we_are_nihilists

Fallout is one giant allegory for America after another. 15 years ago, that realization sucked me deep into Fallout 3. It had the same effect on Jonathan Nolan.

The tone of Fallout is difficult to match: existential horror balanced by bleak humor to create a vast valley where any emotion can take place. The show gets it about as perfect as it can. It's often intense enough to put me on the edge of my seat. Every joke is funny enough to make me laugh out loud. These extremes open a space where anything can happen.

The cast is top shelf with veterans like Kyle McLachlan and Sarita Choudhury and the impeccable Walton Goggins in a career performance. The younger cast, Moises Aires, Ella Purnell are perfect, and newcomer Aaron Moten steals the show with an extremely tense and emotional introduction.

The plot is already complex with mysteries to be solved and political themes up to its eyes. Beautiful show. Solid 10/10.

Moonbase 8's premise is designed purely as a canvas for silly dudes acting silly. Three guys who would never be sent to the moon coexist in a simulated moon base in the Arizona desert, encountering problems that would never occur in an actual moon base. The three leads have amazing chemistry, and if you're familiar with their respective careers, they are each doing what they do best. Not gonna lie, the humor is pretty niche at times, it's a bit awkward and sad, but I found it to be brilliant. Comic gold with a sense of compassion at the same time.

Like wish fulfillment for a simple and purposeful existence. Sei loves plants and gardening and is gifted with healing magic. The characters are flamboyant in a subdued way. Very nice light entertainment.

Three Busy Debras makes fun of those "Stepford Wives"-y type film settings. Everything is cartoonish and absurd, but I didn't find it "random" like a lot of people say. It is a bit of pointed satire. I'd wager whatever shows most people are watching are also stupid and random time wasters like Family Guy or Robot Chicken.

The characters remind me of when I was a teen. Awkward, emotional, jealous, and questionable judgment. Very funny stuff and beautifully illustrated. It's adorable and will put a stupid smile on your face. Started watching it in English too, the U.S. cast blew away my expectations! So good!

If you're a fan of Richard Linklater's naturalistic films (Boyhood, the Before trilogy and Waking Life), Steven Soderbergh's Let Them All Talk will be more familiar territory. Dialogue is ad libbed, but in doing so, it mimics real life, which may be not very exciting, but the payoff is it feels real. People hesitate and struggle to say what they mean. That's not to say it's bad dialogue - some of it is really good, really relatable and often funny. They give you just enough to understand them without revealing everything - each personality just the tip of an iceberg - as it becomes clearer there is a mystery at the heart of this little story. Without spoiling anything, there is a plot twist which changes a lot of the meaning of the preceding conversations. It really is a clever and provocative film, so stay engaged and read between the lines. Also not to be missed for fans of Meryl Streep.

Whether you're a fan of the series or not, Fargo season 4 is good tv. It just juggles too many characters. It's impossible to pick a horse because nobody gets quite enough screen time. No complaints about the overall plot, but it's really just about two gangs "at war". Also a nurse who kills people. And a super smart teenage girl. And an OCD cop. And a Mormon cop. And two bankrobbers. And morticians. And an Irish guy. It's too many ideas that loosely work together.

Some of the performances are excellent. Some are good but not great. Italian actor Salvatore Esposito has absolutely landed in Hollywood with his amazing character of Gaetano. Jason Schwartzman is funny as always, but talks like a hipster guy from LA, not an Italian-American in Kansas City. Swanee the bank robber is a terrible character, badly written and ludicrously over-acted by whoever she is. Meanwhile Andrew Bird, yes, the famous violinist, totally holds his own on screen as a timid mortician. Chris Rock is good, but I can't help but think there were better actors for the role. You get the idea.

This season is not as strong or airtight as S1 and 2 or 3, but it has some really amazing elements and you should stay with it.

Kinda like Everybody Loves Raymond, but with diarrhea and mayonnaise spraying out of a tube.

This special is primarily musical comedy, which tends towards repetition and strained rhyme schemes, but I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was. For fans of Whitest Kids U Know, it is familiar territory. For those who are not, I recommend a quick YouTube search. Trevor Moore is the high school stoner who never grew up but actually worked hard and became a successful comedian. His comedy is equal parts self deprecating and irreverent, but not at all misanthropic at its heart. At times he delivers exceedingly biting and clever lines in a happy, oblivious tone, and at other times dumb stoner jokes in a dark, serious tone. I burst out laughing quite a bit, mostly in the first half or so, but I stayed entertained throughout. Trevor is no Rich Pryor but he's worked on his chops as a solo act since WKUK and Miss March.

I wanted to watch this because I've always liked Paul Rudd and Sean William-Scott. I was disappointed every moment for the 30 or 40 minutes that went by before I couldn't take it anymore and turned it off. It tries to have a story, but it's really just about two guys who are REALLY stupid and can't function in normal situations. Ha-ha. Nothing about it is clever.The protagonists are unbelievably stupid but it somehow set up as if you will root for them while they struggle with problems that they themselves created. As for having a moral, I don't need a lesson in how to function like a normal person because I already can.

The writers basically thought, "Wouldn't it be funny if we wrote a comedy about a guy going into the Big Brother program?" (No.) The next question is, "Should we make him be the bad Big Brother, or should we make the Little Brother a problem child Why not BOTH! Then they can be buddies!" For the record, this does not improve the story, but cuts it in half. I've seen worse comedies, but seriously, don't see this.

Orange County is definitely off-pudding for its teen-comedy genre placement. It still belongs there, but there is a bit more to it. Combining goofy slapstick, irony, and some actual insight with very few gaps, Orange County manages to appeal to more than just one type of movie audience.

Shaun, full of angst, intelligence, and most of all, difference, is one that is easy to relate to, creating some balance with the rest of the cast. He finally wakes up to the fact that he might actually have a purpose late in his high school career, and suddenly sells his surfboard and sets toward his goal of being a writer. The only way Shaun feels he can become a writer is by going to Stanford University.

Orange County follows Shaun making attempts to put his name on Stanford's acceptance list after his transcript is switched with a student of a similar name. His alcoholic mom, junkie brother, and brainless friends are the only thing stopping him, creating scene after scene of disaster.

There are definitely many lower-I.Q. moments, and a lot of time Orange County lacks realism, but the movie doesn't care. Some great lines delivered by Mike White, Jack Black, and Chevy Chase make up for some of the "teen-comedy" moments. The exaggerated characters are not only funny, but they help to prove the point that Orange County clearly makes (and that i don't want to ruin for you).