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matt_zimmerAlso reviews for the latest episodes of Spidey And His Amazing Friends, and Muppet Babies, and the season premiere of Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
Blade Runner: The Final Cut
Ambiguous, mysterious, frustrating, and with an impossible to decipher ending. Just the way I like my sci-fi.
What is the significance of the origami? What does the unicorn mean? It's all great stuff I don't even want to know the answers to.
Considering the movie is 40 years old, the visual effects look absolutely great.
I thought Leon's test at the beginning was hilarious because he kept interrupting and throwing the guy off his rhythm with stupid questions. SO funny, which is not what I expected before I saw the film.
Apparently James Hong was playing old, wizened Asian guys 40 years ago. Sounds about right.
If you ever wanted to see Roger Rabbit's Joanna Cassidy topless, this is the film for you.
I see why Andrea Romano cast William Sanderson as Karl Rossum on Batman: The Animated Series now. Could never figure out how Newhart's Larry got that role and it turns out it was a tribute to this.
Rutger Hauer was pretty amazing as Batty. Super creepy and yet his death still moved me. Good stuff.
I like the end credits music too.
That was pretty great. ****1/2.
Spidey And His Amazing Friends "Doc Ock's Super Octopus / Attack Of The Green Giggles"
Doc Ock's Super Octopus:
Squishy is so cute I want a plushie of him. Also Squishy is a great name for an octopus. ***1/2.
Attack Of The Green Giggles:
I liked the squirrels. ***.
Episode Overall: ***1/2.
Muppet Babies "Rootin' Tootin' Sheriff Showdown / The Trouble With Chickies"
Rootin Tootin' Sheriff Showdown:
Nothing in this interested me. *.
The Trouble With Chickies:
I'm disappointed we went to Planet Koozbane and the show couldn't be bothered to show us a Koozbanian as seen on The Muppet Show.
Also while the spaceship had SOME design elements from Pigs In Space, the fact that they didn't simply use THAT ship is a disappointment. *1/2.
Episode Overall: *1/2.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine "The Good Ones"
I was very curious what this show would do upon its return, and it didn't disappoint. I think the show might have gotten some criticism for making the police the good guys all the time. I know Law & Order has gotten those complaints, and has also adjusted for them. But as a comedy perhaps this show would not have the license to explore the controversies involved with the police and Black Lives Matter. But no, it effects the characters, and some of them, like Holt, have been put through the wringer. And I love to learn how difficult it's been for Holt because he's the one guy acting normal. And it especially effects him too.
For the record, Andre Braugher's performance here is pretty amazing. He should probably put it on his Emmy Reel (even though he's already earned one for Homicide).
My biggest complaint about the episode is Charles, and to be honest, this is always how they were gonna do Charles in this scenario, so I can't get too mad. The thing is, politics being what they are, when Boyle goes overboard with this specific thing, it makes me cringe instead of laugh. He stops being Boyle and turns into Brian Griffin. At least unlike Brian, he's willing to listen and change his approach. Whether he's sincere or if this "over-wokeness" is now a part of the character going forward, is something I guess we'll have to wait and see about.
I love that Rosa quit. I love that she's pissed at Jake. And I love that Jake is exactly as tone-deaf as she thinks he is. As far as allies and The Good Ones go, both he and the other Captain utterly suck. But really, the idea that George Floyd made her give up her entire career is something that's great.
Also good to see John McGinley getting work. Scrubs ultimately turned into a failure, but he was always the highlight. The thing that McGinley does so well (that also translated here) is portraying absolutely jerkish characters as so funny you love them anyways. Of course me loving this specific cop union lawyer was always a tougher ask than the well-meaning Dr. Cox, but damned if he still didn't do it.
I mentioned before that this show has gotten criticism for always portraying the 99 cops as clean and good guys. I don't agree with those complaints, especially if the show is exploring dirty cops and police misconduct elsewhere. I believe showing good policework and the police being a help to the community is important to show people how it SHOULD work. Brooklyn Nine-Nine isn't claiming its benevolent detectives are common. But it's saying they should be, and showing how it SHOULD work. And the episode explored George Floyd, Black Lives Matter, and even Covid. And it's comedy. Law & Order SVU has taken a shockingly leftwing turn since Trump came to office, and the George Floyd crisis has basically turned every single episode from last season into a critique of dirty cops. But that's easier for a drama to do. Perhaps the audience of a comedy, especially one not known for getting TOO political, would respond negatively to that. And some fans might. But Brooklyn Nine-Nine is a good show because even knowing that, they had the uncomfortable conversation anyways. It is to be determined if this is being explored in a one-off episode to ease criticisms of the show, or if like on SVU it's a big part of how the show operates going forward. We'll see.
But I like that the show explores what it means to be one of The Good Ones. And it has the guts to say that Jake is not one of them. *****.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine "The Lake House"
I'm not going to do a big review for this one. All I can say is that I didn't really like it. I didn't respond to any of the plots. **1/2.
Blade Runner: The Final Cut
Ambiguous, mysterious, frustrating, and with an impossible to decipher ending. Just the way I like my sci-fi.
What is the significance of the origami? What does the unicorn mean? It's all great stuff I don't even want to know the answers to.
Considering the movie is 40 years old, the visual effects look absolutely great.
I thought Leon's test at the beginning was hilarious because he kept interrupting and throwing the guy off his rhythm with stupid questions. SO funny, which is not what I expected before I saw the film.
Apparently James Hong was playing old, wizened Asian guys 40 years ago. Sounds about right.
If you ever wanted to see Roger Rabbit's Joanna Cassidy topless, this is the film for you.
I see why Andrea Romano cast William Sanderson as Karl Rossum on Batman: The Animated Series now. Could never figure out how Newhart's Larry got that role and it turns out it was a tribute to this.
Rutger Hauer was pretty amazing as Batty. Super creepy and yet his death still moved me. Good stuff.
I like the end credits music too.
That was pretty great. ****1/2.
Spidey And His Amazing Friends "Doc Ock's Super Octopus / Attack Of The Green Giggles"
Doc Ock's Super Octopus:
Squishy is so cute I want a plushie of him. Also Squishy is a great name for an octopus. ***1/2.
Attack Of The Green Giggles:
I liked the squirrels. ***.
Episode Overall: ***1/2.
Muppet Babies "Rootin' Tootin' Sheriff Showdown / The Trouble With Chickies"
Rootin Tootin' Sheriff Showdown:
Nothing in this interested me. *.
The Trouble With Chickies:
I'm disappointed we went to Planet Koozbane and the show couldn't be bothered to show us a Koozbanian as seen on The Muppet Show.
Also while the spaceship had SOME design elements from Pigs In Space, the fact that they didn't simply use THAT ship is a disappointment. *1/2.
Episode Overall: *1/2.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine "The Good Ones"
I was very curious what this show would do upon its return, and it didn't disappoint. I think the show might have gotten some criticism for making the police the good guys all the time. I know Law & Order has gotten those complaints, and has also adjusted for them. But as a comedy perhaps this show would not have the license to explore the controversies involved with the police and Black Lives Matter. But no, it effects the characters, and some of them, like Holt, have been put through the wringer. And I love to learn how difficult it's been for Holt because he's the one guy acting normal. And it especially effects him too.
For the record, Andre Braugher's performance here is pretty amazing. He should probably put it on his Emmy Reel (even though he's already earned one for Homicide).
My biggest complaint about the episode is Charles, and to be honest, this is always how they were gonna do Charles in this scenario, so I can't get too mad. The thing is, politics being what they are, when Boyle goes overboard with this specific thing, it makes me cringe instead of laugh. He stops being Boyle and turns into Brian Griffin. At least unlike Brian, he's willing to listen and change his approach. Whether he's sincere or if this "over-wokeness" is now a part of the character going forward, is something I guess we'll have to wait and see about.
I love that Rosa quit. I love that she's pissed at Jake. And I love that Jake is exactly as tone-deaf as she thinks he is. As far as allies and The Good Ones go, both he and the other Captain utterly suck. But really, the idea that George Floyd made her give up her entire career is something that's great.
Also good to see John McGinley getting work. Scrubs ultimately turned into a failure, but he was always the highlight. The thing that McGinley does so well (that also translated here) is portraying absolutely jerkish characters as so funny you love them anyways. Of course me loving this specific cop union lawyer was always a tougher ask than the well-meaning Dr. Cox, but damned if he still didn't do it.
I mentioned before that this show has gotten criticism for always portraying the 99 cops as clean and good guys. I don't agree with those complaints, especially if the show is exploring dirty cops and police misconduct elsewhere. I believe showing good policework and the police being a help to the community is important to show people how it SHOULD work. Brooklyn Nine-Nine isn't claiming its benevolent detectives are common. But it's saying they should be, and showing how it SHOULD work. And the episode explored George Floyd, Black Lives Matter, and even Covid. And it's comedy. Law & Order SVU has taken a shockingly leftwing turn since Trump came to office, and the George Floyd crisis has basically turned every single episode from last season into a critique of dirty cops. But that's easier for a drama to do. Perhaps the audience of a comedy, especially one not known for getting TOO political, would respond negatively to that. And some fans might. But Brooklyn Nine-Nine is a good show because even knowing that, they had the uncomfortable conversation anyways. It is to be determined if this is being explored in a one-off episode to ease criticisms of the show, or if like on SVU it's a big part of how the show operates going forward. We'll see.
But I like that the show explores what it means to be one of The Good Ones. And it has the guts to say that Jake is not one of them. *****.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine "The Lake House"
I'm not going to do a big review for this one. All I can say is that I didn't really like it. I didn't respond to any of the plots. **1/2.
