Reviews

We had high hopes for this TV series as it all started so well, and in the main it had potential throughout at the series does a fine job avoiding the usual ex-soviet style buildings in the background.

Sadly, what potential it had (and has) is lost through the series with long drawn out episodes that take a long time to 'get to the point'. For example, action scenes.

The series is reminiscent of 'Major Grom', Russian made film which again had a lot of potential but is lost with long drawn out scenes.

I wanted to like this series and it gave it a fair try... but it took until the end of episode 4 until is started to get interesting.

If you're looking for an enthralling TV series that draws you in, then give this a miss... there are better TV series out there, such as 'The Glory'.

5 out of 10.

We are fast becoming Korean TV fans and The King's Affection (or the The Emperor's Affection as its called on Netflix) is another shining example of the quality being produced in Korea.

Gentle, powerful and romantic suit this series well and midway through we were keenly waiting for that moment in the evening when we could sit down and watch it together.

It is a surprisingly long series with episode lasting approximately 1 hour 10 minutes.. meaning there is almost 24 hours of back to back watching here.

The main downsides came from it taking a while for me to get into it... almost episode 10, whereas my wife was hook after episode 1.

The frequent long pauses between two characters who romantically like each other also gets a little two much, with 30 seconds to 1 minute spent recounting how 'she' felt into 'hit' arms and their eyes meet. It works well the first few times... but after a while I was rolling my eyes each time.

That said, its an excellent series and the last episode brought it to a wonderful.. and surprisingly close.

Highly recommended for viewers who enjoy romantic period dramas. 8 out of 10!

The Koreans are producing some exceptional TV shows and films and Extraordinary Attorney Woo is yet another shining example of this!

From the music, to the humour... the written script and storyline all of it is done extremely well and the result is a gentle, humorous TV series of an extraordinary attorney with autism who deals with cases, family and work colleague in a thoroughly enjoyable way.

I have become quite the Korean TV series fan since watching this and 'The Glory', the quirkiness of these series adds to the delight of watching one adding something which western TV series often miss.

Well done Team Korea Extraordinary Attorney Woo is outstanding and comes highly recommended. A thoroughly deserved 10 out of 10!

American TV take note. The Koreans are producing some outstanding films and TV shows and The Glory is a shining example of this.

This is the first Korean TV series my wife has seen and with the last episode still to play out, she is already a fan of them.

The Glory achieves exactly what you want from a TV show like this... something you look forward to watching at the end of a busy day. It's so engaging that we have been watching 2 to 3 episodes each night, with almost no distraction from our mobile/cells phone.

The story its self has several levels to it and goes deeper than what I was expecting... and where I would normally expect a twist (had it been an American series) The Glory show catches me off guard by playing out exactly as it should do.

The sole reason for removing 1 star is it does feel a little drawn out at times, but oddly, it also works as at no time did I feel bored watching it.

As a result The Glory comes Highly Recommended!

Keep Breathing is a series which could have been so much better, the Netflix trail looked great and suggested a thrilling watch ahead.

However, after reaching the heady milestone of episode 3 I've given up as it was starting to feel akin to wading through treacle.

The problem is it has all been done before with a predictable story/script: 1. A plane crashes killing the pilot and taking what survival equipment there is down into the lake with it 2. The survivor has no significant injuries 3. Being in the American wilderness, the story writers introduce the audience to a grizzly bear predictably showing up 4. The plane was carrying something more than legal cargo onboard

Unfortunately, Keep Breathing falls over in several places which could, or perhaps should have been avoided. I thought Melissa Barrera was poorly cast for the role as I never felt any empathy for her situation.

The series it suffers from what many other American series suffer from: Perfect makeup and hair despite the fact the sole survivor repeatedly returns to the submerged plane to retrieve equipment.

Up until I quit the series (at episode 3) there is very little in the way of a survival story. Instead, the script writers chose to fill the story with flashbacks which are so mind-numbingly boring, I kept fast forwarding through them.

I wanted to like the series, but instead all I can say is... avoid it.

This is a gripping documentary and one that comes highly recommended.

The key person was a State Beautify Queen, a woman who appeared on Americas' Wheel of Fortune (yes, the game show) and a devoted mother, but this all changed in ways I didn't see coming.

There is actual archive footage of the woman's ex-partner speaking with the police, concerned about the well-being of his children... and then... just as you feel you have a good idea of what's happening... it gets worse!.

Skye Borgman the director of the documentary has done it again, producing another interesting and bizarre story I knew nothing about and its fascinating.

Highly recommended!

Well I never saw this coming! I put Invincible (2021) on, on a whim... as it's available on Prime Video and I'm glad I did as I was hooked.

With an original publication date in 2003, Invincible isn't well known superhero nor his father Omni-Man, so the series was a learning curve for me... learning who they are, their backgrounds and broadly everything else!

The series is a mix between comic book action and adult themed gruesome detail... and it's fantastic! You never really know who is going to survive in the series... and unlike the characteristic 'its a superhero comic/series so nothing bad will happen'... well, it sometimes does and no one is there to rescue them.

It's this keeping you on edge together with a brilliant storyline that led me to watch 2 to 3 episodes at once.

The only downside is I now have to wait for the next season... still... that's a good thing too as it's not over yet!

8 out of 10. If you like animation, superheroes and over 18 themed TV... then give this a watch. Brilliant!

The Shack is a mixed bag for me.

On the one hand it's a gentle film with a feelgood theme to it, but as a father to a little girl myself I could understand the anger and upset portrayed by Sam Worthington's character.

Remove the religious element from the film and you have a movie which doesn't attempt to resolve the dreadful act of the little girl's abduction, but instead attempts to deal with the hurt such a heinous act has upon a family.

In this instance, the blame, anger and guilt the father carries blinds him to the pain and guilt his oldest daughter is going through.

I decided to hold off from this review until I had time to reflect on it more, and the message I gained from the film is 'don't hold onto anger and guilt, it not only holds you back from moving forward but blinds you all else around you'

For this reason the film should be applauded, but the lack of a resolution for his daughters abduction is a bitter pill to swallow.

6 out of 10 from me.

Like him or not Denzel Washington has been typecast to playing the same role:

• Man On Fire (2004)
• The Equalizer (2014)
• The Equalizer 2 (2018)

All of them are great though and all the films, including Book of Eli I enjoyed.

If you like Denzel then give this a try.

7 out of 10.

Well I watched every episode... and for this alone the question must be asked: Why?

It made no sense at all and as usual Japanese flare for anime was lopsided and... weird.

Alas, anime has its fan base and the devoted few who congregate around these reviews will no doubt mark it down.

Nevertheless, it was terrible.

A generous 3 out of 10.

An interesting documentary which shows (in brief) the role of the Sherpa and the dangers they face.

Sickening though is the 'Western' attitude displayed by those in this documentary toward the Sherpas.

6 out of 10. It's 'ok' but not great.

I'm not entirely sure Alan Cummings was the right presenter for this series. He is ok, but I didn't enjoy his presentation style it was a little too effeminate and 'put on'.

That said he does show some interesting sites in London, although an awful is missed and in a city with such a rich history it's a shame.

6 out of 10.

Almost all people want that perfect body, but this documentary really proves the saying 'everything in moderation'.

Watching the documentary I found myself liking Ronnie Coleman. He seems a decent person who pushed himself to be the very best possible....

.... but it appears to have come at a price.

5 out of 10. An interesting watch.

I enjoy the Resident Evil films and I enjoy animation so the two seem a good match, and yet somehow they made a porridge of this.

It's ok, but given how much effort goes into the animation one would expect an equally good storyline... and yet it isn't.

It seems more effort was put into getting the hair right than anything else.

3 out of 10. It's not worth a watch.

A shocking documentary which I didn't think would have been possible had I not watched it.

He broke no laws but just because a law doesn't exist for this type of immoral behaviour doesn't make it any less heinous, not least because he had medical issues himself ruling him out from being a donor.

As a documentary it was 'ok' but a little too long.

7 out of 10. It's worth a watch.

Love, Death & Robots is rather odd series consisting of random animated stories of no more than 20 minutes in length.

However, odd though it may be the quirkiness and storylines vary so much that there is something to please everyone.

The main thing I enjoyed was just how different the animation was with each new episode. The detail in some of them is incredible and it's clear a lot of time was put in getting them right.

Overall, I enjoyed the series.

7 out of 10.

BBC productions are usually quite good, but in this instance The Drowning is not only too long and drawn out, but they try to be too clever with it.

Two episodes would have been enough and the back & forth of trying to convince us the boy is... and isn't her son was over done.

The end result is a mess with a rather silly yet expected conclusion.

5 out of 10. It's not worth watching.

Not laugh out loud funny but Ricky rightly touches on all the over sensitive topics that offend a woke minority these days.

It may not be one of Ricky's best, but this is a lot better than 'Jimmy Carr: His Dark Material' where Ricky demonstrates how to be raw and on-edge.

An enjoyable watch and being an hour in length it felt long enough.

6 out of 10.

Bone Tomahawk is currently available for Free on Prime Video.

Saying a 'little' film always feels condescending, but it isn't long and there isn't a large number of actors in it. The story is also straightforward so it feels almost fair to say this is a great little film!

Marked as a Horror the film is certainly unexpected and at times gruesome. It's also (refreshingly) a Western - two genres that are rarely mixed - and it works really well.

I enjoyed this throughout and the ending was great.

7 out of 10.

The trailer is the film... or to word it another way, the films trailer contains what few highlights there are in this film

So little happens that it's difficult to write a long review.

Zac Efron is in it, and his star appeal will no doubt attract audiences, but he adds nothing to the dry story and dialogue.

In short, Gold is a story of survival and betrayal protecting a large nugget of gold.... and that's it.

2 out of 10: One to Avoid.

I'm not a Star Trek fan but I did enjoy The Next Generation in the 90's. So it would be fair to say I was looking forward to Picard.

However, the Jean-Luc Picard I came to know has aged and his dialogue is often feeble and too long. The effect was less a man who was once Captain of a Starship and more an elderly man bemoaning the frailties of life.

The storyline for Season 2 was good and I enjoyed how it all came together at the end.

My biggest complaint though is the same with all of Star Trek, there is too much talking and very little interesting action.

I ended up fast forwarding through most the later episodes in Season 2... particularly Picards ramblings and constant dwelling back to his Châteaux and mother (yawn!).

It was good to see a cameo from Will Wheaton and I delighted in the return of the mighty Q

6 out of 10 from me.

I'm surprised to find myself somewhat positive am about this film, namely because it's a typical American 'funny' film.

By this I mean basic humour.... and large parts of the script are just this, garbled pointless talk seeking a joke line, but look past this and there is a reasonable storyline with the occasional gem of humour.

A Million Ways To Die In The West isn't a movie to sit down for as a good Saturday night watch, but it is ok.

Seth MacFarlane, Charlize Theron and Liam Neeson all played their parts well.

Basic with a lot of banal script, but potentially worth a watch if only to kill some time.

4 out of 10.

The Contractor is a well trodden story of a man with a particular set of deadly, covert skills to achieve an objective in a fast paced... very serious 'military precision' way.

It's a story that works well, after all there are many films which use it:

• Jason Bourne
• Mile 22
• Taken
• Jack Reacher
• The Beast (a French film)

... and so on...

The Contractor attempts to connect the audience to Chris Pines character, who, having been dismissed from the Army, as a Special Forces Sergeant now needs to make ends meet for his young family.

And so the story begins....

Unfortunately though, the story is linear and doesn't contain much. The team are killed off and before you know it you have a Jason Bourne movie with Chris Pine communicating via ear piece through a busy city... avoiding and killing those chasing him.

It's all been told before and although the action and ambiance is good, it skin deep.

5 out of 10 from me.

Completely lacking in any humour, this is one of the worse films I have seen for a long time. It's absolutely dreadful:

• The Director, Rob Meltzer should be ashamed of this 'film'
• Van-Damme, an actor I enjoyed in the eighties should have retired with grace a long time ago
• It's an embarrassing watch, a feeling most the cast must also feel

... the criticism's could go on.

That said it made money from a cheap budget, and it's clear everything was compromised to achieve this goal only.

Give this film a wide berth! It's truly awful.

... 3 of the main characters are from the UK:

• Jack O'Connell (Roy Goode)
• Michelle Dockery (Alice Fletcher)
• Thomas Brodie-Sangster (Whitey Winn)

The acting and script is superb in the series. I particularly liked Whitey Winn who reminded me of Leonardo DiCaprio's character "The Kid" from the 1995 (Western film), The Quick and the Dead, and Mary Agnes played by Merritt Wever as a cool, calm and collected character.

The story is fairly straight forward though and at times the episodes feel a little too drawn out. Whitey Winn's character is just that he's 'a character' (i.e. Great personality) and he is clearly a skilled gun fighter... but we don't really get to see this other than dealing with 3 rogues who rode into town in an early episode.

Roy Goode clearly has a fearsome reputation, but we spend more time seeing him as a farmhand helping out Alice Fletcher than a showing us why he is so good or feared.

Michelle Dockery acts the part of a tough western women well and I found myself enjoying her acting in this more than other films or series.

Overall, Godless is a slow burner, but the town scene at the end was worth the wait.

7 (borderline 8) out of 10.