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Reviews
Reacher: Reacher Said Nothing (2022)
Details matter
Yes, THAT fight scene near the end DOES ruin an entire episode and almost an entire season. Absolutely idiotic. The 5'7" version of Reacher was way better. Fans of the books made a big deal out of that, but why have a 6'5" 250lb superman skilled in unarmed combat to the point that he can recognise a particular fighting style from one headbutt, when he can be beaten up by a weedy kid with a tyre iron and no fighting skills? Other elements of that ambush scene didn't make a lot of sense but that was the worst by a long shot. Otherwise could have been a good episode with a couple of important revelations. As Reacher keeps saying, "details matter".
Heartland: Snakes and Ladders (2019)
After 12 seasons, I stopped watching
The reason: Tim. The most obnoxious character on television.
When you think maybe he's turned a corner, he comes back worse than ever. Surely after 12 seasons the writers could have made him evolve just a bit, but no. It seemed like he would after the brain tumour scare. Nope. Maybe the episode had a happy ending - I don't know because I walked out.
Western Stars (2019)
Beautiful music beautifully performed and filmed
Why would someone who hates Bruce Springsteen watch a film of Springsteen performing folk/country songs in a barn with an orchestra and telling stories in between, AND THEN go to the trouble of leaving a review basically saying he hates and has always hated Bruce Springsteen? And yet that's what a lot of people seem to have done, which has brought down the rating of this film, and added absolutely no value to the likely target audience.
There should be no surprises here. The film is exactly what it says it is. I listened to the album and was in two minds, but the performance brought it to life for me and the stories and wonderful cinematography provided important context. I'm not sure how I feel about Springsteen anymore, especially his politics but also some of his music has left me underwhelmed, but if you have ever loved the Boss - unless your love begins and ends with Born In The USA - then maybe you'll love this film, as I did. If you hate him, everything he stands for, every song he has ever recorded and especially the music on this album, then give it a miss, don't waste your time or anyone else's.
El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie (2019)
Why?
I found it physically painful to watch. Like waiting for a leaking tap to drip......drip..................drip. It felt like a filler episode, like the one about the fly, where they ran out of money or something and you kept expecting something - anything! - to happen. I stopped watching after the stupid shootout so I don't know if anything did happen. I don't really care.
Sharp Objects (2018)
Slow burn tedious cliche of a town full of deranged rednecks
I'm having my doubts about the authenticity of IMDB ratings. I had had enough by the end of episode 1. My wife wanted to see if it got better, so we watched episode 2. We both agreed we would not waste another hour on it. I really have nothing new to add to the other reviews that gave it a low score.
Killing Eve: Sorry Baby (2018)
Peak absurdity and beyond
The series started well, but this episode went beyond peak absurdity. Slapstick idiocy that might be funny if it were supposed to be funny but otherwise is an insult to viewers' intelligence, or if the IMDB average rating is to be believed, maybe not. In fact, I am now extremely sceptical of IMDB ratings because I think it is impossible that so many people could rate this so highly. The only other viewer review, at time of writing, does an admirable job of summing up this cow pat of an episode.
Travelers: Helios 685 (2016)
Possibly the dumbest episode of any TV series, ever.
The pilot had a lot of promise. I mean there was the usual "looking the other way" on a few silly details, but that's OK.
Then the slide began. By the end of episode 6 it was impossible to look the other way. It had reached peak stupidity.
We'd already seen people who had been sent back in time to SAVE THE WORLD! acting like juvenile brats. Like the one who was sent back into a junky's body but couldn't be bothered going on methadone (or some futuristic cure for addiction) even tho the FUTURE OF THE WORLD! was at stake. And if that wasn't bad enough, he became obsessed with saving a few lives, which, due to the butterfly effect, could jeopardise the mission and the FUTURE OF THE WORLD! Being from the future, he knew that some apocalypse had kill billions and brought the human race to the brink of extinction (funnily enough, that's the whole premise of the series). OK, fine you say, junkies don't think too clearly - see above about trying to kick his addiction (and BTW, how is it possible to know the time of someone's death to the exact second, but not that he was a junky? I know, suspend disbelief - sigh).
But then came Episode 6. And Oh My God, what an episode!
It started well enough. A bunch of travelers took the bodies of some apocalyptic suicide cult members. We learned soon enough that they were expert marksmen. Now, you would think that their marksmanship skills were in some way important - I mean, why go to the bother of sending them back in time if they couldn't hit a bus at point blank range, right? It turns out their skill was in missing targets! You'd think any idiot could miss a target, but no, apparently it takes futuristic skills. But, I hear you say, they had to miss by just a bit so as not to kill anyone (hold that thought) but just to delay them. Two points: 1. the people who were being delayed were going to die anyway if the mission succeeded, along with the shooters from the future, so why not minimise losses by shooting them all, and then getting the hell out of there? 2. Once the targets had worked out that they weren't actually being targeted, which took all of a few seconds, the jig was up and they could proceed with complete impunity. As idiotic plans go, they don't get a lot dumber. I guess it was some government committee of the future that devised the plan, so maybe it's quite plausible.
Why, why, WHY do writers think we are all complete idiots and won't notice their stupid, pathetic excuses for a plot? Since this series gets a lot of 10/10 reviews and was renewed for a second season, I guess it just proves that the great H.L. Menken was right when he said that nobody ever went broke by underestimating the intelligence of the public.
The Blacklist: The Major (No. 75) (2015)
Just how dumb do the writers think we are?
Other reviews have said most of what I think about this episode so I'll keep it brief. Agent Keen often comes across as a bungling idiot, but her interview with the judge took this to extremes not yet seen in the series. It was like she was confessing her sins to a priest. Sure, just spill your guts to some judge, who for all you know could be part of the massive conspiracy that the show has been all about! And do it with a stenographer in the room taking notes, coz I'm sure she's bound to have a Top Secret security clearance and her notes will be locked away in a super secure safe, and she isn't also part of said conspiracy! Beyond absurd. Before this episode I said I'd give it one more chance. That's it. I'll miss James Spader, but no more for me!