qui_j Reviews

Pachinko (2022– )

Good story that is badly told in film

[5/10 · 19 May 2024]

This is a saga that spans generations and historical events. The story is a good one but the asynchronous way of telling it with overuse of time jumps, is just stupid! Sometimes the time jumps are overlaid on scenes from a different era, without even having the same content or theme. The story continuity then becomes nonexistent and one can only wonder if the director or writers were more focused on having the scenes look artistic, but leaving the narrative to take second place. Maybe, as others on here have recommended, it's better to read the book as that may have a more linear approach to telling the story, without the incessant use of silly time jumping scenes. The acting is good, the storytelling is hopeless!

Bodkin (2024– )

A lot of the old Blarney

[4/10 · 18 May 2024]

This series meanders all over the place. It tries to tell one story but has so many subplots that eventually it loses its way and hits a brick wall. It just tried to hard to be clever, funny and dark.....and all at the same time. The writers do their best to drag out the content to fill seven episodes, but in reality, it all could have been done in three. So much of the content is irrelevant and has very little to do with the story. Much of the dialog is just a bit silly and appears to be geared at promoting Irish tourism. There are some bits of LGBTQ stuff but that really doesn't seem to happen. Overall, it just tried to be a bit of everything, but ended up being too much Blarney!

Severance (2022– )

Slow burn to boredom

[3/10 · 15 May 2024]

This series goes at the speed of a smoldering fire. More like a slow cooker. The concept is clear but things move too slowly to maintain interest. There's a limit to how much " nothingness" a viewer can take. The sets are minimalist, a few old computers and a cluster of desks. The company seems to have about 4 employees. The pace is just too slow to maintain interest, and with a story that is neither that strong, engaging or compelling, interest is lost very early.

The wish for a good work life balance is wonderful. Unfortunately, this series doesn't achieve a good balance between a good way to tell a story and keeping it interesting enough to maintain viewer engagement. Had to give up after 3 episodes. Life is too short to spend on this. Watching paint dry was far more exciting and rewarding!

A Man in Full (2024)

Confusing, chaotic and pointless

[3/10 · 14 May 2024]

This was rubbish! It involves so many different story lines, not all of which are related to the main theme or even relevant. It's as if random scenes are stuck together in the hope that a story will emerge. Jeff Daniels's southern accent is so over the top that it makes one cringe to hear it. The other actors had little to work with as the script was so badly written with stilted dialog and used medieval words that no one in modern times even utters! It makes you wonder what the point of the 6 episodes was, other than to create below average content and waste time. This series is yet another example of why Netflix continues to rack up losses!

Argylle (2024)

Putrid

[1/10 · 9 May 2024]

This is just bad! It's not funny, it's silly, but not silly as in fun, silly as in really, really stupid. The chase scenes and spy satire falls flat and it all seems to fall very short of spoofing any spy movie in existence. Apple TV must have been desperate to fund this rubbish, or maybe they're still on a learning curve with their streaming platform. Even if you try to see it for what it's supposed to be, just a fun romp to show the ridiculousness and lack of realism of other spy movie franchises like 007 or Mission Impossible, this is just soooo bad, it just does not achieve that goal at all! Best avoided!

The New Look (2024– )

Fake accents and a terrible script

[2/10 · 9 May 2024]

Could not even finish the first episode! The fake accents were revolting to hear and the script had the actors delivering their lines as if they read them off a teleprompter. The writer obviously had some fanciful idea about that era. Why not match actors to the nationalities portrayed and have them speak in their native languages for authenticity. Other productions do this. It's silly that they all speak English using imagined accents, forgetting to do so sometimes! The acting isn't great and one can only assume that these are down on their luck actors who need to find money to pay their rent or mortgage since they are no longer that much in demand. It's a good concept, but one that's horribly executed!

Tehran (2020– )

Thrilling but completely illogical

[6/10 · 6 May 2024]

The thing with series like this is that once you decide to watch them, no analysis or connection to logic can be done. Belief and logical thinking have to be suspended. The events, as illogical as they all are, are solely geared towards making the narrative as thrilling as possible, they are just not logical. There are so many instances in the two seasons where this occurs, it's just amazing. In the first episode, the passengers leave Jordan on one type of aircraft but make an emergency landing in Tehran in another without changing flights. Other instances..... it's simply incredulous that the lead suspect can walk around Tehran and go into police stations and sit under her wanted poster without being identified. The locations themselves look very little like Teheran, a place where sanctions have had an impact on goods and services. They look very similar to the hills above LA. There are many more like that but if one is to enjoy the series, just go with the flow, accept its lack of logic and its predictability without giving those details a second thought!

Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar (2024– )

A crime against film making in every country

[1/10 · 4 May 2024]

This series is an attempt by Indian producers to create a costume drama using lavish sets but rubbish writing and amateur actors. The script is a fanciful rendition of events that may or may not have some historical basis, but the writing is so bad and the editing so poorly done, that the final product is completely unwatchable. Did Netflix really fund this production? It's simply terrible! There are no other words to describe it! There was ample opportunity to make it into something so much better but it just turned into some kind of vanity project with a narrow focus and narrative that must only be understood by the writers and producers. A complete and total waste of time. The first episode is enough to convince one not to continue!

Trying (2020–2024)

Quickly becomes repetitive

[5/10 · 23 April 2024]

This series starts off well, charming characters, quirky family, real life family problems with adoption etc. However, it quickly becomes repetitive with the characters seeming to go nowhere and the story line stagnates. Most distracting are the lead actor's upper teeth which appear to be a badly made set of dentures with huge gums that appear to be very protuberant. One cannot help but notice them every time he opens his mouth or smiles. Hopefully, he can get them made to be more aesthetically pleasing.

The chemistry between all the cast is good but the episodes seem to lack the sharp witted, heavy on sarcasm, British type humor. Maybe it's been watered down for the US market in the fear that it would be misinterpreted or just not understood. It's an average series that could have been better.

Island at War (2004)

Poorly produced Soap Opera

[3/10 · 21 April 2024]

The invasion and occupation of the Channel islands was a difficult time in the history of WW2. This fictional and rather fanciful soap opera really does not do it justice if one is looking for any authenticity. The "Germans" all speak beautiful English, sometimes heavily accented, other times not. It's like the actors forget who they're supposed to be. A young Laurence Fox just can't quite shake off his posh accent! The message is like that of a wartime English propaganda film, intended to bolster morale. The characters are all stereotypical. Unfortunately, the writing is quite appalling, and despite the efforts of a stellar cast of the day, the series just never gets off the ground. It only went for 1 Season and ended rather abruptly!

Loot (2022– )

Do people actually watch this rubbish?

[2/10 · 20 April 2024]

This series is bad, really, really bad! I gave it 3 episodes then gave up. The cast is like a SNL graveyard, with washed up actors dredged up from the past and trying to appear funny again. The series storyline just makes no sense, and coupled with a childish script, there can be no redeeming feature for this show. It's a perfect example of just how desperate streaming platforms are for content, that they appear to stream anything with people who can move and speak!

Maya Rudolph was funny on SNL because the other cast members she played off of, made her brand of humor come through and hid her desperately poor acting skills. This series, in which she has center stage, allows her poor acting skills to come through. It's just bad.....really, really bad!

The Zone of Interest (2023)

Good concept but poorly executed

[3/10 · 10 April 2024]

The idea behind the film is good, but it is such a poor production that the idea never really surfaces as a story. The director tries too hard to make it into an artistic production, the story gets totally buried in all the images of flowers and overly long periods of silence and blank screen time. There seems to be no script, no context as to who the supporting characters are, but all just appear as actors improvising as they go along. It ultimately becomes a pointless and very boring experience to watch. Viewers understand the concept portrayed in the film, that is, the idea of a normal existence side by side with the horrors of Auschwitz's purpose. However, this could have been executed much better with a good script and a more structured format! The audio track is also very inaudible!

Contraband: Seized at the Border (2023– )

Good but repetitive

[8/10 · 27 March 2024]

Like all of these reality series that deal with this theme, this one highlights the outstanding job done by CBP agents in their daily war, protecting national borders. However, the episodes tend to become repetitive after a while, even using the same dialogue over and over. For viewers, the repetitive nature of the episodes do not do much to keep people engaged and interested. Understandably, this work is of the utmost importance to any country, but it does not make for riveting viewing after the first 10-15 episodes. It is therefore surprising that it has been given repeat seasons, despite the repetitive format.

Bandidos (2024– )

Silly and trite...but fails to be funny

[2/10 · 19 March 2024]

This is yet another of the new type of Mexican series. It tries to be clever like House of Flowers but fails dismally! The script is silly and filled with predictable characters, and the events impossible to believe. Some of the scenes are just so silly, one cannot imagine it possible that the writers thought they could get away with them e.g the scene with the main character hanging from a balcony in full view of a crowd, but no one does anything. The acting is forced, the audio track barely audible, and even if viewers just went with the flow and tried to imagine it as a comedy, ignoring all the illogical and implausible twists and turns, the silliness of the plot makes that impossible to do so. The premise is that of a very watered down Indiana Jones, but the script never achieves that level of humor.....or even parody. It's just plain silly and not worth the time to watch.

Król (2020– )

A good story told in a bizarre manner

[6/10 · 16 March 2024]

This is an above average series from Poland. It describes the situation before WW2, and deals with the struggle between a number of factions fighting for control of the city. It has multiple timelines and multiple tracks, but the narrative switches between them all in a chaotic manner. This results in the story being told in a very confused manner and makes it difficult for non-Polish viewers to maintain any sort of continuity with the story. Obviously, it helps if the viewer has some knowledge of the history of that era in Poland. A few of the scenes appear to be randomly stuck in among others, which also does not help provide a linear way to narrate a story. The series is quite good, but the way the story is told leaves much to be desired!

Le Monstre (2019)

Needs a minus rating

[1/10 · 8 March 2024]

This is supposedly a psychological drama based on the theme of domestic abuse. There is nothing new as it deals with the usual type of character defect in a woman who is besotted with an abuser, but keeps going back for more. There are the usual cycles of leaving and going back, supposedly because love can change the situation etc. After a while, it all becomes tedious and without any real story of substance. It's a story that's been told many times over. This series offers nothing new as insight into the cycle of abuse. It's a pointless series that is perfectly suited for the streaming platform, Walter Presents, a platform that is a literal graveyard for all failed European TV series!

L'absente (2021)

Rubbish

[2/10 · 8 March 2024]

This French series starts off with a sequence of apparently unconnected and disconnected scenes from which viewers are intended to make sense. There are the usual long periods of actors staring through windows, at one another and various objects . Nothing makes sense, including a scene where the mother slaps some guy in a hospital room. Little in the way of context is provided to provide background. The scenes are dark and dreary, and there is the usual histrionic behavior with a lot of shouting that passes for acting in French cinema! Walter Presents is the usual platform for failed European series. This series is no exception to that rule!

Beyto (2020)

Almost good

[4/10 · 26 February 2024]

This is the usual gay love story between a Turk from a traditional family in which homosexuality is "haraam"and a Swiss national who is out and cannot understand why the whole traditional background stuff is such a big deal in Switzerland. This conflict as a theme has been done to death, especially the forced arranged marriage to a cousin so that the villagers at home won't have to know about the "shame" . What makes the movie difficult to understand is the lack of continuity in the storytelling. There appears to be gaps in the timeline that just aren't explained by use of dialog, and so the viewer has to work really hard to understand that certain periods of time have passed between the scenes. That's the only way the narrative makes sense. It has a nice happy ending so there are no loose ends.

Wil (2023)

Slow burn, repetitive and a bit boring

[3/10 · 26 February 2024]

This is a Flemish movie that deals with the usual Nazi atrocities committed in Belgium and elsewhere against Jews. Two young Flemish policemen are caught up in the torture and have to find a way to extricate themselves. The movie is very boring with minimal dialog, and the usual staring and periods of silence that is common to Flemish movies. The constant filming in low-light, dim rooms does little to help hold interest. Ultimately, with the story told in a very confusing manner, a timeline that seems to jump all over the place and choppy editing, it was easier to just stop watching than go all the way to the end and waste time.

Hotel Europa (2021–2022)

A really bad German series

[3/10 · 20 February 2024]

This series takes viewers on a lightning fast trip through German history immediately post WW1. It singles out particular incidents to dramatize and therefore has little depth. The script is poorly written and the producers probably thought that using lavish sets and costumes to increase visual appeal, would prevent viewers from seeing that the series lacks substance. The acting is below average and the choppy editing where scenes seem randomly stitched together, offers little help to the viewer to have any story continuity. Little in the way of context is provided, other than repetitive use of a single flashback. This becomes tiresome as it is overused. Sadly, the series does not improve as it progresses but just gets more mechanical, like a hybrid between a poorly done documentary and a really bad "made for TV series."

In Flanders Field (2014)

Interesting story but told in a confusing manner

[5/10 · 18 February 2024]

This Belgian series is interesting in that it uses a well-worn theme of WW1, but tells it from a Belgian perspective. Unfortunately, like many Belgian series, the story is told in a confused manner with the scenes appearing like vignettes that have been randomly stitched together. This destroys the chance for the viewer to have any story continuity. As has been pointed out by another reviewer, the story seems to be agenda driven, and each agenda item then assigned to a character. There is little character development and at times, the script and dialog is very childish. Unlike so many other European series that sets the story in a particular non-English speaking country, then has everyone speaking English while surrounded by signs written in the language of the country, this series uses the many languages of the region, and emphasizes the attention paid to authenticity. The language switching abilities of the actors is just amazing to see and hear. While the acting itself and the makeup techniques used are really not that great, the series remains engaging and watchable.

Doctor Finlay (1993–1996)

With better writing, could have been better

[5/10 · 5 February 2024]

This Scottish TV series from 30 years ago remains entertaining and interesting. It would have been better had the writing not been so haphazard and disorganized, and the editing followed a more linear and logical pattern. Some of the scenes seem to be randomly placed and not connected to either the one before or after it. In some episodes, the casting is just silly when children and parents appear to be almost the same age. As others have pointed out, stories are not completed or some they are just dropped without a satisfying conclusion. There is therefore no conclusion to many of the storylines. It's a watchable series, but could have been a whole lot better!

John Wick (2014)

Fantasy that entertains

[5/10 · 31 January 2024]

The John Wick movies are pure fantasy that is geared towards entertainment. It's a like a non-stop video game on X-Box where the hero never dies, but works his way steadily through a sea of assassins by using a set of well choreographed movements and a lot of background grunting. Blood is everywhere, bursting out of heads, eyes, torsos etc. The storyline is non-existent, there are no academy award winning performances, the dialog is minimal and primal and very little sex since the hero is too busy trying to stay alive. Overall, if one applied logic and analysis, the films would be rubbish, but if one just wants to experience mindless violence and be entertained in a gruesome manner, the films will all work for you. Watch it for what it is, pure fantasy, not for what you would like it to be!

Loudermilk (2017–2020)

Funny at times

[5/10 · 29 January 2024]

This series is very reminiscent of "Community". It shares a common theme of a group of quirky characters all focused on a common goal. Livingston is a good match for his character. Will Sasso is like his character from MadTv. Most of the supporting cast members act at a very amateur level. Although supposedly set in Seattle, it's a Canadian production filmed in Vancouver and one can hear the strong Canadian accents and pronunciation come through quite often. The story line is variable but the best season is Season 1. The show starts a steady decline after that. The writers seem to have run out of ideas and the dialog, gags, and situations become repetitive. As the seasons progress, the level of "woke" increases and the humor becomes more Canadian, which often does not translate across cultures. The third and final season is a waste of time and must have been the reason for the demise of the show! It's watchable, but not outstanding!

Varg Veum (2007–2012)

Low budget series from Norway

[1/10 · 8 January 2024]

This is a low budget series from Norway. It must have been produced before Nordic Noir became popular. The episodes are not well done in that the scripts make no sense, the dialog is silly and appears improvised! The audio quality is terrible and choppy editing just compounds the lack of story continuity. Trying to watch it is impossible as it just makes no sense at all. This must be a production mainly targeted at a Scandinavian audience as it has little in the way of global appeal. The storyline is a very confusing one for each episode. I gave up after the second episode as it's really a waste of time. The characters all look like they could benefit from a good wash!