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stevtull
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Luther: The Fallen Sun (2023)
Woeful effort
I came to this without any knowledge of the original series, didn't know any of the premise of the character or storyline. Bottom line is that's two hours of my life I'm never getting back. Admittedly started off with some intrigue, then started to become implausible until it descended into some kind if ludicrous farce. How all concerned decided this was a viable effort is beyond me. I see other reviewers have given similar opinions but say the series was worthwhile, having just sat through this state of the art garbage there's no chance I'll be trying out the series now. Shoutout to the evil baddy's ethnic sidekick though, he presumably managed to set up the various evil lair environments and highly elaborate web servers single handedly, so he's due a bonus payment I reckon.
Treason (2022)
Contrived and amateurish
Oh dear oh dear, I realised early on that this wasn't going to be up to any decent standard but as it goes on it just becomes more daft and contrived. Feels like they had the initial concept then handed off to the apprentice writers or someone's dredged up one of their school project stories to meet a deadline or something. Reckon I'd have more convincing tradecraft after watching a bunch of seventies Bond movies than this show demonstrates in 2022. Charlie Cox is frankly more convincing when he's acting blind than this character. Olga Kurylenko Is more viable but I suspect she might have realised she'd made a mistake signing up for this too. Not recommended.
The Ipcress File (2022)
Absolutely worthwhile
Well I'm only two episodes in but I'm committed. You can't ho wrong with Tom Hollander for a start. Lucy Boynton is becoming a must see actor too. I love period pieces done well and this delivers. Attention to detail on locations and set is fantastic. Frankly it's a relief to watch something these days where everyone involved seems to understand the value of less is more too. Quality all round. Recommended.
The Gray Man (2022)
Generously giving our man Six a 6
Well, quite a jolly romp as my Dad would say. They probably had to hire every single local stuntman in each country they filmed in, so a good result for all those guys, keep them employed till the next Tom Cruise movie... anyway let's see, three stars because Ryan G, two more for locations and one for audacity. Plot and plausibility get no stars at all. Nothing. I'm happy to suspend disbelief watching daft stuff like this, but oh dear, our man manages to withstand an awful lot. Seems the directors decided to combine the Bourne, Bond, Mission Impossible franchises, shake them all up and then dial everything up to 11 because too much is obviously barely enough. Good thing Ryan G is there to do his usual underplay it routine and quieten things down a bit here and there occasionally.
Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators (2018)
Wanted to like it
I quite like the idea and really wanted to like this but really it's just too weak. Don't know how some folk are awarding 10s. I realise I'm supposed to suspend disbelief watching this kind of thing but the storylines are just daft and it kind if drifts into farce. Probably fine if you're looking for something to fall asleep to on the couch...
Disturbing the Peace (2020)
Awful, but not even good awful
Seriously awful, but not even entertainingly awful. Not sure what Guy Pearce is doing in this. It's like a bunch of ex-porn actors decided to try and make a real movie or something. Suspect they wrote the story as they went along. Years ago this would be straight to video fodder. I'll be surprised if I see anything this bad again in a long while.
Close (2019)
So...what about the ending then?
Quite entertaining, Noomi Rapace is great of course, her charge sets herself up as a suitably insufferable Spoilt Rich Kid and overall I enjoyed the ride but what about the ending? Did the production run out of funds to film enough to tie it up? Seems like they just decided oh well, close enough, it's tea-time so lets just wrap it up and that'll do. Feels like the proper ending must be on the cutting room floor.
Six Minutes to Midnight (2020)
Great history inspired drama
Excellent cinematography, and well cast. Eddie Izzard is excellent. I really enjoyed this. A brilliant drama the British do so well. A great story set at the very edge of WWII, but if you don't have the patience for a more measured development you'll probably find this frustrating. Folk who appreciate a certain kind of UK drama will certainly enjoy it, however if you prefer a lot bangs for your buck you might want to look elsewhere. Recommended.
COBRA: Blackout 6 (2020)
Started pretty well
Quite liked the concept and it started well but as it went on it became a wee bit daft. They could have trimmed a few plot lines. Mind you the brilliant David Haig is always worthwhile watching.
The Next Three Days (2010)
Cut half an hour out it would great
A good effort by Russell C and principal actors but I think it would have been well improved with tighter editing and losing ½ an hour of establishing Russell is "Just A Normal Guy"
The Devil All the Time (2020)
We can play other roles you know!
One of those movies where you're actually relieved when it finishes. It occurred to me the main purpose of this movie might be for Tom Holland and Robert Pattinson to include in their respective showreels so they've something jarringly different to include compared to their usual fare.
Tin Star (2017)
Just leave it at the first series
Quite liked the first series and really that's where I should have left it. Part way thru the second series I realised there's no way they'll be resolving all this, sure enough they don't, it's just strung out to set up for the inevitable third series. I understand viewers need to suspend disbelief sometimes, but frankly this eventually became a bit daft. And there seems to be a few plot fails along the way. Great scenery though.
Deep State (2018)
Fell at the last hurdle
Just finished season one and found myself fairly invested. Just like the protagonist's son I found the ending highly unsatisfactory. Seems so many series are produced these days with one eye on the next series the current one suffers with contrived implausible endings.
Uncut Gems (2019)
Sandler finds new ways to annoy
I'm genuinely impressed. Coerced by my teenage son to watch this, I reluctantly agreed despite the Adam Sandler red flag. I like comedies. I don't even mind fairly idiotic comedies if they have some kind of saving grace somewhere. But Adam Sandler comedies? Maybe if you're eight years old. But in this he's basically aggravating us in a whole new genre. Just to be clear, this isn't supposed to be a comedy. Although, ironically, the ending is pretty funny. Anyway that's a couple of hours of my life I'm never getting back.
Outlander (2014)
Had potential, but...
Best way I can summarise the tone of this show, well the first series anyway - it starts out Foyle's War and ends up Caligula. That's quite a leap frankly. Now having completed the first series, I'm pretty doubtful I'll be spending time on any more. (Just Say No to The Box Set.)
I lived in Scotland for many years, and was really predisposed towards the premise of the show too. Must confess I hav'nae read the books as a lot of other reviewers have, so I didn't have any preconceptions, perhaps the books have a massive shift in style (doubtful though).
Don't be sitting with your in-laws when you're watching the season finale, it'll put you right off your Earl Grey and shorty, let me tell you. Talk about jumping the shark. Assuming it's the same director throughout the series I'm just now wondering if they might be bipolar.