Reviews

This tv adaptation of the talented Mr Ripley has been filmed in a Hitchcock style in black and white around the cities and countryside of Italy. Obviously having Andrew Scott in it has a great appeal. However, it starts slow, very slow and actually Scott's Ripley isn't very likeable. I wondered why spend hours watching this when I could watch the film? In fact initially Ripley really has so little appeal and I was wondering if this might be a different spin on the plot where he isn't talented? Keep watching though it is immensely enjoyable once you get into it. Without spoiling anything you may watch astounded at some of the characters (policemen) and their laziness or bad luck, yet it slowly spins a plot and spins faster towards an ending. You will be satisfied by the ending and the cameo by a former Ripley. So indulge and be patient, travel to Italy and get unexplainable wealth.

A funeral worker befriends an orphaned boy whose mum he may or may not have known. The future is a depressing state, food vans are being robbed and taken to the Kitchen which looks like a slightly futuristic version of the Top Boy estate. The inhabitants of the Kitchen aren't supposed to be there and not sure whether it's their criminal behaviour or future laws that are the reasons for police raids. Ian Wright is a pirate radio host, maybe the police are simply disgruntled Spurs fans? Either way while there is a bit of a plot around protecting the kid from the wrong crowd it simply drifts along with no real point. At the end there are just lots of questions and no answers. The biggest question is what was that all about?

The All Stars are all former contestants and here in a remote villa to find love. Typically Love Island contestants haven't known each other before entering so there are games and tests to get them to know each other. This time there are lots of issues where the contestants do know each other. However this has backfired as it simply makes this unwatchable. Games are rare and all that is left are lots of sad and uncomfortable situations with a few arguments from engineered situations that the producers create. Anyone viewing this for even the shortest of moments will realise that these are puppets who are being manipulated with very little chance of building a real relationship. The villa technically is a prison, the conversation has to remain away from real things, only gossip seems to be allowed and each time someone might be forming a strong bond the production team steps in to try and destroy it. Added to this some of those in the villa simply can't do relationships. This inevitably leads to a social media outcry and backlash. A final tragedy is that the viewers are given the chance to vote and leaves to even more painful situations where exes are coupled together or couples voted off. Overall it becomes very sad and almost cruel to watch.

This film is so dull and drags on for so long with sad faces, dreary conversations set in an empty set of modern flats. There's lots of moody looks and slowly it pieces together a tragedy. Is he lonely? Is he losing his mind? Is this a dull parody of the sixth sense? Quite frankly after half an hour who cares just end it here. For those who want to go through a couple of hours of pain the one good point was the mum trying to get her head around the modern world but other than that there's no action points no warmth just an actors guild performance of a modern day Shakespearean tragedy and if that's your thing then maybe you should watch it. People may argue depth but these films that have conversations with hushed voices through set on an empty grey world that is so incredibly dull they should be made illegal.

Ask any kid about their parents dating and they will probably say it's cringe. So technically this program has opted for mostly parents in their 50s where there kids are older. Mostly they've given their everything to parenting and these kids so now it's time for themselves. The kids seem eager for their parents to date someone who will be able to love and care for their parents. As a twist they have control over their parents choice of partner and there to give their approval. The positives is that this is real people and a good opportunity for them to meet similar people. None of them are 50 somethings who've let themselves go but they just need a little help. The kids are all young adults and seem nice. When dating as parents it's often hard, meeting people is difficult, meeting good people is even harder and doing the right thing for your family is extremely challenging. Giving these parents this opportunity is great, but giving the kids such power seems a little unfair. They've had their parents and now all going about their own lives, their parents should need to restart without being judged. The program really misses the opportunity to make this a bit more. It's very low budget and given how glam these programs can be it seems a bit sad they can't escape their kids and be enjoying a bit of sun and flirting with some real experts. With the country house setting it almost feels like they are over emphasising that they are older and less fun.

One of Adam Sandlers' finest works with plenty of jokes and cheesy humour, sadly it's typically unfunny and just a bit sad. We've seen a sad pathetic lead male in almost all of his movies and it is just getting painful to watch. Nina Dobrev is beautiful but sadly can't save this. Pierce Brosnan delivers the only funny bit with a reference to his Bond days. And that's it. The plot is okay you can see some shimmers that someone thought about the robberies and get aways, but it's constantly overlaid with cheese and goofs. I was honestly hoping Pierce Brosnan would suddenly realise he is above all this and shoot the lead actor announcing the movie is over. Please save yourself the pain and watch Goldeneye or Vampire Diaries instead.

Half set in a prison in the US and half set in a vicarage in the UK.

Great idea to mix and cross over between the two stories and some fab dialogue and ideas. Instantly I was a fan and captivated.

Stanley Tucci is amazing and everyone in the US is amazing such a great set of characters so easy to watch them.

The UK starts strong and then it all goes a bit wobbly. Stupid conversations and decisions keep happening in the vicarage. Then the US side comes back and you want to forgive the poor scripting choices in the UK. Sometimes is dumb and predictable next it's just people being stupid and just so far off whack.

Just four episodes? Yes but such a rubbish ending. Did they run out of time? Big annoying hole at the end. Maybe there's a sequel?

David Tennant was good in general but only wish he'd said nobody would do that. Albeit I love the bit where they complain murder requires so much admin.

My wife loves Magic Mike and given this was released on Valentines Day it seemed like a ideal night out for her at our fancy cinema, Tivoli. I was assured that this was more of a romantic film this time around. In the plot poor Mike has been bankrupted during the pandemic and given up his dream of making furniture to become a barman. Working an event he bumps into a former Magic Mike customer who tells the rich party organiser played by Salma Hayek of his former stripping tricks. In one of the most uncomfortable conversations ever she asks him to perform a private dance for her. He obliges with a very seductive dance and blows her mind. In doing so she decides to hire him and take him to London to direct a theatre project. The plot is pretty good and you can see that having his own west end shows has inspired this film and the choreography. They are a very talented bunch, like predecessors it's all a bit loosely arranged for bringing half naked men to the cinema. Her daughter, the driver, council lady and theatres leading lady all add to making this a fun and enjoyable romance. The bus choreography was funny and clever. I couldn't get past Salma Hayek being Channing's love interest, she is considerably older and yet as a romance it seemed okay but not heart melting. However the genius moment in this film was the dance sequence with Channing and Kylie Shea. Adding this showed that it can be for everyone, the choreography was unbelievable, sexy and very imaginative. I am sure that adding a woman to the show made the dancing far more sexy due to the chemistry than the other routines. Definitely worth watching, it may not be Notting Hill, but it has thought about evolving the original Magic Mike to be more watchable for everyone.

Oh dear when an actor is 64 and it says 24 years before therefore he's supposed to be 40? I just couldn't get past it, in this episode the plot is good but neither of the main actors look any different than 60 year olds with dodgy wigs and prosthetics. Two decent younger actors would have made this much better than trying to dress up the main ones.

They say it makes no difference what order you watch these in so maybe that's why they can't risk using different actors. Either way unless you watch this one first you are going to be wondering what is wrong with his face all the way through This episode.

I thought I'd have guessed the plot before watching as a reworking of Motörhead's Eat the Rich in film form. However, it was much better than that. There's enough suspense and plot, people may whinge at the customer's lack of fight, but they represent the rich and spineless. So it is no surprise the various twists that they are so easily taken hostage. When you take into account that at all points throughout you can see hope and hopelessness all at the same time battling away. The can we can't we and the failures keep them down and chastened. The heroism is missing and this isn't a plot spoiler it simply is obvious from the beginning. More the questions will come up as the plot unfolds. So relax with a glass of Sancerre or Chablis and don't try to think about it too much, just relax and see where it goes. Which of them if any will survive and if so how will all be revealed as the courses are served. I am sure you will find Ralph Fiennes to be delectable and Anya Taylor Joy delicious.

So it's a great concept, put a group of strangers in a stately home and get them to do tasks for money. One group are faithfuls so they feel all self righteous while some are forced to be traitors. The traitors need to carefully murder people in the night without being suspected as a traitor. This is done by a nightly meeting/witch-hunt around a table every evening. There are two flaws and these are traditional to most games like this. Firstly there's the hated protections the producers put in to fix the results. This works by letting everyone be eliminated as per the format and then one person gets singled out who can't be allowed to be subjected to these rules. It's been used in everything from X factor to Big Brother, but suddenly turns a fair and fun competition into an absolute farce. Producers should not interfere, it doesn't add drama it just makes the program into a fix. Maybe the person in question is likeable/hateable maybe they are an actor the show bought in and can't be eliminated because they are being fed information by the producers. Either way, it should stop. Have confidence in the cast delivering the format to the rules. Second fault is similar to the first, a good idea was to add the option of seduction to the traitors this increases the chance of the traitors winning if someone joins. It's not a fault but giving people the choice was never going to work as the traitors are hated by the pious faithfuls. So by having the choice they are naturally going to refuse, so why allow them the choice, again it probably goes back to the original flaw. The fact that they have recruited an actor who is being paid to be faithful and influence the group according to the producers decisions.

The stunts, the action, the comedy, the morals and the characters are all over the top and cringy. Just unbearable to watch at times. I was hoping for some great Wonder Woman plot in 1980s setting. What I got is a huge fistful of morals at 1000 miles an hour.

Can we not just do a great action film with great characters and an interesting plot. It's surely a good start having Wonder Woman but like these reviews we now have to keep writing rubbish until we reach the right amount of characters, yet I still haven't and made my point in the first paragraph, so if you are still reading this you will know how it feels to be watching WW84.

So initially the idea is a good one. Dead daughter and one episode focused on each character.

The flaw is it's dumb and unrealistic. Yes anyone who loses a family member wants answers and is probably going to do some stupid stuff to get them. Seems they have brainstormed every stupid decision and decided to make that the plot. Yet there's no consequence. If the main character is as unhinged as they are making out, his superiors in the police don't show up at any point to help him or stop him messing with crime scenes, stealing evidence and many more issues. If anything they aren't investigating his daughters death at all. The potential crime bosses and big bad guy suspects are all quite nice and happy to be beaten up without any need for reprisals. They work very much alone and quite open about their crimes and reach, obviously never fallen for anyone having a wire or recording device.

Unfortunately this is just another crime drama that fills out the tv schedule. It's a shame as it has some great casting of lesser known actors while the big named stars offer characters with no appeal.

Quite honestly I would like to see these crime dramas all cut to snappy 3 part series, with real villains, proper plausible plots and a big ending.

There's a good start and plot core is okay. However after a while it takes a massive transition of the something is happening in space to the world is doomed. Every disaster movie all in one. About as plausible as the film with Nazis on the moon. Literally no survivors are likely unless you are a main character. Be a stepdad to someone's kids and you are dead... this is where I dislike disaster movies, an impossible jump, a tidal wave, no air, no gravity, drive a bit, fly in the right plane...all this just makes me so disappointed in these films. All this said great acting from all the key characters and some good moments. Just wish it hadn't done the usual American disaster scenes.

Two young attractive people forced into a real fake marriage. They get married to suit practical reasons rather than love. Rather than get along in any way they see it as an excuse to actively try and distance themselves. Other than that they seem like great people, she's a singer and he's in the forces. Even when he gets injured it's all arguments. I actually quite liked the main song. The plot is very hallmark and while I like romance this was just too frustrating. Something to watch when you have run out of similar films.

This is another film that is filmed in Absolute Dark Vision. When it is dark in a forest we understand it is night, but by making it so dark you can't see what is going on is infuriating. No mood is added, it just makes you stop watching until it gets back to normal. It seems to be a trend that is ruining films and tv.

On this film I am confused by our Predators choice of hunting ground. His predecessors probably faced the greatest civilisations of Europe, Africa and Asia. While this one decided America was the place to be. They still have arrows and spears, so in gamer terms he is playing the EASY level? Bar the odd angry mammal it will be easy, just throw a holy hand grenade at a rabbit and boom job done and back to Camelot...sorry wrong film. There is no humour in this film though, we get that predators like to hunt, but the obsession with America is a little dull. At that time in history, maybe upset some of the other civilisations. He is after all invisible, with a bulletproof shield and host of grizzly weapons able to face anything at that time.

It is a nice idea, plot and some good characters (I liked the bear) and great fights (those you can actually see), so it is definitely worth watching. It has sparked some interest across the reviews for similar historic battles. Maybe somewhere else on the planet will get a look in...?

This story has 2 sides, personal life battles as shown through flashbacks and survival in the wild. As you may get from other reviews the flashbacks are loved or hated. The reflection of past problems is highlighted as she struggles to survive in the wild. This is there to explain who she is and why she is there. Whether you like her as a person or not is down to whether you are empathetic to someone making bad life choices. The survival story has decisions on what to do, some may be good and some bad. There's a few 20 something these days in the woods would not make any good decisions in this situation. Therefore is it unrealistic writing or a true reflection of someone of this type in this situation. Hence you will find there are a lot of great and terrible reviews. If you just want something not too heavy to watch and not going to analyse it too hard it's not too bad. I did feel there were some parts that were a bit stupid...you can decide as you go along, but I'll give you some that jumped out... 1. Don't get on a plane with strange men 2. If someone is dead, take their clothes 3. Bears do not poo by lakes, it is well known they do their business in the woods 4. Fresh water may contain bacteria but if you are willing to try poisonous berries you are probably not likely to be boiling fresh running water.

So that's my review, does she survive? Will she wait next time she needs to get a flight somewhere? Does she kill and eat that bear and find his secret stash of picnic baskets? You might as well watch it to find out.

Fabulous sites of Bath and England, with the wonderful Henry Golding. His acting and mannerisms bring life to an otherwise disappointing film.

Dakota has the occasional facial expressions and Richard E Grant plays an excellent neglectful father. Yet characters don't appear to have any likability and as such it drags, only brightened when Henry drops in.

Maybe if you like period dramas this might be delightful.

There's loads of clean super heroes out there living to be the best they can and saving the world.

The Boys takes the same idea and then counteracts this with them having egos and superiority complexes. The questions that are never asked in real super hero movies like what happens to those who die as collateral damage when a super hero intervenes. How are they held accountable for their actions?

The first scene takes in an accident where Hughie's girlfriend is killed by a superhero as he is heading somewhere. From here on we learn how little they really care about people and how they are self obsessed.

There's loads of shock and gore and swearing. Absolutely not for kids, it's so wrong in so many places. However it really is a great series with fantastic characters, captivating plot and some excellent ideas.

Music similar to Vangellis, synthetic beings and emotions. It feels like Blade Runner, but without action, epic lines, futuristic worlds and people hunting synthetics.

So what is left? There's a great cast. They really do discuss relationships between people and synthetics a lot, lots of moody moments and things to ponder. However, unlike other romantic films I didn't really care if they got together. Zoe whether a real person or synthetic is physically beautiful, but the conversation between her and Ewan McGregors character is all whispery and lacking in flirtatiousness. Was this meant to be? If so she played it perfectly, but either way the romance is neither here nor there. There's no action so overall this film is just a bit long and odd.

In one aspect this is Jurassic Park for kids. But the kids on it are all stupid and their stupidity comes with no consequences. They wander Jurassic Park exploring freely, there's plenty of jeopardy as they take risks in every episode.

Too much teenager talking for young kids and not enough real danger for teenagers. Just needs to pick who they're pitching to.

The great thing about Jurassic Park normally is people getting eaten. In this the kids should have been dinosaur breakfast in every episode.