Screen Time

Let's face facts here, people. I have too much screen time. If my ass isn't plunked down in front of this laptop, it's parked on the couch as I stare at the TV in search of my next great watch. Or not so great. Here's a sampling of my latest views.

Lizzie Borden is the subject of the latest MONSTER series on Netflix and it's a typical Ryan Murphy production meaning overbaked, overacted and runs out of steam before the end. This go-around is fairly restrained compared to last year's Ed Gein freak show. As Lizzie, Ella Beatty (the spawn of Warren Beatty and Annette Bening) is the mellowest one in the bunch (comparatively) and has to do the heavy lifting to the end which she does quite well, fighting the flatness of the wrap-up. However, Rebecca Hall as her step-mother is an absolutely brilliant villainess with the best lines in the show. Too bad she gets chopped up so early because I missed her, but, hey, it's a true story and she had to go, right? Speaking of which, if you're looking for any sort of historical accuracy here (or any other dramatization for that matter), then you're a blithering idiot of the highest order. Just ax anyone. On Netflix

More TV vampire fun than you can shake a stake at. I went ga-ga and goo-goo over THE VAMPIRE LESTAT, my favorite show of the summer. After INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE, I shouldn't have been so surprised, but it did with each episode. Superb cast (where has Jennifer Ehle been my entire life?) and stupendous execution of the material, this show had it all for me and validates my belief that vampiric lore as a genre continues to endure, much like the subjects themselves. It makes me all woozy just thinking about it. On AMC Plus.

If you haven't seen SPIDER-NOIR, the first season is pretty well-contained on its own which is a good thing since Amazon just gave it the boot. But Nicolas Cage is well worth your time in the title role as a Spiderman knock-ff set in a parallel universe in the 1930s. At first I though he might be too old for the part, but a few episodes in, he goes full blown Cage and the years drop off of him reminding us all what a lovable maniac he still is. Oh and Brendan Gleeson as well, two great tastes that taste great together. You know what I mean. On Prime Video.

One of my favorite sub-genres involves shitty people doing shitty things to one another, hence my love for SUCCESSION on HBO Max, four seasons of pitch perfect perniciousness. Since its last episode, several pretenders to that vicious throne have failed to make the grade until AMC's THE AUDACITY came out of nowhere to satisfy my bloodlust for the crashing and burning of the rich and infamous, this time taking on the elite tech scumbags. Small wonder that this show works since it was created by Jonathan Glatzer, a SUCCESSION writer/producer. As much as I enjoy the carnage, I can't help but think the future is in these pitiful, pityless fuckers hands. On AMC Plus

Other notable shows:
LANTERNS On HBO Max
DARK WINDS On AMC + and Netflix (though this season was the weakest of the four thus far)
SHRINKING On Apple TV
MARGO'S GOT MONEY TROUBLES On Apple TV
BAD MONKEY On Apple TV (sensing a trend here?)
MR. SCORSESE (take a wild guess)


Time to see what else is on.

Snap Judgments

Finished up a bunch of series in the last six months, rocking 'em old school one episode a week because, you know, life and such. I find bingeing has ruined the viewing experience and the tide is turning in my favor. Here are 9 series, quick takes all to fit in this format because I care. A lot. Maybe too much.

Best of the lot has to be Hulu's remake Shogun, far exceeding my expectations above and beyond, a really magnificent, compelling epic. This time around, they managed to do it right. This is what major scale series and productions should be modeled upon. That it was so popular world-wide is major step in the right direction should they attempt something along these lines again. Hopefully, it's not a fluke. Showering it with Emmys is frosting on a beautiful cake.

Ripley on Netflix has to be one of most gorgeously shot shows 
on television probably ever and it's all in glorious black and white. Hah! Andrew Scott makes the lead character so creepily bland that's damn near hypnotic. This show is a slow burn and turned my stomach into knots, which is a good thing for a thriller.

Then there's 3 Body Problem, a show I expected to be similar to the sensational German series Dark from a few years ago. It missed that mark by a country mile, though it had its moments, enough to keep my interest to the end. However, glad to see Rosalind Chao get an overdue decent role after all this time.

Endings are notoriously difficult to pull off, "sticking the landing" as I like to say. (Who said it first? Was it Amelia Earhart?) If you can't manage the finale, it can sometimes negate what came before. Case in point: The Veil on Hulu. Five episodes of really taut story-telling leading up to a potentially smashing finale and...it goes right off the rails and limps off into the sunset. Fortunately, Elisabeth Moss saves the day once again, making this the best of this bunch. She's a goddamn jewel.

Under the Bridge, also on Hulu, had a decent wrap-up which actually rescued it from obscurity since it was two episodes too long, junked up with unnecessary sub-plots that proved there wasn't enough faith in the source material.

The worst show of the year thus far, Netfix's Eric could barely get out of the first episode without tripping over itself, particularly painful for me since I am a Cumberbitch and he was the only reason I stayed with it. He owes me one since what followed is a trash heap that I had hoped the last episode would at least give it some kind of redemption. Instead, it had to be the worst hour of television imaginable. I'm still holding my nose from this one.

Amazon Prime's Fallout is a better than your average bear post-apocalyptic show with enough twists to make it appear fresh when it's just another notch on the genre. But anything with Walton Goggins is worth your time and mine.

Also on Prime is Good Omens 2, a swell adaptation of a Terry Pratchett/ Neil Gaiman collaboration
about the relationship between an angel (Michael Sheen) and a demon (David Tennant). And Jon Hamm is a hoot as an amnesiac Gabriel.

The second season of AMC's Interview with the Vampire elevates it to a new level, setting the bulk of the story in a vampire theater. The role of Claudia, the young girl turned vamp who must spend eternity in the body of a child with adult sensibilities, was re-cast this season and the actress who portrays her, Delainey Hayles, is superb-fierce, compelling and ultimately heart-breaking.

As of this writing , I haven't finished the new season of The Bear, Dead Ringers, Mr. and Mrs. Smith or The Lazarus project. I'll get to 'em, okay? What's the rush? Damn, you're pushy. I've got better things to do with my time besides watching TV like blog about watching TV...

Yikes. I'm a sad soul. What's it like outside these days?