John Brown III's Reviews
Great series, no wokeness
There are times in life, that I think everybody sometimes has, where you find out about an event that happened in one's life and you say "how did I miss that", "where was I", or "how do I not hear more about that". Well recently for me it was the events portrayed in the 2021 BBC-Netflix series The Serpent. It's just such a sensational story, something right out of a Hollywood script, and when you see the dubious words "inspired by true events" you can't help but thinking that a lot of creative liberties had to be taken. But no, the series was amazing faithful to historical facts. The tale is epic, spanning decades, and the series does a phenomenal job recounting nearly everything there is to know about a serial killer who preyed on young travelers in southeast Asia in the '70s. So much of it is just unbelievable, but then you look up the history and you see that it really happened. The acting is phenomenal as well, Tahar Rahim and Jenna Coleman simply disappearing into their roles so that you'll not be able to see them as anyone else for a long time to come. My only gripe is that the back and forth time jumps seem kind of gimmicky at times and can confuse things rather than enhance them, but other than that I can really find no fault with anything in the series. Plus, if you're as interested in the story as I was you'll see that that events have unfolded even further just since the series came out.
Created: 02-28-2024
Candyman 2021
Written by Jordan Peele. 'Nuff said.
Created: 12-17-2023
Smile
People really don't understand what "woke" even means. This site should post a good definition so that everybody is on the same page.
That said, this movie's woke elements: "strong", "independent" female protagonist, highly conspicuous over-representation of minorities in positions of power (Hispanic nurse, Indian head of hospital, black cop), cucked ex husband, mixed race couple, evil white yuppies. "The message" isn't the driving force in the movie, but you're in denial if you think there's zero wokeness.
Annoying stuff not related to wokeness: jump scares and fake-outs are beyond lame in 2023, and they have them thrown in way too often.
Created: 12-13-2023
