That American Life with Guy Ralass
That American Life with Guy Ralass
Finished it up. The Christmas Pageant finale was mad corny, but it worked for me.
I think something that really hurts the series is that Laura Prepon and Jason Biggs just aren't very good actors. Biggs is irritating even when he's supposed to be being charming, and Prepon delivers all her lines in the same dull monotone. Makes it hard to understand why Piper would choose either of them.
I think those criticisms are fair. I really want to like Prepon. I liked her on That 70s Show. But I just don't believe her here.
Coming to America (Landis, 1988) **
The Beach Bum (Korine, 2019) *1/2
Us (Peele, 2019) ***1/2
Fugue (Smoczynska, 2018) ***1/2
Prisoners (Villeneuve, 2013) ***1/2
Shadow (Zhang, 2018) ***
Oslo, August 31st (J. Trier, 2011) ****
Climax (Noé, 2018) **1/2
Fighting With My Family (Merchant, 2019) **
Upstream Color (Carruth, 2013) ***
I agree. I thought there was an almost inverse correlation with how famous a cast member was and how good they were on this show. I didn't mind Biggs that much, but I think the part probably would have felt more weighty with a different actor. Prepon's line readings were just consistently unconvincing.
letterboxd.
A Star is Born (2018) **1/2
Unforgiven (1992) ***1/2
The Sisters Brothers (2018) **
Crazy Rich Asians (2018) ***
The Informant! (2009) ***1/2
BlacKkKlansman (2018) ***1/2
Sorry to Bother You (2018) **1/2
Eighth Grade (2018) ***
Mission Impossible: Fallout (2018) ***
Ant-Man and The Wasp (2018) **1/2
Well, expectations for the second season just dropped. Doesn't make any sense for Prepon to leave the show.
Transferred to maximum security for some reason. Gone from show. Show improves.Quoting slqrick (view post)
This took me how many months to finally get to the end? Watched the first episode when it debuted and the last episode like last week. There's zero narrative drive in this thing. I have the exact same problem with it as I did with Weeds, in that the tone is haphazard because it tries to do subtle, dark comedy with very, very, very broad three-camera characters.
Absolutely love the acting in almost all the supporting characters, though. Voyager Captain is consistently fun.
Movie Theater DiaryQuoting Donald Glover
I agree. Still haven't finished it after binging on the first 4 or so episodes.Quoting number8 (view post)
Binged this while I was sick and although I don't think it is without flaws, I was definitely hooked. The slow-burn characterizations really paid off over time, humanizing most of the supporting cast (and almost demonizing Chapman, who by the end feels like the least stable woman in the prison.)
I found it consistently funny and inconsistently heart-breaking.
...and the milk's in me.
Finally got around to this myself. Very flawed but wonderful little show. Pretty fantastic on the whole. As others have mentioned, I'm impressed they managed to juggle so many distinct personalities while still keeping them all interesting (except Alex, but I think that's an actress problem). Though that brings me to my first gripe: the flashbacks. It worked the first couple times, but it became increasingly obvious that they were going to portray every single character as a "criminal with a heart of gold", fundamentally good but just made a stupid mistake. I like this rogue's gallery of women well enough. I don't need the show to force-feed me sympathy for them.
And I'm a little worried about the second season based on the trajectory of the second half of season one. The show was strongest when it was focusing on the fairly mundane aspects of prison life (Piper being denied food, Gloria having her hormones taken away, the WAC campaign/selection). They need to jettison the ludicrous soap opera story lines (inmate/guard forbidden love, pregnancy and rape frame-up...I mean, come on).
Enjoyed the hell out of it. Just not quite living up to its full potential.
What do you think the show isn't doing that it should be doing?Quoting amberlita (view post)
Not play an obnoxious piano riff during inmate/guard romances.Quoting Irish (view post)
The Princess and the Pilot - B-
Playtime (rewatch) - A
The Hobbit - C-
The Comedy - D+
Kings of the Road - C+
The Odd Couple - B
Red Rock West - C-
The Hunger Games - D-
Prometheus - C
Tangled - C+
Finally getting around to this. Five episodes in and I'm really liking it. The non-linear, dual-focus construction of the episodes works perfectly. It keeps the episodes from feeling repetitive while simultaneously giving each character the depth and nuance that is missing from most shows. It's also a lot funnier than I thought it would be. Only flaw thus far is that I think it doesn't do enough to bring the misery of a prison stay into focus. Perhaps that's addressed in later episodes.
My biggest problem with the series and why I stopped watching. Everyone is way too nice in prison.Quoting Kurosawa Fan (view post)
The consequences and the misery is there if you stick with it. Plus, it's based on a true story (Piper's life; the real Piper is exec. producer) so while I'm sure it's dramatized, hard to not give it the benefit of the doubt. Really liked the first season, and am excited for the second.Quoting Dukefrukem (view post)
Yeah, I still don't get this. It's a low security women's prison, not Oz. Having everyone be hyper aggressive would make no sense.Quoting Dukefrukem (view post)