parkville

I am astonished at all the terrible reviews here - as if anyone ever tuned into a miniseries like this expecting to see Seven Samurai or Casablanca. Sure, I adore both of those movies too, and I won't argue they're among the best ever made. They are. That's not what this is.

Like many of the rest of you, I suspect, I find it very relaxing to watch a good disaster movie at the end of a long day or a long year and especially around Christmas time.

Are any of these actors going to be nominated for an academy award this year? Probably not.

Is this movie great fun? Absolutely!

Aside from that, I do not know how such gorgeous special effects were attached to this sort of series. I have watched a great many of this type of film on TV and in cinemas and honestly, these effects are competitive with some of the best I've seen.

So if you want to see Anna Karinina, watch that. But if you want a to see things things erupt and melt with plenty of story to hang the events on, this series is for you.

When was the last time you sat in a movie theater that was so engaged in the film no one disturbed you by looking at their phone or having an unrelated conversation? The audience was onboard with the sneak preview we saw tonight of Amsterdam from beginning to end and applauded when the film ended.

Beautifully shot as others have mentioned and interesting casting. Though he's always amazing I don't think I've ever seen Christian Bale have so much fun with a part and he, a luminous Margot Robbie, and the always wonderful John David Washington play beautifully off each other. Many great characters in supporting roles, just a wealth of talent and casting.

No spoilers but this story set in the 1930's has clear parallels for the world today.

I disagree that the story was difficult to follow, a clear narrative that does move through a few time periods but always makes those jumps clear.

Don't miss this one!