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...