A few more episodes in... I'm nearing the end of the first season and I haven't gotten bored yet; I'm still curious about what'll happen with the characters.
The show stumbles a bit in places with the pacing; at times it seems to drag and I think it probably could've been trimmed down to, say, 8 episodes as opposed to 10. Episode 8 is a backstory/flashback episode depicting the initial events from 10 years ago that led the characters to end up in their current situation. While I think it was useful to shed light on this backstory, I think it might've worked better had various bits been incorporated into at least some of the preceding episodes of the season, rather than putting it all in a single episode, nearly at the end of the season.
In episode 7 (I think? Maybe it was 6), there's a scene where Marty is riding a bike, which is somewhat reminiscent of Michael Bluth biking in Arrested Development. However, somehow in AD Michael actually looks sort of cool when he bikes, yet in Ozark, Marty looks kinda dorky while doing it. In AD, Michael rides an 80s Schwinn road bike. In Ozark, Marty rides a contemporary Specialized hybrid-esque looking bike. At least I think it said Specialized. In AD, Michael rides for transportation purposes; in Ozark, Marty rides seemingly for recreation.
Seeing this scene of another character of Jason Bateman's riding a bike made me wonder if there's something about him and bikes, so I had to look it up. I could only find one or two interviews that mentioned it briefly; apparently he's an avid cyclist. So I wonder if Michael biking in AD was his idea, or if the writers came up with it on their own. Seeing as he's a producer on Ozark, I'm guessing perhaps it was indeed his idea there to have a scene with Marty biking.
I can't believe there hasn't even been a short/portion of an interview of Jason Bateman specifically about biking...
We'll see how the rest of the show goes. At its best moments, it's pretty riveting, although at times it does feel a bit slow and/or slightly poorly thought-out. What's interesting about watching this after being very familiar with Jason Bateman's performance in AD is that he's capable of doing quite a bit of depth with a character, which you just don't really tend to get in a comedy.
ETA: Episode 9: definitely one of the better ones as the show builds up to what presumably will be the season's climax during the final episode. There was a cool song played over the end credits of this episode too. There was one scene that brought to mind "There's always money in the banana stand!" from Arrested Development... pacing/plotting still stumbles slightly in places; sometimes a particular plot point will skip an episode and then after that, the show comes back to it, which makes for a slightly disjointed/hampered viewing experience.
Friday, August 9, 2019
Tuesday, August 6, 2019
Movie review: Equilibrium
This movie happened to be on Netflix and the single-sentence summary (usually those manage to tell you nearly nothing about a given movie/show) seemed interesting. Plus it starred Christian Bale, who's an at least somewhat famous actor. So I thought I'd give it a shot.
It turned out to be a movie that I liked, even almost a little better than I expected. It didn't have a ton of depth, but it was interesting enough and slick-looking. Cool aesthetics. Visually, the aesthetic of the movie I would describe as "industrial minimalist semi-grunge, with slight neoclassical tones." That may be a description that only makes sense to me.
It's a dystopian/sci-fi movie. The settings/architecture were sort of a minimalist industrial look -- vaguely Brutalist in some ways/places, but not all of it was fully Brutalist. Visually it was an interesting-looking movie.
The premise, as described by Netflix: "In a dystopian future, a totalitarian regime maintains peace by subduing the population with a drug, and displays of emotion are punishable by death." This is actually one of the better/more descriptive Netflix descriptions and is basically accurate.
The movie seemed a bit like a mishmash of two classic dystopian/science fiction novels, Fahrenheit 451 and 1984. Also with a helping of Star Wars on the side. So it was a bit derivative, but it was a perfectly decent movie. There was even a touch of A Clockwork Orange (perhaps coincidental) with some music by lovely lovely Ludwig Van having a part in one scene.
I don't remember if I've seen anything else with Christian Bale in it. I think he's known for playing Batman? Or something like that. [American Psycho, The Machinist, both of which I should watch, The Prestige, also Batman like I suspected] In this movie he reminded me of an assortment of other actors, including Jake Gyllenhaal (think Nightcrawler), Jared Leto (Requiem for a Dream), and Benedict Cumberbatch (BBC Sherlock, etc), among others.
There were a number of artful fight scenes in this movie, consisting of an interesting theatrical combination of martial arts and gun battles. There was one scene involving something somewhat fencing-esque. I do wonder how much the actor(s) (namely Christian Bale) had to train/rehearse/practice the choreography for these fight scenes.
It wasn't a particularly mind-blowingly profound movie or anything, and most likely not Christian Bale's most acclaimed work, but again, it was perfectly decent, visually striking/interesting and the premise about living in a society where people are unable to have emotions was interesting enough.
It turned out to be a movie that I liked, even almost a little better than I expected. It didn't have a ton of depth, but it was interesting enough and slick-looking. Cool aesthetics. Visually, the aesthetic of the movie I would describe as "industrial minimalist semi-grunge, with slight neoclassical tones." That may be a description that only makes sense to me.
It's a dystopian/sci-fi movie. The settings/architecture were sort of a minimalist industrial look -- vaguely Brutalist in some ways/places, but not all of it was fully Brutalist. Visually it was an interesting-looking movie.
The premise, as described by Netflix: "In a dystopian future, a totalitarian regime maintains peace by subduing the population with a drug, and displays of emotion are punishable by death." This is actually one of the better/more descriptive Netflix descriptions and is basically accurate.
The movie seemed a bit like a mishmash of two classic dystopian/science fiction novels, Fahrenheit 451 and 1984. Also with a helping of Star Wars on the side. So it was a bit derivative, but it was a perfectly decent movie. There was even a touch of A Clockwork Orange (perhaps coincidental) with some music by lovely lovely Ludwig Van having a part in one scene.
I don't remember if I've seen anything else with Christian Bale in it. I think he's known for playing Batman? Or something like that. [American Psycho, The Machinist, both of which I should watch, The Prestige, also Batman like I suspected] In this movie he reminded me of an assortment of other actors, including Jake Gyllenhaal (think Nightcrawler), Jared Leto (Requiem for a Dream), and Benedict Cumberbatch (BBC Sherlock, etc), among others.
There were a number of artful fight scenes in this movie, consisting of an interesting theatrical combination of martial arts and gun battles. There was one scene involving something somewhat fencing-esque. I do wonder how much the actor(s) (namely Christian Bale) had to train/rehearse/practice the choreography for these fight scenes.
It wasn't a particularly mind-blowingly profound movie or anything, and most likely not Christian Bale's most acclaimed work, but again, it was perfectly decent, visually striking/interesting and the premise about living in a society where people are unable to have emotions was interesting enough.
Thursday, August 1, 2019
Review: Netflix assortment
Netflix has quite a number of original, Netflix-exclusive shows/movies, most of which I've refrained from watching since a) there are an absolute ton of them and I wouldn't have time and b) the majority of them don't seem to be interesting enough to be worthwhile watching.
Yet: I started watching a recently released animated anthology series, which has been... a mixed bag, but I've only seen a few episodes so far. I also started watching the show Ozark, because Jason Bateman, and by extension, Arrested Development, which I love.
Love, Death and Robots: an animated anthology series; each episode is pretty short and they're all done by different people, so they have wide-ranging plots and animation styles. Makes for nice bite-size watching material. More to say about this once I finish watching all the episodes, most likely.
Ozark: this show isn't that new, but I only started watching it now. I've only watched the first episode so far, which was decent enough that I think I'll continue watching it.
It stars Jason Bateman, otherwise known as Michael Bluth from Arrested Development. He's one of those actors that I have very much the impression of that particular role for him, so I thought it'd be kind of hard for me to watch a different thing where he's playing a different character; I'd just see him as Michael Bluth. Not that he's a bad actor, but some actors are just like that. I think I'd have a hard time watching something with Steve Carrell in it without seeing him as Michael Scott from The Office.
I did see him a bit as Michael Bluth; quite a lot of the delivery of his lines in Ozark was very reminiscent of Michael. Unsurprisingly, I suppose, since that's just how his voice is and there's not really anything he can do about that, since in this show he isn't supposed to have some kind of unusual accent.
The show itself reminded me of a variety of other things I've watched in various aspects. The cinematography was reminiscent of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; very cinematic for a tv show, I thought. It was also pretty blue, which I also remember TGWTDT being. The tone of the show reminded me a bit of NBC's Hannibal, and/or The Killing -- measured. Plot-wise, it was semi-similar to How to Get Away With Murder, perhaps. One of the characters in Ozark is played by the same actor that plays a semi-minor character in HTGAWM.
In a way, Ozark kind of made me think of an alternative universe Michael Bluth. (Jason Bateman's character in Ozark even has the same initials and name syllabilization as Michael Bluth) An alternative universe Michael who's darker, a bit more grim and more cynical. I guess maybe that impression is just due to the nature of the show; Ozark is supposed to be a crime drama whereas Arrested Development is an atypical comedy. Michael's character seems a bit more... noble. He at least tries/desires to be a good person at least some of the time, even if he's kind of sanctimonious (something you realize a bit into the show, though compared to his family members, he's the least crazy).
This cool song is used at the end of the first episode, which reminded me of House MD since I generally liked the music used in that show back when I watched it. Initially, I thought it was by some indie band, but then I looked it up and it turned out to be by Radiohead... in a way, it's sort of similar to the song Madness by Muse.
More thoughts on Ozark as I continue to watch it.
Velvet Buzzsaw: a movie, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, among others. It has to do with art; Jake plays an art critic. I think it was supposed to be sort of a satire, but it wasn't exactly the most effective satire. Jake Gyllenhaal was alright, but the movie itself was mediocre, which is about what I had expected. I watched it one day because I was bored and wanted to kill some time. I did wonder about the various artworks in the movie; if they were actual artworks that had been sourced to be in the movie, or if the props department conceived of and created all of them.
Ozark, a few more episodes in: Still can't shake the Michael Bluth impression, which isn't so terrible; Jason Bateman's character in Ozark is more or less an alternative universe version of Michael in a darker, non-comedy show. Michael minus the rest of his family, set in the Ozarks, involved with shady business with a drug cartel, instead of George Sr.'s antics.
Part of it is just the way that he talks, and his mannerisms/vocal mannerisms (which I guess falls under "the way that he talks"). It's sort of trippy though, to have AD so in-mind while watching Ozark. But it's also kind of impossible to have it out of mind, if you've rewatched AD as much as I have. Anyways, onward and upward...
Obviously his character dresses a bit differently in this show; it's set more currently so the early 2000s fashions would be out of date. He wears tighter-fitting shirts, as is the trend these days, not the billowing numbers of past decades (see also: Stephen Glass shirt)... He also wears darker colors, I've noticed.
Michael Bluth wore mostly whites and light blue shirts, unsurprisingly given his role as a businessman for his family's housing company. Martin in Ozark wears darker colors -- navy, burgundy, even a dark blueish plaid. Clothing that looks a bit more rumpled/disheveled, somewhat less polished. I assume the costume design was intentional.
Further reading: https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/with-ozark-jason-bateman-mixes-michael-bluth-with-walter-white
I do maybe sort of wish the show were a bit shorter/faster-paced; as it is, it definitely seems like a slow burn, and I'm kind of impatient. Anyways, we'll see. Assuming the second season is also 10 episodes, that means ~20 hours of watching. Supposedly there's supposed to be a third season at some point, so hopefully the second season doesn't leave off on a crazy cliffhanger and then I have to wait some unknown amount of time for the next one..... another reason why I'm not so big on Netflix-exclusive shows. That means you, Mindhunter. Good show, but I thought there'd be a second season ages ago...
Yet: I started watching a recently released animated anthology series, which has been... a mixed bag, but I've only seen a few episodes so far. I also started watching the show Ozark, because Jason Bateman, and by extension, Arrested Development, which I love.
Love, Death and Robots: an animated anthology series; each episode is pretty short and they're all done by different people, so they have wide-ranging plots and animation styles. Makes for nice bite-size watching material. More to say about this once I finish watching all the episodes, most likely.
Ozark: this show isn't that new, but I only started watching it now. I've only watched the first episode so far, which was decent enough that I think I'll continue watching it.
It stars Jason Bateman, otherwise known as Michael Bluth from Arrested Development. He's one of those actors that I have very much the impression of that particular role for him, so I thought it'd be kind of hard for me to watch a different thing where he's playing a different character; I'd just see him as Michael Bluth. Not that he's a bad actor, but some actors are just like that. I think I'd have a hard time watching something with Steve Carrell in it without seeing him as Michael Scott from The Office.
I did see him a bit as Michael Bluth; quite a lot of the delivery of his lines in Ozark was very reminiscent of Michael. Unsurprisingly, I suppose, since that's just how his voice is and there's not really anything he can do about that, since in this show he isn't supposed to have some kind of unusual accent.
The show itself reminded me of a variety of other things I've watched in various aspects. The cinematography was reminiscent of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; very cinematic for a tv show, I thought. It was also pretty blue, which I also remember TGWTDT being. The tone of the show reminded me a bit of NBC's Hannibal, and/or The Killing -- measured. Plot-wise, it was semi-similar to How to Get Away With Murder, perhaps. One of the characters in Ozark is played by the same actor that plays a semi-minor character in HTGAWM.
In a way, Ozark kind of made me think of an alternative universe Michael Bluth. (Jason Bateman's character in Ozark even has the same initials and name syllabilization as Michael Bluth) An alternative universe Michael who's darker, a bit more grim and more cynical. I guess maybe that impression is just due to the nature of the show; Ozark is supposed to be a crime drama whereas Arrested Development is an atypical comedy. Michael's character seems a bit more... noble. He at least tries/desires to be a good person at least some of the time, even if he's kind of sanctimonious (something you realize a bit into the show, though compared to his family members, he's the least crazy).
This cool song is used at the end of the first episode, which reminded me of House MD since I generally liked the music used in that show back when I watched it. Initially, I thought it was by some indie band, but then I looked it up and it turned out to be by Radiohead... in a way, it's sort of similar to the song Madness by Muse.
More thoughts on Ozark as I continue to watch it.
Velvet Buzzsaw: a movie, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, among others. It has to do with art; Jake plays an art critic. I think it was supposed to be sort of a satire, but it wasn't exactly the most effective satire. Jake Gyllenhaal was alright, but the movie itself was mediocre, which is about what I had expected. I watched it one day because I was bored and wanted to kill some time. I did wonder about the various artworks in the movie; if they were actual artworks that had been sourced to be in the movie, or if the props department conceived of and created all of them.
Ozark, a few more episodes in: Still can't shake the Michael Bluth impression, which isn't so terrible; Jason Bateman's character in Ozark is more or less an alternative universe version of Michael in a darker, non-comedy show. Michael minus the rest of his family, set in the Ozarks, involved with shady business with a drug cartel, instead of George Sr.'s antics.
Part of it is just the way that he talks, and his mannerisms/vocal mannerisms (which I guess falls under "the way that he talks"). It's sort of trippy though, to have AD so in-mind while watching Ozark. But it's also kind of impossible to have it out of mind, if you've rewatched AD as much as I have. Anyways, onward and upward...
Obviously his character dresses a bit differently in this show; it's set more currently so the early 2000s fashions would be out of date. He wears tighter-fitting shirts, as is the trend these days, not the billowing numbers of past decades (see also: Stephen Glass shirt)... He also wears darker colors, I've noticed.
Michael Bluth wore mostly whites and light blue shirts, unsurprisingly given his role as a businessman for his family's housing company. Martin in Ozark wears darker colors -- navy, burgundy, even a dark blueish plaid. Clothing that looks a bit more rumpled/disheveled, somewhat less polished. I assume the costume design was intentional.
Further reading: https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/with-ozark-jason-bateman-mixes-michael-bluth-with-walter-white
I do maybe sort of wish the show were a bit shorter/faster-paced; as it is, it definitely seems like a slow burn, and I'm kind of impatient. Anyways, we'll see. Assuming the second season is also 10 episodes, that means ~20 hours of watching. Supposedly there's supposed to be a third season at some point, so hopefully the second season doesn't leave off on a crazy cliffhanger and then I have to wait some unknown amount of time for the next one..... another reason why I'm not so big on Netflix-exclusive shows. That means you, Mindhunter. Good show, but I thought there'd be a second season ages ago...
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