Reviews

I don't really know how to describe this film. Publicised as a thriller, allegedly with some horror and some meant-to-be comical moments, it was none of these. There was nothing thrilling about it partly because the storyline was pretty non-existent. The so-called horror element really was a faeces-based gross-out and immediately after some of the horror/gross bits there followed jaunty 50s-style American ad-type music. I've read people raving about the actress Brandy somebody but I don't think her or her husband were particularly convincing and the Solange character was frankly just overly weird even if you don't include the crazed religious element. I wouldn't recommend.

Normally, this would be the sort of daft gimmicky serial that I would accuse the Beeb of churning out of the 'twee drama' machine. However, purely because of David Mitchell, and later Anna Maxwell Martin (AMM), I thought I'd give it a go and I'm so glad I did. Of course, plot wise it's utter nonsense but ask any real copper their opinion of many of the 'gritty and real-life' police dramas and they'll tell you that most of those are 'pap' too (a word stolen from The Independent's TV critic in their snobby review.) Mitchell plays, well, the Mitchell we all think we know but he does it with aplomb and is ably supported by AMM who as well as her usually caustic character, shows some tender moments in this. As for the rest, the two most senior other officers we see regularly, the DCS & DI, are plausible and it's only the two junior ranks, DS & DC, who I felt were a bit too comic-like but then, it is a comedy-drama. Suspend your belief for a few hours and just enjoy.

As someone has mentioned, the early part of his career was a little rushed through so they could get to the England job and the scandals and sadly I feel they concentrated too much on the latter. Of course it needs to be covered, but in some ways the documentary then lowers itself to the standards of the rancid News of the World journalist being interviewed. He spent many successful years in Italy and all they showed was a few words from Roberto Mancini. However, overall it's a very watchable film with some touching tributes from ex-players, journalists and best of all, his family. The scenes with his family throughout are beautifully shot and it's amazing to see how he came to terms with his mortality. I just wish the makers if this had concentrated less on the scandals.

Two episodes in I wasn't sure why the newspaper I read gave it such a rave review. But, even the slow start gave some funny moments. Gemma finds out she is pregnant right at the start just as her dad is trying to recover from a very messy split from her mother. Everything start to progress when he moves in with Gemma. I really found some of the characters a little unlikeable at the beginning but even this improved each episode. Aimee Lou Wood, who I didn't really care for in the dreadful 'Seize Them' plays Gemma with a combination of biting humour and sweetness. Most of the other main characters do become more lovable but I struggled with David Morrisey as Dad (Malcolm.) He has clearly been totally emasculated by his wife but his man-child persona grates at times and I thought he became a little unbelievable, even at the end of the final episode. That said, other moments of his character are really quite funny. Do give it at least three episodes before judging it.

Before the Tartan Army start on me, I've worked with many many Scots for 40 years, I have many Scottish friends, some from deepest darkest Glasgae but never have I found it so difficult to understand their accents as much as I do here. Ray Lennox's is hit and miss for me but the Dougie character is so completely incomprehensible that my wife and I have had to start using subtitles and it really spoils the show because it's unnecessary. Otherwise, I find it enjoyable despite the stereotypes i.e. Stressed DCS struggling to control his troubled DIs, putting them in conflict with new more woke, modern characters and some of the plots are a bit far-fetched but overall, I'm quite enjoying it.

For anyone that just generically says that they don't like Americans, it's probably the stereotypical 'cowboy' examples in this film, especially the first 45-60 mins. The whooping, hollering and yee-haw's ground me down remarkably quickly, as did the trite Hollywood boy-wants-girl part of the storyline and I nearly left the cinema. However, I stuck with it and the more serious it became, the better it became. There is a very serious bit in the beginning which forms the basis of the main character's storyline before it descends into an amplified Dukes of Hazzard, car chases and all. The photography and CGI are very good and are the things to keep you interested. Overall, a better-than-mediocre effort and probably just worth a trip to the cinema.

I dithered over whether to watch this but we went for it and it was an enjoyable couple of hours in the cinema. There's no comparison between the two leads; Johanson is engaging and funny. Tatum is surely just a Thunderbird puppet both in looks and acting. Harrelson adds his own typically unique character to the role he plays. It was hilarious reading some reviewers complaining of the lack of historical accuracy. That's like complaining that Airplane doesn't accurately reflect what happens to an aircraft in emergency. The plot is described elsewhere and whilst it's a bit daft, I'm sure some people will take it a bit too seriously but go, watch it and enjoy an easy couple of hours.

As some others have said bad acting, bad writing, just about bad everything. The best way to explain what this trash is, is Parker and Stone's 'Team America; World Police.' It's so formulaic it's hilarious. The team flies all over, they're the good guys, they're the experts and everyone else -all foreigners- are incompetent and can't do their jobs or they're corrupt. It's an absolute insult, not only to the viewer but also to every country they fly to. Furthermore, because it's American, everything has to fit into a 35-40 minute episode. New characters arrive and go like the weather, an idea is formed and is executed instantly with success -obviously. I wish people (especially my wife )wouldn't consume this rubbish then they may stop making it.

I feel that as he's aged, the quality of Michael's travelogues has unsurprisingly diminished with each new series. In his first six major series, when he was engaging with the locals he seemed genuinely interested in their stories and his environment. Here, he looks like what he is, an elderly gentleman looking on in surprise at his surroundings and not really taking in what he's being told. We also had the slavery lecture from him; unnecessary as the lady with whom he travelled to the beach (from where slaves departed) talked so eloquently about it. We didn't need his enforced guilt trip. And while he's here slagging off his own country for events from hundreds of years ago, he cheerily accepts the story about the 35 children fathered by a local 'chief' during the segment in how the Nigerian population is forecast to soar to 440 million within 25yrs, glossing over the poverty that this will cause and the strain it will have on resources. He also cheerily glosses over the beach rule of 'No homosexualism.......gay or lesbianism.' He never looks comfortable here whereas in earlier series he fitted in everywhere despite his obvious eccentric Englishman's presence.

When I see a comedy with the names Nick Frost and Jessica Hynes I think I'm in for a good time. Don't be fooled, this is a truly awful film which I gave three stars simply because of the aforementioned duo. Enough good actors to make this work but the script is shocking, the jokes don't work and some of the characters are stupid beyond belief (the Scandi Kings). As for the 'good actors'; Lolly Adefope didn't look interested -possibly realising once filming started what she'd let herself in for- Nicola Coughlan continues to baffle me, Aimee Lou Wood looked like she was trying to summon the spirit of Miranda Richardson's wonderful Queen Elizabeth in Blackadder II and failing miserably and the less said about Paul Kaye the better. I've never even been close to walking out of a film in a cinema I was so close today.

I was really surprised at how good this turned out. I was kind of expecting a Ted 2 scenario which I found funny but not a patch on the original. The writing and characters are brilliant with each of the family having their own very unique character and each given a good portion of the script. Obviously the two main characters, Ted & John, pretty much steal the show with latter actor being a good choice for the role. The addition of cousin Blaire was a good move to liberally balance Scott Grimes' angry right wing dad and Alana Ubach plays the sweet mum. As you'll see from the reviews, many people (me included) think the episode 'Loud Night' was a bit off the wall with its preachiness and it seemed to completely lose its place on the timeline with its very 21st Century outlook. Overall though, a great first season. One complaint from a completely non- preachy guy; there's way too much swearing coming from a 90s, fairly God-fearing family. It does seem a bit OTT.

I wrote that review headline without thinking back about one of my original thoughts in Shrinking which was how like Ted Lasso it was in the way it can be uplifting and life-affirming. Then by coincidence I saw that one of the main writers is Brett Goldstein (Roy Kent) and it made sense. Even the theme music is reminiscent. All of the main characters in this are likeable with the three stars absolutely nailing it especially Harrison Ford. It's incredibly touching in the way that it shows the difficulty faced by the grieving widower and his daughter in dealing with their loss of their wife/mum and both actors play their parts brilliantly. The other main characters including Sean, Gaby, Brian, Alice, Liz & Derek are all on top form. Then there are the comedy moments which are frequent, sometimes wild and touching. Can't wait for the second series.

I have to say that whilst loving the original Lilith from 'Frasier' but particularly 'Cheers' I didn't really enjoy her return here. As someone has pointed out, the usual enmity towards each other seemed very forced and didn't spill easily out of either actors' mouths. Until the final scene which I thought was rather amusing. All of that said, I'd certainly like to see her return in more episodes because I feel she does add a caustic style of humour. The rest of the episode confirmed to me that the relatively mean character of Freddy isn't working especially well and I think they'll need to lighten him up just as little.

I understand why people seem to struggle with any reboot but I myself struggle with those who refuse to give it a chance. Did they all rate the original 10/10 in the first one or two seasons? You have to allow the characters (and/or new actors) to bed in and get to know them. I feel it may have been a lesser attempt if most of the originals had returned. Talking of the new characters, I love Nicholas Lyndhurst's Alan and also Eve and Olivia . They may have gone too far with transforming the nephew into a bit of an idiot, similar to what they did to Joey in Friends. My only gripe is the character of Freddy. He's quite unpleasant, selfish and seemingly unforgiving. Hopefully he'll improve. The humour is very similar to the original, based upon Frasier's pretentiousness and competitiveness. I hope Paramount give it a fair crack of the whip.

With 'Colin From Accounts' hopefully getting a second series, the Aussie comedies coming to the UK at the moment are from a rich vein of humour. I love the sarcasm in this especially from the title character, boss Ray has a brilliant nonchalance bordering on incompetence, Roz is just the right side of the likeable/unlikeable line and George is played wonderfully, mixing an unlikeable, modern woke-ness with a fine level of dimwittedness. The running jokes are funny and each weekly story is hilarious. More please from the land Down Under. I sincerely hope we're very a third series. Kitty Flanagan is a brilliant comedy actress and writer. I'd love to see more from her.

I rarely concern myself with the opinions of others, especially professional critics, but some of the negative reviews I've read about this are churlish to say the least. I think one of the big positives of this film is that it just tells the story. Most of us in UK probably know the story of Sir Nicholas Winton and how he organised the transport of 669 Czech Jewish children to relative safety in the UK in the face of the Nazi onslaught in the Sudetenland and Czechoslovakia. Despite what some suggest, it clearly shows that this is a team effort led by Winton's persistence and determination; it does not make him out to be the sole hero. However, as important as the evacuations is the story about how it came into the British consciousness via the quirky 1970s BBC TV show, 'That's Life.' It truly is something that needed to be told, then and now, and is done so in a suitably serious nut heartwarming manner. Do go and see it and do be prepared for the final scenes.

I removed my recent review because I thought I may have been a bit too harsh but after watching Ep4 but I'm going to stick to my guns. Series three is generally a disappointment compared to the first two. Lamb, Taverner and River keep up their excellent roles but the rest are becoming a bit of a joke because of the acting and weak characters. The two 'dogs' characters, Duffy and Hobbs come straight out of a cheap and nasty 1970s ITV police drama; overacted and completely unbelievable. I'm also finding this storyline to be one of the weakest too. The Taverner character is woefully underused in this series and more of her would vastly improve it.

This weird country with it's weird family enraptures me. The story being told is really interesting with what appears to be in-depth footage and background. However, on the Disney Channel, there are no subtitles within the programme for the Korean talking heads so you're watching a defector or ex-government officer yabbering away and you haven't got a clue what there on about. The only thing to do is go into the streaming settings and have subtitles on all of the time but this includes when the narrator and others are talking in English. However, now I've got them, it's not detracting too much from this insight into the 'Hermit Nation.' Otherwise at least a 9*.

This has the potential to be a really good thriller but there's far too many negatives for that. I sort of liked the idea of the plot and how it started but I felt that also got a little far-fetched the further it progressed. Possibly the worst part is the acting of some of the main characters especially the lead and the Scottish father character. They both seemed just so wooden. Also the fight scenes with Evin Ahmad are comical. She doesn't seem to have any athletic demeanour and looks like a kid scrapping but she is not helped by the choreography of the scenes in this. The best acting comes from Sean Teale (Jordi) and Indica Watson who is excellent as daughter Harper. Then we come to the conclusion of the series which is just unbelievable and looks like it was written for kids telly. If it returns, I'll be giving it a miss.

I loved S1 of this and was loving S2 until they started giving the April character a bigger part. The actress who plays her couldn't have been more than 22 when she filmed and she looks and sounds even younger. She's completely unbelievable in the role they've given her and spoiled the viewing for me. I like the scenes without her but the series has deteriorated. I've lowered my rating from an excellent 9 down to a 7 and it'll go even lower the bigger the part she plays which, looking at IMDBs section on the show, she's going to get. The more-established characters are still what makes this show tick, even with some of the weaker-written episodes and it's definitely worth staying with just for them.

I like most of the characters, especially Mickey and Izzy, others I like less. I find Becki Newton as Lorna a bit comical. They're parading around a 45yr old wannabe lawyer like a 21yr old Hooter's waitress. Skirts that look like a belt, heels best seen on a hooker (in which she walks like a novice transvestite) and having her stand in poses like a part-time stripper. Plus she's not the greatest actress. His first wife is annoying but I guess she's meant to be. I do like the storylines, quite intricate and although one's always sure there'll be the trusted happy Hollywood ending, it's all still enjoyable.

I'm not sure what some people don't get about 'R' and '15' ratings. To me it says, 'Not for kids.' So don't moan about that bit. The storyline is probably familiar to most by now and it is 90 minutes of swearing, sexual innuendo, gross bits but most of all, hilarious scenes and dialogue. The situations the canines get them into whilst helping Reggie get home are mostly very funny and yes, gross-out moments but there are three or four much more subtle comedy moments (watch out for the knock-knock and postman jokes.) I've seen some reviews with some very pretentious gripes about this. It's not aiming for Oscars, it's aiming for your funny bone so sit back, relax and enjoy.

Simply Awful. Yet another saccharine show with dull characters and nothing storylines. One character isn't dull (the mayor); she's just unbelievable and incredibly over-acted (badly acted?). I understand this is a Hallmark show so I'd expect it to be as 'sweet' as the cards that bear the same name but this takes it to a new level. To prove how weak this is, my wife 'watches' this and by 'watches' I mean she spends about 90% of her time on her iPad and still manages to follow it because it's just so predictable and boring. I cannot understand how this had lasted so many seasons. On a positive note, it gets me out of the house.