Month: July 2022

Man vs. Bee (2022)

Where to find it: Netflix
Length: About an hour and a half, cut into 9 episodes
Synopsis: A man housesits a mansion, where he becomes obsessed with killing a bee
Recommendation rating: 2/5

What I like about it: delivers on Mr. Bean-esque calamity
What I don’t like about it: never quite comes together, very predictable, cruel to animals

Review:
Rowan Atkinson is following the time-honored tradition of British comics: funding your latest divorce by returning to the material you swore you were done with. This is a Mr. Bean movie in all but name; Atkinson plays a middle-age divorcé named Trevor Bingley who signs up to a housesitting app and finds his first job at a mansion where all expensive items are pointed out in the pilot ready for him to destroy in the coming episodes. And so it goes.

Content notes (may contain spoilers): he gasses the family dog and falls in its excrement, fire

Camila Cabello – Familia (2022)

Length: 34:21
Synopsis: Cuban beats with a pop sensibility and phenomenal vocals
Recommendation rating: 5/5

What I like about it: variety and brilliance is always an impressive combo
What I don’t like about it: can’t find a thing

Review:
This album opens with a grandiose fanfare before taking us on a fast and all-too-short journey through Spanish raps, sexy bottom-heavy pop tracks, a vibrant Latin breakup song that not even a guest spot from Ed Sheeran can fully water down and so much more. A beautiful experience, a wonderful work of art and I’m sure very commercially successful; it’s lovely to find a pop record I wouldn’t be slightly ashamed to own.

Content notes (may contain spoilers): ableist slurs, sex

Alabama Shakes – Sound & Color (2015)

Length: 47:26
Synopsis: Soulful vocals over funky overdriven guitars
Recommendation rating: 3/5

What I like about it: easy to bop to, an interesting mix of influences
What I don’t like about it: sometimes too loud, resembles The White Stripes in its weaker moments

Review:
At its heart, it’s a rock & roll record but there are plenty of intriguing and pleasant sounds if that doesn’t turn you off.

Content notes (may contain spoilers): none I found

The Afterparty (2022)

Where to find it: Apple TV+
Length: Eight 35-minute episodes
Synopsis: A high-school reunion afterparty ends in a suspicious death, here’s the investigation
Recommendation rating: 3/5

What I like about it: entertaining, occasionally funny
What I don’t like about it: tonal inconsistency makes it hard to care about, feels like it could have been tighter

Review:
What do you get when you cross one half of Hollywood’s most unmissable production duo, a fun murder mystery concept developed over a decade and inspired by Rashomon, and an incredibly talented cast including Tiffany Haddish, Ben Schwartz, Sam Richardson and Ilana Glazer? Considerably less than the sum of its parts, unfortunately. It’s still good to fill an afternoon or two, each episode parodies a different genre and follows a different party guest’s version of events. Entertaining but over-engineered and hard to connect with.

Content notes (may contain spoilers): murder, alcohol, drugs, ableist slurs

Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist (1995)

Where to find it: YouTube
Length: Six seasons of 20-minute episodes
Synopsis: Animated sitcom about a therapist who treats stand-up comics
Recommendation rating: 3/5

What I like about it: charming and funny improv between Jonathan Katz and Jon Benjamin
What I don’t like about it: so ugly it helps not to look at it, most of the comedians featured are ignorant hacks

Review:
This animated sitcom, made with early cheap computer animation, follows a kind-hearted and soft-spoken therapist named Dr. Katz, his sardonic secretary Laura and his son Ben, the archetypal Gen X slacker. The format is simple: Katz’s therapy sessions are an excuse to reuse stand-up material and the real good stuff comes from the improvised sitcom around that. Jonathan Katz is very quick-witted and comes up with brilliant lines. If you haven’t tried and loved Home Movies (1999), maybe try that first as it’s a better implementation of a similar format.

Content notes (may contain spoilers): ableism, terrible 90s standup jokes