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9-1-1: Lone Star (2020)
Diversity rules at Disney.
I like Rob Lowe, and I pretty much checked it out because he was in it, and it turned out to be a solid show. I see a lot of reviewers talking about the whole "political correctness" thing that seems to be a trend with Disney, and sure, they are certainly taking inclusiveness to the limit here.
We have 3 white guys on the team. One has cancer, his son is gay and the 3rd, is kind of a redneck type. He is however maried to a black woman. Then there is a black guy, who is trans, a muslim woman wearing hijab and finally a latino guy. Anything missing ? I don't think so, unless it turns out that the muslim and the latino are gay too.
Look, I'm all for diversity, but I just get the feeling that this seems a bit overdone.
Still, it's not a bad show, and all the characters are good people, so who am I to complain ?
Oh and by the way, Liv Tyler still can't act.
Rebel Ridge (2024)
First Blood on downers.
When I read the plot description, I thought it sounded like a First Blood rip off, and the first 30 minutes suggest that I was right.
Sadly it then turns into a way too long snoozefest, with little action and a lot of talking.
The main protagonist has about as much charisma as a piece of wood, and the plot while probable enough is not really that interesting.
With a running time of more than 2 hours it could easily have been shorted by 20 - 25 minutes. That might have kept my attention up, instead of me starting to check email and facebook updates on my phone, without really missing anything.
Nice to see Don Johnson who pretty much earns the 4 stars. The rest is just your typical Netflix discount stuff.
The Union (2024)
One fine day at some low down producers office.
Hi guys, I just found this script while I was was dumpster diving behind the HBO offices. What do you say we spend some money on a few good names for the cast and try to flog it to Netflix. They'll buy pretty much everything provided it's cheap.
And so here we are, with another crummy spy flick and a plot that makes no sense whatsoever.
I'm already beginning to regret my rating of 4, but hey, Mark is doing what he can, and Halle Berry, despite wearing a totally stupid haircut is always nice to look at. And of course you may wonder why she wears that look considering that she's supposed to work for an ultra secret organisation. It would make her stand out even in large crowds. But it's absolutely in tune with the rest of this "used over and over again" spy thriller nonsense. Hard to believe she once won an Oscar.
Whatever talent we know she has is being wasted on stuff like Catwoman and this piece of garbage. What a shame !
Justified: City Primeval (2023)
Not really bad, but it's not "Justified".
Sometimes you come across a show that's just perfect, and while it must be tempting to capitalize on its success, it would probably be better to let it be. Because how do you compete with perfection ?
I never bothered to watch "El Camino", because I didn't feel that "Breaking bad" needed a sequel, so maybe it was good or maybe not. I don't know and I'm never gonna find out.
But here we are. A new chapter in the Raylan Givens story.
As expected it doesn't in any way come close to the original. The strenght of "Justified" was grounded in the multitude of great characters surrounding Oliphant and Goggins, and that it took a cop show and turned it into an epic rural saga.
Goggins made his villain a man you despised and loved at the same time. A bad guy with a multilayered personality.
Sadly Damsell is no Boyd Crowder. He's just a bad guy to the bone, and "City Primeval" is just another regular " catch a killer" cop show.
That being said it's not bad. Raylan is still a cool guy and I actually couldn't help myself enjoying it.
But while I rated the original 10, this deserves only a 7.
Worth a watch though.
Bullet Train (2022)
Pure entertainment !
Ok, a rating of 8 is probably a bit off the mark, since it's by no means a great movie. It is however madly entertaining, and I must admit i had a blast watching it.
It clearly borrows a lot from Guy Richie and Tarantino, but I didn't really mind, because it does so with great style.
The plot is nearly non-existent, and for some of those reviewers who complains about lack of realism, well go look elsewhere, there's no room for reality here.
This is just a huge chaotic mess of ideas, thrown in a big pot and stirred, but it's great fun all the way.
Great cast, great settings, fun dialogue and and delivered at break neck speed. Just turn off your brain and enjoy the ride.
Monk (2002)
Just annoying !
Crime litterature has had its number of eccentric detectives like Sherlock Holmes and Nero Wolfe, as well as TV shows like Colombo. A show like "Homeland" had Clare Danes dealing with her bipolar disorder, and then there's "Monk":
I must admit that I don't understand all the great reviews, and how anybody would be able to stay with it for 8 seasons. I held out for 2 seasons and 2 episodes of the 3rd, and then I had enough.
The thing is that I actually liked most of the characters, except for the main one.
And yes, I get it. The guy has a mental condition, and I suppose that we should bear with him because of his amazing deductive powers.
But my problem is that he's not likeable at all. He's annoying, egocentric, cheap and inconsiderate to everybody around him.
Also the fact that pretty much half the time of each episode goes with him fiddling around and getting distracted by things that aren't perfectly aligned, and then suddenly declaring "I've solved the case".
And that's it !!
So if this seems like your kind of show, well, it's your time to waste, so be my guest. I quit !
Dojeok: Kalui Sori (2023)
Eastern style western melodrama.
Ok, I see a lot of 10 reviews and I can't help wondering why some people think this deserves a 10.
It's not really bad though. It has some great John Woo style action sequences and the historic background is interesting.
Now maybe it's because I'm not familiar with Korean style film, but to me it seemed kind of all over the place. Western style plot with eastern style action suddenly turned into romantic melodrama. Not to mention weird scene changes. People getting seriously damaged suddenly turning up looking totally fine in the next scene. Some guy getting his ear almost bitten off, and the next minute without a scratch.
Oh and let's not forget the girl suddenly marrying the bad guy near the end.
Oh well, it still was entertaining, I suppose, but I can't really give it more than a 6 rating, mainly because scenography and camera work was very good quality.
Suits (2011)
Corporate soap !
I have been aware of this show for years, but I never got around to watching it until recently, and I'll admit that I quite liked it, as well as developing a huge crush on Donna. Yep, I did !!
However, I must admit that I was a bit surprised over the the very good ratings some people threw at it.
I have always liked a good lawyer show, with what it usually promises with lots of intense courtroom drama. But there's not much of that here.
I think that corporate law is not very exiting, and i guess the writers were aware of that and decided to make a soap that just happens to take place in a corporate law firm.
So as a lawyer show I would probably rate it a bit below average, but as a soap somewhat over average.
The plot itself is stupid from the beginning. A top lawyer at a prestigious law firm decides to hire an associate who hasn't a license, or having passed the bar at all, but I guess that, with it being a soap, we have to buy that since it opens up countless possibilities of future conflicts.
What's even more surprising is that it managed to run nine seasons. After the first two seasons it just started repeating itself. Always some new crisis that ended up being solved with some blue folder being trown at whoever was the cause of said crisis.
Jessica and Luis, supposedly brilliant legal minds, are hardly ever seen doing actual legal work, and most of the drama is usually about Luis making trouble because of a gigantic inferiority complex. With a chip on his shoulder that big, it's a wonder he's able to stand at all.
The acting is pretty much ok most of the time, and there are some cameo appearances with well known names in the cast.
But overall I can't give it more than a rating of 6.
Shaft (2019)
Mindless fun.
What can I come up with that's good in this movie ? The plot ? Nah, nothing about it really makes any sense. Most of the acting ? Nope, that's pretty much average. The action then ? Nothing we haven't seen before a million times.
So are there any positives at all here ? YES !!
We have Samuel L doing his badass stuff like only he can with a great deal of comedy timing.
Throw in Richard Roundtree (original Shaft), and Regina Hall who's always a pleasure to watch, and you're in for a couple of hours of mindless fun. I can think of worse ways to pass the time.
Now a 7 rating is probably a little too much, since it's a rather average movie all together, but Samuel L, while playing it without putting in too much effort, raises the bar a level or two.
From Scratch (2022)
Did we really need 8 hours to tell this story ?
Back in 1970 people were crying their hearts out worldwide over the movie "Love Story". The plot was simple, two people meet, fall in love, she gets sick and dies.
Mercyfully it only lasted 1 hour and 40 minutes, but apparently somebody thought that we needed to have basically the same story told all over again, but this time dragged out in an eight hour series.
Now to be fair, the acting and settings here are on a considerably higher level than the movie, and I actually enjoyed it quite a lot for a while, but as it went towards the end I couldn't help wondering "is this guy ever gonna die".
Long scenes with emotional piano soundtrack, they dragged it out for all it was worth. And for me at least it was just too much, and instead of getting mistyeyed I started being a bit annoyed. And it's not that I'm cold hearted and lack emotion. I've been known to shed a tear over movies once in a while, but this just took too long.
Heart of Stone (2023)
Great Comedy !
Oh, It's not a comedy ?? Well, my bad then.
However I and a few friends were laughing our butts off at the sheer idiocy of the plot.
I'm not gonna try and explain it here, because it's all complete nonsense. I do however think Gal Gadot is totally hot and that it's worth a few stars to look at her. Throw in Glen Close in a few seconds cameo appearance and you have a 3 star rating, which is probably more than it deserves, but what the hell, I'm feeling generous.
There's a lot of CGI and and a lot of explosions. Are there no car chases you ask ? Oh, there are those too.
One thing is certain though. This is not a movie that's gonna further Gadots' career.
Funny thing is that when you look at the header at IMDB it mentions under stars 3 actors, two of whom are being killed early in the movie. You need to move all the way down to the cast to find Gal who's the actual star of the movie.
Doesn't seem like anybody are taking this seriously, and having sat all the way through it I can understand why.
The Hollars (2016)
Nice try, but.......
I had great expectations for this, but sadly they weren't fulfilled. Looking at the cast, it seemed very promising, and to be fair my 5 stars are mostly given because the level of acting is very good.
Unfortunately the script leaves a lot to be desired.
Krasinski is unhappy in his job (whatever it is. It's not made very clear). Apparently he'd rather write graphic novels, but hasn't really got any confidence in his artistic abilities. On the plus side he has a rich, beautiful girlfriend who's pregnant, but he doesn't seem too happy about that either.
When his mother is hospitalized, he returns to his hometown, and we're lead to believe that she has had a growing brain tumor for 10-15 years, and lots of symptoms without ever consulting a doctor. The father says he thought it was a weight thing. (No wonder his business is going bankrupt, being that stupid).
Then there's the brother, who for some reason divorced his hot wife and mother of his two children, and is now having regrets, which makes him act like an ass.
There's also an x-girlfriend of Krasinskis' who falls all over him the minute they meet, even though she's married and expecting too. But that is not really developed, and we don't see her again, which makes me wonder why she was put there in the first place.
So there's a lot of material to work with, but unfortunately it's all too sketchy to be really interesting.
I see other reviewers talking bout humor bits, but I didn't find much, and in my opinion this is indy at its worst, and a good cast doesn't save it.
The Out-Laws (2023)
Was this supposed to be funny ??
The number 1 deadly sin for a comedy is when it's not funny.
Same goes for a thriller that doesn't thrill.
This one manages to hit both criteria. Not even remotely funny and certainly not exiting either.
How it even managed to get past the script level, is a total mystery to me.
The basic idea could very well have made for a decent comedy, but it would have required some talent on the writers part. Oh, and it certainly would have required Adam Devine NOT to be in it.
From the moment it begins he embarrases himself with the most ridiculous over the top "acting" I've seen for years, and it just goes on and on from there.
Brosnan and Barkin don't do much besides collecting their paychecks, and they should both be ashamed of taking part in this piece of garbage.
FUBAR (2023)
Not an award winner, but worth watching.
I read a review in which the reviewer claimed that he watched 5 minutes of the 1st episode, after which he turned it off, rated it 1 and then sat down and wrote his review complaining the it was unrealistic.
Unrealistic ?? Come on ! This is an Arnie show, not a documentary !
Anyway, reviewing a show on the basis of 5 minutes just shows that some people shouldn't bother writing reviews.
While being a bit bumpy, this is not a bad show and anyone who likes Arnold will probably enjoy it. There's a lot of funny moments, and while it gets a little long in the tooth towards the end, I had a good time watching it.
Now Arnold has never been a great actor and he still isn't, but he fills out the screen well enough as he has always done.
It's clearly not a big budget thing, but you could do a lot worse than spending your time watching it.
Seven Kings Must Die (2023)
An insult to the books.
Bernard Cornwell's saga about the birth of England makes for great reading, and the adaption into a TV series worked very well for four seasons.
While you may excuse the writers in "Game of Thrones" because they ran out of original material, it remains a mystery why the writers of this show decided to leave the original storyline at the end of season 4.
Season 5 bore no resemblance to Cornwell's books, and this final chapter just shows what happens when bad writers think they can make material that can stand up to the original author's.
This movie is so all over the place, that it defies belief and reflects dramatically on the whole show, and not in a good way to say the least.
It jumps from place to place with no apparent goal in sight and plot holes as big as craters (oh, and let's not forget the added gay angle that seems to be mandatory in every show these days, but has no basis in historical facts).
My 3 stars go to the final battle scene, which I'll admit was pretty awesome.
The Night Agent (2023)
Average conspiracy thriller.
Think "24", "Bourne" series, "Designated Survivor", this show adds to a string of conpiracy/spy thrillers, most of which were much better.
It's not really bad, but not exactly great either, although the first 3 episodes did look promising.
It does have quite a lot of action, (car chases and the usual shootouts where nobody seems to hit anybody), even a few explosions, so that part is covered pretty well.
The plot however, is definitely where it falls short, and the added twists (and there's quite a few of them), doesn't really help. Several of those twists can be seen coming from miles away.
The acting, like the rest of the mess, is mostly average, and although it seems to be cleared for another season, I doubt that I'll be wasting my time on it.
George Gently (2007)
British Crime at its best !
I love British crime shows, and I've watched a lot over the years. Compared to american shows they depend not so much on action, but more on characters, with even the small parts played by character actors of which Britain seems to have an abundance.
Of all the shows I remember, two seem to rise above the rest : "Inspector Gently" and "Foyle's War". Both are period pieces, Gently set in the 60s, and Foyle during WW2.
The setting here is perfect 60s style. The cars, the mini skirts, the Ronson lighters and the amount of cigarettes smoked by the characters.
I originally rated Foyle a 10 and Gently a 9, but after recently having watched them both again, it seemed to me that Gently deserved a 10 as well.
Shaw and Ingleby makes a perfect duo, with their incompatible characters, that against all odds seem to find the exactly right mix.
Highly recommended if you can tolerate slow burn and sometimes controversial topics.
Superman & Lois (2021)
Superman ok, Lois not !
It's been interesting to watch the different casts of Superman and Lois Lane in the array of series/movies over the years.
Christopher Reeve was the Superman/Clark most true to the original comics, Cavill did a pretty good job as a newer incarnation of the man of steel. I liked Dean Caine as a cooler kind of Clark, and Hoechlin isn't bad as "family guy" Superman. Finally Tom Welling was great as young Clark Kent.
But it seems very hard to come up with a good Lois Lane. Except for Terry Hatcher, who was totally on the spot in "Lois and Clark", The rest have been misses. Margot Kidder was a total miscast and Tulloch doesn't seem much of a Lois either. With a perpetually anguished look on her face even when she's trying to smile, you wouldn't think that she'd been married to the man of her dreams.
Did I forget the Lois from "Smallville"? Well not really, but since she has no place being part of Clark's youth, she doesn't really count. She didn't look like any incarnation of Lois anyway.
As for this show, the concept of parenthood/family life was definitely an interesting take in the continuing Superman saga, and not a bad one either, although it does get a bit cheesy now and then.
Misconduct (2016)
What a mess !!!
I guess that most people, myself included, was drawn in by the names on the cast. And after watching it, I guess that most of us were asking ourselves why it took so many good actors to make a piece of garbage like this.
With a script that was all over the place and an inexperienced Director with no sense of direction, it was all up to the actors to save it from disaster.
Unfortunately none of them seemed too interested in making an effort. Pacino and Hopkins pretty much seems to play it by ear. Both have reached a point in their careers where they have earned their reputations, and are willing to take on anything as long as the pay is good. Duhamel seems totally confused about his part through the whole movie, and Alice Eve as his wife displays all the emotional expression of a piece of driftwood. Akerman is out of the story very fast, and Stiles doesn't really have much of a part.
There's a few plot twists at the end, but they are too late to change the fact that we all could have done very well without having to waste time on this fiasco.
The Last Kingdom (2015)
The should have stuck to the original script.
I don't really mind if screenwriters take a few liberties when adapting a book/books for movie or television, but this is getting ridiculous !!
Season 1-3 were great following Cornwell's storyline pretty straight, but then the writers obviously thought that they could do a better job than the author, and it all went downhill from there.
With the current season 5, we have completely left the original script, and if Cornwell should happen to watch a few episodes I doubt he would recognise any similarities to his work.
They have clearly opted for some kind of medieval soap opera, and all the painfully dragged out scenes with Uthred and Aethelflaed are just as ridiculous as Dreymon's accent.
Game of Thrones should have taught them how bad it can go when you don't respect the original material.
Your Place or Mine (2023)
Reese deserves better than this !!
First of all, I have to admit that a 5 star rating is probably more than it deserves, but I guess that I mainly gave it because it was nice to see Reese again. It's been quite a while.
Just a shame that it would be in a piece of mediocre garbage like this. She does ok with what she's given, but the script doesn't offer her the opportunity to really shine.
Kutcher isn't much of an actor, but he has shown a talent for these kind of movies. Unfortunately he's given even less to work with than Reese.
Due to the fact that they aren't together through most of the movie, there's no real chemistry buildup, and the last 1/2 hour seems mostly like an afterthought, because somebody suddenly remembered that they needed to kiss and get each other at the end.
Steve Zahn makes a pointless appearance as some weird guy working in her garden, and somebody must have thought that it was a good idea to have his character in the story, but I can't imagine why.
So my 5 stars goes to Reese for putting up with this and doing her best, but she deserves a lot better !!
A Perfect Pairing (2022)
We missed the Koala !
A woman travels to Australia pretending to be a tourist, but in reality having an agenda to sneak into the home of a wine company owner, so she can get a contract for her newly established distribution firm. Clearly an attempt of deceit !
Later the guy, after having tried to tell her a few times, finally tells her who he is, and she accuses him of lying to her.
Now, I'm not exactly sure how women's minds work, but in my mind lying is telling something that's not true, which he hasn't done at any point.
It's not the first time this has happened in these kind of movies, and I wish they would stop doing that. Holding something back is not lying.
Of course this is just a lame attempt to create some kind of conflict near the end of the movie. Cause we all know that there has to be a conflict, it's a mandatory part of any romance movie. But we also know that they are gonna end up together anyway.
Anyway, this is not really a good rom/com. Demos does his quiet and charming aussie guy, and he's pretty much the only one who should get any credit. He did the same type in "Falling Inn love", which was a rather more charming movie.
Victoria is pretty enough to be a female lead in these Hallmark type romances, but her acting skills are better left unmentioned.
So a waste of time, and we didn't get to see a Koala either !!
Peacemaker (2022)
This is HUGE !!!
Hands down, this is the greatest superhero show I've watched for a long time if ever.
Having seen the somewhat bumpy "Suicide Squad" of 2016 and "Birds of Prey", the 2021 version of Suicide Squad was highly recommended to me by several friends. And it totally bowled me over. This had everything the 2016 version missed, and the Peacemaker character rocked big time.
I think that I owe John Cena an apology.
I actually didn't think he was much of an actor, but the movie and this series proved me wrong as it turns out. What he brings to this character is nothing less than brilliant. The humour and yet sadness of his part just comes out awesome. Respect !!!
With a 2nd season coming up, I can only hope that they'll manage to keep up the quality level.
Always and Forever Christmas (2019)
Waste of time !
I don't expect much from Christmas movies, but I usually watch a bunch during December, and this year there were actually 1 or 2 above average. Those were the ones where several of the actors could actually act.
This wasn't one of them.
I think this was the worst I've watched this year.
Not so much because the plot was stupid, that seems to be mandatory for these flicks. (A shop that only sells Christmas stuff ?) They must be doing terribly well during Christmas time to make ends meet for the rest of the year, considering that the stuff they sell seems to be in the cheap end.
But the acting ! Oh brother !
I understand that Ms Lawson was in Hamilton on Broadway, and allegedly did very well there, but there's a big difference between acting on stage and acting on camera, and she certainly has to up her game considerably there. Keeping a forced smile on her face all the time and sounding like she read her lines from a teleprompter doesn't quite work.
1 star each to Ghanime and Broderick for working hard to make this work, but pretty much a wasted effort.
House of the Dragon (2022)
The dragons looked great !
Some reviewers have claimed that I shouldn't compare it to GOT, but how can I not ? After all, it wouldn't have been here if not for GOT.
And while the first couple of episodes didn't exactly impress me, I decided to watch the whole season before judging it. I mean, giving it the chance to develop the characters, it was bound to get better, right ?
Wrong ! It didn't !
The crew in charge of lighting must have gone on strike, cause most of the season played out in semi darkness, and it also seemed like most of the episodes had plot for about 30 minutes of time, which caused scenes to be dragged out painfully, and supplied with fillers like 10 minutes of soft porn in #4, and 10 minutes of people dancing in #5.
And then there was the time jumps. The season spanned about 20 years, so we were treated to a lot of changing actors, but oddly enough some characters didn't seem to age at all. Otto, Daemon, Rhaenys and Criston looked pretty much like they did at the beginning of the season. I guess the makeup crew was too busy turning Viserys into a crypt keeper lookalike, to do something about that.
As for the acting, I'm not gonna comment on that, since the lack of character build gave the actors very little to work with. That also meant that whenever somebody was killed, I was mostly like "right, so that happened", because they hadn't build up the character enough for anyone to care.
If they wanted to make a spin off, from a popular show, they could at least have tried to maintain just a bit of the quality of the original, but this was just a very sloppy production way below what we have come to expect from HBO.
The dragons looked great though :)