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gogartyster
Reviews
The Crowded Room (2023)
An incredible series
There are two short stories that are so good as to approach perfection: The Death of Ivan Ilyich (Tolstoy) and Flowers for Algernon (Daniel Keyes.) This series is adapted from a book by the second one: The Minds of Billy Milligan. And it is brilliant!
As a fan, I knew the twist and didn't have high expectations ... but then I watched it!
Not only are all of the actors superb, but the action is portrayed so well that it's real edge-of-the-seat at times; and at others it just confirms a little idea that you half knew you'd had about what is going on.
And what am I going on about?
Watch it and see!
Boat Story (2023)
Does a Pomeranian count as a shaggy dog...?
Binge this if you dare. I lost count of the bits of other films/tv series/people or just characters it "borrowed" from in order to tell this (far-from) simple story. Which, incidentally different from a lot of the reviews I've read so far, I found hilarious and was totally hooked-on.
It uses all the "devices" you find in more conventional stories: only it mixes them up when you least expect them. Like when the "omniscient" narrator says, "Remember me...?" Or when the "Stone Killer" turns out to love pasties!
The actors who do all this amazing deadpanning are really on their game throughout. Paterson Joseph's face deserves its own show and all of the other "stereotypes" ham it up like they're really in on the secret all along. Which, of course, they are.
People who talk about "cliches" or "unbelievable plot twists" should be watching more Eastenders and leaving the real good stuff alone.
I'd have given it a 10 but that isn't done is it!
Oppenheimer (2023)
A film in which nothing much happens: rivetingly!
First off for the real acting fans, the performances in this are outstanding with, of course, Cillian Murphy at the top of the pile. Ok he actually looks like Oppenheimer with the hollowed-out cheeks and piercing blue eyes, but this guy can act and he obviously worked damned hard at getting this so right. However, we are blitzed with star performances throughout and Christopher Nolan has an uncanny ability to allow something of the individual actor's personality to inhabit the character they play and that's genius.
Plot? History.
Message? Don't blink or you'll miss it: whatever "it" is!
Overall? If I knew what was missing I'd know why I couldn't give it a higher score.
Endeavour (2012)
Wot a load of ole toot ... and absolutely brilliant.
While we are all marvelling at Shaun Evans's reconstruction of the early days of crossword-buff/ladykiller/beer-swiller Morse, who has had time to notice the absence of the "thrown" leg of John Thaw - a throwback, no doubt, to the NHS bone-setter's primitive efforts under the early NHS.
But then: who cares?
In the proverbial, "stellar" cast, the towering Anton Lesser could act with his eyebrow; the equally towering Roger Allam frequently does, but, for me, the real triumph is Sean Rigby's "Now listen Matey" evocation of EM's perfect Foil, Strange. Warts and all, Rigby inhabits the much older man's character to a T, right down to his justifiable irritation at the young pretender's intellectual snobbery and single-mindedness - albeit softened by obvious affection.
Despite the obvious fun being had by the various directors - with one episode being a Spanish Spaghetti Western with nods to High Noon and Gunfight at the OK Coral, the drama is gripping and as authentic as can be expected by a generation who (thankfully!) missed-out on the original experiences it portrays; and the characters are eah, in their own way, endearing. (Oh and Thursday really would have said, "coming the acid..!"
The Man Who Fell to Earth (2022)
Neither a copy nor a rehash but a genuine stand-alone
My heart sank when I came across this movie and my immediate thought was that David Bowie and Nicolas Roeg are big shoes to fill: people will hate it. Would I?
Hell no! From the quirky opening with Chiwetel Ejiofo pulling all kinds of weirdness, to his teaming-up with. Naomi Harris and the hugely-underrated Clarke Peters, through hilarious sequences and as diverse a cast of characters as you could wish for. This is a stormer of a series. It's worth a binge-watch just to see who will turn up next. With everything from talented "new generation" types to old stagers it cracks on.
Excitingly good.
Karen Pirie (2022)
Not the review I originally wrote but, hey, master technology or go under. But fail to master terminology and context and Val McDermid might just come round and give you a kic
I couldn't help myself mentally ticking the boxes that the writer ticks in the first few scenes. ('Surprised to find the "glass-ceiling" but there you go.) This is not showing-off on the part of Val Mcdermid though. She must be scunnered with those duff comparisons to Agatha Christie whom she resembles not a whit. Instead she is, whether as a writer of just as a human being, acutely aware of what's going on around her and that always shines through whatever her latest project happens to be.
For the record. Lauren Lyle IS Karen Pirie now. Effortlessly "natural," suspension of disbelief is almost instant when she's "acting."
Something has changed about Val McDermid in that. Through Karen Pirie, she seems to be projecting more of her, quite-contented-thank-you self. But any mellowing is in minor, usually food-related, detail. This is razor-sharp and, if you happen to be familiar with some of the settings, damn good fun.
Here's to more of Karen Pirie and to Val McDermid's mastery of her craft!
'Loved it!
Sherwood (2022)
Bordering on parody
Veering at times into something Charlie Brooker might have made - all those on-the-spot updates and ducking under police tape, the power of the ensemble of English actors of note just rescues it. A mediocre watch but not without its interesting tropes.
Slow Horses (2022)
[Not-at-all} Slow Horses
'Starts with a bit of raw athleticism a la young Tom Cruise, then runs bang into the wheezy, smelly-footed reality of Gary Oldman quite literally "acting his socks off.! And it never flags from there on!
Such wonderful actors and acting; an edgy theme tune by Sir Mick; the ubiquitous "tech" but controlled by a human-all-to-human actor ... And there's that word again :actor.
I must put in a plug for Jonathan Pryce who almost steals the show in a few places and who seems to have "grown into" his face.
Pah! Everybody in it is worthy of praise and the writing, especially the dialogue or the little - seemingly gnomic - pronouncements of Gary Oldman are funny both peculiar and ha ha.
Watch the first season and see if you don't feel instantly hooked and dying for more.
'Anything but slow!
Anatomy of a Scandal (2022)
Only a 3 because there's a real actress in a support role
Really?
Somebody thinks they can fly after a wee bit of controlled substance abuse. A bit Americal 70;s even for a bunch of spoiled toffs.
Great costume drama with no expense spared.
Pity they had to spoil it by trying to add a plot!