228. Web-series Reviews – 74

More web-series (real stories) about greed and a gullible society😊

Inventing Anna – Came out in 2022.   In Inventing Anna, a journalist with a lot to prove investigates the case of Anna Delvey, the Instagram-legendary German heiress who stole the hearts of New York's social scene and stole their money as well. But is Anna New York's biggest con woman or is she simply the new portrait of the American dream? Anna and the reporter form a dark funny love-hate bond as Anna awaits trial and our reporter fights the clock to answer the biggest question in NYC: who is Anna Delvey? The series is inspired by the New York Magazine article "How Anna Delvey Tricked New York's Party People" by Jessica Pressler, who also serves as a producer.

One of the reviews from IMDB...

As "Inventing Anna" (2022 release; 9 episodes ranging 60 to 80 min each) opens, we are reminded that "This whole story is completely true. Except the parts that are totally made up." We then go to "November 20, 2017" as Anna Delvey is charged in a New York court with various crimes and remanded to Rikers Island. In a parallel story line, we are introduced to Vivian Kent, a struggling writer at Manhattan Magazine and who happens to be pregnant with her first child. She pitches the idea of doing a deep dive on this Anna Delvey to the magazine, and goes off to Rikers to meet Anna in person. At this point we are 15 min into Episode 1.

Couple of comments: this is the latest brainchild from Shonda Rhimes ("Grey's Anatomy", "Bridgeton"). Here she uses an article from New York magazine to bring a sprawling look at the real life story of this mysterious Anna Delvey a/k/a Anna Sorokin. Who is she? A German heiress with unlimited funds from her trust? A skilled con woman out to connive Manhattan's high society? Both? More? This mini-series spares no expenses, and we get a lot of "the life styles of the rich and famous" type stuff. And Julia Garner ("Ozark") is terrific in the lead role. But two things hold this mini-series back: first, I am bothered by the disclaimer that opens each episode that "all is true, except where it isn't". So what this means is that we have no idea what parts are based on the real life story of Anna Delvey, and what is "totally made up". Second, at a running time of almost 10 hours, the mini-series is too long for its own good. Leave out the fluff, and instead it should've made a terrific 3 or 4 part mini-series. After having seen the first three episodes last night, I thought to myself "Am I really gonna spend time to watch 6 more episodes of this?" I honestly don't know as of now.

"Inventing Anna" premiered on Netflix a few days ago, and all 9 episodes are now ready to be binged if you are so inclined. If you are into true crime mixed with "life styles of the rich and famous", I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

My Take – A worthwhile watch!

McMillions – Came out in 2020.  A detailed account of the McDonald's Monopoly game scam during the 1990s as told by the participants in the case, including the prizewinners and the FBI agents involved.

One of the reviews from IMDB...

"McMillions" (2020 release; 6 episodes of about 1 hr. each) is a documentary mini-series about the infamous McDonald's Monopoly game, which was rigged for over a decade (1989-2001). As Episode 1 opens, we are given a 30,000 ft. big picture summary of what happened, and we then turn to "Jacksonville, Florida 2001" where we get to know several FBI agents. One of them gets a tip about the Monopoly winners of the last decade somehow being connected to each other. The FBI starts looking into it, and lo and behold, the FBI findings confirm the connections. But how exactly did they pull this fraud off? Who is "Uncle Jerry"? And was someone within McDonald's in on it? At this point we are 15 min. into Episode 1.

Couple of comments: this mini-series is from co-writers/co-directors James Lee Hernandez and Brian Lazarte, making their directing debut. Here they look back at how McDonald's very popular Monopoly game somehow managed to get rigged, and for a period lasting more than a decade no less. In and of itself an interesting topic (and new for me--not sure why I hadn't heard of this incident before). Based on having seen just the first episode, however, I have to wonder why the series makers decided to string this out over 6 hrs. because frankly Episode 1 could've covered what it covered in far less an hour. In other words: it feels like it is running a bit thin. One funny bit is when the FBI team needs to come up with a name for this operation and they think of many alternatives (including "Operation The Unhappy Meal"), but in the end they decode on "Operation Final Answer" (to coincide with the then-popular "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" TV show).

I am not suggesting that this isn't a good documentary mini-series, and I plan on watching the 5 remaining episodes (new episodes air Monday evenings on HBO). But I also feel that in order to make this into a great, must-see documentary, this probably could've been condensed into an essential 2 hours, rather than a thin-running 6 hours. This is a subjective view, I realize that. Hence I'd encourage you to check it out, and draw your own conclusion.

*UPDATE 2/11/20* I saw the second episode, centering on the seemingly super security measures that were in place to keep McDonald's Monopoly game intact (even though of course it was breached for over a decade), and the episode confirms everything I saw in the 1st episode: pleasant viewing, but tighter editing would've been appropriate. I nevertheless will be watching the remaining 4 episodes to see how it all turns out.

My Take – A worthwhile watch!

The Dropout – Came out in 2022.  TV series that chronicles Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes' attempt to revolutionize the healthcare industry after dropping out of college and starting a technology company.

One of the reviews from IMDB...

As Episode 1 of "The Dropout" (2022 release; 8 episodes of about 50-55 min each) opens, it is "July 11, 2017" and Elizabeth Holmes, CEO of the Silicon Valley startup unicorn Theranos, is in a court deposition, answering uncomfortable questions about whether/how she misled investors. We then go to "Houston 1995" as young Elizabeth is running track awkwardly. We then move to "2001" as her dad loses his job in the Enron corporate collapse.... At this point we are 10 min into Episode 1.

Couple of comments: this mini-series is the brainchild of Elizabeth Meriwether ("New Girl") and directed by Michael Showalter ("The Big Sick", "The Eyes of tammy Faye"). In other words: top talent is on board here. Let me admit that I was somewhat skeptical of this mini-series, having seen the excellent 2019 HBO documentary "The Inventor: Out for Blood In Silicon Valley" that made me wonder what additional insight this mini-series could provide on what drove Elizabeth Holmes to do what she did. Turns out: quite a lot. We learn of origin details that I hadn't heard before (such as how Elizabeth and Sunny actually met). And to top it all, Amanda Seyfried is in top form and delivers a more than credible performance as Elizabeth. One of the big advantages of this mini-series over the HBO documentary is that we now know how it all plays out, as a verdict in the law suit against Elizabeth Holmes was rendered in early 2022. Bottom line: having seen the initial 2 episodes so far in "The Dropout", and regardless on how you feel about Elizabeth Holmes, "The Dropout" is a surprisingly entertaining mini-series that has caught my attention, and I'm looking forward to seeing the remainder episodes.

UPDATE 3/17/22 I'm now 5 episodes into it, and I admit I'm outright transfixed by it. A train wreck is about to come and I can't wait to see it all happening.

UPDATE 4/7/22 Just watched the 8th and final episode. I have updated my rating for this mini-series to 9 stars, yes it is that good. This fascinating mini-series simply got better with each episode. The last 2 episodes, when the house of cards finally falls apart, is TV-viewing at its very best. The performance of Amanda Seyfried is towering, and surely worthy of an Emmy nomination, if not win.

My Take – A worthwhile watch!

Fyre – Came out in 2018.  An exclusive behind the scenes look at the infamous unraveling of the Fyre music festival.

One of the reviews from IMDB...

I remember seeing the infamous promotional video for this festival (not that I'm wealthy enough to attend this kind of event, but some friend sent me the link, so I could "contemplate" the "dream" that other people were going to live). I remember feeling confused about this: what is it, exactly? It's some music festival, but all we see is this Caribbean landscape with a yacht, jetskis and girls in bikinis. Not that this seemed just like a lure, but clearly this was just pretty archetypical promo that could have been just one of a thousand meaningless "influencer" videos in this Instagram era where people are more busy turning their life into a promotional object than living and enjoying it.

I also remember reading the Vice article documenting the extent of the disaster the actual event was. That article is what got me to understand that this was actually supposed to be a music festival (I did not bother looking into that sort of detail after being sent the initial promotional video, as it seemed like your typical, meaningless Instagram garbage).

Then, over a year later, I see this thing in the Netflix menu, and decide to watch it. This is an interesting story where what one would initially perceive as pure naivety clearly turns into plain deceit, and where the expectations of grandeur for the "dream" being sold were artificially inflated through social media. And on that last point, I think this documentary does a pretty decent job of mocking how social media and "influencers" (still can't believe that's how these parasites are called), in today's world, is all about style over substance, expectations vs. reality, and the culture of appealing people with luxury items and "lifestyle" while having an empty bank account or being in major debt. How many of these stories have we heard over the years, of people living the "good life", only to go bankrupt a few year later? This is the new "15 minutes of fame" concept, one heavily filtered picture at a time.

The documentary gathers a satisfying amount of interviews with people who worked on the event, of on-site footage before and during the event, and of other significant moments that show you the true colors of Billy McFarland and Ja Rule - the founders of this scam. You do get some insight on their mentality throughout, as Ja Rule and McFarland have no grasp whatsoever on reality and won't take no for an answer, regardless of whether what they want to do is within the realm of possibility or not. It does not matter to them. They're in the Caribbean, they always got a beer in their hands, and they couldn't care less about the logistics - until the very last second, when they got their back against the wall, but will take their customers' money regardless.

As I mentioned before, at first, it seems like they really are doing their best to materialize the vision they had. That vision, however, is soon enough unveiled as something that obviously won't happen, with mountains of financial and logistical challenges that just can't possibly be climbed, as could have easily been predicted, had the founders not been so short-sighted and stubborn.

The structure of the documentary quickly turns into a countdown to the event, and boy it's not short on cringey moments, let me tell you that. It obviously escalates as the event approaches and you know the ship is about to hit the iceberg, big time. While it may be hard to feel pity or sympathy towards rich kids who can afford to spend 25K on that kind of weekend getting ripped off, "Fyre" somewhat debunks a mentality that plagues North American society and reveals the emptiness behind each lavish lifestyle picture posted by these "influencers" on Instagram to a much wider scale by giving a prime example of an empty shell that was created and promoted on social media.

Overall, this "anatomy of a modern day disaster" documentary is very well put together, one cringeworthy moment after another. Worth watching if you've heard of this fiasco and you're curious about how it all went down.

My Take – A worthwhile watch!

Cheers till next time😊!!

Daffy Definition

Critic – A person who knows the way but can’t drive the car😊!!

PS: For more analysis on Inventing Anna and The Dropout, you can also check out this... https://www.firstpost.com/opinion/in-inventing-anna-and-the-dropout-portraits-of-empty-ambition-built-on-fraud-and-privilege-10572461.html