CinemaSlant's reviews
by CinemaSlant
This page compiles all reviews CinemaSlant has written, sharing their detailed thoughts about movies, TV shows, and more.
63 reviews
Other than Catherine O'Hara adding some depth and a really great performance...I felt this episode was a bit of a let down. Total 180 from the relationship where we left off season 1 was fine...but they're setting up this show to duplicate the same mistakes The Walking Dead made. While it's good there is character development...to make yet another show of groups of survivors battling other survivors is "yawnnnn". By taking the focus off the infection and the torment that causes people...they're shifting to group survival dynamics which I feel weakens the entire show even if it's part of the graphic novel. I feel unless this show changes some focus its stuff we've seen before.
This film had all the makings of a good western. It had the phenomenal Forrie J. Smith who bring authenticity to any western. It was also shot on location at the famous Old Tucson Studios and its brilliant landscapes, towering jagged mountains and western sets. But unfortunately, the director wasn't very good at taking advantage of that location with bad angles, bad camerawork. And probably worse of all...Trace Adkins just can't hold a movie as the title character, or the script was so bad he couldn't breathe life into it. Just an unfortunate blending of a poor script and B-rated actors in a gorgeous location.
The entire episode is very good. The actor, Cooper Koch, is excellent and did a tremendous job. Technically it was a good cinematic experiment that paid off with a single shot take with a slow pan. In essence it was a 30 minute monologue. Where I have issues is this very much felt like an improv scene. There were some inconsistencies with the information and delivery. The actors were playing off each other and would go back and forth and sometimes backtrack to hit any "key plot points" that were necessary for the story. But for me it felt forced and didn't have the tight writing style. But ironically, this episode is the best part of an otherwise lackluster season full of problematic issues and incorrect facts.
I kept waiting for the new corporate owner to start petting a hairless cat during his video chats.
Hands down the cinematography is amazing. In fact, it might be too amazing because I often find it distracting as I'm looking at the sets rather than paying any attention to the storyline or the actors. I think this series would have been far more interesting as a movie with different actors. The Ryan Murphy universe is destroying itself by the fluff stories and the same actors. I understand dedication to a number of his main players...but it hurts his artistic endeavor when we're comparing this series as a companion series to American Horror Story. That could have been avoided with different cast. The writing is fairly poor but the outstanding actors do the best they can with it. I think its time for Ryan Murphy to expand his vision and try something new.
I've always enjoyed shows with Don Wildman. I've always felt he was generally telling us the truth and showing us factual, interesting places from around the world. This is not that kind of show. The entire series is utter nonsense trying to capture (I guess) the supernatural craze that is overtaking TRVL channel. This show isn't even well done. It's surprisingly bad.