Hilda- Season 2

 

9/10

This show on Netflix continues the adventures of Hilda (voiced by Bella Ramsey), who lives in the city of Trolberg and regularly encounters various creatures, often from Scandinavian folklore. It took two years for the second season to come out, but I'm glad to say the wait was worth it.

Hilda continues to be great. It is one of the most unique kids' shows out right now. It has this sort of old school children's fantasy world feel to it and, for a show that's shock full of weird beings and magic, a surprisingly relaxed feel to it. (I confess that some kids may not have the attention span for this). The writers get more ambitious creatively. Though this show is mostly about the adventure and comedy, I was impressed that this season actually had a couple of really emotional sad moments.

I continue to be impressed by the animation, which has this pseudo-hand drawn comic book style to it. However, I still can't get over the muted color scheme.

Highly recommended to adults or kids. 

Next- Season 1

7/10

Next is about tech billionaire Paul LeBlanc (Mad Men's John Slattery) and FBI agent Shea Salazar (Fernanda Andrade) trying to stop the dangerous sentient AI program neXt. 

I remember seeing the first trailer for this in approximately the summer of 2019. However, there was no word of it come Fall schedule, nor Winter. The fact that it ended up coming out this fall as a schedule filler due to COVID makes me believe that Fox originally intended to dump this in the summer. Considering, that this was cancelled after three episodes, it makes me see why the powers-that-be weren't confident in this. I admit that this is no great work, but it was decent and kept my interest till the end. 

I think that the biggest issue with the show is that it doesn't bring anything new to the table. The whole AI goes rogue story has been done to death. Plus, neXt is only supplied with some really basic, unsatisfying answers for why it wants to wipe out humanity. But, it is a competently made show, and to be fair, some of the stuff neXt does can be fairly creative.

The cast is good. Slattery is the best part. Yeah, he's playing a cookie-cutter egotistical, anti-social genius, but he gives it his all. 

If you like these kind of shows, then yeah, I would recommend this. Like I said, it's just alright, but there's nothing wrong with that if you want to spend some time. (Though this got cancelled, the final episode doesn't end on a cliffhanger, so you won't feel cheated out of your time.)

Cobra Kai- Season 3

 

9/10

Season 3 has the cast all trying to pick up their lives after the momentous events of the last season's finale. I'm happy to say that the show remains great. 

You get the same effective mix of karate, comedy, and pulpy character drama. The characters' storylines are more segmented, which I felt helped. There are more events going, plus the show avoids focusing too hard on and dragging out plot points. The over-the-top teenage drama works a lot better here than last season because it's use feels more economical. Though, I admit that not every part has a chance to breathe. (Budding psychotic karate girl Tory Nichols (Peyton List) feels particularly underused). 

Johnny Lawrence (played by William Zabka) remains the core of the story and its main draw. However, I felt Daniel LaRusso, who's always been the secondary protagonist, was given a lot better material this season, including what is his best and most emotional scene in the show. What helps this season is that it's slowed down Johnny and Daniel's rivalry, which admittedly was the original drive of the show, but you can only extend reasons for them disliking each other for so long. This gives the guys more time for their own stories and actual growth.

This season, evil karate sensei John Kreese (Martin Kove) is written better and bear in mind that I rather liked him last season.  He takes center stage, having gotten what he wants and no longer having to be subtle, and he is a wonder to watch. The man is just fascinatingly horrible and manipulative, especially how he's obsessed over something as small picture as teaching teenagers karate. Yet, this season manages to make you understand where he's coming from and how someone so twisted is the hero in his own story. This is basically Kreese Begins as we learn about his time in Vietnam, and the backstory is effective. Kove, WHO IS IN HIS 70'S!, still does a great job of being intimidating.

Stingray, the man-child, one adult student in Cobra Kai, and the biggest mistake of season 2, is gratefully cut. The guy was just too comical as compared to everyone else and his presence always felt forced. Unfortunately, Aisha (Nichole Brown) is cut this season because the writers were having trouble fitting her in. This is too bad since she was one of the more prominent Cobra Kai members. On the plus side, this season does manage to bring back some recurring characters they didn't have time for last season. 

If there is any major issue, it is the same one that has popped up before, but is far, FAR more prevalent here: the fact that no one ever calls the cops for very obvious crimes. I mean the show has always suspended belief, but belief is in a coma because it got hit over the head one too many times. (The show does do a good job of showing actual and logical consequences for the fallout of last season.)

Overall, another great season. I'd ranked it below season 1 and above season 2.

Death to 2020

 

8/10

Death to 2020 is a Netflix mockumentary about the less-than-stellar events of the year 2020. It includes interviews with a host of fictional characters. I found this to be pretty amusing.

We've had a bad year, and it's nice to make light of all the awful trying stuff that has happened.  The jokes in this work pretty well, and the show has fun with the documentary formula. 

Great group of characters and cast. This even got Samuel L. Jackson and Hugh Grant. By far the best performances in this are Grant as a historian and Palm Springs' Cristina Milioti. Grant has really been given it his all these past few years to show he's a versatile performer and not just "the romantic movies" guy, and he does a great job of parodying the British authority on a subject. I won't spoil Milioti, as her character isn't defined in the trailer, but she's great and has the best line delivery in the film.

Understand that this involves American and British talents/creatives, so the emphasis is mostly on those respective countries. The film is only an hour and fifty minutes, meaning the year's events are gone through pretty quickly. I wished there was more time to go more in depth and over more subjects.  

If you're conservative, you might not like the fact that the jokes are more from a liberal bent, but the films does poke some fun at the Left as well.

Overall, I recommend this. It's a fun time-waster.

The Midnight Sky

7/10

The Midnight Sky, based on the novel Good Morning, Midnight by Lily Brooks-Dalton, takes place on a post-apocalyptic Earth. Augustine (played by George Clooney who also directs), a dying scientist in the Arctic tries to contact others while a spacecraft  on a scouting mission for potentially habitable new worlds is returning without any of the crew knowing what is going on. This was decent.

Midnight Sky is half survival film (both in Arctic conditions and outer space) and character piece.  The best word to sum this all up is: interesting. I'm glad I saw it. It's definitely something different (both optimistic and pessimistic). Plus, there is one thing they've done with space that I don't think I've seen anyone do before that really sticks out. However, the dialogue could've been stronger. This is one of those films that felt it could've been polished a little more.  

Clooney does a decent job of directing. I particularly applaud how he handled the final scene. However, every once in a while there is a decision that took me out of the film.

A good sum of money went into this production, but not a huge amount. The computer graphics for the spaceship don't feel real enough. However, it is a really distinctive design, both inside inside and out. I also think the scenes out in the Arctic look really good and desolate in a strangely beautiful way. 

The cast is good. I didn't think David Oyelow got enough to do and say as the ship's captain, but he has this wordless scene where he absolutely kills. Also, I've got to say: Clooney really rocks an old man beard.

Overall, I recommend this. It's the sort of movie you may want to watch if you want to go with something philosophical.

Doctor Who: Revolution of the Daleks (Special)

8/10

This New Years special has the Doctor (played by Jodie Whittaker) stuck in space prison. Meanwhile, people on Earth are trying to control Dalek technology with naturally dark results. This was a fun episode.  

Yeah, this is an average Dalek story, and yeah, they are overexposed, but I felt it was well executed enough with a strong ending. It had more of an older seasons DW feel, combining humor, adventure, and a little horror. 

There was a lot going on in this, I mean it in a good way; kept things varied. The longer running time allowed more time for the cast members, including the Doctor, to have emotional moments, some of the best of the 13th Doctor's run. (Though Graham (Bradley Walsh), my favorite of the gang, doesn't get quite as much screentime as the others. In fairness, he got a lot of exposure these last two seasons.) 

Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) is back. It's nice to see him again, and Barrowman's giving it his all, but I also felt writer and current showrunner Chris Chibnall leaned a little too hard on the humor with him. He felt slightly like a caricature. Corrupt businessman Jack Robinson (Law & Order's Chris Noth) from Arachnids in the UK is back. Though I'm still not that fond of him, he is definitely better written here.

The Daleks get a sleeker redesign here, and I'm not hating it. I prefer the rounder ones, but these aren't too shabby. 

There are a couple issues here. I felt the episode got a little nihilistic with the deaths. Yeah, there has always been death in Doctor Who, but there's a difference between death existing and being knocked over the head with it. (Also, there's one death that felt like a cheap tug at the emotions.)

Also, Chibnall never really made clear why the Doctor was in prison. That part really felt like a waste. 

Overall, I recommend this. Yeah, it's a formula episode, but there is a reason the formula works.

We can be Heroes

 

8/10

We can be Heroes is the newest kids film from Robert Rodriguez and a spin-off to his 2005 entry The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl 3-D. (One of the main characters is SB and LG's daughter Guppy (played by Vivien Lyra Blair)). In it, the world's biggest superheroes are captured by aliens and their children, most of which have powers of their own, go to rescue them. I felt this was good for what it is.

Rodriguez is known for his very specific style of kids film. He's doing these specifically for children (I hear he's gotten ideas and input from his own kids) with no worries about "real world rules" or adding stuff for adults. They're mostly just goofy fun. Sometimes I think these movies work, like Spy Kids and SK 4-D, and sometimes the plots are so thin that they don't, like SK 2 & 3-D. I'm happy to say that this is one that works. It's got a tight and clear and story that knows where it is going and what it is trying to say. In fact, I think it's much better than Sharkboy and Lava Girl, which threw too many things at the fan.

The kid heroes work better than the SB & LG characters as well. They all have clear personalities and fun powers. (My favorite was the "big diva musical performance" lover A Cappella (Lotus Blossom)). Though there are eleven of them, their screentime and characterization is balanced surprisingly well. I mean, there's no deep character development; this isn't one of those type of films. The kid actors all did a good job. Blair, the youngest, does feel like she's reading lines from a cue card but she's pretty good with the nonverbal stuff. 

I meant it when I said this was a spin-off and not a sequel to SB & LG. Sharkboy (JJ Dashnaw replacing Taylor Lautner) and Lavagirl (Taylor Dooley) aren't in this very much as are the rest of the parents. (Yeah, I don't know why they don't rename themselves Sharkman and Lavawoman. I mean they're still in their twenties but sooner or later the names won't match the appearances). The characters aren't given much room to breathe, but all the actors are having fun. There are a couple of refreshingly surprising known names here that I won't spoil if you don't know yet. 

Overall, this isn't high art, but it serves its purpose: entertaining kids. Both my nephews really liked this and watched it more than once. If you generally like Rodriguez's kids films or like some but not all of them then this is worth taking a chance. If you straight up get nothing from these than, yeah there's nothing to change your mind here. The director's staying the course.