In no particular order, I have decided to compile a list of the best movies and tv shows I watched last year. The links will take you to the respective reviews and I have separated them by streaming service.
Tag Archives: streaming
Who Killed Santa? A Murderville Murder Myster (2022) – Review
I’d like to start off by giving a special shoutout to the user splithare for buying me coffee. It is the only way I can continue to function and keep posting these reviews. I hope you have yourself a Happy New Year! Thank you so much!
I have already talked about the Murderville series and touched on my disappointment with it. The series isn’t bad, but it does appeal to a very specific audience, and I am not it. If you like improv, you might have a better time with this series than I did. If you are interested in the series the Who Killed Santa? Christmas special is the best place to start. It is still a bit rough, but the best example of the format.
The premise of this series is to have guests go through a murder mystery experience without any prep. The mystery has already been scripted, but the guests go through it blind. The entertainment of this series relies heavily on the raw reactions of the guests and how well they play off of Will Arnet.
The guest stars for this special are Jason Bateman and Miya Rudolph. They are fantastic guests and do very well in this type of format. The chemistry they share with Arnet is infectious, and they do well in improv. What hurts this series is that some guests don’t have good chemistry with Will Arnet. As a result, you get a lot of awkward or unfunny moments that drag on for too long. Other guests aren’t good at improving, and their reactions are dull. For this series to be successful, they need to do a better job at getting guests who can be entertaining without any structure and can play off the energy Arnet brings to the experience.
Despite it being one of the better examples, Who Killed Santa? is still difficult to recommend. The mystery is dumb, but that is the general tone of this series. This series feels like a cheesy gameshow, but one that tries very hard to be funny. This special is funnier than the episodes in the main series, but the lack of structure means that you have to sit through some boring moments. Even if you like the actors and improv, the overall rawness of the performances makes it disappointing.
I can’t recommend this special because of its inconsistency. But if you are interested in watching Murderville, this special is the best place to start. I recommend you throw it on in the background while you are doing anything else so that you can ignore the boring bits and be around for the funny ones. I wouldn’t go out of my way to watch this because it isn’t anything special, but you can stream it on Netflix if you are interested.
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Image By The media may be obtained from Netflix., Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=70033823
Series Review: Murderville (2022)
Murderville aims to be this quirky improv crime drama, but one that ends up being mediocre. While the concept is interesting, it isn’t consistent enough to be worth the trouble. This series seems to have been made with a very specific audience in mind, but unfortunately, I am not in that group.
The premise of this series is to guide a famous person through this interactive crime drama experience. The experience is led by actors who mostly follow a script. The guests know nothing about what is going on. A lot of the humor relies heavily on how well the guest can adapt and react to certain situations. What this series ends up being is a collection of sometimes funny improv exercises. If you are considering watching this series, I recommend watching a highlight real on YouTube instead.
The problem with this series is how much the entertainment falls on the guest. Not every guest is going to be good, and there are already a couple of episodes to prove this. The main draw to this series is to have actors you know reacting to this silly mystery, but it isn’t going to be consistently good. Most of the guests didn’t have the improv skills to keep the flow going. This leads to a lot of awkward moments. It was fun to see the actors working hard to try to make it all work, but the series as a whole is mediocre.
If you like to improve the guests, you might have a better time, but it is still a hard sell. For this format to work, you need guests who can be as entertaining as the actors propelling the narrative. This isn’t a bad show, it has some funny moments to it, but your time is better spent watching them on YouTube. But if you like this format and are a fan of the guests, you can stream this series on Netflix.
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Image By The media may be obtained from Netflix., Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=70033823
Film Review: The Invitation (2022)
The Invitation is a disappointing horror movie that isn’t worth your time. There are some interesting visual moments in this movie, but they aren’t worth sitting through this movie.
Evie is a struggling artist with no family left who decides to do a DNA test to see if she has any living relatives. She finds a long-lost cousin who flies her out to England to meet the rest of the family she didn’t know about. Evie is shocked to find she belongs to a very powerful and old family in England and quickly falls for a mysterious lord. But within the shadows of the manor, an evil presence hunts for blood. Can Evie discover the sinister motives behind her visit before it is too late?
The acting in this movie is fine, but the writing isn’t. They try too hard to be politically correct, and it comes off too preachy. Evie is constantly voicing her disapproval of the wealthy class, and it gets tiresome. Evie is a very one-note character whose only characteristic is to virtue signal woke buzzwords to a millennial audience that probably didn’t go see this movie.
The writing struggles to keep the plot moving. While I appreciate the beautiful shots of the manor they used as a setting, there isn’t any substance. If the movie isn’t virtue signaling or forcing conflict, it sort of remembers it’s supposed to be a horror movie. There are some solid horror moments in this film that have me wishing this movie stayed a horror movie instead of turning into the cheesy cliche it is. What little suspense this movie can create falls flat when ex-Machina comes to save the day.
With so much content out there, your time is better spent elsewhere. But for those who don’t believe me, watch this on Netflix.
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Series Review: Spriggan (2022)
Spriggan Is anime’s generic attempt at bringing Indiana Jones to the future. While a neat concept, it feels rushed and underdeveloped. It may not be the worst anime I’ve seen, but it makes it hard to recommend.
Spriggan is about a secret government agency whose mission is to collect powerful ancient artifacts and keep them from the clutches of evil. The story focuses on Yu, a talented high school kid who, with the help of a powerful mech suit, goes travels the world hunting these powerful relics. Each episode focuses on the lore and retrieval of a different artifact.
Right off the bat, I am not a fan of the art style. It feels stiff, fragmented, and cheap most of the time. The combat is okay, but it is anticlimactic. Most of the problems are solved by ex-Machina. My biggest issue with this anime is that Yu is a generic cocky male protagonist who is perfect. Most of his dialogue involves him being cocky about his skills, and it gets annoying. When he does struggle or start to get beat, he is saved at the perfect time, and the whole thing doesn’t matter.
Another issue I have with this series is that there isn’t a good villain to drive the narrative. This series revolves around different organizations whose motives are uninspired and lazy. Most people are evil for the sake of being evil. It doesn’t help that they are destined to lose to Yu.
The problem with this anime is that it is limited to six short episodes. While I appreciate that they didn’t drag this out as much as they could have, it isn’t long enough to build the world or develop its characters. Each episode is a different adventure, and all of them are generic. This series left such a small impression on me that I have already forgotten what it was about.
You can stream Spriggan on Netflix, but it isn’t worth it. It looks cheap, the story is rushed, and there isn’t anything worth watching in it. I could make the case of throwing it on for background noise, but there are better anime out there more worthy of your data.
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Movie Review: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)
Knives Out shouldn’t have had a sequel. While Glass Onion isn’t bad, it lacks the charm of the first one. I didn’t hate this movie, but it does feel lazy and uninspired. While the first movie pokes fun at the genre, this one pokes fun at the fact that it isn’t a real mystery. Glass Onion is a murder mystery board game live play with fantastic actors and little direction. It is fun to watch at least once, but it loses what little charm it has soon after.
An eccentric millionaire has invited a group of his influential friends to his island where they will solve his murder. The game is supposed to take the whole weekend. Blanc has mysteriously been asked to join the weekend games and activities. But what starts as a game quickly turns real. There is a killer among them. Can Blanc find out who before it is too late?
The acting in this movie is great but expected from this cast. Honestly, the acting is the only reason this movie works. This movie is essentially characters reacting to a situation with a weak plot to move them through the mystery. The movie does a great job of placing clues throughout, but the mystery can be solved without them. If you are looking for a fun mystery to solve, Glass Onion won’t provide one. It even goes on a long unneeded rant about how it doesn’t.
The narrative and concept are weak, but the characters that interact within this game are where this movie’s charm lie. Whenever the movie veers away from the main cast to develop a backstory, I found it to be slow and boring. This movie is more about how characters react to a situation than the actual mystery. Unfortunately, anything that doesn’t involve these characters is boring, only serving to pad the movie’s run time. The backstory bits drag and aren’t well-acted. It was made apparent that this movie was made with characters and actors in mind but
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Movie Review: I Believe in Santa (2022)
I am officially done with Christmas movies. I can’t sit through any more of these; I don’t have it in me. While this movie isn’t bad, it isn’t good either, and it isn’t going to be any better. I will try again next year, but I am not making any promises. I Believe in Santa may have its own charm, but I am tired and need to move on.
I believe in Santa is about a woman who doesn’t like Christmas and falls in love with the man who loves the holiday the most. I am not using any names because their only personality trait is whether or not they like Christmas. Aside from this difference, they are the perfect couple and will quickly fall in love during the course of the movie. The guy includes her in all his Christmas activities. She slowly learns to love Christmas, not because of Christmas magic, but because she loves him. It’s beyond cheesy. You have been warned.
I will no longer be doing Christmas movies because there is only so much that can be said about them. They are either cheesy in a way that is fun, so it doesn’t matter, or they are cheesy in a way that makes me hate Christmas. This one is fine, but I already forgot I watched it. The problem with these movies is that they are made to cash in on a holiday and often aren’t meant to leave a lasting impression. This one doesn’t, and I doubt any others will. I fear any further reviews on this genre will become echoes of my criticisms.
You can stream I Believe in Santa on Netflix if you need more Christmas movies to sit through. This is a great movie to throw on in the background because it doesn’t require any commitment. This movie makes good background noise, but you won’t hate the bits you accidentally sit through. This movie is dumb, predictable, and cheap, but I have sat through worse. I wouldn’t go out of my way to watch it, but it is there if you need it. Anyways, Happy Holidays, I am off for a much-needed pallet cleanser.
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Image by Jill Wellington from Pixabay
Movie Review: Something From Tiffany’s (2022)
I have been avidly avoiding Christmas movies this season, not because I am a Grinch, but because I couldn’t muster the strength to sit through them. Let’s face it, this genre is the recycling of the same movie every year, and it is getting harder to sit through them. I decided that today I would start getting into the Christmas spirit, but unfortunately, the movie is Something From Tiffany’s.
Something From Tiffany’s is the story of two lost souls who are stuck in their respective relationships. Fate brings these two unknowing souls together by way of New York City taxi. Ethan is at Tiffany’s buying his engagement ring when Rachel’s boyfriend comes in that same night to buy his girlfriend a cheap gift. In a brief moment, the boyfriend gets hit by the taxi, causing the events that will bring Ethan and Rachel together for Christmas. Ethen, being the generic and caring man that he is, rushes to check up on the generic boyfriend, but he ends up switching the ring with the cheap gift. Ethen and Rachel will meet in the hospital, and it is love at first sight. Fate keeps bringing them together, and in a matter of days, they fall madly in love with each other. You can guess what happens from here.
This movie is bad even by the genre’s standards. The acting was surprisingly good, but its narrative is terrible. I always feel bad for the significant others in these movies who have the cruel fate of being love’s cruelest obstacle. Ethan’s girlfriend seemed like a nice girl whose only fault seemed to be that she wasn’t quirky enough. Ethan was ready to propose, but one brief encounter at the hospital was enough to change his mind. Rachel’s boyfriend was a loser, but at least he wasn’t evil which is refreshing.
The idea was to show how the leads were stagnating, stuck in their routines. It was only through finding true love that they can move forward and live their best lives. But is it love that they share? Is it fate bringing these two together? Is it Christmas magic? They are only together for a day before they decide that they are meant to be together. I see this as a relationship fueled more by desire than love. Rachel and Ethan lust for something different and fresh, and this accident gives them that. It is less romantic to think about how this race to fall in love for Christmas is less about fate and more about a change in scenery. Even if they were meant to be together and were previously in bad relationships, they were ready to be engaged, and that is where I have my problem.
I am overthinking a movie that had no effort put into it, but I was bored. Let me have this. There are better movies in this genre. Go watch something like The Princess Switch or Falling for Christmas instead. They are bad too, but somehow they are a little better.
You can stream this on Amazon, but I wouldn’t.
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Movie Review: Gone in the Night (2022)
Gone in the Night shouldn’t be a movie. This movie is the biggest waste of time on the platform. Nothing happens in this movie. There is barely a plot, and the twist is terrible. If you are considering watching this movie, don’t.
Wynona Ryder and her boyfriend plan to spend a weekend in the woods in an effort to save their relationship. But when they get to the cabin, they find that the cabin has been double booked. Another couple is already spending the weekend, but they decide to share the booking. Everything seems fine, but in the morning, Ryder discovers that her boyfriend has run off with another woman. She eventually decides to find out what happened to him, and it unravels to be one of the slowest and most disappointing mysteries you will ever see.
Gone in the Night wastes its talented cast on poorly written and forgettable characters. There is barely a story to this movie. Most of the time you are watching Wynona Ryder go on boring dates and lazily search for her missing boyfriend. What little story exists in this movie is brushed over so you can make it to the next boring date. The narrative exists as an inconvenience because of its collection of fake-deep rants and boring scenes with Winona Ryder. The big reveal is brushed over so quickly, it barely exists. If you are going to make a thriller, give your mystery some screen time.
Gone in the Night is supposed to be a thriller, but it isn’t thrilling. There is no suspense or buildup. Things just happen, and then it just ends. It tries to be deep by ending on a cliffhanger, but who cares? There wasn’t enough development for it to work. Don’t watch this movie, nothing happens. You can stream it on Hulu, but it isn’t worth the data.
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Movie Review: Nanny (2022)
Nanny is a new movie on Amazon that is a slow burn, but one worth seeing. It won’t be for everyone because of its pacing, but the story it tells is an important one. By mixing west African folklore with the mundane ritual of every day, this film challenges the fantasized American dream and replaces it with a more bleak reality.
Aisha moves to New York to work as a nanny for a rich family. She hopes to use the money from this job to bring her son to America so that he can have a chance at a better life. But life in America isn’t as easy as it seems. Aisha finds herself working long hours and constantly having to fight her employer for payment. The only relationship that she has with her family back home is through voicemails, videos, and photographs. The isolation she feels as she misses her family and home begin to take their toll on her psyche. It is a well-done narrative about an experience that is often overlooked.
The movie is great, but it is slow and quiet. The pacing and the silence help create a truly isolating experience, one that grows in intensity the deeper you get into the movie. Its clever use of folklore and fantastical imagery illustrates Aisha’s non-verbal struggle masterfully. Her emotions and longings come, breaking the barrier between reality and emotion.
But this movie doesn’t just explore the world through the experience of a Nanny, it challenges the American fairy tale. The film takes the isolating existence of immigrant life and contrasts it against a struggling working-class family. Her employer struggles in a male-dominated world while tolerating her husband’s insecurities. The movie’s focus is on Aisha, but the movie masterfully sprinkles enough bites of dysfunction to completely shatter American idealism.
This isn’t a story that is new to the American landscape, but it is an important one to tell. Nanny is well-acted, beautifully directed, and well-told. It might be a bit slow and a little too artsy for its own good, but it is one I need to recommend. You can stream it on Amazon, and I recommend that you at least give it a try.
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