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Confess, Fletch (2022)
Fletch
It's been a long time coming, but there's finally a Fletch movie true to Gregory McDonald's wise cracking character. And that's gold :)
It's been a long time since i read the books, so i can't comment on how true it is to the novel, but Confess, Fletch has most of the hallmarks of the real Fletch. Right down to the crazy opening, which, sadly, will probably fairly confuse anyone not familiar with the source material.
Anyway, this is a beautifully shot, well cats and decently acted movie. A couple of characters are a bit flat, but McDonald's books are demanding in their way, and translation to the screen is never going to be straight forward.
Importantly, Hamm makes a believable lead. Lovable and wisecracking, but not perfect or conceited. And he wins in the end... or at least till the next episode.
Star Trek: The Next Generation: All Good Things... (1994)
Fairly Mindless really
TNG wasn't a bad outing for the Star Trek franchise, but make no mistake, the omnipresent Q always felt a little sour. So having a finale inundated by Picard's Q induced ramblings, and the dreaded Time-Travel.. is a little hard to take. But i guess that's what you get from milking Star Trek to death. "Boldy Go" becomes more than a little brain dead as bizarre plots become the norm.
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)
Non-stop cheese
Reeve plays a great straight man in this ludicrous sequel. Lex Luther, Lois ham it up too, Even has tightly outfitted love interests.
Choc-a-block with entertaining sub B-grade action. Hillarious :)
Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor (2013)
Serious gas
The cast has the stars and energy. Special effects are great. But the plot ..... is pure over-gassed no-ideas bunken. Dr Who takes itself far too seriously for the last longest time. Nice to see Billie and Tom Baker though.
Total Recall (2012)
Pointless remake
Fairly standard Hollywood cash grab doesn't add enough to Arnie's classic to justify being made.
I've given it 4/10 solely for the actors' commitment, and it's dark futuristic settings/cgi. But the problems are many - No Mars, freaks or humour. Too much drawn-out navel gazing and talk. The machine guns... please!? The boring clone-like minions. Then, the plot - where it does occasionally deviate from the original - just makes the mess worse.
On the whole it's just a slick, soulless, Hollywood smash and mash.
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons (1967)
Plotless puppets
Such an ordinary series. Nice production values, but absolutely none of the Thunderbird charm or humour, and basically .... plotless. 32 episodes of meandering "are you a mysteron?" . Even the babes are totaly devoid of charisma, and that tedious episode intro is unforgiving. Ep31 - "It was a nightmare!" 3/10.
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2016)
Imaginative Burton miss
Miss Peregrine's Home.... has a lot going for it :) Amazing visuals, awesome cast, great CGI sets, and a lovely romantic sub-plot.
But it probably falls in the lesser half of Burton's work, as the plot is just awol.... Time loops, protected supernatural children, nazis, invisible scissor handed demons. We've kind-of seen it all before, in more coherent packages. This movie's crazy plot is really quite absurd.
But if you can get past this, there is a lot to like. Eva Green's accent and presence is nothing short of a delight. The young protaganists love story is charmingly developed, and , as always in Tim's movies, the special effects are bizarre, colourful and a delight.
Despite the movie's plot getting lost between the book's storyline, and something more screen friendly, it's still a nice way to spend two hours.
Serengeti (2019)
Amazing footage, but..
Amazing footage, but the commentary is just total pap, seriously underminng the experience. Really, people, do you need some hollywood smaltz to appreciate the amazing cauldron of African wildlife. Who was the overpaid braindead producer who wrecked this series ??
Asteroid-a-Geddon (2020)
Glorious B grade Sci-fi action.
Asteroid-a-Geddon - the name says a lot about this movie. It's a shoe-string-budget, B grade, apocalypse movie; but with quite a bit going for it.
First up - a real plot, which quite frankly, puts most mainstream
cataclysm movies to shame. It is killer, not filler, from the outset, and
the icing on the cake, and probably what most reviewers have missed, is the
hard scientific edge the plot has. In probably a world first, this budget
B-grader has researched dialog and some (almost) believable scenarios.
Secondly, the special effects, while blatantly over the top, are slick and emotive. And while most budget B graders just pad and talk themselves to oblivion, there is quite a bit of cheap, but entertaining CGI action here.
Now, sadly, the acting is fairly par for the course. It is appropriately well below average. But the exception is the sincerity and belief that the lead actress has in her role. Veronika Issa has a super strong presence, mixed with a budding charisma, and she holds the movie together.
So all up, i gave this movie quite a proper beginning-to-end watch, and have to say it punches well above it's weight in entertainment value.
The Time Guardian (1987)
Great B Grade Sci-fi
Entertaining and breaking the cliches, this low budget Sci Fi movie is mainly for genre buffs, but has enough for the casual viewer too. Charasmatic leads from Coghill, Fischer and Burlinson, though the latter overplays his tough-guy in a fun, cheesey way. Carrie really puts her heart into the role, some charming gratuitous nudity from Coghill, and Holt as the nasty Aussie copper makes a great villain.
Really only an 8/10, but considering the budget, and low reviews.. gunna go with a 9. A real novel and entertaining scifi/outback suprise worthy of cult status. Only a little let down by the budget cyborgs and over-acting.
Conan the Barbarian (1982)
Great, original movie.
Some of the attention to detail and authenticity is quite suprising. Really - it deserved 9/10. But it's hard to ignore the only take-down of the movie - Arnie's acting. The big guy adds lots of atmosphere, but some of the scenes obviously are too much for him. A little spoiler - The big A is the only guy in history to get on a camel and make *it* look small ! :)
Make You Laugh Out Loud (2015)
Brits land their pun-ches.
Comedy is definitely a matter of taste, but for my money, this British series is one of the best.
The videos are of decent quality, not the run of the mill baby-falls-over trite.
But what sets this series apart is the quality of the British comedians' jokes. They are obviously free reign to write their own gags , and the variety of subtle and intelligent one-liners is great. They are a bit of a bunch of misfits, but most are charming in distinct ways. Highlights for me are Zoe's deadpan humour, Ellie Taylor's winsome delivery, and David Mills' slick delivery.
The downsides for me are minor... The series' narrator's overdubs aren't of the same quality, but generally aren't too hard to take. And the extended comedy spots can be a little drawn-out, and are a bit filler-not-killer.
Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
The Force is Dead
Consolataions, I have, for every padwa who watched the last three episodes in expectation of greatness. Yoda caught pieces of Rogue One and not watched them he did. Except now he watches the start of Rogue One. Sacrifice, she did!? Not a clue of a plot do they have. Hope Lucas is happy with his money i am. Hmmppphhh
Speed with Guy Martin: Transit Van (2016)
Great show, not going stale.
More of the same from Guy Martin's Speed series.. which is good news for Martin fans. Lots of enthusiasm, technical innovation and eye-gouging speed. Some of Guy's challenges are a little off beat, but this one has him in his element, putting a custom built engine into his own transit van, then taking it off for a go at a world renown road race.
Only criticism is, Guy is a little hands-off on his van rebuild, and there's a little bit of off-topic stuff happening to fill up the time. Just a little bit of filler, but still one of Martin's best.
The Mystery of a Hansom Cab (2012)
Stirring Australian period drama
The Mystery of a Hansom Cab is an emotive Australian crime drama, with an outstanding cast and lavish sets and detail. It is a telemovie of Fergus Hume's book, first published in Australia in 1886. Set in Melbourne, it brings to vivid life the privilege and struggle of the upper and lower classes of Melbournian life from the 1800s.
The plot centers around an engaged couple whose marriage is left in limbo when the groom is held on charges of murdering an odious blackmailer to the Bride's affluent Father. It has an almost Wildean sense of society and emotion, and in true crime tradition, the viewer is left pondering the guilty right to the end.
The all Australian cast has a strong gravitas. Sometimes the period's drab and flowing attire causes a little confusion of who is who, but eventually faces stick to characters, and the viewer connects to the intriguing plot. The two detectives have dissimilar, but striking charms. "Kenny"'s Shane Jacobson is a little out of his depth as the main prosecutor; but plays an entertaining role, while Felix Williamson is devilishly suave as Shane's sharply-cut adversary in law. Jessica De Gouw is lovable as the bride-to-be, and together with the groom, Brian Fitzgerald, they make a charming couple whose drama fills the movie. Michael Carman plays a lovely characterised villain. John Waters as the family patriarch , and Marco Chiappi as his friend and barrister, have strong and grounding presences.
Sets are beautiful and graphic; though not as lavish as overseas productions. And on occasion, prominent Melbourne locations are shot with CGI backdrops of the olden town. The back-street dens have a glamour and seediness that brings them to vivid life (similarly to "The Harp in the South"), and the splendor of the mansions is convincing, though shot on a smallish budget.
Mention should also be made of the smooth but engaging score. and production on the whole is creditable.
Mystery of a Hansom Cab is a period drama that the BBC churn-out - with more polish, but less charm - but that Australian cinema does not achieve so often. This lovely but sometimes-confusing movie is definitely worth a second viewing.