Westworld (2016-22)

Westworld was supposed to be HBO's successor to Game of Thrones in terms of epic fantasy and expense and violence and nudity. And it had a promising start. Season 1 was top notch TV. It delivered on the spectacle and the mind-blowing twists. And it had a philosophical bent to it. There were some really beautiful, poignant episodes--I specifically remember Akechata's Season 2 episode 8 titled Kiksuya. Season 2 was actually quite good in retrospect with its biblical scope, but I didn't see that until the end. While watching season 2, I found it to be kind of a drag. Seasons 3 and 4 did absolutely nothing for me. They were so complicated and boring. How did they lose the magic of Season 1? It became a totally different show. Once they left the park and entered "reality" it became too convoluted. And it's not like season 1 was even easy to follow. I'm glad they finally pulled the plug because I had felt obligated to slog through the last two seasons.

Welcome to Me (2014)

This movie was very strange. Just listen to the premise: a woman with borderline personality disorder wins the lottery and uses her winnings to buy a talk show.  She basically aspires to be Oprah. How do you make a personality disorder funny? Leave that to Kristen Wiig.  This movie has the same feel as The Skeleton Twins--it is sort of slow, has its moments, but drags in the middle. Wiig lives in a casino for some reason, has some weird obsession with swans, and she silently, uncomfortably stares into the camera a lot.  Basically, her character is pretty crazy and Wiig just runs with it. It's so ridiculous that it just barely works. This only works because of her, and Joan Cusack is pretty funny too.  

The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2013)

Isao Takahata spent many years on this film, allegedly his final film, and it paid off.  Takahata is a master at his craft, proving Studio Ghibli to truly be one of the most prolific studios for bringing the world the works of two legends.  Adapted from an ancient Japanese folktale, The Tale of the Princess Kaguya is a majestic triumph. The artwork is truly stunning.  In an age when most all of the animated films produced are computer animated in the same style, it is refreshing and comforting to see hand-drawn lines, soft edges, and beautiful watercolors.  The scenes with a lot of movement are particularly stunning but the stills allow the viewer to admire the exquisite artwork.  I have never seen a movie that looked quite like this and it is brilliant.

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013)

This movie is very uniquely Will Ferrell-style comedy.  He assumes the now iconic character of Ron Burgundy and just runs with the ridiculous nonsense.  It is very fast paced, with jokes in rapid succession.  The jokes are not as memorable as those one-liners from the first film,, but many of them hit the nail right on the head thanks to good execution.  The cast has mastered improv techniques and funny-looking facial expressions.  Aside from jokes, the plot is a relevant, clever, and spot-on satire on cable news.   Burgundy finds work at the thinly veiled 24-hour news network.  What do they do when they don't have 24-hours worth of news? He helms the decline of journalism and the rise of car chases and animal videos.  To quote Will Ferrell, "You're welcome, America."