csteddy Reviews

The Unlikely Murderer (2021)

the perp is our times everyman

[8/10 · 6 November 2021]

Glad that the perp was portrayed as the sad, little loser that he obviously was. Too bad the "visionary" Hans Holmer didn't get to see how posterity viewed him. Overall a good miniseries that captured the underlying motivations well.

Romance (2020)

More normalisation of stalking behaviour by adolescent men

[5/10 · 1 July 2021]

Creepy main actor. Has the #metoo movement not reached the continent? Yes, you too can get the girl of your dreams, who is way out of your league if you relentlessly persue her.

Finding Alice (2021)

It's a comedy about those that don't get grief

[7/10 · 1 April 2021]

It's pretty obvious that most of those giving bad reviews and ratings are members of the class of those people that just don't get grief. It's having a laugh about all the inappropriate things that people say to those who are grieving. It's written by people that DO get grief. It might not be a top shelf series, but it's pretty good. It makes you laugh and cry.

Il cacciatore (2018– )

Melodrama galore

[7/10 · 10 March 2021]

Subject matter was interesting but it was done in a very melodramatic way. Not sure who is at fault. The script writers, the director or the actors: or maybe it is a cultural thing. I still watched it to end of series 1 but the personal storylines were missable and towards the end unwatchable.

Deutschland 89 (2020)

The final installment is a light-hearted romp

[9/10 · 13 October 2020]

Sure, it's a different tone to '83 and '86 but it hits the mark. It also manages to highlight the chaos of the times and the hypocrisy of all parties and ideologies. Good fun.

Putin: A Russian Spy Story (2020)

Once a bully and a thug...

[9/10 · 28 July 2020]

A clinical analysis of how Putin achieved and has kept power.

After Life (2019–2022)

Season 2 is even better than Season 1

[10/10 · 25 April 2020]

My wife and I watched Season 1 and laughed and cried our way through it. I'm having to do Season 2 on my own as my wife's three year struggle with cancer recently ended. I find his detailed understanding of the grief amazingly accurate. Tony's pain seeps through the screen. Ricky is a genius and an authentic human being.

Flesh and Blood (2020)

Brilliantly crafted story

[9/10 · 2 March 2020]

Great script, good acting and direction. Quite a believable story.

Wayward Pines (2015–2016)

Poor acting. Ludicrous script.

[4/10 · 5 February 2020]

The central idea seems to be a low-rent ripoff of "The Prisoner" and "The Cars That Ate Paris". The Duffer Brothers seem to have form in the provenance of their ideas...

High Seas (2019–2020)

Scooby Doo meets Love Boat

[5/10 · 8 January 2020]

Makes you long for the complex plots and character development of the cartoon.

The Report (I) (2019)

Excellent script and some good performances

[9/10 · 30 November 2019]

Made a very complex story understable as well as maintaining your interest until the end.

Guilt (2019–2023)

Keeps getting better

[9/10 · 9 November 2019]

This is SO good. Great music and great music trivia. Good cast, amusing dialogue.

The Accident (2019)

Great cast of actors in this Welsh Noir

[8/10 · 27 October 2019]

I can only assume that other reviewers watched another programme. Or perhaps real drama just doesn't rate for an audience bottle feed on hyper-reality.

Diagnosis: A Question of Trust (2019) Season 1, Episode 5

Diagnosis?

[8/10 · 23 August 2019]

The NY Times Doctor was very diplomatic. I'm not. I joked to my wife that it was Munchausen syndrome by proxy? ;-) By the time that the episode ended I'm not so sure that I was joking.

Pagan Peak (2018–2023)

Good series but daft English title

[9/10 · 4 April 2019]

Why not call it The Pass, acknowledging it's link to its progenitor, The Bridge?

Sons of Anarchy (2008–2014)

a dead set joke

[3/10 · 12 April 2017]

I finally succumbed to the hype and have been watching this series. Where do I start. The scripts are unbelievable; the acting mostly ordinary but sometimes atrocious; the Irish accents laughable and the music covers of classics by Katey Segal unbearably bad. How it rates alongside of real classics like The Sopranos and Breaking Bad mystifies me, but I guess that there is no accounting for taste (or the lack of it).

The Five (2016)

A dead set joke

[2/10 · 27 February 2017]

Laughable plot and acting to match. I had a bad feeling about this from the get- go and the feeling just got worse...The no star cast was a warning sign; not because only stars can act but because actors with a reputation have an interest to protect their name (brand) by not appearing in dogs. The only one of "The Five" to do a reasonable job of what he was given was O.T. Fagbenle

Luther (2010–2019)

Series 2 is not a patch on Series 1 :-(

[10/10 · 28 September 2011]

With the possible exception of the final episode of Series 2 it failed the test of suspension of disbelief. Two problems. One was the back story to get us from the end of Series 1 to the beginning of Series 2. It was a failure of the believability of the narrative as well way it was done (especially the pacing). It was attempted to be done too quickly and was done almost as badly as episode 1 of Super-Natural (aka Dukes of Hazzard meets X-files). The second was the development of the character of his new nemesis. Note to screenwriters, read Hannah Arendt. Evil is banal. Trying to make someone hyper-evil just makes them UNbelievable. Evil is like the speed of light. You can't go faster than it.

Edge of Darkness (2010)

not a patch on the original

[1/10 · 2 June 2011]

The only consolation is that the writer of the original TV Series (Troy Kennedy Martin), wasn't alive to see what was done to it. The screenplay adaption was as bad as the acting. One of the writers has form in this area, i.e. turning a silk purse into a sow's ear. Anyone who thinks that The Departed was a good film should see the original (Infernal Affairs). And whose idea was it to get Mel Gibson to try and play Craven like Bob Peck? LOL. At least this idea was forgotten after several cringe- worthy scenes and Mel could get back to doing the only thing that he can do well, i.e. shoot people. I should also feel sorry for Ray Winstone (an actor that I admire) in trying to reprise the role of Jedburgh, but he didn't have to accept the part. No lines to die for in this script.

Catfish (2010)

Anybody can now be anything in this world

[1/10 · 22 January 2011]

The banal moral of the story is that sometimes people pretend to be someone else on the internet. Wow! Stop the front page. We've got a new headline. Give me a break. A lot of people are pretending to be something that they are not in this film. The alleged documentary film makers are in fact the biggest pretenders, because they are film makers in name only. The film itself is rubbish. The paradox of how the set of documentary film makers could contain both the name of Errol Morris AND these clowns as members makes Russell's Paradox look insignificant. However as a self- incriminating statement of how you don't need talent to become famous in this age this captures the zeitgeist perfectly.