TV Episode Reviews – NZ Film Freak

Big Little Lies (TV series)

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Director: Jean-Marc Vallée (He directed Wild)
Writer: David E. Kelley (Based on novel by Liane Moriarty)
Released: February 2017
Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Shailene Woodley, Alexander Skarsgård, Adam Scott, Zoë Kravitz, James Tupper, Jeffrey Nordling and Laura Dern
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I was expecting ‘Desperate Housewives‘, chick-flick kind of show on steroids… But Big Little Lies was so much darker than that.

It begins with a murder. We don’t know who died, and we don’t know who did it.

Big Little Lies follows the backstory leading up to the murder, and all the secrets and shocking circumstances leads you to believe that everyone is a suspect, and everyone is a victim.

It’s sort of like reality tv series The Real Housewives but as a thriller. It’s shocking, scary, haunting and mysterious, featuring beautiful (and seemingly flawless) characters against the fashionable backdrop of Monterey, California.

It is all about the characters:

Reese Witherspoon is the stand-out performance for me; she’s fascinating to watch. Her character, Madeline, is also my favourite. Actually, her character reminds me of Tamra from The Real Housewives of Orange County – both in terms of looks and storyline. Overall, Madeline will make you laugh, and you’d want her to be your best friend. big little lies 2

Laura Dern takes a step away from her sweat-pant-wearing motherly roles, and into the role of a posh and wealthy, but pushy ‘bulldog’, CEO called Renata. She reminds me of Vicki in The Real Housewives of Orange County.
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Nicole Kidman’s role as Celeste is the scariest and most difficult storyline to watch. In fact, I wanted to turn the show off a couple of times because of the horrific scenes depicting her abusive husband. Nevertheless, she does well despite her American accent slipping a bit at times – as it always does. There’s an online debate regarding whether her hair is a wig or not… What do you reckon?
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To bring it all down to earth, Shailene Woodley plays the role of Jane. Jane is a little bit in awe of the glamorous people, and cherishes the kindness of Madeline while she makes a new start here in California. She isn’t as wealthy or as fancy, but does have one of the most anxiety-driven storylines.
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Then, there’s the husbands, who go to show not all the drama comes from the women!

My favourite thing about Big Little Lies, however, is the soundtrack. Oh my goodness. I could listen to the soundtrack on repeat! Brilliant.

Overall, this was a much darker thriller than I expected, but for the sake of watching Reese Witherspoon’s character again, I will certainly watch series two!

Jodie’s rating: 7/10

According to Nicole’s Instagram, series two is being filmed and Meryl Streep is in it! Aaaaaahh!

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Rebirth (web series)

Rebirth web series review

Director: Kristopher Stoltz
Writer: Kristopher Stoltz
Production company: Non-Human Films
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Rebirth is a horror web series that follows a group of survivors who are being hunted by a faceless enemy.

The editing is snappy and the lighting is well done in the dimness of the shots. Almost in the style of The Blair Witch Project – or any of the other ‘home movie’ style paranormal horrors of late – the shaky camera work and point of view shots work well in the series.

The creepy sound effects were what really got me on edge, though. The screechy sounds actually made me jump in the first episode.

The actual storyline, however, is a tad ambiguous. Perhaps a shot to set the scene, or a few words before the episode commences would help put the story and characters into perspective.

The voiceover, although helpful, does sound like the beginning of a comedy/drama.. “In a world…”, which doesn’t completely keep you in the zone of a horror.

Despite these little things I would tweek, Rebirth is a short and snappy creepy horror, with great sound effects and editing. The feel of this web series reminds me of Slenderman, a point of view computer game where the player has to avoid a faceless creeper in the woods.

Check it out on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and their site www.nonhumanfilms.com

Real Housewives of Beverly Hills – Through the Eyes of a Humble Kiwi

Having finished the vacuuming, dishes and tidying, I found myself sitting in a spotless house – with my one-month-old bachelors degree certificate mocking me on the wall – watching The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills - can't smile Have. You. Seen. This!

It’s not even a guilty pleasure for me. I marvel at the fact that these people – also rattling around spotless ~~houses~~ mansions – actually exist. It’s like a social study! This is too easy to mock, so I won’t go too mad.

My favourite parts are when they cry. Not because I’m heartless, but because their faces don’t move. They don’t! They are botoxed and nipped and tucked to the point of having frozen features. I actually came across this montage of them trying to cry to illustrate my point:

Cassandra and Rose in Doctor Who — They remind me of Cassandra: A Doctor Who villain who was nothing but face and skin stretched on a frame after 708 plastic surgery operations.

Secondly, I’m constantly frustrated when they try to say words that begin with the letter ‘w’. Because their lips can’t touch. They’re too taut.

I sometimes wonder what would happen if I rocked up to Beverly Hills in my un-lifted face, and un-branded conservative clothes. Would I get double takes? Or strapped down to a surgical bed to be turned into a Beverly Frankenstein?

Their conversations make me laugh though. I wonder how much of a role the producers have in pushing them to react and talk in certain ways, because they get upset over the most absurd things…

Hair flick in Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Such as when Joyce moved a bit of hair out of Lisa’s face, and Lisa shook her head and said ‘I don’t care, don’t worry about it’. Joyce was VERY offended and confronted her about it later, even reinacting it:

Are they aware of the things going on in the world that would benefit from the amount of attention they give to a strand of hair? I couldn’t survive there.

I’m also fascinated by the editing. If you’re edit-savvy, you’ll recognise the amount of unrelated reaction shots that are edited together. I’ve read papers talking about the manipulation involved in editing reality tv casts into stereotypes.

Real Housewives of Beverly Hills - I don't know what that means. Nevertheless, you have to acknowledge the skill involved. It’s an art. Combined with the music and sound effects, the edits are comedic regardless of who’s appearing in them. I don’t think editors get enough recognition.

I don’t want to treat these women as plastic people to point at… But are they aware of how they’re being portrayed? Maybe the amount of money I presume they get from the show helps them justify it.

It’s worth a watch. For educational purposes.

Jodie.

The American Garage (web series)

The American Garage (online series) The American Garage is an online DIY show about woodwork and restoration. Some of their projects include restoring planes and building boats, as well as more affordable projects that are “at grass roots”.

They are currently looking for $26,200USD to continue their project, and are currently at $110. Episodes have already been produced and can be found on YouTube.

My favourite part is their motto and the reason behind their plea for funding: they want to relieve our reliance on conglomerates for products that could be built or modified at home.

They want people to stop being consumers and return to being producers!

The American Garage (online series) — Screenshot from The American Garage

For them to get funded, the quality of their filming needs to be improved, but this is an area the makers say they’ll work on.

The audio is shallow and distant – perhaps from using an in-camera microphone – and the quality of the footage looks like it was recorded on a 90s video camera.

Apart from that, I can see many people will find the projects interesting, and I could see viewers would be inspired to make a change to their consumerism.

If you’re interested in supporting this plea on Kickstarter, you can find it here.
Check out their website to find out more: www.theamericangarage.net

Jodie.

Thunderbirds Are Go! – 2015 Remake

Thunderbirds are go Have you heard?

The iconic Thunderbirds show filmed in the 60s is being revamped using a mixture of live action and CGI.

Thunderbirds Are Go! is being created with help from New Zealand’s own Weta Workshop and Pukeko Studios – no more puppets here!

Oddly, almost all of the released cast members have worked on the 50-year-old Doctor Who series. It includes actors such as David Graham, Angel Coulby and Thomas Brodie-Sangster (the list goes on). Both of the composers worked on Doctor Who as well.

(Rosamund Pike (Made In Dagenham, The World’s End) seems like the perfect choice to voice Lady Penelope.)

The release date is Spring 2015… New Zealand’s Spring or UK’s Spring? Who knows. Nothing is being given away in haste.

This is the only teaser we have for the moment! EXCITEMENT!

Jodie.

The One Minute Fly Show (web series)

Uploaded ToThe One Minute Fly Show - Web Series You know what? This animation looks like it could be a really great series.

The One Minute Fly is based on the 2008 One Minute Fly animation. It’s about a fly – with 60 seconds worth of life – and his attempt to accomplish everything he wants before he dies.

If you haven’t seen the original, it’s worth a watch! It’s pretty funny. And weirdly humbling.

The One Minute Fly Show - Web Series The creator, Michael Reichert, is crowd-funding via Indie Go Go here. They are hoping to raise 32,615 Euros (approx. $40,500 USD) by December 22nd, 2014 to produce six episodes over the course of a year. They have raised almost 10,000 Euros so far.

Each of the six episodes will cover the short life of a different character.
The animations will be 2-3minutes long and free to view on their YouTube site.

I’m really keen to watch this! It represents everyone’s life struggle to ‘live it to the fullest’… Whatever that really means… And the race against the clock.

I think this is worth giving generously to. Animation is a fascinating art form, and I think they’ll do it well.

Jodie.

The Louise Log (web series)

I watched Episode 2, Series 3:

After reading a bit about the background, I found the short-and-sweet episodes to be easily digestible.

It is a popular underground web-series about a New York woman surrounded by ‘crackpot relatives’.

The episode I watched was quirky and weird, but almost to the point of being cringe-worthy. The characters were theatrical and outrageous – certainly made for the stage.

It is, however, created by several accomplished writers, directors and actors, particularly with Sundance Film Competitions on their CV.

Although this webcom is not my cup of tea, I can appreciate the amount of work that must go into these weekly episodes. What dedication to make it to their third season of the show, raising over $20,000 to fund it! Plus, the bravery and perfectionism they have to change the actor playing the main character three times during the series.

A very specific kind of humour which I may be missing because of my lack of American culture. But worth a look!

Jodie.

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Zhon: The Alien Interviews – “Here’s Zhonny!”

Directors: Alan Williams and Tyrel Good
Writers: Clif Campbell and Marty Ketola
Released: 2012
Website: www.whoiszhon.com
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Zhon: The Alien Interviews is a sci-fi comedy/drama web-series made in Southern Arizona by a group who self-funded the project.

The series is of a man, known as Zhon Jacob Jingle Heimer Schmidt, who claims to be an extra-terrestrial and has wandered Earth for thousands of years. He tells his story during an interview by the Secret Service.

I have watched the first episode, “Here’s Zhonny!” and I am quite keen to see more!

This genre is right up my alley, since I am into the comedic and dramatic Doctor Who (David Tennant) series. Tapping into an original and creative tangent of the classic sci-fi genre with very eccentric characters! Zhon: The Alien Interviews is certainly one out of the box!

It is an off-beat journey with rather quirky characters. The script is well written with dialogue that is authentic. The use of silence is very well executed! Particularly in the first scene where the awkward silences make you laugh just because of the tension. In fact, the entire opening scene is probably my favourite. The Security Guard’s (Steve McKee) expressions were hilarious!

A lot of thought has clearly gone into the making of the web-series. The editing is well paced with a clear format typical of a television series. Although, I think the lighting and some of the audio could be evened out and given more attention to ensure a smoother transition between scenes.

Despite some of the acting being a little forced at times, the actors are well established in their roles. Their use of humour is fantastic! The funny lines of dialogue are fluently delivered – with some catchy lines!

“My name is Agent Killjoy”
“Your mother named you ‘Agent’!? Man! Talk about planning out a kid’s future!”

The main character, Zhon, is played by Robert Linden. The confidence of the character who has clearly experienced life in many places and eras shines through to create a believable and well-rounded protagonist.

The predominant member of the US Secret Service is David Killjoy, who is played by Eric Schumacher, who stands out for me. I can totally see some Matrix ‘Mr. Smith’ going on! Which seems rather appropriate. His facials and calm deliveries are awesome. He’s probably my favourite character because of his awkwardness, seriousness and desperate-looking professionalism.

I think the best decision this team of filmmakers made was staying away from the stereotypes of aliens, and keeping it upbeat.

When making projects on a budget, I’ve seen some genres become drastically unbelievable. However, this strong and entertaining web-series has certainly over-come that, and is sure to become popular for anybody who loves sci-fi, or has a passion for inspiring independent work.

After watching an episode and reading about what an epic project this web-series was for the cast and crew, you can totally appreciate what a grand challenge this was. The final product is exceptionally well produced, and is something everybody involved should be very proud of completing. Dedication much!

Zhon: The Alien Interviews is a fun and exciting web-series with a very interesting storyline. The idea of an alien being interviewed about his life, with flash backs to illustrate, is an effective idea. There’s nothing quite as intriguing as a character telling their story!

Expect to become a Zhonster!

Jodie’s rating: 8/10

Watch “Here’s Zhonny!” below:

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Family Guy (And Other Controversial Cartoons)

We covered “adult” or R Rated cartoons briefly in my Media Studies class last year, but it has been brought to my attention once again.

I was watching the seventh season of Family Guy – thanks to my brother’s loyal collection of the TV series – and after watching a good few hours worth of episodes, I reached the final disc: “the making of the 100th episode” where Seth MacFarlane (creator of Family Guy) interviews people who have recently watched an episode of Family Guy for the first time and hated it.

Of course, they didn’t know that the person who they were complaining to was the creator, and divulged they were appalled that a cartoon could be so offensive to almost every community.

One of the questions asked by MacFarlane was “would you let your kids watch Family Guy?” and everybody who was asked said absolutely not.

But that got me thinking. Despite being a TV series based on fictitious characters, which are not played by ‘real’ actors in the flesh, it is still a very violent and graphic series. So, of course you wouldn’t let somebody, say, under 15 or 16 years old watch it. It’s not like it’s actually aimed at that age group…

A cartoon of this rating is no better than a gory horror, yet parents appear to be more outraged that a cartoon such as Family Guy, South Park or American Dad! can be aired rather than something like… Scream (which was on TV not long ago).

Comedy is typically about somebody taking the mickey out of a minority group, something that’s different or a stereotype. Family Guy picks on all of the above and more. I can understand if something may appear offensive but I’m wondering if we’re just being too “PC” and thin-skinned about most things… Of course I could say what all Family Guy fans would say; “if you don’t like it, don’t watch it”.

But I think it ought to be addressed that they pick on women, the typical white American male, typical American lifestyle, African-American people, English people, homosexual people… and so on.

But yeah, if you feel hurt or offended by a stereotypical portrayal of a group or community you belong to or that you feel strongly about, you probably shouldn’t watch it. However, I think it’s good to make fun of yourself and not take it so seriously sometimes. As Macfarlane put it; “”Family Guy likes to hold a mirror up to society and say, ‘Society, you’re ugly.'” and sometimes you may not like what you see!

As I was doing the vacuuming just now, I was thinking about why I like Family Guy‘s humour, and I concluded that I like how it is smart and shocking. I mean, Family Guy is the only cartoon I’ve seen that includes scenes from war and major events that have shaped society for the worse and turned it on its head to make it… well, funny. That sounds so mean saying that… But that’s what sets the series apart; they go where no other cartoon has gone. And they’ve paid for it – being cancelled twice!

They parody songs, popular sayings, celebrities and other cartoons (such as The Simpsons… And how it’s not been funny since you were 13 – sad but true).

They say what you’ve always thought, but were too polite (or conservative) to say. They use the timing of gags and jokes to their absolute advantage until the only reason something is funny is because of how long the scene has been going on for.

I think we should lighten up. Really. And if you don’t like it, don’t watch it because it’s not hurting anybody. It’s not like factory farming where farmers can say; “if you don’t agree with how the animals are raised, don’t buy it” because although you would be boycotting the company, the animals would continue to be living barbaric conditions.

What I’m saying is, that Family Guy is not a practice that inflicts torture on others for an individual’s gain or does anything similarly evil to others.

I don’t believe violent video games or cartoons make innocent people murderers or that they give anybody ideas to copy what a character did. So, no I really don’t think Family Guy is damaging our society and doesn’t set out to offend people. I think it’s a really smart cartoon made by extremely talented people who look like they have so much fun!

But hey, that’s just me.

Jodie.