itaylor-50665 Reviews

North Sea Connection (2022– )

Good but with missing ending

[6/10 · 28 October 2022]

OK, actors were pretty good. Especially the main actress. The Lenny character was overplayed. THe other females were somewhat forgettable.

The main gang leader was somewhat typical, nasty but so erudite.

I had trouble with the main male actor who owned the fish plant. He was the spitting image of the singer Michael Buble and that made it hard for me to accept him as real. I kept expecting him to sing.

Story was pretty good. Well paced. But the ending was cut short and we were left to guess how things concluded. It was as if there was another Series in the works and we would have to watch it to find out how everyone fared. In future. That was the worst part of the Series.

One thing that bothers me is that so many of these Irish productions are all crime based, violent and gritty, often with ties to the IRA history. It leave me with a desire to NOT visit Ireland in future. It all seems so bleak, not withstand that the countryside and ocen views are often lovely.

Finally, I woder how many drug smugglers will look to this movie as a guide to hiding drugs? The method of hiding them for transportation was very sneaky.

Last Light (2022)

Definitely worth watching.

[9/10 · 20 October 2022]

Very well paced, gripping, suspenseful series!

Very good actors. Good production values. Good cinematography.

Grabs you at the beginning and never lets go. Definitely a "good watch".

No flashbacks (that so many UK/BBC series are, unfortunately, so fond of).

No sex. Almost no drinking or smoking! Unbelieveable!

OK, this could be classified as a Disaster Movie, Apocalyptic, Message or Action movie.

Certainly lots of each.

OK, the story is unreal and even features a rich, messianic bad guy who seems willingto kill everyone, governments and countries because they haven't paid sufficient attentionto global warming, climate change, use of fossil fuels etc. Somehow he has managed to develop thousands of followers who will foster world-wide chaos. Geez!

The main characters (an Oil scientist, his wife, daughter and blind son) provide the "personal" part of the series. Their problems fit into the story quite well, rather than just being some thrown-in stuff to provide moments of personal anguish.

There are a few stupid, unrealistic moments but you just have to groan or laugh and then move on, just as you do with other movies of this ilk.

Finally, the weakest episode is the last when the series's heavy-handed "message" to the world is stressed and, of course, thec "bad guy" gets what you expect him to get.

Pieces of Her (2022)

Oh, so bad!

[1/10 · 14 October 2022]

Selected it because I like Toni. What a mistake!

Episode 1 did intrigue but, it was all downhill after that.

The story was incomprehensible for multiple reasons. So bloody many flashbacks, but made so worse when the characters when young had no similarity in appearance when they were older. Not even close!

The story flip flopped so much that it was almost impossible to figure out who did what and when. Even why!

Far too long. Too many episodes that were filled with useless scenes.

Probably the most confusing series I have watched in years.

And, the acting wasn't good. Even Toni was off her game.

Also, some silly things. Like one actress wearing the same t-shirt and jeans for many episodes that supposedly covered many days.

Stinky!

Ten Percent (2022)

Good, but the editing is atrocious

[3/10 · 12 September 2022]

The cast has a lot of known, very good actors. The story line is enjoyable.

I'd rate it high, except for the atrocious editing, the style of which was obviously intended by the director and editor to match the rather hectic pace of the story. It failed. What really grated me was the continous back-and-forth flip flopping of the images, just to match a few words spoken by each actor. A 1/2 second long, facial image of an actor, close up, speaking a word or two to someone, followed in an instant by 1/2 second long image of the recipient, replying. Then back to the first actor again. Even if an actor only says one word (often "Yes), we get a face-on shot of them doing so. Clearly the alternative style of editing in which the camera backs off a few feet and can the capture the two actors talking to each other in a continous stream would have been easier to shoot and less grating.

So, this frenetic style has to have been a concious decision. Too bad.

It makes me think of those TV shows that are recorded solely by a single cellphone, with the cameraman quickly swinging the camera around to capture a closeup of each actor as they speak.

High Seas (2019–2020)

Sink this ship. PLEASE!

[2/10 · 25 August 2022]

Terrible acting. Terrible script. Terrible directing.

The only thing that was excellent was the dubbing in English.

First season was barely tolerable due to what was a mystery story.

But Season 2 sunk faster than a leaky boat.

I couldn't possibly consider watching season 3.

The Day the Music Died/American Pie (2022)

Too long. Same old. Same old.

[3/10 · 18 August 2022]

Is there anyone who doesn't know much of this story?

OK, interesting enough to rehash it again but this attempt was just too long. The same things, especially the the song's refrain are repeated ad-nauseum. It sure felt like a documentary that was really a last attempt by Maclean cash in on this one trick pony.

It felt like an attempt go milk the story dry.

Flowers in the Attic: The Origin (2022)

Should be rated ZERO.

[1/10 · 25 July 2022]

OK, Rapes, Assault, Murder, Poisoning, inter-racial gay sex, infidelity, incest, maniacal behaviour, drugs, abortion and that's just in the first two episodes.

So, it's nuts but you just can't wait to see what comes next. It's like watching a train wreck in slow motion.

OK, I made it through to the end. It just got worse. Probably the stupidest, most ridiculous, idiotic series I have ever watched. The writers should be fined and lthe actors locked up for ever participating in this fiasco. It has to become a stain on their records.

Oh yeh. The musical score is horrible too. And the main actress's face keeps looking like a deer caught in a car's headlights.

Moonfall (2022)

Worse than Plan 9 From Outer Space

[1/10 · 2 April 2022]

I just can't think of enough horrible adjectives to use when describing this movie, so I won't try to list them here. Let's just say the movie was obviously aimed to please stupid 12 year old boys.

The Desperate Hour (2021)

You have to be DESPARATE to spend a HOUR on this

[3/10 · 26 February 2022]

As a Canadian it bothers me that I only have to watch a half hour of a movie in order to recognize it as second rate Canadian-made, regardless of the actors. This is an example.

A solid hour of watching Naomi Watts making and receiving telephone calls while running in a forest. I kept wishing her battery would die!

The Tourist (2022–2024)

Good start, then downhill thru part 4 and dead by episode 6

[1/10 · 16 January 2022]

Really gripping start in episodes 1 and 2. Made me hunger for the rest.

But then, by episode 4 it all went south. It got silly and far too chatty. Strarted trurning into a comedy, albeit a dark one.

And are most australians all obese or grimy backcountry types?

Will watch the rest just to see what the story is.

Sorry to say, it just got worse. Stupid, inane, confusing, frustrating. And when episode 5 was chock full of LSD repercussions, that clinched it. Dornan should be ashamed t hat he chose to participate in this.

No Time to Die (2021)

Thank heavens Bond might now be dead

[2/10 · 27 November 2021]

I have to give the movie 2 stars for the special effects but, overall the movie was stupid and incomprehensible. Bond used to be special but a bit human. In this he's just a macho joke.

Pure bang , bang, shoot up all the bad guys. Stupid script. Formulaic acting in all the roles.

Hard to believe any actor would take on this role in the future. It's obvious why Craig resuses to do the next one, if there is to be a next one.

12 year old boys will likely think this movie was great.

Close to the Enemy (2016)

What a total bore

[2/10 · 14 November 2021]

Terrible acting, particularly by Sturgess who manages somehow to speak words without opening his mouth, whose head is constantly tilted and who is incapable of showing emotion.

Direction is terrible. Nothing but endless series of 15 second shots, shown back to back. It's as if the story was taken from a a book and each page ended up as a camera shoot, with little relationship between them.

This series reminded me of series from the UK from the 1960's when stilted english acting was common.

My Son (I) (2021)

Poor start and finish. Middle OK

[4/10 · 23 September 2021]

OK, some suspenseful moments. But it lacked a good start and the end was nothing more than the arrival of the cavalry to save the day.

It started out as if there were scenes that had been deleted. It ended as if the director had to rush off to another project and had no time to finish this movie.

The God Committee (2021)

Could have been better

[5/10 · 4 July 2021]

Nice to see Kelsy again. He hasn't chosen good roles recently. He did OK in this.

Unfortunately the use of constant flashbacks made this movie hard to watch. Also, the story could have been more gripping but was somewhat boring and a bit far-fetched. One thing I hate is a modern movie that still has the actors smoking and, in this case in particular, having the main actor ( a doctor no less) repeatedly smoking even as his heart was in terrible shape.

Janet King: Levelling the Playing Field (2017) Season 3, Episode 3

Same old, same old by now

[6/10 · 2 July 2021]

Loved Series 1. It was new. The cast was new. The story was good and suspenseful although maybe a bit too much, reminding me of many Agatha Christie stories which had a huge cast of characters, many of which had their moments as possible culprits but, in the end, one character who had little exposure turned out to be the culprit.

Series 2 was somewhat more of the same and I was getting a bit tired of the same themes. I also was getting a bit tired of Marta Dusseldorp.

Series 3 was just too much. Too much time looking Marta's mug. Marta smiling. Marta Laughing. Marta looking concerned. Marta having a gay moment. Marta being so smart in court. All of it with endless facial closeups. I felt the show could have been cut by 1/2 per episode if the director wasn't so fixated with Marta.

The Ice Road (2021)

Great Yarn

[9/10 · 30 June 2021]

Hey! This was not a documentary. Just a suspenseful, very enjoyable movie.

So all those people dumping on it are nuts.

Also, so nice to see a good action/drama adult movie that does not have booze, smoking, filthy language, gratuitous sex, drugs, blood and gore, criminal gangs, crooked senators and congressmen, body eating aliens, car crashes, etc.

Sure, some things portrayed were unrealistic. So what? Have you ever watched a Tom Cruise movie? And Liam is getting older. So what?

The topic was also a breath of fresh air. Ice Roads? Wow.

I gave it a 9 only because one actor, the bad guy, acted so badly.

When Nature Calls (2021–2022)

Good parts are good, rest are pure drivel

[4/10 · 26 June 2021]

Gorgeous scenery and videos.

Great pics of animals.

But the attempts at humour were horrible. It actually downgraded the animals.

Mirren should have gone to one of the beautiful countries, built a tent and stayed there, to avoid the embrassament of contributing her voice and name to this.

Breaking News in Yuba County (2021)

What was this?

[5/10 · 23 June 2021]

Started out great, with solid comedic potential and Allison Chaney doing a great job.

But why the sudden and repeated violence half way through? Was this supposed to be a comedy or a violence movie? If failed by trying to be both.

The Woman in the Window (2021)

Boring

[5/10 · 6 June 2021]

Yes, boring. Adams was boring. The story was boring.

The Silence (2010)

Had promise but failed due mostly to a terrible ending

[2/10 · 7 May 2021]

Had some well known actors hence looked promising. But the make-it-up-yourself ending was a kick in the stomach. AWFUL!

Also, we viewers are supposed to like certain characters in a show, especially the main actor whose role is an underdog, undergoing stress and challenges which they eventually overcome. In this case Emilie, the deaf girl. But as the series progressed she was inconsistently portrayed (due to the script rather than her acting) sometimes a child, sometimes as mature, a sweet yet very stupid girl who is not above giving oral sex to a punk in a grimy toilet stall in a dance club. Geez! After a while I just wanted to see less and less of her but only got more and more.

A for her father, I like Henshall as an actor but in this series he seemed histrionic and I lost count of the number of times he said "I really need for you to tell me the truth."

Wander (I) (2020)

Well named

[4/10 · 11 December 2020]

Yes, the movie WANDERs all over the place, Confusing, disjointed. Incredibly hard to follow. The plot is revealed near the end but quickly and it's rather formulaic. We've seen this kind of stuff before. I like Tommy but in this movie it's hard to look at him. He needs to retire. And the other main actor goes through the whole movie as if he drank 6 cans of energy booster before each take.

Unleashed (2020)

Couldn't be worse

[1/10 · 3 November 2020]

I like animals, but: This is pure garbage aimed at 3 year olds. Everything spoken by the so-called judges appears to be totally scripted and stupid. The children look and act like someone has feed them all REDBULLs before the show. The animals do the simplest of so-called tricks and everyone explodes as if a cure for cancer was just announced. There's no way I would ever look at another episode. ever.

Saturday Night Live: Chris Rock/Megan Thee Stallion (2020) Season 46, Episode 1

One good bit only

[3/10 · 5 October 2020]

Have loved this show since 1975. Big fan. But lately, it has been failing. Poor skits and the musical groups usually just stink. This episode had a great beginning, with the takeoff on the debate and Chris Rock's monologue. After that, utter boredom. One contributing factor is that many of the actors are poor articulators Can't understand whatt they are saying.

One Night in Bangkok (2020)

Worth watching

[8/10 · 8 September 2020]

Both main actors were good. Seconday actors not as good. It was the story line that caught me. Intriguing and tantaizingly slow to develop. The action scenes were just OK. I never am impressed with gunshot scenes where the main actor pops off lots of people easily. Also not entralled when the main actor gets hurt so badly that, in real life, he would not have simply dusted himself off for another bout with antagonists. Also thought the ending, with its surreal images was not great. BUT, overall, glad to have watched it and recommend it.

Away (2020)

Bad start

[2/10 · 8 September 2020]

Only watched 2 episodes so far but am already cringing. Sure the CGI is good. That's why the 2 stars. But seriously, the selection of the astronauts by NASA appeared to be little more than picking a handful of random people for a pickup game of basketball at a park. Selection of astronauts in real life would have involved serious psychological evaluation and intensive attention to team building. Hard to imagine ever choosing such a mismatched crew. And, as for some science goofs, how in heaven's name could they even suggest that the astronauts could communicate with family at home as if there was a HD cellphone service? And a high quality one at that that gave instant two-way video communication! Hey, tough to even get that these days here on earth. That was really stupid. Ever here about the speed of light?