Sunday, February 23, 2020

Amazon Originals Recommendations

I have to blame web series for increase in my use of profanities. My kids are keeping me in line, else it would be readily gushing out of my mouth. Its as if the web series have opened the flood-gates. But seriously, online streaming platforms are behaving like this, cause they are free of censorship. They could tone it down a bit without affecting their creativity, can't they ?

Other thing, all web series creators could do - is structure episodes so we have some mental breathing room. Seriously binging on 10-20 hours is unhealthy in every way. There is just no justification.

Amazon Originals are way, way better than Netflix ones.
I don't know how their production or their influence works ? But Netflix brings down the interest level, way down. Contrast is most visible in 'Designated Survivor'. When the cable network made Season 1 & 2, it was interesting. When Netflix took over Season 3, the shift was immediately noticeable. They had setup & most of the cast from the original, and they decided to make it openly single-sided monologue delivery of political ideologies. There was just no balance. Every character & their stories were a checklist to be ticked. About other Netflix original movies & shows, they are a drag - like Umbrella Academy. Only one I liked (and because of their cast & how they delivered) is Chopsticks.

Contrast that to Amazon Originals - oh they are diverse & original, while maintaining interest throughout the show or movie. There is no midway-lag or deliberate agenda driven intentions. They know they are here for entertainment & entertain they do.

Hunters

I watch HUNTERS on Prime.
I open OPERATION PAPERCLIP on Wikipedia.
I pick a random name from thousands of key recruits - Ernst R Echert.
Boom  !🤯 He was a distinguished chemistry professor in UofM & died of old age in St Paul !
Way too close to home.

The show is Watchable, no doubt. Travis is eerie & fills with dread. Hunters team is good.  Backstories are fine. Star Al Pacino is pretty much being the old man he is. (Because I did not watch his youth age films, I doubt know enough to appreciate).

Camp scenes are extremely disturbing & filmed like a psychopathic-serial-killer snippets on Criminal Minds. Am on Ep 7 & just want to be done with it. Doesn’t feel like a waste of 10 hours, but 10 hours lost nevertheless, which could have been used better. Should not have started it. I restarted Ep 7 and things r going downhill (for the characters). Very reminiscent of Family Man. Amazon's touch I guess.

Show has unique points, and I was constantly looking for the checklist to tick. It was so, but wasn't so either. Late 70s setup, but things were moving fast, even without internet or computer searches. Parts of the episodes are dedicated to moralizing on the Operation Paperclip, arguing philosophical questions on both side of Hunters. They also managed to incorporate a modern-day health villain as biological weapon.

In Episode 9, they show a view of the discussion behind Operation Paperclip decision. And the argument ends in a very convincing fashion. It makes the presence & future of those people in USA acceptable; that maybe they managed to escape the brainwashing or allegiance to evil. Otherwise, the reveal of the Operation in earlier episode, put a veil of suspicion on those people from 1940s & even their descendants; that maybe they are the reason for spread of xenophobia/hatred in the South.

End of Wernher von Braun made me question, that if they have taken liberty with villains, what is to say they haven't taken other liberties in portrayal ? And last I read, the Holocaust museums were worried about the same.

This topic is highly disturbing. There is lot of material (movies, TV shows, books) on this history. Turning it into a big-scale revenge fantasy itself is a big risk, of it going either side.

Family Man

Now that was a clutter-breaker among Hindi Amazon Originals. Made by my fav director-duo.
The 11 minute sequence on Episode 5 was hila-dene-wala.


Jestination

I like the format of Vir Das pairing up with 2 other/local comedians, different ones in every episode. And filming it in a different city every time. The drone shots bring out the unseen beauty of familiar cities. I don't know if they extra colored the frames ? Or if they photo shopped the roads. But India looks beautiful from these eyes.

Mysore episode was the best. Loved everything about it. Even ending with the Mysore joke was perfect. Actually, for some reason I feel I might have heard it before. But the episode was laid out well to arrive at that joke.

Ladakh episode jokes were horrible. If it weren't for such a beautiful place and surrounding people and their commentary, I would have thrashed this episode completely. Indian comedian who looked like American (Mushran) was good. But the American comedian who looked like Indian was the worst. I cant believe how he is in comedy. Just peppering every sentence with a f & a s, 4 times over, doesn't make it funny.

Standup Comedians should take up the challenge of delivering a round with no f&s uttered. They have long-stretched the supposed 'FoE' to utter profanities and its impact on 'creativity-growth' bit for way too long. Now there is no creativity, only profanities.


Marvelous Mrs Maisel

Perfectly marvelous one. Watch it to know why it's so popular soon as every new season is released.
I don't like the sixties and I don't like that breathless speech-deliveries. But the parts which spill out of these cracks, which shine through, they have enough to charm - 60s music, clothes, luminous makeup, interesting main cast and large ensemble cast. Good to see Monk back on TV.
Coming to the standup comedy, that is the high point of every episode. Things ravel or unravel through the episode and then it's a joy to see how it all works into her standup routine of the day.

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