Staged: Season 3

Well that was more different than I expected.

So we're back to 6 episodes again but the strangest part is there's only 2 episodes of the actual show, and the rest of the season is actually all about behind the scenes stuff and gearing up for actually filming the third season. Never have I ever seen a television show that potrays the actual show, the aftermath of the show, and the preproduction of the show. It does feel like a true peek behind the curtain with Georgia playing executive producer/sociopath, Michael and David doing a tiny bit of press and having rehearsals before filming, Simon actually isn't a spineless worm and actually directs will wonders never cease? So it's undoubtedly the black sheep of the entire run and as far as I know they had no intention to go beyond a third season so this is it for all intents and purposes, but it's still interesting to watch! It certainly posed many questions in my mind of how do you produce a television series with a skeleton crew of camera operators, audio engineers, and the director himself? It sounds almost an impossible task but they pull it off and pull it off well! I guess I was just thoroughly thrown off course because the first two episodes are business as usual for the most part and then it's all backstage stuff for the vast majority of the season, so I don't hate it by any stretch but I also certainly don't love it as much as the other two seasons. David and Michael still have moments to shine and show their humor scripted or otherwise, Georgia practically gets the same if not even slightly more screen time than our boys and she really is a ball busting producer...maybe goes a bit off the fucking deep end and crafts a Jigsaw level situation for David and Michael to get over some writing hurdles to be perfectly honest but I guess you gotta do what you gotta do. Handful of cameos present including one of my all time favorite british actors, and while they aren't as prevalent because of the shorter episode count it was still nice to see them. It certainly has appeal seeing the crafting of a show even if it's not super in depth and indeed I can see many normal people who just enjoyed the first two seasons kinda get a introductory look at behind the scenes production material that people like me AKA insane cinephiles are aware of. Admittedly I would just stick to the first two seasons but there's still interesting stuff here, and I can at least recommend it halfway. 3 stars from me, 8/10, and I guess more behind the scenes stuff will come up next week with an animation company and animator legend known globally.

Jackass The Movie

How the hell do we talk about Jackass?

It kinda defies reviewing but I was game to see the fourth movie so why not have some fun. And it still to this day boggles my mind how this got a feature film shown in theaters, not direct to video, not broadcasted strictly to MTV, but a proper movie. I was 7 when this movie came out and even younger when the show was on so I had zero concept of this show for some time, and I still don't know how succesful the show was. I don't know if it was a surprising big success or more of a cult hit show that had a small but very dedicated fanbase, but obviously it has had some legacy. And it is nothing short of interesting to see the evolution of quality for these movies, cause honestly the first movie isn't that big and wild, more of a feature length episode of the show and boy it doesn't look much different. There be no Cinemascope here good buddy, this is shot on the same video cameras the show was and it is gloriously early 2000s in quality. I'm serious man I'm actually a fan of the lower quality, and it suits the filmmaking too cause it's documentary-esque, with just these dumbasses going out and shooting this stuff wherever they could. I will admit this is the one I've seen the least out of the three soon to be four movies, not at all because it doesn't stack up well to the other two despite the budget of $5 million which actually turned a profit of almost $80 million worldwide which is unbelievable. It barely has a set up better than home movies but it's the actions and antics that count. My favorite might actually be the Night Pandas segment, it hit my funny bone in just the right place and if anything looked like the most fun anybody had shooting. And of course it was in Japan so that helps, though I'm kinda bewildered they decided to shoot in Japan to begin with, cause just what? But screw it I liked it. A close second goes to Sweaty Fat F***s, just seeing these guys in bulky fat suits doing skateboarding tricks and BMX bike stuff made me commend the talent. I'm naturally big and I would have a hard time standing on a skateboard. It's gonna be interesting seeing how much it changes from movie to movie, it starts off humble but it gets more involved which only makes sense, you gotta raise those stakes. All good if not even great comedy stems from misery, it's f***ed up but if you saw some guy run face first into a wall, you'd laugh. And not many people would actively not only subject themselves to very physical damage but film it solely for the purposes of comedy. You could walk straight up to me and be like, "Dude, $10,000 bucks cash for you to go one round with this badass japanese kickboxer chick." and I would tell you to get the hell off my planet. No way. Are they masochists? Probably. Apparently the secret of dealing with pain is to laugh, who woulda thunk it. I'm stumped. I don't even think I know the right way to watch these movies, cause I've done it solo and in a group but I think the core matter is state of mind. If you wanna see people go apeshit and rough their bodies up and well...act like braying jackasses, have at it. There's a place for everything, from cinematic classics to sleazy exploitation and I'd put this somewhere in the middle. 2.5 stars, 6/10, part two coming up tomorrow.

The Doors

For a movie about my favorite band, or one of, I don't really harbor the hatred for it like others.

The only things I ever heard about it were it severely misrepresented Jim Morrison, fans hated it, critics hated it, The Doors themselves hated it, and I....liked it just fine. It sort of is a hard movie to fully in context talk about, the way it's directed is more like an experience. You are on this rollercoaster of a experience following the origins, rise, and end of The Doors, leading to the eventual and still quite sad ending of it all. And for a movie over two hours, the pace is quick and the editing may seem odd at first but there is a rhythm to it all. It's artsy as hell, I can so easily see people brush this film off as pretentious bullshit with how Stone directs it all and while I can somewhat agree with that at points, it didn't hurt the film majorly. It's very centered on Jim which is to be expected, you really can't talk about one without the other, he was the face and the first person people acknowledged of that band and this film takes it's liberties with the more far out stuff with Jim, but the shrieking throes of people who give Val so much good grief for his performance is nothing but a fallacy. Oh he's just this drunken maniac, oh Jim was so much more than that, but there are several instances where you really do see the real Jim. The writer, the poet, the intellectual, and it does make you look at him as a person, not an idol. People are f***ed up, weird, strange to begin with, but the drugs and excessive alcohol did have an effect on him. I have read articles, bought the collection of his writings and really appreciated a good bit of it in the script, listened to interviews, and Jim Morrison was an interesting guy with a lot more to him than just a rock star. Val Kilmer pulls it off in aces, the singing, the poetry, the mannerisms, he blends so well in this role you really forget Jim is dead. Not many actors have achieved such a thing. I personally think Kyle (or Kale if you prefer) MacLachlan was a damn good Ray Manzarek, Frank Whaley brought some innocence to Robby Krieger which I quite liked, Kevin Dillon played a hardcase John Densmore but I do get why they did it, even Meg Ryan playing Pam is really nice and you do get that strange love affair chemistry. So cast does admirable work, the visuals get trippy and symbolic, the film certainly warrants that hard R rating like no one's business, this is the strangest musician movie I've ever known. And to think this was in 1991, Val Kilmer only had a few big movies to his belt and he got to play James Douglas Morrsion, that's impressive man. It's a brief 101 for new fans, the more heavily detailed fans could probably poke holes in it all day, but I did like it and I'm happy I saw it. 3.5 stars, 7.5/10, one more before the end of this week.

James May Oh Cook!

Yes the first proper cooking show I've seen all the way through and can easily say it's the best.

For someone culinary handicapped, this show really proved the adage from Ratatouille as we see fellow cooking novice James May attempt a myriad of dishes from all over the world with world class home economist Nikki Morgan. Now I must state for the record I've seen cooking competition shows, and not cooking programmes with some celebrity busybody who I don't know, and this show casts a very honest even debilitating honesty on the world of a televised cooking show or network. You see the camera crew frequently, the kitchen is a real kitchen no sets or anything of that, James speaks bluntly and realistically about his cooking but even more so the production. They don't handwave prep time and the wait time between dishes, they comically address it yes but it doesn't undercut that cooking takes time and can be as involved as you like. The dishes very much speak of that, you can go full blown and make something gourmet worthy or just make it the way you like and call it a day. I myself have pushed my culinary skills beyond ramen noodles and TV dinners, which is what I made alone for decades. Now at the very least I can cook an egg among other things. I even invested in a cookbook from renaissance man and horror icon Vincent Price (because of course I did). So this show does make me have a bit more confidence to try making more things and it's done so well. It's very much an atypical cooking show but the productions is well done, James and Nikki are a cracking good duo, the food isn't complex and anyone can make it, and it is quite funny on top of that. But not that rubbish attempt at humor to get a laugh out of the back row like on most reality shows. And I genuinely do love the variety, there's nothing necessarily "normal" about the dishes beyond steak and chips but that doesn't nor should it deter people from making it. Each is unique, explained, and presented well. It's worth a watch. There's a grand total of 7 episodes roughly 30 minutes a piece so you could honestly knock this one down quite literally between meals. It's worth it, if only to get a taste of truthful reality along with various food items. 4 stars, 8.5/10, hopefully a second season will be made and apparently all the recipes will be in a James May cookbook so sign me up for that. One more journey with our man James, once again looking at something completely different yet fun.

Moonwalkers

I was hoping it would end that way. Good job movie, you did it.

Moonwalkers! I gurantee you no one talked about this movie when it first hit. Which kinda sucks because it's a pretty damn good movie concerning the whole, Stanley Kubrick staged the moon landing and just rolls with it and makes it fun and crazy. Okay, so basically the story follows a band manager played by Rupert Grint who's in debt, swindels a CIA agent played by Ron Perlman out of a large sum of money to be used for a staging of the moon landing in case the real moon landing could not be achieved. Which I have to say I loved the fact they rode the line, it didn't say the moon landing was fake or anything like that, it combined the truth and the fiction which I enjoyed a lot. Just to see a conspiracy theory like that played out so wonderfully odd in this movie was a blast. I loved seeing Rupert Grint again, he's a great lead and you do hope everything works out for him, Ron Perlmam is well, Ron Perlman. Total badass, no nonsense, will knock your teeth out if you jerk him around, perfect! It was a really good movie, I think it should be seen just for the sheer spectacle and this wild ride about how they did it all. Nothing groundbreaking, or god awful but a good fun movie, with a flippin' awesome 60s backdrop (hippies, drugs, sex and all) that is always fun to go back to. I give it....4 stars, check it out. And we got one more tomorrow, a classic obscure gem straight from the 80s, don't miss it!