The young woman protagonist is not a 'rebel', she's a psycho -- the kind of person you don't want to know because you can never be sure what, at the blink of an eye, outrageous or bizarre action she'll perform next. All those who want / try to get close to her end up in a bad way. Another reviewer said something about the magnificent final scene -- but it's just a charade: march in the parade, sing your song (literally; cf. Informers 'singing' to the police) -- and then run away to Witness Protection. This picture is much too understated for the point(s) it presumably wants to make.
Reviews
6 Reviews
Cruel Instruction
(2022 TV Movie)
Cast billing - fixed
14 March 2022
There's something very odd going on here. The 'Storyline' begins
> Tells the story of Kayla Adams ...
OK. But when we look at the list of 'Top cast' we see 18 actors - but there is no character called 'Kayla'. So, let's go to 'Full Cast & Crew'; what do we find there? A list of _24_ actors - but still no 'Kayla'. Finally, down at the bottom, in the 'Rest of cast listed alphabetically' we find Kelcey Mawema, portraying Kayla Adams.
Is Kelcey Mawema not the star of this picture? What in the world is going on with this billing?!?
HA HA -- now they hve fixed it!
> Tells the story of Kayla Adams ...
OK. But when we look at the list of 'Top cast' we see 18 actors - but there is no character called 'Kayla'. So, let's go to 'Full Cast & Crew'; what do we find there? A list of _24_ actors - but still no 'Kayla'. Finally, down at the bottom, in the 'Rest of cast listed alphabetically' we find Kelcey Mawema, portraying Kayla Adams.
Is Kelcey Mawema not the star of this picture? What in the world is going on with this billing?!?
HA HA -- now they hve fixed it!
White Wall
(2020– )
Second season?
6 February 2021
Warning: Spoilers
One reviewer said that it "ends with no conclusion and wide open to continue in a second series." Several others said they hoped for a second season. Hello?!? Did you watch episode 8 through to the end? The capsule erupted, completely devastating the surface where the over-age soon-to-fail uranium canisters were stored. The implication is that there would be a nuclear catastrophe. If there is a second series, it will _really_ be science fiction, with zombies and mutants. No thanks. It's done.
Fever
(1981)
Whirlwind of intrigue
14 January 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Fast-paced story full of twists and turns. Very engaging.
However, the plot summary (credited to the Polish Cinema Database; I don't know how authoritative they are) is clearly wrong in one significant detail. At the end, the bomb is NOT 'effectively and harmlessly defused by a bomb expert'. It is effectively and harmlessly blown up, by a sort-of 1907 'bomb expert', in a 'controlled detonation' procedure that would be considered suicidal today. And everybody laughs and cheers 'Oh, what a wonderful explosion!' So ... 'defused'? No.
However, the plot summary (credited to the Polish Cinema Database; I don't know how authoritative they are) is clearly wrong in one significant detail. At the end, the bomb is NOT 'effectively and harmlessly defused by a bomb expert'. It is effectively and harmlessly blown up, by a sort-of 1907 'bomb expert', in a 'controlled detonation' procedure that would be considered suicidal today. And everybody laughs and cheers 'Oh, what a wonderful explosion!' So ... 'defused'? No.
Murder in Suburbia
(2004–2005)
extremely light-weight programme but easy to watch
2 February 2006
An American chap commented earlier that 'This is the *best* whodunit mystery show that I have scene {sic} in years'. He then names some American copper-dramas that he thinks are inferior to this. I don't know the shows to which he refers, so all I can say is, well, if this is 'the *best*' then American television must really be in dire straits. MiS isn't even really a 'whodunit mystery show' at all, is it? I mean, the writing is so weak that it is not unusual for the perpetrator to come out of the attic in the last five minutes of the programme. What ever happened to the principle that the guilty party should be seen -- but not recognised -- in the _first_ five minutes?
Actually, I think the IMDb classification of this programme as Crime/Drama is altogether wrong. I think it should be Crime/Comedy. It's the banter and the inter-personal exchanges that make this programme, not the crime-solving aspect. (Have you noticed, for example, that no one else in the police station ever speaks, except for the three leads?)
This is a fantasy programme and should be appreciated as such. If our Yank friend thinks this is good 'whodunit', then he might well be interested in exploring other of the many -- and many _better_ -- of the British police / crime / mystery series over the years.
cheers,
Henry
Actually, I think the IMDb classification of this programme as Crime/Drama is altogether wrong. I think it should be Crime/Comedy. It's the banter and the inter-personal exchanges that make this programme, not the crime-solving aspect. (Have you noticed, for example, that no one else in the police station ever speaks, except for the three leads?)
This is a fantasy programme and should be appreciated as such. If our Yank friend thinks this is good 'whodunit', then he might well be interested in exploring other of the many -- and many _better_ -- of the British police / crime / mystery series over the years.
cheers,
Henry
Ashes and Diamonds
(1958)
Flawed gem
6 April 2005
I read the novel (in Welsh's translation) just before watching the film. Since Andrzejewski himself is credited (along with Wajda) for the screenplay, he must have been satisfied with the cutting out of half the characters and half the sub-plots.
Ewa Krzyzewska was lovely, wasn't she? And to think that she was only 19 when it was made--her first picture!
My biggest disappointment--a serious one--was the absurdly melodramatic way in which everybody who dies, dies. Granted, making movies in the '50s was different from today, but this is reminiscent of American gangster films of the 1930s! Wajda himself did much better, even in the same era, e.g., in _Kanal_.
Ewa Krzyzewska was lovely, wasn't she? And to think that she was only 19 when it was made--her first picture!
My biggest disappointment--a serious one--was the absurdly melodramatic way in which everybody who dies, dies. Granted, making movies in the '50s was different from today, but this is reminiscent of American gangster films of the 1930s! Wajda himself did much better, even in the same era, e.g., in _Kanal_.
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