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Reviews
Becoming Elizabeth (2022)
Elizabeth Tudor, a temptress with a German lilt.
This undoubtedly looks good. The set and costume designers have done a great job as have most of the cast - but I couldn't get past Alicia Von Rittberg's unconvincing accent and the hopeless and myriad historical inaccuracies. As for portraying Thomas Seymour as some romantic love interest, as opposed to the sexual predator he was....
Romola Garai gives a great performance as Mary, but the stand-outs for me were two young actors of whom I predict great things; Bella Ramsey made Lady Jane Grey come alive for me - a poor young woman being led to the slaughter by her ambitious relatives - and Oliver Zetterstrom's performance as Edward VI was simply extraordinary.
This should have been great, so it is disappointing that bizarre casting of the lead actor and casual dismissal of historical facts, taint an obviously very expensively produced work.
Reign (2013)
Please don't waste your money buying this!
This is so disappointing. I will admit that it looks pretty - but putting a load of good looking people into costumes which have no bearing on the period and having them talk to each other like modern day teenagers is such a waste of great subject matter. I had hoped that it was another 'Wolf Hall', 'Cranford' or 'Becoming Elizabeth' (it's cleverly marketed) and had made the mistake of purchasing the first episode but I didn't even make it all the way through.
It felt like they wanted to make a 'cute' vaguely historical looking drama which would appeal to the masses, without bothering to do any research and pinned Mary Queen of Scots on it to convince themselves, and fool their prospective audience, into thinking it wasn't just..... tripe.
Bill (2015)
Glorious
This turned out to be an unexpected treat. It almost passed me by because I had no idea it was the 'Horrible Histories' and 'Ghosts' writers and actors and so wasn't expecting to find another work of genius by that team. As someone else commented here, the trailers are really poor.
As usual the team are all playing multiple parts, proving so versatile, and very obviously enjoying themselves. Damien Lewis and Helen McCrory' s appearance being an unexpected treat. Ben Willbond (one of the co-writers of the screenplay) is wonderfully dastardly as The King Of Spain. It's funny, warm and engaging and beautifully made. I predict it will become a cult classic once more people discover it exists.
Valley of the Sasquatch (2015)
Really enjoyable
I had quite low expectations of this - based on some reviews (I wonder if we watched a different film?!) and the sheer number of really poor films about Sasquatch around - but it exceeded my expectations by a mile. Putting aside the character of the uncle (just why?), the acting was much more real and subtle than one expects from an American movie and the Sasquatches were believable. Definitely worth a watch.
On the Yeti Trail (2014)
Well worth watching
Intelligent and well made. No silly monster hunter stuff - but some serious cryptozoologists conducting interesting research analysed by well renowned scientists.
Creature from Big Muddy: An Illinois Bigfoot Legend (2021)
Surprisingly good
This was quite obviously low budget at the start and I wasn't holding out much hope - but actually it was considered, intelligent, and had some fantastic eye witness accounts. Much better than a lot of the much higher budget Bigfoot documentaries I have seen.
The Badge, the Bible, and Bigfoot (2019)
Shamefully bad
This is basically one family's self-made vehicle to proselytize, self aggrandise and self promote. Don't be fooled by the mention of Bigfoot in the title. It's purely a ruse to attract attention. It actually consists of a huge amount of Bible thumping and a few rednecks and a guy in a bad monkey suit running around in front of a static camera. The hero is the husband of the writer who is also in it and trust me, neither of them could act their way out of a paper bag. Endless mentions of how pretty she is (she wrote it!) and his (long over) military service. Just embarrassingly dreadful. I urge you not to waste any time on it.
Railway Murders (2021)
Well crafted
If you liked Murder Maps, this is from the same stable. Thoughtfully presented, carefully researched and packed with historical footage and interesting expert commentary.