lmillington Reviews

The Meaning of Life (1983)

Did they really think this was funny?

[1/10 · 27 March 2024]

I grew up with Monty Python in my early teens. It was the only topic of conversation at school the day after an episode was on TV. Watching each episode with my older brother had us both rolling around on the floor in helpless laughter. The parrot sketch, the cheese shop sketch, the accountant sketch. All timeless classics. And then there is this monumentally unfunny drivel. What on earth were my heroes up to? Were they deliberately cocking a snoop at the film world by making an awful movie on purpose? That is the only explanation that I can come up with. I sat bored to my bones all the way through the office worker sketch praying for it to finish. The torture lasted almost a quarter of an hour. By then I had lost the will to live. The relief of this repetitive, unfunny garbage finishing was short lived as it was followed by a baffling and equally drab sketch consisting of a group of surgeons. I could stand no more of this utter tripe and reached for the stop and delete button. I found it very harrowing watching this puerile nonsense from my boyhood idols. Perhaps there were better bits later in the movie but if they want viewers to continue watching they need to make a better effort to grab the audience from the start. Just what they thought was remotely amusing about showing an office manned by 80 something men was way beyond me. ,

Midsomer Murders: With Baited Breath (2019) Season 21, Episode 4

This once wonderful series has morphed into PC drivel.

[1/10 · 29 March 2021]

OMG what has happened to my favorite TV program. I sat through the excruciating pain of watching this episode yesterday evening and hated it right from the off. This once amazing program has plumbed the depths of politically correct casting quotas with a constant stream of actors chosen for their ethnic background rather than ability or requirement. Every single scene suffered from it. Can't the PC brigade let us have ONE SINGLE program without ramming diversity down our throats.

Midsomer Murders (1997– )

A real English drama.

[10/10 · 15 March 2021]

Well what can I say about this superb series. An easy 10 out of 10. The two hour running time allows for character development, the beautiful English settings are a treat, and we're not bombarded with the usual politically correct cast quotas. I love every single second of this series. Tom's various side kicks fit in seamlessly and his family life is wonderful too, though Joyce perhaps witnesses a few too many of the murders. God bless the writers and to hell with the self hating, PC knockers.

Car S.O.S.: 7 Day Challenge Special - 1959 Land Rover: Part 2 (2019) Season Unknown, Episode Unknown

Well below parr and hugely padded out.

[5/10 · 2 January 2020]

Ok, I 'm a huge Car SOS fan and eagerly awaited this two part show, repeated over the recent Christmas hols. It was always going to be difficult to make things interesting for the studio audience. Our two heroes did their best but the excessive padding out using an ex soap opera "star",,,,, Rick Wakeman, and a boring visit to Santa Pod let this show down badly. Added to that was the fact that 50% of the footage from part one was shown again in part two. There was very little renovation work shown at all. The handover was weak and somewhat embarrassing with the poor guy never having heard of Car SOS. Yes, he was deserving and I shed a tear for him but the whole thing was a massive let down in my opinion.

The Sweeney: Night Out (1975) Season 1, Episode 6

A rather odd episode with a scared Regan.

[5/10 · 12 December 2019]

I found this episode very odd indeed. Regan behaves in a way that I have never seen before. Carter is almost absent and get very badly beaten up by three other coppers who did not know him. Reagan tells his call girl "friend" the full details of the police operation despite the fact that she has access to a phone and could have spilled the beans. Regan acts scared (very unlike him) in several scenes. We're used to Regan rounding on Haskins but this was a different kind of disrespect shown to his superior here. Altogether a very strange script with a vulnerable Regan looking somewhat fragile.

Go Fishing (1988–2002)

Rarely reflects true angling

[5/10 · 13 September 2019]

I remember watching the first episode of GF in 1988 with my late dad. John was fishing a large gravel pit next to a working coal mine for pike. I have to confess that we both found it entertaining. A shame then that most of the episodes were clearly filmed on private estates when the fish are rather easy to catch as they are not under constant angling pressure. There were several examples of this fantasy style fishing which did not reflect the real fishing world. One episode showed John cast a huge floating crust in which was instantly (and I do mean instantly) snatched by a thirty pound carp. No carp of that size would be so easily fooled in the real world. Another time he was pulling double figure bream one after the other from a secret lake. The sort of bream never caught in any angler's lifetime. We often see him pre-bait several choice swims, returning to them later to catch. In the real world these vacant swims would soon be occupied by other anglers. So, yes, entertaining but a totally false representation of angling. Anybody could catch the same monsters that JW does given exclusive access to these very private waters. JW the expert big fish angler? No. JW the lucky ******* with permission to fish Lord Snooty's estate? Yes.

Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team (2006– )

Fussy, P.C. types get a life.

[10/10 · 28 August 2019]

This wonderful and entertaining show will not be liked by self hating, career moaning,PC types. However, for the sensible among us it shows the hard work and dedication of the candidates. It's all there, the agony and the ecstasy. Only professional standard dancers need apply and even they will get cut if they are not among the top 36 best of the best. This is harmless fun for young viewers, eye candy for red blooded men, and annoying to the elite, PC left who have nothing better to do than be offended on the behalf of others. Long may it continue. Season 2016 is being shown in the UK now. If you're offended by young, enthusiastic girls who have dreamed of earning their place as a DCC then reach for the off switch and stop your PC bleating.

Tales of the Unexpected: A Glowing Future (1981) Season 4, Episode 15

So what was unexpected?

[1/10 · 28 January 2019]

This utterly dreadful episode does not even deserve to be in the series. Any woman on the planet would have murdered this dead from the neck up ape five minutes into the "plot". Joanna Pettet is lovely eye candy and the only reason to sit through a pretty awful twenty-five minutes. I wouldn't expect any woman to want to spend more that five seconds with the minus I.Q., Neanderthal look alike Jack. It was a blessed relief when the pig got what he deserved. AVOID!!!!!!!!

Day Ticket (2004–2008)

A blessed relief from the fake angling programs

[10/10 · 28 November 2018]

My brother in law has acted as boom mic operator on several "reality" angling programs. Most are filmed on closed waters with weeks of pre-baiting before the "experts" arrive. Even with this as an advantage there is still an awful lot of cheating going on with fish pre-caught by local anglers. However,,,,,,,,he assures me that Day Ticket is filmed as is and totally fair. Far from fishing Lord Snootie's estate lake they only film at public waters that anybody can fish. I find the comic antics of Richard and Trevor akin to Ant and Dec. The fishing and banter is always interesting and entertaining with the presentation far superior than poor old Wilson and co. Well worth a watch if you're an ordinary short session angler.

Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964)

Nostalgia, but little more.

[3/10 · 26 November 2018]

First I have to confess my reasons for recently watching this movie on UK TV. I was taken to see it as a nine year old boy by my sixteen year old brother in 1964. My brother passed away a few years ago and I felt compelled to relive the experience when the chance came up. I found the whole movie rather slow and of course very dated. Although I am a hunting, shooting, fishing person I found the treatment of the monkey rather distressing. It was clearly distressed, frightened, and perhaps even in pain some of the time. I was much relieved when its space suit was removed. One poster has commented of the alien oddly being able to speak English but this was not the case. The slow learning of our language by him is clearly shown. The alien space ships were jerky and cartoon like even for the 60s. All in all very little happened in two hours and ten seconds after spotting their rescue ship the credits were rolling. Not a great movie but great memories of watching it 54 years ago. R.I.P. Jimmy.

Midnight Is a Place (1977–1978)

Amazing how memories can distort over time

[3 January 2018]

I watched this series in 1978 and became totally addicted to it. It was on TV late afternoon each day and I could just about make it home from work to catch it. Then, after watching the next to last episode and long before the days of video recorders being common, I missed the last episode. I remember being absolutely devastated at missing it and cursed my luck for weeks. However, a few weeks ago I bought the boxed set off Amazon and decided to wait until Christmas to finally see (after forty years) what I had missed.

My first disappointment was that it was set in 1842 and dreary Victorian England with its dirty characters and depressing buildings. I certainly did not remember that. The second disappointment was the dreadful acting, even by the normally reliable Reginald Marsh. His attempt at portraying a dithering market stall holder was embarrassing to watch. The award for the worst acting of the series though has to go to Maxine Gordon's truly awful French accent. All in all I can't for the life of me understand what I saw in this dreadful series as a 22 year old man. Even Ron Moody could not save it. It was sad to hear that Simon Gipps Kent died just ten years later but I doubt he was about to set the acting world alight . Finally, the absurdity of Simon and Ron's character's spending each day dragging heavier than water items out of the same stretch of sewer while facing "breeding wild hogs" was not lost on me. How do heavy cups, jugs, and bowls get into the sewer in the first place? Why are there always more to find just the following day? What do the hogs feed on? This was badly acted rubbish which for some reason I once found very entertaining. I guess that's life for you.