adamdaly1985

I entered the theatre with a relatively open mind. I had recently seen 'Get Out' after my reluctance in being entertained by more leftist social justice propaganda had somewhat subsided. And I was incredibly surprised. I loved the film! Yes, there were heavy nods to the oppression of people of colour but it was done intelligently and from a somewhat unique angle. Plus, the film was well written, well acted and paced perfectly.

So despite the trailer for 'War for the Planet of the Apes' looking like a grotesquely obvious allegory for the upcoming race-war, I figured I might be wrong. I hated the prospect of Jordan Peele's 'Get Out' and the film quickly became a favourite of 2017 for me.

It turns out I was right all along. The film stinks of social justice and white privilege. The overwhelmingly white human race are portrayed as a wholly irredeemable group of oppressive savages. Meanwhile the Apes are the oppressed. The unfairly vilified. The misunderstood. The empathetic and admirable. The unsubtle links to today's cultural environment wouldn't have been any more obvious if scene's were dressed in 'Ape Lives Matter' banners or Antifa masks.

As far as the film itself, it's about the least layered piece I may ever have seen. There's no subtext, no intelligent subplots. Apes are good, (white) humans are bad. I really can't expand any further on this storytelling mechanic. It is what it is, albeit with lots of CGI.

I've ran out of energy to finish reviewing this disappointment. Why the IMDb rating is so high can only reflect either a declining level of acceptable standards or the production company purchasing IMDb accounts. I have seen far more poor reviews than positive and cannot accept people interested in good film would be so complimentary of this huge pile of visual faeces.

2/10

Dear Kusama, Koppelman, Levein and Sorkin. Take a bow. This episode was by all metrics incredible television. To have arrived at the episode's conclusion in such a way was masterful writing and direction. With such a multi-faceted episode across numerous time scales and from multiple perspectives without giving anything away is a huge feat for anybody crafting a story so what was achieved by Kusama and the excellent writing trio was nothing short of impressive.

Of course it goes without saying that the performances from this wonderful ensemble were once again stellar but at this point such an observation is expected from the show. Giammati in particular steals the show and the final scene in particular is one to really savour. Asia Dillon as Taylor further cements herself (or himself) as one of the most interesting characters in the show.

The episode feels more like a one-off special and even though it's largely episodic in nature, it has an absolutely huge effect on everything. Billions have stepped it up a few gears this season and has quickly become my favourite current series. This episode in particular reinforces that.

I truly like Ricky Gervais. He has been a relevant fixture in British comedy for a decade and I owe a lot of my television enjoyment to him. I feel I am speaking from a very balanced and unbiased perspective and that what I think about his latest television series 'Derek' is based solely on the quality of the show.

Gervais states how the show is about kindness ultimately. Somewhere between a comedy and a drama, the series is up to the viewers interpretation when contemplating genre placement. Yet, a factor has no doubt severely affected how Derek has been produced. The media circus generated by the title character's apparent disorder, whether it be autism or asbergers, has no doubt poisoned the creative process. In trying to distance himself as far as possible from any calls of bullying, Gervais has sweetened this show to levels nearing one of those cringe-worthy television commercial's highlighting the plights of those less fortunate. The piano accompaniment does little to weaken this comparison and only the predictable sex-infused tripe from character 'Kev' that reeks of unoriginality.

And then we have Karl. Perhaps the only redeeming quality of this show is Karl's signature infusion. A huge Pilkington fan, I enjoyed his appearances in Derek and he definitely steals the show, as simple as that task seems given the circumstances. The remaining cast are either creative cast-off's from 'The Office' or shallow one-liner characters that one might not have expected from Gervais.

Then we have the preachy nature of the show. We get it - cuts are bad. The show is so safe and worries so much of offending that there remains only this air of self-righteousness. I worry that Ricky was so concerned with not offending anybody with the character of Derek, that he attributed so much kindness and redeeming qualities to him that it made him boring. I was bored by the character and felt nothing in watching him.

The show has one or two laughable moments, mostly from Karl. But it is certainly Ricky's worst project to date. All of a sudden I find Stephen Merchant's influence increasingly integral to the success of Gervais. I fully believe that Steve would have tidied this show up completely and perhaps even encouraged Rick to take more chances with it. Sadly, Ricky can't do this on his own.