pienpouwels

I liked the concept of this series, a world of ghost infestations with specially trained adolescents doing all the dirty work? Sign me up. It leaves no doubt in my mind that the books are worth a read. That being said, the series stirred no real emotions in me.

The CGI was low-budget by the looks of it, but the acting was pretty good! The dialogue did tend to get a little too cliché and despite ending with a cliff hanger, I'm not bursting at the seams to find out what happens next. Which should tell you enough. But perhaps I'm judging too harshly. It was entertaining for sure! Just a bit of a no-brainer.

I went into watching this movie with no expectations whatsoever and while I still cringed and laughed aloud out of ridiculousness on multiple occasions, The Next 365 Days wasn't actually 3-star bad (what I rated 365 Days: This Day). I know it's the bare minimum but I was pleasantly surprised to discover there was an actual storyline in this one. Unlike the second instalment. There weren't as many pointless scenes and there were a couple 3-minute windows in which the acting was actually passable. And some of the dialogue-bits were.......not that bad......keyword being 'some'. The movie in its entirety was still garbage, but it didn't smell as rotten as I was expecting?

How this movie has an average of 5.3 but the disgracefully botched 2022 version of Persuasion, a 5.6, is beyond me. Yes, Mr. Malcolm's List is Austen-esque and predictable, but at least the script captured the zeitgeist of the early 1800s. Its preview (which is on YouTube) actually came out early 2019, so I'm guessing Bridgerton took a leaf out of their book in regard to a diverse cast.

The two leads don't have much chemistry but the cast in general is excellent. I particularly enjoyed Oliver Jackson-Cohen's Lord Cassidy and although Julia Thistlewaite's character is downright unpleasant, Zawe Ashton embodied her brilliantly. I'm glad she replaced Gemma Chan, whose performance in the preview I thought a bit spiritless.

All in all, not an arthouse film experience but definitely worth the watch if you're into period pieces. I watched it for the second time today and didn't enjoy it any less than I did the first time.