L'oiseau noir

This is not Black Bird. It is Paul Walter Hauser's show. Again.

First, I discovered Paul in Frank's Grillo's Kingdom series. He is terrific there. One of my favorite characters. A masterfully acting class. Probably the best performer there with Jay Kulina.

Second, even Black Bird's story is interesting, what makes it over the average, is Paul's performance. Don't get me wrong, Taron is great too, but not as credible and solid as Paul.

Last, the series had potential to become a cult classic, but at the end, it makes you feel like something is missing. Overall is pretty great but not superb as it could have been.

Black Bird is every bit as good as everyone says it is. After reading all the great reviews (it currently has a 97% on Rotten Tomatoes) so I went into this with pretty high expectations, well this series not only met those expectations but surpassed them in every way. While there are plenty of great performances here (Ray Liotta, Greg Kinnear, Sepideh Moafi) the two stand outs everyone is talking about is Taron Egerton and Paul Walter Hauser. Both give award worthy performances. In Hauser's case he actually win a Golden Globe for best supporting actor. There are so many shoes on true crime that have come out lately but Black Bird is among the best of them and should be a must watch for any fan of the genre.

Looking for something to binge watch, I came across this on Apple TV and it sounded intriguing but omg... I wasn't sure if I'd seen Taron Egerton in anything before this but I couldn't take my eyes off him. So handsome and so convincing as a smug and cocky Jimmy who comes down to earth by the end of the film. Ray Liotta, in a heartfelt performance, was excellent as his father.

But the real reason to watch is Paul Walter Hauser as the suspected serial killer. I alternated between feeling bad for him and despising him. He was mesmerizing.

I was hooked before the first episode ended. Well done.

Mini Series Magic

Is it just me or is the mini-series becoming one of the more popular "styles" of TV entertainment? I can't remember watching a single mini series more than 3 years ago - now I'm keeping a sharp eye out for them since the likes of "Chernobyl" "Mare of Eastown" and "Black Bird" have all blown my socks off.

Taron Egerton is the shining star of his generation, truly a man of many talents. I've followed him since his breakaway role in Kingsmen and have enjoyed every single project I've seen him in sense. "Black Bird" was the first serious role I've seen Egerton in, and he proved that he can deliver across the TV medium, for multiple episodes, hooking the audience in on a character that he really made his own.

The story of Larry Hall is terrifying, a monster in our society that was caged and almost let go again. I was hooked from the first episode to the last, and by the end was wishing the series wasn't so "mini."

First thing that comes to mind is mayor of Kingstown because that's the most recent prison drama I've watched; and while that was fast paced in comparison to black bird, this is just as, if not more thrilling and has it's main focus on one story. There's a lot of suspense so far and of course "based on a true story" always adds a little more zest to it. For the same reason, some scenes are difficult to watch especially throughout episode 5 because you know this actually happened. The acting is great throughout, even though from the few shows I've seen Taron Egerton in he takes similar roles but he's really good at them and I think this is one of his better ones yet; Paul Walter Hauser is incredible as well as he makes you believe everything that's said about his character's personality even though each story contradicts whether he's a serial killer or serial confessor. After Jimmy lands at maximum security almost every scene is tense and gripping so you never lose focus and I really love it when shows consume you as you watch, the only thing you think about while watching Black bird is Black bird. Looking forward to the mystery unravel. Didn't give it a full ten rating but there's nothing I can fault it for.