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Masters of the Air: Part One (2024)
Cliches and CGI bombers
If you're after low quality CGI and a cliche a minute then this is the show for you. The lack of character development beyond the machismo boys will be boys scenes (and these were so low brow) sets this series off to a bad start. It appears that realism was thrown out the door, and the script writers opted for the safety of scenes similar to what weve seen in the bomber movies that we've seen before. The short for the second episode was not encouraging - we fly at night - your stupid to fly in daylight - etc. Why is the focus is on a false bravado that did not exist? Yes the Padres were introduced, but in a mocking way, they were a focus for many airmen.
For All Mankind: All In (2022)
Don't bother
If the USA is this bad at keeping track of key people and national secrets then they have more trouble than we can imagine. This would be a good series if it didn't go to the extremes with plot twists. First generation children off to the stars? No one else good enough in the USA or maybe the script writers want more inexplicable plot twists that are simply not plausible. Why is there a need for series today to compete with Coronation Street or Dallas? The ho hum here we go again nature of the series has become boring. Thus is no The Expanse, but I was hoping it might be. My mistake.
For All Mankind (2019)
Peyton Place in space
5 minutes of story in 30 minutes of fluff. The only topics missed were green house gases, why the USA has a gun problem, why Russia works so hard to be the bad guys and a few others that probably couldn't be squeezed in during the first two series, but are likely to show up in the next series.
This show had potential, but some of the fluff and nonsense goes too far needlessly. Pointless. Is there any character in this show without some sort of life crisis? Really?
The scene in the outpost in the episode "Don't Be Cruel" was unnecessary, unwanted and simply too much. Provocative, outside the lane, a bold script - nonsense. If the story can't be told without excessive fluff and nonsense then the script is likely to be full of continuity and reality holes.
At this point the storyline "jumped the shark" as we say here.
If you want to watch this series, keep the remote handy to fast forward through the fluff and nonsense.
The Last Kingdom: Episode #4.5 (2020)
Plot device old, tired and over used
You have Aethelred near death and he is left alone with no guards and no "nurse". So of course the grifter, Eardwulf takes the opportunity to end Aethelred's life when matters take a turn for the worse. No guards and no "nurse" - for a King who is sick! This plot mechanism is old, tired and over used. It seems that every second series, movie or book has this in some shape, form or another and it is just lazy.
The series is teetering on the brink of becoming unwatchable.
Das Boot (2018)
Worst episode of the series
Series 2 Episode 7 was a shocker. Not one, but two plot twists that can only be described as script failures. For a show that is trying to weave so many sub-plots together, the going was tough at best for the script writer(s), but it all went south in this episode.
Hoffman, after getting shot, leaves the person who shot him alive and runs, knowing full well that this is a dumb idea. Hoffman is a U-boat captain, he should not be portrayed as an idiot that is naïve and blind to what is going on around him.
What is worse is the idea that a mid-ranking officer is prepared to walk around with a bullet in him. He had his opportunity to say he was mugged and to get the bullet out back in New York, but no, he decides to take a trip to Maine, where someone with a German accent is sure to get help from a local doctor or a passing submarine full of those that threw him overboard in the first place.
And the twist to end all twists. How to stop von Reinhardt from getting to the US coast? You manufacture an implausible shoot out, then he calls all of his (six?) supporters on deck whilst the survivors of Wagners boat are picked up leaving the rest of the crew including those that want to take over the U-boat without any guards? oh folly. Believable - no. Are the audience so dumb that they will believe that U-boat captains are idiots?
Or is is simply a bad script that has taken what could have been a great series to the point where it is unwatchable?
I shudder at what is to come.
En solitaire (2013)
Great sailing film but that does not excuse the story line
For anyone that it is a fan of watching a racing yacht on the ocean, this is a great movie to watch. Unfortunately the story line is meaningless. Having found that he was not alone, the sailor, Yann Kermadec (Francois Cluzet) should have called for relief and for the stow away to be taken off the yacht at the earliest opportunity. Would he have been disqualified, no.
There was little mention of the two and at one point three people going through the food and water on board, it turns out to be an endless supply.
Whilst the film provides a feel good theme about a young man seeking to get medical help in France, like his uncle, even if it means stowing away on a yacht, the film does not attempt to provide balance on the issues of illegal immigration, one of Europe's biggest problems today.
Whilst there are only a handful of reviews for this film, I recommend watching the film, simply for the photography.
Star Trek (2009)
Wobbly camera strikes again
After the recently terrible James Bond film, and the equally terrible ending to the Bourne trilogy, it appears that the "wobbly camera" disease has spread to another franchise with similar results. There appears to be a direct correlation between the rate of camera wobble and the "pace" of the action scene being shot. We all know that this camera wobble is artificial and often done during editing and special effect overlay, but the outcome is the same and it is unwatchable. It appears to me to be a "technique" used today in many films to prevent the audience clearly seeing the shot, the special effects and the action occurring. Possibly because the audience would see mismatches between the special effects, the action being overlaid and the poor quality stunt work. I gave this film a rating of one out of ten principally because the wobbly camera technique is something we now see in many films, particularly films with large amounts of special effects and it is cheating the audience out of the opportunity to see if the shot actually flows and to observe how the special effects are melded to the shot and the action. Do we really want to come away from every film thinking we have been in a small boat in a rough swell? I certainly don't and I now add JJ Abrams to the list of Marc Forster who created the worst Bond film of all time with "jiggle camera" and Paul Greengrass who destroyed the Bourne Trilogy with "shaky camera". Hang your head in shame, this trio had the opportunity to make great films, each carrying their franchise forward and each in turn has been unable to achieve an outcome without the use of "shaky camera", which is an automatic turnoff for the audience.
Kokoda (2006)
Kokoda is a cliché
Kokoda was inspired by events on the Kokoda track during WW2 when Australian militia slowed and ultimately stopped a push by 10,000 Japanese soldiers to move overland and capture Port Moresby. What they really mean is that the movie is set in this time period but is fiction and everything that happens is just a jumble of standard scenes from other war films. The first hour is just one cliché after another. Some of the scenes are simply there to be able to draw us into a feeling that this conflict was horrific beyond compare, when there appears to be little evidence of this. Both sides fought hard to control the track and no mercy was shown by either side. Both sides suffered from logistic shortages and the terrain was a great leveler in this conflict. As the Japanese got closer to Port Moresby their supply line grew and this ultimately led to their downfall. On the other hand as the Australians retreated closer to Port Moresby their supply line decreased. Some of the scenes appear to be straight out of the handbook on standard scenes to include in any war film. The film was misguided and highlighted the youth of the production team. At a time when Australia could have done with a great film about one of Australia's best moments the film Kokoda is a shallow disappointment.
Man on Fire (2004)
Very Poor Ending
Good film up until the ending. He vows to kill all of them and then we have a twist and he lets them go. He could have killed them all if he was a real assassin and still saved the girl. The police know at the end who "The Voice" and his brother are. But it is played out like they are able to "get their life back". Rubbish ending to what was a reasonable film. The acting was good by all concerned, and the idea of the cop and journalist getting together to help solve the case is an old plot line. Why he didn't call the journalist prior to the hand-over is stupid. The cops lost them all, of course, just a pity this well used and over used plot was used did not help the quality of the film. Creasy could have well used one of the grenades at the end of the film, he had his chance to buy one earlier.
No Country for Old Men (2007)
Fantasy Purporting to be Serious
Killers everywhere and the FBI not to be seen. Drugs everywhere and the DEA only mentioned in the background and never to be seen.
The local police say to the guy being chased to look after himself and let him go. Not a single policeman to "stake out" or "follow" the guy with the money. This is after the mass killing at the start of the movie and several more after this. Gee wiz the police must have more to do than worry about solving crime. What rubbish.
The worst plot aspect of this film is the guy who gets the money is portrayed as smart, a real outdoors man. Yet to get lost with the cash he stays in his home town, then moves to the local city and finally heads to the family home - and of course - oh so obvious - his mother in law tells the bad guys where he is going.
Surely a smart outdoors hunter would know that the best way to get lost fast would be to go to New York or Paris and then disappear.
Could go on for hours about the poor story line and plot faults, but you got to see this for yourself to realize it is typical Coen Brothers where reality is forgotten and fantasy ensues.
The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
Anyone but Greengrass
The Bourne Ultimatum has an excellent story, excellent actors, music and nearly everything except Director. There is no doubt that Bourne is a major opportunity for everyone involved and in particular the right choice of director could have set Bourne up as a major action series that would rival other major movie series. The books were great and the movies should have been winners. The first film was a major success and set the stage for the series. Then what happened? Some goose went and put Greengrass in charge of the next two films. What we got was fast editing and someone shaking a camera (I was told by a friend that the camera was in a blender). I found during the film that I was expending so much effort trying to adjust to the shaking camera and fast editing and was not able to enjoy some of the action scenes. If you have seen The Bill on TV then you will be aware that a hand-held camera can be used if it is done well. But Greengrass seems determined to be remembered as the person who shook the hand-held camera more than anyone else. What can I say, anyone but Greengrass. He has destroyed what would have been a great series that could have been watched again and again over the years. Greengrass please go away.