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All Creatures Great & Small (2020)
A Missed Opportunity!
I am very very disappointed in this show. I had such high hopes for it and they came crashing down after only 15 minutes of the first episode.
I'm a huge fan of the original books and of the 1980's BBC series. I had hoped to get the classic stories made with better film quality, nicer music and actors who look more like there are described in the books.
First off I'll list the short bit of things I liked.
I loved the film quality! The best thing about this series is just how plain gorgeous it is. The Dale's scenery is lovey and verdant and there is great scope and gorgeous shots. I gave this 2 stars instead of 1 just for this reason.
I did like the way the actors looked. All except for Mrs. Hall (more on her later) look pretty much like I had imagined them from the books.
The score was better and more thoughtful than the original and I thought it pretty good.
Now for the things I dislike!
First thing, there are so few animals in the story! I know that filming with animals in the UK is difficult but one or two per episode just doesn't cut it for me. And when they drag one animal into multiple episodes it makes it worse. We had 3 episodes in which Clyde the bull is a main part! And then they resumed a cow from the first episode in the second. Maybe most people wouldn't recognize it but I am around cows everyday and using the same cow on two different farms was a bit of a mistake.
I dislike the storyline very very much. It's much to emotional and the much time is spent on too few characters. They have three grown men moved to tears over the death of one horse! I'm not afraid of men crying, but these are professionals not old ladies who had to get their lifelong poodles put down. When you live on a farm you know bad things happen and animals sometimes must be killed to keep them from pain. All the vets I know (and most of them are women) would never act the way that the script has James act when putting Andante down.
The characters of Mrs. Hall and Helen are so messed up I wouldn't know them except for the names. Mrs. Hall especially. She's far to young and is far to personal with the members of the household. In those times a housekeeper kept house, she didn't go on farm calls or force her boss to hire an assistant.
The costume is awful, everyones clothes look new, and why the farm women wear pants is beyond me! It's 1930's England, women wore skirts. all the time. Even while doing farm work! Speaking of 1930's England, the speech isn't proper either. "Hugh" should be addressed as Lord Hulton, M'Lord or Your Lordship; not Hugh. And children of the time would never call and adult professional visiting their farm by his christian name.
I wonder if the writers even read the books, why in heavens name did they combine Helen's love interest and Lord Hulton? It adds nothing to the story as far as I can see.
I understand the writers wanted to expand the female roles but why didn't they just create a new show? I would love to see a show about a young female veterinary student in the 30's. But don't force a character into a story everyone already knows to do things that aren't natural for them.
Overall, even putting aside the changes to the story and the severe mishandling of the characters even if this was a new Series I don't think I would like it. I just don't care for the tone. It's far more emotional than it should be. And the thing I love about the 80's series is how I feel like I could step into the show and be at home with the characters. I don't feel that with the new version and I'm just going to rewatch the old one!
First Man (2018)
Disappointed
After watching the trailer I felt that this film would be an uplifting biopic of human achievement told from the personal perspective of Neil Armstrong. After seeing the film I came away feeling disappointed and let down. The film starts up slow, with the feeling that one has started in the middle or somehow missed something important. I feel that Ryan Gosling's portrayal of Neil Armstrong was a bit weak and very stoic; I'm not sure he smile more than twice. The script (or lack of it) was very bad; there is very little dialog, and a lot of staring into space. The visual effects are very good; however, many of the views feel incomplete (for instance: you hardly ever get a good look at the Saturn V Rocket). The score wasn't bad, it wasn't over the top either. I believe if there would have been more dialog, and less feelings and emotions this film would have been much better. As it is, I personally think they could have cut around a half hour of the film and nobody would ever notice.
The 15:17 to Paris (2018)
A Profound Disappointment
Having seen and enjoyed Sully and knowing the extent of director Clint Eastwood's ability, I was very disappointed with this movie.
After seeing the trailer, I imagined that the story would be mostly centered on the attack and preceding events, with occasional flashbacks into the characters lives to reinforce their individual personalities and beliefs . I also thought that there would be more insight into the terrorist, and the passengers.
Instead the story begins when the main characters are in middle school. It then dwells at that age for about a quarter of the movie, depicting their irregular childhood's and blossoming friendship. I believe this part of the film is quite unnecessary; as it really doesn't add very much to the story.
As the characters move into adulthood, the storyline remains somewhat bland without any real major plot themes being developed. Other than their remaining friendship, and two of the characters joining different branches of the military; which would give them added skills in the areas of weapon disarmament and the treatment of arms related wounds, this section too is much to long and it is quite boring.
When the characters finally get to Europe, the scenes are long with very little speaking; it is, as a reviewer said above "like watching from a home movie of someone you don't knows vacation".
There is also a scene in a Amsterdam nightclub, which should be totally unacceptable in a PG13 movie, and doesn't add anything to the tone or character of the movie.
The scenes of the attack are very short and not very well developed, the aftermath is hardly shown, and you don't get any of the other passengers point of view.
Also I find that the choice to use the actual heroes and not actors backfires, as they do not convey emotion and feeling as well as professionals would have done.
I also would wished for a end note detailing the current lives of the heroes and the fate of the victim; and what happened to the terrorist.
All in all this is a very good story, with many great lessons and themes, but it falls very short, and I think I got just as much out of the trailer as I did the movie.
Dunkirk (2017)
Great Survival Story!
Dunkirk is a amazing movie, with great acting, an amazing score, and astonishing sound effects! Fionn Whitehead delivers a amazing although almost wordless performance. That an actor could portray so much emotion without speaking is simply dumbfounding. This movie has a way of drawing you in, and you lose yourself in the story! I couldn't believe that it was only 106 minutes.
A Quiet Passion (2016)
Slow and Pointless
This movie is way to slow, and does not contain enough substance for a two hour film. The opera scene was way to long without enough script to justify it being there at all. The actor simply say their lines with little or no emotion, and there is really no point, they just walk around the garden or the camera pans the room while nobody talks. I only made it through the first 40 minutes before being bored to tears so I cant fully judge this movie. however; from what I DID see I would never recommend this film.