marktcards Reviews

The Thirteenth Floor (1999)

underrated and an old fave of mine

[8/10 · 9 January 2019]

This is easily one of the most underrated sci fi gems out there. After watching it again and reading on wikipedia the terrible reception it got on release, I felt the need to put the record straight. Critics complained: "Bad script and confusing plot undermine the movie's impressive visuals." They would have been better to write: "I'm too stupid to get this" The story has a bit more complexity than your standard popcorn movie but nothing crazy or Lynch-esk. No spoilers here - just watch it and you won't regret it.

Afterwards, imagine an A-list actor (Tom Cruise or something) in the lead role and you might agree with me that that was the only thing that stopped it from being a potential blockbuster. (Not that there's anything wrong with Craig Bierko's performance, he's a very underrated actor himself and should be on our screens more than he is).

The Kevin Bishop Show (2008–2009)

Why does this show have such a low score?

[10/10 · 7 January 2011]

I only rarely review things on the IMDb but 5.5/10 for the Kevin Bishop show is way too low. Only one proper review and even though they said it's a good show they only gave it 6!

Star Stories showed what a comedy talent Kevin Bishop is so it's not surprising he was given his own sketch show. With the humour in much the same vein and a great supporting cast including James Howick from Peep Show, it's a much more quick fire sketch show than most, comparable to The Fast Show in that regard. Surprisingly good at impressions, and well versed in popular culture and the desire to just take the michael out of all aspects of it makes this a must watch.

The thing that makes it stand out from other sketch shows is the lack of repetition of material compared to others (although some sketches do appear across multiple episodes such as the GameBox ones).

When watching the more mainstream shows that pull in more viewers, such as Little Britain, The Fast Show, Harry and Paul and The ArmStrong and Miller Show, etc, I always get a bit bored after a couple of episodes as the sketches are just repeated again and again with the characters in different situations doing similar things. I mean, the Lou and Andy bits in Little Britain became tedious very quickly as it was not only the same character but the same joke every episode! and John Culshaw's Impression Show deserves special mention as being dull, boring and repetitive; but all being 'tenured' BBC shows seem to receive high praise and repeat commissions instead of criticism. (Armstrong and Miller were much better and a lot edgier when they were on Channel 4).

With the Kevin Bishop show, it's never boring as a result of not falling into this same trap and I highly recommend it - hopefully he will keep making comedy as he certainly should be better recognised for the talent he is. You can catch all the episodes for free on 4oD as well.

It's probably worth mention that out of the 200 odd votes for the show, 30% gave it 10/10 but the spread of the rest (which was pretty even) brought the average down. I'd bet money that the lower votes all came from people over 45 - not a show for the older generation!

Archer (2009–2023)

Don't miss this one

[10/10 · 17 February 2010]

I don't normally feel the need to add my 2 cents to the review pages here but Archer has motivated me to do so.

This is definitely one of the best animated comedy series I've seen in a while and had me laughing all the way through; if anyone can make being a real s**t funny then it's Archer. I'm not familiar with Jon Benjamin who supplies Archer's voice but he's perfectly cast and his comic timing is spot on. The rest of the cast is strong too, especially Chris Parnell who's voice I immediately recognised from his very funny Dr Spaceman (or Spe-che-man) in 30 Rock.

In a world where other offerings are losing their shine (Family Guy, American Dad and even South Park are not as fresh as they used to be and of course the Simpsons jumped it's shark years ago) Archer shows that there's still plenty of good material being written out there.