Patton Oswalt: Annihilation (2017)

Such a frustrating disappointment

Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

Patton Oswalt is a funny comedian, for sure.But this 2017 show was just too much focused on easy jabs at Donald Trump, which didn't really sit well with me. Now, I am by no means not a supporter or fan of Trump in any way, but he is just too much of an easy target for jokes. So the fun part sort of sinks into the sand.There are some good jokes here and there about various topics, but they were not sufficient to raise the stand-up show out of the mediocrity gutter, after Oswalt sank it with his Donald Trump tirade.And "Annihilation" was also somewhat of a trip into Patton Oswalt's personal experiences, such as when he talked about the loss of his wife.This is, unfortunately, the type of stand-up comedy show that you will watch once and probably never again.

In the description it says this is Patton Oswalt's best show. Well if it is so then I won't watch any other of his shows because I didn't think there were much funny moments in Annihilation. Lately I've been watching alot of stand-up comedies and this one was the one I liked the least. When you just watched a Jim Jefferies show and then you watch this one it is like watching Premier League soccer followed by a soccer game from Luxemburg. Patton Oswalt had a couple okay jokes about Trump, but for a strange reason this show became just unfunny. That he just lost his wife is a tragedy and I honestly think he should not have included that in his show, nor the daughter stuff he spoke about. I don't want to hear sad stories when I watch a stand-up comedy, and that was exactly what it was, and not just for a couple seconds. No he would just continue with that story, adding some jokes that were way too long and not really funny. I guess this will be my only Oswalt show then if this was his best work.

This is my first Patton Oswalt stand-up experience. There were some good observations and bittersweet stories about his late wife. I did not know he was a widower and that his wife died in her sleep about a year ago. Some bits went on too long so this really needed fifteen minutes trimmed from certain gags. The Polish woman unintentionally traumatizing his young daughter went on way too long. A few stories were too long because they really had no point. The fight he once observed is a perfect example. The ending bit with the porn references was also too long and smutty, maybe because I was eating lunch at that particular spot by pure chance. Then when he said it was his late wife's favourite bit, I told myself that at least he had a reason for including it. I gave him the five pity stars because he showed great courage in getting back on stage and opening his heart.

Patton Oswalt has been a long time favorite comedian of mine, following him through his career and life. When his wife Michelle died tragically in her sleep in April 2016 at age 46, Patton was faced with the daunting task of being sole parent to their kindergarten daughter, Alice.Patton handles his material with grace, anger, intelligence, humor and honest heart-wrenching grit. I laughed and wept, was angry alongside him and felt buoyed with hope in spite of it all.Because as Patton explained Michelle's philosophy of life as "It's chaos. Be kind" in a bit thru which he walked the thin line between humor and sadness, with looks from people in the audience who were trying to stifle polite & nervous laughter, he brought the audience through to the other side. Because there is no place else to go...Patton's "Annihilation" is the best of what I love, respect and admire in comedians: they bring us to a place out side our comfort zones, encouraging us to look more closely, leading by example that a best lived life, is the examined life, and a life examined with humor."It's chaos. Be kind." ~ Michelle Eileen McNamara