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Reviews
Sexy Beast (2024)
good bad boy drama
The show grew on me as the episodes and story got flowing. A few things made no sense and the double cross is always on in this saga. IF you haven't seen the movie, you don't need to understand the plot here. The movie is solid setup to the movie characters. It's all classic gangster stuff. If you don't like fights, hot women, shootings, and crazy characters, this isn't the show for you. The violence is there, not gratuitous but it's a daily part of their world. Some amazing acting here. It's really a story about using others for your own needs.
It sets up the movie moments. Tamsin Grieg is brilliant as the controlling sister. Best part of the series is her manipulation. Sarah Greene, meh...just not voluptuous, sexy nor pretty enough to be the porn star. They dress her up but she doesn't have body to pull off the role. Sarah, sure she can act but not believable. It would have been better if she and Eliza Bennet has switched roles. Eliza is solid as the girlfriend lost in the clouds and can't see that Gal's a pretty bad boy. Eliza look more the DeeDee of the movie.
Stephen Moyer is another good ruthless guy who is out to make his move to the top using Gal and Don.
Our anti-hero Gal (James McArdle) just preens throughout...tough to cheer for his success. Way too much smiling and hair. Emun is brilliant as pycho Don. You know where all the capers are heading to set up the movie. It's a solid show to enjoy. I wouldn't even mind a 2nd of this.
The Cafe (2011)
Low key dialogue driven sunny feel
Found this gem from 2011...featuring the 2nd Doctor and bunch of actors before they were or well past when they were...still damn they can act!
Storyline is simple. Just the life of a 3 generational family seaside cafe and the locals that stop in for tea, coffee , latte (with straw please). Lost 30 somethings trying to figure out life and love . Lost 60s something trying to figure out life and love. It's life time friends and relationships.
It's a listening show
With great dialogue. You'll walk away with a smile after
Watching this show.
Short episodes and only 13 episodes over two seasons
Classic tea and a biscuit fare.
Fitzcarraldo (1982)
interesting case study of obsessive goals
It's the story of obsession.
Would have been very different movie with Jason Robards. Klaus has that look of a crazy man throughout the film, pushing all to nuttiness.
Some just go along, some have no choice.
Claudia is stunning as the girlfriend. Wished she was in more of it. There's not enough explained of her character and her motivation to fund this crazy idea...is it her own desire to please a man? Boredom or desire? It's always interesting to see why people get caught up in the wave of an idea that makes no sense and is a dream that borders on insanity.
Insanity drives this man.
Enjoy the wacko doddle film.
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters (2023)
huh?
Please suspend all science when you watch this show...we set off a nuclear bomb that should have fried the entire cast (sans Kurt) along with all of the US military fired point blank at Godzilla's brother. We have radiation that somehow has magical powers instead of just causing death.
Okay so outside that...we have the classic cast of a lesbian, the sensitive artist, the outsider, the computer nerd, the sinister evil government agent, a conspiracy, a well funded covert operation. All fighting the quasi government and mother nature fighting back...horrible dialogue, horrible scripts, horrible brooding acting...sorry I guess I just don't feel their pain.
Please don't waste this time..I found myself using the FF key just to get through a few episodes to see if it would improve...Kurt is decent...lotsa of big panorama scenes, lotsa CGI, not many monsters unless we need them at the end to act as a hook.
Fool Me Once (2024)
starts well but wears out
Sure Michelle Keegan is easy on the eyes but wow not much depth as an actress. She does the PTSD vet role now suffering from dead husband and sister. But is that a spray tan? Are we supposed to believe her that she's good a taking down henchman too? And the entire story line of DI was good but telegraphed. You kept wondering why he didn't follow up on some obvious leads.
Is it the script, which keeps trying to throw us twists up until the very end? I found myself just wanting the show to end and could careless about the solution. There's a lot of sidebars here...and did they tell Ms. Lumely that she only had to shoot two days and never leave the same set location?
Chasing Shadows (2014)
solid one off series
Easy to watch police drama. Good characters, not grisly...excellent portrayal of mental illness, missing persons and just dealing with the system. Watchable drama and it's got a good collection of actors from this era..I do love the side characters who add to authenticity.
Solid acting, solid scripts, although Noel's character is a bit too easily involved and available. Good chemistry with the two leads. Alex is simply Alex, she can be the perfect lead of an every day middle age woman struggling with divorce and raising a kid.
ITV blew not renewing this.
Maybe Noel Clarke's alleged issues caused this show not to be renewed??? Who knows?
Blonde (2022)
not a biopic...outside of Ana you're not missing much
Ana de Armas is brilliant...but it's a dark, dreary story about sex abuse and mental illness. The story is taken from a fictional novel. Marilyn comes down to having a 'daddy' complex and mentally ill Mother. I think it is an interesting portrayal of being a very "artsy" view with quick scenes and photography. Some of the "facts" are just manufactured bs. Overall it not going to cheer you up and give you a feel good moment. But if you want to see Ana with all the great emotion in her face playing out this tortured soul. She is mesmerizing. There's just nothing else there new in the so what. I'm glad it was available for streaming as something I could FF as needed. I would not have wasted money at the theatre on this.
For All Mankind (2019)
great idea spoiled
Brilliant idea, decent writing, good acting and then let's screw it up by having implausible story lines, soap opera drama, and terrible dialogue. It's simply not sci fi...it's using "what if" space race as a macguffin to promote women's causes. Did the marketing department decide apple tv need a strong female driven show to promote viewership of otherwise dull sci fi stuff?
It's like suddenly let's introduce female astronauts so we can have lesbian storylines. Let's have impossible zero to hero female characters...this reminds me of Star trek voyager where they introduce 7 of 9....we need Jeri Ryans boobs to save the day...in this show we add female astronauts, pass the NRA, have female President, let's have a gay guy rescue the poor lesbian....ugh...I've got nothing wrong with developing plot lines but why not have season 1 show the struggle women faced in the 60s/70s and slow progress made in the 80s. We have on scene on the the trouble working woman in STEM faced but the next episode it's like well let's jump into bed and spice up things.
We spend a lot of time on family drama stuff with "bad" kids, PTSD, womanizing and alcoholism...It's like they pulled every drama point out of the book on "Family issues". Enough rant...I give a six because if you want a middle of the road, easy to digest drama, this is the show for you...they spend money on the show and do have some great acting if given decent lines. They do have a good premise if they would only get out of their own way .
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022)
Season 1 is a great start
Let's start by saying the Scripts are so much better than discovery or enterprise. They are very similar to Star Trek TNG or voyager. I think it's very interesting how they weave in the original Star Trek series characters and plot lines. I like the idea of them building on the Spock nurse chapel relationship. I think that will help bring in some older than 18 viewers since Star Trek tends to be a family oriented to show. If you're not a fan of the original series or perhaps not even old enough to have watched the original series that's OK you don't need to know the canon to enjoy this series.
Pike is a little too swarmy for me. Number 1 is just the wrong actress....she's 30 lbs over weight and not fit enough to be an XO. The character would be much more of a badass...no we don't need another Tpal from Enterprise strung out on drugs or a 7 of 9 body suit. We need a solid leader to offset soft Pike.
Uhura, Ortega and Chapel are all strong female roles and well acted. Spock actor is solid. I think the character is too close with Pike, after all Kirk is his best friend...I think it would improve if they had more conflict . Is it me or is the doctor hard to understand his accent? Star Trek has featured some great doctors in each series and he's at the bottom right now....and SPOILERS
weird they already resolved the daughter issue???
But overall good season 1...Gorm and Romulans make great villains. Interesting they stayed away from showing Klingons but have a role in the development.
Overall I enjoyed and looking forward to season 2.
Last Night in Soho (2021)
almost a great movie but collapses down the stretch
The sights of London back in the 60s and today rule the screen. The fashion and music are fabulous. Interesting the Diana Rigg's final role as she was the ultimate sexy 60s actress.
Eloise (Thomasin McKenzie) moves to London to become a fashion designer. Obsessed with 1960's culture, she struggles to make friends in the modern era as a bit of the country bumpkin. She struggles to make friends and leaves the boozy, sex , noisy halls of college residence for a flat in a house owned by Ms Collins (Diana Rigg). On her first night, she dreams about Sandie (Anya Taylor-Joy). Sandie is an aspiring wannabe who gets turned into a whore by Jack (Matt Hall). Matt HAll is right creepy as the pimp.
So is Eloise dreaming or having a psychotic incidents or is now paranormal? So we have a psychological, thriller, mystery now to solve.
I have a little trouble with some the age of modern characters. Anya is fabulous and just is the star of this movie. Eloise is meh...I wanted more Sandie...I would have rather heard her story then country mouse with bad dreams.
The ending is obvious and telegraphed half way through the picture. I thought there was going to be some relation with the grandmother (played by another 60s starlet who had a flameout career) or mother to Sandie....but maybe that's an avenue they didn't pursue or got cut in rewriting?
Overall, a great atmosphere movie to turn out the lights and just go with it....watch it for the fashion and sights of Downtown and sparkling Anya. Watch it too for the last Dame Diana Rigg movie...what an amazing career.
The Monster (2015)
well done short film
Great little takeoff on the Beauty and the Beast theme. Helen George is perfect as the screaming blonde who knows her place in the movie world. Well done dialogue.
Counterpart (2017)
great spy thriller with a sci fi mcguffin
Don't worry that it's only two seasons and was not renewed. There's really no where to go with this storyline and is more like the BBC limited series shows. Any more seasons and it would have lost what made it special. It's all about personal relationships with yourself and others. It's about family, relationships and trust.
Yes it is deep and philosophical. It's cheaply done...not many crowd scenes and little special effects. This is all about dialogue, character development and interaction of actors.
Top notch acting from the two leads, Simmons and Williams. Olivia Williams is brilliant and doesn't get enough credit in the other reviews.
Other leads are meh....loved the guy that played Aldrich... I couldn't not see any romance or chemistry between the the other main characters. The Father daughter angle was too late in season 2 to be done well and was a easy way to end things. It would have been more interesting rather than a really 2nd rate unbelievable romance.
My advice - just go with it and don't try to figure out the sci fi plot...that's so secondary and is only a device to create drama and tension. It's a cool idea and even the entire episode explaining it in season 2 is too full of psycho - babble
Yes there are a lot of collateral deaths by gunfire....meet a side character and boom they are dead....too much for my tastes...and the sex scenes are meh too.
But enjoy the plot development of how we decide who to trust.
Beforeigners (2019)
Stolen idea
Hmmm more time traveling with a twist. Another commentary on immigration and technology. Having actors portraying prehistoric and "of Nordic origin, we don't use the V word " with modern teeth and physical features just annoys me. It makes no sense. Of course their morals are not 21st century morals. Duh! The only saving grace is some good acting and tongue in cheek scripts.
The whole premise is similar to the Will Smith movie with aliens instead of people from history. Anyhow this will all lead to a 2nd Season. Goofy entertaining but not an original idea.
Travelers (2016)
Good not great
Some good scripts some bad. Some good acting some bad. Plot holes galore but it's a tv show. Phillip character is brilliant and well acted. Enjoy but 3 years was enough it was getting silly by the last episode. Carly character is just annoying and poorly written . Her husband is well done and not one dimensional. It seemed to me as well there is a lot of death and killing in the show . Did the faction only takeover goon type bodies? The faction could have been a better arc in another season. Loose ends galore and it's a Matrix ending .
COBRA (2020)
Dreadful
Can't believe it was renewed
Why would PBS put this on? Would give a zero if I could
Horrible script
Nonsensical plot
Terrible acting
Away (2020)
horrific
Worse show I've seen during pandemic
* making cell calls TO and FROM SPACE...I think the that sez it all
* husband offering tech support from hospital bed....umm again by cell phone
Cell phones play a major role in these dreadful scripts.
Where can I sign up for those plans?
2nd rate writing and acting too.avoid at all costs...people say and act DRAMATICALLY using agnst facial expressions to express worry, sorrow, anger and then say the stupidiest lines
don't waste the time
Star Trek: Discovery (2017)
great special effects terrible dialogue and some dodgy acting
1st rule of any drama - does characters come anywhere near real speech? This is set in the Star Trek Universe but should take place in Port City at General Hospital with all the dramatic speeches. These characters don't talk, they stand on soap boxes and make non nonsensical, illogical statements. They take bold positions and then don't follow through on any of it. Reminds me of Voyager at times with some awful writing and occasional bad acting/storylines.
The over arching storyline isn't bad (although in the "real world" the lead character would have been in military prison), the special effects are great. But wow, the awful acting by several of the characters are cringe worthy. The female lead is solid, well done Star Trek mold. Jason Issaacs is good choice as Captain. Doug Jones is very believable "alien" 1st officer.The love interest, Shazad Latif, was a good storyline and the highlight of the season. He was the best part of this season and probably will take on more in season 2...but from there it goes downhill fast...Mary Wisemen as the the funny side kick has some good lines, but she is about 30 lbs overweight to be believable as a young Ensign in a military organization. The Admiral, is pathetic, can someone teach her how to deliver a line like someone who is allegedly in charge? and the lead engineer, is just downright awful.
For trekkies, it's great to return to the Universe, which is very pro female (unlike the Star Wars universe). Strong female lead characters, evil Klingons, and last minute twists to save the day. Let's get some better dialogue writing for season 2 please. Without giving away plot, they steal too many Star Trek stories for my taste too. Go in with low expectations and you'll be fine. But it's no STNG or Deep Space 9
Goliath (2016)
Season 1 great...season 2 is dreadful
Season 1 was well done with interesting characters And a somewhat believable story line..In season two we start with the ex-wife obviously didn't renew her contract and gets written out on a stupid premise. From there on this season is just full of nonsensical actions,dialogue and action. They never really explain why the kid was such an integral part of the storyline. There is a complete waste of an episode surrounding a kidnapping of the main character and then for some reason they simply drop trying to kill him. They reuse plot lines from other season with the escort/paralegal . The sad thing is there are individual scenes iwhere the quality of acting are really good. But overall you keep waiting for this story to go somewhere and it just doesn't.I really can't tell you how much I wish I had the hours I wasted on season two back. My advice is skipping at all cost. So dissatisfied.