silas123

At the time of this writing the film currently holds a 6.5 rating. That is crazy. There is so much truly awful content scoring high into the 7s and occasionally beyond. What I love about the film, beyond the great acting from everyone involved, was the crisp and concise writing/ directing that perfectly reflected the fast moving series of events in the story. The movie never feels self conscious or gets in its own way. We're introduced to each character with just a minimal amount of backstory. From there, some shifting allegiances and changes in fortune keep the viewer involved. And despite knowing the final destination for Andrew, watching it come together makes the viewer appropriately feel like they were there at each moment as the story unfolded.

I was a freshman in high school when John Bonham died in 1980. It was around this time that I went from a casual listener to a slightly obsessed fan intent on buying all their albums. While my listening tastes have gone in many different directions since high school, I've never lost my love for the band. And why is that when so many of the other bands from this era have lost lost their luster for me? Well, it's all right here: traditional blues, folk and what gets lost in their "hard rock" categorization, the tremendous r&b funk from the rhythm section. Some reviewers have expressed disappointment with the documentary's limited time span (ending with the release of Zep II), I had exactly the opposite reaction. For one thing, I love deep dives and archival footage so getting Page, Plant and Jones talking about their formative years and early start in the music business was amazing. Second, what other band or artist would have the audacity to have their first authorized documentary be "Becoming ..."? No one. Anyone else would have given you the whole thing at once. But then again, as the documentary points out, Page knew enough to not make a demo for Zeppelin I, instead self financing the finished product and telling record companies, take it or leave it. Likewise, in 1968/69, who was going to say, we don't release singles, albums only. So, in-other-words, I had to laugh at their continued brashness, here are the first 2 years leaving out the stratospheric successes of the 1970s. MacMahon's idea/execution and the band's approval really felt apropos. That, and how amazing to see both the live footage as well as recent interviews with all 3 surviving members so articulate while lending real insight and not just typical rock n roll swagger - I loved it!

I'm now on episode 4?, maybe, not sure. I can't get off the couch, too much yard work + I'm in my 50s, so like these characters, a life's accumulation of aches and pains is relatable. But if someone turned a camera on my wife and I watching this, me critiquing and criticizing, I don't think it would be much less entertaining than this. First and foremost where are the laughs? I mean here and there a chuckle but nothing like what I would expect from Tina Fey, (30 Rock and Kimmy Schmidt are favorites) The writing is lazy. It doesn't help that a luxury resort setting naturally draws comparisons to White Lotus. I mean even with a drop off in entertainment value in season 3, at least you could tell Mike White was trying to create something good. By comparison, this feels like they were just checking off boxes. OK, I'm just jumping back in here with a couple more thoughts. Tina, this is the kind of stuff you used to make fun of. Now you've joined their tribe, schmaltzy, anemic and uninspired. When they kick me off the tennis court and point to pickle ball, I plan to go kicking and screaming but you've acquiesced. No worse, complicit in this goop. Uggghh, what happened Tina?