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Beakyboy
Reviews
Masters of the Air (2024)
Weak, annoying, unrealistic
I was so looking forward to this series. I've watched two parts and don't really care if I watch any more as there are so many better and lower budget films to watch covering the same topic. Especially on Amazon and YouTube which has many for free (try First Light for example).
The sound is so bad we turned on subtitles for much of the time. It seems many modern American actors mumble or shout their lines instead of learning to enunciate. Or maybe modern sound engineers aren't up to the job.
The historical accuracy and plot is more Star Wars than World Wars and has the typical 'How America won the war' attitude. More a Disney script or maybe Marvel.
If you liked the latest Dunkirk movie then you may enjoy this series but like Dunkirk there are at least two better movies covering the same situations (Catch 22?).
Slow Horses (2022)
It is liking watching the books in every detail.
The best series for many a year. Just brilliant acting and script that is just like watching the books. I am so envious of the people who haven't read Mick Heron's books and are seeing the stories for the first time. I also love Mick Jagger's theme music and cannot wait for the next series' (please Tim Cook) let alone next week's episode even though I know what will happen.
It is so refreshing to watch shows where there are no green screens, action shootouts and car chases and that many minorities and ethnicities are included non-gratuitously and realistically, for the U. K. that is if not elsewhere.
A Single Man (2009)
So, so sad. A masterpiece.
I have just finished watching this film and am too full of emotions to write very much. But surely that says so much about this beautiful film. I can't remember when a film has left me so sad and happy at the same time.
It's not the sort of film I would normally watch and I had to restart it from half way through so my wife could see from the beginning, Colin Firth at his absolute best, Matthew Goode as well and accompanied by superb supporting actors.
This is cinema at its pinnacle. Not a car chase or CGI to be seen,there are one or two guns in the film and that includes a water pistol. Luckily in the U. K. we do get TV and drama of this level but the film is head and shoulders above them all.
Kessler (1981)
2022, looking with new eyes
TalkingPicturesTV in the UK have aired the Secret Army series are now following with Kessler. When shown originally I missed much of both series due to work and family commitments. I am really pleased to be watching them - first The secret Army and now half way though Kessler.
Both have been a joy to watch with top-notch casting, scripts and filming that make we realise why I am so disappointed, with one or two exceptions, of most of the offers from modern film, streaming and TV. More so, to see some of the cast in their skilled and attractive youth I wonder why we haven't seen more of them over the years.
River Cottage Every Day: Fish (2010)
How to make cheap fish taste great
Maybe ever 9.5/10
Hugh and his chefs take a turn at making low cost fish dishes. The kippers are maybe the star of the recipes but Hugh's students are shown how good low cost fish such as pollock and mussels will give them better food for lower cost than their usual fish'n'chip suppers. Quicker as well.
The loss of a star is the girls were cooking for their boyfriends, who had been watching soccer (whatever) and not helping or at least washing-up or peeling spuds.
I'd like to know what happened to the student who cooked mussels on the shore. Did she make her way into 'the media' as she was very good on camera.?
Don't Look Up (2021)
Douglas Adams, Philip K Dick, et al, did it better
Mark Rylance is virtually unrecognisable but the rest is just an amalgamation of what we know, what we think we know and what we know we don't know about the USA. Douglas Adams, Philip K Dick, et al, did it better decades earlier.
Watch Men in Black films for a better view.
Ghostbusters (2016)
Oh, come on. Absolute cr*p
This is the most unfunny, unwatchable and unworthy of wasting a brain cell on, of any film ever made. Why did they waste the film/video time to make it? Why did I waste those minutes of my life watching it.
Army of Thieves (2021)
Too violent
The film meanders along in an amicable way. The attractive actors largely do their jobs. But then it turns exceedingly violent. Such a shame and totally unnecessary.
Venom (2018)
idiotic tosh
You have to have the mind of a 5 year old to find anything good to say about this film. Boring, rubbish, over-acted, waste of time - words that come to mind when thinking about Venom. Why has anyone given the money to make a sequel? I can only think it must be some form of tax break.
Calendar Girls (2003)
Nothing to not like
Funny, poignant, heart warming British film. Nothing to be offended by and even some nipples if that what turns you on. A true story well presented.
Peter Rabbit (2018)
Hmmm
All I can say is that if you voted for Brexit or Donald Trump you will probably enjoy this film.
2010: Moby Dick (2010)
Glorious tosh
So it's no great film but fun all the same, just don't take it seriously. Any whale that can eat a chopper and a cannon-firing Osprey as well as surviving a nuclear blast, is some fine enemy. In the end you start rooting for it.
Rick Stein's Long Weekends (2016)
Unbeatable, superb and intelligent
Rick seldom does a cooking series that drags on interminably like many other chefs on TV. This series, like all his others, take you to the source of recipes around the world and shows you how the meal is cooked by the natives. Then Rick (often) shows his own version cooked in a domestic kitchen using easy-to-find ingredients.
So many of his recipes are part of my usual meals and change as he moves from country to country or his shows are repeated. One thing I am appreciative of is that Rick doesn't care for emulsions, towers or foams. Just great food, simply cooked to bring out the true flavours. Even his fusions are never confusions.
The death of his producer and partner in crime, David Prichard, is a dreadful loss to TV. I hope that Rick can continue his superb travel/cooking documentaries without David.
Brandy for the Parson (1952)
Entertaining, enjoyable film
Watched on UK's Talking Pictures, a low budget channel who find gems like this film. The copy was a little dark and sound muffled but this film is a bit of a gem I have never seen before.
The insights into life in post war England are interesting (especially the cars). The story is perfectly acceptable for its time, surprisingly the actors include many British stalwarts from the era. The script, that could easily be brought up to date, is more light-hearted than comedy, without a gun, car chase, nudity or swearing that modern film-makers seemingly have to use. I would give it more stars if the character development were greater but the running time prevented this.
All in all a film I enjoyed and hope to see many more like it as Talking Pictures unearth them.
Greyhound (2020)
Disappointing
We really wanted to like this film but it is weak in many areas and sadly, Tom Hanks is partly the cause. He wrote the screenplay which is not very interesting. Compared with such films as The Cruel Sea and Das Boot, which covered the same scenarios, Greyhound was left in their shade.
Worth a watch but don't get your hopes up.
Tanki (2018)
Highly enjoyable, humourous tosh
Drive two new, secret T34s a 1000km for Stalin's parade. Avoid the guerrillas, Nazis, saboteurs and goodness who else. You soon get used to reading the subtitles - which let's face it, are hardly the highest prose.
An entertaining film along the lines of a cowboy flick, if Clint, Arnie or their like were starring it would get a lot more attention. I can't think why I won't give it ten stars except it is light entertainment even if it isn't meant to be.
Da 5 Bloods (2020)
Predictable tosh for the Americans
Beautifully filmed with loads of slow-mo drone footage, some of the acting is okay. But the film is like choosing a cream cake and finding out that is is imitation cream; you almost wish you hadn't bothered. The script is so predictable you knew what would happen in the first 30 minutes or so. Then it's just a case of waiting for your predictions to come true - they will.
I am glad to see I'm not the only reviewer seeing this film as definitely sub-par.
Alex Rider (2020)
A mixture of very good and very bad
Unfortunately the very bad overwhelms the good. The plots are like a Doctor Who script, the main actor is far too old to be a teenager and some of the supporting actors smell far too much of bacon. A series for those who don't want much from their viewing. Overall this could have been an above average series but it is badly let down in some areas. The locations are good and 'new' but too many hackneyed shots that could be taken from stock footage.
The Battle of the River Plate (1956)
A perenial favourite
Along with Sink the Bismark of about 3 years earlier, this film is a long-time favourite of mine. Good acting, good effects and good story, everything you want from a film unless it's blond beauties in bikinis, car chases and alien invasions.
One line, roughly paraphrased, has become part of our family history, passed down the generations:
"Where's the Sun Number One?"
"Well over the yard arm."
Meaning 'Is it time to splice the mainbrace (open the wine/gin/whatever). The yard arm being part of a sailing ship's rigging that the sun would have passed by midday.
It usually is but as mainland Europe is often an hour or two ahead of us, that can be used as the reasoning.
Warcraft (2016)
Complete cr*p, zero stars
Is there a plot? Are they acting or just going through the motions to get a cheque?
This is the worst film I have ever tried to watch. Ridiculous rubber masks, complete with fangs that look as false as Trump's natural tan. Action-less action scenes, unintelligible dialogue, dreadful editing are all features of how you will waste your time watching this film.
Interstellar (2014)
Believe the bad reviews, they are correct.
Over long, over hyped, over acted. Go to the one star reviews on IMDB and read them for correct assessments of this film
School for Secrets (1946)
Old fashioned but great fun
Not exactly a true reflection of the boffins and their work. But as a piece of history it is spot on - unlike the bombing which never was. It shows the accents, how people lived (my god, the wall paper) and what was important to them. Of course this was a film meant to buck everyone up, to believe they were making a difference and all was well. The acting is very British of that time, I grew up post war when people still talked like that.
His Dark Materials (2019)
Classy and stylish production
Thank goodness Hollywood had no hand in this. Well cast, well acted, the sets are excellent and animals are amazing. But it's not my sort of thing. However give me this any day rather than Downton-style costume dramas or the mediocre crap Hollywood turns out nowadays.
The Little Paris Kitchen: Cooking with Rachel Khoo (2012)
Excellent
She has two gas burners, a tiny oven and almost zero worktop yet she has a restaurant with seating for about eight, all in her tiny apartment. It is harder to get a reservation in her restaurant than the best in the world.
And no wonder why when you see what she cooks, cutting corners where necessary as there are limitations in her kitchen. I've made many of her recipes and think her adjustments and new takes on preparing food are ones to follow in our domestic kitchens.
Her meals are healthy, low fat and sugar unless really necessary and all cooked from fresh ingredients bought from the many suppliers in Paris.
The Pioneer Woman (2011)
Not European-style by a long way
It really makes you appreciate Jamie Oliver when you see food cooked on this show. Over fatty, full of cream and sugar and you can just hear her asking "You want cheese on that?".
I can honestly say I have never fancied eating anything the Pioneer cooks except maybe the fresh parsley.