wrbills Reviews

The Wine Show (2016– )

The Drinking with mates show

[9/10 · 14 January 2018]

Season two is upon us and without sounding a complete muppet but the petit Syrah came out of the cupboard really quickly when we saw how completely trashed everyone, specifically James Purefoy was getting. Season one was great, knowledgeable without getting in your face but season 2 has started with a blast. Joe Is getting better and better, this is a guy marked for good things. All the Crew keep things rattling along and you learn stuff along the way. The Guardian review is suggesting that no one has come up with a way of making wine interesting for the ignorant. It's called getting smashed Sam Wollerston, no left handed bottles for you son. Clearly I disagree, great tv, well presented and Channel 5 are wise to invest in this.

Overall the show is very dry with a long finish.

The note on IMDB says it all. These people had fun making this show and it comes out in films. Great!

Pineapple Dance Studios (2010– )

Mockumentary

[8/10 · 25 March 2010]

This is great TV made by a team who either have an excellent grasp of borderline humour or are just desperate for attention. Either way I would recommend it even if, like me, you don't like dancing.

At least I hope I'm right...

The show focuses on a well known dance institue called Pinepple and the cameras are aimed at the staff. We don't see much dancing and what we do see is expertly setupm, however this show does produce some of the funniest stuff since Spinal Tap visited the farm.

What I really enjoy is trying to guess whether this is genuine TV or Tap/Ricky Gervais/Summer Heights High style humour. The staff are larger than life but at the same time seem realistic enough to be genuine. However, on the flip side the situations are diabolically stupid and set piece music clips are absolutely genius. Is it real??? I would say that they are real but in that they are clever enough to develop a new genre of reality TV whilst at the same time not distancing themselves from what the job and work environment really is. The last episode I watched had the four men in the shower dancing with the assistant manager in his pants at the end of the line. No one would rightly do that unless they are nuts or seeking the mockumentary effect. Plus the blond guy in the band did a tribute to the spinal tap scene when he got lost backstage, it was too obvious a gesture to be actually true.

In short, I WANT to believe it is an ironic twist (particularly with Burke doing the Voice over) on the reality TV genre, done in such a clever fashion that I wonder why BBC 3 don't have it. If it isn't then enjoy it for its ability to humiliate its stars in ways only they can imagine.

30 Rock (2006–2013)

Enlightened Comedy

[10/10 · 20 January 2010]

30 Rock is excellent. Having just come into the 3rd series after it appeared on British TV, I have bought the 2 previous series on DVD and they have proved every bit as perfect.

The basic premise is quite basic, the behind the scenes look at a live comedy show, however whilst being a vehicle for the comedy it mainly acts as a way to get the characters in the same place. The characterisation is the key to why this is great. Mental Illness is a big theme running all through the series as each of the characters has a particular issue which drives them. They might all be nuts, mad and loopy but overall exceptional drool. A psychiatrist may be able to identify a known illness to each of the roles but even to the layman it is obvious that either mental illness is important to the writers or simply a facet of working in the visual media.

Overall stupidly entertaining and sure to be a cult classic.

Inglourious Basterds (2009)

A tale of two films

[5/10 · 28 December 2009]

Here's my two pence worth.

In my opinion Inglorious is worth a 5/10 and is really lucky to get that. It's unlucky that its director is so weak and jaded to the extent that he will let the studio etc put its sticky fingers all over his film, one that essentially has the hallmark of genius stamped into its silver bottom. My point stems from the notion that the film is divided into two not 8 chapters (maybe 7). The good chapter and the rubbish chapter. The good bit was the initial scene in the French farmhouse and the next scene was the preliminary to the gun fight in the French basement tavern. The bad part is the vomit spewing forth from the gaping wound that is Brad Pitt's character and everything, I mean everything, that the Pitt features in (I still rate him highly as an actor though due to his previous work).

Tarantino was onto something with his art house style dialogue driven scenes which I thought were taken straight out of an intelligent play. He dazzled me with a sharp witty script that simply, irresistibly, drew me into the 1940's and his revisionist plot. Then the guns came and he blew it all away. Not with the panache that we have seen in the complex Jackie Brown's or Pulp Fiction's of this world but with the blunt axe of something crap like Righteous Kill. I am thoroughly amazed that he let himself get carried away by the silly plot and the unnecessarily gory scenes (I like blood and guts but in its right place - Starship Troopers etc).

The revisionist plot of Hitler's death was fun in the same way as Berlusconi getting a sharp miniature in his face is acceptable. He kind of deserves what he gets by why oh why do it in such a dull and horrid fashion. The rest of the film is similar, unnecessary scenes tagged onto an unnecessary plot. The gross mistake was to let Brad Pitt's character survive, no doubt his star power kept him alive but I found this the greatest travesty. I kept waiting for some clever death but this was ignored in favour of a diabolical ending in which the sneaky Nazi (Who Shines throughout this film) is outplayed like a small child by Pitt whose character was the Moron in Chief - Europe. He makes General Melchett from Blackadder look positively enlightened.

Anyway, the point of this diatribe is that this is a bad film when taken over three hours or so. Cut out the rubbish and you are left with a polished diamond with scenes so immersive they have to be seen to be believed.

The Holiday (2006)

Holiday hell

[5/10 · 28 December 2009]

I was encouraged to see this film on TV last night because of the vast array of talent on offer. Sadly the lead performances are overacted and the girls clearly are not comfortable in the things the director has made them do (Diaz dancing in the cottage, Jude Law only just comes out unscathed). This would have been passable except that the plot is tedious. Oddly enough what really made it unbelievable is that when Winslet returns home from work early on she manages to leave late from work, still get a train to Surrey, get from the station to a country road and then walk miles down it. All apparently within 40 mins of London, more like 2 1/2 hours.

Having lived in the city for years this is too stupid and it shows that the film was so busy trying to be sweet and idyllic that it forget to make any sense. This is picky I know but follow that up with the English driver refusing to drive the car down the snowy lane. WHAT! Reverse it moron!

In short, I was surprised to see this at 6.9. 5-6 is much more appropriate as at 6.9 someone might confuse this with adequacy.

The Outer Limits: Dead Man's Switch (1997) Season 3, Episode 13

I wish Aliens would correct this one!

[3/10 · 25 November 2009]

The first 45 minutes is fantastic, good levels of suspense backed up by competent acting and a compelling script. All good. I really liked most of the show and if it had continued in the vein then its a definite 8/10. However, plot holes are in abundance so it gets a 3.

Some of these mimic the other review so and aren't exhaustive. Also if I missed a thread which answers some then please tell me:

1) Why was there not regular communication between the bunkers and the Colonel. If there is a war going on the level of silence would be prohibitive not secure? 2) Why would the leader in a defence like this go out of his way to expose himself to the aliens when he volunteered to be in the meeting with them? 3) Why when the Austrailian was taken would you not assume the worst and then not press the button? 4)Why would you forget to put in a proper fire detection system - (the Russian goes up in flames)? 5)Why would you not have a complete support team for these guys who could assist with any problems and keep them up to date from the surface. 6)Why would the aliens spend so long burrowing down 11000 ft to kill the guys whose very presence kept the alien's own plans alive. If they could take over the Colonel then why not open the bunkers and take over the people themselves. Job done.

I suspect the worst crime committed here is not coming up with a better ending. I watched Double Helix yesterday morning and loved the pleasant twist at the end. I was guessing throughout this show what cool twist they might introduce. Are they testing him for the real mission? Are the others aliens trying to stop him through subversive means? Is the whole thing a charade to get him to not press the button so the aliens are saved the job. ANYTHING would have been better than the dull ending we are left with. The other reviewer suggested a revision, revision? Somebody should be punished for actually daring to submit the ending.

Misfits (2009–2013)

A very good fit.

[10/10 · 20 November 2009]

(I have revised my original draft) Now we are a few weeks in I have a better idea of what this show has to offer and it is now a clear 9/10. Misfits is a odd piece of obscene teenage drama mixed with a perfect example of a sci/fi dystopia. What you get is classic TV. The story follows a pack of rogue young adults ejected from society for a variety of problems, they have an armoury of asbo's and criminal offences and the majority are crass and vindictive. Yes, your average UK teen.

A storm rolls over head and the group are morphed into super humans with a peculiar talent that seems to mimic they own personality traits. There are many things good about it: Firstly the cast are supreme. The young actors clearly get stuck into their roles and are enjoying every minute. Secondly, I love the fact that this is a blend of the teen shows with sometimes extreme content. That had to be the longest topless scene in history of normal TV, yet it was acted flawlessly. The dark elements of the story mix wonderfully with the concrete foulness of the environment the group find themselves in, well done to whoever located that youth centre. What really won me over was the one episode where the Irish chap puts on yellow ski glasses and asks the misfits to guess who he is... "I'm an annoying c unit" - "I'm Bonno". And that classic bit where he throws the brick through the car window and is asked by the Social worker if he is special. "If I was special I would have missed". The Big Lebowski bowling scene was not lost on me either and the Misfit tribute to 'the dude'is faithfully executed.

This show is still clever, still very engaging and the male rape scene in the toilet is such a sophisticated take on a difficult subject that it is difficult to imagine where the writers are going to take us next. This show is becoming truly exceptional and I have no doubt that cult status is coming, we just need a few more people to see it. I still have no notable negatives at this stage beyond the fact that I will have to wait for a second series.