A Week in Netflix: 06/07/15

Film

Hard Target

I couldn't believe that there was a Jean Claude Van Damme film that went under my radar as I just seem to consume all of his work throughout the 90s and into the early 2000s it seemed to me anyway at least and yet somehow I completely neglected Hard Target despite it being from such a visionary director like John Woo and well its all history now and everyone is aware that Woo's venture into Hollywood was pretty much a disaster across the board, but now looking back at Hard Target, time seems to have treated this film rather well, yes the first half of the film is extremely cheesy with some ridiculous slow motion sequences that are rather embarrassing, but if you stick with the rough stuff in the first 30 or so minutes you will be rewarded with some excellent direction of action and Van Damme at his physical peak of badass karate arse kicking chops (despite that awful mullet of a hair do - almost convinced me this was an 80s film). Lance Henriksen provides just the right balance of over the top performance to sell himself as the perfect 90s action villain, it was really hard not to love this film by the time the credits rolled, but it would have been nice to see one extended sequence of the 'human hunt' sport that made the best use of John Woo's expertise and for that reason alone I'd knock this film down a mark, but if you like either Woo or Van Damme then you really should be added Hard Target to your list of films to watch on Netflix because although the flaws of the film are hard to ignore you are ultimately rewarded with some thrilling action that stands the test of time and far exceeds much of what big budget studios in Hollywood are even putting out to today, one might even say it carries a double impact.

7/10

Documentary

Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey 

Had me meaning to catch this documentary ever since its original release, but time seemed to pass by and almost instantly the sex scandal rumours surrounding the puppeteer behind Elmo came out around the time of the DVD release of the documentary and that news kind of left me feeling rather confused as to whether or not this was something that I was entirely comfortable with heading into the documentary; but more time has passed since then and I can't remember ever hearing anything that carried any weight or evidence against Kevin Clash (Elmo) and seeing it appear on Netflix was that push that I needed to finally catch up with the documentary. Unfortunately I think that my expectations for this might have been a little too high going in; what we do learn from Being Elmo, is that the story and the history of Kevin Clash's childhood and following his dreams is a very compelling story with a great deal of rich sources for which to pull from, and the history of Elmo, The Muppets and Sesame Street itself is a wonderful nostalgia trip down memory lane that really does bring back some great childhood memories of television back in the day, its just a shame that as a documentary; Being Elmo is really rather generic in its approach and execution and had it not been for the intriguing background and life journey of Kevin Clash himself then there really isn't much that the documentary has to offer outside of this and while the subject is enough to keep the strings intact and not to end up in ball of mess, it's nothing more than a serviceable documentary that doesn't really leave much of an impact on its audience. If you are a fan of The Muppets and Sesame Street then I would recommend you check out this documentary just to learn more about the behind the scenes of the show and take the time to see the wonderful background of one of the shows key players Kevin Clash and the man behind every child's favourite Muppet - Elmo.

6/10

TV

Bates Motel Season 1 (Episodes 1-8)

What a strange beast of a TV show Bates Motel is; so its a prequel to Psycho but in a modern day setting and yet aesthetically parts of the show and some of its key players seemed to be stuck in the 1950/60's - now it was an impossible feat to try and even live up to the heights of Alfred Hitchcock's horror masterpiece Psycho and even more so for myself to try and distance my own opinion on the show that tries to take out any comparison with one of my all time favourite films from one of my all time favourite directors; but with this show I've tried just to judge the show on its own merits and flaws and try not to let my decisive verdict be influenced by my strong feelings for the film. What I will say is that had I not been watching the show with my wife, I might have already dropped this show, but not because that I find the show to be boring or bad in any way whatsoever, but with the sheer volume of high quality shows seemingly available right now we live in a time where it is impossible to watch everything; but my wife seems to be really enjoying the show and at this moment in time, I will say at the very least it is always good to see Vera Farmiga on screen and here in Bates Motel she is delivering an excellent performance with a take on the younger and livelier Norma Bates which I find immensely enjoyable to see her inner mind unravel as she tries her hardest to keep her son Norman close to her; and even Freddie Highmore as Norman Bates I feel gives some really strong performances that when detached from the direct comparison of the stellar performance of Anthony Perkins, is again a very enjoyable thing to watch. Now the rest of the show and the bizarre nature of the small town in which the show is set you can take it or leave it, its pretty much hit and miss with various different story threads, but overall I enjoy myself whilst the show is on, but can't see that I find myself thinking too much about it an hour or so after we've finished an episode. I think if you're a fan of Psycho and would like to see the history of the key characters then Bates Motel is worth at least giving a trial run, but considering what other shows are out there as direct competition then I can't really strongly recommend this as a 'Must See' show.

Arrested Development Season 4 (Episodes 3-11)

This I am keeping brief as I'm almost out of energy and enthusiasm for when it comes to the subject of Arrested Development and this fourth season - as a couple, me and my wife tend to just stick to just catching up with one show at a time on Netflix, but because this fourth season has been such a rough ride we felt it necessary to pick up something else to detract our disappointment for this poorly written and poorly executed series revival; Will Arnett as GOB has at least produced a few laughs from myself in some recent episodes, but outside of that the show is still just dead air and now its just become something that I just need to complete, rather than enjoy - god I hope to put the final nail in this train wreck so and try to forget about it. If you are still not caught up with this show then I highly recommend that you just stop at the end of season 3, because this season really has absolutely nothing more to offer and will ultimately tarnish your opinion on the show as a whole.

Anime

Blue Exorcist Season 1 (Episodes 8-12)

Not really made much progress this week with Blue Exorcist, but its been pretty steady in terms of story and characters, and the more I watch the more I get the same feeling that this does feel a lot like watching Bleach - and while I do enjoy Bleach as a show more than Blue Exorcist, I'm still enjoying the ride if not all that deeply invested into the show; not much more to say really as this week it really has just been a case of more of the same and nothing really new to shine any light on the overall appeal of the show and whether or not it's ultimately something that I'd either recommend to watch or recommend to stay away from.

A Week in Netflix: w/c 29/06/15

So much to discuss this week and I've had to include a film from last week that somehow went missing from my brain when writing up last weeks edition of A Week in Netflix - given the sheer amount of films, TV etc. I've consumed this week on Netflix, the individual write ups might end up coming in a little short in terms of quantity of text, but hopefully I will still be able to get my views across on each item below effectively and provide an interesting read and insight into my weeks viewing; and a quick side note, that this week I have actually experienced the odd disruptions in streaming on Netflix, I'm hoping that these have just been the odd bugs niggling away on my PS3 and not something that will creep into my viewing experience in the future whilst streaming video through Netflix, anyway without further tangents lets get into this weeks edition starting of with Film.

FILM

What Maisie Knew *missing from last weeks edition (watched on 23/06/15)

It's probably not a good sign straight off the bat that I had managed to completely forget about this film from last weeks blog post and you won't be surprised to hear that this film did not leave a lasting impression on me, but then looking at the positive side it clearly wasn't something offensively bad as, had it such a film then I surely wouldn't have forgotten about it so bloody quickly as I have done. A story about parents that feel like their dreams and work has become derailed by parenthood - why I thought that this story is something that I thought that I could potentially relate to; given the fact I'm an inspiring filmmaker and a relatively new parent and still trying to develop an understanding and somewhat of a life routine that I can possibly be successful on both fronts; but quite honest What Maisie Knew contains 2 parents that are outright despicable in their attitude to parenthood and utter narrow-mindedness that made me want to vomit. And while I have a lot of time for the comedy of Steve Coogan; here in a straight up role he feels so out of place and awkward whenever on screen like a caged comedian desperate to get out into an open mike night comedy club. The rest of the cast and supporting cast with the exception of the little girl who plays Maisie, couldn't look more less interested with Julianne Moore giving one of her weakest performances that I can remember seeing. Not caring to really delve into the origins of this story; I'll say that the film feels like its been adapted from a by the numbers best selling novel that panders to the lowest common denominator on the emotional strings of middle-aged women and the film itself with such a bland script leaves you with a sour taste in your mouth that while is easily forgotten can't be easily forgiven; there's talent involved but this is a film that you should avoid.

3/10

Short Term 12

I might be wrong, but I got it in my head that Short Term 12 had been one of the better reviewed Indie films to come out of the festival circuit in the past year or 2 and given my expectations; whether they had been justifiable or mis-guided, I don't think that it really would have changed my overall opinion on this film that ultimately felt rather bland in all aspects. My main problem with the film is the script, now that's not to say that the script is particularly bad in-fact you could argue that the film is quite fine but here within lies the problem - the structure has so meticulously been refined to focus so much attention on emotional beats and set turning points to the length where you get the feeling the writer has spent far too much time reading 'Scriptwriting for Dummies' that they really forgot to entice us the audience and get us to care for their characters and their lives, but instead we are left with the feeling of drowning in the blandness that Short Term 12 offers up as a storyline. The film is well directed and with the exception of 1 of the supporting cast members the performances are very strong all-round, but it's not enough to save the film from being sub-par; not every Indie film that comes out the festival circuit with a great marketing campaign is unique and intriguing, some of them are just plain safe filmmaking with a steady pace like Short Term 12 that fail to stand out from the crowd. I would probably still recommend people to check out the film purely based on the performances and direction, but certainly not a film that you should rush out to see or go in with high expectations, but it reasonably passes the time well enough.

4/10

Sex, Lies and Videotape

I feel like that I've got a love/hate relationship when it comes to the work of director Steven Soderbergh; but usually even at his lowest I can find at least one thing interesting with all of his films that I've seen to date. With his debut film Sex, Lies and Videotape probably for me sitting pretty in-between both the good and the bad in terms of overall quality; I really liked the concept behind the story of the film that brings together a sexually repressed woman and a mysterious figure of a man with a unusual fetish. Stylistically the film is very minimalist in nature that I can appreciate, but on the other hand part of the reason that I couldn't really fully engage with Sex, Lies and Videotape is because there really wasn't enough on offer to get me totally invested with it that ultimately lead me to not really give  a shit about any of the characters or the overall story. I've got to say though that James Spader is absolutely fantastic here in the starring role opposite Andie MacDowell but because Spader is so fucking good is why when he isn't on screen the film just doesn't feel anywhere near as interesting or as enjoyable to watch. I'd certainly recommend seeking out this film on Netflix just to see Spader's performance but also to see the origins of the directional work of Steven Soderbergh, I just feel that had this film come at a later stage in Soderbergh's career the film would have been remarkably better, but what we actually get is a perfectly average film with a actor bringing his absolutely 'A' game to the table, but that's not enough to scrape away the feeling that the film can be a bit of a slog to get through at times. Personally I feel that Steven Shainberg's Secretary is the far better film, again starring the wonderful James Spader.

5/10

Swingers

While I'm not a Jon Favreau or a Doug Liman fanboy; I would say that I'm willing to give both a chance where others might not and recently paying off with Chef and Edge of Tomorrow proving to be largely enjoyable, on the surface Swingers wouldn't normally appeal to me, a U.S. Comedy about aspiring actors/comedians struggling to deal with rejections of Hollywood; where the nightlife lifestyle becomes more important in their lives compared to their dream career pathways. Starring Vince Vaughan is usually a barrier for me that I can't get behind, but here early in his career, he showcases some pretty funny traits that would go on to grow into annoyances for me personally, but here in Swingers he feels right at home with Jon Favreau's script and the counterbalance to Favreau's on screen character Mike; Vaughan finds a nice balance of irritating arrogance and supportive friendship that really ties the film together. Swingers is a Funtime with plenty of laughs, though it's not quite as clever as it thinks it is and does feel very 90s that hasn't aged badly but certainly feels of its time. If you like Vince Vaughan then you owe it to yourself to see Swingers as it's far better than the majority of his outings, it's not a film I'm likely to revisit and not up there with the likes of a Very Bad Things in terms of 90s comedies but it was for me at least a pleasant surprise.

6/10

Double Jeopardy

Can you look the other way or ignore the worst aspect of a movie and enjoy it despite those flaws? Well when the biggest problem of the film is the entire script then it's pretty bloody hard to ignore. From start to finish, literally every word and every action in Double Jeopardy is utterly unbelievable and at times hilariously bad, now I am aware of the whole 'double jeopardy' deal within the U.S. Legal system but surely the way it's represented in this film is a complete mockery? Throughout the entire runtime I couldn't shake the feeling that I had seen this film before, but I think I've come to the realisation that it's not that I've seen Double Jeopardy before it's just that I've seen enough Hollywood thrillers of the 90s with similar backstories and characters that's this is essentially just a mishmash of all of those films with the complete package of genre tropes that tick all the right boxes of a thriller, it's just that Double Jeopardy happens to be so poorly written and with a terribly cheesy ending to boot you can't help but feel cheated by the time the credits roll. Stay clear it's both predictable and proposterous

3/10

ANIME

Blue Exorcist

The show seems to get off to a slowish start and initially I wasn't sure exactly sure what to make of it all after the first couple of episodes, but have stuck with it through the week and managed to catch and good chunk of the first half of the season on Netflix and I'm pretty sure that the show is growing on me with each passing episode. I think if you like demonology and the anime Bleach then Blue Exorcist is certainly a show worth giving a shot, it seems rather light in its tone with the comedy playing a huge part in the overall feel in the series and that is something that I think will start to get used to, though if it could offer something a little darker or explore the realms of demonology into greater depths I'd certainly appreciate it more. Visually it's got style and the comedy has been pretty consistent so I'm eager to stick with the show and see how it all plays out but at this moment in time I'd say the show is mildly entertaining without being great.

TV

Arrested Development Season 1 (Episodes 21&22) Complete

To say first off that I've watched so much of this show this week - I'll probably keep my thoughts pretty brief and run down comparisons between the seasons; I'd like to think that I can summarise in greater depth after completing all 4 seasons, but as for these last couple of episodes of season 1 I'll just say that they delivered the laughs just as well as everything that came before in this season. For me this season of Arrested Development is a masterpiece in comedy with such a great ensemble cast where everyone single family member brings comedy gold to the table, that it's so hard to have to pick a favourite character, if for some reason you still haven't seen this show and you enjoy comedy then you really need to get started on this show.

10/10

Arrested Development Season 2 Complete

It was always going to be difficult to keep up to the standard of comedy writing of season 1 which I believe to up there with some of the best ever comedy in U.S. TV of all time, but season 2 gives it a bloody good crack of the whip and it's certainly got the highlights that can hold its own with the quality of season 1; with Michael hiding his father in the attic, Buster's hook hand and Tobias attempts to join the Blue Man Group providing some of the seasons best moments, but the show just can't keep hitting Home Runs one after the other, that's not to say that the show ever gets a strike but more like finding second base far to often to be able to achieve the same success as that first season but nevertheless if like me you loved season 1 then you really do have to tune into season 2 because its GREAT!

8/10

Arrested Development Season 3 Complete

Unfortunately the decline in the quality of the show continues into season 3; this time we have to endure complete dead spots in the show with sections including a televised mock trial of the Bluth Company and a themed area known as 'Wee Britian' that just goes to prove 'you never go full retard' - the writers were clearly swinging for new heights to push the boundaries to keep the show fresh, but they completely miss the ball here. On the plus side though everything outside of these low points of the season are still pretty strong providing a good few laugh out loud moments and the show manages to close really strongly that ultimately it's a positive experience but just feels a little short in terms of quality compared to season 2, but it's still got all our favourite family members delivering the comedy we've grown to love and til this point I've probably found Tobias to be the most consistent it terms of timing with the comedy and Maeby arguably becoming more and more less important as the show comes to a close on its initial run here; it certainly felt like a fitting ending and I would have been happy had there never been a season 4 in all honesty. Still this is a recommendation for Season 3, but just be aware that it's not all wonderful in the Bluth families escapades with a few low points but it all comes to fruition in the end with a Big Bang finale that delivers that comedic knock out punch.

7/10

Arrested Development Season 4 (Episodes 1-2)

Going into season 4 straight away without the wait that obviously occurred during the shows initial run, I was aware that the revival hadn't been completed loved upon its return, it's seems that the show had decided to change up its format of storytelling by giving a slightly longer runtime and dedicating sole attention to a single family member for each episode, now it's still early into the show to fully form an opinion on whether or not it was a wise move to bring Arrested Development back after so many years, but at this point I can't remember laughing out loud or even being amused by these first 2 episodes - it feels dead on arrival and if things don't improve soon I worry that this season might actually tarnish my overall opinion on a show that looking at the first 3 season as a collective as being one of the best comedies to come out of American Television, some shows are obviously and criminally cancelled far to early but I've got a sneaking suspicion that maybe Arrested Development isn't one of those shows; might this have been a show that might have been better left alone? Time will tell.

A Week in Netflix: w/c 22/06/15

Anime

Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 3 (Episodes 10-16) Complete

In the matter of only 2 weeks I've managed to complete the entire series of Avatar: The Last Airbender and it has been an absolutely wonderful journey; despite the show slowing down in pace as the third and final season brought us closer to the closing of the series as a whole - the payoff in the last episode (which plays out like a feature length movie by itself - containing 4 parts) made everything that had since past seem all worth the while in waiting; I did take some issue with the jarring and at times jumping of time within narrative as the show brought a heavy reliance on Prince Zuko and making sure that each of the key characters had their own unique and personal moment with him when he finally teams up with the Avatar and the rest of his gang - each of these mini-stories were fantastic with Sokka's episode arguably being the standout one of the lot; it did seem to cause a bit of disruption in terms of the development of the overall story and the journey during these few episodes did start to feel a tad disjointed and bordering on fan service to each individual character of the show; but considering the strength of each individual episode and the glorious finale that soon followed, this issue ends up only really becoming a nitpick within what is otherwise a truly outstanding series. The finale contains a brilliant battle sequence that can stand side by side with the best of the likes of Dragonball Z has to offer and then we come to the fact that you have a side player that starts off the series as the focal 'bad guy' of the show and takes this incredible journey - in my honest opinion the overall character development and the story arc of a personal journey that Prince Zuko takes within the series and most notably in this 3rd season is up there with some of the best, not only within the realms of animation/children's television - but I'd argue that if some of the higher production TV dramas on the biggest networks would be hard pushed to created someone as interesting as Prince Zuko and his overall journey from start to finish. The second half of this 3rd and final season really found a nice balance between the characters of Aang and Prince Zuko; with Zuko providing some of the more emotive scenes that on a number of occasions really strikes a chord, but not taking away too much from the attention of our lead character Aang who struggles right up to the very closing moments of the show to come to terms with what he needs to do to save the earth, whilst not destroying the very image and belief that he has dedicated his life to; Aang's inner turmoil of personal battle, love and religion/beliefs are hard-hitting and are nicely wrapped up with the ending of the show that leaves you feeling you've embarked and completed such a journey with rich storytelling that are comparable to The Lord of the Rings trilogy, the storytelling and the characters are that high quality; this really is essential viewing for all Netflix subscribers.

10/10

TV

Sense 8 (Episode 12) Complete

Went into the season finale of Sense 8 with low expectations - as discussed last week, I really didn't see how this show could have turn my opinions around given the nature of the previous 11 episodes and the distinct lack of storytelling whether it being an attempt to be ambiguous or just a case of lazy writing (given this being a Wachowski's production, my guess is with the latter) - the stronger characters of the show still maintained my attention to the screen but the lesser characters again did nothing more than make up the numbers and conveniently come into action where their skills were needed the most. The shows finale felt like a complete rush job to power through to an ending that neither felt like a closer to a complete story or a cliffhanger ending that leaves you wanting more and eagerly anticipating the next season. A show that is more style over substance and what little substance is there, is so bloody damn convenient for apparently no reason at all - Sensate randomly targeting individuals that grow up to become skilled individuals? Purpose driven, how can they hope to predict such a thing? Why do all 8 have such unique sets of skills? Why is there no ordinary character/human being among them? None of these questions are remotely given the time of day over the course of the first season, this is a case of Netflix throwing an unlimited budget at The Wachowski's and saying "do whatever the hell you want" and the result is a complete mess of a show that is narratively non-existent and characters that are unbelievable; everything feels fabricated and while the show has its moments of being entertaining, it just doesn't do enough thematically or story wise to really recommend it to anyone. A lacklustre season finale to a rather lacklustre show.

4/10

Hemlock Grove (Episodes 1-2)

This I will keep very short but nowhere near sweet - I don't know what enticed me to check out Hemlock Grove; maybe it was the title or the description that intrigue me, going in I was hoping for something along the lines of Grimm but more adult in nature and rather graphic; but what I got was a teenage driven, brooding nonsense of terrible acting and a narrative that was totally un-engaging. These two episodes were enough to warn me off the rest of the series, I saw very little to offer moving forward with the show; in a lot of ways it reminded me of my reaction to American Horror Story when I gave that show a try a while back, so I guess if you were a fan of that shambles then you might find something here with Hemlock Grove, but for me this was utter drivel at best. Literally having no idea what the hell was going on come the end of the second episode and then being hit with what starts off begin a rather graphic and gruesome transformation sequence of a werewolf, that has you cringing from the gore ends up making you cringe at the laugh out loud pathetic end product; if you American Horror Story and Twilight had a devil child then I'd imagine that Hemlock Grove would be it. If you have any sense of sanity left in your soul you'll heed my advice and give this show a bloody wide berth. Avoid Avoid Avoid like the damn plague.

No rating required.

Arrested Development Season 1 (Episodes 1-20) 

Got to admit that going into this show my expectations were very low, as for years now for a reason that either never existed or I've plainly forgotten - I had convinced myself that I would absolutely hate Arrested Development and had it not been for my Netflix subscription I probably would never have given the show the time of day and for that very reason I'm starting to see my decision to sign up to Netflix as being one hell of a decision and one of the best I'll probably make all year, because damn this show is fucking hilarious. What a great ensemble cast the show has to offer, I can't pick a favourite at this moment in time and I couldn't even pick a least favourite; and while I'll say that the show isn't always laugh out loud funny - but given I'm 20 episodes into this show and I can't remember a joke that the show made that wasn't funny, it's pretty much been Home Run after Home Run in terms of the comedy. Outside of Friends, I'm not really a big fan of American comedy shows, but Arrested Development is certainly something wonderful and if you're like me and have never seen the show, or more so like me and told yourself you wouldn't be a fan of it. I urge you to reconsider and put this on your Netflix queue right now to watch as soon as possible. I thought I had a good set of friends but now I'm starting to question this - how could they not tell me about this show and berate me into submission to delve into the series. On the down side and it's not much of a bad thing just a viewing consumption method - I have managed to cram 20 episodes into little more than 2 days and at times I do feel like the show and its effectiveness has suffered due to this, so maybe its a show that shouldn't be rushed through but rather watched casually and let the quality of the comedic writing work its magic.