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Reviews
The Crowded Room (2023)
WOW! And I can't wait to watch it a second time!!!
I knew nothing about this coming into it, which is probably the best way to be. Like many have commented the first couple of episodes were interesting enough to keep me in but not enough to stop me from doing other things. From there on you realize how intricate the story is as it starts to unravel a layer at a time.
The story telling is superb, and Tom Holland is magnificent, I already cry foul if he doesn't get an Emmy for this performance... and it probably should come with a side of therapy because it's hard to see how some of it wouldn't stick with him. Or if it hasn't, he's sold it beautifully.
Hard to say anymore without spoilers, but if you've watched one episode and are ready to move on, stick with it for the reward. I can't wait to start from the beginning again because it will play very differently with hindsight!
From (2022)
Good premise, bad writing and terrible overacting
There's a really interesting story here and I'm keen to see where it goes and what develops "BUT" the writing is so cheesy and it is so badly overacted it is cringe worthy.
Season 2 is so much worse than season 1 and I'm already hoping half the cast decide to spend the night outside so they can be replaced with better actors.
But new actors isn't going to fix the cheesy writing and appalling dialog where everything needs to be yelled and the drama is CONSTANTLY sitting at an 11 out of 10.
So tempted to jump to the end of the last episode to see where it's going and avoid the pain of the writing.
CODA (2021)
Wonderful, heartwarming and... an easy read!
Had put off watching this for sometime "to be in the mood" for watching a movie with subtitles. For me at least, subtitles require a level of engagement beyond what I'm normally prepared to give for the escapism I'm looking for. But CODA is so good at engaging that the subtitles were not a chore but an easy addition.
With that out of the way, CODA is a wonderful story that is put together brilliantly and has equally great acting. Laughter, tears, a journey well worth every minute.
Well paced so time seems irrelevant, great to watch with your partner and to be enjoyed for what it is and the warm fuzzy feelings that it comes with :-)
Tár (2022)
Horribly written drivel!
First of all Cate Blanchett's performance is incredible and the only reason that I didn't abort what is simply a terrible movie.
So many of the good reviews explain that you NEED to understand the movie before watching it and for the "common" folk you wont enjoy it because your hand wont be held for you. But if you need a one hour lecture to explain the movie before watching the SLOWEST two and half hours of your life, it's missed the mark by A LONG, LONG way. Like explaining the punchline of a joke, it clearly missed if you have to explain it.
Being so long in some scenes I found myself yelling at the screen to just get a move on, but then at the end so many sub plots/stories were left unfinished!!! I was left with a strong feeling that there is a FOUR HOUR! Directors cut that might actually work as a story, but in editing it got hatcheted down to something that just wasn't watchable. Rather than eliminating some of the sub stories altogether, they thought we want it all in there but let's give them 40% and leave it to the audience to work out the remaining 60%... and then if they can't then we'll call them common with short attention spans.
Right from having the credits at the start, it's SLOW, self indulgent, SLOW, poorly edited, SLOW, Cate is awesome, SLOW, clumsy is many parts, SLOW, frustrating, SLOW, unsatisfying... and did I mention SLOW!
Fired on Mars (2023)
Tedious and not that interesting
I tried to like it and watched every episode hoping it would get better, but wish I hadn't, because it didn't.
It was a decent premise with a lot of possibility, so it could have been a lot better but wasn't worth the investment in money or my time to be frank.
Even down to the last episode, it was just drawn out, poor dialog, and simply uninteresting. Meh, plus a sigh, followed by another meh.
I don't understand the haste for an abundance of "adult animation", it seems to now be at the expense of decent content. There is some great stuff out there but for me this misses the mark by a big margin.
Ms. Marvel (2022)
If Hannah Montana had superpowers!
If I were a 12 year old girl I'm sure I would love this... but I'm not and I don't. Very much aimed at a younger audience, too cheesy, too woke, the only thing missing is a canned laughter soundtrack.
Judge Steve Harvey (2022)
Awesome fun... Steve Harvey for President!!!
Nearly every review is a 10 or a 1! In a world where common sense has all but disappeared, Steve is the man. I don't get the people who don't like it, of course it's no Shindlers List but for what it is trying to be, it delivers in abundance.
Steve brings his brilliant comedy and down to earth attitude to make this show funny, heartfelt and great escapism. Wish he could have done my divorce, or better still he should run the country :-)
The Batman (2022)
Don't be fooled by the rating, dull, uninteresting and I fell asleep
I highly suspect there is something dodgy happening to get the average rating of this movie up where it is when nearly every written review is less than a 5 rating... hmmm.
There's only one person to blame for this rubbish, Matt Reeves, director, writer, producer. Self indulgent, tedious, too long, try hard ooooh look at me making a dramatic scene, after a dramatic scene, after a dramatic scene.
Disappointing and should be dropped from the Batman franchise, do it properly bring back Tim Burton and Michael Keating or my favourite Chris Nolan and Christian Bale.
The Tourist (2022)
Good story, good acting, terrible script
So the writers are British, and as an Aussie I am disappointed/appalled that this is how as a nation we are being portrayed, in a nutshell yobbo simpletons. Maybe this was made for the American market who still love Crocodile Dundee, but at least Mick was loveable and smart, the characters in this are neither. I just don't think it needed to be taken so far, it's like they've dug up an old Aussie kitsch vernacular dictionary and made a script from it.
The story itself is good though, the actors do a solid job with what they are given, but again, as an Aussie I just find it cringe worthy and hard to watch.
The Ice Road (2021)
Terrible overacting and hurt my brain
I LOVE a movie where you can just zone out your troubles and immerse yourself in a bit of escapism and suspend reality for a few hours, and Liam is one of the kings in this category, so hopes were high!
Unfortunately though, even my well tuned escaped brain just couldn't stand the dribble that it was being presented with that I found myself uncontrollably yelling at the screen at one ridiculous premise after another, followed by plot holes that 3 Mac (sorry Kenworth) trucks could fit through. And the acting!!! OMG, but I suppose you can only do so much with paint by numbers dialogue and manufactured 'suspense'.
A single episode of Ice Road Truckers is more interesting than this and I find it hard to believe Liam couldn't see how bad this was when presented with the script... money talks I suppose.
Avoid at all costs and re-watch something else instead.
Fortress (2021)
As bad as it get's without being ironically funny
Bruce, Bruce, Bruce... why? Did one of your kids write this and beg you to be in it? In which case, way to go to support your kid. If not, did someone abduct one of your kids and the ransom was to be in this rubbish excuse for a movie? If so, I hope everyone is now ok. If not, do you owe the IRS an obscene amount of money and this was the largest payout for as little effort that you could find?
If it's none of the above then you should be ashamed and I demand you give me back the hour and a half of my life that you stole.
There are no redeeming qualities is this movie, none at all and the worst of all is Bruce Willis' acting, talk about phoning it in. Avoid at all costs!
Ted Lasso (2020)
Perfectly positive
So good, so uplifting, perfect timing.
Simply food for the soul, adds fun and an abundance of positivity into a negative world. Great writing, brilliant acting, two words... thank you :-)
Epstein's Shadow: Ghislaine Maxwell (2021)
Just terrible... biased news at it worst
It's what passes as 'reporting' these days but it projects such an opinionated bias that it is so one sided to just be laughable.
There is some new footage, but to suggest and overlay photos of Ghislaine with her father and Epstein, and suggest he was a daddy replacement is a joke. Ghislaine 'declined' an interview, like that would be a surprise, I would decline an interview from 3rd rate tabloid reporters!
Guilty or not I don't care, I'm in Australia and have no investment in this, but I'm sick and tired of biased expose' pretending to be reporting... thumbs down.
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Party Monster: Scratching the Surface (2018)
Please fire the writers who did this one!
I enjoy this show and the acting is normally great, how can you go wrong with Carol Kane and Jane Krakowski :-) just fantastic, but this episode is one of the worst written I've ever seen... of any show!
Were the regular writers on holiday and some work experience people were brought in? I would have preferred the random musical episode that seems to happen across shows when the writers are light on for ideas.
The acting is appalling as well, but to be fair you can only work with what you are given and that wasn't very much. Please never do this again. To those watching, skip this one entirely, you wont miss anything!
After Life (2019)
Compelling, very dark, so real, and utterly brilliant
I think everyone will enjoy and relate to this series at some point in their life and I can't think of many shows that are as raw as this, "13 Reasons Why" is a poor but the closest comparison I can think of.
It is dark... very dark, so hats off to Netflix for giving such a long leash to Gervais to explore this, and just when you are feeling it's gone too far, the perfect amount of humor brings you back.
I'm not a huge Ricky Gervais fan so I had low expectations going into this, but it is near perfection, the writing and acting is superb, and I suspect most will be compelled to binge this in one session.