Pasckie Pascua's Nerdy Squirrel Reviews: TV Series.

“Outside” (2024, Netflix) Philippine post-apocalyptic drama horror, tells the story of a family trying to outrun a zombie outbreak by returning to the father's childhood farmhouse. Quite honestly, this is one of the best zombie movies that I have seen, and I have seen a lot since George Romero's 1978 classic “Dawn of the Dead.”        Utmost, the acting is exemplary. Sid Lucero as the conflicted, homicidal dad Francis, deserves an award for this. As well as Beauty Gonzales as the tormented wife, Iris.           You can let go of the lumbering, super slow delivery of the dialogues, which reminded me of Nicolas Winding Refn's movies. But Refn's work bored me; not “Outside,” written and directed by Carlo Ledesma.         Apparently, the movie was low-budgeted yet the non-bombastic treatment of the series kept it focused. This is more of a family drama than a post-a...

“Asphalt City” (2023, Hulu) thriller drama directed by Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire , based on the 2008 novel “Black Flies” by Shannon Burke .  Sean Penn and Tye Sheridan star as veteran and newbie paramedics working in New York City. The film explores the effects of psychological trauma experienced by first responders .         Dark, angry, gloomy. You save a life in one day, yet upon knowing others don't make it while on your watch the next day, drives you insane. The guilt isn't yours yet you own it, anyway. What a depressing movie. But admittedly well-made.          Tye Sheridan as the tormented Ollie Cross is a revelation. S ean Penn as Gene Rutkovsky is characteristic Sean Penn, always intensely focused but never hysterical.        Overall credit goes to Monsieur Sauvaire. He meant to shudder, no chasers in between. Yet he didn't do much with the camera, or rattle...

“American Rust” (Showtime) crime drama . 2 Seasons. Based on the 2009 novel by Philipp Meyer, this series is set in a small Rust Belt town in Pennsylvania . Chief of police Del Harris takes on an investigation when the son of the woman he loves is accused of murder.        Del Harris is Jeff Daniels; the woman that he loves is Grace Poe, played by Maura Tierney. Reliable character actor Bill Camp is on Season 1. You can't lose with these three veteran performers.        On the outset, the sullen, grim and downcast photography sets you up to a lumbering side-trip to steeltown decay. You could almost smell the concrete stench of abandoned steel that is smothered by all kinds of dirt and filth. Which is, you know, good viewing to me.         Season 1 pretty much kept me glued. Fine aching, especially by Alex Neustaedter and David Alvarez as the tormented young men Billy and Isaac....

“The Bear” Season 3, drama of some sort. I must say I enjoyed Season 1 and Season 2, regardless of some episodes that seem painstakingly stretched. Examples: Carmy's monologue and the family dinner “battle royale” of fiery mouths.        Season 3 is, uhh. I don't know. We were already on Episode 9 (of 10) but still I couldn't grasp a conflict or story or a real dramatic sequence other than the yelling and the F word. The only time that I sense a story is in E7, Tina's episode with Michael.        I don't question the overall acting though. But S3 is basically a ruminative, impressionistic redo of S1/S2 or Carmy's elongated mushy dramatics. And damn, this is NOT comedy as categorized by the Emmy people. Comedy is "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia." 🎥📺📽 “The Perfect Couple” (Netflix) mystery drama miniseries based on the 2018 novel with the same name by Elin Hilderbrand . More like a daytime soap opera with a bit...

“Forgotten Love” (2023 Netflix) Polish drama adapted from the novel “Znachor” by Tadeusz Dołęga-Mostowicz . The story takes place during the period between WWI and WWII, about a surgeon who is at the peak of his medical career when his wife leaves him, taking with her his daughter.        The title is a bit cheesy, the plot is a daytime soap derivative. I didn't even notice this “Forgotten Love” as I surfed Netflix's lineup, looking for a movie to watch on a weekend. Until my living room watch comrade and BFF Cindyrella suggested that we try this obscure Polish period drama.         And so I was captivated. Although I was far from enthralled, I totally enjoyed the old school storytelling and no-frills, no-pretensions filmmaking. The 2-hr, 20 minutes feature wasn't boring at all yet no bloated sex scenes, no ultra-dramatic tensions, no swashbuckling fight scenes.         Jus...

<>“Running with the Devil” 2019, starring Nicolas Cage and Laurence Fishburne . Traces the journey of cocaine, moving from the fields to the processing facilities, and then crossing borders to reach the distributors. Hey, Mr Cage and Mr Fishburne together in a crime/narcos movie is a winnable bet, don’t you agree? Add Cole Hauser, who pretty much essays the same Rip character that he muscled around in “Yellowstone,” you are at 7-3 odds you'd enjoy this macho ride-along.        The characters are introduced as The Cook, The Man, Agent In Charge, The Boss, The Snitch, The Farmer, and The Executioner. So you know how the entire ride is gonna be. To his credit, the director Jason Cabell had a winner in 2016’s “Smoke Filled Lungs,” which he wrote, directed, and won Best Actor for at the Milan Filmmakers Film Festival. The movie also won Best Picture.        To my disappointment though, “Running…” isn’t a winner. It ...

“Dog” (2022, Tubi) comedy drama road film directed by Channing Tatum and Reid Carolin , both making their respective film directorial debuts. The film stars Mr Tatum as an Army Ranger who is tasked with escorting the military dog of his fallen friend to his funeral. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, praising the direction as well as Channing’s performance, and was also a box office success, grossing $85 million worldwide.        There's really nothing so new about the storyline. Dog movies are pretty much the same and almost all of them elicited tears from many “hooman” eyes, of course. “Dog” is no different. However, Lulu–the female Belgian Malinois–touched me at a time when Hurricane Helene was crushing me mentally, a PTSD stab that brought me back home. Wounded memories of typhoon deaths and cataclysmic destruction.        What has a dog got to do with it? Far from my home country and ...