Kaoteek

Yeah, I think I'm gonna skip both December Bride & Operation Christmas, the cast & themes of those two don't appeal to me, at all. Just finished Every Christmas has a Story. Not bad, very likeable cast (obviously) with great chemistry, the romance side of thing wasn't too heavyhanded, and overall, it didn't seem to take itself too seriously, which is always a plus. That said, the whole town mystery angle was a tad contrived, and the final stretch felt a bit rushed, which kinda detracted from the overall experience. Not a future classic, but still perfectly watchable.

I'll make this one quick : Ryan, 5AM & Honey G were unmemorable, bordering on mediocre ; Sara was fine, but looked... wedding-cake-ish ; I really liked Matt's Writing's on the Wall ; and Emily's song left me cold. My guess is Ryan is finally gone, this week. Though I could see Sara's Titanic not connecting with the crowd. EDIT : Results :

(Very) slowly catching up on recent Christmas movies. - The Bridge part 1 & 2 felt like a mediocre, standard, 90 minutes Hallmark tv movie stretched to last twice that, I was absolutely bored to death by the time its final hour kicked in. Really liked Katie Findlay, though. - A Perfect Christmas felt like National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (or at least, it seemed to try to emulate the same sense of chaos that movie had), but if that movie had a bland cast, a bland script, and just not enough energy, chaos, and... well, not enough of anything, really. I appreciate the fact that, for once, it wasn't your standard Hallmark romance, but still, utterly forgettable, and it wasn't really surprising to see Hallmark sacrifice that movie by premiering it during summer. - A Wish for Christmas, aka Lacey Chabert's Annual Christmas Movie, aka Hide The Bump, was... watchable. I usually like those "magic wish" movies (not too fond of business-centric ones, though), but it was nothing to write home about, and it ended up kinda dragging during its middle stretch, when they tried to have that family drama without really paying it off on screen at the end. - The Mistletoe Promise had potential, but I really didn't feel the execution, and the cast even less. Well, let me rephrase that : Luke Macfarlane was fine, but I really disliked Jaime King in this : her style, her hair, her make-up, her cold demeanor, and so on. She screamed more "Hallmark movie villain/rival" than "romantic lead", and I didn't feel she had much chemistry with Macfarlane. So... a huge meh for that movie.

Results :

This week was pretty boring, to be honest, even though I like Disco. Saara was fine & felt legit in her performance ; Sam's I will Survive was very by the book, lacked energy and was utterly unmemorable, just like Ryan's Play that Funky Music ; one of the Jackson 5AM seemed completely off tune, and the medley + break at the end of the song didn't work for me ; Matt was okay, but that song isn't one of my favs ; Emily felt slightly off-key during most of the song ; and Honey G was Honey G. Can't say i'm particularly invested in who stays and who leaves anymore, but still, it would be nice to keep Saara a couple of weeks more, til December. Just think of the Christmas/Santa/Finland puns & songs they could do with her !

Song choices for this week. .... Yay. --------- EDIT : Okay, so... Matt was pretty mediocre ; Sam wasn't much better ; Honey G still has the energy, but that's about it ; Ryan was somewhat better than usual, which doesn't say much ; once again, I have no memory of Four of Diamonds' song ; didn't like Saara's song or esthetic choices, but at least she was memorable, and sang it well ; not a fan of Emily's One Direction ; 5 after Midnight's wasn't half bad, and them going last was smart, especially considering the rest of the show. In summary : I was thoroughly bored, this week, both by the song choices, and most performances.

Results : Next week, Fake enthusiasm !

I think I'll repeat my comment from last week : I'm so glad Saara's there to put on a memorable performance. Jackson 5AM's Thriller was okay, but a bit dodgy here and there ; Gifty's song was bland ; I wasn't a huge fan of Matt's version of I put a spell on you, but that wasn't on him, that was on the orchestration ; Honey G was... she was there ; Ryan's Backstreet Boys cover was a huge MISS ; Sam was okay, but a) the song had nothing to do with Halloween, and b) her voice just doesn't really work for me ; I've already forgotten what 4 of Diamonds were singing ; and Emily's Radiohead cover was fine but didn't leave much of an impression, overall. A bit too static, maybe.

I'm also expecting the Jackson 5AM to get Thriller, with the choreography, and so on... but i'm really hoping they'll be going all out with Saara, and give her something as theatrical & excentric as this week's Bjork.

At least Saara Aalto was memorable, this week. The rest of them are already just a blur. Aside from Honey G, sadly.

Oy vey. I think I haven't been so bored by a season in a while. Aside from Matt Terry (most likely to be in the final two/win the damn thing) & the Jackson 3 5 A.M. (energetic, fun, dynamic), noone stood out, this week : - Freddie Parker & Ryan Lawrie were both bland as heck and totally unmemorable. - Emily Middlemas didn't fare much better with her low-key, low-energy Stop, in the name of love cover. - Relley C had the perfect look for tonight, but she was just staring blankly into space during most of her song, and she's just lacking charisma compared to someone like Gifty. - Sam was... eh. And inaudible at some points due to the music/chorus. - One thing I can't blame Honey G for : she's giving it all she's got, and she's sincerely trying. But that's about it. - Gifty was pretty average, and unnecessarily shouty, tonight. Not the best song choice. - Can't help but have a soft spot for Finland girl, but she's way too over the top & theatrical in her singing to go anywhere in such a competition. Way too Eurovisiony. Or Vegasy. - Oh, I almost forgot Four of Diamonds. Quick, before I forget their performa-- oh, wait, too late, I have totally forgotten it. Oh, well. Can't say I'm really waiting for the results with bated breath.

...

I'm wondering if, at some point, they won't have some sort of scripted Honey G meltdown, and then, they'll be in a position to bring back Ivy Grace. (unlikely, I know)

Louie's & Sharon's picks... yeesh. As for Simon's & Nicole's, no real surprise there. Can't say i'm really looking forward to the live shows, with that roster...

Ugh, I hate the Wildcards stuff. Ivy Grace couldn't get a visa to to go the Judge's House in LA, so she's out, replaced by... Honey G. Also, Samantha Slavery, Ryan Lawrie, Finnish girl, and Yes LAd are back. Yay.

Yeah, it's not working for me. A good part of the problem is the odd picture & pose, in and of itself, but I can't say that I like the costume. The belt seems blocky and gives him a mid-80s action figure waist, the gold at the shoulders is just pointless, the overall costume lacks shape & form (which kills the actor's physique), and yeah, the actor's look & 5 o'clock shadow don't help. Not a fan.

Yeah, week 2 was more of the same, really : silly costumes (batman, robin, wolverine, pseudo-ninja and so on), sub-par commentary (repeating the rules of every single obstacle every time a new contestant gets to it really gets old, really fast ; jokes about a contestant's unshaved armpits, another contestant's buttocks in tights...) and still that very dated direction & editing, more focused on showing the family & friends' reactions after every obstacle than on giving the show some sort of rhythm or pacing... They're really playing the comedy card with this show (and downplaying the athletism one), and it's starting to backfire on social media, since the comparisons with Wipeout & Takeshi's Castle abound (both shows have aired on French tv a while back), and they're not favorable to Ninja Warrior. As far as ratings go, the show went from 5M to 4M between ep 1 and 2 ; remains to see if the show has legs...

Ship's ugly as sin but in Fuller I trust.

As much as I like Aimee Carrero (and Pinkston, too), I liked this setup better when it was called Supergirl (bitchy boss mispronouncing her assistant's first name included). Not a fan of that backdoor pilot, as you can guess, especially since the plot was pretty much by the book, and been there seen that.

The french version just aired it's first episode, and... meh. It's not really surprising, given the network it airs on, but the choices made by the production really killed it for me. It was flat, lifeless, repetitive (they only aired the first qualifying round, with a very unimpressive course, and mostly mediocre contestants), dated (the music queues were... campy) and the commentary team didn't really help, never really taking the competition seriously, with Dennis Brogniart announcing it with his "I'm doing the voiceovers of the French Survivor" voice & rehearsed comments, and Christophe Beaugrand's one-liners being barely Ninja Warrior UK-worthy. Also, way too much emphasis was put on the portraits, but, again, that's not really surprising, since TF1 focused a lot of the promo work, prior to airing, on the minor celebrities & web-famous people taking part in the show. That's their big selling point, here : "you know, that funny comedian you like on our network ? Come watch him fail miserably at the quintuple steps"... *sigh*

So far, Walter's vision is the most cohesive and well executed. Melissa's felt low-key and uninspired, she looks like she has nothing left in the tank. As for Rob, his concept just didn't translate well (though the possessed make-up was a bad idea, right from the start), and his director didn't help much. Unless either Melissa or Rob does a 180 with a genius demon make-up, I don't see Walter losing the competition.

Not a great week, once again, between a silly looking man-bat, an unfinished Gorn, an insect with all-too-human eyes, and Mel's human cockroach. Funnily enough, even though the final three were a given based on their overall body of work, I liked Mel's creation more than the other three, this week. Next week doesn't look too promising, as far as finals go : create a camera-ready monster for an horror short... meh.

So much fun. So much color. So much lightheartedness. So much adorableness. And funnily enough, even though I'm not a huge fan of the way they handled Banshee's offscreen transformation & sudden super-strength, I like her look. Granted, it would work better in a dark alley or under a stormy sky, and not in the middle of a park in broad daylight, but still, compared to the cheesy, low-rent Livewire we've got, she's much better, imo.

Well, that was one successful make-up (the obvious winner), and four misses - one obvious loser (that goblin was a mess), one mediocre, no-creativity, xeroxed-from-the-in-game-model troll (which felt a bit simplistic in its sculpting), one bipedal cow (loved Kazinsky's comments), and one barely wolfy enough worgen. Meh. As for the upcoming semi-finals, I'm bracing for the worst, with that "create a species from Kong's Skull Island" theme.

Not a huge fan of Melissa's cyclops (too busy, indeed, and a tad too Jem'Hadar for my tastes), and Rob's fetl derivative to me (I'm positive I've already seen that color palette & approximate sculpt elsewhere), but they were clearly top 2 here. As for the bottom two... well Walter's looked good from afar, mediocre from up close, but still better than dogface and rough, basic, horned blacksmith. Those two were my bottom two, and no, I wouldn't have saved any of those.