fluffyfour Reviews

It Only Takes a Night (2023)

Will be one of my go-to films for a LONG time

[10/10 · 23 January 2024]

For me, this film has everything - quirky humour, laugh-out-loud moments, truly unexpected events and a group of people it's very easy to feel part of.

It's rare to find something these days in the romcom genre which doesn't follow a set pattern, but this truly doesn't; and it kept me guessing - and entertained - right up to the end. This is unusual as my attention span is pretty short!

The best thing about it? It feels real. Nothing is 'held back' for the sake of how it looks, yet all the boxes one has to tick today are there naturally. The worst thing about it? It had to end and there isn't a sequel!

Christmas Island (II) (2023 TV Movie)

If you know anything about pilots and ATC, avoid this

[1/10 · 4 January 2024]

Now, I know one is supposed to suspend logic and reality when one watches this type of film, but there are limits, and this crosses them totally.

Firstly, every pilot seems to be a Captain. Not sure why. Secondly, if you get to be a pilot, let alone Captain, you have considerable knowledge and experience, and you know ATC is responsible for everyone's safety, so you wouldn't joke around like a child in a bus!

Her colleague also is rude and ignorant, with no idea of the importance of teamwork, and she is apparently also employed to serve hot chocolate in take-away cups to private jet clients!

I despair! Not for me - and not for anyone else who has any knowledge of flying! Truly one of the worst films I've ever had the misfortune to see.

Hanukkah on Rye (2022 TV Movie)

Just awful

[2/10 · 26 November 2023]

I am extremely surprised by the positive ratings for this absolutely abysmal film.

The only reason I gave it 2 stars is the grandmothers were mildly endearing, but for the rest of it, no, just NO.

The actor playing the leading man is clearly, shall we say, not a ladies' man. This made the whole 'romance' far-fetched in the extreme, and neither could, for me, convince anyone their feelings were genuine. They even managed to look uncomfortable together; not ideal in a romance.

Unfortunately, Hallmark is becoming formulaic in the extreme, and while the premise of this film differs slightly from that formula, which is why I watched it, it still disappointed.

EXmas (2023)

Refreshing and fun

[10/10 · 22 November 2023]

I absolutely LOVED this film. The characters were human, amusing and soared above the usual christmas romance type films, which are scared of any dodgy word or action.

This was full of them - and the better (and more real) because of it.

So many laugh-out-loud moments from start to finish, although there were moments of pathos as well, which again reflects reality.

There were a few way over-decorated rooms, but I enjoyed the film immensely; so much better than the angst-ridden formulaic fodder of the standard romantic channels.

Give this a try. It might just make your day - or even your christmas!

Baking Up Love (2021)

Strange camera angles, overlong pauses and rubbish editing

[1/10 · 2 January 2023]

I thought I had seen some bad films, but this takes the biscuit (no pun intended).

The 'hero' is a self-obsessed narcissist with no redeeming features whatsoever.

The 'heroine' uses tinned (??!!??) pumpkin to make her 'classic, fresh pies', and yet is so much admired by the town (why??) for her culinary skills.

Add to this a painfully slow delivery and bizarre shots such as a customer leaving the shop and then a lingering view on a random crossroads, with the customer already out of shot as she went in a different direction!

Plus the kind of evening dresses that are sold online very cheaply and one's truly odd experience is complete!

Please - give this one a miss.

Christmas at the Holly Hotel (2022)

Please don't waste any time on this awful film

[1/10 · 12 December 2022]

These Christmas romances are normally a go-to for me. They are formulaic, yes, but feature a charming and pretty woman who goes home for Christmas and in the midst of helping her parents, finds her dream job and dream man. Good so far. Until you realise that the female lead simply cannot act, that her 'charming' attempts to get out of a well-deserved speeding ticket make her look like a spoilt, petulant teenager, and nor can her 'parents'. The direction had them all sitting at a table featuring (for some reason) two bananas, a scene so dreadfully unconvincing that one found the fruit very interesting to look at! The male lead can, at least, act, but it's a small mercy given the rest of the film. Right, on that note, there's some paint I need to watch drying to wipe away the memory of this experience.

York Witches Society (2022)

Cruelty to Digital Media!

[1/10 · 26 October 2022]

I have no idea why this wasn't set in the US and acted by Americans!

English Universities generally do not have shared rooms, nor are Deans responsible for student discipline or communication; neither do they have sorority style societies ruling the roost.

Add that to an excruciating script, appalling direction, amateur acting and a baffling storyline, the premise of which seems to be hinting at a complex battle of misdirected evils but ends up being an excuse for mediocre special effects.

All interspersed with American sayings and not a Yorkshire accent to be heard!

If your thing is to watch moderately attractive girls wear hideous (truly revolting) white dresses and get picked off one by one in yawn-makingly boring ways, then go ahead and watch this film.

I'm off to watch some paint dry instead!

Life After Life (2022)

Enjoyable premise but confusing historical clangers

[7/10 · 9 October 2022]

Halfway through episode one and already very confused by the timing. It appears WW1 begins when Ursula is 10, yet she would have been 4 at its start and 8 when it ends. She also appears to have an older sister who's clearly younger than her! Also, the children's swimming costumes are generally far too Victorian for the time. This is highly distracting when it's crucial to pay attention to the variations in the story. Having said that it is beautifully shot and does what it can to reflect the values of the time, though within the confines of what's acceptable today. Any reference to DA is however misleading. The family is middle class, although it seems to run on a very small staff for that era. I am enjoying the whole idea, which is something I've considered, and it's interesting to see it developed.

The Isle (2018)

Excellent film where the actors and crew mingle

[10/10 · 26 April 2021]

This is a joy to watch, despite the dark story, which unfolds gradually and beautifully throughout the film.

The acting is perfect from all those concerned, and when I read the credits I realised the actors and crew were one and the same with some people taking speaking and non-speaking parts and helping with design and carpentry, for instance.

The location of Eilann Shona is perfect for the atmosphere of the film and I believe the owners' family were also involved, judging from some names in the credits.

An astonishing and memorable achievement.

Time Jumpers (2018)

Nothing worth watching here

[1/10 · 17 April 2020]

A thoroughly vile film. Can't honestly see why anyone would want to watch this. It's not funny, not thought-provoking, not interesting, just full of horrible people and violence for violence' sake.

Don't waste your time.

The Baylock Residence (2019)

Jumble Sale of a film

[1/10 · 27 November 2019]

Quite why they made this remake I cannot fathom, let alone why it was set in wartime. The heroine's clothes, hair and make up were 10 years ahead of time, and some extras in a bizarre 'air raid shelter' (or 'thin sheet of painted corrugated iron' by a 1970s wall, to be exact) scene seemed to have been dressed by a 1990s jumble sale, with hair in a style no 40s woman would have been seen dead in, war or no war. Decor was courtesy of the 1980s - polyester peach-coloured ruffles included.

The story could have held promise, but the acting, settings, decor, costumes etc made me wonder if setting it in the present may have been wiser if their increased (?) budget didn't make it possible to achieve any kind of temporal accuracy. I even heard a radio announcer referring, in a non RP voice, to June 6 - US date format never used then - on a portable radio standing on a mangle! It may have given a sense of what was happening, but radios were very heavy and large, NEVER portable.

Suffice to say that the huge inaccuracies simply spoilt the film for me. It was like watching an amateur production. Sadly disappointing.