Tag Archives: Season

The Truth About Emanuel (2013)

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emmanuel-truth-about-fishes02Roze-Rating: 4 / 5

Moving in across the street is single mother Linda (Jessica Biel) possessing a striking resemblance to Emanuel’s (Kaya Scodelario) dead mother. Emanuel blames herself for her mothers death at childbirth, she feels she has nothing to offer in this world. Uncharacteristically offering to babysit for her new neighbor opens up a relationship she has longed for ever since she was born. An obsession evolves as she can relate to her neighbors pain even if she lives a lie.

The Truth About Emanuel is a beautifully constructed film exploring human relationships in such a down to earth way. We are introduced to a 17 year old girl, Emanuel, claiming to have murdered her mother. She mentions this during an opening monologue where she later explains is from childbirth. She is guilt-ridden, convinced that she was never meant to belong in this world. Her obscured views on life and reality makes her cynical about her future and to an extent people. An important quote from Emanuel is when she claims “reality is overrated”, her feelings concerning her place in the world makes her absent of ambition, she lives in her own distorted reality. I find her character extremely real as teenagers at some point will feel lost, unsure of what lies ahead and where their choices will take them. Emanuel may be damaged but she has the personality of the average teen. She’s intelligent and extremely witty as we see her countlessly crack smart ass responses to people, she has an identity but no coherent outlet to express herself with.

Ultimately for a good thirty minutes of the film we are exposed to an Emanuel that is on the edge, she feels no one understands her and no one will. I like how the film progresses through her daily routine a number of times, driving home how little she allows herself to live at her age. The film really starts going when Linda moves in with her baby daughter across the street, Emanuel instantly feels a connection with her as we later realize she looks very similar to her mother. A relationship soon develops and we come to learn that there is more to that connection than we thought, it’s chilling but Emanuel’s understanding of Linda’s pain is compelling.

Performances from Kaya Scodelario and Jessica Biel were pretty solid. I felt Kaya Scodelario was perfect for this role, her face is so gentle and has this believable innocence that you rarely find. I knew she had something special when I first saw her on Skins and not because she was hawt (She’s older than me so not creepy). After seeing her in this I now have to see what she has to offer in her future films because this performance was perfect and surprisingly her accent to. Biel was business as usual, solid playing her role to an eerie believability,

Some parts of the film were shot beautifully typically involving montages and water. We see moments where water floods Emanuel’s surroundings to symbolize what I think is her rebirth, inner purity and subconscious as she develops a mother-daughter relationship with Linda which she has longed for since birth, it later illustrates a much self fulfilled meaning. Another great addition to the film is the soundtrack, it fits perfectly aiding the tone of the story.

It may be a film that proves to be unpopular as it lacks melodramatic moments and a generic tone but it just wouldn’t have been real if it went out to be these things. It’s a story about how human connection and relationships can help you as there are always people out that can relate to your problems and the only way to help oneself is to accept reality and make your own destiny. That was my take on it anyways.

Hello Ladies (Season 1)

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Roze-Verdict: If you’re a fan of Ricky Gervais and Steve Merchant projects then this awkward, cringy-worthy piece of comedy will find a place in your heart.

Hello Ladies follows Stuart Pritchard an Englishman hoping to find the woman of his dreams in the city of Angels, only problem is that his standards maybe too high for his own good.

Starring;

  • Stephen Merchant as Stuart Pritchard
  • Christine Woods as Jessica Vanderhoff
  • Nate Torrence as Wade Bailey
  • Kevin Weisman as Kives
  • Kyle Mooney as Rory

I was pretty psyched when I came across this show on the world wide web, finally a show where Steve Merchant isn’t cast behind Ricky Gervais’s shadow (despite his height). Seemed like it was a bout time that he got a chance to star in something as the lead. Merchant has this typical British brand of humor which I can’t get enough of, he’s charismatic and incredibly witty which comes through in this comedy. Although maybe not as confidently as his British shows, which is fair enough due to a new target audience. It would be completely understandable if an American was to hate this show because this form of awkward, cringy, comedy with and anti-hero is quite unusual. I just hope it gets the chance for at least a second season.

It’s more than just a comedy, it has a lot of sad moments due to its relatable theme. We get a lot of moments where we might think “I’ve been there”, I mean we all get lonely and this show brings out a lot of those unpleasant memories. Luckily we get the chance to repress these memories during scenes where we can think at least it wasn’t as bad as that (Merchant having to buy drinks for a group of strangers in his efforts to pick up a girl, ouch). I find the sad scenes quite humbling at times because I can reflect off it ultimately turning into something I value a lot in the show.

The jokes are smart and sometimes slapstick, very rarely cheap which is refreshing to see. I quite like cheap laughs because I laugh at almost anything involving genitalia so I don’t complain but when you laugh at something which you either have never seen or rarely see, it makes it a lot more funnier and you feel good about it after. At first during the first couple of episodes I didn’t quite like that combination of comedy and drama within a show but when you accept it then you enjoy it for what it is.

As for sub plots and other characters, they hold up well and have a lot of potential if season 2 does go through. I wouldn’t say they were all engaging in this season but if there’s laughs then a comedy is a success in my eyes. Of course we all have different tastes in comedy, but if you’ve never heard of Steve Merchant and you want a good “what not to do” guide to dating then this would be a good place to start.

Brooklyn Nine Nine (Pilot – Episode 6)

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Roze-Verdict: If you find “stupid” funny and weirdly witty jokes funny, then it’s a MUST WATCH.

Plot: Detective Jake Peralta is one of the best in his department showing his love for putting away bad guys and solving puzzles. The only puzzle he hasn’t solved, is how to grow up. Once a new captain is appointed to the department, Peralta has to learn to respect the rules.

Starring;

  • Andy Samberg as Detective Jake Peralta.
  • Stephanie Beatriz as Detective Rosa Diaz.
  • Terry Crews as Sergeant Terry Jeffords.
  • Melissa Fumero as Detective Amy Santiago.
  • Joe Lo Truglio as Detective Charles Boyle.
  • Chelsea Peretti as Administrator Gina Linetti.
  • Andre Braugher as Captain Ray Holt.

I didn’t even know Andy Samberg had a comedy show coming out up until I saw the Jame Franco Comedy Central Roast, and watched him get constantly roasted about it getting cancelled within the first month (LOL). I knew I had to watch it especially after Samberg’s hilarious “roast”, I don’t think many people got it but he totally channeled into my sense of humor which is why I was pretty stoked that his brand of humor totally comes out in Brooklyn Nine Nine.

I think there was a lot of negativity about this show, just because so many shows get cancelled every year and why would this be different right. From the pilot alone I’m expecting some great things from the show. First of all the cast is awesome, we have the likes of Andy Samberg, Chelsea Peretti and Joe Lo Truglio who rarely fail to get laughs and their combo of funny is a match of gods. That is if their brand of humor resonates with you. The mix of overconfident, immature, boorish, eccentric behavior that exudes when their characters clash makes for a lot of funny situations and jokes. We also have Terry Crews who is a legend for many reasons, first being his sensual peck flexing and of course his badassness in general. We are also gifted with the casting of some lesser known actors who have just as big roles as the others, not breaking stride.

I think for a comedy series to be successful it needs to have an ensemble cast so that there’s a lot to play with in terms of character development and subplots. A lot more ideas can be generated when there’s more characters than just a few, this way we aren’t getting the same old generic episode plots. Of course there are the likes of “Two and a Half Men” and “2 Broke Girls” which seem to thrive but eventually the characters get dull. What I like about Brooklyn Nine Nine is that we’re given a large cast of different personalities and characteristics which opens up a massive door of joke opportunities which they utilize successfully making for a hilarious show. The characters are likable and interesting resulting in a fun and relaxing watch.

Based on the pilot I thought that each episode would present a case that the characters would have to solve, which posed a problem for me. If they were to go in that direction, 1) 21 minutes is not enough to sell a smart-ish crime plot, 2) what’s stopping it from becoming a carbon-copy of CSI but in spoof form and 3) eventually it would get boring. Luckily the show doesn’t emphasize too much on the crime solving but more on the wacky office antics.

If I was to find a description for Brooklyn Nine Nine, I would say it’s a cross between Archer and The Office with an awesome theme tune (not an overstatement). Just because we have a protagonist who feels he can do what he wants for being the best, who is surrounded by odd sometimes incompetent colleagues and the one perfectionist (Lana = Santiago). But then we have the humor of The Office and borderline Family Guy because, well a lot of the time they’re in the office doing a lot of dumb crap.