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Reviews
Ludwig (2024)
Very light hearted and entertaining
Just binged this on iPlayer and loved it.
Nothing particularly original about it but was good fun throughout and kept you guessing throughout every episode.
It's a kind of mix of many different detectives/mystery programmes - Holmes , Poirot , Professor T , Jonathon Creek etc but done with a David Mitchel style.
The beauty is that it is not padded out with filler just to drag out each episode - it's the perfect 60 minute mystery so it chugs along nicely and sticks to the plot - with no annoying subplots that go nowhere. Its attraction is its simplicity and humour.
It's a very family oriented show with no violence , bad language , nudity , sexual content - it's just wholesome great TV viewing !!
I wish there was more like this being commissioned by the BBC that was as good a quality as this is. I'm not usually one for overcooking an idea into endless seasons until it becomes a parody of itself - but I do hope they make at least a second series.
Ragdoll (2021)
Compared to some crime drama trash it was Ok
Have to admit I actually quite enjoyed this.
Didn't totally understand what was going on some of the time ( I guess if I had read the book beforehand it would have made more sense ) - but I still thought it was entertaining enough.
The production quality was good and the acting was good enough - and they threw in a smattering of humour which I think always helps
Too many crime dramas take themselves too seriously and omit any humour - where this one does have the occasional bit of witty dialogue.
There a quite a lot bad crime dramas being produced at the moment and this one isn't a classic - but it's better than a lot of them and does keep you entertained for most of it.
Our House (2022)
Lack of empathy for any of the characters
I read the book before watching this TV series so was interested to see what the adaptation was like and whether the plot had been changed for TV.
The adaptation sticks remarkably close to the book and follows the linear timeline. All the little twists throughout are the same ones which did surprise me as quite often the TV adaptations usually put their own spin on things - but to be fair to this one - it stays faithful to the book.
So taking into account all of plot holes and having to suspend disbelief - which I don't have any problem with - as it's entertainment at the end of the day, and suspending disbelief is part of buying into the premise - the main problem is the lack of empathy you feel for anyone in the story.
I read the book prior to watching this and to be fair, the same problem existed in the book - whereby it's hard to feel any sympathy for the main character Fi - mainly because she is portrayed as an entitled, middle class white female living in a plot from a Richard Curtis movie. Obsessed with house prices and always meeting up with the "girls' for coffee or Prosecco to discuss how much their houses are worth or gossip about men etc etc.
So when this gets translated to TV, the adaptation has done nothing to change this. So you end up watching the episodes unfold and you end up not caring at all about Fi at all or what happens to her. She is portrayed exactly as the book describes her.
For all it's flaws , I didn't think the production values and acting was that bad. I've seen much much worse than this.
However, the most important thing in TV, movies or whatever media is to connect with the characters - either love them, hate them, sympathise, empathise....have some kind of emotional investment. Once you buy into the characters and root for them, you can then forgive ropey plot lines and plot holes etc etc - or at least you overlook them to a degree.
But with Our House , you are totally indifferent to all of the characters - even the bad guys.
You don't care either way if the main characters are rewarded or punished for their good and bad actions.
I assume we are supposed to side with the main character Fi and root for her throughout and have empathy for her......but you just don't. And this is the main problem why Our House was a disappointment.
Nightsleeper (2024)
Beyond terrible
WOW, this really is bad. Everything about it is terrible.
I can imagine the average school nativity play, performed by 6 year olds, is better quality than this.
The acting and dialogue is cringeworthy. It's hard to believe that the people involved in creating this actually get paid to do this for a living???....... I mean - is this their real jobs?
What baffles me is that whilst they are making things like this, does no one stop and take a minute and say to everyone - "What on earth is going here? Can no-one else see how bad this is??"
I only managed to struggle through the 2 episodes and called it a day. Think I will stick to Michael Portillo' Great Railway journeys !!
The Killer (2023)
A tutorial in patience and repetition
I really enjoyed this movie
It was basically a guide on how to be an assassin and the planning , patience , and self sacrifice needed to become accomplished.
It's not a fast paced thrill ride or a complex plot full of twists and red herrings.
It's an outright revenge movie with a very simple plot line. Not necessarily and original idea as has been done many times before - but has a unique style of its own.
It captures how a man has to be totally focused on his trade and the traits needed to function in that world. The ability to stay single minded on the task in hand and eradicate all doubts and emotions.
Thoroughly recommend watching it.
Grace (2021)
Poor execution of decent books
Have read all Peter James GRACE books over the years. They are enjoyable pulp fiction and good quality books of that genre.
Like lost fans of the books , I really wanted to enjoy this TV adaptation - but the more I try , the more I dislike it
I find the acting terrible and wooden by all the cast members - it's like they are in a script read though in all the scenes and just reading out the lines without any conviction.
All of the scenes are oddly acted and directed. Everything seems forced and unnatural. None of the characters are in the slightest believable - and you end up caring about none of them
John Simm is pretty awful and wooden in the role of Grace. The same can be said about all the main characters.
It's hard to understand how something like this ever got through the edits without someone noticing how bad it has been assembled together ??
It lacks any kind of emotion , tension , atmosphere or anything that keeps the viewer engaged.
Overall disappointing and tedious.
I think if I hadn't read the books I would have made it though series 1 and episode 1 and called it a day
But as a lot of like minded people - when you read a book and then see an adaptation of it - you can't help but punish yourself to the end !!
Craith (2018)
Tedious viewing
I so much wanted to enjoy this series as I'm a fan of the "slow burn" dark thrillers.
Plus the scenery and locations of the show are bleak and stunning in parallel- and an atmosphere of the drudgery of real every day life is captured perfectly.
The production values , acting , locations and atmosphere are of very high quality and in that respect I cannot fault the show.
The problem I have is the concept of the show and whether it's a family drama or a crime thriller ?
I found I enjoyed the parts that were related to the crimes / investigation etc but I found myself rapidly losing interest in the side plots around the family lives of the main 2 detectives.
The negative for me was that approx 50% of screen time appears to be linked to the plot of the crimes and the other 50% is just long winded filler around personal family problems - especially the DIs relationship with her sisters and father. This is what ruined it for me and after 3 episodes I eventually gave in and called it a day.
I know modern crime dramas go for realism nowadays and I'm guessing the main directive of the series was to put across the day to day banality of peoples lives and the drudgery of many peoples existence....... And I think they delivered this perfectly - too perfectly ...
As this is a fictional crime show and it's No 1 objective is to be at the very least "entertaining" then this is where the show falls flat.
It's a real tedious grind to get through parts of it as the scenes seem to linger on way way too long - especially ones that are centred around the DIs personal life - which add zero value to the plot.
Maybe if this was a 4 part ( 60 mins episode ) series it would have condensed down nicely and still remained a "slow burn" style drama - but without all of the pointless padding of their data to day lives.
I'm sure many people love this kind of realism and insights into the detectives personal lives etc.
I guess we are now a nation of people who grew up on Big Brother and other TV reality shows where nothing of any substance ever happens ever and people are happy to just watch other people doing nothing and having dull conversations.
Unfortunately for me , this is what many of the scenes felt like where nothing of any value was being added to plot.
As the series consists of 8 one hour episodes, I eventually had to bail out after the 3rd episode as my patience and tolerance would not survive another 5 episodes .
Maybe it got better , and maybe the second or third series were different , I'll never know.
I think many people will praise this style of TV , and I understand that - it's just not for me unfortunately.
Missing (2023)
Keeps you hooked all through!!
Really enjoyed this movie. I've seen several of this genre - all done via social media apps - and I have to say , I really like this kind of movie.
It's obviously the new generation of "found footage" movies ( which are very hit and miss ) but this new genre is slicker , better production values and more engaging.
It's also a good lesson into how to navigate the internet and what the internet and device apps are capable of !!....
This movie engages you early and has some clever twists and red herrings - and keeps you guessing up until the end.
Overall , it's a well made , entertaining mystery -thriller that moves along at a good pace and is never slow or ponderous. Well worth a watch !
BlackBerry (2023)
Enjoyable movie of 2 halves
I didn't really know much about this movie and the back story of the rise of blackberry so came into it with a very objective point of view - probably the best way to approach all movies !!
I really enjoyed the movie and it had touches of "social network" about it.
The basic premise is the how blackberry becomes the original smartphone and how it changes the landscape of mobile phones.
Not sure how factually true it is and how much of it Hollywood licence- but it's entertaining from start to finish.
It's definitely a movie of 2 halves with the first half being more comedic. The first half covers the early days where a couple of bumbling techie nerds with zero personable skills have a phone concept but have no idea how to market it. It's filmed in a pseudo documentary, almost fly on the wall style and works well.
The second half then changes direction and becomes more of a corporate / boardroom kind of movie where it plots the eventual downfall of blackberry and this half of the movie has a more serious feel and less comedic.
Overall , I think the movie works on the whole and is well worth a watch.
Inside No. 9: The Last Weekend (2023)
Back to good form after a wobble ....
Good to see what I assume is the final episode of the series , is back to the standard we expect from these guys.
After the previous episode ( 3 x 3 ) it looked like series 8 had finally hit quite a low , but the guys bought the standard back up with this episode.
It's not a classic number 9 but it does have the guys signature in it - plus glad to see that Steve and Reece take centre stage as the main characters in this episode .
I think where this series has faltered a little is in the fact that Steve and Reece have not been the main actors in the episodes and have bought in other well known actors to drive the plots.
This is usually a telling tale that the concept has run out of originality and ideas .
In this series it's been more obvious with various ex soap stars and tv actors showing up in episodes and stealing the limelight - Anita Dobson , Phil Daniels etc etc.
But at least on this episode , it was the format that suited the show better with no guest stars or ex soap actors playing the main leads.
The twist worked on this episode also and kept you guessing up to the end.
All in all , a good 7/10.
Inside No. 9: 3 by 3 (2023)
WTF ?? .... Awful
I've been a huge fan of everything these guys have done over the years since league of gentleman days and the more earlier series number 9
However , this episode really is the worst of all. I knew it was going to be bad when I realised Lee Mack was the main character - I mean Lee Mack ?? .... The most unfunniest man on TV , who's humour is best suited for last of the summer wine or open all hours etc . He's like the annoying guy down the pub who everyone knows - the guy who has to drop an innuendo onto everything you say or tell crap dad jokes - zero originality - him and frank skinner should form a double act !!
I think using this format for the show totally failed in all aspects - I get they are always trying to come up with new ideas and pushing boundaries etc but this was not it . It was basically watching Lee Mack be annoying for 22 minutes with a "twist" at the end that was not worth the 22 minutes of having to tolerate Lee Mack . It lacked everything that I love about these guys work - the dark undertones that are reminiscent of the 70s horror movies that they often pay homage to and the creepiness that they always manage to inject into the plots etc .
This has all the trappings of a Friday afternoon in the pub scenario where they couldn't think of a plot for filming on Monday so they scrolled though their phones to find someone who they could wing an episode with.
When you compare this to earlier episodes of number 9 and the classic league of gentlemen you would struggle to find any connections. My guess is that Steve and Reece are backing away from the series now as they appear less and less in it as characters and it shows in the quality of the plots etc
My hope is , they are working on new ideas somewhere and are going to give a brand new original show that matches their earlier work in the near future !!
Above Suspicion (2009)
Not a great advert for women police officers !!
Just binge watched this on ITVX.
I found it just about watchable. I didn't have any problems with the production value or the plot lines as they were ok.
The 2 main characters though are a bit laughable and unbelievable.
Ciaran Hinds character is almost believable if not a bit over the top with his shouting and barking his way through every scene he's in.
The biggest problem is the Kelly Reilly character . Absolutely laughable unbelievable. Spends every episode strutting around in figure hugging outfits and high heels - even when called out to murder scenes on farms or wasteland or boggy marshes ... it's laughable and stupid really . She certainly does nothing to help moving the image of women as serious police officers . She struts around every scene like she's in a photo shoot etc ... comical really .
And the other problem ( as other reviews has mentioned ) is the relationship between her and ciaran Hinds ...... it is definitely bizarre and a bit creepy how they try to create this love interest between the 2 ...... it's downright weird and so unbelievably unbelievable !! ....such a strange subplot .... Not sure how they thought anyone would buy into this ??
The positive about the series is that each one is only 3 episodes long.
Overall , Above Suspicion is a below par crime series that might occupy a rainy Sunday Brie something to binge watch . Certainly not a classic.
The Snowman (2017)
Great atmosphere - confusing execution
Having read all of Jo Nesbos Harry Hole books , I was already aware of the plot, characters etc of the movie.
Oddly, I first watched this movie about 5 years ago before I read the book and then a couple of years ago I read all of Harry Hole series and absolutely love them.
Having forgotten much about the movie, I decided to rewatch it last week to see if the movie stands up.
The look and feel of the movie , I think, does the capture the sparse, cold , unwelcoming nature of Oslo in in winter. Its manages to create a feeling of an austere, cold , unwelcoming landscape and I think Michael Fassbender does ( at least physically ) remind me of the main character that the book creates.....however Val kilmer is just a strange choice and he is a strange choice for the movie??
However , the movie does fall down in every aspect after that.
If I hadn't read the book, I think I would have struggled to follow the plot and it did seem to jump all over the place and lose the viwer.
As other reviewers have said, the plot is significantly different to the book, and many of the characters ( that are in the book ) play no real part in the plot and just confuse the viewer as they are introduced for no real apparent reasons.
I think the problem with many movies than are adaptations of books suffer the same fate.
Books have so much more time to paint the canvass and flesh out characters etc and have subplots and red herrings that make sense and keep the reader guessing up until the last page - which Jo Nesbo is a master at.
I can imagine short stories adapt better to movies as there is much less to transpose to the screen - and a short story that only takes 3 hours to read makes more sense that it will adapt better to a 2 hour movie.
However when a book of 600 pages ( which takes maybe 30/40 hours to read ) can never really be successfully condensed down to 2 hours and still make sense....
I don't even think they properly explain why The snowman does what he does and his twisted reasoning behind his actions ( unless i missed it ! )- which is properly explained in the book
I've seen much worse movies, and I did enjoy the movie to a degree - but the overall execution of the plot is poor and confusing.
X (2022)
Watch once and then forget
Half decent B Movie - ultimately silly but no doubt there will be some kind of sequel or low quality franchise.
Kind of in the Texas Chainsaw massacre style where several young people end up in a backwater , renting out a house connected to farmhouse where an old couple live. Then it's relatively formulaic from thereon in.
Production values are pretty good and also the acting is OK. It's a slightly different kind of slasher movie so it has that going for it. I guess it's quite low budget so it's never going to be top notch.
I would say watch it once and then forget it completely. TBH, there are many many worse films out there.
Sinister (2012)
Creepy !!
Very original creepy movie which keeps you hooked until the very end ...
Proper creepy horror movie !!
Stays in your head long after watching it .....
It Follows (2014)
Creepy little movie that stays in your head !!
I watched this by random chance , having never heard of it or seen trailers etc ...... so I came to watch it with zero expectations.....
Turned out to be a very original horror movie that had a sense of ominous dread .
If you like horror movies that buck the formulaic trend , then this movie ticks all the boxes ...
One of the best horror movies I've seen in the last several years .... I've probably seen it 2 or 3 times and I still find it very very creepy .... Great little movie !!
The Black Phone (2021)
All the good bits are in the trailer .... Forget the rest
I was a big fan of Sinister ... creeped me out and delivered in originality and scares.
This however is no where near the quality of that movie ... and Ethan Hawke is barely in the movie .... And I think 90 % of the scenes he is in , he's wearing a mask and hardly talks .... So could be any actor or body double ??
Overall , the movie seems very cheaply made with lots of scenes are just duplicates of previous scenes .... Just for padding I guess
Very disappointing ....