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Reviews
Clarkson's Farm: Mushrooming (2024)
Poor Charlie
Every time I see Charlie (or Kaleb) trying to explain reality to Jeremy or Lisa, I feel sorry for him. It's like he is dealing with obstinate and possibly mentally challenged children. It take a special sort of arrogant fool to pay for professional advice, then argue against, ignore it, or simply "invent" farm shop exceptions like Lisa did.
Charlie certainly is less uptight than in the earlier seasons. I guess he get paid no matter what happens because of the pair and so does not let it get to him. It's nice to see him laughing at the buffoonery rather than being aggravated by it like in earlier seasons.
Still a fun show, but Jeremy and Lisa endlessly fighting good advice is getting tiresome.
The Grand Tour: Unscripted (2017)
Where the magic died
I think this is where the real Chump & Co. Bad attitude came through.
"You think we are too scripted?"
"OK, we will write a scripted 'unscripted' and go out of our way to be terrible, then claim it was because we didn't have a script"
It seemed like a hissy fit, "This will teach them not to complain about the script." A picture of Greta saying "HOW DARE YOU!?" comes to mind.
This was were they lost respect for their long time viewers. A real insult and the beginning of the "We don't care, we are rich, and you are insignificant consumers" in my opinion.
There have been some good shows after, but I think they were the exceptions and accidentally good.
The Grand Tour: The Grand Tour: Sand Job (2022)
Not bad, not great.
I actually found this one to be OK. Nothing great like Vietnam or Mongolia, but still quite enjoyable.
The first 1/2 hour, I chuckled a few times. The Tunnel and minefield thing could have been left out as it was ridiculously contrived. Same for the cable decent of the hill. Sillynes for the sake of being silly it seemed.
As usual the filming was quite good but, as with many productions, the drone cam use was a bit unnecessary and off-putting. Just because you can, does not mean you should.
Hammonds car losing its mind was kind of funny. The snowmobiles and cultivator gag seemed desperate attempts to 'do something different' and again, ridiculously contrived outcome.
As the heading said, Not bad, not great.
If anything, a clear indication that it is time to shut it down. They ran out of good ideas a while back.
And dear god Jeremy, give birth, or go on a diet.
Westworld: Crisis Theory (2020)
Season 3 opinion
Season 3, don't bother.
Or do, just to see how bad a series can fall from S1 being excellent to S3 being truly awful. Only Game of Thrones has made such a massive plunge in recent memory.
In this one the shark with frickin' lasers on its head, jumps over 400 Fonzies.
There were a few scenes that actually were excellent, but kind of like going to the Louvre to see the Mona Lisa and having to wade neck deep through human excrement to get to the painting.
The fight scenes were laughable, and in most cases entirely irrelevant and stupidly unrealistic. Professional soldiers with sub-machine guns and armor can't hit anything (stormtroopers) while hero with a 9mm short pistol can kill them all with one shot each while running and shooting backwards 50 yards away. When hero actually does take a couple of rounds, they either are totally unaffected, or when required by 'plot' (being generous), near totally incapacitated, until moments later when they recover like nothing happened.
I rate it a 1/10 for the couple of good scenes, maybe 10 minutes total, out of 7.5 hours of a generally beautifully filmed steaming pile of excrement.
Salvage Hunters: The Restorers (2018)
Better than Salvage Hunters
Enjoyable and interesting for the most part.
The prices and effort of the restorers do not seem to make any sense though. Unless these experts work for pennies per hour, the original cost + restoration/fabrication + profit compared to the expected sale price doesn't add up.
I would really like to hear the actual cost of the restoration work, which is suspiciously and noticeably never mentioned. That it is not takes a lot away from my interest in the projects as it feels 'faked' and dishonest.
Since IMDB wants more characters, I would like to mention Ruth the gilder. Someone please use her for narration. Her voice and mannerisms are enchanting.
Terminator Salvation (2009)
Turn off your brain
....and enjoy the explosions.
The plot..... was there a plot?
Never mind, BOOM, BOOM, Giant machines that shoot with the accuracy of stormtroopers when plot armor required.
Killer machines that drag themselves along the ground to catch you, then toss you far away instead of crushing you there and then......
It is supposed to be Sci-Fi not Sci-ridiculously stupid.
7 for explosions (if that is your thing)
2 for everything else.
Stopped watching at about 1h57m. Had had enough.
I would rather watch the first two movies again than finish this one.
Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022)
Not entirely terrible
That is about the nicest thing I can say about this.
Since I have to have 150 characters, the whole plot seemed pretty meaningless and just a vehicle to have some fights.
Ben was not what we would expect considering how he is portrayed in other shows.
Pretty poor overall.
The Book of Boba Fett (2021)
So far, seeems OK.
Only watched the first two episodes so far and is seems to be good entertainment.
BTW, Ming-Na Wen, IMDB says she is nearly 60! I find that hard to believe but if true, WOW! She has aged VERY well.
Raised by Wolves: The Collective (2022)
Terrible CGI
Just saw a transporter flying through an alien land. Looks like a cut scene from a ~2005 video game. Just terrible.
Even the 'plot' seems more about creating an eerie atmosphere than any actual substance.
Other critical reviews make it clear that I don't need to watch anymore.
1883 (2021)
Started OK.....
... but now it is getting dull and implausible. (after 5 episodes)
Too many continuity errors and 'modern' language and behavoiurs. Many dull and repetative scenes that seem like filler.
Wanted to like it. Did like the first couple of episodes but now it getting tedious. Still hoping it will improve and become interesting again.
The Expanse (2015)
Watch seasons 1-4, skip 5&6
Season 1 really grabbed my interest and seasons 2&3 held it. 8.5/10
Season 4 was OK but felt flat compared to the first three. 7/10
Seasons 5&6 were not entirely awful, just not very good, especially compared to the first three. Too much badly acted soap opera and not enough sci-fi or plot advancement. Basically boring. 5/10
Still very good sci-fi that just sort of faded out toward the end.
The Expanse: Babylon's Ashes (2022)
Thank god it is over.
The last episode was not a letdown as I expected this.
It was better overall than the previous 13 episodes or so, but that is no compliment, just comparative.
Plenty here have pointed out the several kinds of terrible that were in this one. It has covered all I would have to say. Read the 6* or less comments.
As said in my previous review, "I really wish I had forgotten about this series after Season 4".
Oh well, there was plenty of very good in the series, it just sucks to see it end this way.
The Grand Tour: The Grand Tour Presents: Carnage A Trois (2021)
Odd.
Nothing stood out as overly good or bad, but I laughed many times and enjoyed the show. Can't ask for much more.
Whatever they did, I liked it a lot better than several of the previous episodes.
The Expanse: Why We Fight (2022)
That was really dull.
Just checking off having watched the episodes now. Interest in the show has ended.
Thankfully there is only one more episode left to be dissapointed by.
Were the writers for Lost (how apropriate) hired. Did all the cast go to anti-acting school during the last series? They all seem more wooden and dull than even last season, an impressive achievement.
What a waste of a great first three seasons. S4 was not great but not terrible. S5&6 were terrible, disjointed and boring.
As said before, the best thing about The Epanse now, is that is will soon end.
Yellowstone: Grass on the Streets and Weeds on the Rooftops (2022)
Bad plot at end.
So Beth is going to blackmail and control Jamie with (inconclusive) evidence that Jamie killed his dad? To protect the family and John?
What is she going to do? Go to the police with "here is a picture Jamie disposing of his dad"?
Lemme see."OK Miss, where did this occur?"
Is she going to take them to the dump site where they will find the dozens of Yellowstone skeletons and ballistic matches to half the guns on the Dutton Ranch?
Big FACEPALM.
1883: River (2021)
Where is the continuity?
Day one, only one German can understand, never mind speak, english.
Day 3 or 4, many can, the Gypsy can, and the problem guys who challenged the Captain can argue and insult in english.
Not the end of the world but really, really poor and lazy writing.
Still like the show but these type of things make it 'OK', but not 'good'.
1883: 1883 (2021)
Ahrg.
Three shots from a double barrel shotgun? No way could the wagon driver have reloaded. Not a good sign if that happens in the first 15 minutes of the first episode. How could that possibly make it through editing?
Still looks like a good show but that is just incredibly sloppy.
Yellowstone (2018)
Very good.
Really liking this one. Great characters and interesting if somewhat implausible and over-dramatized stories. Some more than really required gore shown, but then this is no kids show.
Only real complaint is the title sequence. Obviously made by people who know nothing about mining and machinery because they have the bucket wheel excavator turning backwards!
The Expanse: Redoubt (2021)
Two to go.....
If the pacing is the same in the last two episodes as it is in this one, there simply is not enough time to close up all the arcs in any satisfying way, IMO.
Found myself bored and it actually felt like work to even pay attention to episodes 3&4.
At least it will end soon.... Now merely watching out of curiosity to see how much farther this once great show can fall.
What a waste of great premise at the start of the series. What a shame.
All I can think is that once they knew the series was ending, the production people stopped caring and just called it in.
The Expanse: Force Projection (2021)
At least it will be over soon
I really wish I had forgotten about this series after Season 4. Now I am only watching to see just how much worse it can get.
Marcos and Fillip are two of the least interesting and poorly acted charachters I have seen in recent memory.
Actually glad the series is coming to an end as the magic is gone and has been for almost two seasons.
The Expanse: Azure Dragon (2021)
Meh.
Pretty disappointed.
Not sure what I was expecting but this definitely was not it.
Marcos, Filip, Naomi...... Just awful. Waste of screen time.
BTW, When did 'acting' become only either being indignant/angry or looking sad? Seems the only thing the main cast (except Peaches and Amos) can manage.
Make a spin off with Peaches and Amos and forget the rest.
Also, only four episodes left to wrap things up? Can't see any decent closure coming in the roughly 160 minutes they have left, as I expect at least 20 minutes each of Naomi being sad, Marcos being awful and Filip being pointless.
Expecting a sad and unfulfilling end to what I think started as an interesting and different show. Such potential, wasted.
Impossible Engineering (2015)
Pretty mediocre
First, "Impossible Engineering" is about the stupidest title possible. And no, saying "making the impossible, possible" does not make it better.
Second, the production quality and 'experts' seem bottom of the barrel.
Third, the explanation and exploration of the engineering involved in these projects is pathetic. Engineering should not be 'dumbed down'. (multiples of 'Olympic swimming pools', 'football pitches' and 'elephants' are not recognized units of measurement)
Lastly, the constant repeating and replaying of what was said and shown only five minutes ago? Annoying beyond belief.
This is a not very good show, made for the ADHD crowd. A real shame as it could have been so much better. I get the feeling it was made by people who really wanted to make a sci-fi action show, but this was all that was available to them.
Avenue 5: Was It Your Ears? (2020)
Shockingly bad.
Anyone giving this >4 must have been paid or related to one of the actors.
Just awful.
Avenue 5: I Was Flying (2020)
Ouch!
Really? From House and Blackadder to this?
For me, comedy is about funny, not stupid. This seems stupid. Very stupid.
One or two kind of funny jokes manage to escape but not enough to make the rest of the cringe fest worth watching. I really felt like this was aimed at 10-12 year olds.
Maybe it will get better next season, but I doubt it. I saw no improvement from episode 1 to the finale.
Raised by Wolves: The Beginning (2020)
What?
Nine pretty good episodes and then this?
Of course I will watch the first episode of season two, but it will be out of morbid curiosity not anticipation of greatness. Maybe there will be some great explanation for the events but I can't imagine what it could be. Hope the writers can.
Spoiler parts:
Unless the whole planet core / flying snake bit was some sort of unreal dream sequence or other such way of explaining the massive plot holes and silly physics others have noted here, I don't see how they continue with any credibility. That was just awful.
But I really did enjoy the previous episodes.