Change Your Image
jgraylives
Reviews
Leave the World Behind (2023)
Pay attention
A clear warning shot to everyone who believes everything the internet tells them and what it's doing to our brains and society as a whole. It's certainly a slow burner but for good reason. The building anxieties of the cast and the deeply uneasy soundtrack induce similar feelings in the viewer.
Is it science fiction or are we already heading down this timeline? It does leave a few mysterious happenings for the characters and the audience to hypothesise over, never really getting a satisfactory explanation, but with a bit of thought most makes sense.
A doomsday preppers fantasy that might just make you think about putting some extra supplies in a safe place!!
The Wrong Missy (2020)
Good fun
It's a comedy. It made me laugh out loud a lot. Not many 'comedies' do that these days. Well done to all involved. I'm giving it a ten because it deserves more than what it's on at the minute (5.7). You might think the main character is annoying (the point) but I liked her. More people should be like her. Six hundred characters is a bit steep isn't it? Crickey! I ran 13.22 miles today. It was marvellous although I have to say my legs are a bit tired and my lower back is a bit on the stiff side! Work isn't too bad at the moment either. This film cheered me up so you may want to give it a go. Good luck.
The Batman (2022)
Too looooooooooooooooooong
I'm sure there's a good film in there somewhere but it just went on and on and on and on and.... The only time it really came to life is when our hero FINALLY meets the Riddler but by then I really had just given up caring. The Dark Knight Trilogy has nothing to fear here! DC needs to step back and look at The Joker. That is where they need to go next. And keep the films under 2 hrs pls.
Star Trek: Picard (2020)
Season 2 episode 2 prediction...
The single change in history is going to be....
The re-election of Donald Trump 🤣
I will break everything in my house if it comes even close to this outcome.
Raising Dion (2019)
Series 2 is just garbage, sadly.
Series 1 was great. Series 2 started well but fell apart in the second half with a finale of the highest quality garbage. If I'd known where it was going I would not have bothered. Will be reading reliable reviews of series 3 before deciding whether or not to try.
The Witcher (2019)
Solid
Haven't read the books.
Just finished season 2 and yes, it may not be quite as clever as the first series and it certainly felt slower but overall I thought it wasn't too bad. There's a lot going on and sometimes you feel a bit lost but it does explain itself as the story progresses and results in setting up a potentially mental third season. I just hope it gets the finances to give it a good go.
Given I've heard it avoids a lot of the book I am certainly tempted to give it a read.
The Expanse (2015)
...
First 3 episodes of season 6...
Is it my imagination or, after three episodes of season 6, the BIG finale, am I being bored to death?!? It so far feels like they have spent as little money on it as possible... and only 6 episodes? Not sure I approve.
Now it's over...
Well, what can I say? I feel more than a little fed up. The pacing of the last series has been all over the place. Sloooow until episode 6 and then rushing through all the good stuff in no time at all. I felt strangely unemotional as the action unfolded and I put this squarely down to the poor pacing. Also, why bother with Laconia? Zero resolution on that, serving only as feeder for any potential future series.
Overall though, I've enjoyed this show. It's by far and away the best sf production for quite a while. Seasons 1 - 4 are truly excellent but unfortunately starts to lose focus in the last 16 episodes. Rather than sticking to the grand narrative of the Protomolecule and and all the questions surrounding it, the story ends up focusing on what really should have been a sub plot and leaves the loftier story arc virtually ignored.
I had better go and read the last three books in the series I think!
The Wheel of Time (2021)
Just not going to do it to myself.
I could tell after 3 minutes (spoilers below ;) that this was going to be something I would just get angry watching, so I switched it off. Started off with a Lord of the Rings monologue but changed Sauron for men in general. No explanation at all, just, men bad. Firstly I don't want another LOTR and secondly, being a man the insinuation that all men are bad put me in defence mode... how to loose half your audience?... I couldn't be bothered to wait and see what happened to the man grovelling in the dirt. How much more of this cr@p are we to endure? I only hope the series tanks and someone finally gets the message. As for the acting.... Why spend this much money on an episode (about 10 million!?!?!?) and settle for cr@p acting? Just terrible. I actually resent that this much money was spent on this garbage.
Locke & Key (2020)
Dire second series
After a promising first series the second series started with a terrible first episode, got better in the middle and then quickly became a dull soap opera full of boring relationship issues, poor choices made by stupid characters and a complete and infuriating lack of imagination with the main premise. YAAAAAWWWWWWWWNNNNNNNNN.
The Tomorrow War (2021)
Action scenes good, storyline a bit ****
Get over the first half hour or so, where you get a not-disguised-at-all global warming lecture about making sacrifices now in order to save your children's lives in the future, and what you get are some very well put together action scenes that have clearly had a few quid chucked at them. Pity the script didn't though! It's all mostly been seen before, the characterisation is thin and the end is a total cheese-fest. I'm sure the writers felt all clever with their aliens representing an environmental 'tipping point' - reference, polar ice melting releasing methane (read some science on the subject) but it is the ONLY clever bit. If you can put up with all this, then the action scenes are worth it. 8/10 for the action, 2/10 for the woke storyline, such as it is.
Army of the Dead (2021)
Don't know why the poor reviews...
Let's start by saying this film is not going to win any oscars which, after the current crop of awards (2021) is actually more of a compliment.
Characterisation may be shallow but I thought effective given the films comic book nature. I thought a combination of turning Vegas into a 'kingdom of the dead' and swapping the commentary of consumerism for a straight up greed of money elevated Romero's 'shopping mall of the dead' (Dawn of the Dead) to a new level.
I smiled, giggled and made yuck noises pretty much through the whole movie.
And while the daughters actions may be annoying she doesn't half pay a price. And as for the rest of the characters chasing the money... well, that's what you get!!! Top entertainment despite it borrowing heavily from Cameron's Aliens.
Snitch (2013)
Preposterous set-up
One of the most ridiculous stories EVER! The police entrapping innocents and then blackmailing them into entrapping their friends and then making The Rock do what the police should be doing??? I literally wanted to smash my face in. UTTER drivel.
La dernière vague (2019)
Am I missing something...?
Watched the whole thing waiting for answers but... none... came!
Where did the cloud come from? Why has everyone got super powers? WHAT is the cloud anyway? When it got blown up WHY did it come back? Why did... hell, how did they get rid of it at the end...? I can sum it up like this. Some strange stuff happens and some relationship stuff goes down. Strange stuff NEVER explained. WASTE... OF... TIME
Star Trek: Discovery (2017)
Thank the gods I'm not the only one!
I agree with all the negative reviews. With glimmers in season 1, I started to almost enjoy season 2 but the horrors of season 3 just keep mounting. Yes, the crying is bad, so, so, BAD. I have a theory that we are going to discover 'The Burn' was caused by a Woke inter dimensional entity who decided to teach the Federation a lesson on the evils of colonialism. EVERYTHING with this series is wrong.