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Reviews
A Haunting in Venice (2023)
Much improved third outing for Branagh as Poirot
After sitting through the last outing of Branagh as Poirot ( Death on the Nile) I didn't know what to make of this. The plot seemed interesting but the previous film as so dull that I didn't want to get my hopes up. I must say I was pleasantly surprised. The film was able to maintain a sense of mystery and tension for most of it's runtime. The decision to shoot the film on location in Venice was a masterstroke. The city becomes one of the key characters in the story and lends itself to the atmosphere and mystery. The acting is a huge improvement over the last Poirot film. Branagh playing a Poirot that is battling the effects of being drugged allowed it to have some fun with supernatural elements without being ridiculous and without being entirely out of character of Poirot.
That said, the resolution felt rushed with Poirot jumping to some conclusions without better finding the clues to support those conclusions. The other 3/4 of the film was done at a deliberate pace but that suddenly changed to wrap up the mystery.
Overall this is an enjoyable mystery.
Death on the Nile (2022)
Flat
I enjoyed the first outing of Kenneth Branagh as Poirot in Murder on the Orient Express. When seeing the cast for this film my expectations were high. But the film simply fell flat. For a group of such talented actors that have shown their ability in other films to have nearly all of them fall so flat was beyond disappointing. Much of this failure has to fall at the feed of Branagh as directory and lead actor to put together such a boring film. Beyond the acting, they introduced CGI to show various sights along the Nile. My question is why? The plot largely takes place on the ship, there's no reason to add in CGI generated background.
Generally, when a film falls this flat there's some sort of other issues ( e.g. Director replaced during filming, multiple writers on the script, etc.) But as far as I know there's no such excuses with this. Just overall disappointing.
The Pale Blue Eye (2022)
Great film that failed to stick the ending
The film is set in 1830 and begins when Detective Landor ( Christian Bale) is summoned to West Point to investigate a murder. When he arrives its also discovered that the body had been mutilated. Det. Landor goes about his investigation and is assisted by Cadet Edgar Allen Poe.
Melling provides a flourish that really works well in establishing the ambiance of the film. The remaining supporting cast are all wonderfully cast including Gillian Anderson and Toby Jones as Mr. And Mrs. Marquis.
The director does a good job of providing a tension throughout the film that doesn't really break until the end. Had the film ended simply with Landor returning home it would have been fine and been rated an 8 or 9. But the director put in a needless "twist" at the end that completely undermined the whole film. It changes how you view Landor's and several characters. The twist also comes out of the blue without the sort of setup required to pull it off. It seems that studios think that all detective stories and mysteries these days all need some sort of surprise or twist at the end. But so very few directors and writers can really pull it off.
This was very good thiller/mystersy whose ending in the last 5-10 minutes undermined the whole thing. Its a good movie that very well could have been great.
The Mentalist: Red John (2013)
Should have ended the show here
The Mentalist should have ended with this episode. The Red John plotline was the driving force for this series. It was the reason Patrick Jane was working with the CBI. With Red John gone there's just no further motivation and the rest of the show feels forced. This attempt to milk additional seasons from the show really hurt this episode which really should have been one of the best of the series. They were trying to do too much really, wrap up the Red John plot, introduce new characters and advance the story arcs with Lisbon's team so that they could be included in the new seasons.
Re-watching the series it also becomes clear that the writers didn't really know what to do with Red John. If you look at Red John in the beginning vs. Later season there's a change. At first he's just a serial killer then morphs into this cult like figure with these disciples that would do anything for him. Wrapping this all up with the Bertram and McAllister being the two guys basically running this network doesn't quite fit with the earlier seasons. Again, I think if they were looking to end the show this could very well have been fixed.
There was such potential for this episode that was blown.
Once Upon a Time (2011)
Great show...but I fear ABC will wreck it
I've been impressed with this show ever since it premiered in 2011. Unlike much in TV today, it showed creativity and uniqueness--The writers re-imagine the fairy tale characters we all grew up with in interesting and unique twists. While the rest of the TV world was attempting to make shows as dark as possible, this show purposely went in the opposite direction. It's un-apologetically hopeful but is able to pull it off in a way that isn't campy. It's also nice to see the two worlds, the fairy tale realm interspersed with the "real world."
There are certainly faults in the show, the characters are often their own worst enemies and there are ample amount of plot holes. But these faults don't matter, the show remains enjoyable regardless and the fairy tale nature glosses over them.
The main story arch of the past 6 seasons wrapped up this year which would have been a natural place to end the show. But ABC decided to renew it for another season with the many of the key characters not coming back. I fear that this decision will diminish the show, much in the same way Mulder's absence diminished the X-Files.
The Last Ship (2014)
So much potential wasted
This show started with so much potential. The idea of a global pandemic with the last hope resting on a group of sailors isolated on a Navy destroyer was certainly plausible -- it solved one of the major problems with so many end of the world scenarios.
But unfortunately, the acting is sub-par. And instead of using the virus as the primary plot point, it tries to introduce other threats. A Russian Admiral that is bent on controlling the cure? The fact that the world has gone to anarchy due to the virus should be enough. There is no need to introduce some phantom threat that is disposed of with little or no effort.
Then you see the season finale where the cliff hanger is that the Nathan James taken over by the MD state Maryland State Trooper with a single 9mm. Seriously? And you expect the viewing audience to believe that some low level bureaucrat with local and state police would institute a Nazi-like regime in Baltimore?
There so many directions that this show could have gone that would have made it a truly great show. But it seems that at every point the writers/producers decided to dumb this down and make this as bad as possible. I guess it shouldn't surprise me that this is a Michael Bay series. So much potential wasted.
The World Wars (2014)
I wish I could give this pile of crap a 0
First, I'm not sure how you cover WWI without more coverage of France, but I'm willing to overlook this since the intended audience is primarily American.
That said, it's difficult to believe there was no mention The Somme or Paschendale, two of the deadliest battles in world history. The first day of the Battle of the Somme was the bloodiest day in British military history. There were over 1 million casualties. How that does not deserve at least a mention to give the viewer the scale of the battles is beyond me. Nor is there much of a mention of just how awful trench warfare was. The air war in WWI should have at least garnered a mention as it was the first air to air combat in human history.
The inter-war period was decent. It covered the major points so I can't complain much about this segment.
The WWII segment was perhaps the worst documentary on WWII I have ever seen. No mention of Adm. Nimitz. No mention of General Marshal. No mention of Eisenhower or Bradley. No mention of the air war or the US/British bombing campaign over Europe. No mention of the allied invasion of North Africa. No mention of the Battle of the Atlantic the problems that the German U-boats caused Britain. No mention of the internment of Japanese Americans.
The show made it seem that the US/Britain only allied themselves with the Soviet Union in 1943 at the Tehran conference, when the reality was that Britain and the USSR were allied as soon as Germany invaded. The US provided both Britain and the USSR supplies throughout the war. They made it seem like it was in 1943 that the USSR first pressed for a second front, when Stalin had been pressing the US/Britain for a second front since 1942. The invasion of France ( D-Day ) was made to seem as an idea first thought up at the Tehran conference, when the truth is that the allies had planned an invasion of France since day 1. The difficulty was in assembling the equipment and soldiers necessary for a successful invasion. The show made it seem as though it was FDR that decided to sideline Patton and later re-instate him to active duty. When in fact it was Eisenhower ( as Supreme Allied Commander). There was no mention of the 101st Airborne at Bastonge, only that Patton attacked Germans during the Battle of the Bulge. The whole reason Patton attacked so aggressively during that battle was to rescue the 101st.
Finally, there was scant mention of the brutality of the Japanese during WWII. No mention of the rape of Nanking. No mention of the Bataan death march or the treatment of Allied POWs. Apparently, only the Nazis committed crimes against humanity. The last straw for me is the lack of mention of Iwo Jima. One of the most iconic images of WWII was the Marines raising the flag over Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima. Yet apparently, this wasn't important enough for the makers of this "documentary."
I don't expect a show of this length to cover every aspect of WWII, but I do expect it to at least mention the major points. It fails to do so. What makes this such a travesty is that in today's world, WWII is distant history. Thousands of WWII veterans are dying every day and it is incumbent upon us to remember what they did. There will be kids that will watch this and this pile of crap will be their basis for information on WWII. That is a slap in the face to "The Greatest Generation." They deserve that WE remember what they did in far more detail than this pile of crap provides. The makers of this "documentary" and the History Channel should be ashamed of themselves.
Reign (2013)
Awful
I read about the show on the TV guide and it sounded interesting. I'm a history buff and was looking forward to a drama surrounding some of the more interesting characters in history.
Having watched the Tudors I guess I was expecting something along those lines. Instead I got a an hour of crap.
The shows plot lines are quite obvious--the villain is Catherine De Medici. The key twists are going to center around a love triangle between Mary, Sebastian and Francis. There's going to be betrayal between Mary and her courtiers and so forth. The Nostradamus angle is interesting but completely unnecessary. I guess they wanted to add a supernatural aspect to this show.
Mary Queen of Scots, Elizabeth I, Philip II of Spain are some of the most interesting figures in world history. The time is rife with religious struggles between Catholics and Protestants. The story of Mary vs. Elizabeth is wonderful and would have made a great show. Instead they want to make it 90210 set in the 16th century ( Francis II died at the age of 16 so there isn't really much plot there).
The show is needlessly bad. The history is right there, these were real people. Craft a story around the most interesting aspects of Mary. It's as though they found the least compelling aspect of Mary's life and decided to make a show around it.
Once Upon a Time in Wonderland (2013)
Waste of Time
Once Upon a Time is an entertaining and compelling show because of quality writing and good acting. This spin-off, fails on both accounts. Instead of building up the story and allowing the viewer to care about the characters, it simply jumps into a story mid-stream and expects the audience to follow.
The story is seems to be very generic. A modern day Alice, cast not as a naive girl but a kick-ass 20-something heroine searching for her love and battling against whoever stands in her way. It may have been original and entertaining a few years ago, but today this seems to be standard boiler plate.
The villains in the show are terrible. There's no depth to either the queen or Jafar. The Red Queen seems to be a fairly tale embodiment of a 'Real House Wife,' someone self obsessed and cant' be bothered with caring for her subjects. Jafar is the evil wizard obsessed with power, willing to do anything to get his hands on the genie and with it unlimited power. We're supposed to dislike them without the viewer given a reason to dislike them. In the first few episodes of Once Upon a Time, the viewer could dislike Regina because she wasn't a good mother to Henry ( Henry had already been established as a likable character). They try to replicate that with the imprisoned Genie, but we've never been given a chance to become attached to the genie.
Contrast this with the Evil Queen and Mr. Gold in Once Upon A Time. Both are complex characters, neither are purely evil. They're both people that through events of their lives and decisions they've made, have become the Evil Queen and Rumplestiltskin. Even from episode 1, there was depth and complexity that made the villains interesting.
Wonderland feels forced. The characters ( outside of Alice) lack complexity. The writers seem to simply be telling the viewer what to feel and who to like instead of allowing the viewer to develop those feelings naturally. That seems to be a fatal flaw that I'm not sure the show can recover from.
Terriers (2010)
Fantastic Show
Several other reviews have described the plot line so I won't rehash what's already been said.
I finished watching this show on Netflix, having been completely unaware of it's existence while it was on the air. I have to say FX did a terrible job of advertising the show. Had the put the effort behind Terriers that they put behind American Horror Story or Nip/Tuck; perhaps it would have survived longer.
But then again maybe the show lasting a single season is for the best. Too many shows start out fantastic but stay on the air too long. This show's major plot line starts in episode 1 and is mostly resolved by the end of the show. It's obvious that the writers thought there's be a season 2, but the ending isn't really a cliff hanger. The episode 13 provides enough closure that fans can feel satisfied.
Throughout the series you see Hank evolve and move on with his life. At the start he's still hopelessly in love with his ex-wife, Gretchen. He's a recovering alcoholic that you believe will fall off the wagon at any moment. But by the end, the viewer really has hope that he's turned his life around.
Britt, starts out as a lovable loser but proves to be much more than that. He shows that he's serious about his relationship with Katie and doesn't want to screw it up. Katie is the one to make the mistake, and Britt compounds that mistake by making one of his own. But the Britt at the end of the series is different from Britt at the beginning.
The most remarkable thing about the show is that growth of the characters doesn't feel forced. It seems the natural progression based upon events in their lives. The setting of the show, San Diego, is refreshing.
I highly recommend this show. With 13 episodes at around 40 minutes a piece, it's not a huge commitment. You will thank yourself for taking the chance on this fantastic show.
Zero Hour (2013)
Interesting Concept, terribly executed
First the good. Most network dramas are either medical or legal or crime dramas. The simple fact that this show doesn't fall into these categories is commendable. I also have to give ABC credit for taking a chance on something new.
***Spoilers below***** The story line is about a man, Hank ( Anthony Edwards) whose wife is kidnapped. He finds out that her kidnapping is related to a clock. The clock is in fact a puzzle with clues leading to other clocks. If you find all the clocks you will learn the location of the True Cross. The cross was hidden during the 1930s to protect it from the Nazis. The story is a blend of modern day events with flashbacks to 1930s that shed light on the reasons behind the current events.
It's an interesting concept and there's a tremendous potential here. But the writers, actors, basically everyone and everything associated with this show fails. The characters jump all around the world, they go from being stranded in the arctic to being back in New York effortlessly. Because there's no effort, there's no chance to connect to the characters emotionally--the viewer never cares about the characters.
The show is based in 2013, yet the characters run into virtually none of the problems someone in 2013 would face. There's no real resistance save from those involved in the conspiracy directly. When there are tragic and moving events, such as Hank discovering everything about his life is a lie, the characters are barely affected. The only reason you know something happened is they talk about it. Otherwise they carry on as if completely unaffected.
The whole show feels as though it's a 10,000 ft level summary of another story.
The failure of this show is a shame because networks will be less willing to take a chance on new ideas.
Primeval: New World (2012)
Disappointing
Having watched the original Primeval I was expecting substantially more out of this spin off. I don't fault the show for not being 100% consistent with the original. It's a different show on a different continent with different characters.
I have three general complaints with this version:
1.) The acting simply isn't very good. Evan will get upset when discussing his late wife. But you simply don't believe that he lost someone. Mac is supposed to be the guy that protects Evan, but you never believe that there's any real connection between the two. In order for the show to work, Mac needs to not just be doing a job, he needs to care for Evan and the rest of the team.
2. The writers seem to have looked at the original and decided to create similar characters without any thought to character development. The original had a genius/leader, so they have Evan. It had military/security person so it has Mac. They had biologist/zoologist, so they throw in Dylan. They needed a "James Lester" so they throw in Ange. There's no sense of tension within the group. There's no building of relationships among the characters. So much of a good drama is that the various characters have some chemistry. These characters have none.
3. The story is abysmal. The original had a feeling of wonder, exploration, discovery. The New World has none. A group of people discover portals through time and there's no sense of amazement? The characters are shocked for all of 5 minutes then it becomes matter of fact. They don't struggle with the implications of changing time, just accept as matter of fact that you don't do anything to alter the past. Where's the natural human temptation? Where's the fear of a creature winning out over logic? I also take issue with the believably. Yes, it's a Sci-Fi series. But to think that something this big would be happening and there's be no governmental involvement save one soldier in a office? Or that a private company would be able to do this without anyone knowing? The writers of The New World seem to have stripped Primeval of all the substance that matters and created a show that is little more than hunting monsters in various locations around Vancouver.
******************
After watching some additional episodes I generally stick with my original assessment. I do have to say that Toby seems to be the move developed character. You see her curiosity and her desire to see an anomaly first hand. Crystal Lowe is doing a fine job with this character. Niall Matter does seem to be giving it his all, but I still have trouble believing it.
My fears have come true, this show seems to be little more than "chase the monster of the week." While the original had a over arching theme with Helen Cutter, the New World seems quite shallow.