"Big Mouth" Seasons 1-3

Where was this show when I was going through puberty ten years ago? Well, to be fair, Netflix was still mailing DVDs to our homes, then; we had no idea we would be watching Family Guy on steroids on the Internet.
This show strips away the stigma of sexual education like Steve Carell's chest hair in The 40-Year-Old Virgin. Right from the first episode you're warned of what you're getting into. When a child enters puberty, he or she is assigned a hormone monster that channels their adolescence from positive to downright offensive outcomes. Through each of the main characters, we learn that not all puberty is the same.
Andrew Glouberman is a budding awkward teen with extremely weird sexual kinks: a tomato shaped like a butt, an assistant at his dad's firm, Nick's sister Leah, his cousin Cherry, and Missy. From his stand point, he has intentions in his actions, but he often goes way too far to prove a point, like when he believed Lars didn't need his chair. He struggles to come into his own because his parents refuse to talk to him about his ever changing body.
Nick Birch struggles with his small stature compared to Andrew. In fact, Nick is the complete opposite of Andrew. His parents are super affectionate it's almost embarrassing. Nick goes through several hormone monsters before currently settling on Connie. Nick's past monsters set him at odds with his friends; even he and Connie got off to a rough start because Nick suddenly became sensitive about his body.
Jessi Glasser struggles with the ups and downs of puberty the minute her period appeared. She constantly battles the Depression Kitty mostly because her mother has come out as a lesbian, her father is constantly distant, her stance on women's rights is often attacked, and she just realized she likes Nick's scary older brother, Judd, and his musky smell.
Jay is the inappropriate oddball of the group. It is unknown who his hormone monster is, Maury is convinced he's his own, and he is constantly jizzed up to anything. It actually pushes him to question his sexual identity. By the end of season 3, he has come out as bisexual, but nobody believes him. In season 3, we also learn he lives in a broken home; his father is a Saul Goodman-like two-bit lawyer, his mother is a wino, his brothers are abusive, his dog battles existentialism, and it's basically every man for himself.
Matthew is only other out kid in the group. He often teams up with Jessi on outings to protest age old sexist rituals. He constantly struggles with his solitude, fearing he'd find no one. But all that changes when he meets Aiden. Then he is flustered because his parents don't seem to know, let alone understand, that he's gay. I can see this go two ways. Mom will be all for it, but Army Dad is the kicker. he will either disown Matthew or go Call Me By Your Name and tell Matthew he's secretly gay too and applauds him of his bravery.
Missy is the group nerd that should be taken more seriously than she is. She comes from a supportive mixed family who teaches her to be herself. She always has something smart to say on whatever the subject is. But when she tries to speak up for herself, she is either shot down or she shoots others out of the way. Season 3 ends with Missy and her new monstress, Mona, likely starting a sexual war with the group. I feel she is going to really develop with will throw everyone off, but she slowly lose her intellect, brains for boobs. By the end she will have a Rizzo-esque musical number, hopefully sobering herself up. She has the capacity to be sexually attractive, and she knows it, but acting on it is what scares her. 

Is it weird to think about that on a 13-year-old animated girl?
Let me be clear that these kids are THIRTEEN years old! They are thinking about sex way too much. I remember being thirteen. I was still getting used to the morning reveille that goes on down there. I had no idea how to correlate with another partner. And the nudity is outrageous just because they are thirteen.
The adults in the show proves that we are never done developing. Coach Steve is an emotionally stunted adult who was still a virgin at 47. Apparently, the monsters help you develop until you can actually perform sexual intercourse, which may explain why Jay doesn't have a monster; he's constantly f*cking his pillows.
Jessi's parents demonstrate that marriages just fall apart, and that you can discover your sexuality late in life. Jessi's mother was actually dumped at the end of season 3, and she wants to move to the city, so we'll have to see where they go from there.
Andrew's parents appear to be a loveless relationship, and it appeared to get worse when the Menopause Banshee starts knocking on Mrs. Glouberman's door. But it's clear there's still some flamage in the marriage, Mr. Glouberman is just a stereotypical, angry Jewish man.
Nick's parents show that they're super affectionate with each other and their wildly different children. I actually wonder how long this will last, especially since Nick is starting to act hostile.
The hormone monsters make it all worth it because their outrageous humor causes you to do spit takes on the stupidest of jokes. When a child is confronted with a conflict, the monsters are always on the sidelines shouting horrendously bad advice, and you kind of sit on the edge of your seat wondering how the child will actually respond. But I wonder how the logic of the monsters work. Can the kids see each others' monsters? Can Nick see Maury and Andrew see Connie? When they consult with their monsters, are the kids imagining the conversation or are they seen as possibly insane, especially in a crowd? I believe I had Connie growing up; I wasn't about masculinity. Don't get me wrong, I want to look good, but I wasn't hitting the gym 24/7. I still feel the Depression Kitty's claws on me; it's a constant struggle right now. But I'm not helpless, so I'm sure that is scaring her off.
I find this show extremely helpful in educating the human anatomy, especially since I'm too embarrassed to ask certain questions. My mom is just as supportive as the Birches, it's overwhelming. There is one subject I want to talk about, but I need to do some research. One of the episodes had the kids put on a musical based on the 1994 film Disclosure. Stay tuned.

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Season 1
Released on Netflix: September 29, 2017
Rating: TV-MA
Stars: Nick Kroll, John Mulaney, Jessi Klein, Jason Mantzoukas, Jenny Slate, Fred Armisen, Maya Rudolph, Jordan Peele
Directors: Joel Moser, Bryan Francis, Mike L. Mayfield
Rotten Tomatoes: 100% Certified Fresh
IMDb Score: 7.7/10 (Average)

Season 2
Released on Netflix: October 5, 2018
Rating: TV-MA
Stars: Nick Kroll, John Mulaney, Jessi Klein, Jason Mantzoukas, Jenny Slate, Fred Armisen, Maya Rudolph, Jordan Peele
Directors: Bob Suarez, Bryan Francis, Joel Moser
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 100% Certified Fresh
IMDb Score: 8.0/10 (Average)

My Furry Valentine
Released on Netflix: February 8, 2019
Rating: TV-MA
Stars: Nick Kroll, John Mulaney, Jessi Klein, Jason Mantzoukas, Jenny Slate, Fred Armisen, Maya Rudolph, Jordan Peele
Directors: Kim Arndt, Bob Suarez
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 100% Certified Fresh
IMDb Score: 8.1/10

Season 3
Released on Netflix: October 4, 2019
Rating: TV-MA
Stars: Nick Kroll, John Mulaney, Jessi Klein, Jason Mantzoukas, Jenny Slate, Fred Armisen, Maya Rudolph, Jordan Peele
Directors: Bob Suarez, Bryan Francis, Joel Moser, Kim Arndt, Mike L. Mayfield
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 96% Certified Fresh
IMDb Score: 7.9/10 (Average)

Awards
Primetime Emmy Awards

• 2018 - Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics (Mark Rivers) - Nominated
• 2019 - Outstanding Animated Program - Nominated

(Clicking here to view more awards for "Big Mouth".)

"The Mandalorian" Season 1

 From the guy who dated Monica Gellar comes the TV show equivalent of getting the knock-off toy for Christmas as this was the answer to the Boba Fett movie we have asked for.

This western style adventure chronicles a notorious Mandalorian bounty hunter, not Boba, as he encounters a child with extraordinary abilities. For reasons we do not know, it is hunted by Gus Fring wielding a black lightsaber. That's it. That's the whole show.

Like westerns, this was highly predictable. Badass lawman making a living picking up scum from the desert, finds a child, develop, attachment of the child, becomes a wanted man, saves a random village he stumbles upon from local terrorists, the main bad guy corners him in the bar, they fight, you think the bad guy is dead; I'm surprised a western style poster with Gus' picture didn't show up on the screen with the text printed on it: "Gus Fring will return!"

Alright, let's settle this once and for all. How effective are blasters to the Mandalorian? Over the last forty years we have seen that one shot is all it takes to kill you, unless you are shot in the arm, then you're mildly injured. The worse damage it could do to the Mandalorian is strip his armor of its dignity. The blaster bolts bounce off of him and he's just pissed.

The pilot episode showed the Mandalorian putting his asset into carbon freeze. As I recall in Empire, Darth Vader considered it crude to put prisoners in carbonite. It appears, however, to be a common source of transporting prisoners. Maybe word spread of Han Solo surviving carbonite  and so bounty hunters started using it. Unless, the prisoners were wanted dead. 

This show ran the bad stormtrooper aim joke into the ground. It's not funny anymore. And the possiblity of the Mandalorian being a Gungan, it's like get some new jokes. You're the reason everyone hates Star Wars now. 

The story is set in wake of the fallen Empire, so no, the child IS NOT YODA! It makes me mad that we have access to all nine main movies, two spinoffs, a TV series, books, comics, and fabled bootleg movies to know that the child isn't Yoda. Yes, it's the same species as Yoda. But that doesn't mean its name is Yoda. That's incredibly racist. That's like calling every black person LeBron.

It's hard to truly get engaged with the show. It is forty percent walking through the desert, forty percent fixing the ship, ten percent negotiating, five percent playing peekaboo with the child, and five percent trying to skip ahead to the next episode when the credits roll. 

I will say this. The filmmakers seem dedicated to return to basics on some things, like using puppets and other practical effects. It does, however, look too shiny to really give that eighties aesthetic. I mean that's what made Star Wars so special. They managed to craft a compelling science fiction story that stood the test of time. I'm sorry, this show will fade in time. This is the Way.

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Released on Disney+: November 12 - December 27, 2019

Rating: TV-14

Stars: Pedro Pascal, Nick Nolte, Taika Waititi, Gina Carano, Carl Weathers, Werner Herzog, Giancarlo Esposito

Directors: Dave Filoni, Rick Famuyiwa, Deborah Chow, Bryce Dallas Howard, Taika Waititi

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93% Certified Fresh

IMDb Score: 8.6/10 (Average)

Awards

Primetime Emmy Awards

• Outstanding Drama Series - Nominated

Primetime Creative Emmy Awards

• Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance (Taika Waititi) - Nominated
• Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series (Half-Hour) (Greig Fraser & Baz Idoine) - Winner
• Outstanding Fantasy/Sci-Fi Costumes (Joseph Porro, Julie Robar, Gigi Melton and Lauren Silvestri) - Nominated
• Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series (Giancarlo Esposito) - Pending
• Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Ludwig Göransson) - Pending
• Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Program (Half-Hour or Less) (Andrew L. Jones, Jeff Wisniewski, Amanda Serino) - Winner
• Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup for a Series, Limited Series, Movie or Special (Brian Sipe, Alexei Dmitriew, Carlton Coleman, Samantha Ward, Scott Stoddard, Mike Ornelaz and Sabrina Castro) - Nominated
• Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series (Andrew S. Eisen) - Nominated
• Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series (Dana E. Glauberman and Dylan Firshein) - Nominated
• Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series (Jeff Seibenick) - Nominated
• Outstanding Sound Editing for a Comedy or Drama Series (Half-Hour) and Animation (David Acord, Matthew Wood, Bonnie Wild, James Spencer, Richard Quinn, Richard Gould, Stephanie McNally, Ryan Rubin, Ronni Brown and Jana Vance) - Winner
• Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (Half-Hour) and Animation (Shawn Holden, Bonnie Wild and Chris Fogel) - Winner
• Outstanding Special Visual Effects (Richard Bluff, Jason Porter, Abbigail Keller, Hayden Jones, Hal Hickel, Roy Cancino, John Rosengrant, Enrico Damm and Landis Fields) - Winner
• Outstanding Stunt Coordination for a Drama Series, Limited Series or Movie (Ryan Watson) - Winner

(Click here to view more awards for "The Mandalorian".)

Videos

TVSins - Everything Wrong With The Mandalorian "Pilot"

TVSins - Everything Wrong With The Mandalorian "The Child"

How It Should Have Ended - How The Mandalorian Should Have Ended (Season One)

Screen Junkies - Honest Trailers | The Mandalorian

"Mrs. America"

 Was this show meant for you to be uncomfortable? Because I was uncomfortable the whole time. I blame my school and my educators for this. There was so much that I didn't know about this time period. I remember the 2008 election very well, and the way news anchors kept talking about Hillary Clinton, I thought Clinton was the first woman ever to run for president, and my teachers didn't correct me. But this show has a different message: former U.S. Representative Shirley Chisholm became the first black woman to run for president in 1972. At first glance, you would think that the show forgot about Victoria Woodhull (1872), Belva Ann Lockwood (1884), Gracie Allen (1940), and Margaret Chase Smith (1964). But of course the key word is "black". 

Also growing up in school, I was lead to believe that all women were unanimously for ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment. Clearly that wasn't true. Phyllis Schlafly, a woman who has the ability to be hated and rooted for at the same time, leads the charge to STOP the ERA from passing. I had a hell of a time searching for the complete text of the amendment, but here it is below:

SECTION 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.

SECTION 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

SECTION 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification.

This seems simple enough. Organizations like NOW campaigned equal rights to all women: equal pay, health benefits, protection of lesbians, gay marriage, proper abortion care, a lot of this stuff we have now. But Schlafly and the rest of the STOP ERA were stuck on abortion, lesbians raising our children and drafting daughters into the military. The Vietnam War was winding down at the time, but the tensions against the war held on. I'm not sure what their argument truly was. They are proud Daughters of the American Revolution. Do they understand what women did in the Revolution? A woman gave up her petticoat so Paul Revere could muffle the oars on his boat as he sneaked across the Charles River. Molly Pitcher was one of the many women bringing water to thirsty soldiers at many battles. At one point, when her husband was wounded, she loaded a cannon herself. And let's not forget Betsy Ross sewed our nation's flag. There are plenty of women who want to serve their country, and plenty of men who don't. Why would you deny a woman's right to be drafted. Actually from what I understood, the Gulf Wars and the war in Afghanistan, after 9/11, we had so many volunteers that a draft wasn't necessary. 

A woman has the choice to do what she wants with her life. You chose the life of the housewife, and that's fine, but why are you forcing hundreds of thousands of woman to choose the same lifestyle? You can't support women and condemn them at the same time; that doesn't make sense. That's like talking trash about your favorite celebrity while wearing a T-shirt with their face on it. Same goes to working women. I ask that you support women in whatever they decide to do. Everyday, I question why supporting women at all. It's hard to pick a side when everyone is at each other's throats. And all to stop three sentences from ruling the land. And by the way, if the ERA had passed on time, you know Schlafly and the STOP ERA would take full advantage of it. 

Abortion. Why would you force a woman to keep a baby she doesn't want? You may say that it was her fault she wasn't careful. But what if she's 12 years old, and her father raped her? Would you still force her to carry the baby to term in her fragile body? Pregnancy is dangerous, always has been; women have died giving birth. Don't get me wrong, I don't like killing babies either, but I want women to have the choice. Like if it was mine, I will present my argument. I'd want to raise the child, but if she says she wants an abortion, I'll try to fight, but in the end it's her decision.

One of the biggest issues I had with the show is the men. I get it that times were different, but clearly these women were going places, so the men need to be supportive no matter what. They played like they were supportive, but Fred Schlafly didn't take it seriously that his wife could have won U.S. Representative, Jill Ruckelshaus' husband was vetted without her knowledge, Marc is pissed that Brenda is experiencing lesbianism, President Jimmy Carter fires Bella Abzug from the National Advisory Commission for Women, and newly-elected President Reagan dismisses Phyllis' chance of a Cabinet position. It seems that men think this is a game for women to play. I'm sure a lot of those sick bastards got hard watching women talk politics. Many of them in the show say that's why they married their wives: their wit. But they still attempt to lay down the law that men rule the country. Really the men just lit a fire under the ass of women, which will be the men's undoing.

On the other side of the issue, Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan lead the charge to ratify the ERA. The two clash one different versions of the same opinion. Friedan appeared to feel ancient to the new generation of feminists where she was basically saying, "Death to all Men!", and Steinem is trying to gather allies on all sides to push the movement forward. Steinem also clashes with Abzug on politics. Azbug, a former U.S. Senator knows the political game too well, and she struggles to relay that to Steinem, who wants to charge in guns blazing. It was a perfect balance to see a seasoned member of our government try to reason with a youngin' wanting change now.

One of the most compelling stories in this series is Alice Macray, Phyllis' right hand woman in the STOP ERA movement. Over the course of the series, she acts as a pipeline from Phyllis to the other women, but she eventually begins to question her beliefs, especially one drunk night at the National Women's Convention. She discovers a woman blessing the Eucharist, a God-fearing Christian woman who is a feminist, and that lesbians are not all bad. Her arc ends with her having a job, and that she feels empowered that she doesn't have to ask her husband for pin money.

This was a wonderful series that completely changed my perspective on several things. It's a shame it had to end, but I await more films and TV shows like it. 

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Released on FX On Hulu: April 15 - May 27, 2020
Rating: TV-MA
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Rose Byrne, Uzo Aduba, Elizabeth Banks, Kayli Carter, Ari Graynor, Melanie Lynskey, Margo Martindale, John Slattery, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Tracey Ullman, Sarah Paulson
Directors: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck, Amma Asante, Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre, Janicza Bravo
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 96%
IMDb Score: 8.2/10 (Average)

Awards

Primetime Emmy Awards

• Outstanding Limited Series - Nominated
• Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie (Cate Blanchett) - Nominated
• Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie (Uzo Aduba) - Winner
• Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie (Margo Martindale) - Nominated
• Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie (Tracey Ullman) - Nominated
• Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series, Movie or Dramatic Special (Tanya Barfield) - Nominated

Creative Primetime Emmy Awards

• Outstanding Casting for a Limited Series, Movie or Special (Carmen Cuba & Robin Cook) - Nominated
• Outstanding Period Costumes (Bina Daigeler, Erin Byrne, Bettina Seifert, Erika Larner, Mila Hermanovski and Eileen Kennedy) - Nominated
• Outstanding Music Composition for a Limited Series, Movie or Special (Original Dramatic Score) (Kris Bowers) - Nominated
• Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Limited Series or Movie (Robert Komatsu) - Nominated

(Click here to view more awards for "Mrs. America".)

"Da 5 Bloods"

Right from the very beginning, I thought that this was a sort of mockumentary because it opens up like a Civil Rights doc where more black people were being sent to Vietnam than white people. Then it goes to four retired vets, in their seventies, returning to Vietnam. Throughout the film, there are snapshots of often little-known, or unknown to white people, black heroes whenever they were brought up to prove a point in the group's bravery, which I'm pretty sure the pictures are there to show white people that they were real people.

This is probably a white thing to say, but I didn't think it was going to be good. Five young men discover treasure in a gunned down plane, that Uncle Sam has been sneaking to the NVA. It's like someone watched The Goonies and Without a Paddle and thought: What if they were black?

But I did wind up liking the movie. Underneath the silly plot that it is, the film shows that racism knows no boundaries, and former VC soldiers haven't forgiven the American soldiers. We have seen PTSD in movies before, but this kind of takes to a new level where one of the guys is haunted by his dead CO because he killed him with friendly fire. And honestly, it's rather humbling to see seventy year old men, no matter what color, cry with joy, and perhaps respect, for when they find his remains.

This is basically a Vietnam film of a new era. In the past, it was often played for laughs when an older person suddenly transforms from a kind and quiet person who does the crossword to one of the most feared leaders in the land. Everything floods back to them. It's like they never left. The last thirty minutes of the film is where it truly gets real, when one of the members finds redemption in killing his CO while digging his own grave. In the final shootout, a grenade is thrown, and another member throws himself on top of it without a second thought. There's a sense of brotherhood that has never been lost, even when they were at each other's throats. When it came down to it, there is nothing that will tear the spirit of Da 5 Bloods apart.

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Released on Netflix: June 12, 2020

Rating: R

Stars: Delroy Lindo, Jonathan Majors, Clarke Peters, Norm Lewis, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Mélanie Thierry, Paul Walter Hauser, Jasper Pääkkönen, Jean Reno, Chadwick Boseman

Director: Spike Lee

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 92% Certified Fresh

IMDb Score: 6.6/10