Reviews
The Cleveland Show (2009)
We Are Watching The Decline Of The Animated Sitcom Unfold
From the producers of Family Guy, well what do you expect from them. They pushed the envelope for censors on television with some of the most racy material seen on national television with that show. Which is somewhat funny at moments. Though its essentially a guilty pleasure to laugh at even those jokes when watching the whole show. Thats a compliment for such an overly sexual,and politicized show that uses toilet humor and cultural references as their substance.
This new show their packaging without any doubt is overtly shallow because the Family Guy team tries to expand their market with the humorless Cleveland character by making this race based Family Guy-Brady-Bunch hybrid. Though it also shows the decline of animated sitcom's as tasteless, uninspired, and stagnant. We saw Sit Down, Shut Up and recent Simpsons episodes as major disappointments obviously this show doesn't help.
The cast seems to have been thought up without much thought or development just a group of Caucasian Family Guy producers guessing on how the normal African American family works, using The Jeffersons and The Cosby show as references. It seems to be more of a sad attempt at trying to create a wholesome but very stereotypical black animated sitcom while retaining all the edginess of Family Guy. The family is created very stereotypically for an African American family a daughter that wants to do things on her own terms. A five year old son who peeps at women. A mother that needs a man to help out. Then the main character that uses low-tasteless catchphrases.
Also neighbors consist of a group of immigrant bears which is surreal just by me mentioning it. A Redneck so the producers can racially profile the south as still racist. Also finally a 21st century hipster named Holt. All of whom aid Cleveland on this joke of a show.
If you haven't seen the show yet your in for the painful reality of how this show is a sign that Fox's Golden Age as the dominant animated sitcom provider is long gone. Watching the opening is a clear sign of what your in for the next 30 minutes pointless, shallow, stereotypical unadulterated crap. You don't need to take it from me that this show sucks just compare it with a strong television concept and there's no contest. You will clearly see how stupid Family Guy producers were to create this. This is even low for them.
District 9 (2009)
Surreal Story Redeemed By Interesting Qualities
In the tradition of experimental film making which has been promoted by major studios in recent years comes this film. A sometimes incoherent but overall odd story line that follows the lives of a discriminated alien race, stranded on Earth and forced to live in slum like conditions. In the idea of "What if this actually happened"? kind of theory the producers of the film antagonize humans especially with the MNU and the Nigerian Gangs as vulgar, selfish, capitalist pigs, and power mongers that are more focused on self-gain than peace relations.
Because of this kind of take on the film I notice that this film is somewhat politically motivated and biased. It is related to human rights the alien equivalent of that. The film is told through interview reels, candid camera scenes, and then some traditional performance scenes. How the film shifts makes the film even more surreal through the odd story arc. Its an interesting take on genre and very original in its own way for science fiction. Still the film is overly focused on visuals and political innuendo than trying to make an innovative science fiction movie which this film had the potential to do.
I still recommend this film it has an interesting quality to it that is hard to come by in other science fiction films.