No idea what you’re talking about, but my comment has nothing to do with race, creed or color. I watch a lot of shows from other countries and ethnicities and have no quarrel with them unless they’re poorly done. This show is poorly done.
I’m enjoying OMITB and I was raised as a California suburbanite (like Steve Martin).
The quote I’m thinking about is
“I recognized the humor in the film, but connected with none of it. By rooting ‘Turning Red’ very specifically in the Asian community of Toronto, the film legitimately feels like it was made for [director] Domee Shi’s friends and immediate family members,” O’Connell wrote in the since-pulled review. “Which is fine — but also, a tad limiting in its scope.”
And yours,
“On top of which, unless you’re a show-biz insider, a lot of what is said sails right over one’s head. They seem to be more interested in entertaining each other (and a select audience) rather than the general television audience”
You may not like the show, but it isn’t limited to appealing to showbiz insiders.
Yeah, I’m not getting that from Chefguy. Without going into the controversy of the Pixar film, it is extremely common for American movies, television, and plays to call out to their medium… hell, in the past 25 years alone four films dealing with the theme ‘the show must go on!’ have won Best Picture*. And if you don’t like that sort of thing, well, that’s entirely different than not understanding why a movie is about an Asian Toronto child.
*Shakespeare in Love, Chicago, The Artist, and Birdman. And you can throw Argo in this list as well. And maybe Slumdog Millionaire which is about a TV show and maybe the King’s Speech which is about a man preparing to give a speech on the radio. My point is, it’s a very common trope!
I am really enjoying Only Murders In The Building. It’s a cosy murder mystery, but with the energy of a frenetic caper. And the cast is top notch. I’m surprised that people don’t like it, it is compelling watching for me.
We’re going to give “The Bear” a shot tonight.
Started watching the new series Moonhaven. First few minutes, I’m thinking “this is bad”. Then about 5 minutes in during a conversation between two police detectives, I realize “Oh, wait, this is a comedy/parody”. After another couple of minutes, I realize that no, it isn’t. It is taking itself seriously, it is just bad. Really, really, really, really, really, really bad. Awful writing. Awful acting. Awful dialogue. Awful made-up future-speak. Awful future technology props. Just stunningly bad. Plan 9 From Outer Space bad. It is like Another Life and Pandora got together and had a baby.
We’re liking this. Hulu says it’s a comedy, but it doesn’t strike me that way.
I’m watching Moonhaven now. The previews were interesting, but so far it’s just Moon Hippies and an AI that believe they’re humanity’s salvation.
We’re almost done with the series Pachinko. Wife read the book, but a while back, so she’d forgotten much of the narrative. It’s been excellent. I love historical dramas, particularly if they take place internationally. I’ll be sad when this one’s over.
Okay, I can’t remember how to blur out comments, so can anybody explain the ending of “The Bear”? It seemed entirely implausible and kind of desperate writing.
(Please spoiler the answer, gonna finish it in a day or three.)
[ spoiler ]
[ / spoiler ]
(Remove the spaces in the tags, of course.)
Thanks. It’s the same as the old board, then. So here’s my beef (ha!) and please don’t quote my entire post and accidentally reveal the spoiled portion.
So they suddenly, and without explanation, discover vast amounts of money concealed in vacuum-sealed cans, which saves them all. How does one put money in cans and then reseal them? Where did the money come from? No information, just big smiles and an abrupt ending. For a series with this caliber of writing and acting, it seems like a slap in the face to viewers.
You can also click on the the “wheel” (tools?) icon and click on “blur spoiler” – if you want to save keystrokes.
Started watching Better Things. It’s starting to grow on me. It’s about a single mother juggling job and 3 children. The character is supposed to be a voice-over actor who gets occasional film roles. I was happily surprised to read that the star/writer/producer Pamela Adlon was herself a voice-over actor who supplied the voice of Pajama Sam, a favorite video game series of my kids.
Series I have recently finished watching:
I’m still enjoying the style and characters of The Umbrella Academy, with Klaus and Five being Most Watchable. Pretty much the whole clan - both clans, really - are damaged assholes dealing with the fallout of being damaged assholes, and yet it all kind of works. Sir Reg continues to plumb new depths of moral bankruptcy for motives that continue to be inscrutable.
Apart from devising new and interesting ways to make its audience go “OMG 
” The Boys is still decent storytelling but is running afoul of the “main villain is too compelling to ever actually be defeated” problem. If he can’t be defeated, this is going to make the series tedious in the very near future, and if he is defeated he will be replaced by new supervillain Sharkjumper.
Also - and I’ll spoiler this bit - Maeve chucked a full bottle of Novichok out into the streets of New York City, WTF? I mean, I know murdering bystanders is a daily occurrence in this show but that one went by without a single comment.
Stranger Things - Eh. My daughter really likes it. It’s fine.
And since those violent delights have come to violent ends, series I have started watching:
The Boys: Diabolical - Cartoons set in the world of The Boys, ranging from Looney Toons-style ones to Rick and Morty style ones to ones written by Mignola and using the version of Butcher and Hughie from the actual comics. And all so very, very, very violent. But fun. In a violent way.
WestWorld - I dunno. It’s still going. Something’s happened to Dolores’s mind. The hosts are doing gross things involved robot flies. Ed Harris still does a great line in “compellingly evil”. Thandie Newton remains the best thing about the show. Aaron Paul remains…in the show. They seem to leaning into the plot of Futureworld thus far, but who knows.
BayMax! - Oh look, a nice Disney cartoon spinoff. This will be soothing. First episode I watch: Baymax explain menstruation to a 12-year-old girl. Bit of a spittake moment. That said, a series devoted to unapologetic discussion of some basic biological stuff is pretty gutsy for Disney. And they’ve included a scene of a man asking another man on a date too. I expect DeSantis’s crowd to march on Orlando and burn the place down for this.
Speaking of gay men dating, have started Heartstopper, having read the books. It’s very sweet thus far and no big deviations from the books.
Finally, I’m almost finished with Korean series Taxi Driver (no connection to the DeNiro film) I mentioned earlier. If you can get past the “fighting guy who takes a ridiculous amount of physical damage but keeps getting up”, the “computer whiz who can hack anything” and the “excessive emotional outbursts you get in Korean/Japanese film and television shows”, it’s not bad.
Watched the season finale of Joe Pickett last night, once I got that miserable POS Paramount Plus to load. What a crappy streaming service. I think it took me eight tries. Anyway, the series tries hard, but has a lot of glaring plot holes which I won’t go into.
Huh. Thanks for that. Very interesting.
We’ve started binging Boo, Bitch!, a limited series of ten episodes on Netflix, about two awkward girls in high school. One of them gets hit by a flying moose(!) and dies in the first episode, and then spends the rest of the series as a ghost. It’s very endearing, although a bit over-the-top with the whole high-school clique mechanism.