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Top Ten British TV Cop Shows
Top 20 Movie performances by male teen actors
10 British Cop Shows Set in Europe
Top Ten Male Teen Actors 2021
Top 10 Great Teen Actors Hollywood Discarded
Sadly, there is a group of actors whose post child/adolescent acting careers are fraught with frustrations as they are unable to find high profile adult roles and they fall from fame and favor. Accompanying this fall frequently they are dogged by depression, drug/alcohol abuse, poor relationship choices, brushes with the law and, in the saddest cases, early death due to suicide or drug overdoses.
The pattern for almost all is familiar. All are excellent actors who marry their instinctive excellent acting skills with striking good looks of the type Hollywood tends to favor. This ‘look’ is enhanced as they grew into their teens, and they are as much sought after by young fans for their photogenic good looks as their acting skills. Many cut their teeth in a good number of mostly TV, but some minor movie, roles as children, some for many years, where they gain skills in front of the camera, and a good reputation amongst casting directors. Many of these children are charismatic as well as good looking. Hollywood’s gold standard for boys is usually: blond hair that styles easily, blue eyes, smooth unblemished skin (not easy for many teens), boyish good looks, invariably a slender model-style frame, a readily photogenic smile, a calm and easy demeanor on set (often from years in the industry) and excellent verbal skills making for ease of expression on camera (deemed a “natural”) and attractive media subjects for interviews and promos. Often these precocious child actors came from either industry experienced families or families happy to put their child through various pressures necessary to get them to the top.
After slowly building popularity in the eyes of the public and profile amongst Hollywood decision makers, usually in late childhood/early adolescence the actor lands a breakthrough role that elevates him or her to the upper echelons of the teen actor pecking order. With this comes an explosion of fame, media interest and interviews, often additional high profile roles (although many sign up for a TV series or a bracket of movies that come to dominate their mid teen acting life), a proliferation of front page pictures and articles in the popular teen magazines, large crowds of mostly tween and teen girls wherever they go, boatloads of fan mail, a new entourage of managers, publicists and hangers-on and celebratory star treatment wherever they go and of course the new wealthy lifestyle of fashionable clothes, fine cars, boats, first class travel, 5 star hotels and fancy restaurants that they, their family, friends and entourage enjoy. Many begin to party when their fame grows rapidly and some begin to pick up excessive drinking and drug use habits that are masked initially by their minders and their talent.
Then in the late teens, adolescence begins to give way to full physical adulthood. Pleasant cute baritone mid teen voices become deep gravelly bass voices signaling a full boy-to-man transition, blond hair darkens – with a few, signs of baldness emerge, smooth skin gives way to a craggy more manly beard pattern, slender model builds fill out for many to a true grown adult male bulk or adult woman curves – others less fortunate swap a formally taut physique for the less attractive flabbiness that sometimes comes after the transition to adulthood. The once attractive perfect teen look is gone and, despite having developed excellent acting skills, casting directors turn their attention to the rising new younger child/teen actors who still have ‘the look’ directors and script writers crave. Often in the midst of the frenzy of good times, scant attention is paid to career planning. Young adult roles, less reliant on the classic teen gold standard look, are overlooked and so the actor becomes typecast in teen roles, and they reprise a number of roles of the teen genre and can’t breakout. The late developers or the most young looking or slender framed can cling to teen roles sometimes into their mid-20’s but inevitability, time and the maturing process catches up and they fall off a casting cliff from popular teen roles to either no adult roles or minor parts in B grade movies with a fraction of the remuneration and the attention. Often the partying begun in the teens has taken a toll on reliability on-set and has eaten into their onscreen innocent look, a reputation for being difficult to manage due to substance abuse again becomes a reason for not being cast.
Then a vicious spiral accelerates. Depressed by the fall from grace, reduced income and no longer being in the limelight, refuge is sought in chemical oblivion and in the company of similar distressed peers who lead each other into darker and darker places. Poor decisions are made that further reduce their attractiveness to casting directors and, added to the inexorable onslaught of full adulthood and with little or no quality adult work in their resume, they are literally cast aside and thrown on the scrap heap. A media and fan darling at 16 but by 25, a hollowed out unattractive addicted shell of their former self. A good number meet a tragic end as this negative spiral shuts out any hope of a comeback and maybe second chances granted them by a kind insider and their pain is ended either by suicide or drug overdose.
The first 10 examined (the most glaring examples amongst boys) have amongst the list some superb and talented actors who put in some top quality work in front of the camera and/or microphone. Many were exploited by unscrupulous managers who pocketed portions of their brief period of wealth with little or no career planning for the post-teen life of their protégé. Families of the famous often think the financial party will never end and similarly make insufficient careful planning to put aside and invest some of the funds earned in the big earning years meaning many of these teen actors carried the pressure of sustaining the lifestyle not just for themselves but for their extended family. Most on this list rose to the very top of the fame tree and crashed to the very bottom, no longer loved by Hollywood moguls, management and media. Most were left to digest their reversal of fortune whilst still grappling with the growing pains of adolescence. Hollywood has scant regard for the future of very famous child actors preferring to enjoy the money and industry kudos for nurturing such amazing talent while the fame lasts and they simply switch to the next young girl or boy with the package of golden attributes knowing that every casting agency has thousands of wannabes yearning to be next year’s teen idol on their books chomping at the bit to replace the fallen star’s place. Whilst the working conditions for minors in Hollywood have improved over time, this tendency to discard teen stars in the manner detailed is still a very real and present danger for any aspiring child actor or actress.
Reviews
A Very Royal Scandal (2024)
A compelling series about the interview of the century
A Very Royal Scandal follows Netflix's Scoop both covering the infamous car crash interview Prince Andrew gave to BBC News Night's Emily Maitlis. Scoop covered the logistics of the actual interview and the famous Epstein picture more whereas this portrayal covers the broader picture of the context of Andrew's conduct most particularly the aftermath of the interview and his fall from grace.
Michael Sheenan was remarkably close to Andrew in mannerisms and captured his arrogant royal entitlement brilliantly and Jill Wilson did admirably as the ruthlessly interviewer whose success and fame after the interview ended up limiting her career due to the fear of high profile candidates for interviews were scared off by how she single handedly created the greatest PR crisis for the Royal Family since the death of Dianna.
Keeping the Queen and Prince Charles off camera and leaving the ruthless dirty work of dismembering Andrew's public life to the Queen's Principal Private Secretary Sir Edward Young (Alan Jenkins) was not only well done but an appropriate touch given how explosive the core claims against Andrew were. A very obtuse and British way of handling scandal.
All in all it was very compelling television that chronicled what was a very sordid affair, the exact nature of what "Randy Andy" was really up to. The series focused on the interview more than the salacious details of Andrew's relationship with Guiffre.
Grant (2020)
Stunning characterization of a great statesman
I was not prepared for how profoundly moved I would be by this incredibly powerful portrayal of the life of Ulysses Grant. As the child of an American but raised abroad, there are swaths of American history that I missed not being raised here and the History Channel Originals on the key US Presidents has been great at filling in gaps.
Knowing that General Grant was Lincoln's final and most successful chief General of the Civil War and reluctantly served as President attempting the Reconstruction is one thing but the intricate detail as to how Grant became precisely the type of General who could end the bloody conflict was a real eye opener.
The History Channel combined a most realistic and superbly choreographed and acted reenactment of the key scenes of Grant's life with a retinue of scholars and authors who each brought fabulous detail and perspective to Grant's history.
They also brought Grant back to prominence by acknowledging the attempts to re-write his history in less than flattering ways and properly honored and revered the absolutely vital part he played in the Union victory in the Civil War. Over a century later it is easy to overlook the seminal and defining nature of the Civil War and how the crucial events around the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th Amendment were such incredible milestones in the story of our great nation.
Grant was one of our finest hero's and this series brilliantly outlines how and why he must be remembered as such.
Hoot (2006)
Middle schoolers beat a big corporation
Hoot is a light hearted and pleasant movie where a bunch of early teen kids end up beating a big corporation. The key leader is newcomer Roy Eberhart (Logan Lerman) a cowboy dressing kid from Montana reluctantly transferred to a small tropical island town in southern Florida called Coconut Cove. He becomes fascinated by a blond bare foot vagrant kid who he stalks until introduced by a school mate Beatrice (Brie Larsen) who reveals him as her step brother "Mullet Fingers" (Cody Linley). Turns out he's sabotaging the building site of a pancake chain wanting to open a new restaurant but on land inhabited by spotted owls who nest in the ground. Officer Delinko (Luke Wilson) of the CCPD is tasked with tracking down the vandals. Roy, Mullet and Beatrice form a formidable team who evade Delinko and eventually foil the attempts of the large corporation to destroy the fragile owl habitat.
It's not a particularly deep movie, more frothy, easy fare for teen/tween audiences but made more authentic by having actual teenagers in age appropriate roles even if only Lerman was actually a middle-schooler at the time. What is most fascinating is to see so many successful actors together in the same movie who were very early in their respective careers and who went on to fame later. This was Logan Lerman's first leading role aged only 13 and he shows the poise and maturity that saw him cast in a string of successful lead or co-lead roles through his teens. It's fun to see Hannah Montana star Cody Linley as a 15 year old before his HM fame. Brie Larsen at only 15 and Luke Williams both before they became more famous established adult actors. Seeing this nascent talent on display made Hoot an interesting watch.
Far North (2023)
Great New Zealand dramatisation
Far North was a great find. As a kiwi expat, it's always awesome to see your home country on screen. Far North tells a true story with typical kiwi humour all the while showcasing our stunning scenery, this time of the area in Northland at 90 Mile Beach hence the title.
It dramatises the events in 2016 of an attempted large importation of methamphetamine from a Chinese drug cartel who ship the product direct to the shores of the remote NZ countryside from a fishing vessel. Local Polynesian drug dealers are primed to receive the massive 500 kg (almost half a ton) shipment where they hire young desperate locals from Auckland to meet what is supposed to be a beachable small motor boat carried on the deck of the trawler. The engine of the smaller craft won't start triggering a sequence of disastrous events by the cartel's manager to rectify the situation by flying to NZ and buying a boat to go out to the trawler and retrieve the drugs. The team of young mules are forced to stay longer in the small towns of Ahipara and Kaitaia where their purchases and preparations attract suspicion.
What makes the series is the roles undertaken by two heavyweights of the New Zealand acting fraternity, Temuera Morrison as local Maori rugby coach Ed and his wife Heather played by Robin Malcolm. They are hired to launch the boat from the beach but the Chinese drug lord runs the boat back into the beach ruining the engine necessitating the suspicious cash purchase of an even larger boat.
Meanwhile the Chinese crew on the trawler are starving and dying from lack of food and water. The whole true story plays out in a most hilarious almost Keystone Cops way. The series faithfully recreates all the events and does so with a cast of fabulous believable characters. The acting, pace and scenery are superb. All in all a fantastic series!
Battle of Britain (1969)
Fantastic film of crucial WW2 battle
The Battle of Britain is one of a number of fabulous high quality movies made in the UK about the 2nd World War, in this case of the pivotal Battle of Britain, the fight for the control of the skies of Britain between Britain's Royal Air Force and Nazi Germany's Luftwaffe in the summer and autumn of 1940. In order for the Germans to have any chance of a successful invasion of England, they needed to gain air supremacy.
There are so many factors that come together to make this one of the finest WW2 movies ever made. First was the meticulous attention to the actual history. All the crucial elements of the Battle were re-created truthfully with an absence of jingoistic glorification of the battle down to the vital role of the integrated air defense system and how the British actually used radar, the fatiguing effect on the young RAF fighters of the constant sorties, how the fate of the battle hung in the balance by the end of August 1940 as the Luftwaffe attacks on RAF bases in the southeast of England were killing more pilots than could be trained, the origin of what proved to be the fatal tactical blunder by the Germans to switch to mostly bombing London is faithfully detailed and the failure of German intelligence to estimate the true extent of RAF fighting strength. Almost all the crucial elements of this battle are very accurately portrayed.
Secondly, the movie was shot close enough to the actual war (a mere 28 years later) for there to be a surprising number of working Spitfires, Hurricanes, Messerschmidt 109s, Stukas and Heinkel HE 111s to enable what, for the late '60s, was an extraordinarily accurate depiction of the details of the air combat, the size of the German raids, the speed and extent of the dogfights and of the carnage of crashed planes. To so faithfully re-create these air battle scenes without the aid of CGI was breathtaking.
Finally, the quality of the movie was enhanced by the stellar, top quality retinue of late '60's A list British actors: Michael Caine, Christopher Plummer, Michael Fox, Laurence Olivier, Kenneth Moore, Robert Shaw, Suzanne York, Barry Foster etc. And an equally deep bench of native German actors. The overall effect was a war movie of the finest calibre and quality that chronicled one, especially for the British, of the most gripping and consequential battles of the 2nd World War.
Escape from Germany (2024)
Fantastic true story of faith and determination
Escape from Germany is one of TC Christiansen's faith promoting movies of interesting incidents in LDS Church history. This movie tells the incredible true story of how the President of the German Mission got all of the missionaries serving in Germany in late August 1939 out of the country in the space of a week and with the last 30 missionaries taking the three days right up until the invasion of Poland and the closing of all the borders.
President Wood (David McConnell) is prompted to assign Elder Siegel (Paul Wuthrich) to roam the mission alone to find stray missionaries to give them money for train tickets and food. What emerges is a constant string of miraculous true stories of how all the missionaries were able to make it out safely to Holland and Denmark.
Of most interest was the fact of history that Hitler mysteriously delayed the actual invasion of Poland a week meanwhile, then apostle Elder Joseph Fielding Smith assured President Wood that the war would not start until all the missionaries were all gotten out and that is indeed what happened.
As often happens with a limited budget movie, some of the acting was a little amateurish, but the thrust of the story makes up for it. Fans of TC Christiansen's "Fighting Preacher" movie will recognize the same mother, father and daughter from that movie in this movie. There were two additional highlights: the dramatic music which really added to the tense atmosphere and also the fact that the descendants of those missionaries mostly made up the extras in the movie!
This was a fabulous rendition of a particularly special chapter in more recent LDS history.
Endeavour (2012)
The finest of UK cop shows
Endeavour is the prequel to the famous long running UK cop show Inspector Morse. It introduces the early police career of the iconic, quirky, old Jaguar driving, crossword obsessed Oxford detective Endeavour Morse. Stepping into such august shoes as John Thaw is not easy but Endeavour literally knocks it out of the park across so many aspects of the TV drama.
First is casting Shawn Evans as the young Morse. He encapsulates the brooding, pensive, deep thinking academic approach to crime solving that becomes Morse's hallmark. Not only are the famous Colleges of Oxford with their medieval buildings, immaculate greens, urbane Dons and all the culture surrounding one of the world's most prestigious universities again front and centre but now it is seen through the lens of 1960's Britain. The attention to detail with the costuming, props, culture as well as historical events is so accurate you really think you've gone back in time.
Endeavour really shines with its contrasting supporting cast who magnificently blend with the young Morse. Endeavour's Latin and Shakespeare classical education melds and offsets with Detective Inspector Fred Thursday (Roger Allam), a cockney old school copper and ex Army vet transplanted from the rough and tumble of London's East End to the leafy lanes and common rooms of the academic town. Thursday combines Greatest Generation old world values with acerbic cockney slang and take-no-prisoners working class policing techniques tempered by polite people skills that are yin and yan to Morse's standoffish, brusque, erudite and thoughtful manner. Add in the upper class posh Chief Superintendent Bright (Anton Lessor) who brings eloquent steadiness and impeccable old school Oxford connections and manners to the mix and then combine in the working class Bobby-from- the-beat made good DS Jim Strange (Sean Rigby), whose thoroughness in his work and kindly loyalty to his complex and aloof fellow detective, completes the formidable team at the Cowley 'nick' (as English police stations are colloquially called).
The secret sauce is the chemistry between Morse and Thursday. The two men form an unbreakable bond of understated respect and admiration - each aware of the others strengths and how their colleague enhances their weakness. When you add in the stunning story lines that build plots and characters meticulously and pace the crime solving perfectly, the signature classical music introductions, the interplay of the main characters from such disparate worlds and prior lives leaves you always glued to your screen.
The UK churns out a huge variety of fabulous quality cop dramas but Endeavour stands at the very top of a large and appealing genre.
Climate: The Movie (The Cold Truth) (2023)
Superb exposition of the truth about the climate
Climate The Movie does as it says, presents the Cold Truth. It gives a good overview of how climate change came to dominate current political discourse. It features a raft of prominent scientists, physicists, climatologists and Patrick Moore (the founder of Greenpeace) all who dared to dispute the prevailing consensus that the science is settled. The documentary meticulously details the 4 other more reliable measurements of temperature change (rural surface stations, ocean gauges, satellite readings and atmospheric balloons) to show that all the IPCC reports and models are mostly based on sites that have been engulfed over time by urbanization and hence subject to distortions in the record by the urban heat island effect. The 4 methods confirm only a slight temperature rise and this is reported alongside the long term historical records going back centuries and then tree ring and ice core testing going back millennia to show that we've been warmer before when there was no industrial output to blame.
Finally many current media myths and obsessions were debunked including no increase in hurricanes and storms, hotter daily temps in the 1930's than recently and significantly fewer modern forest fires than the '20' and '30s.
The way prominent scientists, environmentalists, politicians and the media exaggerate and distort the truth to manipulate the masses into accepting all of the constraints on lifestyle and escalating costs of enforcing net zero is dramatically laid out. This documentary is an important contribution to the debate of climate science that is in reality far from settled.
Blue Lights (2023)
Fantastic intense well acted UK police drama
Like many UK police dramas, there is often a regional setting that provides an interesting cultural backdrop. Blue Lights is set in Belfast, Northern Island and follows the fortunes of several young probationers or rookie cops in the PSNI (Police Service of NI), the replacement for the controversial Royal Ulster Constabulary. Whilst Blue Lights very well covers the normal travails of beat cops (or peelers to use the Irish nickname for police, after Robert Peel the founder of Britain's modern police force in the early 19th century), what sets Blue Lights apart is the intense examination of the unique cultural issues at play in Belfast.
The series builds the layers of nuance of the lives of the key protagonists from the rookies to the sergeants and inspectors alongside some very intense story lines laced with complexity of a city and county still showing the scars of the decades long "Troubles", the understated British euphemism used to describe the brutal civil war between the IRA loyal to the Catholic Republic of Ireland to the south and the Protestant Loyalist majority in Northern Island. Distrust of the police still lingers decades after the peace agreement (the Good Friday Accords) and this shapes daily conduct on the street and operational imperatives.
Layer against this tricky crime management necessity is a drug sting operation run by MI5 (the UK's internal security service) run out of London designed to trap a large European drug running operation based out of Dublin, Ireland. The sting involves a local Belfast drug lord in a complex web of intrigue and violence.
Blue Lights has all the street level intensity and operational drama of Line of Duty with a similar gripping story line that reaches a fabulous crescendo. This show is excellent on so many levels: the plots are compelling, the characters engaging, the acting first rate and the cultural backdrop of Belfast was perfectly interwoven. Blue Lights also avoids a lot of modern woke nonsense and keeps faith with the cultural reality of white Belfast with a minimum of uncomfortably imposed racial minority characters. In a field crowded with superb UK police dramas, Blue Lights is right up there with the best of this genre.
UPDATE: Season 2 is even better than Season 1 earning a rare 10/10. A plot line that was more gripping and simultaneously covered some of the awful ethical dilemmas inherent in the healing from The Troubles 40-50 years later.
A Hero's Journey: The Making of Percy Jackson and the Olympians (2024)
Great insights into a fantastic series
Percy Jackson and the Olympians has almost single-handedly rescued Disney from the financial woes of a string of failed productions. This rendition of Rick Riordan's books hit the bullseye with fidelity to the books, a stellar cast (especially the child actors) and excellent effects and costuming. This documentary shines an excellent light on just HOW this feat was achieved.
It is almost universally acknowledged that the chemistry between the three lead actors Walker Scobell, Leah Jeffries and Aryan Simhadri is what makes the series. A Hero's Journey forensically examines this chemistry with a fascinating look into the lives of these three children with filming replete with interviews with both parents of all three.
At the top of this large talented pyramid of actors sits Walker as Percy Jackson, an actor of such consummate skill and sheer energy that belies the fact that for all but a few weeks of the 8 months of filming, he was only 13. His fit into the character of Percy Jackson is so good it's as if he was born for this role. Whilst the large numbers of adult actors, directors, writers, educators, acting coaches and stunt people who were also interviewed were unstinting and fulsome in their praise for all the trio, their comments about Walker give the viewer the insight they need to understand why Percy Jackson has been so popular and how Walker, who is on-screen for almost every minute of the 4 hours of footage across the 8 episodes, carried this show despite only starring in two prior movies (The Adam Project and Secret Headquarters) shot only one year earlier.
River of Freedom (2023)
Fabulous doco-film of a most difficult chapter in NZ history
It is hard to write this review without having powerful emotions evoked by this movie bubble to the surface. What begins as a chronicle of the great Freedom Convoy that began in late January 2022 at Cape Reinga and Bluff, culminates in the month long protest on the grounds of NZ's Parliament and its ignominious ending. Given how one-sided the NZ mainstream media were by first refusing to report the massive size of support for the Freedom Convoy then portraying the protestors at Parliament as conspiratorial right wing nutters, the filmmakers give us a brilliant inside look at the convoy and the protest from the point of view of not just the organising insiders but an excellent cross section of the protestors in terms of age, gender, ethnicity and occupation from eloquent lawyers and doctors to esteemed local kaumatua and everyone in between. It gives an accurate sense of the authenticity of the protestors replete with heart wrenching stories from those mandated out from decades of service as nurses, doctors and police to the families of the vx injured.
The cinematography was stunning and, as an expat kiwi who watched aghast from afar NZ's descent into Covid tyranny, it fleshed out much of what l'd seen only snippets of and heard of from a family member also mandated out of work.
Even the title "River of Freedom" is a brilliant counterbalance to one of the most shameful moments during the protest, that of Labour Cabinet minister Michael Wood describing the protestors as "a river of filth". Fortunately, this film stands as an eloquent testament to the brave souls who stood firm for freedom during perhaps one of the darkest periods of NZ's history.
The Crown: Willsmania (2023)
Uncharacteristically poor casting
One of the great features of The Crown has been the fabulous attention to casting accuracy across all of the episodes involving not just the major royal family characters, but also the cast of English Prime Ministers and other major figures through the history of Queen Elizabeth's reign. This episode departs from that trend with the mistaken casting of William and Harry. In Season 6 episode 4 we see 15 year old William played by 16 year old Rufus Kampa and almost 13 year old Harry played by 13 year old Fflyn Edwards. Rufus is an almost perfect fit for the now awkward mid teen William. He would've seamlessly transitioned to 16 year old William in episode 5 Willsmania but the casting lept to 24 year old Ed McVey who actually did a fabulous job as the university aged Wills.
Similarly casting 22 year old Luther Ford as the 13/14 year old Harry in Willsmania was a massively inaccurate casting leap from Edwards who was perfectly cast as the early adolescent Harry easily covering his age in episodes 4 and 5 which was sad because Ford was excellent as the young adult Harry. These were very puzzling decisions given the very small age gap portrayed between episodes 4 and 5.
The Crown: Paterfamilias (2017)
One of the best episodes of the series
Having watched the whole series I'd have to say that this episode is one of the best. It explores the complex relationship between Charles and Philip told via the experiences each had at austere Scottish boarding school Gordontoun. It's hard to know how much of the tension portrayed between Elizabeth and Philip over the decision to send Charles there is true nor how much he really struggled. The meatiest parts are the extensive recollections of Phillip's early time at Gordontoun fabulously portrayed by 14 year old Finn Elliot. The cruelty meted out to a high profile royal of controversial European heritage was on full display. One of the highlights was the dramatic scenes of the 1937 funeral of his older sister Cecile in Darmstadt Germany where the teenaged Phillip had to walk through the streets surrounded by Nazi uniforms, salutes and memorabilia! Elliot puts in a powerful, moving and physically challenging performance of Phillip grappling with the death of so many of his family against the backdrop of his struggles at the school.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians (2023)
Casting home run!
This rendition of Percy Jackson shows the impact the deep involvement of the writer of the books Rick Riodan has had on the production. Faithfulness to the script alone sets this apart from the very average two movies in 2010 and 2013. But what lifts this series to a whole much higher level of quality is the incredible chemistry of the lead actors. Walker Scobell's almost perfect fit as Percy comes as no surprise after his stunning debut aged 12 as the young Adam in The Adam Project and backed up in his showing a year later in Secret Headquarters. He brings an incredible mix of vulnerability, sass and adolescent energy and intensity to the screen that brings Percy to vibrant life. The chemistry wlth Annabeth (Leah Jeffries) and Grover (Aryan Simhadri) is next level and absolutely makes the show. Casting kids essentially the same age of their characters is always preferable especially when your casting choice is a home run! The Camp Halfblood portrayal is superb and the finale (episode 8) knocks it out of the park with: the Ares fight scene, Percy's confrontation with Zeus at Olympus and his reunion with Poseidon. Here's hoping the trio haven't grown up too fast for Season 2!
The Rocket (2018)
Motivating true story of rising above adversity
Based on a true story, Central High (Pleasant Bay near Kenosha, Wisconsin) football coach Robert Davis (Carl Ciske) has coached his son Josh (Bradley Tutton) since childhood to run fast and catch like a running back by firing home made rockets into fields of long grass. Josh can match the older players as only a new freshman but must carry the excess expectations of his ambitious dad. After a fundraising BBQ, Josh is riding in the back of a pickup and leaps out to retrieve his blown off hat but hits the road so hard with his head that he suffers a football ending concussion.
Father and son are equally devastated by Josh's massively changed world. Cross country coach Keith Olson persuades Josh to take up running. At first he struggles as the #7 on the team but he eventually brings his competitive intensity to cross country sufficient to defy the odds and for the team to make it to state and win state! Initially his dad is too consumed with grief of the thwarted dreams of Josh's lost football trajectory but in the end he comes to the state meet to cheer Josh on and shows he's reconciled to the situation.
The story is very touching with the only jarring aspect being the patchy quality of the acting and the distinctly B grade feel to the movie. 15 year old lead actor Tutton does an authentic and solid job. Another good feature is the movie features real teenagers not young adults pretending to be teenagers which gives it real high school authenticity. It is a motivating film that demonstrates that you can rise above adversity and succeed despite having certain sports ruled out.
One Lane Bridge (2020)
Quirky Kiwi Cop Show
I really tried hard to get very enthusiastic about this show because it has some great redeeming features but ultimately it is let down by some torturous plot lines.
So the good: as an expat Kiwi who has been to Queenstown a lot, One Lane Bridge is a very faithful re-creation of life for the small established elite of this world famous alpine tourist resort town almost to the point that only NZ audiences would understand. The breathtaking scenery is a given and makes for an incredible backdrop. Life on legacy South Island high country sheep stations has become difficult as these operations are asset rich and cash poor and the ever present Chinese or foreign cash buyer is a common occurrence.
Also faithfully detailed is the hard drinking, rugby-centric, rugged outdoors lifestyle of the locals and the hard to watch homophobic incident is a demonstration of how mores from a bygone era live on in small town NZ. It is always nice to hear the full suite of kiwi slang, the accent and traditions on display (e.g. Deer and rabbit shooting). The acting across the board was solid and believable.
Having a young Maori (Cook Islander in this instance) cop come down from Auckland fitting in with very white Central Otago locals gives a good window into racial integration issues in modern NZ. What was less appealing was weaving into regular policing some Maori spiritual practices that neither did justice to how they are actually done nor to modern NZ policing. It led to a series of hard to comprehend flashbacks and the manner in which Detective Ariki Davis (Dominic Ona-Ariki) actually used his spiritual powers overlayed the whole purpose of the series (trying to determine the killer of local farmer Andrew 'Grub' Ryder - Dean O'Gorman) with surreal and awkward plot lines.
That said, it's always great to New Zealand scenery and culture on display.
Traqués (2018)
Racy French thriller
Hunted (or Traqués in France) is a compelling two part TV series set in Marseilles involving the bond that grows between a young boy Leo (Felix Brossuet) suddenly orphaned by the gang land killing of his corporate attorney father Alberto Seria (Fabrice Michel) and Sarah (Jenifer Bartoli), an early 30's former prison inmate trying to re-establish her life, who becomes the unwitting custodian of Leo when his father hides him in her car for safety from the gunman.
The plot mushrooms and unfolds revealing corrupt cops who violated Sarah 10 years ago then framed her with assault charges, contract killings ordered by organized crime seeking the banking coordinates Alberto gives to Leo for safekeeping which turns out to house the gang's corruptly obtained millions. Sarah and Leo are pursued by a corrupt cop hit man and a straight detective Simon Donatelli (Joffrey Platel) who painstakingly unearths the corruption and facilitates the eventual adoption of Leo by Sarah.
Most endearing is the relationship that evolves between Leo and Sarah, beginning with mistrust and indifference to understanding and then maternal love as they rely in each other's wits and charms to survive. Bartoli does well in this intense drama and her role appears to have helped launch her career in French TV shows. 13 year old Brossuet was the veteran star of the three popular Sebastian movies and he is fabulously expressive and emotionally intense in this role. Given the 2 episode constraint, this series comes off very well.
Sound of Freedom (2023)
Spectacularly consequential movie
Sound of Freedom is guaranteed to stun you in a way I've not seen since Schindler's List and The Passion of the Christ. Jim Caviezel again takes center stage in this true life reenactment of the career of DHS Child Trafficking expert Tim Ballard who initially busts pedophiles but sees greater satisfaction and deeper importance in rescuing their victims. The movie re-enacts an elaborate sting operation Ballard and colleagues concoct to entrap child sex traffickers in Columbia.
Concurrent to the sting is the audacious plan to rescue a 10 year old girl from the clutches of a Columbian drug lord that will have you on the edge of your seat such is the intensity.
Whilst this awful material is handled with great sensitivity and appropriateness, nonetheless the enormity of this industry, and the ease in which so many children particularly in 3rd world countries are trafficked, is extremely unsettling and hard to watch.
This movie has the capacity to shift the Overton window of societal understanding of these heinous crimes and, given the massive size of the trafficking and the powerful interests behind it, it was unsurprising to hear Jim Caviezel admit in a personal plea vignette after the credits that there was a 5 year battle to bring the movie to the big screen.
Sound of Freedom is a MUST WATCH movie, one that will forever change how you see vulnerable children and what it takes to stop their widespread global exploitation.
Endeavour: Exeunt (2023)
Spectacular end to a spectacular series
Screen writer Colin Dexter's Endeavour series epitomized the magic of understated British reserve. The formality of the relationship between Thursday as working class Cockney soldier come patiently effective lead Detective and the urbane, educated brooding Morse as understudy has emerged as one of British television's most compelling and appealing police partnerships in a UK media universe peppered with fantastic police shows.
Exeunt is an instruction to an actor to exit the stage and the screenwriters found a way to exeunt the show with a series of lovely stories to send off the main characters in style and to close this fabulous series. But the tension and drama surrounding what Thursday and Morse have to do to survive unscathed in this episode is thoroughly gripping and nail biting to the end.
Both men had left a lot unsaid in the depth of their relationship over the years, but the final scene when they part has to be one of the greatest acting performances on British television, such are the facial expressions and unstated emotion between these two great policing partners underpinned with the old school utmost discretion, respect and mutual understanding that was the hallmark of their characters.
After decades of the original Inspector Morse series that seemed to have petered out of steam, Endeavour not only breathed in new life, but established itself as one of the very finest of Britain's police dramas, and there is very stiff competition.
A Bridge Too Far (1977)
Fantastic WW2 true story re-creation
Through the 1960s and 70s, the British produced a series of fabulous and authentic movies about specific aspects of the Second World War. These include: The Battle of Britain, The Dambusters, 602 Squadron, Reach for the Sky, The Guns of Navarone and The Great Escape, but A Bridge Too Far is, in my opinion, the best of a great bunch.
It re-creates the ambitious plan launched in the autumn of 1944 by British Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery dubbed Operation Market Garden to shorten the war after the successful D Day landings of June 6, 1944. The plan involved the capture of four key bridges through The Netherlands then still occupied by Nazi Germany by punching a huge hole in the German defenses and hastening the invasion of the Rhineland and Ruhr, the industrial heartland of Germany.
Three things come together in A Bridge Too Far to ensure it that it sits at the top of the war movie rankings:
1 - Fastidious attention to historical detail including frank and even brutal coverage of parts of the operation that were an abject failure.
2 - For the 1970s the special effects were spectacular, from the dramatic scenes of the take-off of the vast airborne invasion fleet of DC 3 Dakota's and gliders to the intense battle for the town and bridge in the northern Dutch town of Arnhem. Attention to every aspect of military detail from uniforms, weapons and heavy artillery/tanks etc was incredible.
3 - These aspects were crowned by one of the most star studded casts in the history of cinema. I don't believe any movie has ever brought so many then A list actors from both sides of the Atlantic into one movie as this one does: Sean Connery, Laurence Olivier, Robert Redford, Michael Caine, Ryan O'Neil, Gene Hackman, Dirk Bogarde, Anthony Hopkins, Edward Fox, James Caan and Elliot Gould along with a raft of young up and coming stars like Ben Cross (Chariots of Fire) and John Ratzenberger (Cheers) and a Who's Who of top German actors including Maximilian Schell and thousands of Dutch extras. All apprise their roles fabulously.
The net effect is to create one of the greatest war movies ever made in a gripping and breathtakingly authentic tale of one of World War Two's most audacious military campaigns.
Secret Headquarters (2022)
Fun teen father-son sci-fi comedy
Secret Headquarters features Owen Wilson as quirky dad Jack who is an air force pilot who drives an old VW Kombi who stumbles on an energy rock left over from a mid air collision between an alien space craft and a pursuing fighter jet. Jack, camping with his wife Lily (Jesse Mueller) and 4 year old son Charlie (Louie Chaplin Mossie), picks up the energy pulsing rock and it deems him a perfect match for downloading a bunch of super powers and he becomes a Superman-type super hero called the Guardian who flies the world saving people.
Fast forward 10 years and Jack's constant absences lead to a separation with Lily the main custodial parent of now middle schooler Charlie (Walker Scobell). Charlie adds early adolescent challenges like bullying, a cracking voice and clumsy attempts to woo a girl he fancies called Maya (Mamona Tamada) to constant angry disappointments over his frequently absent father. One night, when Jack cries off yet again due to a mission, Charlie invites his best friends over (1 boy 2 girls including Maya with whom Charlie has a complicated past) and they accidentally discover Jack's high tech man cave that houses all the gadgets and electronics to manage his global rescue missions.
A jealous former pilot teams up with an arms manufacturer, impoverished by world peace thanks to the Guardian, and they plot to find the Guardian and steal his power. What emerges is an action packed series of chase and capture/escape scenes between Charlie and his friends and the rogue operatives trying to capture his father.
Diminutive Charlie drives the Kombi in great chase scenes and the movie is made by the father-son chemistry as Jack is reconciled with Charlie and Charlie comes to accept then love his dad's real life.
Owen Wilson is happy and predictable in the role of Jack but the real standout is 13 year old Walker Scobell in only his second lead role since his critically acclaimed part as the young Adam in The Adam Project. Walker brings fabulous intensity and adolescent energy and was a perfect fit as a lovable, charming but feisty and articulate early teen boy.
There are awkward and schmaltzy parts but overall, the storyline is fun, the pace is excellent and the acting mostly first rate especially from the teen cast. It's a perfect fit for the young teen/tween audience it is aimed at.
Accused: Scott's Story (2023)
Gripping psycho thriller
This episode of Accused covers a parents worst nightmare: a psychotic child who can and does become a mass killer. It is done through the eyes of an eventually unsuccessful negligence prosecution brought by an aggressive District Attorney. It is excellently done with some great acting especially Michael Chiklis as Scott Harmon, a successful Chicago neurosurgeon and Jill Hennessy as his wife Lynn. The most brilliantly portrayed and chilling role was of their high school aged son Devin by 17 year old Oakes Fegley of Pete's Dragon and The Goldfinch fame. Great tension and excellent plot development and pace.
Happy Valley (2014)
Stunning UK cop drama
Happy Valley is simply one of the very best British police dramas and there is a lot of high quality competition. There are a series of unique factors that come together to make this such a gritty and compelling series.
First is the location - shot in the grim valleys of West Yorkshire around rural Hebden Bridge near Bradford, Halifax and Leeds which is unlike the more urban or picturesque locations often used in UK cops shows. The dreary weather, the working class cast, the ubiquitous thick Yorkshire accents and the economic struggles of the former coal mining area are front and centre.
Second is the fact that the central character, Police Sergeant Catherine Cawood (Sarah Lancashire), is a rank and file cop and not a more glamourous Detective is a major departure from normal British police show casting. The tough daily routine of the uniformed constables she leads and not the murder investigations of the CID is what is mostly shown on screen.
Third is the elongation of the gap between series 2 and 3 done deliberately around the other central character, that of Cath Cawood's grandson Ryan (Rhys Connah). Rhys was 8 and 10 in the first two series but the plot lines and subject matter of Series 3 needed to be filmed around the reactions and impact on a mid-adolescent boy and so the writer and director Sally Wainwright waited 6 years for the character of Ryan to grow from a child to a near adult sized teenager and the impact of this decision adds a fantastic and realistic dimension to the story line.
Finally is the ending of the show in Episode 6 of Season 3 (as it is clear there will be no more seasons), which features a stunningly intense climactic encounter between Sergeant Cawood and the other central character psychopathic killer (and father of Ryan) Tommy Lee Royce (James Norton) that rewrites all the norms of every preceding police drama of this type in a most satisfying and dramatic way.
Happy Valley has it all, fabulous dark and brooding locations, tough and gritty working class Yorkshire realism, superb and award winning acting from a stellar cast of veterans and newcomers like young Rhys Connah and a plot line that is taut, compelling, intense and gripping. In a country renowned for its incredible quality police dramas, Happy Valley is a true standout.
Dear Edward (2023)
Great examination of healing from grief
This Apple series tells various stories of healing from the grief of a horrific airline crash through the eyes of various bereaved families. Whilst most stories are of the relatives of passengers killed in the crash, the principle story is that of 12 year old Edward (Colin O'Brien) who is the sole survivor of the crash that killed both his parents and his 15 year old brother Jordan (Maxwell Jenkins). Edward now lives with his aunt Lacey (Taylor Schilling) and her husband John (Carter Hudson) and must adjust to life after his shock loss in a new town, family and school environment AND cope with the usual challenges of early adolescence.
Whilst the show brilliantly portrays Edward's healing journey, it also examines the lives of the various bereaved from other families who also cope with dramatically changed circumstances and the shock of unearthing the hidden truths of their deceased loved ones. An excellent common thread is a survivors grief group which helps unpick some of the stories. Recurring scenes feature cameos of Jordan seemingly appearing from the grave to give older brotherly advice to Edward.
Whilst there are many excellent performances, 12 year old Colin O'Brien is simply superb as a vulnerable and melancholy boy struggling to make sense of the massive tragedy in his life. There are beautiful moments as he explores his grief with his equally grieving aunt but also as he bonds with his quirky tween neighbor girl Shay (Eva Ariel Binder) and meets Jordan's part Iranian girlfriend Mahira.
The series ends with Edward finally discovering a large stash of letters from random people expressing support for his survival or information of a loved one on the plane but these were hidden by his aunt and uncle to protect his healing. The ending is a little melodramatic but it does demonstrate that various members of the grief group have some degree of closure in their individual life journeys.
The Other Boleyn Girl (2008)
Sumptuous Tudor drama
This British drama attempts to tell the story of Ann Boleyn's older sister Mary. Ann Boleyn was Henry VIII's second wife for whom he had England break from the Catholic Church so he could divorce his first wife Catherine of Aragon because she didn't produce a male heir.
Both Boleyn sisters had spent time in the French Court refining there skills as stately ladies of court and became part of a plot of the father to ingratiate favour with the king. The ultimate fate of Ann in failing to produce a son brought ruin to her family but Mary alone escapes the downfall and marries her true love and lived a somewhat normal life after bearing Henry an illegitimate son.
Whilst not all aspects are historically accurate, these gaps are well compensated by a Who's Who of British acting talent, sumptuous and accurate 16th century costumes and fabulous attention to detail of Tudor customs and set in many buildings of the era.