L_Lawliett Reviews

Schitt's Creek (2015–2020)

Not great with words but I'll do my best.

[9/10 · 7 March 2019]

I saw adverts for this when it first aired on itv in the UK and never thought of watching it, but I was bored and trawling through Netflix and found it and saw Catherine O'Hara was in it so decided to give it a go as I enjoy watching her very much and it did exceed all of my expectations.

There really are not many things I will rave about as I tend to dislike most things but this I loved and my partner even saw me watching it and had me start it again so he could watch it too.

Yes the basic format has, like most things, been done before, what makes this stand apart is the characters.

The Roses start as your stereotypical mega rich, spoilt family. At the start they barely have any connection with each other or reality and their ignorance and unwillingness to accept their new life, or each other, throughout most of the first series portrays this. What makes it work better is that over time each of them finds their own little crutches that helps them integrate with reality and helps them build a better family unit. I don't want to go into too much detail as I think it speaks better for itself but one of my favourite things about it is the relationships the characters build. It is also pretty refreshing to see a gay couple that is portrayed as a normal couple as opposed to ridiculous and dysfunctional, they are shown as genuinely loving each other and caring for each other, but the same goes for the parents. There is none of the typical drivel of the bickering couples you always see in sitcoms, they always try to support each other.

Basically give it a go for the characters and their development I say.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again (2016 TV Movie)

Lacked any life.

[26 April 2017]

I've been a fan of Rocky Horror for as long as I can remember and I've seen it live on stage a couple f times and love seeing different ideas and approaches to it but unfortunately this falls pretty flat. A small few of the cast were good, the guy playing Riff-Raff did quite well and I enjoyed watching him, and I did find seeing Tim Curry as the narrator with some odd Rosa Klebb type quite funny. But the woman playing Magenta just annoyed me as I've always loved Magenta and near enough all the people I've a seen playing her, obviously Pat Quinn as the original is my favourite because she is just fabulous, but the woman in this version just wasted the character, she gave off the impression she just thought "oh it's a small part so I'm not going to bother" and just turned up and did whatever. Janet was pretty good but Brad was more annoying than anything. And the biggie, Frank. Well though the character had some amazing costumes it was not Frank. Frank is a man in women's lingerie (hence the sweet transvestite) not a woman in lingerie. It does not work. It just contradicts itself. It was more like watching Grace Jones.

The visuals left much to be desired. It felt empty all the away through, like they just could not really be bothered so it lacked real life. Same goes for the music, it just lacked life and soul. The choreography was shabby and not done well really.

Over all really it just seemed drab, lifeless, and half arsed. Just watch the original or go watch it live, you will enjoy it more.

The Shining (1997)

Under Rated

[8/10 · 3 September 2009]

I thought the mini series was actually very good, better than what people are giving it credit for. Yes it sticks to the book more, but isn't that the point? If you are going to make a film based on a book then you should stick to the story of the book.

People say that the original Kubrick film required more thought and left the viewers to come up with their own conclusion. I've noticed, since I read the book, that this is because he leaves out about 75% of the story so you have no choice other than to fill in the massive blanks yourself. Where as the mini series keeps most of the story there. I know that it does drop a few things that Kubrick kept but I think that was done to avoid there being too much of a comparison.

In the mini series we see so much more than in the movie: There is more character development, we see more background to them and we see that they are fairly normal family at first. We see more of the story of the hotel. We get to see the changes and the isolation starting as they get snowed in (unlike in the movie where one minute they've just arrived next minute they're snowed in).

I have wondered, people have a negative attitude to this because the movie came first. If the mini series came first THEN the movie was made after it, what would people think about the movie? I think they would have a negative attitude to the movie, due to it being made after.