DonnieDarkoAU Reviews

The Twilight Zone (2019–2020)

Lost in the defective zone

[3/10 · 25 June 2019]

You unlock this door with a CBS all access pass. Beyond it is another extension. A retention of sound, a suspension of belief, an apprehension of mind. You're moving into a land of both shadow and substance abuse, of half-baked ideas. You've just crossed over into the rebooted Twilight Zone.

I spent my childhood growing up with Twilight Zones re-runs from the original series. I also enjoyed the 80's revival and even the 2000 version to a lesser degree. There was subtlety, morals and stories still relevant today. With the current reboot I've not seen many episodes yet (except maybe The Nightmare at 30000 Feet or The Blue Scorpion) worthy of a re-watch and I'm struggling to make it to the closing credits. The stories are sloppy, under-developed and in some cases arrogant. The closing credit moral clincher, delivered so impeccably by the master Rod Serling, miss the mark and often are at odds with the story told.

My hope is that season 2 delivers from that other dimension. Season 1 appears to have crashed into the sign post ahead.

Chernobyl (2019)

Compelling

[10/10 · 4 June 2019]

Watching this show produced goosebumps and fear at knowing what is coming. The sheer magnitude of the event, the incomprehensible stupidity of the antogonists and the unbridled bravery of the protagonists demonstrated both extremities of the human condition. The final courtroom shootout is the most compelling television that you can watch. Breathtaking.

Cold Zone (2017)

Save as many as you can...

[2/10 · 20 October 2018]

Yes, I wanted to save as many as I can ... from watching this absolute stinker. So if you've seen "The Day After Tomorrow" you know the general deal. There's really only one difference between the two movies - Tomorrow doesn't want to make you gouge your eyes out with an ice pick.

Having a science background, I am mildly entertained when concepts follow the general laws of physics. Luckily I didn't have to worry here because there was no science to evaluate as nothing made sense. Again and again the laws were broken with clear abandonment. It might have been helpful to have this improve the story, develop a character or idea, but alas no

I don't want to see any of the actors again as none of them performed with any degree of conviction, except maybe the paycheck. I rather pity any of the cast that took shares in the movie in lieu of payment - unlikely they'd have got bus fare.

To make it fair, I gave 1 star for committing this to celluloid, probably against the advice of family, friends and anyone who actually read the script before committing to star in it, and another star for the cast surviving to the end of the movie with straight faces. I've seen better acting in commercials.

It (I) (2017)

Save yourself and watch original instead

[3/10 · 8 March 2018]

If you like disjoint patchworks and jigsaws that don't quite fit together, you'll love this movie. None of the parts actually join up and the whole movie appears to have been put together as a series of takes with no one actually worrying about how to make them go together. I really wanted to like this movie but ultimately I went back and watched the original to remember how the pieces actually fit. I find it amazing that it could score a rating higher than 5 when it didn't really achieve any of it's goals.

It turns out to be a poor remake of Goonies meet Monster House. I can't wait for the sequel. It will probably involve the Loch Ness monster.

Plus One (2009– )

Excellent new comedy

[8/10 · 3 March 2009]

This is one of the best comedy shows I have seen in recent times. Although the story starts a little slow, the episodes get better and better, winding up to the grand finale. Daniel Mays plays an excellent role as the unwilling star in series of unfortunate circumstances of his own doing. The humour is well constructed and organised with events rolling from one laugh to another. The language is a bit strong so it wont suit the smaller kids but it's one of the freshest comedies on the recent market. The American market might find it hard to get into as it's not geared to the US style of slapstick / deadpan that is associated with many American made productions.

Looking forward to the next season.