tommylib Reviews

The Regime (2024)

A Fever Dream of Madness

[8/10 · 17 May 2024]

What to say about The Regime? It's not easy.

It's often not easy to watch. It's often not easy to understand. It's often not easy to digest.

If you're looking for light entertainment, easy and fun entertainment, a good time, well, I'd suggest you look elsewhere. I can see why many rate this so poorly.

The Regime tells the story of Chancellor Elena Vernham and her chaotic and mercurial rule. She's a mad despot, she's an educated and lucid schemer, she's a tormented daughter. She's not easy.

If you're looking for characters to like, then you'll find one here. Agnes. That's about it. Everyone else is flawed, dangerous, self-serving, violent, and any other negative characteristic you want to mention. It's a miserable bunch. The noble rebel? A self-serving prick.

You'll note no sign of Agnes's son in the finale, why? Because Elena has no remorse, no loyalty, no guilt, not even for Herbert. She is out for herself, as is almost everyone else.

But, onto why I give this eight stars. It's beautifully acted, the sets are fantastic, the various characters are interesting and three dimensional. It mixes horror, humor, excitement, madness, and more. What's going to happen? I don't know, I'm afraid to find out. In the end, my fear is justified.

Is Elena a tragic heroine stuck between China and the United States, doomed to be a pawn? Or is she a self-serving schemer living off the backs of the people. Both.

Brilliant, mad, inconceivable. I loved it, I hated it.

Shōgun (2024–2026)

Audience Left in the Dark

[5/10 · 14 May 2024]

There are some good moments in Shogun, but the big problem is the audience is largely left in the dark as to what is happening.

So many times, important characters and minor characters make plans outside the view of the audience.

Toranaga's scheming vassal is working both sides, but we never see him doing it. He just tells us when talking with his nephew. Particularly egregious is when he agrees to further Izo's plan in the palace, but we are left out of the discussion only to witness the act.

The gardener's plan to take down the pheasant and be framed as the spy. Again, we just find out about it all later, we don't see it happening, agonize, feel the pain, the loyalty to his lord.

Buntaro's survival. He fights through the countryside with a band of Ronin and returns to Lord Toranaga. Sounds like a fantastic side-story? Too bad we don't see any of it.

Son attacks uncle in brothel. It'd have been nice to see the plan formulated, knowing it was a bad idea, build some tension maybe? No, just happens.

Toranaga's final plan? We know nothing.

I just never found myself immersed because the writers chose to leave me in the dark.

The acting is spotty, Cosmo Jarvis and Anna Sawai are bland and boring. Their romance is cold. Everyone else is pretty good with particular applause for Moeka Hoshi who plays Blackthorn's consort. She's fantastic, steals all her scenes, expressive, haunted.

Sets are lovely although backgrounds are not great, CGIsh.

I want to be immersed, part of the show, involved. I wasn't and it left me apathetic.

Mr Bates vs. The Post Office (2024)

The Story is the Most Important Thing

[8/10 · 7 May 2024]

I really enjoyed Mr. Bates vs. The Post Office. It definitely tickles my limited government fancies and I think the fact the show brought the case back to the attention of the public makes it great no matter how well it is presented. That being said, how is it presented?

I thought they did a really nice job of telling a complicated story with a lot of characters. It would have been easy to get lost in the minutia of the complicated case and the incredibly long period of time over which the story is told.

There are a lot of a characters and there are not many whiz-bang moments. It's just a terrible tragedy brought to life by largely excellent acting.

I'm sure there was a temptation to make it overly emotional, but I really respect how they largely resisted the urge.

The music, cinematography, sets, and everything else are nicely done. It's not blockbuster material but the more you know about the Post Office scandal the angrier you get.

Definitely must watch television.

Nolly (2023)

Simple Story told Well

[9/10 · 2 April 2024]

The story here is everything. Noele Gordon is fired from her long-running daily soap opera and must confront the reality of the situation.

We see Nolly as both domineering on the set but also caring deeply for her co-workers and appreciating her fans. She's not a hero or a villain and even the executives who fired her turn out to be sympathetic characters.

It's not good versus evil. There are no scenes designed to manipulate our emotions, it's just a simple story. The acting is top-notch from top to bottom, everyone is believable in their roles. The sets, the score, the cinematography, and all the rest are beautifully done.

Even the ending doesn't give us the triumph we want but just completes the story nicely.

This show truly illustrates the concept of telling a compelling story without embellishment. I can understand why an audience expecting a happy ending with the bad guy defeated might find this a bit slow, dull even, but I loved it.

I wish we had more this and less of the blockbuster stuff, but I suspect I'm in the minority.

Monsieur Spade (2024)

Overly Convoluted Plot and Throttled Actors

[4/10 · 11 March 2024]

Boy oh boy did I want to love this one. Noir? Yes, please. Sam Spade? Sign me up. French wine and women? I'm ready to give this a ten of ten. What went wrong? Too much.

It's not the worst show you'll see but the bad overwhelms the good. The cinematography is superb. Great sets. The music is usually spot on. The concept of a retired Spade in a small French village where crime suddenly catches up to him is fantastic.

The plot is, unfortunately, nonsensical. Nonsensical in the what just happened? Why did it happen? Who is that? When in time is this scene? It's like the writers had this interesting idea about a young boy but had no idea where it was going. What should we do next, beats me, write some words. Things happen that just make no sense. The liaison between England and Algeria in the last episode as an example. I was like, what? When? How? Are you kidding me?

We have Sam physically torturing someone to get information that Sam already largely knows. Newsflash, that doesn't make him a likeable character. Almost the next scene is the French bad guy psychologically torturing someone for information. We're supposed to hate this guy because, I guess, he eats watermelon while he's torturing and whistles. Meanwhile Sam gets a pass for worse behavior?

Finally, the dialog. I get the concept of noir. I understand Sam should have some quips and is relatively laconic. That being said, almost every conversation in this show is over-the-top noir. He doesn't seem human, he's not human. Humans don't speak like that. And it's not just Sam, the entire cast is in a battle to out quip one another at all times. I have to assume that is intentional but it does not work.

What a shame. I'd love to have a season two with an understandable plot and the good actors allowed to act instead of being throttled into a bad version of noir.

We'll see.

The Ark (2023– )

Great Idea Horribly Implemented

[2/10 · 15 February 2024]

I'm sad to say this is one of the worst Science Fiction shows I've ever seen. Really horrible in all respects. The reason I'm sorry is the premise is fantastic. The idea of a crew of specialists forced into command situation through disaster is a great concept. Sadly, it's mismanaged on all levels.

Each episode is just a formulaic crisis, rinse repeat. A crisis comes out of nowhere, right before commercial break, and is "solved" by a main cast member in an implausible fashion in the next segment. No build up, no tension, no problem-solving. Just, I have an idea, solved.

The science, as has been mentioned, is nonsensical. I don't mind things like warp drives, cryogenic chambers, etc. What bothers me is when the science could be explained properly but isn't. A ship traveling in vacuum doesn't halt movement when its engine stop. It continues on. Why not have the ship turned around, the engines firing to slow it and prevent it from shooting past the target? It's a scientifically sound explanation and just as simple as the one presented. The show is filled with incorrect science and it's hard to get past that.

The characters are one-dimensional and stereotypes of the worst kind. Attractive people are vain and entitled. Nerds are smart. I really didn't even learn their names; I think of them by the stereotypes. Stammering Boy, Nerd Girl, Captain Curly Hair, Accent Beefcake, Dr. Drug Addict, Whiny Subordinate, Bi-polar Momma's Girl.

The acting is really bad. Accent Boy's accent gets more pronounced when he's angry. Captain Curly Hair talks louder. Overly Tan Engineer girl opens her eyes wider. Nerd Girl talks faster. Stammering Boy stammers more. It's terrible.

The sets are incredibly basic and lack any passion. Ark 1 and Ark 15 are clearly the same sets with nonsensical end tables and paintings in Ark 15.

The only good thing I noted was sound quality. The music didn't drown out the actors and they spoke their lines clearly.

What a tremendous shame. I wish The Ark been done with some passion, some love. It wasn't.

Funny Woman (2023– )

It's About Comedy not a Comedy

[7/10 · 8 February 2024]

I largely enjoyed Funny Woman but I do understand the negative reviews. The problem, IMO, is the show is about a woman in comedy in the 1960s and not actually a comedy.

Gemma Arterton plays Barbara Parker, an attractive woman who learned to love comedy from her father. The show is about Barbara rebelling against the stereotypes associated with being an attractive woman and wanting to make her own way.

When it sticks to that premise, it's fantastic. We see Barbara fighting to be comedic when everyone else just wants to see her assets. Her relationship with her father is an absolute treat.

Another great part of the show is the relationship with her friends. Women sticking together instead of stabbing each other in the back.

It's great as the show runner, writers, and other lead slowly understand she's funny, that audiences laugh at her. Is she actually funny to modern viewers? Not really but considering Lucille Ball is the standard she measures herself against, you get what she's trying to do.

Where it fails is when it tries to be comedy, particularly the slapstick scenes they throw in every episode that are just totally out of place. It's not a comedy! Even the writers seem confused by this, let alone the viewers.

This would be one of my favorites if they stuck to the premise instead of trying to make it comedic. It's a drama and a darned good one.

Luck (2011–2012)

A Tale of Two Shows

[5/10 · 8 February 2024]

I just finished up watching this show and reading the reviews. My own thoughts represent an interesting dynamic. Basically, the show has two parts, the first six episodes and the last three episodes.

The first six episodes are fantastic. Great writing, acting, sets, pace, cinematography, and everything else. It moves slowly but does move along, the stories of the disparate groups each with their own tension and resolution.

I'm invested in Ace getting revenge, the Turo as an anti-hero, the four misfits with their own flaws and strengths. It's all great, top-notch entertainment.

Then came the seventh episode. After a bizarre and seemingly unnecessary recap, the show suddenly shifts. Plots come out of nowhere, the World Series of Poker tournament, people drop in, the young boy, and the pacing is totally off. It was like I was watching from a different universe where it was the same show but with none of the love.

Then I found out several horses died during filming of the seventh episode, the show was put on a sabbatical while an investigation took place, and the scenes with horses were severely curtailed.

From the seventh to final episode the plot is scattered, the music overbearing, a ridiculous number of slow-motion scenes appear, unfathomable plot twists occur, the original stories are foregone, just utter blah.

I imagine the cast and crew was traumatized by the deaths of the horses and their hearts just weren't in it anymore. Not to mention losing all the scenes of horses training and racing had to dramatically impact plot structure.

An understandable mess and I can see why some people rate this so highly and others so badly. It's great and it's terrible. A shame to lose such a potentially great series and the lives of those horses.

Miss Scarlet & the Duke (2020– )

The Blue Filter Show

[3/10 · 8 February 2024]

I'll say this, the show is keeping blue filter makers in business. Is the sun blue in this world?

Ok, onto the review. It's light on everything except nasty quibbling. Almost every interaction on the show is an antagonistic dialog resulting in a snide conclusion with the final utterance being given with a smug smile.

The mysteries largely don't really connect and the clues fall into our heroes laps with little to no effort. They are constantly in the right place at the right time. The enter a room and look immediately at the vital piece of evidence. The first person they interview has all the necessary information they need.

If that person is reluctant to give over the information the dialog goes like this: I won't tell you. You should. Ok.

Light comes shining in from every window from all directions. It's a miracle of nature.

The sets are sparse and the shots of London streets are tight and lack any sense of the grandeur of the great city.

The main characters are totally insufferable and unlikable.

The good? It's light, easy entertainment that doesn't tax the old gray matter. If you don't mind turning off your brain, watching good-looking people, and chilling, this is your show. Enjoy.

Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty (2022–2023)

Could have been great but was really good

[8/10 · 19 December 2023]

There's is a lot to love in Winning Time. The acting is outstanding across the board, the athleticism and cinematography of those athletes is some of the best I've ever seen in a sport's focused show. It's not easy to pull that off. Actors are not professional athletes.

The story focused a bit too much on the lurid in season one and I'm not a fan of breaking the fourth wall as they chose to do with Dr. Buss.

The show was stylistically kind of all over the place with some truly powerful and thoughtful episodes like the season one episode focusing on Abdul-Jabbar but others more flippant.

Season two felt extremely rushed with too much story being told in too little time. We didn't get enough time to explore the various characters, James Worthy, etc. Whereas season one took a gentler and better pace. That being said, season two was more evenly paced from episode to episode.

I wish they slowed things down and stretched this wonderful show out to four or five seasons with each ending in a matchup with the Celtics.

Can't say enough about the acting, writing, camera work, sets, costumes, and all the rest. A real triumph with a few flaws. What a shame they chose to wrap things up so quickly. There isn't much better these days.

The Gilded Age (2022– )

Stilted Dialog wrecks what should be Fantastic

[5/10 · 8 November 2023]

The potential for greatness is all here. The budget, the production values, the actors, the score, the sets, everything except the writing.

This time period is filled fantastic characters and stories. Where are the Rockefellers, Carnegies, Morgans, Vanderbilts, Roosevelts, Twain, and more? The post-Civil War politics? Suffrage? Temperance?

The story it does choose to tell is fairly interesting, new money bashing its way into old New York tradition but the writing and directing weighs everything down. I can understand formal conversation when at public galas and events but the way the characters speak to one another in private, in the bedroom, is so unnatural.

I know the actors are capable of better, but it seems like they are in strait jackets. They don't emote or express except to over-emote and over-express when it's not appropriate.

It didn't help the first season's love story had all the heat of liquid nitrogen.

The big story of the second season is really just a re-telling of the story of the first season. We do have a hint of unions and the excesses of unbridled capitalism brought on by the industrial age and only tempered by Teddy Roosevelt's interventions. Hopefully there will be more of that.

I'd love to love this show. I really would. The dialog is so bad that I never find myself immersed.

White House Plumbers (2023)

Tour de Force Acting and Hilarious Take on Serious Subject

[9/10 · 8 August 2023]

If you were to suggest a satirical, over-the-top portrayal of the Watergate scandal I'd have sent you back to the writer's room to try again.

It all works. I haven't laughed out loud this much in many years.

Woody Harrelson and Justin Theroux are astoundingly banal and crazed. Their portrayals of Hunt and Liddy are fantastic. The acting is good throughout although, perhaps, Lena Headey tries a little too hard but that's understandable with Harrelson and Theroux laying it on thick.

All the minor characters from the Cubans to the White House staff, to the family members nailed it. I believed all of them despite the underlying craziness of the concept.

I understand the bad reviews. Either because someone was offended by A: Satirical take on a serious subject or B: The abject stupidity of the Republican operatives. That being said, I loved it and I'm glad I'm not alone.

The final confrontation between Hunt and Liddy in the jail cell was riveting.

Great show if people can get over their biases on the subject. Highly recommend.

Grantchester (2014–2025)

Unlikable Characters wallow in self-pity

[3/10 · 8 August 2023]

I had a tough time sticking it out with this show. The problem for me is that most of the characters are completely despicable. I really don't like anyone.

Sidney was barely tolerable although his actions at the end of Series 4 involving the love of his life left me pretty much hating him.

Will is an abomination of a character who vacillates between wallowing in self-pity and holier-than-thou piety while taking self-centered a whole new level. I can't stand him and every second he's on the screen is painful.

Geordi isn't much better than Will.

Sylvia is just mean.

Leonard was good for a while but his story line kind of went in circles. He tries something, agonizes about it, shares some insight. Rinse repeat.

Cathy is generally good, and Jack is probably the most likable character of the bunch.

If I am actively rooting against the characters, I just can't enjoy the show. I honestly was hoping Will would drive his motorcycle off a cliff by the end. And, by the way, if you're riding with a broken speedometer and run someone over, it's your fault for riding with equipment in disrepair.

Justified: City Primeval (2023)

Typical Nonsensical Action Fare

[3/10 · 20 July 2023]

I haven't watched Justified so I don't have any baggage and I say with confidence, this new version is typical action nonsense.

The story is just a vehicle to have action scenes and punchy one-liners at the end of them. None of it worked for me.

I'd say the villain is cartoonish, but that's an insult to cartoon villains. Boring, one-dimensional, stupid beyond belief, are a few of the attributes I'd give him. The smashing into the judge's car would be recorded and reported by dozens of people just to start with the stupidity of the entire sequence. Breaking the barrier of a casino parking lot. More video.

The entire plot is based exclusively on nonsensical coincidence.

The actor playing the daughter mumbles through her lines.

The comedic relief of the wannabe judge murderers is neither comedic nor relief.

Now, there are some people who like mindless action and quips. This is your show, enjoy.