tradairn Reviews

Otherhood (2019)

Major Triggers

[2/10 · 16 March 2023]

This movie was so triggering and upsetting. This really wasn't a happy viewing experience. My mother was a horrible combination of all three of these mothers, but probably most like Felicity Huffman's narcissist. The actresses did fine work, I just wish they hadn't all been such monsters. They really didn't deserve a happy ending.

I'm glad I saw this on Netflix and didn't pay to see it in a theatre. I'll probably have nightmares tonight.

Can I say anything positive about it? Not sure. Right now my critical judgment is so clouded to my gut reaction and my intense dislike of these meddling women.

Yuck.

Ghost Wars (2017–2018)

Downhill skiing...

[3/10 · 18 May 2021]

Strong first few episodes - good cast, nice atmosphere (spooky rather than scary) and interesting concept got me hooked; binge watched the whole thing in under 24 hours... Sadly, around the halfway point, it went downhill really quickly, and I found myself laughing more often than I should at the weak writing and TERRIBLE final episode...

Why didn't Val keep a closer watch on Abigail after the forest incident instead of letting her roam the countryside alone again and again and again... Who kept moving the bookcases back into place? It wasn't Father Dan... Why did they find Paolo but not Carol? Why didn't Edward just give the serum to Daphne after expressing his concerns to Roman?... So many holes you could drive Winston's truck through them.

At least it was good to see D'Onofrio, Meat Loaf and Jorgia back in action - they're the main reasons I kept watching.

But, boy, oh boy, what a disappointment in the long run.

The Spy Who Dumped Me (2018)

Editor MIA

[3/10 · 13 February 2021]

Ooh, boy. I love Kate on SNL, but someone should have chopped 30 minutes from this snooze-fest.

The Prom (2020)

Like a Gay Hairspray.

[3/10 · 20 December 2020]

But worse.

Great cast wasted on sub-par material.

Young Wallander (2020–2022)

If you turn off the sound...

[7/10 · 6 September 2020]

I came to this having loved the "Old" Wallander series, but this one is nowhere near as classy... And what is with the soundtracks of Netflix original series? The music SUCKS - same thing with the three Harlan Corben series I recently watched - is Netflix just too cheap to licence decent music? REALLY spoils the emotional impact, even when everything else is working...

That said, the show overall is a notch above your average procedural, so I'll keep watching.

The Five (2016)

Should have been a Blonde

[3/10 · 24 August 2020]

Came into this straight from watching Mr. Corben's The Stranger, and I have the same complaint about both shows - the heroes in both have got to be about the dumbest, most short-sighted characters in thrillerdom, running off in all directions, acting recklessly and creating more chaos than they solve. I guess you could excuse them as portraits of obsession, but honestly, they make most blonde bimbos in horror films (you know, the ones who go into a dark attic or basement with only a flashlight as protection) look like PhD graduates. They should have been locked up early on for their own safety.

Deep Water (2016)

Distracting Camera Work

[8/10 · 8 August 2020]

I'm only on Episode 3, and so far it's pretty good - the writing and acting are certainly above average...

... but the DIRECTING/CINEMATOGRAPHY! Yikes!

The show has a surfeit of close-ups and extreme close-ups that are distracting in that their use both draws attention to itself and also robs the shots of any emotional power - like a TEXT MESSAGE IN ALL CAPS - they become meaningless after a while. I don't know if this was a stylistic or budgetary choice, but a lot of the intensity of some scenes was seriously curtailed by its overuse.

Show some restraint next time!

Shadowhunters (2016–2019)

Split Personality

[1/10 · 26 July 2020]

I'v been reading the reviews and I'm glad to know the show improves in Season 2, but I'm on Episode 8 of Season 1 and I'm not sure I can stick with it long enough to get there.

Clary is SOOOO annoying! Both she and Simon overact so badly it's like they walked on to the set by mistake; they belong in some cheesy sitcom. The rest of the cast at least give more restrained performances, but Clary and Simon are on the verge of hysteria the WHOLE TIME - it's exhausting to watch them.

Rim of the World (2019)

Stereotypes Galore

[1/10 · 13 March 2020]

I thought Jar-Jar Binks was an irritating stereotypical throwback character to Amos 'n Andy days, but Dariush is even more offensive. I hope the poor kid playing him gets a chance to redeem himself in a better-written project... The Silent Asian is just as insulting, but at least her voice doesn't grate on your nerves.

6 Underground (2019)

Which idiot dug them up?

[1/10 · 21 December 2019]

I loved The Island. I even enjoyed Transformers, despite the ever-annoying John Turturro. But now Michael Bay has become a bad SNL parody of himself. He has totally foregone any semblance of storytelling (I even had to watch the first five minutes a second time to figure out the basic premise) and given us a string of incoherent, abysmally edited "action" scenes that are ultimately one huge snoozefest because, well, who cares? If you love chase scenes, edgy humour and explosions, rent some Road Runner cartoons instead - they're far superior to this compost heap.

The Punisher (2017–2019)

Somebody wake me when it's over...

[3/10 · 2 July 2018]

About halfway through the first season and not sure how much longer I can take it... the fast forward button is getting used more and more often.

I blame the writers - this season could have been told in 8 episodes or less. Every good writer knows that every scene has to accomplish several thing at once - the two most important being character development and advancing the story. This show repeatedly gets bogged down in character development - 5 minutes of two guys talking about guitars and how they met their wives??? - that has nothing to do with the story or plot; so it just sits there, dead in the water.

Don't get me wrong - I loved The Killing, which is also glacially paced, but at least they managed to maintain some tension.

If they're planning a second season, they'd better hire better writers who understand the basics of storytelling.

Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List (2015)

Ummm... 2015?

[4/10 · 25 June 2018]

This was enjoyable enough as indie rom-coms go, even though I didn't get (missed?) what motivated Naomi's coming out of denial at the end of Act Two... My biggest Hunh? came when I checked the release date at the end of the movie... I know she was only 18, but as a young woman living in New York in 2015, I found it incredible that she wasn't gay-savvy enough not to have fallen in love with Ely, or at least acknowledge that it could never work out... That kind of naive self-delusion was more fitting for a girl in the more innocent 1970's (I'm thinking of my younger sister, who had a gay BF she developed a crush on) - it's hard to believe that could still happen almost 50 years later in our current culture... In any case, should be popular with teenage girls.

The Clapper (I) (2017)

Third-rate Woody Allen

[1/10 · 23 May 2018]

Like so many WA movies, this one features a haggard, unattractive middle-aged loser who becomes obsessed with a beautiful young woman who looks like she's young enough to be his daughter. And she, incredibly, finds him attractive in return.

Really? Are we still doing this in 2018? It was disturbing enough when Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn were teamed up (and he knew it), but 60 years on and Hollywood is still perpetuating the myth that this is normal and okay.

Add to that a slew of unlikable characters (Ed Helms must be the most annoying actor next to Will Ferrell) and witless dialogue, and this was about the longest 90 minutes I've ever spent.

The movie does have an interesting concept, but an unbelievable love story and awkward casting does it in.