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Deadly Class (2018)
Good Comic Adaptation That Lost The Plot
Totally loved this at the start, then mid way lost the plot & could've done with a couple of episodes less to keep it tight. One episode was just a really crap, boring acid trip which should be enough to put kids off - yip, people on acid really are this boring (as Reagan himself would say "don't do it" LoL...). I skipped by that episode & some of the next & it picked up at the end.
Good comic strip adaptation up to that point, well scripted, a good pace & lots of action then it just got stupid. At the end a huge explosion(s) of action & left it on a cliff hanger with no 2nd series on cancellation.
Good 1st series, could've been awesome, but think the heavy drugs push got it cancelled (I don't get why they did that - unless they were stoned themselves at the time??? - as it killed off both the narrative flow, the action, & the story development. A cinematic 'Beavis & Buthead' decision given the record number of drug deaths in the USA & UK (& a sure fire way to get your series cancelled aimed at the same age group affected. DUMB!).
Enjoyed the 1st half, enjoyed the end, but don't get why they F-up'd their own series for fans & screwed their funding for it. Total self-sabotage. Pity, because this really looked it could've been something special....
Surface (2005)
Great Sci-Fi Show - Why was it cancelled?
A new species is found & causes havoc on the coast, seas & oceans, eating & heating everything in it's path - what is it? A creature feature with a difference.
A kid raises a baby one & we get a family/teen drama over lapping with the main story with lots of sci-fi as the mystery creature exposes itself more & more with an overlap of global warming to keep it contemporary.
Is it prehistoric? Is it alien? Is it a genetic mutation or a military experiment gone wrong? Why are the government, CDC & military so keen to cover it up & destroy the career of those who try to find out what it is? Kind of like the Networks killing off all the good series & driving us all up the wall without storyline closures!
Didn't get enough promotion & was shown late in the UK. Great series, wasted opportunity & could have been doing with full closure at the end. Well worth the watch.
The Ghoul (2016)
The Mobius Strip Presents - Tales of the Unexpected
What starts off as a typical homicide police procedural, turns into a mind bending trip (or 'Mobius Strip') of a movie where the lines between reality & insanity are blurred, but the clues are there throughout the movie as to the plot.
Is our protagonist really a detective, or just mentally ill? Are the Psychotherapists/Psychologists really just charlatan Psycho-therapist occultists (or just plain mad themselves) deliberately driving their vulnerable clients insane (kind of like my own criminal psycho neighbours!)?
This is like a cross between 'Alice in Wonderland', David Lynch movies, Hunter S Thompson novels, mathematical infinity unity-duality twist theory of the Mobius Strip in a psychological thriller!
It's a movie that will play with your head, ring out any sense of any sane reality when you think you have the gist of the plot & leave you going "WTF just happened?", before you realise you're right back to where you started at the start of the movie (Like a real metaphorical 'Mobius Strip' in movie form). This film is edgy, turns in on itself & the weird pacing keeps you feeling uneasy (but curious - kind of like the detective the main character portrays) playing into the whole 'Mobius Strip' structure luring you in.
If you like a little more "bang for your buck" movies, this is for you. Fans of David Lynch, David Cronenberg & Hunter S Thompson will love this movie. A deeper dig than your average movie with bits of humour along the way (thus the involvement of the Comedians in the project). A clever clogs independent movie on a tight budget. I liked it a lot. The decent acting talent carried it all off nicely (Sinead Cusack's character made me laugh at the end - from dead straight to cracker jacks).
Quanta (2019)
A Quanta of Decent Character Driven Sci-Fi
A frustrated & obsessed scientist loses his job, but just can't let go of his project - the data & information transfer from Dark Matter/Energy which makes up 95% of the universe as we know it(all of the information of, & in, the Cosmos).
A lot of creative license is used, but I found the movie really enjoyable & the characters likeable (although his assistant was an arrogant spoiled brat that you really wanted to chastise in the most gratuitous fashion possible at times) which carried the story of the costs of obsession, the arrogance that can come with high intellect if it's not kept in check & the unforeseen consequences of causality when it's not.
It was also a warning of putting powerful new tech out into the world without proper R&D, without fully understanding it & the consequences
of giving people more knowledge than they can understand (& how it can induce mental health issues & suicide in the wrong hands). Too late for the internet, mobile phones & social media in the real world, obviously!
A warning to all of the dangers of tech, AI & the abuse of technology. Don't lose your humanity people.
Broadcast Signal Intrusion (2021)
David Lynch/David Cronenburg Wanna-Be... but can't
The movie starts with a video.archivist who comes across a series of interrupted signal broadcasts within the TV programmes which show what appear to be weird murders of automatons with hidden messages, audio & clues within each broadcast & becomes obsessed with piecing the clues together to solve the mystery of what these broadcasts actually are.
He finds out that women go missing prior to each broadcast, that the FBI & TV network had been investigating the interrupted broadcasts (a federal crime) but that the leads went nowhere & he's advised not to waste his time.
He's too invested in it to give up, & starts to follow new leads, all of whom are weird, criminal or crazed individuals who come to a bad end. A girl he's met along the way was pulled into the ring at 15 & you start to get the gist of what it all actually is.
Whilst it's really moody & a good premise, it was way too draggy to be properly suspenseful & was utterly shameless in it's blatant homage to Cronenburg & Lynch movies, but didn't quite have the style or the hooks to pull it off - best develop your own style & leave the masters to theirs.
I really liked the main character, but found the blatant homages too full on & the endless boring drip of drama without any full on suspense disjointed too much to be enjoyable. The baddies were way too (comically) characturish to care about (& completely non-scary).
The cinema photography could have been edgier & sharper, the dullness eluding to the dark underlying story was just too boring, but I did like the weird, annoying music & sound effects (the only things that kept me awake TBH) keeping the viewer & story off kilter & on edge.
It's only when you get to the end, you realise what he, the girls (the automatons, & how they become them) & the recordings are, & why things are completed in a series. The ending freaked me out & was worth the persevering - only then do you realise what the metaphors in the movie are, & what the broadcast messages & possible murders mean.
Very creepy, very warped but too dragged out. The main characters acting was impressive (he reminded me of a young Bruce Lee in looks & the way he physically carried himself - both professional dancers) & he carried the whole production. I did like the underlying message & meaning of the movie which objectively (but not directly) & metaphorically portrayed the affects of abuse really tastefully without making you feel too uncomfortable (after the end - it leaves you thinking). The serial affects of it on both the viewer & those who investigate it (& how they come to view their victims). Monsters creating monsters & warping the innocent. If it wasn't so dragged out - it'd be a 10. Liked it, but couldn't love it.
Runaways (2017)
Action Packed Start, then snail-like finish to the end
Series 1 was exactly what I expected - lots of action, character & story development - then series 2 dragged on from mid-way, & series 3 just a dead-drag-loss.
Way too much focus on the LGBT 'Girl-on-Girl' action - pervy males will love it. Maybe, if there was more action in terms of character building & more real action, series 3 wouldn't have been so boring. The introduction of the shape-shifter into the story as a 3rd rung in a LGBT love triangle (the LGBT storyline was good to see, but there was way too much of it & in your face in almost every scene - had it been hetero-sex, I'd have been equally bored & fed up with it) ticked the social inclusion boxes of East, West, Afro-Caribbean & LGBT (& alien, of course) but took away from the series development itself. Trying to be too PC at the expense of quality, action & drama.
The 3rd series just lost me - like the writers had lost interest & were just filling time, in what had started off as a quality teen sci-fi action drama. The young adults forced by their situation to grow up too early reverted to childish gibberish that just didn't fit with their characters at all. It was all over the place & totally boring (I'm only hanging on in there to see what they achieve at the end having invested myself in 2 whole series - but I've a feeling I'm going to regret it).
I'm a big fan of Marvel, but it's now just turning into a money making churn of nonsense, wasting the brilliant enterprise & quality it once stood for. Stop, please.
Bunraku (2010)
Not Quite Sure What This Is = Cartoonish Baloney Franken-Waffle!
Gave up on this after 30 minutes or so - ripped off so many other movies & badly sewed them together to make this somewhat stylish looking mess that couldn't hope to match up to any of the originals it so blatantly copied (Sin City, Dick Tracy, Kill Bill, The Matrix, Batman, The Mask & Enter the Dragon with just a dash of Who Framed Roger Rabbit & Constantine) in a manic patchwork quilt of a movie.
Bunraku - Japanese puppet theatre - was more like muppet theatre here. The movie also seemed to be confused by which type of Japanese theatre style it should be - & instead combined them all (Kabuki, Nohgaku & Bunraku) at once.
Rather than being an exciting mix, it was boring. Too much style over substance. Sometimes, when you have too much going on, too many stars in the movie (& I love the stars in this movie - Why I watched it) & too much of a mix of genres, it leaves the film empty & devoid of any real deep characterisation, style or substance to hold you. Like a bar brawl in a Mini, you're left confused & wondering what all the drama was about after the car crash! 1 star for all the effort, but an epic fail IMHO.
Six: The Mark Unleashed (2004)
DIRE
Awful. I gave it 2 stars for Eric Roberts & Jeffrey Dean Morgan who must be in it for either a favour to a friend, they're being blackmailed, they were kidnapped for an unpaid ransome or forced to at point of death).
Despite liking these two actors, nothing (not even to point of death, or an implant, nor sight of a bloody great needle about to poke me in the eye) could make me watch this past 35 minutes (& Lordy, I did try!).
Not religious, but I do like a good religious movie if it's a good 'un (The Robe, Jesus of Nazareth, Dogma, the Exorcist, Prophecy, etc.) - but this was the pits (of hell?)! Torture.
Bad & wooden (Sorry guys!) acting, cheap production & a crap story. More like a Bosch painting than a Caravaggio or a Michelangelo. More mad than bad. We all have our crosses to bear in life - this shouldn't be one of them. Don't do it unless the implant makes you....
The Sound (2017)
Slow Burn Psychological Thriller
I liked this - suspenseful, slow burn, psychological thriller with a twist. A supernatural ghost story where the ghosts are psychological as well as spiritual. Not your average ghost story.
A lot of reviewers here just didn't seem to get the gist of the movie at all (or have the maturity to understand it?) & gave this a bad review. There are 3 inter-linking stories here - Kellies, & the story of the ghosts in the train station. Tortured spirits who need release in different ways to gain peace for both the living & the dead - their stories & hidden realities need to be addressed to be able to move on (Yip, this movie was deeper than the underground it was filmed in!).
If you like to be challenged when watching a movie - pulled along, with more psychological suspense than cheap fright jumps - & can think for yourself rather than being spoon-fed a simple premise, then this is for you. This is 2 films in 1 - dark suspense, with 2 lights at the end of 2 very dark tunnels bringing about release for some very tortured spirits. Some stories need to be told & I'm glad this one was. I liked it.
Ghosting (2016)
Low Budget Mystery Movie - & it shows!
This had a suspenseful and promising start but lacked any real direction at the end, with a stupid finish & total anti-climax. Really cheap budget, wooden acting & dumb characters that really could've been a 'Scare Doo' instead of Scooby Doo - which is what it became.
The ghost in photographs that only 2 out of the 3 leads could see - were they schizophrenic? Were they linked psychically? What did the images mean? No link in the photographs which came from multiple sources of the owners - but a bracelet seems to hold the key. The hunt is on.
You get to the end & end up wishing for the time back. Really pathetic ending - the actors just completely gave up by then (as had I), Really half hearted attempt at what could've been a really decent movie. More like a student muck around without any really comedy. Film version of Scooby Doo & the Serial KIller. Not good! Save your time - at least this was free to watch (it's only saving grace!). Even the attempted twist at the end was pretty stupid & didn't make sense. Bah!
Requiem (2018)
Suspenseful Supernatural Mystery
A classical musician's life gets turned upside down by the violent suicide of the woman she believed to be her mother who commits suicide right in front of her after an apparent supernatural encounter. 1 minute she's preparing for a concert tour - the next she embarks on a quest with her musical collaborator & friend to find out just who she, & her Mother, really are & where she came from.
The trip takes her to Wales, a home once linked to Queen Elizabeth 1st advisor, astrologer & occultist John Dee where all hell breaks loose on her life as she searches for answers. Whilst embarking on her quest, strange, supernatural & occultist events happen all around her as the body count starts to mount up as she starts to have back-outs.
Was she abducted by a nut case? Was she saved from a cult? Who is she really as she has no photos or memories of her childhood & no idea of who her father was?
Not a fright night drama, but more of a suspenseful supernatural mystery which ticks over nicely for a dark, rainy night binge watch. Good for Halloween or an adult dark winters night spook fest as there's some sex in there (but no nudity, so OK for older teens)!
I enjoyed this, but the ending left you guessing & wanting more. What (or who?) were the entities? What happened next? Why were they here? What happened to those who were left behind? I'd have loved a part 2 to close this off & there's so many ways this could go. A part 2 - PLEASE!!
The Event (2010)
An Event that Got Lost & Cancelled - Why?
Fast, suspenseful & action-packed - I wish they'd do a 2nd series! I cannot believe this was cancelled without fully sewing the story up. So many loose ends...
A young couple go on holiday & end up embroiled in kidnapping, a political conspiracy, & an alien invasion with a few twists. Lots to keep you entertained - but the jumping about in the story line in the 1st few episodes were frustrating & got much better when they stopped throwing all the different angles at you & just got on with the action.
I really liked the premise & the action - but the 2 main characters got right up my nose & were far too PC for a conspiracy. Leila was weak, annoying, nasally & kept moaning, causing delays & issues. The actress just looked clueless & out of her depth. Jason Ritter also looked out of his depth as Sean - & seemed to be enjoying the action a bit too much when all human life was under threat. A few comments being made about Laura Innes coming across as wooden - but she was an alien. All of the aliens were cold & aloof when it came down to it - lacking humanity, but showing sparks of it from time to time.
The story remains incomplete due to the cancellation & a few loose ends remain unanswered (ie: what were the children for? What became of Leila's sister? What were those injections? Were we created by them? What happened after the portal opened? Was the VP sent to Guantanamo?), but this was definitely worth the watch.
Some good acting, a great set of entwined, suspenseful storylines, but we didn't get completion. A sign of a good movie or series is when you come away wanting more - & you certainly do with this. A 2nd series would tie it all down nicely. Bring back Blair Underwood as the president (His wife was one of the loose ends - her words at the very end were totally ominous. A baddie in waiting?). Bring back Sterling, Sophia, Simon & Peel - all great characters. Bring it back. Give us all some closure!
I'd like to see more of this - the network really screwed up with the break in continuity & then showing it late at night losing all of it's viewers (why are so many exciting series cancelled & mediocre, repetitious & boring crap stretched out for 7/8 series or more?) & the writers screwed up their own show by trying to be too smart-ass with all the repeated jumping about of the same scenes from different angles (ok for exciting scenes, but not mediocre ones - 1 jump back was enough). Despite this, this was a really entertaining sci-fi conspiracy action series. 9/10 for the lack of completion.
Extinction (2018)
Alien Invasion Movie with a Nice Big Twist
I watched this thinking it was going to be a an alien invasion action blockbuster - & was rewarded with a new twist on an old genre that was all of that & more (& that I didn't see coming).
Ordinary people going about their lives when some start having shared dreams of an invasion - are they mad, delusional, or having premonitions? This is where the 1st twist comes in & brings up the human allegory of exactly who are the aliens when we're more the same than different (a very modern conundrum with racial tensions currently brewing to simmering point again across Europe & the Middle East).
A suspenseful, action packed adventure that carries you through the story very quickly (& leaves it open for a sequel?). My only bug-bear were those damn pesky kids - 1 of whom I really felt pushed all the wrong buttons at the wrong time. Really bloody annoying & I yelled at the screen a couple of times - a definite plot device to crank up the tension (I personally would've sacrificed them at the 3rd time they nearly got everyone killed - I quickly lost any feelings of guilt when I read the other reviews, LoL...).
As a sci-fi fan, I really enjoyed this & found it really topical from recent tech advances. I enjoyed being surprised by the new twists in the plot line that I didn't see coming for once. A great piece of escapism & one that the whole family can enjoy as there's no sex or swearing in there, but the combat scenes are more suitable for older kids. Get the popcorn out & enjoy.
Strange Events (2014)
Cheap 'Tales from the Crypt' in the 'Twilight Zone'
Childish premise - like a very cheap version of of 'Tales from the Crypt' or 'The Twilight Zone' without decent scripts, actors of storylines.
Really bad acting (not so much 'Hammy' as a full rotting zombie corpse that someone else has already shot, dismembered & did the whole marshmallows on the fire of all things suspense, horror & Sci-fi.), dim lighting (kind of like the scripts), poor scripts, & boring, childish storylines.
Do yourself a favour - just watch 'The Twilight Zone' or 'Tales from the Crypt' & bury this lot in crypt or catacombs of doom where it belongs. Like zombies - avoid like the plague. You'll thank me!
Moloch: 1 (2020)
Fiery Tale, Suspenseful Mystery with a Twist
I was pulled in right from the start - was it a tale of the supernatural, a serial killer, a horror, a murder mystery, or a who-dunnit? It was all of those all at once with a little nod to Stephen KIng & Nicolas Roeg (on the 50th anniversary year of 'Don't Look Now' no less) along the way.
Highly suspenseful, with lots of MacGuffins, twists & false clues along the way which kept reeling me in (but, as with all good suspense plots - I was right with the plot I'd discounted about 1/3 of the way through because the actual baddie had an added distraction). Cute kids, religious iconography, a hooded baddie, a love story, some anarchy, techno music & tragic tales all interwoven making you feel sympathetic towards the pyromaniac killer breeding paranoia & riots as only the impassioned French do so well.
Why only 8/10 - the main character really bugged me. I thought this actress was the only weak link in the whole thing. Journalists usually are tortured souls with issues (which is why the best investigative journalists are so good at their jobs - they understand the complexities & tragedies of life (whilst others are just narcissistic attention seekers who will do anything for their 5 minutes of success)) - but she was was just neurotic & annoying, putting herself in harms way unnecessarily, almost aiding the killer for the story (I did screech at the screen once or twice from my own wee flu-bed).
If you're going to watch this - binge it to keep up with the story & suspense. Well written drama which manipulates you in all the right places - well worth a watch. I will do a repeat watch when the dark winter nights come in to get some added atmosphere (not that it really needs it!). A wee walk in the sunshine after this is the order of the day. Dark, oppressive & like a car crash - you can't stop looking!
The Loch (2017)
Scenery the best character
A good start to a murder mystery turned into a convoluted pile of nonsense. Some decent Scottish acting talent, but dreadful miscasting & bad acting (although the wonderful Siobhan Finneran stole the show as a strong female lead character full of character).
Laura Fraser was dreadfully miscast & came across as grossly PC, weak & unbelievable as a dopey cop clumping about in too big thick heeled shoes & clothes that dwarfed her. Driving the cop jeep with a huge steering wheel she just looked tense, out of her depth & hilarious.
I just kept waiting for John Sessions to start dropping bad taste gags which (unfortunately) never came. Nice to see Don Gilet popping up here as the attention seeking profiler.
So, why did I keep watching? The scenery was awesome - the best character in it along with the strong, but gobby, Siobhan Finneran (one of the UK's best character actors). The Great Glen, Fort Augustus, Loch Ness & it's surroundings (the pub pictured on the canalside is worth a pit stop if you're ever up that way) are simply breath-taking.
This could've been a show-stopper with more suspense & better acting & the right casting. Laura Fraser just came across as way too nasally & annoying with a constant look of surprise on her face (probably because she managed to get such a big, meaty part!) & was forever clueless (as with her daughter character).
Not a taxing view, completely lacking in intelligence but worth it for the gorgeous, atmospheric scenery of Scotland's highlands alone.
Scoop (2024)
Unsung Heroes - The Real People Behind the Scoops Changing Lives
I really enjoyed this immensely - a very realistic portrayal of the hard (& lengthy) work that goes on behind the scenes in a story & the people in the background who make things happen in investigative journalism (mostly unsung, unpaid, underpaid, lowly paid & unnamed).
The acting was top notch from Billie Piper, Rufus Sewell & Gillian Anderson who believably became the characters they portrayed. Sam McAlister wasn't ego waving her scoop here - the victims were never forgotten throughout - & it was fabulous to see those anonymous work dogs who don't usually get the headline/byline of the star journos & reporters getting the attention (& the payment) they deserve for once.
The BBC has recently had some deserved scandals exposed where they were the story, some duff reviews & met with much heavy criticism of late - but when they do a great scoop, they still lead the way for global coverage (which was what this story needed for justice to be done).
Good to see those normally hidden from view (especially women in journalism) getting some exposure for their hard work & tenacity - females helping each other up the ladder with merit is so refreshing to see.
I think it's telling that Newsnight & all the ladies involved were sidelined after this (but gladly, not silenced). Sam McAlister is a force of nature that I'm sure we won't have heard the last of. It'd be good to see the 3 main ladies of journalism portrayed here go off to set up a journalism outfit of their own employing & promoting female journalism talent of all levels.
10/10 from me. The nude Andrew shot at the end alone was worth it - Exposed!
Just Business (2008)
Decent Thriller With A Few Twists - Because You're Worth It!
A criminal heist, a creepy billionaire with more than a few secrets, a retired cat burglar with a sassy lawyer daughter & 2 differing detectives working the case - old school & new school.
Between the 2 detectives, they start piecing the case together as a killer starts murdering all of the suspects 1 x 1. Clues are strewn throughout the plot as it becomes clear there's more to the case than meets the eye - and the victim. Drip, drip, drip as the clues drop.
There's an allusion to the classics which gives you an idea as to what's going on but you don't really get the full picture until after a few timely twists at the end (& I'd still like to know what the tattoo means).
I really enjoyed this. Entertaining, suspenseful, & a gripping yarn. Totally unpretentious, low budget, smart, but not a taxing watch that gives you a little giggle at the end (& enjoying the outcome! There's so many, vain, greedy, pretentious & arrogantly smug narcissists out there that I'd like to see getting the same treatment!). Good seeing Gina Gershon doing her sexy sassy glam & vampy best once again. A blast from the past - literally.
Worth the watch.
Shooting the Past (1999)
Shooting the Past - Poliakoff's Magic of Nostalgia
A deep & poignant story of a photography archive being closed down & the fabulously eccentric characters who work there, trying to save their lives work & preserve the memories & histories of all of the lives contained within the photographs as the series tells their own.
Great script, magnificent acting from a brilliant cast of actors (Lindsay Duncan (always outstanding, is just awesome here), Timothy Spall, Billie Whitelaw, Emilia Fox & Andy Serkis to name but a few. Stephen Poliakoff's dramas are always quality & well worth the watch. A great feast of a drama with top tier acting, this is my favorite.
If you love the mysteriously whimsicial Carlos Ruiz Zafon's 'Shadow of the wind' & 'Cemetery of Forgotten Books' with the multi-layered character driven entwined stories of nostalgia, mystery, intrigue, adventure, action & romance, then you'll love this.
We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
TS Elliot had it spot on - this is the TV version. You won't regret watching.
Sequestered (2014)
Sequestered For Just a Little too Long!
Suspenseful start, some intrigue, action, then drags on a bit. This is a daytime soap version of John Grisham's 'Runaway Jury' for all intents & purposes.
It's a political, conspiracy type thriller with a few twists. A child is kidnapped, held for ransome & then it all goes wrong. Jurors on the case are sequestered after 1 of them gets targeted & the show is off to a good start.
An entertaining enough farce, but the acting is a bit off & flat to say the least (& I've liked one or two of the actors in other things (Bruce Davison & Dina Meyer - definitely not at their best here!) but the rest were totally wooden & hammy).
The twists were mostly transparent & part of me wanted to throw french fries at the screen, but that would be a complete waste of decent calorific content (but I'm greedy & nosey & wanted to know what happened at the end = pushover (but after the french fries, you might have a task on your hands!)).
I'm writing this before I've reached the end, so, hopefully I won't be too disappointed. If you like cheesey B-Movies, then this will keep you entertained, but won't fill you up. It's not taxing & is the TV version of a burger & fries at rush hour on a Friday night - it's a long wait before you're served, but you'll be entertained whilst you wait & it fills the gap.
First Man (2018)
Neil Armstrong - The Right Stuff for the First Man on the Moon
I enjoyed this biopic - which was so much more than a biographical epic of the 1st man on the moon. It encompassed a life less ordinary, but a very grounded & human portrayal of probably the most globally famous person on the planet, yet one of the most private.
You get more than 1 story with this movie. It's sci-fi & space exploration, it's test pilot action, it's full of drama, human tragedy, but at it's heart is a very private endearing love story of a man in love with his wife, his adrenaline filled job, the science, the adventure, the adrenaline. This is the real life Tom Cruise with all of his movies rolled into 1 real-life adventure - no stunts, but real life threatening pushing the limits of human endurance. No cockiness, no arrogance, just a real man getting on with the job at hand. He (& the other men like him, also portrayed) was the real deal.
A highly intelligent ambivert, he was the all-round scientist, engineer, pilot, test-pilot, & calm leader who got the job done - calmly. He was the right person, with the right temperament, for the right job at the right time & managed to maintain a dignified presence & an amazing level of privacy despite his global fame. No narcissism. No greed. No mass exploitation of his fame - an exceptional man & a real hero.
The acting in this was sublime, as was the factually correct space race history, the technical details were spot on, interlaced with the private man, the love story with his wife & family, the tragic loss of his young daughter (whose bracelet still remains on the moon today) & many colleagues whose sacrificed their lives to the space race & technology that we take for granted today.
There was no need for dramatic licence here - this was a life well-lived, to the full which reached the highest levels of human achievement whilst retaining his humanity.
The actors in this were just a different class (Corey Stoll WAS Buzz Aldrin in looks & portrayal, whereas Ryan Gosling didn't really look like Armstrong, he played him so well you forgot it was Gosling as you got wrapped up in the story. Lukas Haas as Collins. Kieran Hynds, Jason Clarke, Kyle Chandler & the ever watchable Claire Foy also gave polished performances). Top of their game here.
There's something for everyone in this movie & it's family friendly. The science, test-pilots & space race history reminded me of 'The Right Stuff' book & movie based on some of the same real-life characters depicted here. I give it 10/10 - ticked all of my boxes for movies & was a realistic portrayal of Armstrong, the test pilots & early pioneers of the space race & the outstanding bravery & courage they displayed in reaching for the stars & giving the rest of us something to look up to & dream of. In the days of deep fakes & rip offs, it's good to be reminded that the 'The Right Stuff' is still out there.
I.S.S. (2023)
The Futility of War & Sub Zero Space Cold War - It's M.A.D.
The human obsession with war & the cold war paranoia carries into space. If you're looking for typical Sci-Fi mammoth explosions, CGI, Alien Invasions or fancy special effects - look elsewhere. This is the thinking person's Sci-Fi - a deep thinking morality tale.
As America & Russia continue their mad (Mutually Assured Destruction) escapades into modern times & space - this is a warning to both (& us all).
Looking out from the ISS to the beautiful blue planet we call Earth, it's quick time into the film when the astronauts view the start of WWIII & the on-board paranoia starts & it's cold war claustrophobia in the enclosed, pressurised cabins of the ISS. Both the astronauts & Cosmonauts get instructions to take control of the ISS at all costs as Earth burns & the backstabbing begins...
Isolated & with no radio contact, the ISS struggles to hold onto what little humanity we have left as the cold-war continues to rage unabated despite the horrors down below it's solar arrays. The atmosphere throughout is way below the sub zero kelvins of space. Will humanity survive this above & below ground?
I loved this movie. Really thought provoking contemporary drama & pertinent to real world scenarios & threats playing out real time across the globe & in space. Russia & the US using the world as their battlefield - creating wars & destroying the planet wherever the roam with their bombs & missiles with the threat of Nuclear war forever on the horizon these days. The real life ISS, reaching it's last days has just had problems with US astronauts being stranded & almost being hit on a planned spacewalk by an exploding Russian satellite (rumoured to have been hit by a missile, which the Russians refute) just following on from an earlier oxygen leak with the US Astronauts & Russian Cosmonauts each separated & assigned to their own pods in the last week. So, highly contemporary.
No cheap thrills for this classy modern & contemporary cold-war paranoid sci-fi thriller, but if you like your Sci-Fi deep, meaningful & contemporary (& resembling the real thing) - then this is for you.
Good cast of actors, decent character driven script & a pretty realistic depiction of the real ISS (no fancy gadgets & glittery fake displays, just cables & tools, with experimental lab boxes & living quarters in tiny tight confined spaces just added to the oppressive all-round feel). I gave it 8/10 due to the lack of major special effects & I wanted more at the end. Big thumbs up from me.
Sé quién eres (2017)
Great Mystery Thriller - But Too Long & Convoluted Plots
Really suspenseful story with a great premise - An injured man walks injured along an isolated roadside & walks into a garage with no idea who he is, or how he got there (& by episode 5, this is exactly how I was feeling!). He has been reported missing, as was his niece - but all that's left of her is blood & her mobile phone in the car. Is she alive? Can she be saved?
You get thrown right into the story & suspense right from the start, but then it's relentless, & I started to feel exhausted as it hit midway and dragged out way much longer than it needed to. The multiple convoluted plot twists started to bore me, and all I could think of was "oh, no, not another one" as more & more guilty looking protagonists got dragged into the mire. There were so many MacGuffin's that I just felt a whole load of guffaws dying to be let loose - was this a murder mystery or a dark comedy? A real rabbit hole of plots, plot twists & false leads galore.
I felt there was very little to like in the machiavellian characters, so had little vested interest in their progress (I was dying for someone to go nuts with the gun & take some of them out just to have some form of release from the tedium). Eventually I lost interest, gave up, cheated & just read up on the last episodes online as I was beyond curious as to "Whodunnit" without ruining more hours of my life on the over-lengthy episodes (& was greatly relieved as it was more of the same). Murders, affairs, a hidden child, a jailed outlaw, abortions with a whiff of incest, & lots of 'Dark Triad' personalities (their family gatherings must be a hoot - grab your food bounty (letting the dog taste it 1st - just in case!) grab a pew at the side & watch the daggers & insults fly!) are just a hand-full of the plots in here to keep you entertained - just save 1-2 days for the binge, you'll need it. Any gaps & you'll forget where you are.
If you like long, drawn out mysteries with lots of plot twists & MacGuffins - then this is for you. A murder mystery type 'Lost' that really wasn't as good.
Shepherd (2021)
Suicidal Tendencies
Oppressive, depressive & left me feeling I'd wasted a good chunk of my life. The bleak Scottish landscape depicted here totally matched the mood of the movie, but luckily all of the pills in the house were way out of reach (& I was way too lazy to make any effort as this film had zapped all of my will, zest & joy for any kind of useful activity).
Didn't like it. I couldn't really pull myself out of the oppressive state I felt watching this in order to feel any real sympathy for the character & the doom of his grief for his lost wife (whose story get's slowly revealed as this tome of doom drags it out).
After this, you will want to get out into the light. Not one for a good Saturday night in with the chums. If I were you, I'd give it a body swerve.
The Vast of Night (2019)
What a Drag!
Long, drawn out 1950's-eque style sci-fi style something or other.
Lots of repetitive yapping about a squirrel biting through cables which really just made me bored with the tedium of it all. I don't know about it being a nod to 'The Twilight Zone' (which I loved) but all it made me do was nod off.
It was like David(s) Lynch & Cronenberg doing (a very drab version of) Twin Peaks with an Alien signal making everyone go ga-ga (now THAT, I would've watched with zest). The only talking log here (which would've ramped up the excitement levels somewhat) was in my nod off session dream unfortunately.
Pretentious tosh full of guff & not capable enough to pull it off. A 'Fur coat & Nae Knickers' kind of movie. Bo-ring! All style, no substance (although, were those my predilections I would have been reaching for them here, believe me!).
A lost part of my life I can never get back. Some of the reviews here made me want to give it a 2nd chance, but then my gag-reflex kicked in. Couldn't do it. Not for me.