Batwoman (2019) s01e09 – Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Two (1)
The Stop Button Posted by on Dec 10, 2019
So “Batwoman”’s Crisis crossover is rather instructional, at least in understanding what’s going to go wrong with it (the crossover). The writing. “Batwoman”’s script is all right. Not great, but leaps and bounds over the previous one. Even if the performances get a little shaky and they’re read more
Batwoman (2019) s01e09 – Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Two (2)
The Stop Button Posted by on Dec 10, 2019
So “Batwoman”’s Crisis crossover is rather instructional, at least in understanding what’s going to go wrong with it (the crossover). The writing. “Batwoman”’s script is all right. Not great, but leaps and bounds over the previous one. Even if the performances get a little shaky and they’re read more
Pale Flower (1964, Shinoda Masahiro) (2)
The Stop Button Posted by on Dec 10, 2019
Pale Flower opens with lead Ikebe Ryô narrating his first day out of prison. Not what he does—we get to see what he does—but how he feels about being out, what he notices. He’s killed a man, been in prison for three years, and nothing has changed in Tokyo. The dead man’s absence doesn’t matter, read more
Buy the new Ijeoma Oluo book (2)
The Stop Button Posted by on Dec 10, 2019
Earlier this year when I launched Visual Reflux as the new everything but The Stop Button blog, I thought I was going to get interested in the technical aspects of blogging again. I was wrong. The technical aspects of blogging are a chore now. At least the first time around, it wasn’t like people read more
Supergirl (2015) s05e09 – Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part One (1)
The Stop Button Posted by on Dec 9, 2019
With the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover, the CW Arrowverse achieves one of those DC Comics’s successes—they promise they understand, they promise they get it, they promise they’ll do it right, then it’s terrible. Not just regular terrible but also profoundly inept in some manner. See, you read more
Supergirl (2015) s05e09 – Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part One (2)
The Stop Button Posted by on Dec 9, 2019
With the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover, the CW Arrowverse achieves one of those DC Comics’s successes—they promise they understand, they promise they get it, they promise they’ll do it right, then it’s terrible. Not just regular terrible but also profoundly inept in some manner. See, you read more
Watchmen (2019) s01e04 – If You Don’t Like My Story, Write Your Own (1)
The Stop Button Posted by on Dec 8, 2019
I’m not sure what would be a more unpleasant way to spend an hour, listening to “Watchmen”… “creator” Damon Lindelof talk about Alan Moore or listening to him talk about way too influential screenwriting professor Robert McKee. McKee has some profoundly insipid advice on writing and read more
Watchmen (2019) s01e04 – If You Don’t Like My Story, Write Your Own (2)
The Stop Button Posted by on Dec 8, 2019
I’m not sure what would be a more unpleasant way to spend an hour, listening to “Watchmen”… “creator” Damon Lindelof talk about Alan Moore or listening to him talk about way too influential screenwriting professor Robert McKee. McKee has some profoundly insipid advice on writing and read more
The Mandalorian (2019) s01e05 – The Gunslinger (2)
The Stop Button Posted by on Dec 8, 2019
So series executive producer Dave Filoni, who apparently unmemorably directed the first episode, is back here. He’s writing too, making it the first “Mandalorian” not written by series creator Jon Favreau. So The Gunslinger doesn’t feel like Favreau playing with his Return of the Jedi Kenner read more
Emma (1996, Douglas McGrath) (2)
The Stop Button Posted by on Dec 8, 2019
Emma keeps misplacing things. For a long stretches, it misplaces second-billed Toni Collette (who goes from being the subject of the first half to an afterthought in the most of the second half to just a plot foil in the third act). There’s also lead Gwyneth Paltrow’s painting. The film opens with read more
Evil (2019) s01e09 – Exorcism Part 2 (2)
The Stop Button Posted by on Dec 8, 2019
This episode actually surprised me, which I didn’t realize “Evil” could do, but I was wrong. I really didn’t expect the show to head-on confront the Catholic Church enabling, supporting, and facilitating child rape with it being a-okay and turning their number one “defending child rapists” read more
Emma (1996, Douglas McGrath) (1)
The Stop Button Posted by on Dec 8, 2019
Emma keeps misplacing things. For a long stretches, it misplaces second-billed Toni Collette (who goes from being the subject of the first half to an afterthought in the most of the second half to just a plot foil in the third act). There’s also lead Gwyneth Paltrow’s painting. The film opens with read more
The Mandalorian (2019) s01e05 – The Gunslinger (1)
The Stop Button Posted by on Dec 8, 2019
So series executive producer Dave Filoni, who apparently unmemorably directed the first episode, is back here. He’s writing too, making it the first “Mandalorian” not written by series creator Jon Favreau. So The Gunslinger doesn’t feel like Favreau playing with his Return of the Jedi Kenner read more
Evil (2019) s01e09 – Exorcism Part 2 (1)
The Stop Button Posted by on Dec 8, 2019
This episode actually surprised me, which I didn’t realize “Evil” could do, but I was wrong. I really didn’t expect the show to head-on confront the Catholic Church enabling, supporting, and facilitating child rape with it being a-okay and turning their number one “defending child rapists” read more
Superstore (2015) s01e02 – Magazine Profile (1)
The Stop Button Posted by on Dec 7, 2019
Two months have passed since the previous episode—based on how long new guy Ben Feldman has been at the store and he’s gotten a settled in. During those two months he’s apparently chilled on the America Ferrera romantic interest, or—more likely—the writers realized they were rushing that plot read more
Superstore (2015) s01e03 – Shots and Salsa (1)
The Stop Button Posted by on Dec 7, 2019
This episode is one of those sitcom episodes where you’re laughing so loud and so constantly, there’s a chance you’re going to miss something. If it weren’t paced well. And it’s paced extremely well, between Ruben Fleischer’s direction and Justin Spitzer’s writing, there’s always the read more
Supergirl (2015) s05e08 – The Wrath of Rama Khan (1)
The Stop Button Posted by on Dec 7, 2019
The episode opens with Supergirl flying to Lena’s secret base to try to reason with her but Lena ignores her because Lena’s already got the bestest friend she could ever have in Andrea Brooks, who used to be Ms. Teschmacher but is now the AI Lena created to keep her company when she planned on beat read more
“Meddling Kids” (1)
The Stop Button Posted by on Dec 7, 2019
You know what’s not a word? Self-depreciating. Self-deprecating is a word, self-depreciating is not. I wish I’d consulted a dictionary in high school when I added the word—which I pronounced self-deprecating but a friend definitely told me it was pronounced self-depreciating; I could’ve won read more
Superstore (2015) s01e04 – Mannequin (1)
The Stop Button Posted by on Dec 7, 2019
“Superstore” significantly ups its game this episode. The cold open has Jonah (Ben Feldman) trying to show off how well he’s bonded with his coworkers by unintentionally insulting most of them. The sequence ends in a great banter showdown between manager Mark McKinney and assistant manager Lauren read more
All Rise (2019) s01e09 – How to Succeed in Law Without Really Re-Trying (1)
The Stop Button Posted by on Dec 7, 2019
Okay, when I said “All Rise” reminded me of “Major Crimes,” maybe I shouldn’t have cursed the show with an Ever Carradine guest star. Carradine plays an old defense lawyer nemesis of Simone Missick’s, who’s got an appeal—she wants to get alt-righter, white supremacist Ben Leasure out read more