schuwomann

It's a sequel and it's Disney, so I was not expecting much, but it's actually not as horrible as I anticipated. I give it a solid 6.5 stars. I should have known anything with Jamie Lee Curtis would be watchable. She certainly steals the show here, as always. This movie has the usual Disney cheese, but is actually laugh-out-loud funny in parts (mostly due to Jamie Lee Curtis). It is certainly not the same story as the actual sequel of the book, but whatever. It's still very watchable. I thought Manny Jacinto was an interesting choice, but where was his dialogue coach? Wow, please do not attempt another British accent ever again, Manny. The woman who played his daughter pulled off a better accent for sure.

I am not going to write a newspaper-worthy review. I will simply say that this show is freakin' genius. Everything about it is genius; the actors, the concept, the story, the music, the sets, the clothes even! Everything is crafted so carefully, everything tells a story and has meaning; from the outside snowy scenery to the inside sterility and the colours and the furniture. Just... everything! A lot of tv is absolute crap, but this is something truly special. Yes, it is a slow burn; yes, it will make you think and think and think some more; it will make you philosophise about identity, religion, freedom, brainwashing, office culture, society in general, and about a million other things. If that is not your "thing," you will probably not like this show.

I was going to give a special shout out to my favourites; Adam Scott and John Turturro. But then I think of all the other fantastic actors in this production; Walken (obviously! God, he is so utterly perfect for this show!), and Arquette and Tillman both play nice but creepy SO well. And the lovely surprises of seeing Sandra Bernhard, Alia Shawkat and Merritt Wever. All of the actors in this show are superb, though.

After all this effusive praise, I will admit that I did not enjoy the second season quite as much as the first one. The second season seems to get a little too fantastical at times, and also doesn't quite have as much heart as the first season has.

Severance is the only reason I subscribe to Apple TV.

The first 40 minutes or so were a bit obnoxious with the poor script and immature high school dialogue, but things improved after dude took off. Other than the writing not being terribly great, the music being incredibly obnoxious, and the story being rather predictable, I actually enjoyed the movie and I don't regret seeing it. I thought it was rather sweet. It has these moments during the last half that made you think, "oh maybe this movie is actually quite good" and I just wanted more of those moments in the movie. I just found out it won an Oscar for Best Picture, and I am pretty gobsmacked by that. I have seen way better movies that were never even nominated. Best Picture?? Really?? Hmmm.