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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 Outsider: Season
One OK
Ten-episode series available on HBO based on the novel of
the same name by Stephen King involving doppelgangers and a demon called
different names in different cultures. I
did read that book less than two years ago according to an Instagram/Facebook
post and I do remember liking it. This
series was largely faithful to the reading material from what I recall, many scenes
returning to mind as they were shown. Is
that a good thing or bad thing for this series?
In this case, I actually liked the book better and that may be because I
read it before watching this (as is often the case). Given the ten episodes were all roughly
around the hour mark (give or take), many parts of this miniseries dragged. I also didn’t feel fully engaged with the
characters as much as I did in the book (one of the qualities Mr. King excels
at---characterization). I didn’t dislike
this series at all, not one bit, but it wasn’t one of my favorite adaptations
of his. I also remember being more
satisfied with the book’s conclusion even though I don’t recall it exactly (I’ve
seen and read lots of stuff since), but I wasn’t dissatisfied with the ending here.
As I’ve said before, if you are more of a reader, read the book; if
you’re more of a watcher, watch the series; and if you like to do both, like
yours truly, read the book first. I’m
always going to watch anything with the King’s name attached and I’m going to
watch it all the way through even if it doesn’t start out that great (Kingdom Hospital being the only time I recall
stopping). Not a fair assessment, no,
since I wouldn’t give someone I wasn’t necessarily a fan of the same chance,
but I’m a lifelong King fan, so what can I say?
3/21/2020
Bonus reviews:
The Back Pages: Season One EH/OK
I would’ve never heard of this (initially web) anthology
series had their Instagram page not liked one of my posts. Seeing that it was a Science
Fiction/Fantasy/Horror anthology series, and that it was inspired by The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, and Tales
from the Crypt, I had to check it out.
It is available on Tubi or Amazon Prime (Tubi is free, with ads, for
those unaware). There are only 7 episodes
totaling 110 minutes (the shortest segment being 12 minutes and the longest
being 20), so think of it as one anthology film, I guess. As with any anthology series/movie, there are
bound to be misses as well as hits, some overpowering the other, and this
series, unfortunately, had more misses.
The first, “Dust to Dust,” was a fairly lame doppelganger-ish tale
involving a prisoner on Mars that reminded me more of The Martian (with Matt Damon) than anything else. My favorite one, “Pique Par la Mort,”
depicted what goes on in the mind of a comatose patient and could’ve actually
worked as a longer feature. “To Belong” would’ve
also been better fleshed out since it ultimately felt underdeveloped with
potential; the ending reminded me of a Tales
from the Cryptkeeper episode (one involving sea creatures). “Innocence Escaped” was too much of a Western
for my tastes, while “Jing” was a simple relationship tale that could’ve passed
as a barely average Twilight Zone
episode. “Hairwolf: A Were-Removal
Story” was a bit outlandish for me (and not in a good way) and contained a
not-so-subtle nod to a traditional story involving a wolf and a little girl. Lastly, the longest and not-that-great
segment, “The Woman from the Water,” reminded me of The Little Mermaid at first before revealing that the titular woman
isn’t exactly Ariel. So, as you can
gather, this wasn’t my favorite series as a whole (2 out of 7 and the 2
could’ve been better). You won’t waste
too much time with it though if you feel you must give it a shot and who
knows? Maybe you’ll like it better than
I did being everyone is their own critic, as I always needlessly say. A season two is planned according to the
Instagram page and, sure, I’ll check it out.
Who knows? It might have more
hits than misses. 3/20/2020
Upstate Story G
One of the perks of social media is the occasional message I
receive about reviewing a film, such as this instance where I was sent a
personal message on Facebook from Shaun Rose, the star/writer/director/etc. of
this feature available on YouTube. I
always hate when I end up not liking the movie though, even though it’s not my
fault I didn’t like it, and I always tell the message sender before I watch
their film that I’ll be completely honest in my review (no ass-kissing here). Here is one that I actually liked! In this existential independent film, we
follow the life of a 20-something year old named Ellis (played by Mr. Rose) in
the span of one week. The ‘upstate’
refers to Saratoga Springs, New York.
Ellis lives with a roommate he’s not too fond of, hates his job
(cleaning houses and such on Monday through Friday), looks for other work to no
avail, and is only happy on the weekends (which you’ll see why when the film
cleverly transitions from black & white to color). This shit is real life as depressing as it
may be and we all have a bit of Ellis in us from time to time (yes, some more
than others, but “bullshit happens to people and that’s life” as he states at
one time). It is only an hour, so it
won’t take up too much of your time, and I feel that was just enough time to
get to know this Ellis character. Perhaps
with an actual budget (this film worked perfectly fine with an apparent zero
budget as well) and judging on this product, I think Shaun Rose has the
potential to make an indie gem alongside the likes of Clerks, Duck Season, Pieces of April, and others. In the meantime, you can watch this on
YouTube and tell as many people as you can to watch it and have them keep
telling people since Mr. Rose just wants exposure which I feel this film
rightfully deserves. 3/21/2020
Other
movies I've seen and their ratings (see above):
Cake >>>OK
Last Christmas >>>EH/OK
Level 16 >>>OK/G
Teen Spirit >>>B/EH
Transit >>>EH/OK
---Sean O.
3/22/2020
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