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Reviews
Twisters (2024)
What happened?
I was expecting something at least on a par with the original Twister (1996) and got something so limp that I started surfing the net.
The story line and some characters seemed to follow the original such as the 'corporate' involvement and so everything felt predictable. And it was. It started with a bit of a bang when the three chasers died and even this felt a little flat. There was no time when I felt on the edge of my seat, they never seemed to be in any danger that warranted that fear like the first one. Then the power of the tornado was odd. It could push a train over and along the ground but couldn't take the make shift tents surrounding it? Most people seemed to praise the special effects, I found them a bit run of the mill with no real wow moments. The story line was unbelievable and, for a long part of the movie never seemed to go anywhere. The unlikely linking of the 2 main characters was obvious and in my opinion failed to spark. Glen Powell's performance felt forced with no substance. After a while I kept thinking I was watching a Hallmark romcom. He has that type of face. No expression outside of a broad grin for everything, I don't feel he was right for this part. I did enjoy Daisy Edgar-Jones and wished she had been a bit more prominent.
The movie just felt cheap and badly written. How many times do we have to watch where pushing the button that makes everything happen, doesn't work. Then, after pushing it ten times it does! I despair at how this could have been so much better, with better writing and perhaps paying for better actors. Instead we got a much weaker version of the 1996 movie which will be forgotten in a short space of time.
It's a 5 as there is literally nothing worth watching and a 4 feels cheaper than the movie.
Don't Worry Darling (2022)
Dazzling scenes get lost in a muddled storyline
As someone else said, this is truly style over substance.
Like most people I was trying to work out when in the 50s this was supposed to be taking place. Most of the music was typical 50s fare with two I checked that were released in 1958 so late 50s right? No, then came a song released in Dec 1962 (the fantastic End of the World by Skeeter Davis) so the earliest this could have been set is 1963 going by the season (summer?). As well as one of the cars being a 1962 release (someone else mentioned that so not fact checked). Mind you this didn't matter as the ending proved. But didn't it? ...more on that later.
Florence Pugh carried this and Chris Pine did a fantastic supporting act to keep it flowing. He reminded me of Brad Pitt at his cynical best. Florence's range is so unique she left the rest of the actors in her dust. And, that;s not always a good thing. Harry Styles, in my opinion was outclassed and I noticed he had very few lines compared to Florence, perhaps his accent? I did notice too that Gemma Chan (playing Shelley, Chris Pine's wife) also had a English accent, although different to Harry's. Both accents felt a bit modern for the 50s setting. Gemma's changed dramatically at the dinner table when she did her impassioned speech. I thought that was how she should have spoken all the way through! Much more convincing for a 50s setting.
The cinematography was very good and played into the rose or pastel coloured view of the 50s that people enjoy. (think Pleasantville type movies). Immaculate lawns, house styles, pools, car choice and the food was on par with what I would expect. Roast and 3 veg dinners as well as hor d'oeuvres at the dinner party that looked correct.
The idea was great, create a town in the middle of the desert that harks back to the 1950s and everything we think it was. Except, it didn't quite work. I don't think interracial couples and having people of colour live on the same street was a thing back then. This is what made me take notice as it just felt off.
As we were to find out, not everything is at it seemed. The whole town was a construct of Frank's and people accessed it through their subconscious willingly or unwillingly as it turned out. This still could have been good except that it wasn't faithful to the 50s. It would have been more interesting to insert more modcons into the 50s setting so that the audience would go 'was that around then?' and start to see the seams pull apart as the story went on. After all, wouldn't you include some items from modern technology that made your life a little easier? Just enough to be questionable and not so much to be obvious. What was in their that didn't fit (the songs, the phone, the cars) felt like sloppy research rather than purposely placed. And why include some old 40s junkers if you can create whatever you wanted? Just odd decision making.
I found the overly explained end a bit much and hard to believe (as much as you can believe this). We didn't need all that information and sometimes leaving things out is as important as putting them in. The last 15 minutes felt rushed in an effort to tidy things up.
It's a 5, the Harry Styles 30's style solo dance was just weird. It's a one watch movie.
Violent Night (2022)
A hard time finding its audience
I enjoyed this but it felt like a film aiming at different audiences.
There was the 80s/90s Home Alone, Die Hard crowd with saccharine sweet dialogue - ''I Believe in Santa' and typical baddies with no morals and pure greed..
Then it got violent, gory and very sweary (Beverly D'Angelo got very creative on the phone) appealing to a more mature audience.
It's hard to know who it would appeal to as everyone will like some parts and dislike other parts. Some of it would be just inappropriate for younger viewers, so hardly a Christmas go to movie like Die Hard or Home Alone.
David Harbour did a great job as a flawed Santa and John Leguizamo was an adequate, if typical bad guy. I would have liked to have seen more dialogue from Beverly D'Angelo after her shock introduction on the phone, and let her cut loose as the rich caustic mother. The rest of the cast were weak and did nothing to enhance the story. I didn't buy the young daughter and her 'I believe in Santa' and 'I only want mum and dad to get back together' routine that was shoved down our throats. This should have been a stronger and not so gullible character.
It's a 6 because I was kept entertained despite a rather weak and predictable ending.
A Man in Full (2024)
Ultimately Unsatisfying
I had high hopes for this but in the end I didn't enjoy it, indeed I felt cheated.
With a cast that includes Jeff Daniels, Dianne lane and Lucy Liu this should have been a 'must watch'. The trouble was no character was likable. None. You need a hero, an underdog, someone who takes on the establishment or is cheated badly and wants revenge. There was no one. Jeff Daniels character couldn't decide if he was a comedian or a drama queen. And the accent, when not supported by the rest of his family was cringe worthy. He deserved his business to crash through mismanagement and over spending on a luxury lifestyle but his nemesis was the evil bank manager (or whatever he was) and so who do I root for?
Lucy Liu had a bit character that ultimately went no where. Very little screen time and character development. In effect, she was wasted. Hopefully she got a good pay day.
Dianne Lane's character was better and I was hoping she would have developed into a major character. She didn't. I couldn't get my head around the eventual hook up with Peepgrass. This made no sense, especially as he had been overly portayed as a weasel and was thoroughly unlikable. Peepgrass's wife egging him on to bed the Diane Lane character was weird.
I think the worst part was that story lines were abruptly cut off. Lucy Liu denying her 'me too' moment. The judge doing a 180 from nasty Judge to good judge and releasing Conrad (where was that story line going?) and finally Jeff Daniels developing an odd death grip to kill Peepgrass then having a heart attack?
An ill thought out story, no audience satisfaction and a feeling of having my time wasted.
I really wanted to give it a 4 but there was some good acting and 4 should be reserved for bad talent. There was none, so a 5 from me.
Julia (2022)
Would you like some fiction with that?
For a start, I did enjoy the initial start and although it raised some questions, I stayed till the end of Season 1.
Sarah Lancashire did a brave rendition of Julia Child but ultimately it felt like a caricature with a cartoon voice. Seems a lot of people can imitate JC but few get it right. In reality Julia's voice had a resonance and richness that no one seems able to get right. Have a listen to some of her interviews. She was also not buxom nor that big, just tall. Clever use of low camera angles to achieve this with a 5'7" actor. I like Sarah's work, but this must have been quite difficult.
The episodes were titled after a dish from her recipe book but didn't actually feature in the episode. Seemed pointless to me. In fact, there really wasn't any cooking on display the entire season, just close ups of egg beating, ripping a chicken apart and the finished product. An opportunity missed as all the TV shows from her cooking shows are widely available.
There was also a number of head scratching moments. Alice Naman, a black woman where one never existed. This stuck out as there were no other people of colour in the studio, anywhere! Others have gone on about timings of historical events, hints at gay encounters, visiting gay nightclubs, live broadcasts that weren't, every car in every scene in pristine condition and so on. All of it invented for this series and not accurate. The one liners were obviously written for the characters and everyone had them.
Why I find this so unfortunate is that this should have been as accurate as possible, major plots need to be correct. This is how people are going to think things happened, and what life was really like and then becomes a rose coloured glasses version of Julia Child's life when it is not.
Ultimately I found the season losing it's aim and wandering off into drivel. As side characters developed, JC got lost and the drama (if you could call it that) focused on characters and events that never happened and had no interest for me. Julia Child's life was interesting and entertaining although I do question her cooking ability, she did bring French style recipes to the land of tuna casserole, meatloaf, mac and cheese with an ice cream soda for desert. I'm sure anything would have been an improvement on that.
Finally, this is for IMDB. When I look at the 'Trivia' section, I would prefer to see Trivia on the show. Getting props for the set, how accurate the kitchen was, sourcing clothes and other items for the period, mastering JCs voice. The making of the show. NOT who worked with who in Star Trek, references to Fraser (yes WE KNOW), not a competition held in another show. Some of these Trivia items have thin strings to other shows, who worked for what producer and tenuous connections that make you wonder why it's there?
It's a 5 for the fine performances, but it lacked direction and had too many made up scenes that shouldn't have been there.
Wish You Were Here (2012)
Average at Best
A story about 2 couples on vacation in Cambodia, one goes missing and the others return to Australia. The mystery of what happened to the missing man is is the crux of the story. The two women were sisters, and I'm unsure how one of the sisters met the missing man as they didn't seem to know much about him. The other sister and her partner are married with 2 children and one on the way.
There is a side story of the husband sleeping with the sister and much dramatics ensues. This was pointless as it didn't add to the story at all.
Turns out that married guy couldn't sleep and goes bar hopping looking for more booze. Accepts a ride from a local who promises weed and ends up at another bar drinking. Gets offered an underage girl for sex, loses his mind and the other guy who was out the back doing a deal with them quickly whisks him out the door as the bar patrons turn on the married guy who refuses the under age girl and starts causing a commotion. Turns out they guy doing the deal was negotiating with the Viet Mafia and that's who the married guy upset. Viet Mafia follow them up the road, fight and then kill the guy who was negotiating a deal with them. Put gun to married guys head and threaten him and his family if he talks then release him. Anyway, that's the mystery.
So the problems are, who in the right mind or drunken mind accepts a lift for weed in a country that will hang you for it? Why kill they guy that was negotiating a drug deal (as it turns out) with them when he wasn't the one they were upset at? Who was the guy they killed and where did said said meet him? No one seemed to know much about him. Why have sister sleep with the married husband when it wasn't necessary for the story? What pregnant woman parties in Cambodia and drinks like a fish when she's pregnant? That made no sense.
All in all not a bad movie, just unthought out writing.. a 5 for Antony Starr who should have been the star, not Joel Edgerton who overacted all the way through it.
Little Bone Lodge (2023)
Issues too big to ignore
Bad guys take over a house with a an odd family who turn out to be worse than the bad guys.
The problem is, who do you root for? The bad guys or not so bad guys. I have to admit I ended up not caring about any of the characters, no matter how hard the writers tried to make the original bad guys look good. They just didn't, and not even the innocent daughter could redeem this poorly written thriller. Something odd about a 21yo actress trying to act like a 13yo (I'm guessing). The cop recognised the daughter as missing so it obviously wasn't that long ago. How did the daughter come to believe the older women was her mum?? Made no sense.
It's a 4, acting was decent bad story was badly thought out.
Five Star Chef (2023)
Average chefs, average fare , below average show
Why would you pick average or below average chefs for a supposedly top hotel? Drama is why.
As others said, I got fatigued hearing '5 star' every 10 minutes.
The chef yelling at the chefs while running the pass was unacceptable, this type of behaviour is no longer a thing. The woman appeared to have little knowledge and I am guessing was brought on as eye candy and ended up being annoying.
The chefs were average and I highly doubt they have run a good kitchen. Some even complained they had to do deserts and couldn't do a decent pastry? Are you kidding? They should be able to do this with a blind fold on. I also have serious doubts about their hygiene. Sweating all over their dishes and flicking long hair all over the place. Blurgh.
There wasn't one dish I wanted to try, all average, none cool or interesting and just rubbish. It's a 3 because of the high wastage, pretentious prats and constant inane banter from the hosts.
Whitstable Pearl (2021)
A bit Hit and Miss
I have watched two seasons and feel like now is a good time to write my review.
Like most people, I feel the characters aren't drawn well and you need the whole two seasons to get to know them.
The hinted at romance between the the two leads doesn't make sense. There is is no chemistry and it just doesn't feel right. If the Policeman had been written a bit older and perhaps his reason for moving to a small village was to start a fresh after the death of his wife as well as see his Police career out it might have worked a bit better.
The Policeman. (DCI Mike) felt like a fish out of water and more suited to a city like London, which begs the question why did he stay after the first season? Also the never ending grief is wearing thin as is his morose moping. Again, how did Pearl get attracted to him? The second season saw him with a new GF who seemed more suited. There looked to be a good story arc here as she was grieving the loss of her husband too, but unfortunately this never was expanded on.
The setting is a nice slice of seaside village life but like most English police series at the moment there is an over abundance of Police for the size of the village. And every episode is Winter or close to it, maybe a few summer shows with murders of tourists?
The main character of Pearl is likable in a Murder She Wrote kind of way. Although I wish there was a little more depth. After two seasons it was becoming a bit odd that every episode ended the same. Pearl turns up, has a conversation with the perpetrator who eventually admits everything, then sirens in the background as the Police arrive en-masse. Every Episode!! I could go on about just about getting killed in every episode and the silly decisions she makes but think Murder She Wrote and you'll get the gist.
I want to give this a 5.5 but edged to a 6 when I look at what is actually being passed as entertainment and it's better than most so a 6.
Master Gardener (2022)
Potential not reached
If I was writing a report card for this, 'failure to reach potential'would be my mark along with a C.
The failure to develop a storyline and capitalise on some excellent actors was stark. Norval's character failed to get establish. A brooding silent man devoted to his garden was apparently sleeping with the lady of the house who, I assume was taken by his white power past despite that he was supposed to be in witsec. Along comes Maya a 'mixed blood' grandneice of the lady of the house and is trying to get his clothes off too. There was no indication she was remotely interested up until then. The story just didn't get established, and failed to flow.
Such a great idea was totally wasted. And maybe they should have thought twice about giving him a nazi era haircut. The flashbacks showed him as having unruly hair and an unkempt beard. Way to hide your white power past. Would love to have seen more of the garden development instead of the talking about the plants.
A middle of the road deserves a middle of the road score...5.
The Pope's Exorcist (2023)
Run of The Mill Exorcist Movie
It's a shame that in 2023 film makers have nothing new to add to this genre.
I was looking forward to this, a good exorcism film is hard to find and with Russell Crowe at the helm I felt sure this was going to be it!
Sadly it wasn't. If anything RC was miscast. He traditionally comes across as dark and moody which is probably not a good look for a man of the cloth. The unending Italian (which I assume is correct) at the beginning of the film went on a little too long. Subtitles would have helped but none to be found. Crowe's accent was a little too thick for me as if he was trying hard to add the inflection of an Italian speaking English then it would fade when he talked too much. Then, start all over again.
The film itself was run of the mill. Inherit creepy castle from dead dad and fix it up with no money. Small boy/girl possessed. Deep voice (that occasionally missed the sync) and threats of exposing sexual naughty bits. The scurry to find it's name and the over the top make-up of cracked skin, throw in some body twisting and wall bouncing and you have your movie. Pretty much a copy of every other movie of the genre. Even RC looked bored with it all at one point.
The ending came quick and over CGI'd then we all have a joke and hint at either a sequel or more likely a TV show with 199 episodes. I'd say without RC.
Surprisingly I found myself distracted by a news item in the paper during one of the more intense scenes and realised when I looked back, I'd missed nothing.
It's a 5 as RC made it more watchable and it's the first horror I've seen released in a while. I have missed supernatural horrors so much I have to give it a 5. Without RC it would fall to a 4.
Inside (2023)
Too many holes to be of interest
I'm not such a fan of any actor that I would call anything they do brilliant.
Unfortunately, there seem to be plenty of reviewers who feel an actor can do no wrong. At least plenty here.
Dafoe's problem is he picked the wrong movie and probably didn't read or understand what was going on.
I couldn't get past the plot holes although I made it to the end.
Holes
A Penthouse full of expensive paintings/Art but no eternal alarm system, just straight lock down after they've been broken into and no security check. Odd.
No external Fire Alarm in a building that would have strong fire monitoring. Stupid.
A separate watering system for the plants that isn't connected to the mains water? Highly unlikely. Not to mention they apparently didn't come on till he was just about dead, then it was frequently.
No way to exit a locked apartment without a key? Not likely or legal.
Went mad almost immediately? Maybe, but must have had a loose grip on reality from the start.
Fish that feed themselves? Stupid number 2.
Electricity to run the fridge and no way of communicating with the outside world? And he could have turned the sound off, fridges are funny like that, you can programme them.
I would have thought that there would have been a periodic check on the apartment by management for the art work, fish, plants, fire alarm, AC (that was playing up) and security alarm and a freshen up clean at least once a month ... but those fish hmm
A contrived story that probably should have stayed in the writers head. It's a 2 for Dafoe's attempt to make something out of not much.
Invitation to a Murder (2023)
A bad Agatha Christie knock off
This really was bad.
Connections impossibly made, bad acting and I do mean bad. Mischa Barton was atrocious, missing her queues, and an upper class accent that kept slipping. This felt like a stage production and they forgot to update it to 2023 standards. A weak performance and terrible writing.
None of the characters were likeable and none questioned their presence on the island. They even forgot that after discovering the first murder they sent the doctor to fetch help. And then he wouldn't search the dead body, poorly scripted rubbish.
Technology far beyond what was available and why would a recluse need sound proof rooms and secret passages? He wouldn't.
The nail was at the end when after realising the two characters who were just about getting it on were brother and sister. Oh well, lets be friends.....blech. And Mischa's character saying óh, I never had much use for money' this from a florist in a depressed 1920s? Give me a break
Complete rubbish and I gave it a two because apparently they managed to get funding for this........how? Avoid at all costs!
Breaking Girl Code (2023)
Don't waste your time
This appears like a Lifetime thriller, all style, no action, no mystery.
C grade actors whose previous bit parts include 'pregnant woman', 'Man #1'or other such forgettable walk ons that no one knows who they are. Over acting by the lead who needs to be talking while texting exactly what she is texting. Who texts full words complete with correct grammar? And the nyeh nyeh laugh will make want to stop watching. Another interesting badly filmed part was when they were doing selfies which instantly appeared on the screen. Their facial expressions were nothing like the pictures.
Most of this can be blamed on the writing and production efforts. Hard to believe someone would move to a city to be closer to her boyfriend and then live apart. And live comfortably while unemployed.
There are just too many holes and too much bad writing including a silly plot that spoils this. Why roofie girls for sex when they are obviously rich enough to hire hookers.
It's a 2 because I watched most of it before it got too much. This review is in response to the obvious crew voting it 8-10 artificially making an average of 5.8 at time of this review. Something which needs to stop. Eventually it will settle on about 4.4 where it belongs.
Profile (2018)
A Serious Problem Treated Badly
Maybe some other reviewers need to educate themselves.
This was a film that should have been great and ended up being rubbish.
ISIS targets women under 20 as they can sell a romantic notion of life as a bride of a fighter. The reason they are successful is that 15-18 yo are more easily swayed than older women. They have limited knowledge of the world and how it works. How does a 30 yo old journalist (even though she claimed to be 26, I believe she was still lying) who knows how ruthless they are get hooked? The whole reason for the story was to expose them, so she knew!
When she started to tell him a 'secret' (that she was actually a journalist) I thought - based on what? You know he is a ruthless killer, he showed be-headings along with other atrocities, what was the stories motivation for having her fall for him? If it was his swarthy good looks, prowess on the soccer field or that he had a gun, how shallow and ill thought out this story line was. At no time did she express dis-satisfaction with her life, or a desire to take up a life as a bride of a fighter. Even if you can wear fishnets under the burka. So, where was the motivation? For someone who had been trying for months (I believe she said 2 years) to infiltrate or attract a recruiter she had remarkably scant knowledge of their way of life.
Real journalists must be laughing in their pint watching this.
But what made me real angry was that this is an important story, could have been so much better but instead took a dive into unbelievability. Real 14-18 yo old girls are being coerced to travel to become ISIS brides and this didn't help. A shallow stupid movie that made no sense.
It was a 4, downgraded to 2.
Plane (2023)
Yes it's flawed, but just what we needed...
I figured out pretty early on that it didn't take itself seriously or at least Gerard Butler didn't.
14 pax out of Singapore just before Christmas? The flight should have been full. There were lots of errors in predeparture and the comms with the tower when they taxi for take off. And no other planes? The set up was easy to see, prisoner being transported, bad storm and then we're off.
This had all the hall marks of Die Hard, Lethal Weapon and any other action film you can think of from the 80s. After all the dross coming out of Hollywood why not just bring a film out to do one thing and that's entertain. And that's what it did. No woke (and that's a word I hate) message, no easily identified alphabet people (because it didn't matter). Just an action film, a hero and the usual tropes to propel it along. Believability played no part as it didn't in Die Hard, Lethal Weapon, Commando or Rambo (and any subsequent parts). Just a hero, a dubious helper (the prisoner, who's part was never explained but had skills) , a hapless bunch of passengers and some native evil doers with guns. Let the popcorn flow.
I wish they had done more with the passengers, they turned out to be just there and will not be remembered. They certainly could have amped it up more and taken the 80s action higher but it was a good time waster and I felt no need to think beyond what was shown. Hence I didn't care about the errors.
It's a 6 because it entertained me without preaching like most films do at the moment. But for God's sake, NO SEQUEL!
Elvis (2022)
Another Elvis Impersonator Movie although Disjointed
Austin Butler did a good job of playing Elvis, although I fear there is a perception of Elvis now that is impersonated that is far from the real thing. Most actors and singers have a persona for their fans and are different in private life. My feeling is that Elvis in private never saw the light of day in this movie. The songs were out of order and timeline was just odd. I feel for his backing band (The Jordanaiers), they barely got a mention although they were his backing band his entire career.
He had a 15yo Girlfriend in The US during his stint in Germany when he met 14yo Priscilla. This must be the sanitised version.
Now, Col Tom Parker. I have nothing against Tom Hanks but maybe he should research his character better. I remembered an interview I heard from around 1956 and couldn't recall an accent of any kind. I hunted it up (thanks youtube) and sure enough, despite being Dutch born and going to the US when he was 20, he never had an accent. In fact he claimed he was American born and would never have had an accent if he wanted to convince people.
Its a 3 for the great black musicians I saw, enough that I'm off to find some more. Shame the movie was a stinker but Priscilla will be rubbing her money hungry hands together.
Hot Ones (2015)
Staged But Competent Questions
I was going to give this a 6 but a few recurring themes troubled me.
Great questions and asked very eloquently shows that serious thought was put into what to ask the guest, but you can't tell me they weren't forewarned. Their answers are consistently just as thought out and answered. Also, no controversial items are brought up, at all which is probably why he has had such a good range of guests. However, that doesn't make for an interesting interview and most are forgotten as soon as the the show is finished. It also reeks of self promotion on behalf of the guest.
The other consistent theme is Sean Evans always copies the guests reaction, whether it's the portion sampled or the reaction to the heat. If the guest is struggling so is he, if they sail through without much of a reaction, so does he. Once even the crew mopped his dry forehead as the guest was sweating bullets. He eats so much of this he has to be comfortable with the heat level by now. This gives it a feeling of being disingenuous. That along with repetitious introductions and ending which could be altered to be more interesting mark this as a 4. Shame really, it could be a 6 with better production values.
Treason (2022)
When I Gave Up
I was looking forward to this but the current 6.5 score is way too high.
There were too many stupid things happening and it really stretches believability.
How does someone walk into a club frequented by high Government Ministers and poison a drink and never gets challenged once? Then just walks out. No CCTV in the club and apparently none in the street either. Van hits a bicycle and therefore must be connected, how did they figure that? Again no CCTV? In London? The highest user of street CCTV in the world? It was even on the screen behind the cop when she called. Atrocious writing.
Why risk sending books to C in hospital when she already knew his number? This after saying she doesn't make mistakes, appalling.
A vapid wife, over enthusiastic pre-teen son and moody teenage daughter, how surprising. He has a highly classified and secretive job and the dumb wife runs to a friend to complain that he seems distant, stopped at a shop at 10pm to pick up a present and suspects it may have been a drop. Said friend then slips a recorder to her to record their conversations.... I turned it off.
A 3 is generous, I'm on holiday. There was no character I liked and it moved too fast to let me get to know who was who and why this guy was a 2IC when he just looked dumbfounded all the time.
Pressure Cooker (2023)
This isn't about Food Unfortunately
From the start this was about drama. In the first few episodes all the cooking was completed within the first half of the episode, the rest was contrived drama. I learned to just jump to the next episode after the person being eliminated was announced. And then sometimes before, as I would just work out who wasn't there. So tired of sob stories and 20 something chefs who moan how hard life has been and the long hours they work. If they were in there 40s I might listen. The entitlement is high here!
After that it was a popularity contest with contestants lying and voting off good chefs so that bad ones could stay. The amount of drama in this was ridiculous and made the actual food a secondary theme.
The straw was the final episode, someone makes a Sunday afternoon meal which I could make and wins over a fine dining chef whose work was obviously better. Let me ask you this, if you have a good experience in a restaurant do you call the chef out and ask for his sob story?, and to see if you liked him/her? No? Then why did that play a part in the decision making here?
Not having fair and honest reviews of the food presented works against the show. Obviously throwing a bunch of chefs into a house will amp up the dramatics and then having them judge each other is just stupid. The only purpose this could serve is to get the contestants to vote against each other and heighten the tension.
I have an idea, why doesn't someone do a show that is actually about the food! I would watch that!!
It's a 3 with the hope there is no second season, I won't be watching it.
The Pale Blue Eye (2022)
Excellent Performances, slight issue with the writing
Christian Bale and Harry Melling certainly owned this as others have astutely pointed out.
I also enjoyed support from Toby Jones Gillian Anderson and Timothy Spall. Who would have ever dreamed of Toby and Gillian playing man (a cuckolded one at that) and wife. I could rave about them for many paragraphs but suffice it to say I was more than impressed with the cast. Who knew Robert Duvall could carry a French accent?
The story line as a mystery was quite good although a bit formulaic and the ambience created by Winter snow, candle lighting everywhere helped carry it. I won't divulge the story line as others have done that more than adequately.
My issue is the paper thin twist at the end. Although not expected, it seems highly unlikely that someone of Landor's intelligence would make the mistake as obvious as writing both notes in the same hand writing. It would also seem unlikely that he would write the word 'there' incorrectly as 'their' in the first note. Remember, at this stage he didn't think he would be a suspect, let alone be called upon to investigate his own murder. It would also be unlikely that he would point it out to Poe while deciphering it. The great lengths Poe went into when deciphering the note; certain letters being capitalised when not needed and the style of the writing should have warned Landor that his writing a second note in his own hand writing would raise a red flag. This left me a little disappointed as an alternative to this twist could easily have been introduced in a believable way.
I gave it a 6 as I still enjoyed the verbal jousting in the vernacular of the day and to use superb and refined European actors was a master stroke. They seem to carry off the 'less is more' and let the story breathe rather than needing to push every detail at you as would American actors.
Kaleidoscope (2023)
This just didn't work...
So many thoughts so we will start with the obvious.
This has to be watched in an order. If you watch white anywhere but the end, there's no use continuing on. And, there are allusions to other parts in other episodes, so the correct order is necessary. The whole non-linear idea seems more for film makers than designed to entertain audiences.
Spoilers follow
Now, there are far too many plot holes and tropes for this to be anything than what it is. A badly written heist movie that went way too long. Items stolen from other movies such as the gait measuring device and underwater vault (ala Mission Impossible). It was obvious that the daughter was involved after telling him Í'm in' after their meeting, and the 'sister' going on about moving paper about when she joins the company. At first I thought it was going to be Ray and Hannah doing the switch after the heist but I'm not sure. If it was, Ray was willing to rip off his partners which makes a nonsense of 'it's not about the money'. If he wasn't aware of Hannah swapping the bonds out half way through the heist then he must have blabbed it all to Hannah, otherwise how did she know the when and how? And the bonds not being mentioned in any episodes that were time frames after the heist was a red herring as Ray knew.
Now, the gait measuring machine. Surely, for it to measure the walking gait of the person going through it, it would need to know who it was. Instead the facial recognition was at the end of the walking tunnel. On top of that a swarm of bees would trigger the alarm as it had nothing to measure, As someone was entering the vault it must have known it hadn't measured their walking gait? How is this machine triggered? The volume of water traveling down the tunnel didn't match the amount pouring in to the vault. Why didn't Judy just shoot Ben instead of jumping on his back and trying to strangle him with a crow bar? She had a gun as she shot RJ. And the chances of her being able to strangle him were zero given their obvious size and strength difference. There are more but I think that's plenty to point out plot holes.
To be honest, I just didn't care about any of the characters at all. Ava was probably the most genuine, but the relationship with Ray was weird and felt awkward.
It's a 3 for idea but it failed to take me for the ride it promised.
Come and Find Me (2016)
Too many plot holes
The story line is explained adequately elsewhere so I wont bore you with a synopsis.
The idea was good, the writing, execution and acting weren't.
I know people love Aaron Paul but I've had a hard time finding anything post Breaking Bad worth watching him in. He is either making poor choices or just not getting the offers to let him shine. So, no, not a fan.
Biggest hole was the negatives everyone was after. It made no sense to bury them undeveloped in the garden where they would eventually deteriorate. Any film photographer would know this. Which brings me to my second gripe. If she was gathering evidence against a spy why would you do it on film? A quick snap on digital and them immediately upload it to the cloud, done. There was just far too many issues with negatives in a digital world.
The good guys v bad guys wasn't clear. Who was who? How can she break him out of the torture room and there is no resistance? Why paint the inside of the BMW black so no one could look in when the meet was 3am in an underground carpark? Who was going to look? And, after painting it black how did he get it to the car park when he couldn't see to drive?
To top it off, right at the end she tells him 'we have to go!'as the bad guys are coming. But he stops her to have a deep and meaningful. Good grief.
Bad writing, pitiful acting (sorry, she just didn't come across as a super spy who could take out whole gangs) and I'm thinking 2 is generous.
Modern Love (2019)
What Happened?
This is a prime example of finding the right formula in the first season and totally ignoring it in the second, to it's own discredit.
Season 1 left each episode showing that there are options and sometimes life doesn't always work the way we thought it would. Season 2 seemed to concentrate on a 'Happily ever after' and Episodes 4 & 5 made me give up all together. They looked to be attracting the High School crowd of younger viewers and I was left out in the cold as an older viewer.
It's a 6 mostly because Season 1 deserved closer to an 8 but I lowered it because the Season 2 lost it's shine.
Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
Great action but that's all
I can't believe the amount of fan boy reviews but then, looking at the quality of entertainment coming our way, maybe I can.
What's good:
Great (and I mean GREAT) action flying scenes. The actors must have had a ball filming them and the cinematography was excellent. Very little CGI but that's about all that was good.
What's not
TC being called an old man when he looks 20 years younger (or more) than his actual age. Not really believable, The excessive testosterone on display. The beach football was straight out of 1986 and looked awkward at best, Anyone else notice the oiled up actors? A little bit odd and uncomfortable. Jennifer Connelly would have been 16 in 1986 so age appropriateness for actresses is still not a thing? I wasn't sold on the love interest with TC. Their was no chemistry and it felt forced. About believable as her making enough money from the bar to own a Porsche. TC stealing a fighter to show off and being given the Team Leaders role. Aw shucks, ya fly so good you can have the job. Reality? He'd be locked up and face a court martial. Attacking a country on their own soil? A bit too far regardless of who it is. The story was entirely predictable when there should have been room for something new.
So a 5, I did enjoy the movie overall but keep asking myself, is this as far as movie making has come in 35 years?