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Inside No. 9: Thinking Out Loud (2020)
Inside No. 9 - S5E5 - Thinking Out Loud
Inside No. 9 - S5E5 - Thinking Out Loud
The episode brings us the monologues of several seemingly completely unrelated people who are recorded for different reasons, and finally joins these video blogs into ...
Now I should say "shocking ending" or "unexpected plot twist", but unfortunately I can't. The idea is excellent, but it is so unoriginal that only an impressive ending could save it, and this one is rather lukewarm and clumsily executed, too obvious and unconvincing. Still, viewed independently of the high standards Pemberton and Sheersmith have set so far, this is a perfectly decent short film.
7/10.
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)
"There's no money, there's no weed. It's all been replaced by a pile of corpses."
Four lads from London's working-class pool together enough money for one of them, a master poker player, to gain access to an elite game with a local mafia boss. What they didn't know was that the game was rigged. They now have a week to pay half a million pounds or...
Considering that this is his feature film debut, Guy Ritchie does a great job. The cinematography, the direction, the cast and their performances, the overall atmosphere, and everything else are at a high level, while the script follows several parallel stories that eventually intertwine and explode into a hilarious finale. Yes, the last third of the film is a perfect ten, the problem is that you have to wait, because before that the pace was too slow and the humor was only occasional, and in the first half I was on the verge of giving up. And I also advise you that, no matter how good your English is, watch the movie with subtitles (English subtitles, of course), since the slang and pronunciation are such that you won't understand half of it. I doubt that even native Englishmen can understand all of it without rewinding.
Some call it the English "Reservoir Dogs". It has the influence of Tarantino, and it reminded me a bit of "Trainspotting", but I wouldn't directly compare it to any of them. Guy Ritchie has his own special touch, which I can't compare to anything, except possibly to his other films.
8/10.
Inside No. 9: Misdirection (2020)
Inside No. 9 - S5E4 - Misdirection
Inside No. 9 - S5E4 - Misdirection
A young magician interviews an older, much more famous one and uses this opportunity to achieve hidden goals, and the older one is not without dark secrets either.
A dark, atmospheric episode, extremely complexly written and superbly acted, with the potential to be the very highlight of the series. In my opinion, that potential was not realized for several reasons. Firstly, it is too complicated and to be fully understood it is necessary to WATCH it several times. I have nothing against rewatching what I have already seen, but I believe that a good film should not REQUIRE more viewings to be understood and leave an impression. Secondly, there are a couple of illogicalities in the actions of the characters that spoil the perfectly woven story, and which could have been easily avoided.
7/10.
New Kids Turbo (2010)
"Nobody touches Maaskantje!"
"Nobody touches Maaskantje!"
Five young people lost their jobs, partly because of their own fault, partly because of the economic crisis, and because they felt they had been wronged, they decided not to pay anything anymore. This soon leads to a clash with the incompetent police and everything turns into an all-out frenzy.
I forced my way through the first half of the film, refraining from turning it off and rating it zero. A group of morons, who look moronic and act even more moronic, come into conflict with cops who, believe it or not, are even a class more moronic than themselves. Over-the-top script, cheap production, constant overacting, immense amounts of stupidity and profanity, for the sake of stupidity and profanity, under the guise of social satire. It is too stupid to be called a movie, but not enough to turn the game around and become so-bad-it's-good.
However, the persistent repetition of the same stupid and vulgar jokes until exhaustion finally broke my resistance and in the last third of the film I started laughing like a fool. After laughing like that it would be extremely hypocritical to rate it less than
5/10
P. S. There is also a sequel, but now I know better than to watch it.
Inside No. 9: Love's Great Adventure (2020)
Inside No. 9 - S5E3 - Love's Great Adventure
Inside No. 9 - S5E3 - Love's Great Adventure
A poor working-class family, barely making ends meet, tries to organize a nice family Christmas celebration, despite a series of serious problems.
The episode shows us a series of short inserts from the days leading up to Christmas and leaves us to piece together who is who and what is what and reconstruct the full course of events. It is an emotional and poignant family drama, which will leave you with a strong impression in the end. Still, unlike most previous episodes, it does not deliver the story to us in an obvious and easy-to-follow way, but rather requires you to oversee each scene and get more involved.
Its average rating on IMDb is brought down quite a bit by a series of bad reviews, from people who are either of low intelligence, or simply didn't watch carefully enough. The most common complaint is that the episode does not have the twists and surprises we expect from "Inside No. 9". The truth is that "Love's Great Adventure" not only has several twists and surprises, but also a very strong and shocking ending, one of the best so far, but the final twist is not presented with a brick-to-the-head method, but subtly weaves through the episode and, if you haven't been watching carefully, it can easily be missed.
A well-written family drama with characters and situations that many of us can easily relate to and sympathize with, and Steve Pemberton who stole the show in every way.
8/10.
Inside No. 9: Death Be Not Proud (2020)
Inside No. 9 - S5E2 - Death Be Not Proud
Inside No. 9 - S5E2 - Death Be Not Proud
A young couple buys an apartment at half price because, due to the morbid crime that took place in it, there is no demand for it. Soon strange things start happening. Through the girl's conversation with the former tenant, the mystery slowly unravels.
After watching it, I was surprised by the high ratings on IMDb, only to read that the episode is based on the 2009 series, also made by Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith. I haven't seen "Psychoville" so I can't judge how this episode works as a crossover, but as a separate short film, especially as part of "Inside No. 9", it's pretty lame.
It doesn't work as either a horror or a comedy, it's too over-the-top, there's no atmosphere, the characters are unbelievable, and all together it seems like a cheap and tasteless parody of the genre. And the final twist, a trademark of this series, is forced and disappointing. Doubly wasted potential, because the premise is interesting and the beginning was promising, and because it stars Jenna Coleman, who I adored in the "Doctor Who" series. Shame.
5/10.
Inside No. 9: The Referee's A W***er (2020)
Inside No. 9 - S5E1 - The Referee's a W***er
Inside No. 9 - S5E1 - The Referee's a W***er
The episode that opens the fifth season shows us football referees gathered in the locker room, before and at half-time of a decisive football game. Their mutual relationships and relationships with players, rules, scheming, and set-ups, with a few interesting plot twists.
I don't follow football, it bores me, and I don't know the rules except for the most basic ones, so the question is whether I understood everything correctly. Also, everything related to football is boring to me, so I did not enjoy this episode much, but I think it objectively deserves
7/10.
Inside No. 9: Dead Line (2018)
Inside No. 9 - S5E0 - Dead Line
Inside No. 9 - S5E0 - Dead Line
There's no way to tell in short what this episode is about, because it's not about anything. It was a Halloween special, live episode that simulated technical issues, later revealed to be caused by paranormal activities.
Quite an interesting idea, that gives an opportunity for originality and awesome twists, but they should have put more effort into it. There was no plot, no characters, no real twists, nothing to care about or be shocked, stressed, amazed. It's not a filler episode, the idea had potential, but the experiment failed badly. I barely forced myself to endure till the end, knowing what Steve and Reece can do and expecting that some awesome ending twist would justify half an hour of boredom. But wait didn't pay off. It was simply nothing about nothing. Maybe if I had been watching it at the time, live on TV, it would have been more effective, but I honestly doubt it. Huge disappointment and nothing but a complete waste of time.
2/10.
Inside No. 9: Tempting Fate (2018)
Inside No. 9 - S4E6 - Tempting Fate
Inside No. 9 - S4E6 - Tempting Fate
A three-member team comes to the apartment of the deceased hoarder to clean up the clutter and the traces of blood. What awaits them there catches them off guard.
Not a particularly original premise about the consequences of greed, but the atmosphere is superbly built, the characters are believable, and the twists, although they later seemed logical and predictable, even clichés, still surprised me. The ending is very effective and poignant, one of the best so far.
This minimum amount of characters in reviews is quite irritating. They should get rid of it.
9/10.
Inside No. 9: And the Winner Is... (2018)
Inside No. 9 - S4E5 - And the Winner Is...
Inside No. 9 - S4E5 - And the Winner Is...
The jury gathers to choose the winner for the best female TV role. This time, in addition to people from the industry, there is also a representative of the audience on the jury.
The idea is cute, the acting is good, the humor can come through, and it's somewhat entertaining, but far below the standards that Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith set for themselves from the start. A tame, mildly witty satire of the world of film and television, without the strong atmosphere and shocking twists we're used to. Classic filler episode, if you ask me.
4,5/10.
Inside No. 9: To Have and to Hold (2018)
Inside No. 9 - S4E4 - To Have and to Hold
Inside No. 9 - S4E4 - To Have and to Hold
A middle-aged married couple doesn't get along like they used to. The wife tries to stir things up, but the husband, a wedding photographer, is absentminded and does not respond to her initiative. He spends too much time in the basement where he has built a photo-developing chamber, and he doesn't think much of his married life. But is work the only thing that ties him to the basement...
Mostly a slow-moving marriage drama, "To Have and to Hold" eventually turns into a creepy thriller. Pemberton gave one of the best performances of the series here.
7/10.
Inside No. 9: Once Removed (2018)
Inside No. 9 - S4E3 - Once Removed
Inside No. 9 - S4E3 - Once Removed
The moving service comes to move the family and finds the corpse and the woman who begins to explain what happened.
This darkly humorous mystery-thriller tells us the story from the end to the beginning, showing us the last ten minutes, then jumps to the previous ten, then to the previous ten, and each jump brings new twists and surprises. At times it is a bit difficult to follow, but it is worth the effort. A good idea executed even better, with an excellent cast and effective directing. Besides Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton, there are Monica Dolan, Nick Moran, David Calder, and Emilia Fox.
8/10.
Inside No. 9: Bernie Clifton's Dressing Room (2018)
Inside No. 9 - S4E2 - Bernie Clifton's Dressin Room
Inside No. 9 - S4E2 - Bernie Clifton's Dressing Room
Three decades after parting ways, a pair of comedians known as Cheese and Crackers are reuniting for one more, farewell performance. As they rehearse old skits, memories come flooding back and disagreements and reasons for the split are revealed.
It's very cute, very emotional, and easy to watch, but it's unoriginal and unimpressive. I saw it yesterday, and I could not remember today what it was about until I checked it on the internet. The strongest assets of the episode are Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, who really nailed their roles here.
7/10.
Inside No. 9: Zanzibar (2018)
Inside No. 9 - S4E1 - Zanzibar
Inside No. 9 - S4E1 - Zanzibar
On the ninth floor of the hotel, the rooms are slowly filling up, and the fates of the guests begin to intertwine in crazy ways.
This episode in verse is an obvious homage to Shakespeare and is based on elements of his most famous plays. Unlike the previous three seasons, the episode that opens the fourth is a pure comedy of confusion. It is quite convoluted, vulgar at times, tense here and there, completely wacky, and really fun, without a single moment of idleness.
Jaygann Ayeh, Reece Shearsmith, Rory Kinnear, Bill Paterson, Marcia Warren, Steve Pemberton, Hattie Morahan, Helen Monks, Tanya Franks, Kevin Eldon.
9/10.
Inside No. 9: Private View (2017)
Inside No. 9 - S3E6 - Private View
Inside No. 9 - S3E6 - Private View
A seemingly random group of people are invited to a closed-door private exhibition, where they soon begin to die one by one.
The episode alludes to several well-known films, is imbued with morbid humor, and could be categorized as a slasher horror-comedy. It is like a crazy combination of Agatha Christie and the "Saw" series, with a touch of "Friday the 13th." Peter Kay, Morgana Robinson, Montserrat Lombard, Reece Shearsmith, Fiona Shaw, Steve Pemberton, Felicity Kendal, Johnny Flynn... quite a cast that nailed their roles. It is not a masterpiece, but it is well worth watching.
7,5/10.
Inside No. 9: Diddle Diddle Dumpling (2017)
Inside No. 9 - S3E5 - Diddle Diddle Dumpling
Inside No. 9 - S3E5 - Diddle Diddle Dumpling
Returning from his morning run, a man finds a new leather shoe on his lawn. He lifts it on the wall to be more visible, but since no one has taken it by the end of the day, he brings it into the house and decides to find the owner. Soon, the search for the other shoe becomes an obsession, distorting all spheres of his life.
At first, the episode seems trite, as if they threw in a filler until the next burst of inspiration, but when they start to pile up twists in the manner typical of this series, "Diddle Diddle Dumpling" gains momentum and culminates in a very shocking and emotional ending. Reece Shearsmith really dominated here.
8/10.
Inside No. 9: Empty Orchestra (2017)
Inside No. 9 - S3E4 - Empty Orchestra
Inside No. 9 - S3E4 - Empty Orchestra
A group of office workers organize a karaoke party for their boss who got a promotion. When word gets out that he has to fire one of them the atmosphere changes and the rivalries bring out the worst in them.
On its own, this episode is watchable and, depending on one's taste, somewhat entertaining, but as part of the "Inside No. 9" series, this is a complete failure and a huge disappointment. It's a classic filler episode that does nothing to justify its existence. Knowing what Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith are capable of and in comparison with the rest of the series, I can not go over
3/10.
Inside No. 9: The Riddle of the Sphinx (2017)
Inside No. 9 - S3E3 - The Riddle of the Sphinx
Inside No. 9 - S3E3 - The Riddle of the Sphinx
A university professor, an expert in cryptic crosswords, catches a young burglar in the act, but instead of calling the police, he spends the night teaching her how to solve riddles. Anything beyond this would be unforgivable spoilers.
It is enough to say that I am tempted to remove a star or two from all the previous episodes, because otherwise, this ten isn't enough above them. But although I wholeheartedly recommend it, I must warn you that it is not for the faint of heart. A brutal psychological horror thriller, as much as it is possible to achieve in a half-hour episode.
10/10.
Inside No. 9: The Bill (2017)
Inside No. 9 - S3E2 - The Bill
Inside No. 9 - S3E2 - The Bill
The restaurant is about to close and four friends get into an argument about who will pay the bill. The discussion turns into a fight, and the fight takes on catastrophic proportions.
What started as a fairly boring viewing of four men talking fast and being hard to understand even with subtitles, ended up being perhaps the best episode yet. It's so good that I'm going to rewatch it before moving on. Great acting, the tension that will keep you on the edge of a knife (pun intended), and completely insane, even breathtaking plot twists. This one really surprised me.
10/10.
Inside No. 9: The Devil of Christmas (2016)
Inside No. 9 - S3E1 - The Devil of Christmas
Inside No. 9 - S3E1 - The Devil of Christmas
A wealthy family comes to the Austrian mountains to ski and in their bungalow, they find a picture of a demon on the wall. It turns out to be a local legend about a demon who rewards good children around St. Nicholas and punishes and takes away bad children. Soon the boy begins to see signs of the demon's visits and the question arises whether it is an unsavory joke of one of the housemates or if the demon really exists.
The story is interesting, filmed in the style of the seventies and actually using equipment from that time, the format in which the story is presented is unusual, and the plot twists are unexpected. Original, risky, and quite successfully executed. The problem is that I can't stand "found footage" and similar film forms, so I can't judge this episode objectively. From me, one subjective
7/10.
Inside No. 9: Seance Time (2015)
Inside No. 9 - S2E6 - Seance Time
Inside No. 9 - S2E6 - Seance Time
The girl comes to the same house from the episode "The Harrowing" for a session of communication with the spirits of the deceased. Of course, things are not what they seem and there are several twists and turns during the 30 minutes.
Excellent acting (Reece Shearsmith, Steve Pemberton, and especially Dan Starkey and Alison Steadman in the role of blind medium Madam Talbot), well-crafted atmosphere, interesting twists, and a couple of nice jump-scare moments. But the story itself, especially the cliche ending, does not deserve more than seven out of ten.
7/10.
Inside No. 9: Nana's Party (2015)
Inside No. 9 - S2E5 - Nana's Party
Inside No. 9 - S2E5 - Nana's Party
At the family celebration of the grandmother's 79th birthday, the sons-in-law traditionally play pranks on each other, and unpleasant family secrets threaten to come to light.
The episode feels like a cheap sitcom, with banal humor, pathetic drama, and a totally disappointing ending. The cutting of the cake is the only scene with some tension, but this idea is not enough to carry the entire episode. Steve Pemberton, Reece Shearsmith, Claire Skinner, and Lorraine Ashbourne performed well, but they didn't have much to work with. In my opinion, it is the worst episode so far.
4/10.
Inside No. 9: Cold Comfort (2015)
Inside No. 9 - S2E4 - Cold Comfort
Through the monitor of the security cameras, we observe the events in the volunteer Comfort Support Line organization. The protagonist receives disturbing calls from a girl who threatens to commit suicide and it throws him off track. Things are more complicated than they seem and are gradually revealed to us in the twists and turns towards the end of the episode.
Visually, it suffices to repeat that the episode mimics security camera footage. For this approach to hold water, the episode needs a powerful story to support it, and this one is not. The story development was quite boring to me, and the twists and turns were predictable, far-fetchedly unconvincing, and fundamentally pointless. Only the acting is good. Overall impression - half an hour wasted.
5/10.
Inside No. 9: The Trial of Elizabeth Gadge (2015)
Inside No. 9 - S2E3 - The Trial of Eliyabeth Gadge
Inside No. 9 - S2E3 - The Trial of Elizabeth Gadge
In the 17th century, two inquisitors came to a remote place to try a witch, at the invitation of her own daughter and son-in-law. An almost Pythonesque mockery of primitive mentality, church dogma, witch hunts, and mass psychology. Hilarious trial, excellent scenery and costumes, even better acting, and impressive plot twists. Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton nailed their roles, and Ruth Sheen stole the show, but the rest of the characters are really not far behind. So far, the second season is convincingly better than the first season.
9/10.
Inside No. 9: The 12 Days of Christine (2015)
Inside No. 9 - S2E2 - The 12 Days of Christine
Inside No. 9 - S2E2 - The 12 Days of Christine
I don't know what I could write about this episode without it being a spoiler. The story is designed in such a way that it is practically impossible to get the gist, because until the very final twist you have no idea what you are watching. And then it hits you like a ton of bricks. From the construction of the story, through the pace, the atmosphere, the acting, to the point and the emotions it evokes, "The 12 Days of Christine" is an excellent 30 minutes of television, the best episode so far, and according to many who have watched all the seasons, possibly the highlight of the entire series. It is only important that you enter the story without any prior knowledge and pay attention to the details.
10/10.