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tinglytom
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The OA (2016)
Silly...very silly
Clearly a big budget project, but it's like a lot of productions these days; the writers have got themselves cornered. They can't write themselves out of the ridiculous scenario they've contrived, or more accurately, contorted.
I noticed in some of the other reviews, it's been dropped by Netflix. It's hardly surprising but what surprises me are the rave reviews. Get real people!
I would suggest a production should not be commissioned on the basis of an initial 'hook' plot. There must be an ending AND, an ending that makes some kind of sense.
There were parts of The OA that were quite engaging and entertaining and also the acting/casting etc was superb, hence my rating. Still, you can't get away from the fact that the overall plot was very silly and flawed.
In the end OA stood for '0 Answers!
Honeydew (2020)
B Movie Shock Horror Chortle
Despite the loosely factual scientific basis of this film (ergot poisoning), you can't possibly take the movie seriously. I'm sure the director simply set out to produce something that is just very gross and funny, like the classic Drive-in B Movies of the 50s.
In fact I think the old Popeye and Betty Boop cartoons were selected since they were shown during the intermission of some of these 50s movie shows.
I'm sure those involved with this movie know exactly what it is - it's not trying to be a classic; it's a bit of fun - a creep-fest.
I liked the characters of the couple. They weren't shallow and gooey eyed-over each other. They came across as a normal everyday couple.
I could pick holes in certain parts of the plot but overall I enjoyed the movie.
Finding Alice (2021)
Failed Attempt to Copy Afterlife
I've been struggling through this just hoping it picks up. It just occurred to me tonight what it's trying to be, which is Ricky Gervais' brilliant Afterlife, but it's failing miserably.
There's no poignancy or pathos and it's not funny. What flimsy story line there is, is implausible but entirely predictable. The characters are shallow and pathetic. It's just terrible.
Sharp Objects (2018)
Just brilliant
There's nearly nothing to fault here.
I have always loved Amy Adams in all she does, but this really does demonstrate her immense talent.
One minor quibble is the direction, in that we are presented with sudden and very fast flickering frames of images that are impossible to digest. It leaves you feeling that you might have missed something, and I don't feel inclined to waste time stop/starting and pausing things using the remote to work it out!
That's probably a general complaint because it's quite a common thing now.
In any case, I'm loving it and good on you Amy for finding something that showcases your immense abilities!
Silent Witness: The Greater Good: Part 2 (2020)
An Annual Treat
The last episode of this series was just brilliant.
I got into this series late - last three years perhaps, but it is one of the best series on TV. There are some moments when you think 'well. that wouldn't really happen', but that's a very minor quibble. Everything about the programme is so engaging you are immediately drawn in to the situation.
The scenarios are always dramatic and realistic and the cast are superb and gel very well together.
This programme is such a welcome relief from the multitude of 'dumb down' programmes and completely unfunny panel shows.
Long may it continue and lucky me; I've got the early series' to catch up on when I can.
COBRA (2020)
OMG, What A Catastrophe...
...and I don't mean the scenario!
It's like a show made as a school project by teenagers and even then it wouldn't get a pass mark!
The dialogue is so pathetic it's unreal. In fact the dialogue is by far the most distracting thing of all to make the whole thing feel so unrealistic.
Even if you were of the opinion that this is 'dumbed down' for the US market, if that IS the case, then it is quite insulting.
I would have thought they would have built up the characters to an extent before the solar storm hits so we might care two hoots about what happens to them.
Just a disaster. In fact they should convene COBRA for real to save the public from exposure to this painful drivel.
Gavin & Stacey: A Special Christmas (2019)
First time viewer
I'd never seen the series in the past, but I watched this special because my partner wanted to see it.
There were times when I felt that all I was doing was watching other people enjoy their Christmas rather than enjoying my own. Same reason I don't watch soaps. Life's too short for living your OWN life never mind obsessing over what others are doing in their fictional lives. I don't get it?
In any case, I found the show quite amusing and the characters are brilliant. I love Rob Brydon and he's great in this. I also liked the way the Gavin & Stacey situation was depicted. Stacey's pier-side speech was very well done.
The acting was also very good and as a writer of the show, I thought it was very funny James Corden allowing himself to be 'fat-shamed', although it was quite cringe-worthy in the piece itself!
Looks like there will be a follow-up, which I would hope to catch.
Killing Eve (2018)
Season Two is Pathetic
I watched Killing Eve from the outset. Season One wasn't at all bad. However, nowhere near as good as 'Bodyguard'; both series going head-to-head almost during the awards season.
The second series just became silly; the British Intelligence initially searching for this serial hit-woman and then recruiting her for a job?! Sandra Oh's character became immersed in some kind of obsession with the killer. This might have been an interesting slant had the writing been better but it was left hanging in the air with no explanation.
Sandra Oh's character had previously shown compassion, and yet she left her colleague unattended on the floor of the hotel after being shot. Unless I missed it, I don't believe she even asked about him afterwards.
I can see the attraction of the two main characters to dimwits and what's actually happened is; the writer's have focussed on that in the second season rather than investing their time in developing a plausible plot. They then introduced a number of set pieces for both characters to appeal to a dumb-down audience - outrageous and almost inexplicable murders for Jodie Cromer and set-pieces for Sandra Oh based on her sexual confusion.
There's a new lead writer assigned to the third series, but I wouldn't be surprised if the brief is strongly based on that which applied in season two.
Unforgotten (2015)
Disappointing
The main female detective's character played by Nicola Walker, spoiled this whole thing for me. Despite the hideous crimes, why was she allowing herself to get so upset during the culprit's confession? I'm sure any real detectives would find this insulting to their profession.
Plus, I was expecting some sort of twist at the end, but nothing came.
The other issue I had with this was the demonisation of psychopathy. Ok, the culprit was clearly a psychopath, but that is quite a common condition that people live with. Lack of empathy in itself shouldn't be demonised. Both detectives appeared horrified by the confessor describing his lack of empathy, but in reality there is far more understanding about the condition and especially amongst detectives I'm sure.
Shame about these aspects of the series, because given a few tweaks and it would have been much better.
Kong: Skull Island (2017)
Brain Freeze Not Enough
I can sometimes suspend my brain to an extent to give a movie a chance, but in this case I doubt whether a frontal lobotomy would suffice.
This is without doubt the worst movie I've ever seen. I couldn't even make it to the end. I've given it a 1 because it wasn't Kong's fault, but anyone else associated with this movie should be mightily ashamed.
From Darkness (2015)
Please don't make a sequel!
Watching this was painful. I only watched it all in the hope that the ending would make up for the rest of the slow moving drivel.
The main characters did not engage the viewer in any way. I didn't really care what happened to them! I felt no chemistry whatsoever between the two main leads and yet we're supposed to believe that they are suppressing a love so great that they might give up their far more attractive current partners to be together!
The character Claire Church kept running away, coming back, running away. Only a few weeks ago I drove to the Isle of Skye and back and it's not a journey you take on lightly, even by train! Supposedly an intelligent ex detective, what exactly was she thinking when she behaved as she did at the wedding they crashed? Deliberately getting plastered, making a ridiculous scene and coming on to her DCI colleague and ex lover. I'm sure the writer could have achieved a similar plot mechanism without contriving unrealistically that experienced DCIs may behave in such a dumb and ill-considered way.
The ending was equally pathetic and it's left the door open for a follow up. No witnesses to the shooting, so Church could claim self-defence and act out even more angst over her actions. Also DCI John Hind was still breathing, which in a similar manner unfortunately, might mean that someone may consider there's still life in this nonsense!
If so, I won't be investing any more time in this. I'm out.