Mohrwyn Reviews

Departure (2019–2022)

Love the show

[10/10 · 14 July 2023]

I was astonished reading all the low rated comments. I've bingewatched all three seasons and find them really entertaining. It has a brilliant balance between a tear, a smile and suspence within a captivating storyline. Some personal stories are mixt into solving the cause of the disaster, which give the characters more depth.

Each season has lots of plottwists, but they all make sense. You keep trying to figure out who's to blame until the end, switching back and forth between the options given.

The show is produced in Canada, but (to me) has a modern UK vibe that really surprised me and which I immensely enjoyed. Worth watching.

10 Days in a Madhouse (2015)

Remarkable movie and story

[9/10 · 4 September 2017]

I've read the reviews written before writing my own, and I'm astonished by the low ratings and the reasons for that.

I didn't know the story, didn't know (anything about) Nellie Bly. But the movie showed all it had to.

The movie might not be of the best quality, you might expect more given all the digital techniques these days. But I kind of appreciate it, because it accentuates the time these things actually did happen.

I've seen reviews which said that Christopher Lambert seemed to be there mostly to give the movie 1 known actor, and that Caroline Barry did not such a great job at playing faking a mental illness. I don't agree on both statements.

Lambert hadn't the main role, he simply had the role of the main physician. He showed a man who, I think honestly, tried to figure out how to help his patients, but got terribly confused about what's right and wrong in how to realize that. Which has been sort of "good practice" for a pretty long time in medicine...

Barry played the main role, a woman who acts being mentally ill, in a time people hardly understood what mentally ill meant. Today's psychiatrist en psychologist would definitely not fall for the show she put on. We won't either. But back than? Don't forget, it's incredibly hard to fake a mental illness with our current knowledge, back than she could very well succeed with what Barry showed us on screen. Mainly because that was what a lot of men those days would expect from a mentally ill woman.

It is precisely that, what makes this movie a very catchy story that won't let go of you until the end. As a viewer I felt the unease, the emotions, the pressure, like it was choking me.

Naked and Afraid: The Darkest Hour (2015) Season 5, Episode 3

Best episode so far

[10/10 · 23 July 2017]

I've seen a lot of good shows, but none of them made me smile almost all the time.

Naked and Afraid is about challenge, about skills, about character and about mindset. There's always something that's tough on the show. Contestants underestimate what they signed up for, show a lack of skills and experience, don't get along and sometimes don't even try.

I know it's tough on the crew to match the contestants and part of the fun watching the show is to see how well or how bad the team gets along. There's always something, some difficulty, some tension, that needs to be settled, even though they don't always succeed with that.

But in this show the crew has put together the perfect team. Even though I had serious doubts, meeting them in the intro. Joe about twice as old as Andrea, and Andrea with a certain style that could be problematic to Joe. Both of them with a background that needs them to be strong in leadership, which in most shows is the downfall for the team.

Joe and Andrea showed a tremendous mindset and compassion. They never had a conflict, they acknowledged each others strength and successes, and the definitely respected each other in a way I've never seen two strangers act.

I didn't know a show like this good deliver a really "feel good" show, but this episode, they did. A joy to watch and a joy to share.

Grey's Anatomy: If/Then (2012) Season 8, Episode 13

I just don't get this episode

[2/10 · 13 January 2017]

I get it that people dream and I don't mind seeing dreams of characters once in a while, when it fits the story. But to make a whole episode with people at different ages then normally, in different roles and with different relationships.

Sorry, I really don't get it. I don't like the story, nor the idea. I've seen fun episodes, interesting episode, exciting episodes, dramatic episodes, good episodes and bad episodes.

But this one... I can't even say it's bad. It just seems not to be a part of the whole show. It's a story totally on itself and has got nothing to do with Grey's Anatomy at all.

Grey's Anatomy: Song Beneath the Song (2011) Season 7, Episode 18

Brilliant episode

[9/10 · 7 January 2017]

During season 6 I almost opted out for this show. I got tired of all the fuzz about the merge with Mercy West. Thought it was completely ridiculous that all those doctors where hopping around in one single hospital. But as season 7 progresses, I'm glad I stayed tuned...

I really don't understand all the negative reviews about this episode. I felt like the whole cast was totally putting in every deeply hidden emotion, every little bit of imagination and all love they had in them. For the show, for their characters, for each other...

I loved it. All of it. The singing, even the rough sound of Eric Dane. The perspective view from Callie. And even the incredibly mysterious and very hard to believe - but (imho) absolutely necessary - event that both Callie and the baby somehow seem to survive.

Passengers (I) (2016)

Good story, really nice visuals and highly likable main characters

[8/10 · 1 January 2017]

Why on Earth would we wanna travel 120 years in hibernation to start all over again on a planet in another galaxy?

First of all... to give us a nice story to tell. Because whether you like or dislike SF, it is a really nice story with magnificent visuals. You'll smile, occasionally laugh, feel sorry and get tense accordingly to the story-line. It has everything to be a good story.

Passengers is telling how two people have to find a way to survive a hostile environment. Due to the setting it is an extremely deadly environment... space.

Even though a few scene's are actually not as realistic as they may seem, it fits and does not distract you from the story for long. The interaction between the main characters is admirably good. You really understand why they do what they do, even when it comes to Arthur, the robot.

I think it's a nice and decent story which a lot of people will enjoy watching. It definitely deserves a solid 8.

Eye in the Sky (2015)

Impressive - very impressive

[10/10 · 1 January 2017]

I started to watch this movie purely based on the title. As a fan of Alan Parsons Project, it was the title that triggered me. I didn't read the story-line at all.

Though the story seems to get going a bit slow and rough - were you just try to figure out who is who, where is where and what is happening when - it grabs your attention as soon as the plot becomes clear. And it never let's go. You feel like you get to know all the people, you get to understand them, you start to like them. You cry when they cry... and why.

This movie pulls you into the real, nasty and extreme decisions that sometimes have to be made. It show's how only a few people dare take that necessary but devilish decision to kill some, in order to save lots of people.

I'm not a big fan of the military. Never was, never will. I'll never understand the need for some to overpower others, especially if they don't mind taking lives for it. In a perfect world, there should be no need for any kind of armed group. Police nor defense.

But still... here we are. In an imperfect world, in which we, mankind, created the need for armies. And in this world there are man and woman that try to do whatever they can. Counting the costs, counting lives... balancing costs against lives...

Eye in the sky showed me that those are not easily made decisions. And even though it might seem that they cause unnecessary death, they also prevent a lot of losses.

I'm still not a fan of the military. But I sure do acknowledge the bravery of those who dare take that responsibility.

I think this movie is brilliant because it shows the right and the wrong, especially in the person of colonel Powell (Helen Mirren). Impressive - very impressive.

The BFG (2016)

This movie made me smile

[9/10 · 11 December 2016]

So far it's like all movies based on stories of Roald Dahl... It's kind, friendly, fun and at the end it makes me smile, it makes me happy.

It's a kids movie obviously, perfect for a great afternoon with the family on a gray, stormy winters day.

The story starts a bit slow for us as grownups, but as soon as Sophie and the BFG are getting befriended and the plot starts to unroll, you won't be able to stop watching.

The movie contains hardly any really scary moment for the kids, but as it progresses, shows us a gradually increasing amount of funny moments. It's not hilarious or something like that. It's just a very likable, very lovable story.

Pixels (2015)

Not a great, but still a nice movie

[7/10 · 11 December 2016]

For a movie that seems to be intended mostly for kids, it really has some entertainment. Although I fear that the intended audience won't understand the fun of all the Arcade stuff...

So, given the fact that the main ingredient of the movie will only fully appeal those who actually played those games back in the 80's, I also have to review this from my point of view (yep, I've played several of those games, back then).

The setting, story-telling and acting is really not to my taste. It's kind of weird, all together. But.. that said: the recognizing of all those Arcane heroes, the way they are part of the movie, the fun quotes the characters have here and there and the chase to get rid all the Arcane stuff, it's actually pretty fun to watch.

No, I don't think I'll see it ever again. But after the first 15 minutes of pretty bland movie-time, it somehow catches enough to not only see it through the end, but I even felt like I had a good time.

I can imagine that kids can have a lot of fun watching this movie and it'll probably be a really nice family-movie.

Ben-Hur (2016)

Could been worse - could been better

[6/10 · 11 December 2016]

This was one of those movies that I hesitated to watch, because of the very simple reason that it's a hell of a job to shoot a remake that at least equals the original on story-line, feeling, play...

With that in mind and still a bit worried about what I was about to spent two hours of time on, I sat down and watched. It wasn't a waste of time, but I wasn't really exited either.

In general I was right, it by far didn't match up to the original movie with Charlton Heston. To start with his counterpart, Jack Huston did a nice job for the main reason that he didn't simply tried to copy Charlton Heston. He put his own Judah Ben-Hur on screen. And no, not as strong and catching as Charlton did, but Jack showed us a decent Judah, fitting the new story-line.

One of the things that was really nice in this version was the background story of the friendship between Judah and Messala. How it was originated and how they got so close. At the same time the somewhat softness of (mainly) Messala was a bit of a downfall for me. For me there was a lack of expression on both characters, which made them a bit flat. Again, to me it seems fitting to the whole new story-line, so I'm not going to blame it on Jack and Toby Kebbel (Messala).

Even though I have to agree that the whole part of Judah going to Rome, get a new Roman family and become a wealthy heir to his former galley-master (in the original movie) is not necessary for the story, I somehow missed the interaction which explains a lot about Judah and show even more the kind of man he is. I can't tell if they intended to bring that back by the somewhat extended time Judah spends with Ilderim (Morgan Freeman), but if so, they didn't succeed.

While the scenes at sea and in the circus could haven been amazingly better due to all the new technical stuff we have these days, I feel that it isn't. It's not worse either, but to my opinion it could have been way, way better. To me it was pretty much equal to what we saw in the original movie.

I don't know why they decided to choose to let Messala live at the end, nor why they move away from Jerusalem. I also don't know why Drusus seems to have such an important role (which wasn't really all that important anyway) and did what he did for Naomi and Thirza. And where they filled in some gaps of the original movie, they created new ones in this version.

Somehow this movie has a remarkable happy end, compared to the original. Which to me doesn't feel right. It is a sad story. It is a sad time in history, a sad thing that happens between Messala and Judah, a sad inline historical view of Jesus death. And yes, some good happens to come out of it, but to me there should be a feeling of sadness and hope at the end of the story. Not the happiness in this version, that forgot all the hate and anger there also was.

As I said... could've been worse, but definitely could've been better...

Fortysomething (2003)

Hilarious miniseries

[10/10 · 20 November 2016]

We all know that aging isn't easy. But I surely don't know any story that shows us all the fun parts during this process!

We meet Paul Slippery and his family in a time that Paul starts to become pretty obsessive about his wife Estelle. He feels something important is missing in his relationship.

A feeling that is getting stronger by the day, due to all the changes their family is experiencing. His sons are starting their careers, while exploring all fun parts of their young adults life. With three grown sons Estelle decides to start her own career, which Paul has a hard time getting any grip on. And on top of all that, one of his colleague's is really getting on his nerves.

A really fun story unfolds, with all kinds of misunderstandings on Paul's part. It contains lot's of crazy stuff and plots, that grows more complicated as Paul gets more confused.

Whether you're younger, older or actually "fortysomething", if you're in for a good laugh, this show is a "must see". I watched it several times and will for sure watch this "feel good" series again.

For those who know Hugh Laurie only as Gregory House, remember he is actually English, as is this series. Even though he's a doctor in this series too, his character is in no way comparable with House. Those two elements may cause you to either love or hate Paul Slippery and his family.

Besides taking the main role in this series, Hugh Laurie also directs three of the episodes.