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Reviews
The Spy (2019)
Absolute 10...best spy movie ever
I have never wanted to watch a Sascha Baron Cohen film because of all the stupid crude comedy. This is completely different. His acting was exceptional, as was that of the entire cast. The script, cinematography, and directing were simply brilliant. They perfectly evoked the time and places and people involved. Starts gradually to let you know the characters and the time/place. Then hooks you into the best account I have seen of spying, and builds to total edge of your seat suspense. Just a few Bondish moments that stretched credibility a bit, but made it exciting. Overall it is just a perfect dramatic rendering of an incredible true story. Bravo and standing ovation!
Sweet Magnolias (2020)
Update after watching into season 2
The photography has become better. Not so much overblown highlights. Still far too much shallow depth of field, but much better than first couple shows. The acting is decent, and sometimes very good. I give the screenwriters huge credit for creating multi-faceted characters. The people who seem to be bad often show why, and reveal redeeming features...surprise - just like real life. And courageous of them to show that religion can still be an important part of life for those that don't get their spiritual lessons from Hollywood. One thing that bothers me... Why is it OK to have an obese leading woman that has all the men falling over her, but all of her suitors are young, tall, and handsome? So it is OK to be female and overweight, but they wouldn't consider an overweight and/or balding man?? For that matter why do all these shows dump wigs on some of the guys? All in all a watchable show with healthy family themes...
Sweet Magnolias: Pour It Out (2020)
Worst photography I have ever seen on TV
It is a mediocre soap, but given time a few of the actors might have made it work. But whoever did the camera work should be forced to find a different career. Every single scene is so shallow depth of field that literally nothing is in focus. It is like watching through a fog. Shallow depth of field is a tool which should be used very lightly for occasional emotional impact. This cinema photographer didn't know how to do it. Also all the scenes are way too high key...aka over exposed with very little contrast, and absolutely nothing sharp and clear. My wife seems to like the story line so I'll watch a bit more to see if it gets better, but so far the camera work and editing give it a huge thumbs down.
Radioactive (2019)
Terrible biopic wastes great actress & great story
Rosamund Pike is a great actress and Marie Curie's story deserved far more. This movie is probably the worst biopic I have ever seen. So disappointing.
It rushes through hectic and poorly edited scenes with even worse scripts. The focus on the Hiroshima has no context and is just an ignorant woke message. Of course everyone knows that nuclear war is terrible, but It disrespects the thousands of people who died at the hands of the Japanese and the thousands of lives that were saved by an early end to the war. Not to mention that if America had not done it first the Germans and Russians would have. The Chernobyl disaster is another obvious catastrophe, but the way the movie used it simply made Marie Curie's work seem like it led to evil and ignores all she accomplished.
I love Rosamund Pike's acting and am so disappointed this movie did not have better writers, directors, and film editors. Even worse, it did not really give accurate credit to the amazing true story of Marie Curie.
Reign (2013)
A complete waste of time
The only saving grace is Megan Follows' acting. The rest is all garbage. No historical accuracy. A simple minded teenage soap opera. Tedious pop music that doesn't fit as teenage girls play out a 21st century reimagining of history. Watch The White Queen if you want to see a historical piece done far better...almost anything for that matter. Worst period piece I have seen...
My Octopus Teacher (2020)
Simply Outstanding!!!
One of the best nature documentaries I have ever seen. It is possible, or even very likely, that some of the scenes were staged and recreated at a later time, but that does not at all diminish the immense impact of the film. The underwater photography is beautiful and breath taking. The story is compelling, immersive, and emotional. You truly begin to perceive the octopus as an extremely intelligent being capable of a sentient relationship with a human. And it revealed a few unknown behaviors of the octopus that were jaw dropping. I'm recommending this to all of my friends.
The Walking Dead: Swear (2016)
My favorite episode in a season I dislike so far
The first episodes of season 7 were just about sheer brutality with no redeeming plot lines. I was really losing interest in the show. Yeah, this isn't the best episode ever, but it brought back some freshness and the excitement of seeing new scenery and people. I want to see more of the Oceanside settlement. Better than the low ratings people are giving.
The Crown: Fagan (2020)
Season 4 continues political propaganda at expense of history
I'm starting to intensely dislike Peter Morgan for constantly spinning the scripts to fit his political views. In season 4 he is fully out in the open attacking the Monarchy and anything conservative while implicitly promoting socialist viewpoints. He should know better since his mother escaped from Communist Russia and his father escaped from socialist Nazi Germany. This story was just a waste of time, and not even historically accurate. Michael Fagan himself in a 2012 interview said that the Queen immediately left the room and he did not sit on her bed and have a conversation. In the end credits they conveniently neglected to mention that Fagan was later imprisoned in 1997 for selling heroin. Margaret Thatcher and the Falklands War deserved more time than just bashing conservatives. She inherited a terrible economic situation. The war was a hard won victory with a great expense in deaths and loss of ships. They should have given a more even handed telling of that story instead of preaching. What started as one of the best shows on television has deteriorated into just another vehicle for rewriting history and painting the true complexities in only black and white. People will learn nothing of British history from this show except Peter Morgan's obvious and heavy handed extreme left wing bias. Such a shame. The actors are all excellent and the production qualities are great. It should be a 10, but when people decide to rewrite history for their own agenda I have to give it a 1.
Love at Look Lodge (2020)
Looking forward to seeing more of Clark Backo
Clark Backo is a very interesting screen presence and I hope to see more of her in the future. The film overall was not very original and mostly flat. I realize that the leading man was playing the typical annoying role that is supposed to become more likable by the end of the film, but honestly I think he was just miscast. I never felt the slightest bit of chemistry between him and Clark, and I think a stronger leading man would have made this much more entertaining. Bravo for at least doing an interracial romance without focusing on race. That is how it should be done.
Love Under the Olive Tree (2020)
Hard to get by the incredibly bad toupee
Come on guys. It is OK for a man to have a receeding hairline and still be handsome. Bejamin's wig or toupee was ridiculous - one of the worst I have ever seen on TV. Really hard to take him and the movie seriously. Overall very flat production well below par of average Hallmark romance movie. I'm pretty forgiving on plot quality with Hallmark movies as long as they achieve some genuine feel-good moments in contrast to the Hollywood garbage. This film did not do that.
Outlander: Never My Love (2020)
Powerful ending to best season sense the first
I'm not going to repeat all the accolades from the other 10 reviews, but this episode truly deserved a 10. I have liked season 5 because it was like watching a series of well crafted and interrelated short stories. Each gave different actors and actresses time to shine, and I came away with greater appreciation for them all. If there is even an ounce of justice and decency left in Hollywood Caitriona Balfe should win an Emmy and some of the others should be nominated. The season itself should win best drama hands down. Nothing else on the air to equal the creativity and quality of this show. The season finale was the perfect ending, and tantalized for the future of the show.
Midway (2019)
Look at subcmdr review for more details...
I just saw the movie. I was going to write a longer review, but then read the review by subcmdr. He said everything I was going to say and much more. This is a great film. They rarely make them like this anymore. The CGI helped to create that pit of the stomach feeling of what it might have been like to dive bomb a Japanese carrier knowing you are probably going to die. Sure, there could have been more character depth, but come on folks...how much character depth was there really in some of the 2019 Oscar winners. I ignore Hollywood and Oscars anymore...just call out great filmmaking on the rare occasions I see it, and this is one film to see. Especially for younger people who don't know much about the history of WWII.
Gisaengchung (2019)
Totally, completely boring and pointless
I'm a fan of a lot of international movies which break out of the Hollywood mold, but not this one. Could barely sit through it, and should have walked out early. It never got better. Some people seem to like it, but there are a lot of overly inflated reviews here. Maybe I'm rating too low, but I could not think of anything about it to rave about. OK...maybe the acting wasn't too bad, but the plot and script overall are a 1.
Deputy (2020)
An empty vehicle for Hollywood preaching...total garbage!
I have never stopped watching a show as quickly as this one. When the preaching starts right out in the first minute of the first episode, I knew it was going to be bad. I tried to last a few more minutes, but had to shut it off when it continued to go from bad to worse, and I will not watch any other episodes. I thought maybe FOX could at least offer a decent middle of the road view of the complexities of California (where I live) and L.A. (where I lived for over 10 years), but this is a complete fail. I had high hope and thought maybe Stephen Dorff could put an interesting spin on it, but it is a complete fail due to the writing. They put a cowboy hat on the deputy in hopes common people might relate to him, but the cowboy hat could not hide the ignorant and foolish propaganda of the producers, writers, and director. California's large cities are in their current state precisely because of these viewpoints, and failure to believe in honest reasonable law enforcement. I personally know some LA police who put their lives on the line every day, and this is just offensive in every way. I have total contempt for the makers of this series.