Thorfrost Reviews

The Wheel of Time (2021– )

Good start, made me want to read the books.

[8/10 · 5 November 2023]

I haven't read the books.

I heard bad things about this series and so I avoided it, but it kept cropping up on my recommendations so I gave it a try and ended up really liking it. I have yet to watch season 2.

This felt like a book adaptation, at times the story was disjointed and didn't make sense, almost as if the writers assumed that the majority of viewers would have read the books and so would know what was going on.

That being said I got pulled in pretty quickly and found it relatively easy to figure out the story.

Moirane is an intricate character who I feel we have barely scratched the surface of, Rosamund Pike is brilliant in this role.

Lan is fantastic and I loved him immediately.

The 5 actors who play the characters from the village are all new to me, while clearly their characters are integral to the plot, I didn't enjoy all of their performances. Rand and Egwene were very good, Egwene especially.

The character of Nynaeve (spelling?!) is awful, I'm not sure if she is written that way in the books or it's the way the writers for the show have written her, or indeed the way the actress plays her, but she is ridiculously annoying with an unnecessary attitude. To compare her, she's this series version of Andrea from The Walking Dead. Attitude, sarcasm, reluctance to take advice or do good for the sake of others. I hated her and felt she was portrayed as an immature teenager.

Perrin equally is miserable and so far brings very little to the show. I can't even remember the name of the last one, he left very little impression on me.

Beautiful scenery, LOTR style battles and an unseen evil....

I'm going to watch the second series but I'm also going to read the books so get a better insight into the story and characters.

Interview with the Vampire (2022– )

Stop destroying books!

[3/10 · 15 October 2023]

I put off watching this series for a while because the recent BBC Dracula adaptation scarred me so much I fear watching anything taken from source material that I love.

Why do these production companies buy the rights and then let their writers massacre everything? How can you make a book like IWTV so boring?

Are they all so scared of being sued for plagerism that they'd rather destroy something beloved than write something vaguely original?

Louis is flat, he's dull and he's boring. Lestat was initially interesting however an episode of him was more than enough and now he's irritating. Claudia is a total joke, she's cast too old and as such it destroys her character.

The sets, costumes and production are all good. The setting being brought later doesn't work and the script is dull too.

The Mayfair Witches bored me to tears too.

This has cemented my decision to avoid all book adaptations from now on.

The English (2022)

Beautiful, brutal.

[10/10 · 20 December 2022]

My husband and I sat down to 'watch an episode' and six hours later we'd finished the series.

The beauty of this series is outstanding. Not just visually, although it is absolutely gorgeous at times, but emotionally too.

All the brutality and evil is there in abundance, it doesn't hold back in it's honesty and while it is so difficult to watch, it's vital that it be shown. That being said, the things left unseen were the most chilling, a sound doing a far better job of painting the picture.

Emily Blunt and Chaske Spencer are perfect. Their chemistry was wonderful, this is the best thing I have seen Emily do, she's magnificent.

The supporting cast are incredible too, I despised Rafe's character in this, he's fantastic in the role.

Bridgerton (2020– )

Better than I was lead to believe from the reviews but not brilliant.

[6/10 · 26 May 2021]

I'm going to say it first to get it out of the way but I don't think for one second this show would be as popular if it weren't for Regé-Jean Page.

It's going to be interesting to see if viewer numbers drop now he's not returning for another series.

He's beautiful, he's tall and elegant and he's the perfect period drama lead male. But I also had a feeling he was internally cringing while saying some of the lines.

I've never read the books, I don't know how much they changed the story and I also don't know how much I am missing because I haven't read the books, but I felt everything was a little rushed and far too many characters squeezed in.

I'm really sorry, I am sure she's a lovely lady but Phoebe Dynevor was boring. It may be the way the character is written, I've never seen her in anything else, but there was just no personality to her. It's really hard to care for a character who is this dull.

The relationship with the Duke was ridiculous. How are we supposed to believe that a couple of lingering looks equates to the kind of love someone would duel for. They were married, then we had an episode of continuous and very cringeworthy sex, then they fall out and the marriage is supposed to be over. I may have slept at some point and not realised it but it seemed as if we'd jumped an episode.

I was far more interested in the outer characters. I really wanted the King and Queen's relationship explored more, it seems to be far more interesting than the lead characters.

Polly Walker as always is amazing. I really loved Nicola Coughlan and Claudia Jessie too.

The characters of the brothers and their respective women seemed to be setting up for better storylines too.

I am led to believe that each different book follows a different sibling and I am hoping the next story will be more interesting and written at a better pace.

Is it historically accurate? Nope. It doesn't pretend to be, nothing is presented as fact. The costumes are gorgeous, again not always accurate but who really cares in a fictional production? I don't listen to mainstream music so I had no idea they played modern songs at the balls until I read some reviews so that didn't bother me either.

It was watchable and I didn't hate it, but the dialogue was tacky and I hope that improves for the next series.

Bridesmaids (I) (2011)

Hit and miss.

[7/10 · 19 May 2021]

Melissa McCarthy made this movie. If she wasn't in it I doubt I would have watched it all the way through, she's brilliant as Megan.

Being from the UK we don't get SNL so other than seeing clips on YouTube we don't get to know the SNL stars that well, I did know Kristen Wiig when I first saw this and I knew she was known for her ad lib comedy and that's what this movie feels like, it's like they trusted her and Maya Rudolph enough to ad lib some of their scenes and I think that's where sometimes it can fall flat.

The story is relatable, we've all met someone like Helen and we've all felt jealous of someone getting close to a friend we care about, so from that point of view it worked.

I couldn't tell you what Rebel Wilson and Matt Lucas were doing in the movie, it didn't work at all, I like Matt but Rebel is the same in every single thing she does and it's never been funny.

I feel like the blooper reel would have been funnier that the actual movie which is a shame.

Like I said, Melissa shone in this movie.

Ophelia (I) (2018)

Beautiful.

[10/10 · 29 April 2021]

I really don't understand why there are so many really negative reviews and positive reviews being downvoted. Is it Daisy? Is it that someone's approached Shakespeare from a new angle?

I'll never find out the answer but it's a real shame.

I really loved this movie. I wasn't sure on Daisy in this kind of role having only seen her in Star Wars before but I actually think she played it beautifully. I have seen someone else say they think this would have been a Kiera Knightley role ten years ago and I agree, but she would have ruined it. It needed to be understated. It needed to be timid as well as strong. None of that makes sense I suppose but in my head it does.

I'm not a fan of Naomi Watts or Clive Owen but they were watchable and actually I cried for Naomi's Gertrude at the end.

The costumes are gorgeous, the scenery and settings beautiful and the soundtrack is wonderful, especially the music playing over the ending scenes.

It made me interested in Hamlet again.

Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)

Too many flaws.

[6/10 · 29 April 2021]

The first time I saw this movie was in the early nineties as a teenager and, having loved it back then to an obsessional level but not having watched it for a good 20 years, I decided to revisit it.

I adore Gary Oldman in this movie. I love Bram Stokers book and I have collected books about Vlad Tepes for 20+ years and while I long for a movie based on Vlad without a vampiric element, I really love Gary Oldman as Vlad/Dracula.

Visually I like how dark the movie is, I like the setting for Dracula's castle and there is a general cold and foreboding energy all the way through the movie.

The costumes are wonderful, Eiko Ishioka won an Oscar for her costume design for this movie and it was absolutely deserved. It's worth watching just to see them!

The rest of the cast kind of overact. Keanu is Keanu and we all love him for that reason. Anthony Hopkins overdoes the role of Van Helsing, as does Sadie Frost. Winona, in my humble opinion, is one of the most beautiful women ever to be on film, while her accent leaves much to be desired, she does give a good performance and despite stories of she and Gary Oldman not getting along, their chemistry was wonderful.

Watching as an adult it's lost the hold it had on me as a teenager hopelessly in love with Gary and his Prince Vlad, I find myself cringing through most of it but...oh the costumes!

Tristan + Isolde (2006)

Beautiful telling of an ancient story.

[9/10 · 3 April 2021]

I love this movie. I first saw it shortly after it came out and adored it. I vaguely knew the story and I am easily pleased by beautiful costumes and scenery, especially if they're set so far back in history.

Sophia Myles is wonderful in this film. She's stunningly beautiful, you see the pain in her face as well as the love. It's a quiet, gorgeous performance.

I'm not sold on James Franco as Tristan. I've not seen him in anything else but he has very little emotional range, I know it's a heartbreaking story and sorrow fits it but he at times has NO emotion. I can't help but think he would have made a better Melot with Henry Cavill playing Tristan instead.

As always Rufus Sewell is solid as Marke, he is fantastic in these kind of roles.

It's a shame it's such an under-rated and ignored movie. It really is a very good telling of Tristan & Isolde, a story that is the basis for all forbidden love stories and pre-dates Romeo & Juliet.

Raya and the Last Dragon (2021)

Beautiful

[10/10 · 5 March 2021]

This is a really beautifully animated film.

The story is fresh and interesting, the movie is quite fast paced with enough action to keep kids interested and visually is mesmerising.

The only complaint is that Sisu's dialogue and voice is really irritating and becomes old very quickly.

True Blood (2008–2014)

REALLY miscast lead.

[2/10 · 13 December 2020]

I've read all the books but never got round to watching this show until recently.

It's as camp and cheesy as the books, Bon Temps was actually as I imagined it to be. Stephen Moyer was an interesting choice for Bill but I liked him, Rutina Wesley is fantastic as Tara, LOVED Nelson Ellis as Lafyette and special mention to Kristen Bauer Van Straten because Pam is the best character in the show. Unfortunately I find Anna Paquin unwatchable. She's up there with Kristen Stewart and Cameron Diaz on my list of 'how do they get work'? I managed to get a season in but I can't watch her anymore. I've only ever seen her in X-Men and she had the same expression on her face the entire time in that as well.

I'll stick to re-reading the books.

Dracula (2020)

A complete mess

[1/10 · 5 January 2020]

I wasn't expecting a lot from this show purely because I've yet to see an adaptation of Dracula, made in the last 40 years, that escaped being cringe or being changed so much it's ruined. So, my expectations were low. The first episode was bearable, but raised SO many questions concerning key characters being in the wrong places at the wrong times, I couldn't understand how the story was going to continue when Dracula got to England. But I continued on to episode two. Wow. What a complete mess. My daughter and I were watching in completely dismayed silence, she's never read the books, she's seen part of the Coppola version but that's the depth of her knowledge and even she was aghast at some of the things being played out onscreen. The end of episode two is ridiculous, we turned it off and won't ever watch episode three, I dread to think what happens. All I can hope is that people who watch this as their first exposure to Dracula and enjoy it then go out and buy a copy of the book and read the actual story.

Suits (2011–2019)

Started so well....

[6/10 · 22 November 2017]

I'm currently half way through episode 7 of season 7 and I have to admit that I have just turned it off through complete boredom.

This show started SO well. The premise was interesting, the characters sharp and the comedy was brilliant. Donna was fabulous, Mike & Harvey slick and were the guys that got s**t done, Louis was the guy you loved to hate and Rachel & Jessica are beautiful, intelligent and strong female characters. The story-lines were interesting and on some level believable.

However, since Season 4 the writing is just repetitive and becoming more and more ridiculous. How many more times can Louis stamp his feet and scream at people he supposedly loves and respects before 'humbly' apologising and then saving the day with some random piece of evidence buried in a long forgotten by-law? How many things can Harvey blame his mother's affair for? How many times can Mike lie and get away with it, purely because he's got a quick mind? you get my meaning, it's just repeating the same story-line with different guest characters.

It's a real shame because there are very few TV shows I follow, I usually give up after a season or 2 and I felt invested in this one, I especially loved the Mike/Harvey bromance that developed but in all honesty...I cannot be bothered to keep watching, there's nothing holding my attention and I only got this far into 7 seasons because I didn't want to give in.

But I'm throwing in the towel, I am giving in.