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Tulsa King (2022)
It's quite good fun
Not taking itself too seriously, this series is good fun. Suspend belief and imagine that some gangsters are actually good guys and you may enjoy it as I did. Sure it is fairly two dimensional and predictable but it made me laugh and kept me engaged. The bad guys are all bad the good guys are are a mix but lack the malice of their opponents. Stallone is no better at talking than he ever was but his lines are nicely written and intelligent enough. His character gets into some scrapes but the ways he approaches them are inventive and entertaining. Shakespeare it isn't but there is enough depth and character development to sustain and it might be the best thing Stallone has ever done.
The Terminal List (2022)
Puerile
It is overly macho, overly simple and overly sentimental. Eveb acknowledging that it is not intended to be taken seriously it is unconvincing and poorly acted.
Triple Frontier (2019)
Boring
For me this is a turgid waste of time. There is a very simple message that they spent 2 hours telling and re-telling and re-telling. I watched to the end because I'd already invested so long watching and waiting for something to happen. It didn't
Our Planet (2019)
Unwatchable
This nature documentary has background music throughout. It is intrusive and while the show rightly informs us of the damage that we humans are doing to the planet it nevertheless pollutes itself with it. We are never allowed to experience the natural sounds. It is such a pity they feel the need to do this. David's voice is music enough. It was, for me, unwatchable as a result.
Taskmaster (2018)
Oh dear
Take note of other reviews, this show lacks the witty banter of the UK version. Alex brings some of his brand of humour to it but the rest is bland. The contestants whine and are uninteresting. It has not crossed the atlantic well and is virtually unwatchable.
Swerve (2011)
An enjoyable romp
This film is not classed as such but it is a comedy and an enjoyable one too. It is full of intentional clichés and is darkly funny. It is a shallow film with little credible development of character but it is easy to sympathise with some of the players in this drama and understand their motivation. Others are automata with a single purpose or deranged with jealousy. As light entertainment it is well done and with some beautiful cinematography. It is a pleasant diversion for an hour and a half.
In Darkness (2018)
The summary for this film on IMDB is wrong
This film is not about the gritty criminal London underworld. It is about an underworld but it has nothing in particular to do with London other than geography. It is about the guilt associtated with and the futility of revenge. In that respect it is a treatise on human emotions and, at last, a redemption. The plot may be far fetched at times but the themes are engaging and thought provoking. The acting is convincing. Sinister portrayals of sinister events are well played and I enjoyed the whole.
Broken (2017)
This is deeper than religion
My title may be a bit pretentious but being an atheist this series for me is not about religion it is about one man's relationship with his god and his religion. It is a very keenly observed drama of a period of Sean Bean's character's life during which some serious and morally ambiguous events occur. Already troubled in his mind he is forced to confront the present ambiguities along with unresolved relationships in his history to reconcile his own guilt and shame. It was unimportant that it was based around this man's religion because his commitment to it and his struggles of conscience were so evident from the excellent writing and Sean's acting. It is an account of the human condition, will he resist or will he break? All the acting was good in this series, there was not a weak link but for me Sean was surely a highlight. For those few poor reviews I have read I can only recount an anecdote of an overheard conversation between two ladies after watching the play The Cherry Orchard; One lady to the other "But nothing really happened in that play" The reply "No dear, but don't you think we know the characters rather better now?"
Dead on Arrival (2017)
Awful
This film does not deserve its current rating of 6.5/10. It is awful. The acting is poor the scenario is unbelievable and any attempt at portraying relationships between the characters is totally unconvincing. There is no menace from characters who should be menacing because the script is thin and in any case the acting is not up to the job. It is a waste of an hour and a half
A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
Charming and sometimes realistic
I love this film. My father flew bombers in the RAF during WWII and told me the sequence at the beginning was the most realistic representation of a damaged aeroplane in flight he had seen in film. Having said that this is not a war film, it is a charming tale of love, friendship, life and, of course, death. David Niven is his usual convincing self but he doesn't dominate the film in which he stars. (Though it must have been his influence that caused one character to be named Trubshaw.) Roger Livesey, Kim Hunter, and the excellent Raymond Massey make this a rounded film with their portrayals of developed characters. It is beautifully filmed, Kim Hunter's bicycle ride along the beach somehow enchants me. It is a good tale well told and acted. I highly recommend it.
American Assassin (2017)
You've seen this movie before, and better
This is a puerile movie for the most part. The first few minutes were not bad but when it got into a saga of revenge and old scores to settle that's when it dipped to being rather turgid, predictable and repetitious. It is logically impossible at times. That is not always a barrier in action movies but here impossible sinks to the realms of ridiculous. The characters are not particularly engaging either so I am not a fan. But, despite the violence it is an innocuous bit of fun. If, unlike me, you can suspend belief you may find this not the worst way to spend an hour and a half or so.