Irrelevant But Awesome

Chris:  It’s impossible for me not to laugh like a madman during the opening scene of this episode. When I first starting watching You’re the Worst, I thought the first episode was good and I was willing to give it a chance however, by this scene in the second episode, I knew I was hooked. I’m not sure where Iand on the true villain of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off debate but it does force me to rethink the movie in a different light. I suppose this is a good opportunity to talk about Edgar, the heroin addict with a heart of gold. The sweet guy is so selfless, he just wants to see Jimmy happy with Gretchen even though Edgar should probably face his own addictions or find a way to deal with his PTSD. Edgar is a little bit more involved in the story than Lindsay but both are firmly in the supporting cast but eventually both become vital as main characters as the show progresses which is great because Lindsay seems quite one-dimensional as a character at this point. Thankfully, Vernon...

Chris:  I’ll begin this series by admitting outright that I adore this show and I’ve been wanting to do a review series on this for awhile but I brought along some friends that hadn’t seen the show to adjust for my obvious bias. As you’ll see as we go, You’re the Worst is irreverently hilarious but still fully capable of handling serious moments better than I think I’ve seen any other comedy do so. The premise of this show basically says outright, “hey, Gretchen and Jimmy are horrible people surrounded by other horrible people, why don’t you watch this trainwreck with us?” However, what we learn is that even though everyone in the show can be described as “the worst,” I wouldn’t classify any of them as malicious or evil. Everyone in the show has a reason for why they do what they do and they’re all (whether they want to admit it or not) good people. One of the things I love about the show is that almost no piece of information is wasted. As you’ll see as the show continues, th...

Alexa:  Experimental cinema has never really been my jam, but that being said, I found “The Bomb” to be compelling filmmaking. I don’t know that saying I liked it is really accurate because it’s such an unsettling experience, but I think it succeeded in accomplishing exactly what it set out to achieve. Rather than being a straight documentary, “The Bomb” juxtaposes existing footage - from horrifying shots that illustrate the scale of nuclear blasts to old “duck and cover” tutorials - with animation, artwork and music by The Acid to convey the terrifying devastation of nuclear weapons. And in this case, I think the experimental approach is even more effective than a traditional examination would have been. Being exposed to those images continuously for an hour creates an immersive experience that is deeply uncomfortable and upsetting, and the accompanying music is both entrancing and foreboding. These weapons are designed to be massively destructive killing machines, and this f...

Alexa:  “Hardcore Henry” is an awesome concept that simultaneously works and doesn’t in its execution. The idea of a movie shot from a first-person perspective is really intriguing. I know it’s inspired by first-person shooter games, but I’m not a video game person at all, and I still appreciated what it was trying to do. Watching the events unfold entirely from Henry’s perspective is truly unlike any other movie-watching experience I’ve had, and as a result it held my attention from beginning to end. It’s such a different way to take in a film. I watched it on a projector, and I’d recommend doing the same if you’re able, because the larger scale makes the experience all the more immersive. And I actually loved the fast-paced, visceral action sequences, even if the first-person POV was disruptive at times. To me, the first-person POV took more of a toll on the story than the action. It unfolded at rapid speed in bits and pieces, which I understand is how Henry would absorb it ...

Chris:  First off, we finally get the Chavo Guerrero (Chico) cameo that was promised. Not enough can be said about the work he’s done with the actresses and teaching them wrestling so they look as great as they do in the ring in this show. I found myself feeling like I would really like to see how this wedding episode would actually look like when it aired much like the show within a show episode. Weddings on a wrestling show are a weird tradition going back to Macho Man and Miss Elizabeth. It’s a tradition that doesn’t happen all that often but never has a wrestling wedding gone smoothly and GLOW proudly continues that tradition even without the battle royale. I enjoyed the back half of season two, the first half was alright but so little of it had to do with putting the show together or wrestling. And I understand that the first half was focused more on the drama and relationship aspect of the show but it all made it slow and at times made me question if GLOW was even a come...

Chris:   A few years ago, Joel made a great point on the podcast about how most wrestling shows like Monday Night Raw are basically the same as The Muppet Show and now GLOW joins that list as it’s basically a show about a group of people trying to put together a show. I know Muppets on Broadway isn’t the same as The Muppet Show but it’s a decent enough time to mention because it’s one of my favorite analogies. I’m still not sure at all how I feel about Ruth and Sam having possible romance feelings and that uncertainty isn’t by accident because it mirrors Ruth’s clear uncertainty because she felt so put off when Sam seemed like he didn’t want her around earlier in the year to now being included into Sam’s personal life once they’ve patched things up. However, once Sam starts to make a move, she runs off to the camera guy who I am also uncertain of. Finally, I’d watch a spinoff show of Bash and Debbie trying to sell shows to investors. Joel: You know what’s complicate...

Alexa:  The Best Animated Feature category at the Academy Awards usually features at least one entry that flies below the radar in the U.S. until it receives a nomination. In 2017 that movie was “My Life as a Zucchini,” and though it lost to “Zootopia,” its inclusion at the Oscars deservedly opened it up to a much wider audience. It’s a truly touching little film, and a remarkably honest one. The stop-motion animation is a joy to behold, and every choice in the character and scenic design conveys the joy and sorrow of these orphans’ world. The vivid colors capture a childlike sense of wonder, while the characters’ heavy eyes reveal a traumatic lived experience no child should ever have to endure. It’s a heartbreaking and heartwarming journey at the same time, watching these children teeter back and forth between coming to terms with their tragic circumstances and dealing with the growing pains of just being a kid. “My Life as a Zucchini” expertly weaves themes of love and fami...

Chris:  Holy crap, I take back what I said about the previous episode, this is my favorite of the season. This serves as a good break as we reached the dramatic climax of the show in the previous episode and we get to sit back and watch the campy direction the show within the show went for after Ruth broke her ankle. As we’ve seen, Sam’s history in campy horror movies serves as his roots so we see that element as Glow goes for broke when they know they’ll likely get cancelled anyway. This episode seemed fun to make and it comes across in every scene, match and commercial with the performance of everyone. I am thoroughly enjoying the increased spotlight on Sunita Mani the last couple episodes. I was a big fan of hers in Mr. Robot and I had been disappointed when she wasn’t featured as much in the previous season and good for her to get to showcase her dancing abilities (as previously displayed in the Turned Down For What music video). Joel: So I’ve never liked it when a sh...

Chris:  I don’t know what will happen in the remaining episodes of this season but I think this will be everyone’s favorite episode as it is mine. First of all, it’s by far the most fun with the bond Ruth has with all the other girls being put on display as they try to make her hospital wait as painless as possible.I’m still a little weirded out by Sam trying overly hard to not let the camera guy be the night and shining armor and I really thought he was gonna try to lean in and make out with Ruth when Sam was telling her that he won’t make the show without her but luckily, the show didn’t go that direction. And of course, we finally get the blow-up argument between Ruth and Debbie that had been bottled up the entire show. What I liked about the show is how realistic that argument aftermath was, they got it all out and it seemed like they both felt a lot better afterward and seemed willing to be in the same room with each other again without any tension. It set the emotional ...

Alexa:  I chose “Faces Places” as this week’s movie because I remember seeing it crop up on dozens of lists of the top 10 movies of 2017 and I wondered what all the fuss was about - and I can easily say all that high praise was warranted. This is a delightful little gem of a film, the type of thing I crave discovering on Netflix. As a journalist I’ve always been drawn to profiles and features because I love telling other people’s stories, and that’s exactly what “Faces Places” celebrates. Director Agnès Varda and artist JR simply travel throughout France, meeting and talking to ordinary people in ordinary places. Watching this film, I was immediately reminded of the last line of the U.S. version of “The Office” - “There’s a lot of beauty in ordinary things. Isn’t that kind of the point?” That sentiment is “Faces Places” in a nutshell. There is tremendous value in every person’s story, in every person’s experience, just as there is tremendous value in the power of creation and ...