Oddly fascinating despite awful acting, an idiotic script, a ridiculously complex plot but full of holes like Swiss cheese and a cast of out of work actors, not to mention the man who the make-up students have been experimenting on. The policeman who was the ugly fat kid in class who no one liked is useless and a curly haired fellow who has a pipe but who doesn't smoke who looks like Charlie Chaplin. Then of course there's Sophia who wears the same dress and unchanging disarrayed hairstyle throughout and the owner of the ship ( Fabregas) finds the floor relentlessly fascinating or else his neck is permanently flexed; he doesn't even look at his bride. This show won't win any awards but the photography is good and the set is wonderful and the clothes incredible and it has massive entertainment factor for all sorts of bizarre reasons : my wife and I have been groaning and laughing throughout- great fun!
Reviews
8 Reviews
High Seas
(2019–2020)
Inspector Clouseau meets the Love Boat- a surreal farce of comic proportions.
24 October 2020
My Old Lady
(2014)
Enchanting, Brilliant!
11 December 2016
I found this movie on Netflix where it was awarded 2 1/2 stars out of five which is half a star less than the fireplace with crackling logs!!!! I tend to go for films that have low scores based on the premise that high scoring movies on netflix are usually utter drivel ( who grades them!) whereas low scoring foreign films are usually pretty good. This movie is a work of genius in every respect: I loved the story, the cinematography and the location; Paris is my favourite city. I especially loved the acting and the choice of actors. Maggie Smith is just a marvel but we all know that! Kevin Kline is without any doubt the best American actor on the circuit and he was perfect for the part. Kristen Scott- Thomas is such a powerful character actress who completely stole my heart in The English Patient and I would marry her tomorrow if she'd have me though my wife might have some grounds for objection. This is more of a play than a movie but I stand by my vote and it is the best movie I have watched in years.
Approaching the Unknown
(2016)
Strangely beautiful but technologically catastrophic
7 October 2016
I actually loved this film, the great sense of emptiness and solitude and of the austerity of the inside of the space craft. The photography was beautifully done and really captured the mood; That sense of total isolation really came through. The allure of outer space, like any expedition, is the means to counter the technological conundrums presented and a space film presents the possibility of infinite fascination with a world we don't know and the ability to utilise technology to perform a successful expedition. This film fails miserably in an area where it was most important not to and even an 'F' student in a high school would have spotted the anomalies. You can't derive oxygen and hydrogen from dirt, it;s a silicate. Even if you could then the resultant re-combining of oxygen and hydrogen presents the same kind of instability as a weapons grade bomb. Where was all the dirt stored? Why not store more water? Secondly, in a complex space craft, surely someone remembered to install breakers or even fuses! The gyroscope was almost as incongruous as a wind up gramaphone; computers do all the guidance. Whywas the battery which was only intermittently shorted, bleeding redstuff into the water? Why did the rocket lose four boosters between theground and earths upper atmosphere- they just weren't there any more?Why was Stanaforth sent into the desert with untested equipment. Whywas he called Stanaforth, its a stupid and unconvincing name. Why wasmark strong compelled to speak with that generic mid-western Americanaccent, he was useless at it and I like him as an actor. It's all toobad as the film was visually stunning but letdown by appalling scienceand plain bad screen writing. I hate it when something so potentially brilliant is ruined by slapdash research and poor writing; this film was truly worth more than that and should be remade with the problem areas addressed. Lastly; the title is lame.
Pathetic
31 May 2016
What happens when a TV presenter goes to work with a bad hangover on a bad day and everything goes badly wrong; well he punches someone. It really is too bad that Jeremy Clarkson committed such an act and not necessarily because it doesn't do to hit people but because it means that he got fired and then leaves void. Everyone knew that Clarkson was an oaf but he was an intelligent and amusing oaf and along with his cohorts who were masters in their own right, it made for an amazingly successful show- the recipe was just perfect. These are hard shoes to fill and anyone taking on the reigns of responsibility for the new show was going to be up against it but c'mon, who is this Chris Evans guy, what measure of insanity led to this guy being chosen; he just doesn't have what it takes, in fact he's an idiot, it;s that simple. Mat LeBlanc was probably chosen in order to create more appeal to the American audience but once again, he's not the right fit and was almost as bad. I was so disappointed in this contrived, cumbersome, constipated train wreck! Needless to say my Top Gear viewing days are over unless I revisit old shows with the masters at the helm.
30° i februari
(2012–2016)
Intriguing, good viewing!
13 May 2016
I was turned onto this show by a friend and at first I was barely able to watch it but the more I persevered, the more hooked I became. It is a little scary to contemplate the prospect of so many completely dysfunctional and extremely odd swedes arriving in deluges to chase sunshine, sea and sex and thereby feed an increasingly sick tourist industry in Thailand and that I guess, was part of the fascination for the show. I have to say that the acting was excellent in most cases especially the guy who plays Glen and the young woman who plays Joy. There is a slight 'B' movie-ish feel to the show and some things just don't work; for example the scene where the little girl digs up what is supposed to be a septic tank, drags it over to the neighbours beach and unleashes the contents- that was just plain terrible. Generally speaking though; I thought the show really good and especially bearing in mind how hard it is for a non-English speaking country to break into the market.I even liked the music which is quaint but catchy.
The Night Manager
(2016–2025)
Indescribably Brilliant!
13 May 2016
Lets face it, the Brits have so got it nailed where good TV is concerned which is why Americans seem to copy everything that is ever aired by the Brits and even then the British versions are far and away better shows.The Night Manager, an inspired TV adaptation of John Le Carre's novel had everything that makes a show a stunning success; great actors, great direction, great plot, beautiful photography and stunning locations. Hugh Laurie was of course perfect as Roper; Tom Hollander, an amazing actor was flawless and Annette Colman ( I had not heard of her before) played a part that no other could have played. I was enraptured and I hated it when the last part ended; I wanted more. I had just watched the latest James Bond movie before watching this and I have to say that The Night Manager totally eclipsed Spectre in EVERY respect even though I enjoyed Spectre. I've heard that there is another John Le Carre production in the works- I can't wait.
The Abominable Show
2 January 2016
I loved the first two seasons of this show, a brilliant interpretation and transcription of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's original work. Sherlock Holmes set in modern London with two excellent actors at the helm and bringing the magic of the past to the modern world; there could have been no better recipe for success. I am a great lover of period drama's and a huge fan of Sherlock Holmes but in this instance the combination is fatal, I'd sooner watch the Robert Downy Junior and Jude Law version. I loved Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes and I loved Ian Mackellan as an aged Mr Holmes and I loved Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman as the modern Holmes as Watson but neither are suited to their counterparts from a Victorian past. Holmes was a dignified, snobbish, Hugeunot, Victorian gentleman and Watson a retired army officer, a simple soul but a very stabilising influence. Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman are not people of the past and don't have that kind of mystique. I honestly thought that the production company must have conceived this diabolical contrivance after a heavy night at the pub and some heavy ingestion of illegal substances. What made me hate this so much was that it wasn't just crap but that it was a complete antithesis of previous shows that were brilliant. Pure drivel!
Mr. Holmes
(2015)
Beautiful and Intelligent
26 December 2015
I adored this film and I thought that Ian Mckellan displayed his true mastery in the field of acting, he has few peers and none outside of the UK. I was surprised that Laura Linney was chosen for the part of housekeeper but she did the part wonderfully well even if her accent was more west country English than Sussex but she really was plunged in the deep end. This film was beautiful, clever and intelligent but was not the type of film that would appeal to the masses or those who wanted to see 'terminator' battle with 'alien' or the appalling spectacle of Robert Downey Junior as Sherlock Holmes which is by contrast, drivel of the first order. For me, Jeremy Brett was the epitome of Sherlock Holmes but I can think of no other person to play Holmes as an elderly man than Ian McKellan. I lived in Sussex UK in the eighties and am very familiar with that beautiful part of the country, Cuckmere Haven and Hope Gap is the place where Holmes would have ended his days.
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