Category: movie reviews

Guilty pleasures. Yep, binge watching series on netflix or amazon prime etc. While there are some series I can only wonder who green lighted them, others are pretty good. And once in awhile, really good. Like, fer example: The Kominsky Method. Amazing series with Michael Douglas teaching young aspiring actors how to get into character. There are wonderful supporting actors and a surprising guest visit by his costar Kathleen Turner, in Romancing the Stone, who plays his ex-wife on the show. The dialog between them is priceless regarding their daughter who helps run the actors studio business.

Lost in Space, the reboot by netflix is also a gem. The casting is wonderful and spot-on. While the second season story is harder to get into, all is done with such precision and care, it’s still a joy to watch. The Witcher another one. See my earlier post of the same name.

And then along comes a surprise. Something from left field. Or right field if you prefer. A show that has me glued to the start button on my roku to advance to the next episode.

Messiah.

Basic premise: A man out of nowhere seemingly, begins leading people who think he’s an agent of god. Some of course, believe him to be a false prophet, others think he’s the real deal. I’m halfway through the show and from all the clues that have been shown, still have no idea whether he’s a fake or the messiah. The sub plots can be distracting at times, although they tie together eventually. My suggestion? Take a chance and watch it. In my book, it’s a welcome change to some of the crap netflix has been making of late.

And if you don’t like it, leave me a comment explaining why. I would love to hear other viewpoints.

Unless they disagree with mine, This is my blog, after all. (smile)

This morning while making a breakfast of sourdough toast, curcumin, avocado and sauerkraut piled high on top, I thought now is a good time to continue watching the witcher on Netflix. I’m so glad I did. Episode II reeled me into a magical and emotional landscape that was unexpected. Although there was the typical political nod when a Baird is singing in a tavern about a potion that causes abortion – which makes me think that either the writers dislike the right so much they had to say something -be it so small, or the producers said “you know what would be great? Let’s stick it to the right…”

The thing is – no one cares. Not the right or the left. Or the middle. Which is how I like it. Being entertained when I watch a story unfold is why I enjoy a show/book/play etc. And this, the second episode sucked me into a world unlike any other. I am in LOVE. Notice the capitals? With Yennefer. She is the deformed and somewhat ugly (again, I didn’t think she was ugly for a moment) adopted child that discovers she has some latent magical powers. When a witch is led to her by her unintended use of magic, she begins training in some of the mystic arts.

Why am I in LOVE? A little history, please. OK, since you asked…(smile)

As I was growing up in beautiful North Hollywood, Ca, I always felt like an outcast. You see, I had this Huge space between my teeth with a capital “H”. Bigger than David Lettermans of right bashing fame. I once had a girl I was dancing with in a nightclub ask me directly – “do you have any friends that have good teeth?” I felt ugly. So I became something else while growing up, that my fellow classmates would use to displace my ugliness. I excelled at science and most teachings presented during my elementary years. I ran for president of service club and won! Sometimes I think it’s because the other kids felt sorry for the little boy with the facial deformity.

Whatever the reason, I instantly identified with Yennefer. I found her quite stunning and beautiful. Because of her struggles to understand and cope with her physical attributes. This begs the question: did the makeup artists do a good job at creating a homely, undesirable and unattractive woman? Not really. But I understood on a deeper level, having considered myself undesirable as a youth. My unattractiveness followed me like a plague all though my teens, even though I had dated some of the most sought after girls in Junior High and High School. It’s taken me almost 50 plus years to begin to overcome my unnecessary and misguided thoughts of desirability.

As the episode comes to a close, I am once again reminded of the political musings of the writers. As the witcher and the Baird are traveling on a desert road after being captured and released by the elves instead of killed by them, the Baird gleefully composes a tune, misstating all the facts, making the witcher the hero – defeating the elves against all odds to become victorious in battle. The witcher says “that’s not how it happened…where’s your newfound respect?”

The Baird replied, “Respect doesn’t make history”

(the Witcher is a tv series on Netflix now)

Decades ago, when I was around 10 or so, there was a very loud smack around the corner from my house. I was playing outside at the time, my sobriquet was “professor”, an apt nickname chosen to reflect my scholarly pursuits of the day.

I ran around the corner to see a vehicle wrapped around a tree. There were body parts scattered about, some hanging from a thread of skin and others dangling in the summer breeze. Blood was everywhere. This was my first time in the presence of death and dismemberment.

I was not affected by the gruesome scene played out with such dire consequences. In hindsight, I realize that blood and guts don’t affect me much. Not in a Dexter way (see TV series of the same name) but in a reality way. People were screaming and crying and the sound of sirens was off in the distance, getting ever closer.

I stayed until help arrived. While I was doing nothing to help, being only 10 years old, I now understand that just being there was giving the injured something to hold onto, no matter how small. When the medical technicians began their administrations, one told me to go home and let my parents know what I had seen. I took half of the advice. I went home. I said nothing. It was my secret.

This brings us to the title of this post. Witchers are beasts and monster hunters, that develop almost supernatural powers to battle and rid the world of these beasts. And the show starts with an absolute explosion of an opening! A Witcher is fighting a monster while a gentle deer ponders the outcome. The Witcher defeats the monster but not before the deer is fatally injured becoming the Witchers dinner that evening.

Some tense moments follow in a tavern. We are introduced to various characters, furthering the plot and backstory. This is where my real life story above and the make believe one of the Witcher (what? you thought the Witcher is real? Really?) blend together.

For some reason, there always seems to be a major battle between kingdoms portrayed during the early centuries of sword and sorcery. And like all battles, bloody beyond belief. How many ways can you decapitate a soldier? How many ways can you gut a person or shoot an arrow through the head? Quite a lot it seems. With limbs flying in every direction, heads rolling left and right, guts spilling on the battlefield, I was overwhelmed. What happened to the young boy that was barely phased seeing real life blood and guts unfold in front of his very eyes?

That boy understood the difference. In the Witcher, which I will continue watching for now, the battles are some producers or writers idea of what people, want to watch. I find it very hard to accept that people love seeing battles where mutilation is the norm, surviving – the oddity.

I believe the writers and producers could have made a much classier show, intelligent and witty, without devoting so much time to the myriad of ways a person can be killed. Hopefully, there will be no more battles since the entire cast has pretty much been wasted and sliced beyond recognition. I find some of the characters intriguing, others not so much. Fortunately, I started on the 4th episode. If I had started on the first, I would no longer be watching this series.

I hear a voice that sounds like mine, coming from a tavern, in some castles keep, next to an amazing and beautiful scrolling countryside…

“Barkeeper! Another brew… and one for my friend…”