Reviews

Despite having access to hundreds of channels there is a distinct lack of interesting programmes, so I have been reduced to watching reruns of old shows. This lead me to Criminal Minds which I used to watch when it was first shown. The first few series were good with many of the storylines based on real life crimes. I particularly liked Mandy Patinkin whose character had some depth and complexity. Likewise, Spencer Reid played by Mathew Grey Gubler played his part with sensitivity. I also enjoyed Elle's story, and Hotchner's character lent some gravitas. I am now up to series 11 and witnessed the deterioration of a great show. Joe Mantagna is not a good replacement, and the character is a bad stereotype which he fails to carry off. In addition, Garcia becomes increasingly irritating, her constant babbling, interference and attention-seeking behaviour increases with every series, and she even begins to take over investigations. She becomes a characature of herself and is completely unnecessary. If I had to work with her she would drive me mad and be someone I would avoid. I enjoyed the other characters such as Emily Prentiss and Erin Strauss, the rest were quite bland.

Its quite a hard one to binge watch as the majority of cases centre around brutality towards women with the victim usually screaming 'Ill do anything!' which leaves an unsavoury taste. Its not something I noticed as much in the pre-streaming days, when one had a week's break in between episodes.

I now know why I stopped watching it, it became one of those shows that just traded on it's popularity in the end, instead of ending when it was on a high.

Gerrard Butler saves yet another President, this time underwater. Fairly run of the mill action film, which only becomes interesting when Toby Stephens makes an appearance.

And I found it boring both times.

As others have said, the whispering male lead is too irritating and tries my patience.

I quite liked the first Wonder Woman film, although admittedly I was slightly underwhelmed. Gal Gadot makes a good Wonder Woman though, and there were some nice elements to it, so I approached WW 84 with some hope. I wish I had read the reviews however; even GG can not elevate this travesty, the script is dire and the storyline is disjointed.

Unfortunately, no amount of money or A list actors can rescue bad writing and poorly conceived plot. I could go on picking the thing to pieces, but suffice to say it was like watching an episode of a low budget TV show from the 1970's, but not so much fun. You couldn't even watch this for laughs, despite some of the more cheesy references which just fell flat and were cringewothy. There were also many nods to the early Superman films which were just cheap and crass.

Lots or running around, women being saved or slaughtered, slomo action sequences. Its trying to be epic and its not. I did wonder if it was a cbeebes programme.

I recently binge watched series 1 to 5 and I think it was a mistake, good grief, its depressing! The violence and bleakness is so relentless it gave me bad dreams. Needless to say, the main actors are excellent and I did like the music, but, although I am a fan, Nick Cave was overused, and if I hear Red Right Hand again it will be too soon.

So I plowed through the first few series which appeared fairly authentic, then it descended into ridiculousness with the introduction of the Mafia. Adrian Brody was laughable as the Italian American Don, I think he was trying to channel Marlon Brando in The Godfather.

I will watch series 6 when it comes out just to see how it gets wrapped up, but I can't say I'm looking forward to it.

I enjoy fantasy and wish it were televised more, however, despite the interesting premise here of people with special powers in a fantastical world, it is not particularly inventive or groundbreaking, and I am sure I will forget all about it in a few months time. There's not much more to say about the story, anyone who has watched the X Men or Penny Dreadful (both far superior) will know what to expect. My main comments are on the assumptions made about what an audience wants and likes.

I'm all for women having better roles, but women behaving like men doesn't solve the problem of the limited options for female actors, and in fact, just perpetuates it; very often, it just fulfills some male fantasy. In addition, the liberal use of profanity is irritating, as are the sex scenes. Its not shocking, risque, or appealing, and lends nothing to the story, its simply tedious and rather adolescent. I read that the producers of Deadwood decided to include modern profanity to make it more appealing to a younger contemporary audience. Why? Why not just have good dialogue; we have a wonderful rich language, lets make better use of it and be more aspirational rather than debasing everything.

Addendum: I have just watched episode 6 and it was the most interesting episode of the whole series, it's a shame they took such a long time getting there. Perhaps I will watch series 2 after all, if it comes out.

What to say? I lost interest by the third episode but continued watching in the hope of some improvement. Unfortunately there wasn't. There are some good actors but bad dialogue and ridiculous storylines, its really just like an extended version of Eastenders. There are no surprises, no tension, just a lot of people looking mournfully at each other. Its okay for a rainy afternoon when there's nothing else to do, but don't expect too much.

I think this series was overshadowed when it first came out as it was around the time that Game of Thrones dominated TV. However, I have watched it several times now but could not face the horror of watching GoT again, which is a testament to its appeal. Masterfully crafted by Jonathon Nolan, the writer brother of Christopher, and brains behind Memento, The Dark Knight and Interstellar, this is clever, intelligent TV. Some of the episodes are derivative (ie the 'killer in the house' episode), but still enjoyable, and there's some nice touches of humour throughout. The characters are all likeable with some excellent female roles and Jim Caviezel appears to be made for the part of John Reese. I enjoyed it immensely and am currently bingewatching it again whilst shielding, having found the dvds in a box. Highly recommended for passing a few months confined to barracks.

I binge watched the series over three days then immediately began all over again. The bounty hunter in Star Wars always intrigued me, and for a minor character he appeared to capture the imagination of the cinema going public at the time the original films came out. Described as a 'space western', it does have the feel of the Spaghetti Westerns of the 70's, with the bleak dust bowl landscape and the emergence of the reluctant hero. There is even a very strong nod to The Seven Samuri/ The Magnificent Seven. However it also depicts a world struggling to recover from a devastating war, so I think giving it the 'Western' label does it a disservice. It is so much more; this is a much more interesting view of the Star Wars Universe which explores those cultures and races who were on the fringes of the tale. It also feels more like a natural successor to Return of the Jedi than anything that came after (with possibly the exception of Rogue One). Gone is the Disneyfied gloss and superficiality of The Rise of Skywalker, here we see the grim reality of a lost soul who, through many trials, finds his purpose and regains his creed. This is real storytelling in the traditional sense which harkens back to Ancient Greek tales of the Hero's journey; there is a reason why these stories have longevity and it is because they strike a chord within us all. The back story of the Mandalorian is cleverly done without a lot of exposition, we understand how he has come to be, in a few brief flashbacks. Although each episode seemed too short and left me wanting just a bit more, I think this was also good judgement as it kept them fresh and uncluttered without lots of extraneous tat. No silly juvenile humour, although there was enough to amuse and lighten what could have become a very dark tale. Casting is excellent and the musical score is masterful and epic, I keep hearing it playing in my head. I have given it 10. It is not perfect, but I do feel it has helped the Star Wars franchise recover some of its dignity and hopefully it will continue going from strength to strength. Hopefully it will finish on a high and not fall victim to the ratings war, either by unnecessarily drawing it out due to its popularity, or by ditching it too soon if ratings fall.

This is a series about bent cops who form their own gangs with the resulting fallout of such criminal activity. The main characters are supposed to be antiheroes, but are actually not very heroic, just violent thugs jostling for supremacy.

I began bingewatching this show but found I had just drip feed myself after the first couple of episodes. It's rather hard to watch back to back as everyone is so angry all of the time and none of the characters are particularly sympathetic, which is quite draining. Its good to see a gritty drama with adults, but what it lacks is humour. Naturally the subject matter doesn't lend itself to comedy, but it is too grim too much of the time. I think this is largely due to poor writing, as comparable programmes such as Breaking Bad managed to be hard hitting as well as witty. The cast is ok and Sean Bean is suitably menacing, although some of the storylines are predictable and the characters are one dimensional. This was apparently written by an ex-police officer who worked undercover and got mixed up with gangs; if this is a true depiction then I pity him, what a horrid, soulless life it must have been.

I'm watching the reruns on Alibi, what a shame, another good series that was cancelled. Do US companies not like Canada? Although the storylines hold no real surprises the scripts are good and the characters are engaging. Unlike most of the US counterparts, the characters aren't all young and excessively glamorous; the characters are attractive but this is downplayed for interesting personalities. I love the relationship between Angie and Oscar - yes, it is possible for members of the opposite sex who work closely together and be good friends without any romantic interludes. I also love the way Oscar and Betty's mildly flirtatious encounters hint at a more intimate relationship. All of this is done with maturity without any overt sexual overtones, and these relationships do not take over the story but are finely balance within. I have grown to look forward to Canadian shows, they are much more interesting and a bit quirky, but sadly seem to get cancelled prematurely (see the excellent Travellers and as far back as Due South). I wish programme developers would give them a chance instead of sacrificing good programmes for a fast buck and short term gains.

As a previous reviewer said, look for this to be cancelled soon because its good, so enjoy it while you can, it may not be round long.

An update on the X Files premise with a supernatural twist, a psychologist and priest investigate 'happenings' while under the shadow of an evil being, chillingly played by Michael Emerson. Good acting and storylines, although the demon who visits Kristen isn't convincing and looks like something out of a low budget episode of Buffy.

The one (or four) irritant is the four children who persistently talk over each other, scream and yell. Its not cute, so please stop it! Not very good role modelling, and I think a psychologist would have better boundaries. It set my nerves on edge every time they make an appearance, and they are far more frightening than any of the supernatural beings that make an appearance.

I have enjoyed watching the repeats of this series on Gold, this programme is based on an idea by Lenny Henry but is largely written by comic genius, Peter Tilbury. The first two series are excellent and still stand up by today's comedic standards. The scripts are witty and original, and Lenny Henry reins in his usual overacting to good effect. However by series three Peter Tilbury has gone, and this is very noticeable in the poor script and storylines, the overexaggerated acting with the addition of an annoying American, and stock pantomime characters. The series was not recommissioned and it's easy to understand why.

First two series 10/10 Series 3 2/10

ITV have stepped up their game with dramas over recent years, so I was looking forward to seeing how The Sister panned out. Unfortunately whilst it started off well, the slow pace, unlikable characters and lack of tension conspire to make this quite dull and drawn out. Also, although I like Russell Tovey, I find his mumbling dialogue annoying and at times indecipherable. There seems to be a trend now for muttering on TV; please, actors, enunciate! Surely they taught you this in drama school!

There has been some criticism that this is 'slow', I disagree and would describe it more as 'studied'. Tom Hollander is fantastic as usual and it was lovely to see Sophie Grabol again. The storyline is engaging for the most part, despite the self centred son and wife, but I must admit I fast forwarded most of the flashback scenes which I found a bit boring. It's actually a very considered depiction of an introvert in an extrovert's world

This is something of a cross between Hannibal and Elementary but has still to find its feet. Both Michael Sheen and Tom Payne are very good, although Sheen tends to ham up the serial killer mode, the other cast members are fairly stereotypical and non-descript. I was a big fan of Hannibal and find Prodigal Son is a poor man's version, it does not have the same wit, intelligence, or inventiveness, but has pretensions. It's almost as if the producers have taken some of the milder elements of darker shows as they are too scared to take a risk, and tried to cobble something out of them; unfortunately it is in danger of becoming tame and formulaic. I will continue to watch as it is still early days and the cast is good enough to hold my interest for now, but I do hope we see more depth and creativity in development

2nd September: I'm revising my review, I'm halfway through episode 6 unfortunately it has not developed in the way I'd hoped and has become more like a lightweight daytime crime drama. You may as well watch Murder she Wrote, it has about the same depth. I have decided just to rewatch the far superior series, Hannibal (10/10), which has better acting, writing, and storylines, not to mention the wonderful Mads Mikkelsen. New score for Prodigal Son = 3/10

I feel a bit bad posting a negative review as I didn't even finish the first episode. I suppose it depends what you want to watch but I quickly became bored with the subject matter and frustrated with the fast action fight sequences which were too choreographed and look like a computer game. Not for me I'm afraid.

I was really pleased when I heard they were rebooting Unsolved Mysteries, the original series has been regularly repeated on TV, and I have always enjoy the mix of mystery stories from disappearances to supernatural and inexplicable events. The new series isn't that interesting and is missing a few ingredients, the first being the lack of a host and the second being the anthology format, so what you actually get is a fairly run of the mill show just like any of the others you're likely to see on ID or such, with the focus being on murder cases. The other issue I found was that the episodes were fairly slow and ponderous, I actually nodded off during one of them, therefore they lack the immediacy of the original series. Its not bad, but if they promise to 'reboot' a series you would expect it to at least resemble the original in some ways. Unfortunately another Netflix fail

I wasn't expecting a rehash of the original Penny Dreadful but hoped for something equally captivating. Despite a good cast, the storyline has let them down, it can't seem to decide whether it is going to be political, police procedural or supernatural, and just ends up being a bland mishmash. If you want to watch something as irresistible and intriguing as the first Penny Dreadful, you should watch Carnivale instead of this, its well worth the investment of your time.

I turned it off. I found the dialogue appalling, the story revolved around cruelty and failed attempts at humour. The animation is very good but the characters are unsympathetic and Peter is just arrogant. Not a children's film, not a family film, and not a film with a good heart

This came up as a recommendation by an online streaming service which promised a lot but actually delivered very little. Slow paced with unintelligible dialogue, the first half an hour is spent following behind the two main protagonists while they go about their business. I turned off as, apart from finding it extremely boring, I found it difficult to understand what the actors were saying due to poor enunciation. No length of time in lockdown would induce me to watch this poorly executed rubbish

Masquerading as a thriller when its really just another soap opera

The Last Kingdom is easy to overlook due to the more high profile GoT and Vikings, and the slew of copycat films and series they generated. However, so far it has proven to be a much more superior series altogether. Alexander Dreymon is mesmerising as Uhtred and the storylines for each season are complete in themselves, which is quite a clever device considering the ruthlessness of production companies who bin shows at the drop of a hat. There is a good balance of action and intelligent story telling; I just hope it doesn't fall victim to the GoT effect and deteriorate into brutality and shock tactics using sex and nudity to try to keep viewers interested. I'm not a prude but I much prefer an interesting story without graphic sexual content, its unnecessary. I also hope the writers continue to treat fans as intelligent beings and offer gripping stories. I'm looking forward to series 5 which is earmarked for release next year.