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matt_zimmerAlso reviews for the latest episodes of Doctor Who, Batwoman, Supergirl, and The Simpsons, the premiere of Duncanville, and the latest episodes of Bob's Burgers, and Family Guy.
A Shaun The Sheep Movie: Farmageddon
I liked it a lot. It was not only cute, but there were parts that were touching.
I loved seeing the cameo from one of the chickens from Chicken Run, and Wallace And Gromit on TV. The snails also reminded me of the Singing Slugs from Flushed Away.
Lu-La is super cute and I loved that when his ship is destroyed, Bitzer is the one to comfort him. That felt right to me, and earlier in the film when Shaun realized he was just a child separated from his parents, that got me right in the feels too.
It's also interesting that they gave Agent Red a touching and sympathetic ending where it's revealed she met the parents when she was little, and everything she's done since them is to see them again. I love that she is allowed that moment of growth, because we didn't spend much of the movie actually liking her.
I love the tag of Timmy unplugging the guy's keyboard. Timmy is so cute!
Another great Aardman cartoon. ****1/2.
Doctor Who "The Haunting Of Villa Diodati"
That was super dull until the Lone Cyberman showed up. Then things got interesting real quick.
I liked the Cyberman stuff very much but I'll have a better idea of what it all means next week. As of now please forgive the briefness of this review. ***1/2.
Batwoman "Take Your Choice"
I don't buy the premise of the episode. Doppelgangers sharing the same Earth deteriorating has never been portrayed on The Arrowverse before. It not only seems like a stretch and inconsistent with previous series, but it could potentially box in the other series in the future.
And why would they tell Alice only one version of Beth can exist on this Earth? They're just asking her to kill the good Beth. They held a clear advantage when Alice didn't know that and they completely gave it up for no reason other than bad writing. It didn't work out that way but it was still dumb.
I liked the surprise reappearance of Mouse's father but I question the fact that he was allowed in Mouse's hospital room alone without being searched first. Another example of bad writing.
I saw the ending coming a mile away, but it was the right ending, so I'm not mad. It was literally the only thing in the episode I liked.
Most Arrowverse shows start off with a strong first season and then become terrible from the second season on. It seems like Batwoman is running out of steam a little bit earlier than usual. *.
Supergirl "Back From The Future: Part Two"
How does Brainy not get that Lex having Toyman's code is a bad thing? How stupid is he? 12th level intellect my butt.
I love Winn telling Kara that just because Lena reacted the way she did doesn't mean everyone else will. Because Lena is freaking weird. Ick.
"Leeroy Jenkins!" The fight with the Lexosuits was absolutely sick. It was awesome on every level.
I love that we got a little redemption for Winn's father. That was nice.
Computer Lad IS a lame name. I like Winn taking back Toyman and owning it. And I am especially grateful to the show for coming to the decision that turning Jeremy Jordan evil would have been a mistake. A good Toyman in this continuity is absolutely fine if you ask me.
Mxy! Next week should be fun.
Good episode. ****.
The Simpsons "The Miseducation Of Lisa Simpson"
That was tiresome. It suffers from a problem many later seasons Simpsons episodes, particularly the ones involving the school suffer from: It tackles a problem that doesn't actually exist. I am not invested in a "topical" scenario as long as it's not actually a real topic. This is just stupid.
Do you know the ironic thing? If they had given us an entire episode focusing on the Old Sea Captain, I would have loved that. It's like the first three minutes of the episode were perfect, and explored something about one of the longest running characters we never explored, and then the episode takes it away from us. We learned the Sea Captain has a disloyal wife and that his entire bit as a one-note character was an act to deflect suspicion from his master treasure plan. I love that. They could have given us more of that in that vein. It's tragic the episode devolved into what it did. It's done that sort of plot over and over again and gets less credible each time.
God's honest truth: The Simpsons has always been considered prophetic by society at large. A great many of the things it has been satirizing since its inception have come true decades later. Do you know the one consistent fear the show has been handing us year after year that has not come to pass and they've been consistently wrong about? That we will all be replaced by robots and society and the job market will collapse. The series and episode is trying SO desperately to seem current and up to date technologically, but do you know what kind of writers always write technology as dangerous and a threat to people's livelihoods? Old fogeys. It's like the episode is doing everything in its power to name-drop current forms of accessing technology using a premise obviously concocted and believed by 50-60 year old white male Luddites. It drives me batty about the show. It makes the show seem less relevant than it usually is, and it also strikes me as fear-mongering when there are actual problems society has that the show would be better off exploring. But they keep returning to "Robots will kill us all and the future economy is automatons." I've had just about enough of that nonsense from this show and from episode forth, I'm not going to tolerate it.
Was there anything I liked? I liked Homer's line at the very end, "I'm just saying things," because the cadences to it were absolutely perfect. It's the kind of joke Family Guy usually excels at. I loved it.
But man, the show is really working my last nerve with these types of "Lisa discovers Soylent Green is people" episodes. Enough is enough. *.
Duncanville "Pilot"
As far as reviewing Pilots go I usually say either "That sucked" or "That was promising". Honestly? This could go either way. The character designs are bad and a lot of the characters are annoying, but it also strikes me as the type of show I could get used to. King of the Hill was the same, which is not a compliment. I detest that show in hindsight. Still, I'm on the fence.
"Stop choking." Mr. Mitch is cool.
I'll have to see more to have a firmer opinion. I was turned off Bless The Harts immediately, but I think I'll need another week or two to form a solid opinion here. ***.
Bob's Burgers "A Fish Called Tina"
Do you know what you call a person who gives people hugs unasked? A total creep.
Honestly, I'm sick of the later seasons of the show portraying Tina as a full-fledged psycho. She is no longer a character I sympathize with or am rooting for.
Louise and Tammy don't seem to have much in common at first glance, but they can bond over the fact that they are both dirtbags.
I love that Zeke is great at being a Big Fish. Why doesn't that surprise me?
I laughed that for once, the new store next to the restaurant in the main title was actually used in the episode. Something tells me we will never see that gym again. A new gag beckons next week.
Louise's speech at the end was great and far more than Tina deserved. I'm a little fed up with that character at this point. The non-Tina related stuff in the episode was pretty good though. ***.
Family Guy "Short Cuts"
Oh, my God. That was NOT great, but it was still the best Fox cartoon of the night. Can you believe it?
Stewie appreciating Joanne will never get old.
He ate it already. Dogs are gross.
There is no part of Brian that doesn't totally suck. It is totally in character for him to blame all of his failings as a person and friend on Trump. Brian confounds me. Family Guy is a liberal show, but they saddled the resident liberal viewpoint character with the worst possible liberal's worst faults. I don't understand what message they are trying to send there. It's like the writers hate Trump with a passion and the one guy on the show that hates him just as much is coincidentally the most loathsome character. I don't get the writing logic there.
Peter and Lois one-upping each other on being terrible spouses was great, especially their threats at the end leading to a gross round of sex. And her haircut is still bad.
I can't believe Family Guy won the night with THAT. Everything else must have REALLY sucked. ***1/2.
A Shaun The Sheep Movie: Farmageddon
I liked it a lot. It was not only cute, but there were parts that were touching.
I loved seeing the cameo from one of the chickens from Chicken Run, and Wallace And Gromit on TV. The snails also reminded me of the Singing Slugs from Flushed Away.
Lu-La is super cute and I loved that when his ship is destroyed, Bitzer is the one to comfort him. That felt right to me, and earlier in the film when Shaun realized he was just a child separated from his parents, that got me right in the feels too.
It's also interesting that they gave Agent Red a touching and sympathetic ending where it's revealed she met the parents when she was little, and everything she's done since them is to see them again. I love that she is allowed that moment of growth, because we didn't spend much of the movie actually liking her.
I love the tag of Timmy unplugging the guy's keyboard. Timmy is so cute!
Another great Aardman cartoon. ****1/2.
Doctor Who "The Haunting Of Villa Diodati"
That was super dull until the Lone Cyberman showed up. Then things got interesting real quick.
I liked the Cyberman stuff very much but I'll have a better idea of what it all means next week. As of now please forgive the briefness of this review. ***1/2.
Batwoman "Take Your Choice"
I don't buy the premise of the episode. Doppelgangers sharing the same Earth deteriorating has never been portrayed on The Arrowverse before. It not only seems like a stretch and inconsistent with previous series, but it could potentially box in the other series in the future.
And why would they tell Alice only one version of Beth can exist on this Earth? They're just asking her to kill the good Beth. They held a clear advantage when Alice didn't know that and they completely gave it up for no reason other than bad writing. It didn't work out that way but it was still dumb.
I liked the surprise reappearance of Mouse's father but I question the fact that he was allowed in Mouse's hospital room alone without being searched first. Another example of bad writing.
I saw the ending coming a mile away, but it was the right ending, so I'm not mad. It was literally the only thing in the episode I liked.
Most Arrowverse shows start off with a strong first season and then become terrible from the second season on. It seems like Batwoman is running out of steam a little bit earlier than usual. *.
Supergirl "Back From The Future: Part Two"
How does Brainy not get that Lex having Toyman's code is a bad thing? How stupid is he? 12th level intellect my butt.
I love Winn telling Kara that just because Lena reacted the way she did doesn't mean everyone else will. Because Lena is freaking weird. Ick.
"Leeroy Jenkins!" The fight with the Lexosuits was absolutely sick. It was awesome on every level.
I love that we got a little redemption for Winn's father. That was nice.
Computer Lad IS a lame name. I like Winn taking back Toyman and owning it. And I am especially grateful to the show for coming to the decision that turning Jeremy Jordan evil would have been a mistake. A good Toyman in this continuity is absolutely fine if you ask me.
Mxy! Next week should be fun.
Good episode. ****.
The Simpsons "The Miseducation Of Lisa Simpson"
That was tiresome. It suffers from a problem many later seasons Simpsons episodes, particularly the ones involving the school suffer from: It tackles a problem that doesn't actually exist. I am not invested in a "topical" scenario as long as it's not actually a real topic. This is just stupid.
Do you know the ironic thing? If they had given us an entire episode focusing on the Old Sea Captain, I would have loved that. It's like the first three minutes of the episode were perfect, and explored something about one of the longest running characters we never explored, and then the episode takes it away from us. We learned the Sea Captain has a disloyal wife and that his entire bit as a one-note character was an act to deflect suspicion from his master treasure plan. I love that. They could have given us more of that in that vein. It's tragic the episode devolved into what it did. It's done that sort of plot over and over again and gets less credible each time.
God's honest truth: The Simpsons has always been considered prophetic by society at large. A great many of the things it has been satirizing since its inception have come true decades later. Do you know the one consistent fear the show has been handing us year after year that has not come to pass and they've been consistently wrong about? That we will all be replaced by robots and society and the job market will collapse. The series and episode is trying SO desperately to seem current and up to date technologically, but do you know what kind of writers always write technology as dangerous and a threat to people's livelihoods? Old fogeys. It's like the episode is doing everything in its power to name-drop current forms of accessing technology using a premise obviously concocted and believed by 50-60 year old white male Luddites. It drives me batty about the show. It makes the show seem less relevant than it usually is, and it also strikes me as fear-mongering when there are actual problems society has that the show would be better off exploring. But they keep returning to "Robots will kill us all and the future economy is automatons." I've had just about enough of that nonsense from this show and from episode forth, I'm not going to tolerate it.
Was there anything I liked? I liked Homer's line at the very end, "I'm just saying things," because the cadences to it were absolutely perfect. It's the kind of joke Family Guy usually excels at. I loved it.
But man, the show is really working my last nerve with these types of "Lisa discovers Soylent Green is people" episodes. Enough is enough. *.
Duncanville "Pilot"
As far as reviewing Pilots go I usually say either "That sucked" or "That was promising". Honestly? This could go either way. The character designs are bad and a lot of the characters are annoying, but it also strikes me as the type of show I could get used to. King of the Hill was the same, which is not a compliment. I detest that show in hindsight. Still, I'm on the fence.
"Stop choking." Mr. Mitch is cool.
I'll have to see more to have a firmer opinion. I was turned off Bless The Harts immediately, but I think I'll need another week or two to form a solid opinion here. ***.
Bob's Burgers "A Fish Called Tina"
Do you know what you call a person who gives people hugs unasked? A total creep.
Honestly, I'm sick of the later seasons of the show portraying Tina as a full-fledged psycho. She is no longer a character I sympathize with or am rooting for.
Louise and Tammy don't seem to have much in common at first glance, but they can bond over the fact that they are both dirtbags.
I love that Zeke is great at being a Big Fish. Why doesn't that surprise me?
I laughed that for once, the new store next to the restaurant in the main title was actually used in the episode. Something tells me we will never see that gym again. A new gag beckons next week.
Louise's speech at the end was great and far more than Tina deserved. I'm a little fed up with that character at this point. The non-Tina related stuff in the episode was pretty good though. ***.
Family Guy "Short Cuts"
Oh, my God. That was NOT great, but it was still the best Fox cartoon of the night. Can you believe it?
Stewie appreciating Joanne will never get old.
He ate it already. Dogs are gross.
There is no part of Brian that doesn't totally suck. It is totally in character for him to blame all of his failings as a person and friend on Trump. Brian confounds me. Family Guy is a liberal show, but they saddled the resident liberal viewpoint character with the worst possible liberal's worst faults. I don't understand what message they are trying to send there. It's like the writers hate Trump with a passion and the one guy on the show that hates him just as much is coincidentally the most loathsome character. I don't get the writing logic there.
Peter and Lois one-upping each other on being terrible spouses was great, especially their threats at the end leading to a gross round of sex. And her haircut is still bad.
I can't believe Family Guy won the night with THAT. Everything else must have REALLY sucked. ***1/2.
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Date: 2020-02-19 01:43 pm (UTC)Also, on the Aardman cameo front, the end credits had an appearance from Bad Bob as a constellation (he was a character in Rex the Runt, which I don't believe ever made it to the US... unfortunately)
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Date: 2020-02-19 02:59 pm (UTC)