Friday, September 15, 2023

The Bear (Season 2)

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In case you haven’t seen the intro from my entry dated 1/26/19 (it’s in my archives whenever you want to read it), I’m no longer going to review every single movie I see.  I’m going to review one, with the occasional bonus, and just give ratings for the rest from now on (unless I decide to pick it up again in the future).  You can always ask me why I gave the ratings for the films without reviews though (via comments or the e-mail addresses under the ‘About Me’ section).
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The Bear (Season Two)                                              G
During the first season it did take me a bit to get into due to its crazy energy, but I did end up becoming addicted.  For those of you that desire working in a restaurant, particularly behind-the-scenes, shows like this will inform you that it isn’t exactly glamorous.  I’ve worked in a restaurant and this is really how it is---people yelling, losing their shit, scrambling over everyone and everything (sure, movies like Waiting… may show what it’s like when a restaurant gets busy, but they went for more of a comical approach).  Never thought it would be entertaining to see such drama, but I was hooked, and, as they may say, drama is always more entertaining when you’re not involved (hence why we watch entertainment).  This series takes place in a restaurant in Chicago and retains much of the first season’s tone, in addition to displaying more human sides of the characters (although arguably it always showed a human side since people are really crazy in life, especially in this business).  Another thing I liked was that you never knew what you were going to get each episode (enabling me to always look forward to each one), as they all focused on different people.  [I’m not particularly a fan of reality cooking shows, but I do like seeing food prepared in fictional entertainment (me being a foodie) whether I like the particular food being prepped or not (trust me, there’s a lot of food this foodie isn’t fond of).  Seeing shows like this make you appreciate how certain dishes are presented in restaurants, particularly desserts structured a precise way that look too damn good to eat; hell, I’m even fascinated by watching an omelette being made (the one made here looked really good too)].  There are ten episodes this time (as opposed to eight last time) ranging from 30-40 minutes each, one being a little over an hour, said episode also being a Christmas one involving a family dinner that maintains the manic spirit of the show.  As of now, there is no season three confirmed, but I’ll welcome at least another one (I did want more after the finale).  This and Reservation Dogs are the best Hulu currently has to offer (the latter currently on its third and alleged final season).  9/12/2023

Bonus reviews:

The Little Mermaid                                                      EH/OK
I love the 1989 animated film; it’s one of my favorites.  Remakes are inevitable anymore and curiosity always gets the better of me, so I had to see this recent live-action update (now available on Disney+).  There was another live-action Little Mermaid film a couple years back (you can read my review for it in here---https://vampireclown82.blogspot.com/2018/12/mooby-reviews-121518.html), but that one was even worse than this one directed by Rob Marshall (Chicago, Memoirs of a Geisha).  I didn’t hate this film (the performers are fine and some of it is well-made), but, like many a remake, it just made me want to watch the original the entire time.  As with the majority of live-action Disney remakes, you know what’s going to happen, it’s just a matter of anticipating it and how it will look (the only scene I don’t recall adapted here was when Sebastian was trying to escape the chef in the kitchen).  I don’t think it needed to be over two hours either, although it didn’t necessarily feel like it.  Was this yet another unnecessary remake?  I’d say so, but my opinion is subjective, needless to say; my tween nieces loved it, for one, they probably being the primary target audience.  The only Disney remake so far I thought was decent was Guillermo del Toro’s version of Pinocchio (you can read my review for that here---https://vampireclown82.blogspot.com/2022/12/guillermo-del-toros-pinocchio.html).  9/11/2023
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Here are links to my reviews of other live-action Disney remakes:
The Jungle Book---https://vampireclown82.blogspot.com/2016/09/mooby-reviews-9112016.html; Mowgli:  Legend of the Jungle---same as The Little Mermaid one in the review above
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Elemental                                                                    EH/OK
The newest Pixar movie wherein the elements (earth, air, fire, water; earth portrayed as trees, air as clouds) live in a city, fire living separately.  I remember thinking it reminded me of Inside Out upon first seeing ads for it.  Well, get that comparison out of your head, because this is nothing like Inside Out.  Not.  Even.  Close.  Inside Out was the last really good Pixar film to me; I’m actually looking forward to the sequel scheduled for next year, simultaneously dreading it since it has a whole lot to live up to.  Anyway, this film contains the same old message about how we’re all not so much different and we should look past those differences.  Blah, blah, blah.  A girl made of fire meets a boy made of water and of course they “shouldn’t” mix and there’s dissension at first (not only amongst them, but the parents and so forth), but do you think they eventually end up together?  Well…this will be the first film that many young’uns will see, so of course there needs to be a positive message.  Sure, the themes will always be relevant as long as we are all different, and they can always be touching if you want them to be, but for those of us that have been around and seen lots of movies already, it could likely be yawn-inducing.  Sorry Pixar, I just wasn’t that impressed with this release, in substance or general style (I actually thought some of the character features were distracting initially).  9/13/2023

Other movies I've seen and their ratings (see above):

Alone at Night   >>>B

Bottle Rocket  >>>EH

Clock  >>>EH
       (Hulu)

Door Mouse  >>>OK/G

Enys Men  >>>EH

The Good Neighbor (2022)  >>>EH/OK

House of Darkness (2022)  >>>OK

Hypnotic (2023)  >>>OK/G

Mummies  >>>EH

Piggy (2022)  >>>OK
   (In Spanish with subtitles)

Something in the Dirt  >>>B

10/31  >>>OK

10/31 Part II  >>>OK

Wildhood  >>>OK

---Sean O.
9/15/2023

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