Series Review: Black Bird (2022)

Don’t do crime. Or do, I’m not your mom, you face the consequences of the legal system if you wish. I’d recommend you don’t, but I can’t make ya.

Disclaimer: I know this thing is based on a true story, but I will not base my review on how perfectly accurate to the real situation it may or may not be, but I will instead judge it as a show… which it is. Disclaimer over.

Ladies, gents, and non-binaries… “Black Bird”.

After getting sent to prison to serve a ten year sentence, drug dealer Jimmy Keene (Taron Egerton) makes a deal with the FBI to befriend a suspected serial killer (Paul Walter Hauser) in order to hopefully get information on the locations of the victims. And so we follow Jimmy taking a dive into murky water as he works to befriend the suspect, along with trying to stay alive within the prison system. All the while a detective (Greg Kinnear) tries to solve the case on the outside. “Black Bird” is a slow burn drama, a believably gritty and unsettling descent into darkness, exploring the depths of human depravity and what that can do to seemingly normal people who get drawn into it. It’s a compelling six episode run, a little too slow in moments, but for the most part it’s well paced and quite riveting and got so deep in the murky waters that it made me feel like I needed to scrub myself off on multiple occasions. It’s dark, it’s nuanced, it’s haunting, it’s a great story.

The characters in this are all quite interesting, believably flawed and written with enough layers to make them feel real. Taron Egerton plays Jimmy Keene, a cocky, womanizing drug dealer who has to eat a bit of humble pie when he’s arrested. I like having him as a protagonist because he’s a charming asshat, a twat that has enough charisma to keep me from totally hating him. It makes for some compelling drama, as he is a bit unlikable at times. And Egerton is great in the role, especially in the last two episodes where he truly gets to flex his chops. Next is Paul Walter Hauser as Larry Hall, a seemingly timid, kind of odd man who’s the suspect that Jimmy has to befriend. He’s a really fascinating character in ways that are hard to explain without giving away things, but they do some really interesting stuff with his development and I always found engaging. And Hauser is great in the role. The rest of the cast is great too, containing people like Ray Liotta (R.I.P), Greg Kinnear, Sepideh Moafi, Robert Wisdom, Tony Amendola, Robyn Malcolm, and more.

The score for the show was composed by ambient rock band Mogwai, and hoooooo I loved what they did here. Utilizing some piano, synths, and guitars, they create this unsettling and emotionally rich atmosphere that really added so much to the show, along with being pure ear candy. There are also a handful of licensed songs used throughout and I think they work quite well in their respective scenes.

Based on a book by James Keene and Hillel Levin called “In With the Devil”, “Black Bird” was developed for Apple TV+ by Dennis Lehane (my favorite author), with writing by him and a few others, and directing divided between Michaël Roskam, Joe Chappelle, and Jim McKay. I really dug the way this was crafted, giving the show a grimy, borderline claustrophobic feel, even in scenes set outside of the prison. The crew somehow find ways of making sure no scenes ever really feels safe, bringing an oppressive atmosphere that really brought me into the darkness in a really eerie and strong way.

This show has been well received. On Rotten Tomatoes it has a 97% positive rating and a “Fresh” certification. On Metacritic it has a score of 80/100. And on imdb.com it has a score of 8.1/10.

“Black Bird” is an unsettling, really compelling drama series that I can highly recommend. It has a great story, great characters, fantastic performances, great music, and great directing. Time for my final score. *Ahem*. My final score for “Black Bird” is a 9.56/10. Which means it gets a “SEAL OF APPROVAL!”.

My review of “Black Bird” is now completed.

Blackbird singing in the dead of niiiiight…

Movie Review: Green Zone (2010)

*Ron Perlman voice activated* War… War never changes. *Ron Perlman voice deactivated*.

Ladies and gentlemen, prepare to enter the… “Green Zone”.

Baghdad, 2003. Roy Miller (Matt Damon) is a US soldier that has been sent to find weapons of mass destruction within the unstable and war-torn city. However, the information he’s been given seems to lead him to jack shit every time. And soon Miller finds himself more or less uncovering a bit of a conspiracy regarding why they are actually in Iraq. Sounds like a really cool plot, kind of “Bourne” meets “Black Hawk Down”. And how is the plot here? Eh. I wouldn’t call it bad, I never sat there going “This is shit”. But it’s easy to see that they are trying to be really deep and have this be an incredibly engaging plot, but I honestly think they missed a bit. Like I said, it’s not bad, but I think that it isn’t as great as it tries to be.

The characters in this movie are bland and not too interesting. Sure, they try to give a few of them some backstory, but I never thought “Wow, this is a great character!”. Matt Damon is great as Miller. He is a somewhat likable badass. And by likable I mean that he’s not a total asshole. And Matt Damon clearly gives it his all. Greg Kinnear plays intelligence agent Clark Poundstone (actual name) and he was really good in the role. Brendan Gleeson plays CIA agent Martin Brown and he’s great in the role. Amy Ryan plays a Wall Street Journal reporter in the movie and she was really good. We also get Jason Isaacs (sporting a bitchin’ mustache) as a soldier and he’s really good. The entire cast is really good even though their characters aren’t the most interesting.

The score for the movie was composed by John Powell and it was really good. It’s very tense and exciting and helps elevate a lot of the scenes in the movie. It’s basically styled in a similar way to Powell’s “Bourne” scores, minus some of the more spy-ish elements. And it’s really good.

This movie was directed by Paul Greengrass and he did a pretty solid job. His signature intense handheld style is alive and well in this movie and it really brings something to certain scenes in the movie… mainly the action scenes. Because even though some of the moer talk-y scenes in the movie ar emore on the meh side of thigns, the action scenes are badass. When the bullets start flying, this movie is really exciting. The action is really intense and badass.

This movie has gotten some mixed reception. On Rotten Tomatoes it has a 53% positive rating. On Metacritic it has a score of 63/100. Roger Ebert gave it 4/4 stars. And on imdb.com it has a score of 6,8/10.

“Green Zone” is a pretty good action-thriller. It has an okay story, meh characters, really good performances, really good music, and really good directing. But since it’s story isn’t the most engaging and the characters not the most interesting, it is brought down a bit. Time for my final score. *Bang*. My final score for “Green Zone” is a 7,89/10. So even though it’s flawed, I’d still say that it’s worth renting.

My review of “Green Zone” is now completed.

*Insert clever outro here.*.