Author: BRWC

  • Jerrod Carmichael: Don’t Be Gay – Review

    Jerrod Carmichael: Don’t Be Gay – Review

    Jerrod Carmichael: Don’t Be Gay – Review. By Christopher Patterson.

    Querulous and Fractionally Unfeigned

    Don’t Be Gay is from the school of The Carmichael Show, and adds little to the underwhelming reputation Carmichael has obtained from memory. He adds little shade to nuance, and speaks too simply. The great comedians take a walk and make a mile out of it, the reverse is apparent in Carmichael. It risks the uncomfortability of Gervais‘ and keeps the light-hearted tone often attributed to litter American humor.

    What I find in this farceur-hour is truthfulness addled with humor. It’s notably common to find un-developed half-wits use uninteresting and exhausting “self-experience” as the tag line, rather than attempt the risk of developing an entirely-informed, un-trite originality.

    I find my school of thought chief as a fellow Carolinian. I am thankfully not born from the unobliging and rancid North, and from one whisper to another, it appeals to the insufficient humor Carmichael follows. It reminds me all too often of the girl I once knew in my jeune and nimble years. A fellow Northerner believed her life so convivially electrical and piercingly, prolifically, unwontedly central aside from metaphysically virginal, yet lacked the aesthetic and sufficient depth to which it is called and alas recalled. Carmichael speaks in absolutes as a man who led a life he continually disparages exercising or undergoing. He orates and materializes to me as a overindulged hoi polloi ignoramus with seldom botherations. And instead of canvassing the intrepid brushstroke of temps for province, believes in the follis of his onlookers. A reenacted Jenny “from the block.” He has a most unappetizing and ostensible shine in his development of the witticism.

    But to peddle on hard beatific, rhapsodic extolls, Carmichael has non-edifying charisma, even if it’s being sodomized the more he blathers. Regardless, that doesn’t evade the eloquent command he possesses from coming out. He has furnished a credible performance, that exceptionally lives up to his previous, for worse and the better. While he lacks the comedians touch, he has the minute microcosms of distinct conceptions. But the energy is too often eliminated by flavorless recollections. While easy to instill pity on the acceptance of sexual preference, it grows vapid with age. There’s only so-much of the copious saddening, uncomplicated, and unsophisticated one can clasp. And despite uniformed artistic decisions, Carmichael is a maddening pleb. He has not learned from the best, rather from the ostentatiously privileged. He attempts to appeal to the common-mind, yet attempts to pitiably separate himself. A narcissism seems to play the part, as when viewing the stand-up, it’s exhausting to see an average mind fight for the right of a singular with no development. Rather than learning from who taught the best, he has seen clips of the learned and pervading his day seemingly with folly. Those who escape effort don’t receive ovation. Or I may be mistaken, with the eye-rolling superlatives spined around this supposed “seminal comic.”

    Carmichael’s humor is that of the awkward mixed with the heart whelming, but from being indecisioned, loses both appraisals. The punchline is the chance for change, except if your Carmichael. His inartistic fluff aims to the punchline but delivers no emotion. His start of the joke is as colorless as the end of.

    To those who like tainted disagreements would argue a disarmingly lukewarm humorist doesn’t qualify or nesccitie for worthwhile or eccentric technique. His credibility is in his minimal effort to be himself. To that, I would cite the “school of resentment” et appelez ça un après-midi de longueur.

    Carmichael often condemns, with bad presentation, the hate against same-sex love and people of different appearances. Yet never furthers or refurnishes consensus nor opinion, rather states and manifests the scarcely distinguishable and atypically expects a room of endeared delectation. It would be astounding to be impressed at this resoundingly prototypical, partial production. Comedians who concern themselves with solely injustice often have no craft beyond copied words from their predecessor. They envision problematic, systematic problems but rather than aim a sound solution, solely speak in reputations and repetitions. But don’t confuse the oblivious and obvious, comedians who truly value being liberal-minded are pulsing. Rather, this is to those who speak the talk who don’t actually walk the walk. Carmichael cleans the wound, but puts glue on it. He follows the inefficient rules of thought his self-titled series exhorted: speak of the complication, avoid considering riposte, retort, answers or the solution. It’s a mind of great guesses, but solely in the range of debut. The tragedia is how often he has extorted his defects as benefacts.

    To those who say Carmichael lost his style with experience of lost age, I bring you back to his self-titled TV debut. While it was humorously clear in its dictation, the plot was flamboyantly, extensively, heedfully flat. I brought up a girl I was in the shadow of, but in fact Carmichael mirrors a boy before my graduation. He was mediocre in talent but, like another dear friend of me, could exist in the picture by simply turning the lip. Yet as with all the untalented, this brought a most unenviable vanity and a condescension I had not yet seen in a man. But when taken out of focus, as with all wrathful tigers, his ego was deterred with carefree indifferency. Carmichael reigns that way. He is another of those who would like to live like “common people,” rather than embracing the ordinary. In a fellow hypocrites point of view, he Americanizes his tongue with timid, unrealistic disillusionment. His repartees aren’t invariably farcical, rather routinely aching, detrimental, pernicious and abrasive. The japes on race and sex aren’t incomparably alternative, rather an inebriated daily dozen and opaque.

    VERDICT

    What keeps me clapping is the great expectations his tender soul sets. He may not be a man of impassioned nor expected wit or of intentive, inventive, un-vain character, but he can be quite sedated and of favor. It is somewhat hard to write an un-resisted word of fair vigor to this man, as when it’s read, a puppy is being put to sleep. I avoid the deranged masochists and would prefer not to assault my understanding. I’m not despairing to say Carmichael has his forcibly telling gems, and likewise when I speak of the unlearned, unoriginal, clumsy amusements of character scattered all over his unvivid stamp. His criterion fits into the un-radical rectitude district and pedigree of stand-up, with the tactful discerns often slithering and gliding onto the dreadful and conceited.

    2/5

  • Murderbot: Episodes 1-2: Review

    Murderbot: Episodes 1-2: Review

    Murderbot: Episodes 1-2: Review. By Christopher Patterson.

    Siri, break up with your boyfriend.

    From the first few minutes, I sensed a unexceptionably stale, milk and water production. It’s rather something we have become accustomed to, but regardless, I find needlessly onerous to newer filmmakers: flat lightning, background, effects, costumes, and the la résistance raging against artistic freedom. Simple doesn’t reciprocate bestowed, and I wish our visionaries would gobble the memo. A cheap aesthetic is no aesthetic, it’s unsanitary vandalization of substandard skill. If you’re dish can be best served cold with corporate mediocrity, what does that say of your œuvre.

    I can’t recall much of the vaunted Murderbot series, but science fiction chiefly provides the virus. Many so-called writers drink the Kool-Aid and believe a decent story supplements for painful prose, but this entitlement only reaches old fans, never brand-new, incredulous spectators. If you’re show must look like an Apple production rather than by the creators of “American Pie,” then there is no creator, rather those involved. Never has a title (“Murderbot”) been more equitable. Like publishers who get a pagan, moralizing exultation silencing and re-directing the plebeian artist. And I find little to pleasure myself in seeing corporate vapidness. Coup de grâce, Murderbot.

    Before the stupendous arrows of mighty brio fall, I am no expert nor am I blue-collar. I am rather a common viewer expecting a more-than common experience. And this is where Murderbot miscarries. I distress that my initial sentiments are feasibly, un-essentially odious and may reflect on my choice of character rather than that of the insipid creators, but I’m sticking to my guns. More effort calls for more respect, and if Murderbot can’t possess this infinitesimal caliber, it has a poor and necessitous bed to lie in. Nevertheless, my hesitance is firmer than my unmitigated resolve. I recognize what it is to be stifled by rugged expectations and being overly and inadvertently demanding, and the show hasn’t even finished serialization. Yet, I want to differentiate this cautious crudeness from the greatest indifference, as I am no confused detractor, nonpartisan, or autocratic practitioner. With gaiety, I follow this cardinal principle: “To value praise or stand in awe of blame we must respect the source whence the praise and blame proceed, and I do not respect an inconsistent critic” (Charlotte Brontë). But when I speak of weekly episodes, I fear the “hypocrisies of the thinker” will get mixed up with the “average development of a constant mind.” We often change our views so opprobriously and swiftly, and entrusting the reader to note to themself without needing a strong notice of indication or vindication of that said fact is crucial.

    This is quite far-fetched, but I am compelled to perceive how my opprobrium of Murderbot is eerily interchangeable to my quaint merriment of Jane Austen. Her books, naturally favorites of mine, but as Brontë pointed out, are “a carefully fenced, highly cultivated garden, with neat borders and delicate flowers; but no glance of bright vivid physiognomy, no open country, no fresh air, no blue hill, no bonny beck.” This is not a scratch as, like Dewitt’s The English Understand Wool, a nice little slice of cake hasn’t harmed but a fly. Except when you have too much, then you arrive at a Apple TV production.

    While story-telling in television certainly has become more convoluted, notwithstanding its staggering defects, their sets, on the other hand, appear to think low-priced and impecunious is vastly superior. So you will have sci-fi flicks subscribe to every-other, with no consideration of artistic integrity. Murderbot, from a look above the fence, is another undistinguished piece of fantastical space dross. While viewing the two present episodes, one can’t help but find the ghastly robot designs paradoxical to temps itself. How art thou materialize lesser than “I, Robot”?

    But, for sanctified fanatics of the novels, I stand unresolved. Albeit, there is lots to love, love and I will admit to a thwarting imperfection of prejudice towards outwardly cheap attractions. If I feel like I am walking in on a production that takes the slogan “who you know, not what you know” in its hiring contract, I stand a little less nepotastic. And it’s hard for me to believe Murderbot was made by the most qualified candidates, given how much it feels like a deft, haut monde executive gave their nephew a imposing deal. But I will rest with the jabs and grievances. And God only knows, I might be wrong. In a couple months, while I find this quote inadequate in its context, it could become amusingly factual: “every case the adverse judgement merely reveals the special limitations or eccentricities of the critic, leaving Jane Austen relatively untouched” (A. Walton Litz). Replace Austen with Murderbot and rename ‘critic’ with yours truly.

    To conclude and aspout my abiding word of voluminous venom towards Murderbot, it’s like the unmeritable genre that birthed it and the inferior format it is entering. An acidic baggage of forgetful stomachache. Requires no adequate principals or skill to go in, and intends to merely or ‘nicely’ take your money and leave. It’s superfluous to say it stems from the pukish, puckish, have-your-cake-and-eat-it bag of literature that believes in never galvanizing the reader, but regardless it must be noted and hopefully better noticed. Be the magistrate if it’s worth your time, if you will. It’s too docile to fight for the answer or gusto itself.

    But let’s go on to where Murderbot is able. Nobody in the cast took me out of it, so they did the least required of them. No note-worthy dialogue, and reflects a recurrent issue noticeable in that awfully artful awful book of shambles Martyr! last year. It contained, to fight for its repellant relevance here, no authenticity. Everyone spoke like social media, so it lost the respect of my time but not my time itself. Trying to appeal to a contemporary audience by delivering quotes enjoyable to modern delicacies, rather than what you can imagine, is not merely a turn-off but an indication of the “objective” excellence that creative can bring. If you can’t think of simple things, how do you imagine receiving smaller prizes? I can envision they hired someone to make the negligible dialogue “appropriate” and in turn light-weight, but that’s, in all likelihood, exclusive to the books. I recall the word ‘fluff’ appearing in my mind as I turned those pages.

    VERDICT

    But alas, I delineate back on unreserved singular condemnations and arbitrary inferiorities. Consequently, as there is two episodes only out, my details I’ve reserved and pledged for a later time, hopefully on a more pragmatic occasion where I can be more succinct, benevolent, and premeditated.

    2/5 

  • Lilo & Stitch: The BRWC Review

    Lilo & Stitch: The BRWC Review

    Lilo & Stitch: The BRWC Review. By Joe Muldoon.

    Almost 23 years after Experiment 626 crash-landed on Earth, the little blue alien has found himself back in cinemas, this time in live-action. And despite the protestations of protective fans following a string of underwhelming (if not outright poor) live-action remakes, Disney have managed to remake, remould, and reimagine the magic of Lilo & Stitch.

    Created by the delightfully unhinged “evil genius” Dr. Jumba (Zach Galifianakis) and sentenced to exile by the United Galactic Federation, Experiment 626 escapes his prosecutors via a red police cruiser and crash-lands in Kauaʻi, the northernmost island of Hawai’i. Following a deal with the UGF’s Grand Councilwoman (Hannah Waddingham), Jumba is sent to capture 626 in exchange for his freedom, and is joined by the bumbling but enthusiastic Agent Pleakley (Billy Magnussen), self-declared “Earth Expert”.

    Meanwhile, a human child by the name of Lilo Pelekai (Maia Kealoha, in her breakout role), is under the guardianship of her teenage sister Nani (Sydney Agudong), also a human. But following an unsuccessful visit from their social worker, Mrs Kekoa (Tia Carrere, who voiced Nani in the 2002 original), Nani is faced with the prospect of having Lilo placed into social care and is set with a list of tasks of improvement.

    After hearing of her loneliness and yearning for a friend, the Pelekais’ neighbour and close family friend Tūtū (Amy Hill, who voiced Mrs Hasagawa in the original) takes Lilo to the local animal shelter, and the girl happens upon a familiar blue creature, whom she adopts.

    To complicate matters, soon on 626’s trail is CIA agent Cobra Bubbles (Courtney Vance). Amongst those returning to the Lilo & Stitch world is Chris Sanders, who reprises his role as the beloved Stitch, and who also co-wrote and directed the original.

    Looming over the story’s events are the devastating impacts that overtourism and gentrification have had upon Hawai’ian natives’ lives. Almost all jobs available to Nani are customer service-related, Lilo’s beloved beach is thronged by sunbathing tourists, and the locals find themselves pushed to the island’s outskirts to make space for the tourist-catering spaces closer to the picturesque beaches. But it’s also from this point that the film has been met with controversy, with some arguing that the original’s critiques of colonialism have been dampened.

    The production has been fraught with other controversies, spanning allegations of colourism and whitewashing, as well as criticisms concerning the omitting of Gantu as anantagonist, Pleakley not appearing in drag, and the role of state social services; the baffling decision to have Nani leave Lilo underTūtū and David’s (Kaipo Dudoit) guardianship in order to study marine biology in California has been a particular sticking point, with Hawai’ians pointing out the ease of accessibility to such courses within Hawai’i itself, as well as the muddying of the importance of Ohana, which is also central to the story.

    But in spite of the occasionally clumsy and sanitised messaging putting off some prospective cinemagoers, Lilo & Stitch has predictably become a triumphant success, already surpassing the box office takings of the original. Kids will undoubtedly fall in love with our little blue friend, and those who grew up with the originals will likely find this to be a fulfilling and satisfying reimagining of a childhood classic. Most noteworthy is Maia Kealoha, whose performance as Lilo is astonishing, particularly considering her age: Kealoha was 5 when she first auditioned for the role, and was 7 when filming commenced – watch this space.

    When it was first announced that Lilo & Stitch would be given the seemingly-cursed live-action Disney remake treatment, fans were understandably concerned. And not only because of Disney’s poor track record with their recent live-action jaunts, but also because of potential issues with integrating so many CGI characters into the real world – ideally more Sonic The Hedgehog than Space Jam. Whilst it’s difficult to justify remaking a bonafide classic animation, the fact remains that Lilo & Stitch is an incredibly fun film that has had families pouring into cinemas. Did this need to be made? Probably not – but it’s hard to not enjoy it.

    By Joe Muldoon

  • The Last Rodeo: Review

    The Last Rodeo: Review

    The Last Rodeo: Review. By Jake Peffer.

    Angel Studios is a relatively new studio that has set out to make more wholesome and family-oriented films. They clearly want to set themselves apart from the studios coming out of Hollywood and so far, they have had moderate success. The Last Rodeo is their latest feature film starring Neal McDonough, who seems to be becoming a mainstay for the studio. McDonough also co-writes the movie alongside Derek Presley and director Jon Avnet. Everyone involved clearly has the best intentions when making this movie, but, unfortunately, the execution is truly abysmal.

    Neal McDonough plays Joe Wainwright, a former rodeo star who had to retire after a severe injury. He spends his days working on his farm and trying to maintain a relationship with his daughter Sally (Sarah Jones). Joe learns that his grandson Cody has a brain tumor, the same type of tumor that his wife passed away from. Insurance will only cover so much of the surgery, but Joe assures the hospital that they can pay for it. To get enough money to pay for the surgery, Joe agrees to compete in a high stakes bull riding competition where first place gets a large cash prize. With the help of his old friend Charlie (Mykelti Williamson), Joe will stop at nothing to win and save his grandson.

    This is a straightforward story that is as predictable as can be. The movie plays everything so safe, so it never really feels like there are any stakes. To make matters worse, this is one of the worst scripts for a movie in quite some time. Not only is everything so telegraphed but the dialogue between characters is completely stilted. Every character seems stiff because of the bad dialogue, and nobody feels like an actual person. With Jon Avnet serving as director and co-writer, most of this falls on him as he is not able to get anything worthwhile out of any of the actors involved.

    For a movie that has some talented character actors it is astounding to see them all act as if they have never acted before in their lives. There are moments throughout the movie where it sounds like the actors are reading off cue cards or holding a script in their hands and they are poorly reading through it. Neal McDonough and Mykelti Williamson show flashes of their acting abilities at times, but it never fully comes through. Christopher McDonald is mostly wasted as the organizer of the bull riding competition. Sarah Jones has a few decent moments but ultimately, she is let down by the director and script as well.

    It is outrageous that a small movie like this has so many technical issues throughout. There is some bad ADR in several scenes. So many moments where a character is clearly mouthing one thing, but they are saying something completely different. Some scenes have terrible looking green screen, including a truly horrid shot of country singer Leeanne Womack singing the National Anthem. The only scenes that look halfway decent are the bull riding scenes

    The Last Rodeo is a basic story that has good intentions but ultimately fails in almost every aspect. Bad direction and a poor script led to less than stellar performances from everyone involved. Add several technical issues throughout and this is just one big misfire.

    Grade: D+

  • Gaku: One Last Round – Short Film Review

    Gaku: One Last Round – Short Film Review

    Gaku: One Last Round – Short Film Review. By Joe Muldoon.

    2020 was a year of great turmoil for the entire world, with all of us contending with a pandemic and its knock-on effects. And it was an especially terrible year for veteran boxer Gaku Takahashi, who fell victim to a violent racist hate crime on an LA freeway.

    Years later, we’re given a brief glimpse into Gaku’s life now, both his physical condition and his unsuccessful attempts to get justice for his attack.

    Director Taige Shi first came across the boxer’s story when training at a boxing gym and noticing a GoFundMe poster. And upon making contact with Gaku, Shi decided to create this short, which recently premiered at the LA Asian Pacific Film Festival.

    Gaku: One Last Round is as infuriating as it is saddening, and is as much a scathing condemnation of the lacklustre American justice system as it is a peek into Gaku’s current life.

    And it’s also a testament to the strength and resilience of one man, even in the face of a deeply unjust system. Despite being utterly failed by the justice system as many fellow immigrants are, he still manages to keep his desire to fight again. Though he laments, “there’s probably no time left for me”, Gaku remains a boxer at heart.

    Alas, with him still suffering from chronic pain since the attack and having returned to Japan as a result of athletic visa issues and the lack of effective legal assistance, it begs a bleak question: precisely what must immigrants do to get justice?

    By Joe Muldoon