and cry out for relevance.

I was subjected to the first season of this during a binge day when we couldn’t find anything else to watch and wherein I was eventually outvoted, and whilst a part of me wanted to get up and go for a walk whilst it was on it was also raining and I didn’t have my raincoat so I had to stay and watch it.

As many of you might know I do not like Amy Schumer, she is not funny, her material is that she likes to use people for sex and then talks about her body in a self-deprecating way, it is neither new nor intelligent. What’s more she had sex with someone when she was sober and they were clearly very drunk so in no place to properly consent, she has told this story several times, this is a thing she did in real life. She is a sexual predator, in my opinion, and if a man told a story about how they took advantage of a woman who was unable to properly consent they would never work again, not so for Schumer.

That aside I knew I wasn’t going to like this show going in but as I was forced to watch it I thought well maybe there could be something I’ll like about it, but no. Essentially, what this show boils down to is a worse version of Fleabag, Schumer’s’ character has to deal with grief, as we all have, whilst being a mess and going around and treating people like garbage. It think it is very deep and a comment on life and what it means to lose someone but its incredibly thin on anything other than generic platitudes, but that speaks to the quality of the writing.

Schumer does fair better here as she doesn’t have to be funny, with it being a comedy drama, and believe me she isn’t. I suppose she is a little bit less irritating and obnoxious here than she was in something like I Feel Pretty yet I digress.

Overall, it is sad that a sexual predator, in my opinion, still gets work.

0/5

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Them Season 2 Overview: Barley A Whimper

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A new season of scares revolving around a series of killings.

Honestly this was a massive disappointment, the first season of Them is genuinely brilliant and some of the best horror tv I have watched possibly ever. As such I was eagerly awaiting this and then as I was watching it I kept waiting for it to get good, then finally in one of the episodes the villain of the first season returns and I was happy and ready for the scares but then that’s it. Series over. I had waited the entire season for it to get good.

I will give this show credit for how it ties together its first and second seasons I didn’t see it coming and it is nice to have it all be set in the same universe and be a curse, possibly, passing down the family line. I will also give it props for how it handles police brutality in 1990’s era America, the social commentary is on point and I think some of the best and scariest moments of the series come from seeing the all-white and corrupt police force harassing and intimidating the lead.

That said this series wasn’t scary at all. The failed actor turned killer, turned possessed monster took far too long to get to the twist. Moreover, it would have been more logical to spend more time setting up the monster that he communes with, but no. Personally, I just didn’t find the idea of a serial killer all that scary, particularly after last season’s supernatural stuff.

Overall, it has some bright moments but for the most part it struggles to be scary in any way.

2/5

Pros.

The handling of the racist police force

How they tied it into the first season

Cons.

It isn’t scary

It takes until the final episode to get good

It is much weaker written than the first season

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Tales Of The Empire: A Further Glimpse Into The Inquisitors

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Morgan Elsbeth and Barriss Offee, have their lives explored.

So for the most part I thought this was a really good anthology series. I liked that we got to see more of two groups that I am really interested in The Nightsisters and The Inquisitors, I think both are fascinating and would watch a solo show about either in a heartbeat.

I thought that Offee’s story was by far the better of the two, the majority of my complaints with the series come from the Morgan side of things but we will get there. It was interesting to see Offee go to the dark side, and see how easy it was for young Jedi’s to come to believe that the order was in fact evil and turn their backs on it. It was fairly predictable that she was going to go back to the light and she did, however, it led to her death and personally I would have liked to have seen her survive. Mainly because another Star Wars series I would like to watch is a The Path show that talks about the Jedi Underground and brings back some MIA Jedi’s such as Quinlan Vos and possible Kal Kestis and Merrin.

The Morgan Elsbeth episodes started out promising with a wider exploration of Dathomir but then got bogged down in Imperial intrigue and the vague set up of Thrawn. I understand why they choose her for the other half as she is important in the Ashoka show however I would have given them to someone else as I think watching her become mad with power felt a little boring.

Overall, more good than bad and some very welcome exploration.

3.5/5

Pros.

Offee’s journey

An exploration of the Inquisitors and The Nightsisters

It sets up a lot of interesting things

The animation is really well done

Cons.

The Morgan Elsbeth plotline gets bogged down

It has an iffy pace at times

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Transformers 40th Anniversary Event: A Glorified DVD Extra

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Most of the original cast from the very first Transformers series get back together to rerecord the first few episodes, and you get to watch them do it.

This experience made me realise I am not as big a Transformers fan as I thought I was. It also made me realise the dire state that the Transformers IP is in. Before the proceedings began we got a new look at the upcoming Chris Hemsworth film, which looks awful just awful who wants Megatron and Optimus Prime as slacker pals- no one is the answer. Then we saw a look at some children’s show which looked equally awful, my main takeaway from that was what a horrible to look that sight 3D animation is.

To me this experience which was just the first few episodes stitched back together again just stank of desperation. Paramount knows that it is in trouble, it is considering being bought out, so what does it do to make money it releases this. There is no artistry in this, no need to see it at the cinema, it is just like watching DVD extras at home. The irritating thing about it is that the first few episodes are split-screen between seeing what is happening in the episode and seeing the voice actors reading it out, this is incredibly distracting and I wish they had done it either with just them reading it, no cartoon, or with just the cartoon as is.

The most interesting bit of it was hearing some interviews with the original voice actors but again that was maybe 5 minutes of the wider runtime,

Overall, this feels like Paramount trying to fleece a cinema ticket out of die hard fans, and is nothing more than a glorified DVD extra.

1/5

Pros.

The interviews are entertaining

Cons.

There is not enough time spent talking to the original cast

The episodes are poorly spliced together, they should take out the ad break section to make it feel more cinematic

It is a glorified DVD extra

The split-screen is a bad choice

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The Bad Batch Season 3 Overview: One Last Time Into The Fire

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The Batch are back for one last fight against the Empire.

I would say that this is the best Star Wars related piece of media in a long while. Now I am not saying season 3 is perfect, because there is still a little fat that could have been trimmed off it and a new episodes that felt like filler, such as when they brought back Ventress for no real reason.

However, that aside I thought this season was the best one yet, I think that though we did get some filler, it was far, far less than we had in previous seasons. For the most part the season kept to a terrific pace which kept the tension going throughout, episode double acts such as the one at Rex’s base were incredibly well done and were the best thing I have seen out of Star Wars in a long time.

Moreover, the emotional stakes they managed to create over the course of the season were incredible, I didn’t think they would be able to top the heartbreak that was Tech’s death last season, but they came damn close here. I think the final scene of the series between Hunter and Omega is incredibly powerful and will spark even the toughest Star Wars fan to have a tear in their eye.

Overall, the series ended on a high.

4.5/5

Pros.

The action

The stakes

Where it leaves off

The final charge of the clones

It pays off in so many ways

Cons.

I would have liked to see Rex arrive in the final episode

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Renegade Nell Series Overview: The Most Tame Supposedly Edgy Show You Will Ever Watch

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A young woman, Louisa Harland, is accused of a murder she didn’t commit so becomes a highwaywoman for some reason.

When you see headlines about Disney + still being far behind their subscriber targets, and still miles away from Netflix, this is why.

A series that is based around one thing, people being shocked that a highwayman is in fact a woman. There is a very memeable scene in the trailer where people audibly gasp because of the fact that she is a woman and they can’t handle it. Even in the more gender norm times of the past I cannot believe that this was that shocking, it is well documented that there were female pirates and female warriors throughout history, so the idea that people would be shocked at a female highwayman is ridiculous. It is all based out of this idea of oh these progressive shows are being edgy and challenging the patriarchy and all this, yet the fact of the matter is that the moment for these sort of shows was about 5-10 years ago, they have now both outstayed their welcome and are also behind the times. Most people would accept a show about a highwaywoman and not question it these days, you do not need to keep reminding the audience that she is a woman we are past that.

Moreover, much like with Disney’s other recent YA fare such as Percy Jackson and Spiderwick, this just feels like generic historical fantasy dross to try and get teens in the door. I would argue it is a bit too tame for that, if they wanted to get the teen audience in they need more sex, look at the CW that brought in teens, supposedly, and that was chocked full of it.

The narrative is just another boring girlboss story and Harland cannot bring the same charm to bear she did in Derry Girls, on a creative level this is a failure. The worst thing about this show is just how dated it feels, if it had come out in the era of Batwoman then it would have fit right in, but that age has past.

Overall, more wasted Disney money.

Pros.

It is unintentionally hilarious

Cons.

The girlboss narrative

It is not shocking or novel

The joke of but she is a woman and people fall over in disbelief doesn’t make sense and it is dumb

The acting isn’t good

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Knuckles: Life In The Fast Lane

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Knuckles, voiced by Idris Elba, is back and this time he is patching up father son relationships, or trying to at least.

I was really, really looking forward to this and possibly I went in expecting a bit too much. I thought this was going to be the next chapter in the Sonic universe, I was expecting much more in the way of cameos and maybe even some more games characters being introduced that were more Knuckles centric. Alas we didn’t get that, and maybe I expected too much, this was an incredibly self-contained show and without the opening credits, the villains being vaguely tied to Robotnik, and a brief first episode cameo, you could watch this and not even realise it was related to the wider Sonic universe.

Another odd choice was that the main character of this series isn’t Knuckles, but rather Wade Whipple, Adam Pally. Now there is nothing wrong with Wade he is quite a funny character and you can easily relate to and root for him, but he isn’t the show’s namesake. I expected far more time to learn who Knuckles as a character was, learn more of his back story, maybe through flashbacks to before the Owls attacked, but again no. We don’t learn much more about Knuckles from this show other than he likes grapes. That said I did like Wade’s quest to become a warrior and to defeat his dad, Cary Elwes, who was comically evil.

I also thought the bond between Wade and Knuckles was quite endearing, they genuinely seemed to care about each other, in a sort of human pet way, or maybe even a father and son way.

The humour of the show was good and it was mostly funny, there were a couple of times were they let a joke drag on for too long or repeated an unfunny joke but for the most part it was funny.

A final word I would like to say that no doubt will get me hate, but hey I am not going to stop, is that I liked that this show gave an upfront portrayal of the Jewish Shabat dinner and had a lot of good Jewish representation without reducing the characters to stereotypes or having it be all they are. I think in these politically divided times, I am writing this in May 2024, where antisemitism is on the rise and more and more people seemingly hate Jews, for something that is not their fault, they are not responsible for state policy, it is nice to see positive representation, it shouldn’t be needed to combat all the hate as the hate shouldn’t exist but that is the world we live in.

Overall, a nice, fun self-contained series but one that left me a little disappointed

3.5/5

It is funny

Wade and Knuckles

It provides much needed representation

It sets up new adventures

Cons.

It is not as big in scope as I would have liked it to be

It repeats a few unfunny jokes

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