Reviews

Here we go again, another awful American TV series straight from the jelly mold named mediocrity. Our hero is ex special forces, and scowls a lot to prove it. Only he can save his country from a sniper who has already boasted that he will kill the President (as they do) so our hero runs around with a gun trying to look cool whilst the supporting cast deliver the most ludicrous and wooden lines available from the waste bin of script writing. So many folks have rated this series highly which is why I have provided a counter-balance. This show is bad. Badly written, badly acted, plot holes everywhere, and will only appeal to those who just want some bubblegum TV - for lovers of quality movies and TV shows, may I suggest that you steer clear of this utter cliched mess.

A young girl on the brink of womanhood goes on her first deer hunt, a family rite of passage. During the course of a few days, she and her close family deal with tragedy in their own way, and an acceptance of the responsibilities of entering adulthood gently align on this young woman's shoulders.

A gentle, contemplative film, well worth your time.

So, a billionaire financial hedge fund wizard plays dodge-prison with a ruthless and equally corrupt prosecutor hell bent on sending him to prison. Good idea for a gripping series, and a cast of excellent actors. Sadly, the wooden acting, unbelievable script and ludicrous plot lines make this a yawn-a-minute series, loved and loathed by many in equal measure. I deliver a poor rating because the line-up of talent would suggest great things. The tragedy is that it suffers from an awful script and characters that seem unable to leave one dimension. Tag that to acting-by-numbers supporting cast members and you have yet another American series that falls flat when, on paper, it should deliver the goods. Oh, and it seems that all you need to work in a hedge fund firm is a misogynistic and testosterone personality disorder and the ability to read complex markets and financial institutions by osmosis.

I watched this film some time ago, and the reviews are largely very positive, but I wanted to add my rating and comments in the hope that more will watch this film. We have Effie from Copenhagen, fourteen going on twenty, who helps a rude, immature Will from the USA on a visit to find his Danish roots and have 'fun' in the process. What makes this film special is the superlative acting, the pace and the juxtaposition of an immature adult man bonding with a wise and well balanced Danish girl of just fourteen years of age. Many of the reviews regarding this film state that it left a lasting impression on them, and I can see why. Treat yourself and watch this film.

I like Zombie films - I really do. Reading many reviews about Z Nation on IMDb, I have spotted a trend - if you are prepared to suspend belief and forgive the awful script, dreadful acting and stupid plot lines, you can amuse your eyeballs for a while. If, on the other hand, you want actors who can act, script-writers who can create a story and keep the viewer entertained, and a plot that doesn't resemble a colander, I would give it a miss. Oh, a passing gripe of mine: slow-moving Zombies that make a growling noise always seem to surprise the survivors who have had years to get accustomed to their ways, and the Zombies always seem to 'appear' in wide open areas where you could spot them easily. Or hear them. Or both. Got that off my chest. If you're bored, you may just tolerate this. If you're looking for quality, I recommend you give it a wide berth. TWD is much, much better. If you don't like my review, bite me (see what I did there?)

In the interests of full disclosure, I concede that I never made it to the end of the movie - but I saw enough to decide to submit my review in order to help those folks who might be thinking "I'll give it a go, nothing much else to do"! Please don't. Like many other film buffs, I am tired of false rating submitted by those who clearly have a vested interest in these films - they don't fool anyone, and are a constant irritant to genuine movie lovers who want to know if a feature is any good. Bad acting, predictable script, formulaic plot - dreadful film, please ignore it and do something more productive with your time.

So, we have a young journalist working for a prestigious newspaper on the cusp of a great career and seemingly with many great life experiences ahead of her. Sadly, she begins to act erratically and naturally alarms her family, boss, boyfriend, colleagues and even her doctors. As her conditions worsens, we gradually get an accurate diagnosis. Sadly, this part seems too much for Chlole Grace Maretz who plays the young reporter - portraying someone in the throes of rapid mental health decline must be hard, and it seems that she just isn't up to the job. Equally, her parents and colleagues seem to be very slow to catch on to the fact that she is ill, and thus needs help. This is not a bad film, but it fails to grasp the complexities of how mental health issues affect everyone, not just the patient. An average score for an average film.

We all know that dichotomy about proving the existence of God, don't we? Well, the same dilemma is afforded to Little Green Men, aliens, UFO's and things that go bump in the night.

This is a well made documentary for sure, and very cleverly poses some interesting ideas for the viewer to ponder. Sadly, and somewhat predictably, what is missing is evidence, which will be no surprise to the more sceptical of us. Conjecture takes its place, and thus two camps are formed - those that want to believe, and therefore see this documentary as adding credence to their beliefs, and those for whom hard evidence is the litmus test for the removal of cynicism, and by default will see this conspiracy theory movie as merely a reinforcement of their cynicism.

I fall into the latter camp - the burden of proof lies with the documentary makers here, who provide no evidence of the existence of extra terrestrial life (although Donald Trump has me thinking that maybe, just maybe....)

For the devout, you will love this film. Should you have different sensibilities, you will be left scratching your head wondering how one is supposed to assume how any government in the free world can hide and suppress the existence of ET for decades without one whistle-blower giving hard evidence (an interview doesn't count).

A good documentary therefore - but ensure you have your popcorn ready when watching, as I find it enhances your enjoyment when watching sci-fi.

There appears to be something wrong with the sound mixing, perhaps a post production goof but this film is very hard to follow as the dialogue is lost in the background noise.

I might add that I am both British and used to London and regional brit accents, yet I still struggled, In the interests of full disclosure, I never made it to the end of the film due to said issues, so my low score reflects my dissatisfaction with the audio quality.

Learn to lip-read, or avoid

Sadly, what could have been an interesting and informative series fell into cliché and poor acting territory almost from the off. PB aside, the acting and scripts were your usual American 'by numbers' effort, which seems to affect so many otherwise promising TV series at the moment from the USA.

Then there's the Indians....oh, dear - we have well groomed Comanche Indians so well turned out, with perfect white teeth, well trimmed eyebrows (the women, obviously) and not in the least scary. Most of them look like they work for Haliburton and are on a fancy dress outing. Not convincing at all. In addition, there are too many modern inflections to mention, from slang, parent/child relationships (too modern), which all conspire to add to the lack of credible 'feel' for this series.

I wanted to like this, and yet I felt compelled to challenge the very high scores here which do not reflect the amateur nature of the series.

I feel compelled to write these comments as the stratospheric high reviews are misleading. The format and premise are promising- a modern day biker gang struggle with relationships, illegal gunrunning, competing gangs and how to walk around in a leather jacket without looking like a total idiot most of the time. Sadly, this is just a poorly written soap opera - the acting is variable and occasionally comical, the main characters are wholly unconvincing as tough MC club members (I have some knowledge of such things) and the male relationships are as homoerotic as those in Top Gun - which, lets be honest, set the benchmark in such matters. The worst aspects of this overblown nonsense is the predictability of the plots, and the by-numbers skirmishes where the whole MC crew appear to be bullet- proof and legendary combat specialists, rather than overweight drunken louts with mummy issues. Look, it has a degree of watch-ability and may pass some time on a Sunday afternoon if there's nothing else on, but the ridiculous scores of 8 plus puts this drivel in Breaking Bad territory, and I'm not having that.

A gentle, rolling comedy about two harmless numbskulls who hatch a plan to liberate some treasure - cocaine in this case - that they assume has washed ashore in Ireland. I've just finished watching it, and it made me smile all the way, which I assume was the general idea. I warmed to the two main characters, best friends and thick as planks to be sure, and the supporting cast were first rate too. I've known lads like this at school many years ago, and their characters in this movie were very real, rather than a lampoon. Worth a watch.

A supposedly bright girl from London with the usual mix of teenage relationship issues struggles to come to terms with the complexities of adulthood. This is a harmless, somewhat saccharine movie that has been done before, and better - you have to suspend your belief that the lead actress is exceptionally bright, academically at least, and just accept that it will pass a couple of hours on a rainy evening as a harmless, uninspiring romcom. Not a disaster by any means, but lower your expectations I reckon.