Peekupz Reviews

The Newsreader (2021– )

Series 1 great then awful

[6/10 · 10 October 2023]

Series one of this show was fantastic But it seriously has bought the farm in series two.

They seem to have lost interest in the stories of the time and focused on the private lives and relationships of some really uninteresting characters.

The two lead characters are both unlikeable and dull. They managed to cover this up previously by having interesting scripts.

The only point I can see to continue watching is to see William McInnes go hell for leather over the top. Love it. He has not been better than the brilliant Sandy Freckle.

Maybe they could find a role for Kath, Kel and Sandy. Perhaps then it might regain its lustre.

Mother and Son: Roadtrip (2023) Season 1, Episode 7

At last a decent episode

[8/10 · 4 October 2023]

Finally!

I'm obviously a glutton for punishment but I've persevered with this previously pretty much unwatchable absolute shambles of a show. Mostly because I know Denise Scott is too talented not to eventually get it right.

This is how it should have been all along. Helped no end by the exclusion of the awfully drawn sister character. But Maggie is finally just the right combination of devious and manipulative and flawed and flustered.

Even Matt Okine is competent. He is certainly no Gary McDonald but for the first time he has at least shown something other than a hammy wannabee Still I fear it is too little too late overall.

8 for this episode. 3 at best for the series.

Barry (2018–2023)

Mmmeehh

[4/10 · 3 September 2023]

I really thought I was going to like this one. Admittedly I've only watched the first five episodes but it is boring me out of my mind The whole doubtful assassin thing has been done to death and way better many times.

It doesn't come within an inch of a truly great show such as Mr inbetween.

Ffs three hundred and six characters still required. Matt Damon is an actor who has played Jason Bourne. A character devised by Robert Ludlum. Interestingly neither of them have ever played shortstop for an mlb team. Coincidence I think not.

Still sixty three to go. Perhaps Ludlum should have concentrated on his batting.

Seven Seconds (2018)

Good not great

[5/10 · 20 August 2023]

The story is potentially fantastic But there are too many things wrong with the telling.

I can imagine that 30% of watchers will give up after the ludicrous over the top introduction of the prosecutor. There's having a drinking problem and being what was portrayed here.

I'm guessing the actress has never had a drink in her life. Simply awful Then the mother becomes unwatchable.

The worst is probably the dad who is a proper religious nasty homophobe but inexplicably wakes up to himself and becomes a beacon of light and forgiveness.

And spoiler spoiler spoiler they get away with it so if you've struggled through to the final courtroom scene be prepared to be disappointed.

North Shore (2023– )

Goodish but painful

[5/10 · 11 June 2023]

Ok I'm five episodes in so probably shouldn't be calling it.

There's a bit to like.

The actual whodunnit is mildly intriguing.

The pommy detective is head and shoulders above the rest of the cast.

The Aussie lead detective is just dreadful. Probably not completely the actors fault though. She starts out as every cliche ridden caricature you could imagine and pretty much stays there.

What really annoys me though is the lack of reality in the day to day situations. We are supposed to believe that the leader of the opposition in the middle of an election campaign has 3 hours to spend at the beck and call of some strumpet every night in one city. Then there's meant to be a big trade agreement. FFS have the writers not heard of caretaker mode?

Flight of the Navigator (1986)

Best remember it rather than watch it

[5/10 · 16 April 2023]

Noticed this was showing on free to air television and remembered watching it as a kid. It was one of those movies that was ET ish. Just had to give it another viewing.

I knew the special effects weren't going to hold up to today's standards but that didn't bother me as I dislike just about every superhero slash sci-fi slash zombie slash everything else that gets served up as a blockbuster today anyhow.

What I had failed to remember is just how dull the script was and how dreadful an actor the poor kid was.

So it hasn't aged well. But it's definitely not a complete failure. Enjoy the memory of it rather than revisit it. If you must watch it again at least be thankful there's no CGI enhanced fight on a bridge like the last 24 Spider-Man movies.

Your Honor (II) (2020–2023)

Actually gets a lot less bad

[6/10 · 21 March 2023]

I watched season one believing that this might be alright. I mean anything with Bryan Cranston has to at least be watchable. Sadly all the negative reviews were pretty much spot on.

Anyhoo because I'm a bit of a masochist and the fact I couldn't find anything else to watch I gave season two a go. At least the son was now dead so he couldn't do anything more stupid.

So it does get better. There are some decent performances from Bryan (as expected) and Amy Landecker. And the always reliable Margo Martindale. Not so sure about Michael Stuhlbarg, he still can't decide whether he wants to be De Niro or Stevie Van Zandt. You want to punch Hope Davis in the face every time she appears on screen so she has done her job I suppose.

So season two moves it up from a 4 to a 6. Still not great tv but at least the story keeps you involved. Because it's made in the USA and they have a pathological fear of actually reaching a conclusion to any drama in case the ratings are positive. There is left open the possibility of season three. Not sure too many people will care if it doesn't happen.

Good Night Oppy (2022)

Was looking good

[5/10 · 9 February 2023]

About 30 minutes into this film I was thinking wow this is great. So many interesting stories with so many brilliant scientists with back stories etcetera.

But somewhere along the line it got really repetitive and almost unbelievably dull.

Still there was a lot of inspiring stuff to be had. So I persevered. But at about 1 hour 20 minutes into the film I reached my enough is enough moment. Some Jonny come lately scientist started waffling on about the similarities between the dwindling capabilities of the rover and her alzheimer suffering grandmother.

This could have been great. But whoever let it become a 105 minute film when 80 to 90 would have been perfect should be ashamed.

Money Heist (2017–2021)

Kaleidescope made me watch it

[3/10 · 15 January 2023]

I'd seen this title on Netflix for ages. Then I had the misfortune of watching Kaleidoscope. So it forced me to IMDb to see why that show was so over rated. Apparently this was meant to be the ultimate heist series.

The actual heist story would have made a great 6 part mini series. But surprise surprise what we got was another ludicrous soap opera. A heist that was planned down to the tiniest detail by a brilliant mind.

But such a brilliant mind decided that the caper needed to be performed by a combination of morons and psychopaths.

Seriously this could have been great. But apparently we're not allowed to have profe v ssionals doing a professional job.

In saying this I only watched the first two series. But there was a lot of fast forwarding going on towards the end of series 2. Comments by others suggest I did well.

Black Snow (2022– )

Better than it looked like being

[7/10 · 3 January 2023]

I was fairly worried at the start. The first scenes of Izzy were as unsympathetically shot as possible. Then the introduction of Travis Fimmel's character had me thinking uh oh this is going to be over the top.

Fortunately it got better pretty quickly once the action moved to the North Queensland location.

There were still some quite annoying flaws in the depiction of the characters over the 25 year timeline. Some of the actors seemed to have aged about 5 years tops. While others like Hazel were realistically completely different.

Maybe got a bit too "Broadchurch" in the middle episodes. But the resolution wasn't awful.

BTW. Couldn't help noticing in an extended scene in the video shop where the victim worked in 1994 that there were numerous unrented copies of Elaine Paige's Cats film. Perhaps it was because that film wasn't released until 1998.

The Interceptor (2015)

Awful start awful end

[3/10 · 14 December 2022]

I'm probably one of the few who have watched this all the way through.

The first episode is an absolute abomination. Every cliche available got a run. All this so he can get a job in a "secret" crime fighting cell with person of interest type setup. Which apparently consists of his mum and dad in a gym. Or something.

We then get eight episodes with the usual everybody has a secret or are hiding something.

Once the setup is established the middle episodes are mostly watchable if you're happy enough to accept really low standards. I'd go so far as to suggest they may even be approaching mediocre.

The final episode sets up the possibility of a second season. But is so awful that it only manages to seal the fate of certain cancellation. Which it apparently did.

Freeman (II) (2020)

Avoid

[2/10 · 29 November 2022]

I'm not sure I've ever seen a 15 minute documentary stretched any further than this garbage.

I still remember watching the Cathy Freeman race at the 2000 Olympics and thought this might be something uplifting with new and interesting insights. As a piece of jingoistic let's all love each other because of one person's achievement this should have been a no brainer.

Instead we get repetition after repetition. Then it repeats itself again.

As far as I can tell, the only thing that it achieves is making it abundantly clear that there is nothing, absolutely nothing, that however bad cannot made much much worse by the inclusion of interpretive dance.

Dark (2017–2020)

Not for everyone

[5/10 · 7 September 2022]

Started to watch this on recommendation. Even though sci-fi is not really my thing. I knew it was going to take a bit of an effort to keep track. I enjoyed most of series 1 even though it was slow. I thought I was keeping track of who was who fairly well. But then it became a bit overwhelming but good luck to the boffins who love this stuff.

I had to make a decision of whether I cared enough to keep going as they introduced even more characters and timelines. The answer for me was no.

But just because I gave up doesn't mean it's bad. The choice of actors to portray different times is brilliant.

About halfway through s2 ep3 I realised there's too much stuff out there I actually enjoy to persevere any longer. It's me not you.

A League of Their Own: Batter Up (2022) Season 1, Episode 1

Worst start ever, but

[6/10 · 21 August 2022]

First 2 minutes.

OK. So the lady's chasing the train. It actually stops at the station where she catches up to it. She then has a chat to some people and then unbelievably the train leaves the station so she has to chase it again.

It does get better but whoever thought this ridiculous scenario was a good way to start a series really need to have a good look at themselves.

Aftertaste (2021–2022)

Really? There's a series 2

[2/10 · 21 July 2022]

I can't believe someone with their hands on the coffers thought we needed more of this.

Series 1 was completely bereft of laughs.

The premise was always dubious. The writing was terrible and the acting was off the planet bad.

The lead actor seemed to be under the impression he was filming one of those English Xmas pantomimes.

Maybe series 2 will be better. No chance I'll ever know.

The Terminal List: The Engram (2022) Season 1, Episode 1

Lights anyone?

[1/10 · 10 July 2022]

When the next awards season comes around this has to be a moral for worst cinematography. If there's going to be a second series made I seriously hope they can find be a cameraman who knows how to take the lens cap off.

May as well be a radio play.

Shoresy (2022– )

Why?

[2/10 · 23 June 2022]

Love Letterkenny I've just kept watching this knowing it must improve.

Shoresy was a brilliant unseen character

4 episodes in I'm sad to say it doesn't.

JUST NOT FUNNY.

Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

Another super hero movie

[4/10 · 17 February 2022]

I must admit I was a little unsure about spending my money on another Spider-Man movie.

But it had pretty good reviews so I thought I'd give it a go on the big screen. Sadly it suffered the same fate as the previous couple of incarnations. Once the interesting back story is complete, you're just left with a pretty dull super hero looking for an excuse to use the wiz bang CGI and terribly loud and annoying sound effects.

Still in the top 75% of super hero films. But that's an increasingly large percentage of all films and one day that bubble must burst. Please burst.