seanoriabhaigh Reviews

Castle Rock (2018–2019)

Misery meets Salem's Lot in Season 2! (And Lizzy Casplan is amazing as Annie Wilks!)

[10/10 · 18 August 2023]

I enjoyed the series overall and I am gutted it was cancelled. While Season 1 was interesting and suitably creepy, Season 2 is where the fun REALLY kicks off!

A spoiler free taster of Season 2 would be just to say that Annie Wilks from Misery arrives in Castle Rock with her daughter and gets mixed up with some... creatures from Salem's lot (but not vampires.. kind of) but the most watchable part was Lizzy Caplan's portrayal of Annie Wilks from Misery; I mean she NAILS the part - she's just a younger version of Cathy Bates!

I appreciate that when playing characters by different actors, they will usually put their own spin on them but Lizzy just plays it like Cathy, with the "dirty bird" and "number one fan" quotes (with explanations to their origins!) I absolutely loved every minute of her performance (and her parents in flashbacks) and I would highly recommend a watch of the show, if not for the second season alone. Imagine playing an established and - kind of - beloved character as a younger version and still being able to convey emotions and mental illness as effectively as Lizzy does beautifully. Ms. Caplan should have been given every award possible for this remarkable performance.

Creed III (2023)

There was no immediacy

[4/10 · 19 May 2023]

I've loved both the Rocky and Creed franchises, with the probable exception of Rocky 5 (which in its defence, had some good moments) but the one thing all of these movies have had until now was immediacy; there was a fight for your heart, your soul, your honour, your family, your respect but this movie just had no fight. There was a boxing match, we knew Creed would win because Hollywood but never throughout the course of Creed III did it feel like Adonis had to fight for something other than to beat some guy he once knew who had gone a bit sour.

This felt more like a Lifetime movie with a short fight at the end. Even the training montage was bland and lifeless. I don't wanna talk about it any more, I'm depressed from looking at what was once a great franchise, being wrung dry.

Michael B. Jordan is a competent director so it had that going for it. Pity there wasn't a script.

Scream VI (2023)

It was ok

[4/10 · 25 April 2023]

I loved the first movie when I saw it in the Cinema, em, last Century - loved the post modern self aware meta thing that most "clever" movies these days like to play around with.

I get that it's a part of the set up on these movies but how self aware do you have to be to spoon feed every joke as a joke on the number of movies that have been made - it's just stale at this point. The cast are relatively likeable but they're just not enough to hold this franchise together any more.

At best, it's a mindless 2 hours of slasher that might not kill you but won't surprise you either.

At worst, every single moment of this movie has already been done to death - much of it by this franchise already; it's basically a copy and paste of the first five so if that's your bag, have at it. At this stage, I have to say, I'm done with them.

Power of the Air (2018)

Christian Propaganda

[1/10 · 15 April 2023]

I was raised christian and it's trash like this that sent me away from the Church. Christianity teaches us that the meek shall inherit the Earth but this movie teaches us that coercion and media manipulation will save us... The irony is that all the things this story purports to be fighting for, is exactly their solution; fighting and persuasion to be a certain way (while at the same time, condemning the ways it disagrees with!).

At the end of the day (or end of days even), it will come to pass that the people who weren't judgemental of how others lived and were just kind, will find a place in Paradise and the people who tried to force their beliefs onto others or judged people because they had different ideologies than them, will be the ones banished for all eternity.

If you believe in that sort of thing.

Children of the Corn (2020)

Good fun!

[8/10 · 21 March 2023]

This is something like the tenth film in this - very fragmented - franchise and easily the best attempt at a reboot in years. There have been so many clunkers in this series that it's hard to even give them a chance any more.

What works here is Kate Moyer as Eden. She's about 12 years old and gives an amazing and often hilarious over the top performance - If her acting ability is anything to go by, this kid is going places!

As the main character, Elena Kampouris as "Bo" is far too serious and dull, no disrespect to Elena, she's well able to act, it's just a very bland and by the numbers character.

There have been negative reviews for this film and to be fair, there isn't really much you can do with this story to begin with that hasn't been done to death but again, luckily this story is elevated by Eden and the nutty pastor and a slightly better story than usual (It's nice to have a bit of a plot in this series for a change). I wasn't expecting to like this but I must admit, I really did - I do think though, it could have done without some of the gorier bits but they were augmented by some insane and fun acting so I can excuse that small gripe, especially in a franchise I would have happily buried along with the corn a very long time ago.

The Midwich Cuckoos (2022)

Don't bother with the snowflakes - Watch for yourself

[9/10 · 3 June 2022]

As a fan of both the book (The Midwich Cuckoos) and the subsequent film (Village of the Damned) starring the ever great George Sanders, this is a definite upgrade from the ropey John Carpenter 1995 remake!

George Sanders has been replaced by the also ever great Keeley Hawes, who brings an emotional edge to the character - the location has been upgraded (to reflect the 21st Century) from a village to a commuter town (which is why all the tear/fear-stricken "anti-woke" snowflakes are up in arms... omg, people from different ethnicities are not only working in real jobs, they are even married to each other! Oh the horror!)

Other than that, the story is pretty much the same - the village suffers a complete blackout and every resident falls into a sleep and within weeks, we find that every woman in town has gotten pregnant and nine months later, give birth to "the children", who are as creepy as ever!

This series is a game of two halves; we go from mystery in the first few episodes, to straight up sci-fi thriller in the last few.

If you're a Doctor Who fan, you might recognise two out of the three directors Jennifer Perrott (who directed two of Jodie Whittaker's episodes: Kerblam! & The Tsuranga Conundrum) and the more well known/high profile Alice Troughton, who directed Midnight and The doctor's Daughter. Along with several Torchwood and many of The Sarah Jane Adventures' eps.

If you're a proper fan of sci-fi and if you're not offended by a cast that is not all white, I have no doubt you'll enjoy this series immensely.