bryanlheckman Reviews

Furies (2024– )

Disappointing

[5/10 · 8 March 2024]

First let me say I love the basic plot line. The concept of The Fury is good stuff, and the action scenes are great. Now that's out of the way, everything else about this show is hackneyed, all the way from the angry girl lead character who somehow not only becomes a combat genius in weeks, to the fact that she owns no clothing that is not a crop top. It's not uncommon in action TV/films for there to be a few plot holes, especially French productions, but this thing is ridiculous. There is a 'jump the shark' moment 4 times in every episode. I wish someone with vision could do this story without selling out to marketing stereotypes.

A Murder at the End of the World (2023)

Hopefully not a precedent

[5/10 · 8 December 2023]

It's like "Girl with a Dragon Tattoo", if you take out the intelligence, the drama, the mystery, the excitement, the originality and then replaced it with incessant whining, and childish narratives, then mix it with an entitled teenager's constant mood swings and screaming to get attention. This thing should have been at best a 90 minute movie. If you removed the protagonist's constant need to hear her own voice and scream her self inflicted pain to all who will listen - you're down to a solid 65 minutes. I hope this isn't the future of entertainment, but I fear it is as it plays to the folks who care more about EQ than IQ.

Only Murders in the Building (2021– )

Please replace Selena Gomez

[7/10 · 2 October 2023]

First off, we really like the show. Great premise, great writing, great guest stars! Steve Martin and Martin Short as always are superior comedic actors . But, even they are clearly struggling to continue dragging the dead eyed, animatronic that is Selena Gomez. Holy crap, she is not only terrible at attempting to act, she's hard to look at, she's sucking all the oxygen out of the room through the TV! She makes Kristen Stewart look animated! I'd rather see a muppet, in her spot, at least their faces show expression. Anyway, I'm going to close this by saying - we just can't watch the show anymore as long as the third person is a corpse.

10x10 (2018)

Infuriatingly unrealistic

[4/10 · 30 September 2023]

It's got a really good premise, but that's about it. Hard for me to say much without spoilers, but I'll try. The sheer number of times both characters passes up easy opportunities to "end" this struggle is ridiculous. The movie should have ended in the first 15 minutes. Blunder after blunder by both parties has me wondering if this wasn't a spoof on this kidnapping genre. I half expected to see them rip off masks to reveal it was Mr Bean and Lucille Ball. If you decide to waste your time watching this show, don't say you weren't warned, because I absolutely wish I hadn't watched it. I expected better out of both these actors.

Justified: City Primeval (2023)

Please stop, you're ruining a legacy

[5/10 · 15 September 2023]

Well, you've gone and done it, ruined a good thing. This "reboot" has come up way short of the original. The writing is weak and.contrived at best.some really good actors in this (with one or two glaring exceptions) , but the plot and details are clumsy. Don't even get me started on the kid "Willa", but here goes. Her part in the story isn't worthless, it actually devalues the whole thing. The character is an idiot who acts like she was raised wolves. The character's "teenage selfishness " is so wildly blown out of proportion that it's too frustrating to be comical, ( and I had 3 teenage daughters that I would have traded for wolves). I feel like the only reason she was written in was to give Timothy O's daughter some work. He shouldn't encourage her, she might do well as a voice actor as a small rodent or kindergarten child.

The Afterparty (2022–2023)

Do not pass this up

[9/10 · 7 September 2023]

I love this show! So we'll conceived and executed. Very entertaining from the jump. Season 1 was great from start to finish. A lot of fun! I love the way the stories are separate but intertwined. All the guest stars are top notch, Tiffany Haddish, Sam Richardson, and Zoe. Chao pull it all together and linchpin this series perfectly. Season 2 is most excellent as well, another great story and another great set of actors. Elizabeth Perkins and Paul Walter Hauser are so funny, but frankly there's not a bad performance in the bunch. I hope there's Season 3 and it cannot come too soon! See it or be at a loss.

Vanquish (2021)

Is Morgan Freeman OK?

[2/10 · 20 May 2023]

I was not at all surprised that this movie was absolutely horrible, you can guarantee any film that Ruby Rose has more than a bit part in is going to stink the place up, and Vanquish is no exception to the rule. I AM however really concerned for Morgan Freeman, is he OK? Why would he agree to be in this movie? Is he in debt? Did that back a dump truck full of money up to his house and unload it? Is he into the mob? Was he being blackmailed? Or is he ill and pulling a Bruce Willis? Regardless of why, he was the only reason I watched this movie, and now I'm angry, sad, and disappointed in Morgan Freeman - I didn't even think such a thing was possible.

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017–2023)

Skip season 3

[7/10 · 19 May 2023]

Seasons one and two were really good. Great parody, story depth and movement. The characters were given depth and story lines took chances. It weaves solid fiction with some mild historical events. It made me want to see each next episode. Season three however, is a wreck. Frankly, the camp went way to far, to the point where I felt like I was watching a cartoon. It seems like the knew the show was dying so they shoehorned some flash forwards in to give the viewer some closure - failure it was, at best, disorganized - but mostly just sad and boring. I finished the season for no other reason than I'm not a quitter.

Hostile Territory (2022)

Don't waste your time.

[2/10 · 15 May 2023]

Possibly the worst written, and worst acted movie I have ever seen. Nothing about this "movie" is anywhere near good, or even semi accurate. The geographical locations are crazy bad. Dad's supposedly is traveling from Virginia to Missouri, yet the background shots are obviously the plains with the Rockies behind them. I really don't know why this thing is this jacked up. It was supposed to be based on a true story, but adapted from what? A poorly written account scrawled on a napkin in crayon? The only good thing I can say is it's in focus. Poorly directed, poorly performed, poorly researched. The only reason I didn't give it a 1, is because of the cinematic camera work.

Triptych (2023– )

Just a poor Orphan Black rip-off.

[5/10 · 17 March 2023]

Watch Orphan Black instead. This is a poor copy in every way, poor script, poor acting, poor through line. It's got no heart at all. The only upside is that you can watch it and nap very easily- you aren't going to miss anything and there won't be any difficulty "catching up" as the character development is all but nonexistent. This would possibly have made a decent soft core porn, but it lags in spots that would definitely need to be edited down to keep the viewers interested enough to stick around for the occasional sex scene. Don't waste your time on this one, you literally can do better. Peace.

Alice in Borderland (2020– )

S1 great, S2 pretty good except final episode

[7/10 · 5 January 2023]

Really fun series! It kind is of a squid game crossed with anime characters in real life. Really fun action sequences every single episode. Took me a while to hold the characters in my brain straight but after a bit it really sucks you in. At times it feels like there is some nuances lost in translation, but not Enid or the story to suffer. Plot line jumps the shark a few times with Wild inferences , but holds together well enough to keep me interested. There wasn't any time I felt like I wanted to stop watching until the S2 final episode, jeez what a dragged out, boring bunch of drivel! A solid 50 minutes should've been cut from it.

Code Name Banshee (2022)

Why Antonio Why?

[3/10 · 17 November 2022]

Terrible movie, script seems written by a 9yr old. The plot is weak, severe continuity issues throughout. Jaime King shakes like a leaf through the whole thing. Antonio and Tommy are much better than this piece of digital dumpster fodder. Take a pass and don't watch if you have any respect for Banderas or Flanagan.the action scenes are so outlandish I really thought they might be going for a satire when I fishiest started watching, but unfortunately for this movie, it seems they meant it to be taken seriously. I hope Banderas doesn't pull a Bruce Willis and make another dozen or so pieces of trash like this.

The Shadow Effect (2017)

Worst comedy ever, wait what? It's not a comedy?

[1/10 · 7 July 2022]

Story, writing, acting, action, effects, this movie has them all...and they are all terrible. It's so bad it's not even laughable. If a 6 yr old wrote a script, then gave it to an improv class on their 1st day, then the class burned the script and "guessed the dialogue " for the whole movie - that would have been better.

Mr. Mayor (2021–2022)

Could be great except

[7/10 · 2 May 2022]

Could be great except Holly Hunter just isn't funny. Everyone else has comedic timing, Hunter sounds and moves like a ventriloquist dummy. The show is a pretty much a Spin City reboot in many ways and Hunter is no MJ Fox by any means. I wanted this to be great but it won't be with Hunter in the way. I really hoped she'd get shifted in Season 2.