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Reviews
The Wheel of Time (2021)
Pointless story changes that don't make sense
I'm not a purist who expects adaptations to be a page for page recreation of the books - any good adaptation has to make changes for length and clarity, to get the story across in a visual medium.
This adaptation however often butchers the books - completely changing the story in ways that often don't improve pace, that make the story less clear and, in some cases, have characters behaving in ways that just aren't in keeping with who they are in the books, or at least aren't true to their arc. As someone who enjoys the books it's a big disappointment but just in general it makes no sense.
If they didn't want to give us the Wheel of Time books then why not just adapt a different series of books, or write an original story?
A missed opportunity, which is a shame.
Knightfall (2017)
Either be accurate or don't pretend to be history
As many others have said - entertaining but riddled with historical inaccuracies. I know some people say that doesn't matter if it's entertaining. I would agree if it was portrayed as a total fiction set in the last days of the Templars.
But this is made by History, claims to be based on history and spends a lot of its run time focusing on well known historical events (which it gets wrong, egregiously and repeatedly).
If this had been put forward as the personal story of a few fictional Templars set against the the backdrop of the fall of the order, I'd say fine. Even if they "what-if'd" some historical stuff that is open to debate among historians, I wouldn't mind so much. But to set the show so much in the lives of the French royal family and the papacy and then change known facts such as where, when and how people died, is just annoying.
It is an entertaining show and worth a watch - for Mark Hamill if nothing else - but I would much prefer if History could maybe be a bit more faithful to, y'know, history.
Persuasion (2022)
Better to do one thing well than two things badly.
I love an imaginative modern retelling of a classic story. And I love a period adaptation that retains the spirit of the original work. This tries to be both and achieves neither. We lose Austen's deft, witty use of language and we lose Anne's self-effacing, practical, conscientious character. What we get instead is binge drinking, self pity and a broken fourth wall in inaccurate costumes - it's not a good trade. It may seem like a good idea to make the characters more modern to make them relatable to a modern audience, but it was the social conventions and boundaries of the period that motivated and restricted the characters, these stories don't make sense without them. If you want a modern reimagining of Austen, watch Clueless. If you want a good adaptation watch Pride & Prejudice, Sense & Sensibility or the BBC version of Persuasion.
Bones: Harbingers in a Fountain (2009)
Not really Bones
I find all the episodes featuring Avalon a bit irritating. Bones is normally an interesting interplay between the hard science and Booth's emotional intelligence / people skills, with a hint of psychology from Sweets - which both main characters reject for being in between the two. When they throw in the bits of 'but maybe this psychic is real' it feels like a different show.
This one adds on top of that a really annoying scene where Brennan - who we've previously seen kicking 7 bells out of hardened criminals - is suddenly helpless and terrified in the face of a doctor. Plus all the stuff about Booth's selective loss of memories and personality traits and it just feels like too much nonsense - and not the fun kind.
Feels to me like they let a bunch of new people, who hadn't watched much of the show before, write an episode.
Shadowplay (2020)
Original and disturbing
IMBD reviewers: "this show makes the Russians look bad and portrays the Americans as perfect heroes"
Me: *watches the show in which Americans commit murder, rape, torture, spousal abuse, corruption and treason* 👀
There were parts of this show that I found hammy. Overall though I'd recommend it as worth a watch. It tells an important story that we don't often see - the aftermath of war and what people can turn into after living through it. Its a show made up mostly of grey area which made it interesting to me but also challenging.
Dancing Queen (2018)
Those poor kids
I only managed to stick out a few episodes - I couldn't bear watching those kids get slashed to ribbons. I was expecting some dance mom monsters but it was worse than I expected. Watching 7 year old kids be taught that they're a loser if they don't come first every time, 15 year olds crying with stress over whether or not they get picked for the 'elite' group and the teacher telling them that if they just want to dance and have fun they should get out... it was just so sad. And someone needs to explain to Justin the difference between constructive critique and personal attacks - even when some of the moms tried to talk to him about it he clearly just didn't get the difference. The only way I can imagine enjoying this show is if I was a psychologist because these kids are going to be paying some serious cash in therapy bills in the future, if they're not already.
Imawa no Kuni no Arisu (2020)
Great idea, patchy execution.
I found a lot to love about this - the Lost/Hunger Games/escape room premise is exciting and the show doesn't pull its punches. In the main the game solutions seemed a bit obvious but I guess the idea is that in the adrenaline and disorientation of the situation you wouldn't be thinking straight.
Where I dropped a couple of points was in the execution. Some of the performance in the dubbed to English version was distractingly bad - if I could speak Japanese and watch an undubbed version then it might be different but I can't so that was an issue for me.
It felt to me like it would have benefited from being a 12 or 13 episode series - I think with a bit more time and space we could have got to know the characters a bit better and the series end could have been better developed. The last episode felt a bit thrown together and left a lot to question - in a "Whut?" way, not in a cliff hanger way. Plus a minor, but distracting, quibble was that there seemed to be some confusion about how many people were at The Beach.
Those flaws are there and detracted from it a little but I'd still recommend it as an interesting and exciting show to watch and I'm now keen to check out the source material.
Ted Lasso (2020)
Believe
The premise is an American football coach who knows nothing about football (or soccer as he'd call it) comes to the UK to manage an ailing premier league club. Not only does he know nothing about the game but he also has an unfailingly positive disposition.
So I was expecting fairly run of the mill fish-out-of-water stuff and this show exceeded every expectation I could have had.
The writing and acting are excellent, it's funny, it's moving and it says some important stuff without ever being preachy or getting bogged down. There are silly bits and laugh out loud bits but it also brought tears to my eyes and made me think. It would have been very easy to go too far either way with this but they did an amazing job of balancing the comedy and the drama. It would have been easy to make Ted a punching bag or to go sugary sweet but they managed to portray the idea that emotional intelligence, empathy and compassion can change the world without making it sickly. It really doesn't matter whether or not you enjoy sports - I highly recommend watching this show.
The Bureau of Magical Things (2018)
A nice idea, poorly executed.
Obviously this is aimed at kids so I wasn't expecting anything hugely sophisticated. It's actually a good premise and could have had potential. What let it down for me was the acting. Even accounting for the fact that they're young, the lead actors gave terrible performances so rather than getting carried away with the magic, I spent the whole time cringing. It's a shame because it's a cute idea and could have been a really enjoyable watch.
Colossal (2016)
Not as advertised
The Netflix blurb for this sells it as quirky sci-fi comedy but that's not what it is. It's a pretty grim tale about a dysfunctional alcoholic woman and her controlling/abusive relationships with a little bit of sci-fi premise sprinkled on and no discernible comedy.
I guess whoever writes the blurbs for Netflix doesn't actually watch the films.
If you're looking to watch a train wreck of a woman be controlled and abused by men, with a bit of monster stuff, then have at it. If you're actually looking to watch a sci-fi comedy I'd suggest looking elsewhere.
Tag (2018)
Well I liked it
Seems to be a fair few people declaring this film 'not funny'. But here's the thing - humour is completely subjective. So just because one person doesn't find something funny doesn't mean others won't.
I enjoyed this film, I found it funny, I laughed. I've no idea whether you will or not. It's quite gentle, silly humour which was what I was in the mood for. It's also got moments that are quite sweet - especially as it's based on real life, enduring friendships. The end credit clips are lovely for the same reason. I thought Isla Fisher's performance was a bit jarring, I wasn't so keen on that, but otherwise I enjoyed the film
Stepmom (1998)
A weepie, but a good one
This isn't my sort of film at all - I normally don't go for weepies - but I found I really loved it. Mostly that's due to Susan Sarandon and Julia Roberts, who are both excellent, but also because it's an interesting and moving take on family roles, relationships and clashes.
I've seen quite a few reviewers on here slate the film because they didn't like how the characters behaved or the choices they made (especially the father). I think that misses the point of the film. It's true, none of the characters are faultless - they lash out when they're hurt or scared, they sometimes set bad examples for the children, they make selfish mistakes because they're afraid and they get stuck in roles that they've adopted and then complain about them.
In other words they're human - messily, brokenly human and they have messy, difficult relationships. For me that's one of the strengths of the film, not a weakness, and I think all the cast do a good job of making the characters still sympathetic, even though they don't always behave well.
In the end what I really love about this film is the development of the film's central relationship between Sarandon and Roberts. The relationship is adversarial at first with the two women at loggerheads because the ex-wife still feels hurt by the breakdown of her marriage and defensive about a new woman in her children's life, while the girlfriend resents living in the shadow of her boyfriend's previous relationship and being rejected by his children. Added to that the two are very different women with different values - so what sort of example is being set for the children is also a bone of contention.
The two women are gradually negotiating their way through that minefield when the ex-wife's cancer prognosis forces them to communicate and find common ground for the sake of the children.
It's an unashamedly soppy ode to the strong relationships women can develop when they aren't competing over men and is genuinely moving. The closing shot of the film is a real tearjerker and makes all the rows and misunderstandings that went before worthwhile
Pan (2015)
Well that was disappointing...
I so wanted to enjoy this film. Unfortunately instead of being spellbound in a world of magical adventure I was bored and repeatedly pulled out of any suspension of disbelief by what, to me, were pointless choices by the filmmakers.
If I'm sat there asking myself "why is it set in WW2 if it's a prequel to Peter Pan?", "why have they shoehorned in Nirvana and The Ramones, what's the point?" and "why's Hook American?", it's a clear indication that the film has failed to draw me in and hold me in the world they've created.
I didn't rate the performances in the main. Hugh Jackman did a decent scenery chewing job but that didn't help because there's no point to his character - other than to have a bad guy who isn't Hook so they could throw in the twist that Hook and Peter start as friends. And then they failed to do anything with that idea anyway.
The original story of Peter Pan drops the seeds of how Peter came to be in Neverland and what made him the way he was. The opportunity is there to make a fascinating, enchanting, poignant film. This is not that film