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Reviews
Wuthering Heights (1998)
Good adaptation
I watched this recently (2024) after having watched the Tom Hardy, Charlotte Riley two parter. I found this film followed the book very closely, with the exception of the narrative. The casting of the actors could have been more to type. Heathrow was darker and far more brooding and brutal. Cathy would have been much more coarse, less charming having been in the company of Heathcliffe since childhood. The Lintons fared better, more innocent and angel like, an inadequate force against Heathcliffe.
Unlike many adaptations, the film covers both generations and does so very well. It's a difficult novel to adapt, the latter two parter also covered the generations but omitted several key elements which I think are essential to the plot of the story. This adaptation includes many of these themes.
Emily Brontë was way ahead of her time in writing this multi layered story about supernatural love and that destroys everything and everyone it touches. A true gothic horror love story.
Spaceman (2024)
An underrated little gem
I watched this not expecting much, due to the low ratings and decided to watch with an open mind. I love out of the box movies that make you think about how the universe works. Was the spider real? I hate spiders, but Hanus was so much more interesting and gave Jacob the perspective he needed.
It's a relationship story, but again isn't everything? It's a redemption arc of the main character who finds himself and something to hope for.
The story is a real human story set in deep space and on the earth, and it's played brilliantly by Adam Sadler. I've never seen him actually act like this before. He's always played goofy roles. Whether that spider is real doesn't change anything, but at least I'm a fan of space spiders now.
Melancholia (2011)
An unexpected surprise
I was not expecting to like this or even tolerate this film beyond the first ten minutes or so, but the awesome cinematography of the opening sequence had me intrigued. The wedding scenes were typical until you met the bride who was atypical and her dysfunctional family, which could have accounted somewhat for her mental state. She and her husband were gorgeous and it was a huge unkindness to split them apart so quickly. Kirsten Dunst has such a great range as an actress and such an understanding of the darkness of depression which she brings to this role. She is incredible as Justine. There's lots of symbolism here in the film, light and dark being used for the sisters, Justine has blonde hair but is the dark, troubled sister, whereas Claire has darker hair and is lighter in mood.
The second half of the film concerns Claire, her sister and also the impending collision with the planet. Whilst Claire is the sister in a relationship with her husband and has a son, she appears to be the well balance one. It shows her taking care of Justine when she is most ill. When the climax of the film comes however, it is Justine who comes to accept the outcome rather than Claire, who has been relying on the false advice of her husband. The closing cinematography is brilliant and has a very calming effect. Not what I expected.
Beacon 23 (2023)
Emotional range of a teaspoon
I saw this on Paramount and noticed the great cast but then read the negative reviews but wanted to give it a shot. It wasn't worth it, the script was awful even with a great cast. The deep space paranoia stuff came through and I didn't feel enough emotional empathy with the characters to stay involved. The show had the emotional range of a teaspoon, too intense at times and not enough depth of character. The AI character was more interesting and human.
Everything was cgi and nothing was explained, and the background music was dull and chilling to the extent it was totally depressing. I'm still looking for a new sci-fi series that will peak my interest and keep me watching. This wasn't it.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024)
Not great
I was expecting something intelligent, interesting along the lines of maybe what we have seen before? The last one with Bad Ape wasn't brilliant but was watchable and showed humanity's decline leaving Caesars legacy. This movie was terrible, the storyline was not good and the casting and acting not great. The movie was over long and as usual for these characters they are very black and white in terms of characterisation. The female human was miscast and too young as there was no background to her character and she showed little human qualities, perhaps in the future this is how humans have become? Her killing of the older man was awkward and inexplicable to the apes, although this is what humans do, kill their own kind. It's 2.5 hours of my life I'll never get back.
One Foot in the Grave (1990)
Superb comedy
Every single moment of life, no matter how mundane or trivial is captured in this series. It's a comical tragedy of human life captured in countless combinations by an aging couple who experience everything you can ever imagine. It's genius in its interaction between man and wife and their friends.
The best episodes are the simplest stories where nothing happens but are centred around one or two characters who interact with each other. Most comedy is around misunderstanding and this is hilarious. You need to see the show to understand the show. The central character is often misunderstood but he isn't, he's an everyman guy simply stating his frustration with the world. Pure gold.
House of the Dragon: The Burning Mill (2024)
A poor GOT
Third episode into the second season and it's still not as gripping as GOT. The characters are just don't have the same level of chemistry somehow and this isn't without the writers trying I feel.
Alicent lacks the same sheer baseless of Cersei, although some similarities we're still trying to figure her out, apart from her being a nymphomaniac she doesn't seem to have any driving force. Rhaenar is the trying hard to be the heir to the throne but it's a man's world and she's not tough enough. The world is littered by creepy, ne'rer do wells but they're lacking in the side shows of GOTs. I know it's early days but I'm still not feeling it.
Direction and production is great, let's hope it gets better.
National Theatre Live: Vanya (2024)
This was amazing!
I went to see this, not having seen the play before but aware that it was a one man show with all the cast being played by Andrew. It took me some time to get into the nuances of the play and to the subtleties of how Andrew plays the different characters. But once I did I soon settled in and began to enjoy this tremendously. It's a masterplay of sublime storytelling and character development done through clever stage design and character identification through use of personal effects as well as Andrew's acting abilities. His portrayal of the female characters is particularly impressive, as they are often depicted by men as overly effeminate. There are a number of female characters and he gives them their own personalities and makes them feel believable in their own unique ways. The play was a joy to watch and I felt that it was a privilege to watch it. There is no doubt that Andrew deserves the highest respect and praise for his performance in this play.
3 Body Problem (2024)
I'm used to weird but it has to make sense?
I'm in my late 60's and love sci-fi, books, films and tv. I was looking forward to this because of the pedigree of production and writing and also acting crew from GOT. This has got to be one to watch. I was even prepared for it to be weird with a fair amount to be expected not to be explained and revealed later. What I wasn't prepared for was the video game element by an alien race that doesn't understand the concept of lying that is doing just that, while travelling over 400 years to get to earth from a dying planet to destroy the earth for humanity so as to keep it for the aliens. These aliens call themselves Lord and revealed themselves to humanity in the Wow signal, and told us not to respond as if we did we would regret it. And it all seems to being coordinated from the UK which is completely bizarre and not the USA! Story in a nutshell. It's a bit like Monty Python does alien invasion. And where does the flashing countdown come from if the aliens are 400 years away? Too much of a disconnect between what should and shouldn't be possible even for fantasy sci-fi.
The Dropout (2022)
Imagine bluffing something this big?
I started watching this show and also watched the documentary about Elizabeth Holmes. The real Elizabeth is far more scary and surreal than that portrayed in the show.
Just imagine what it takes having the brass tacks to lie to everyone and not give any second thought about the people they were taking blood from and hurting. People were being hurt and dying. Amanda gave a very credible performance as Elizabeth. She shows how easy it was to wrap powerful men around her little finger. The show gave a credible story about Theranos although skipping the technical details especially the actual testing kits and how they were dropped by Walgreens.
It's apparent I think that Elizabeth has some serious behavioural issues that render her incapable of empathy and this is portrayed by Amanda wonderfully. The physical appearance between the two women is very similar especially in the eyes and as they say, eyes are the windows to the soul, this is perhaps how she managed to sell herself so well to elderly men who parted company with millions to invest in her and Theranos.
And Then There Were None (2015)
The best adaptation I've seen
I've seen quite a few screen adaptations and many have been played for laughs. For me this one was the perfect adaptation. Each character was played to perfection and not over the top with any performance. There was no individual character confessions which I seem in other screen adaptations, instead individual characters were able to give as much or as little about themselves and their backgrounds as they wanted.
It was up to the audience to decide what they thought about each character and their own motivations. The tone of the drama was very different to other films that made it more more interesting and serious. It was a perfect adaptation and even though I knew the story it was done well and by the book.
The ABC Murders (2018)
Modern adaptation which misses the mark
I'm not adverse to modern adaptations providing that they follow the story and spirit of the original. The trouble is there has been so many excellent adaptations that it's almost impossible to follow them, maybe and this one is no exception. Every cast member is miscast. John Malkovich can't produce a Belgian accent to save his skin. And Rupert Grint just can't act, even now. He got lucky with Ron Weasley, but as this role demanded little acting skills, he obviously hasn't developed any further.
The tone is dark and uncharacteristically Christie, pitting Poirot against Crome. Poirots vanity is overplayed and Crome's hostility towards him is exaggerated. I'm not sure about Poirots supposed back story, being an invention and not from the original Author herself.
The Fall of the House of Usher (2023)
An homage to Poe
Not an adaptation as many have pointed out, the Fall of the House of Usher is rather a modern nod to the old master of poetic horror. In this version the main character has sold his soul or a version of it, on condition that his offspring die before him and his sister. This they do, in quick order, in various gruesome ways unique to their own characteristics.
Their father, being a promiscuous man, had a number of affairs which produced illegitimate children. All perished in horrible, terrible and delightful ways. Each episode is given to the demise of an offspring under the various names of Poes literary writings, and themed according, eg Maske of the Red Death, The Raven etc. I thought this was inspired as while it references Poe, his poetry is used throughout the episodes which lends a gothic tone to an otherwise modern production.
The tone of the series is often light sometimes comedic, which juxtaposes the upcoming tragedy that is about to befall the family. The dark moments are very dark and happen more towards the end of the series as events leading up to this moment begin to be explained. This is a series of events about the price one man agrees to pay for success.
There's nevermore.
The Last Rifleman (2023)
A slow burn that gets slower
Based on a true story of Bernard Jordan, whose life was portrayed by Michael Caine in the Great Escaper. In this story the rifleman is called Artie Crawford, played by Pearce Brosnan, 007 himself.
The pace is slow and seems to get slower as the film goes on. Pearce is in his 70's so has to be aged to make him appear 20 years older, which takes some doing. He's very emotional throughout the film, constantly on the verge of tears and isn't in the best of health, having a couple of health scares on his journey to France. He's plagued by guilt over something he's done in the past regarding his best friend's girl.
The film makers take some liberties with the story which deviate from true life, specifically around his wife and her death before he departs for Normandy. Having seen the Great Escaper, I found myself comparing the two films and these little differences were annoying. I found The Great Escaper the better film by far.
Because Artie was so emotional, he was constantly moaning and it made it difficult to empathise with him, and he mumbled a lot. In retrospect, it would have been better to get a 90 year old to play the role.
The film was made to invoke and rely on emotion and sentiment rather than substance.
The Marvels (2023)
It's the end of an era
Unfortunately if you haven't got Disney plus and you don't keep to speed with the tv series, then you this movie won't make much sense as it relies on you knowing what's going on in that universe so far, which I'm not up to date with and involves the Miss Marvels characters which haven't been introduced in the movies. Confusing.
I had hoped that following Guardians 3 it could've get much worse for the Marvel universe, at least Guardians has Rocket😂
It's hard to find any plot to this movie. Carol Danvers (Captain Marvel) does throw a lot of people through the roof but the plot is a quantum entanglement mess. The movie is blissfully short but feels longer as it's so bad and some people walked out of the theatre. I was so pleasantly when it ended.
I think it's about to retire the whole Marvel superhero franchise as this phase is going badly.
Shakespeare's Globe: Henry V (2013)
Excellent staged performance
I love these staged productions that also include the audience and this is one that completely does that. The actors talk to the audience and also come out of the audience at times creating constant dynamic with the audience. The audience is right up to the stage and the live performance benefits from this interaction.
I saw this as part of the Shakespeare 400 anniversary presentation on the BBC so didn't see it live but in my living room many years after the event. However nothing was lost on me, and I still enjoyed the performance and marvelled at the quality of authorship of Shakespeare and how he can manipulate the audience at all levels and have them eating out of his hands.
Writing at a time when there was no encyclopaedia or accurate historical accounts, Shakespeares historical plays are propaganda for the masses and gave him his celebrated status with the monarchy.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Body (2001)
Everything that everyone has said plus some
I saw this episode around the time I lost my own mother. 22 years later I'm rewatching both Buffy and have now lost my dad as well.. I've discovered that the thing about death is that memories don't disappear or diminish. The memories I have of the moments of my parents death are as vivid as they were at the time they happened. This episode is priceless as it shows us people in pain and grief who don't know how to react to their loss from the slayer to the powerful witches and ex-demon who displays the most vulnerable human emotions. I cried throughout this rewatch, it was almost too painful to bear as we each of us witness again the lives lost. A powerful episode of human love and loss.
Das Boot: Nichts Persönliches (2023)
This was so tragic I couldn't breathe!
We've lived through 4 seasons of Das Boot and the ups and downs of Klaus Hoffman and the U-boat crews. We know in our heart of hearts that the war goes badly for the Germans, but he's got incredible courage and integrity and we are rooting for him to bring about a negotiated peace and we want him to succeed and come out stronger at the end. But he's our tragic hero, bound to his fate from the beginning and even though his efforts and justification is good, there's too much going against him. His star is doomed in a nation marked for defeat. I watched this last episode totally relishing the deaths of those who deserved to die and marvelled at the character development of Hanna whose story was equally heroic. I was totally shocked and devastated that our hero met a hero's fate, cowardly as it was, at the hands of an Italian assassin. He knew what was coming, that was the worst, and when it was over I felt numb as if all we had watched had been for nothing. But I guess that's the truth about war, it's pointless. Rick Oken played a brilliant role and he looked so young, so much to live for as Klaus. I will miss Das Boot it's been a first rate drama since its release.
The Great Escaper (2023)
Proud to be English, don't change the past
This is one of those films where it feels good to be able to express pride in the history of this country. It feels good to see a film that exemplifies this and honours Bernard and the veterans who fought in the war and follows his journey to France to commemorate the D day landings. It's poignant that it was Glenda Jackson's last film and also a reminder that this remarkable generation is aging and their lifetime experiences and sacrifices are being remembered.
I appreciated the film although felt that it didn't truly reflect the past appropriately in dress and language. Modern attitudes towards use of swear words and also different racial groups at the time were different during the period.
Another thing is the portrayal of the care home, I've been in lots of care homes and never seen one like this before where people can have twin rooms and the staff actually care and talk to their residents!
Don't let us change how we see and feel about the past and this generation as it's only 80 years ago.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Subspace Rhapsody (2023)
You don't need gimmicks to tell a good story
If you have good writers, and producers and directors, you don't need to resort to gimmicks like musical shows or animation to pull storylines back into place. TOS, TNG did these things very well without resorting to gimmickry or tricks. The show is trying to do what TOS did but unsuccessfully as the family of characters is too big and doesn't gel in the same way.
The second season has been a mishmash of episodes and has treated characters bizarrely, most notably Spock, Vulcans, Chapel and the killer doctor M'benga. It's tried to restore the Spock/Chapel relationship status quo with this episode but has failed leaving a sour Spock. The killer doctor is unresolved. There's a penchant for explaining every character's background story, even going back to TOS where they were unexplained such as Uhura. Some things were left for a reason. SNW is fast becoming another failed Star Trek series for me.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Under the Cloak of War (2023)
There's going to be consequences
A killer doctor who has pledged to do no harm, who has covered up his past and present crimes and who has lied about it to his Captain and friend. A whiter than white nurse who is complicit in his crimes who we thought we knew and loved has also lied to cover up the doctors crimes, oh dear me, this is not the Star Trek we know.
Truth will come out, facts will be unearthed and M'bemga will be revealed as the murderer he is. I suspect that this will pave the way for others to take over the role of CMO including Leonard McCoy eventually.
The federation is far from being the more advanced society enabled to turn itself around after wars have ended. We have seen shades of this in DS9, but this is more brutal and violent. I'm not sure that Pike was taken in by M'bemgas explanation. He didn't seem sure.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Those Old Scientists (2023)
Not as funny as the reviews suggest
The premise is that the crew from lower decks find a portal and at that exact same time the crew of the Enterprise are at the exact same portal and trigger it so that Boimler travels back in time to the Enterprise! I know Star Trek is scientifically implausible but this is almost scientifically impossible. The interplay between the characters lacked any chemistry or emphathy as the Enterprise crew haven't built up any chemistry with each other or their audience. They are just too new. The relationship between Spock and Chapel is just so wrong that it takes Boimler to point this out. We meet Orions for the first time.
In my opinion a failed episode relying solely upon the quirkiness of Lower Decks/ SNW crossover. It added nothing to the overall story and Pike looks increasingly uncomfortable in his role as Captain.
Better crossover episodes have been made more effectively especially Trials and Tribbleations, which is funny. Using animation at the beginning and ending added nothing except the perceived physical effects of alcohol on the Enterprise crew.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Charades (2023)
Star Trek canon just hasn't been ignored it's been blown out of the water
It might seem like a fun episode but the subject matter of the fun is Vulcans and their behaviour. Spocks mother would never behave in the way she did to outsiders in this way and the way she behaved to her spouse is just not right. Spock and T'prings behaviour to one another is unacceptable in Vulcan society even with Spock being half human. His behaviour was set in TOS and the films which SNW has just blown up by setting up a new relationship with Chapel which didn't exist before. We all know that Vulcans mate every 7 years and this has started another precedent and made a mockery of Vulcan society.
Don't get me wrong canon is meant to be for reference rather than set in stone but when an established culture is made fun of like this, it makes you wonder why?
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow (2023)
Another episode that didn't really happen!
An episode that happens entirely in another timeline that has no bearing on the current events in the Enterprise Pike timeline. It's a La'an, Kirk centric episode where Kirk is from an alternate timeline. La'an is sent there by a temporal agent to protect the timeline from hostile elements and forms a bond with alternate Kirk.
It's a pretty weak storyline that pairs two unlikely characters with very little chemistry and charisma between them. La'an is a damaged individual with a chip on her shoulder and Kirk is far from the character we've come to know from the Shatner/Pine portrayals. There's no personal connection that comes through and it's a long boring episode between two strained strangers. It's only at the end that the episode starts to get going but not enough to redeem itself.
Don't Worry Darling (2022)
Better than the Reviews
I went into this without any expectations not having seen any trailers or reviews. The premise seemed interesting and the look and feel of the film was very stylish 1950's vibe with strong themes and music. The whole thing had a very Stepford Wives feel and was a slow burner which kind of kept you guessing.
The mysterious world where the men disappear into during the day couldn't be questioned by the wives who lived their domestic goddess lives supporting their husbands.
Florence Pugh is brilliant as the questioning wife who sees through the veneer of a perfect world. Harry Styles is passable as her loving husband, and even more so as the alternate tech junkie husband keeping his wife wired up to the machine.
The two worlds are in great contrast to each other and it does leave you asking which world would you choose. A perpetual theme of great sci-fi. A nicely done film.