Irrelevant But Awesome

Alexa:  I’m not going to pretend that “Mamma Mia” is a cinematic masterpiece, but damn do I love this movie! It’s essentially a fun, sparkly fantasy with catchy music and Meryl Streep. What’s not to love? You don’t have to be an ABBA fan to enjoy this movie. I only knew a handful of songs when I first saw the stage musical, but it’s a delight in its own right. Yes, everything about this movie is Broadway-level big. There is no reigning it in, despite the screen being a more subtle medium. The direction isn’t exactly strong. The film adaptation is helmed by Phyllida Lloyd, who also directed the musical. It’s clear she has a deep love and understanding of the source material, but “Mamma Mia” is her film debut, and it shows. Given the story’s inherent campiness, though, she gets away with it. And it’s true that not everyone in the cast is the most stellar singer (I’m looking at you, Pierce Brosnan). But everyone is obviously having a fabulous time with this movie, and that sheer ...

Alexa:  I initially had some of the same hesitations as Joel going into “Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry” - that it would be way too pretentious about his art, that it would perpetuate the idea that if you have any criticisms about art it’s because you just don’t understand it. But while the documentary does highlight a couple of Weiwei’s installations, it’s more about the man than the art. It’s an intimate, captivating portrait of an activist first and foremost. He is unrelenting in his confrontation with the Chinese government and fearless under pressure. The documentary does an excellent job of conveying how meticulous and calculating he is in his activism. In today’s political climate people rarely think before they tweet, but he’s extremely deliberate in his use of the platform to further his cause. He’s not a flawless person (the film spends a fair amount of time on his relationship with his son, the result of an extramarital affair), but that doesn’t detract from our perception ...

Chris: I can't say enough how impressed I am with Kia Stevens in this episode. She earned plenty of praise from me in her smaller acting moments in the previous season but her and Betty Gilpin carry this episode and Stevens does her part beautifully. Otherwise, I'd think I would be beginning to grow weary of more moments of Debbie having breakdowns but instead, we're given moments of amazing chemistry between Debbie and her son to bring the episode light-hearted moments. In wrestling, most stories build up to the moment where the heel get what they deserve and when done right, the crowd basically has no choice but to come unglued and cheer their hearts out for the face. However, there is a fine line between a heel getting what they deserve and the face just being mean and that risks the crowd not giving back the reaction desired. Point in case, recently WWE did a rivalry between Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman for the good part of a year. Basically the point the whole...

Chris:  Cherry’s introduction into season two brings with it the return of Sam’s redeemable qualities. Up to this point, there hasn’t been much to like about Sam and how he’s interacted with everyone else so it makes sense that the return of his longtime collaborator would bring out his positive qualities. All we’ve seen from Sam up until this point has been a miserable guy that only wants to work on his show with as little input from anyone and flat out ignore everyone that he possibly can. However, Cherry shows up with a genuine need and while Sam is still brutal and unforgiving, he’s a least doing it to help Cherry understand her predicament and coming up with a way to come back to GLOW. Joel: Because of a time period in the late 90s and early 2000s, wrestling is well known as something that is crass, lowbrow, offensive, and something that was frequently protested against. Of course it makes sense that at some point in this series we were going to get a storyline wher...

Alexa:  Like a comfy pair of sweatpants or a really good glass of wine, there is something immensely comforting about watching super attractive people fall in love in a big city. As Joel mentions, this type of movie used to be everywhere, but the classic rom-com done well is hard to come by these days, which is perhaps why “Set It Up” feels so refreshing. Naturally, it’s cheesy and implausible but oh so delightful. It adheres to the late 90s/early 2000s style and formula but updates it for the modern age (complete with Tinder references, natch) in a way that doesn’t feel overbearing. You’ve still got your classic meet cute between the two leads, the career-versus-love conundrum, the horrible significant others who are so not right for our central couple, the fun best friend. It hits all the standard beats, but as with any good rom-com, the success of “Set It Up” rests on the shoulders of its leads, and all four are pitch perfect here. Lucy Liu and Taye Diggs are great supporti...

Chris:  Episode two picks up where season one left off with incorporating things that happen all the time behind the scenes in wrestling with this instance being someone being in the doghouse with the people running the show. And, like all things, there’s absolutely favoritism in how severe the punishment is and who it is being punished (hence Ruth is just getting the cold shoulder whereas the other girl got fired in the previous episode). There’s never really one thing anyone does to get out of said doghouse, it’s usually a gradual thing where the offending party just keeps his/her head down and do their job until the people in charge get over it or feel like enough time has passed. Also, it’s nice to see that we’re seeing the process of them considering the pacing of the show and realizing that they need different types of segments to keep the audience (both at home and in-studio) energized and into the show. It all seems silly considering everyone there to watch wrestling ...

Chris:  And we’re back. GLOW takes the logical step as last season was about trying to get a show started and they filmed a successful pilot and it looks like this season will be about what the team will do now that they got the thing they wanted. Ruth continues her self-motivated ways and uses the initiative to create a opener without the approval of Sam, of course without malice but we see Sam have a power trip nonetheless. Looks to me like a lot of this season will be a struggle over who actually is in charge and will that struggle have an affect on the show they’re trying to get off the ground. This episode also establishes that even though Ruth and Debbie had a breakthrough moment at the end of last season, they still aren’t on the best of terms and I see that being an underlying issue as Debbie seeks more control with her new producer credit while Ruth continues being the locker room leader. Joel: Where do we go from here? That seems to be the big question that is on...

Alexa:  I’ll be honest - I just did not get this movie. I was familiar with “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” only in that I knew it was Heath Ledger’s final film before his death. I knew nothing about the story going in, and after seeing it, I still can’t tell you much about the plot beyond the broad strokes. The writing is disjointed and the story is muddled amid an overabundance of visual effects. The visuals are truly spectacular, and they hook you into the film despite its flaws. But it’s as if Terry Gilliam was so focused on bringing that vision to life that the story became a mere afterthought, and as a result it’s difficult to follow. But Ledger and Christopher Plummer in particular deliver some engaging performances, and I appreciate the innovative way in which Gilliam managed to keep Ledger in the film after he died only a few weeks into filming. The face-changing angle works in the context of this fantastical world, and Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell al...