This series brings to light a really important and disturbing topic and series of stories all around child abuse, neglect, and massive fraud in segments of the expensive boarding school / behavioral program industry. However as some others have pointed out, Katherine's heavy on-screen presence really detracted from the bigger story. Yes, she is the director and has other key roles in production, but there were so many other compelling student stories that felt rushed or less included as part of the broader narrative. It felt like 2.5 episodes of focusing mostly on her, with a fascinating first half of the final episode really getting into the meat of the real story of those responsible and how they operated. That was by far the most interesting and compelling part of the story, and should have been more of a focus. Overall the narrative was very disjointed, repetitive, and was unclear in what the purpose was of this project... was it to bring the perpetrators to justice? Was it to tell stories of victims? Was it to shed a light to push for investigations and legislative change? They are sitting on all of this evidence, some of which gets tossed in a bonfire at the end, yet seem to be doing nothing with it. What did she want? What was her goal? What are others doing besides her? Her and many of these former students suffered greatly for sure, but there was way too much emotion and involvement in this project by those really close to what happened. Balancing this closeness with more professional and distant individuals could have elevated this project's focus, narrative, and impact.
Reviews
15 Reviews
The Liberator
(2020)
A mini-Band of Brothers
8 February 2024
I'll admit I started and forgot about this series several times over the years but quit each due to the animations, which I found very distracting. But I recently found the series again and gave it another go... this time it stuck and I'm so glad it did. After the first 15 minutes or so, you get used to it, after the first episode you don't even notice it, and halfway through you admire and even appreciate it. It's an interesting artistic choice that helps make this story unique and stand out from other WWII series. Those that can similarly stick it out will be rewarded with brilliant and highly engaging stories from the war that are well worth the watch. Animation aside, this is the closest to Band of Brothers storytelling and directing I've seen yet. Well done.
Open Wide
(I) (2024)
A boring, disjointed, and content-lacking look at the Mews
25 January 2024
This documentary was a complete waste of time. I was initially intrigued by the trailer and premise of looking at the Mews and their obscure treatments, but very little is told in the way of the history, practices, and their licensure. What is shown is disjointed and full of missing critical details to the point where I had to keep pausing to read up on what really happened. This is mostly bizarre and often irrelevant dialogue with the Mews, separately and together, with no real plot or ending. Save yourself the boredom and time and just spend a few minutes reading up on them, their history, and practices online.
The Engineer
(2023)
If you like Fauda, just watch Fauda. This is nothing like it (in a bad way).
27 December 2023
The premise of this movie was fascinating, and unlike fictional Fauda, was based around real events not merely inspired by them. That said, they somehow managed to drop the ball in spite of this with terrible writing, budget movie production value, and awful acting. There were times while watching when I was wondering if it was all intentional, to give the vibe of a low budget action film from the 80s or 90s, but that would have been too clever. Really wanted to like this but it was unbearable... an absolute waste of 90 minutes. This could have been so much more... I have no idea how they messed this up so badly.
Ferry: The Series
(2023– )
More of the same goodness, but characters are frustrating
6 November 2023
If you like the prior show/movie, you'll enjoy this. Has the same look, feel, and enjoyable plot. It's not too riveting, not too predictable, not super intellectual, but is simple fun to watch. My only criticism, which I think exists in the prior stories, is how stupid almost all of the primary characters seem most of the time... terrible decision making, tons of impulse behavior, lots of repeat mistakes with zero learning, and lots of taking things at face/surface level... which seems to be the main engine behind the drama of the show as poor decision making and lack of control create problems.
The Girl from Oslo
(2021– )
Not bad but far from great
22 December 2021
Israel and the backdrop of the conflict there have proven to be great settings for widely-acclaimed, high-drama, uniquely captivating television series in recent years. That said, this show falls completely flat compared to recent hits like Fauda, Tehran, When Heroes Fly, Mossad 101, and many more.
The acting isn't great, and I say this as someone who's enjoyed performances by many of the same actors who are present in other successful Israeli hits. The English audio dubbing is also horrendous -- it's nearly always too calm and monotone for what is actually happening in the scenes, and on occasion, it is over the top. Recommend watching in the original languages and using subtitles if needed.
The ever-present mother character was probably the worst part of the show for me. Yes, her daughter is taken and she is distraught, but she somehow manages to perpetually make the situation worse at nearly every turn with her unnecessary antics and constant demands of everyone. She is also supposed to have been a key diplomat working on complex, strategic negotiations in her past, yet she is far from strategic or diplomatic here -- no wonder the Oslo accords failed! She was never able to see the fairly obvious next actions of the people involved in this situation and would be shocked by the obvious outcomes.
Secondary annoyances included: 1) How falsely easy it was for some characters, including the mother, to dart around between Israel and Gaza and just walk into key headquarters meeting with senior leaders. 2) Some stereotypes were over the top, including interactions between the religious vs. Nonreligious or how virtually every skyline of Gaza showed it being constantly bombarded. 3) Some plot holes including no one questioning why the father whose daughter is publicly being held hostage is suddenly leading a terrorist leader's release from from prison locally.
The acting isn't great, and I say this as someone who's enjoyed performances by many of the same actors who are present in other successful Israeli hits. The English audio dubbing is also horrendous -- it's nearly always too calm and monotone for what is actually happening in the scenes, and on occasion, it is over the top. Recommend watching in the original languages and using subtitles if needed.
The ever-present mother character was probably the worst part of the show for me. Yes, her daughter is taken and she is distraught, but she somehow manages to perpetually make the situation worse at nearly every turn with her unnecessary antics and constant demands of everyone. She is also supposed to have been a key diplomat working on complex, strategic negotiations in her past, yet she is far from strategic or diplomatic here -- no wonder the Oslo accords failed! She was never able to see the fairly obvious next actions of the people involved in this situation and would be shocked by the obvious outcomes.
Secondary annoyances included: 1) How falsely easy it was for some characters, including the mother, to dart around between Israel and Gaza and just walk into key headquarters meeting with senior leaders. 2) Some stereotypes were over the top, including interactions between the religious vs. Nonreligious or how virtually every skyline of Gaza showed it being constantly bombarded. 3) Some plot holes including no one questioning why the father whose daughter is publicly being held hostage is suddenly leading a terrorist leader's release from from prison locally.
StartUp
(2016–2018)
Good but unrealistic with how startups or cryptocurrency work
14 May 2021
The show starts off slow but pulls you in with a lot of tension and rapidly changing dynamics, one moment one character is on top then it changes and changes again.
That said, the business and startup parts were extremely unrealistic and was distracting at times. People writing checks or shaking hands on things with no paperwork, lawyers, or specifics. The startup in question also failed to explain what differentiated them, what makes them so special, and what they actually do.
That said, the business and startup parts were extremely unrealistic and was distracting at times. People writing checks or shaking hands on things with no paperwork, lawyers, or specifics. The startup in question also failed to explain what differentiated them, what makes them so special, and what they actually do.
Jojo Rabbit
(2019)
Interesting take on this genre, but fell flat for me personally
3 January 2021
I see the vision and goal of what they were trying to do here and am glad many others appreciated it, but it just didn't do it for me. I really wanted to love it as the concept was brilliant and the trailer looked hilarious but only ended up laughing at two brief moments in the entire film. The 60's-era music also yanked my mind too hard right out of the period and gravity of the situation.
Death to 2020
(2020 TV Special)
Not great, not awful. Could have been so much better though.
28 December 2020
2020 provided a lot of material with so much potential for comedic relief, yet there weren't that many laughs in the audience when we watched. The format was odd with all of the fake characters and it was heavily US/UK focused, with disproportionate focus on US and UK politics. Again there were some funny moments but most of the jokes just seemed to fall completely flat.
Wonder Woman 1984
(2020)
Simplistic, non-sensical, pushy morals. Extreme Disappointment.
26 December 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Even for this type of movie the plot was absolutely non-sensical. Everyone gets whatever they want and then magically become moral due to Diana's speech and renounce everything, perfectly undoing everything with a neat little bow.
Tesla
(I) (2020)
A disappointing mess in so many ways...
17 August 2020
Nikola Tesla might be one of the most fascinating and influential people to live, certainly in recent history, and his life story is wild. Was really looking forward to this and had high expectations with such great casting, yet almost from start to finish it was a completely confusing mess.
In short, they ruined an otherwise amazing real story with chronology gimmicks, jumping between high budget and extremely low budget scenes/sets, and filling this historical piece with unnecessary and confusing modernity (contemlorary music, cell phones, Google searches,, modern traffic sounds, vacuum cleaners, 1980's karaoke, etc.) in an attempt to show the impact Tesla indirectly had on our modern world.
In short, they ruined an otherwise amazing real story with chronology gimmicks, jumping between high budget and extremely low budget scenes/sets, and filling this historical piece with unnecessary and confusing modernity (contemlorary music, cell phones, Google searches,, modern traffic sounds, vacuum cleaners, 1980's karaoke, etc.) in an attempt to show the impact Tesla indirectly had on our modern world.
Capone
(2020)
Waste of Time
16 May 2020
I try go find redeeming excuses to watch a movie with poor reviews if it's about a topic or person I'm interested in -- I did that here and was extremely disappointed. The score and reviews are correct here. No matter how curious or interested you are in Capone or gangster films, no matter how much you like Hardy, you will be incredibly disappointed here. Save yourself the time and skip this.
Simplistic, lacking depth, more focused on racism in America than the actual Church
1 March 2020
The first half of this is focused on racism in America almost entirely, with a pretty basic and high level overview on the topic. It's not until about the halfway mark where Christianity starts to come in, and even then, it weaves in and out of focus on the Church in the back half. If you take the parts actually focused on racism in the church, this could have been a 15 minute YouTube video.
It feels like a rather basic term paper a student turned in last minute. Don't waste your time, look for other sources of information on this topic elsewhere online. Unfortunately this is an important and relevant topic/issue and I'm not trying to belittle it, it's just that this film fails to provide depth on this topic.
It feels like a rather basic term paper a student turned in last minute. Don't waste your time, look for other sources of information on this topic elsewhere online. Unfortunately this is an important and relevant topic/issue and I'm not trying to belittle it, it's just that this film fails to provide depth on this topic.
Top Gear
(2002–2022)
Used to be incredible; Ruined by terrible new hosts
18 February 2020
Chris Harris is brilliant and is the only true car guy -- he knows his stuff and his passion comes right through the screen... his back must be in tremendous pain from carrying this show by himself.
The other two -- Paddy McGuiness and Freddie Flintoff -- are painful to watch. Their voices are annoying, they're sometimes hard to understand, and they're just not funny. There is no chemistry with these guys, no character buildup or development, and no reason to care. The old trio (Clarkson, May, Hammond) were friends -- and enemies -- and there was conflict and resolution. It's like Paddy and Freddie were just two generic bodies swapped in to host... which is likely what happened.
In the old Top Gear, there were moments were you had to suspend some disbelief as to whether certain vehicles were truly built by the hosts or whether certain things happened on their adventures... but at least you felt they were somehow deeply involved... in the new Top Gear everything is unbelievable. Again, aside from Chris, they're not car experts or handy guys.
It would be the exact same show if you had Chris driving/competing along with the camera guys or other Top Gear staffers.
To be fair, the other hosts post Clarkson/May/Hammond and before this crew were a mixed bag... but a moot point since they are no longer hosting.
Aside from the hosts, the writing/ideas feels a bit unoriginal but again, I'm wondering if that's partially or fully due to the current hosts. The production quality is still top notch with access to quality vehicles, beautiful cinematography, etc., but I don't think that's enough to save this show as that is not a point of differentiation anymore today with other shows on the air or online.
The other two -- Paddy McGuiness and Freddie Flintoff -- are painful to watch. Their voices are annoying, they're sometimes hard to understand, and they're just not funny. There is no chemistry with these guys, no character buildup or development, and no reason to care. The old trio (Clarkson, May, Hammond) were friends -- and enemies -- and there was conflict and resolution. It's like Paddy and Freddie were just two generic bodies swapped in to host... which is likely what happened.
In the old Top Gear, there were moments were you had to suspend some disbelief as to whether certain vehicles were truly built by the hosts or whether certain things happened on their adventures... but at least you felt they were somehow deeply involved... in the new Top Gear everything is unbelievable. Again, aside from Chris, they're not car experts or handy guys.
It would be the exact same show if you had Chris driving/competing along with the camera guys or other Top Gear staffers.
To be fair, the other hosts post Clarkson/May/Hammond and before this crew were a mixed bag... but a moot point since they are no longer hosting.
Aside from the hosts, the writing/ideas feels a bit unoriginal but again, I'm wondering if that's partially or fully due to the current hosts. The production quality is still top notch with access to quality vehicles, beautiful cinematography, etc., but I don't think that's enough to save this show as that is not a point of differentiation anymore today with other shows on the air or online.
Unoriginal, unrealistic, and full of overblown stereotypes
12 January 2020
The premise of this movie is absurd... beautiful women are not drawn to shy, quiet, awkward, unkempt guys who barely try -- let alone someone from an unfamiliar community. And just for a friendly passing of paper... or after a day in Israel. And they don't continue to do all the leading and initiating. These scenes with Laura and Yael were so unbelievable, cringy, and over-the-top... like an religious Jewish teenager's wet dream.
The Jewish mother stereotype was way overblown throughout and the father's silence and acceptance at almost everything, including his son's near rejection of Judaism and going against religious laws was not realistic. As others have said, neither were the Sabbath dinner/morning after scenes.
I know many formerly religious Jews and things just happened way too quickly in 2 hours to be believable as well -- people who leave the religion entirely or become less-religious have serious reasons, experiences, or deep questions that lead them to do so, and this can take years or even decades. We never saw anything serious that Motti was questioning or struggling with, other than his overbearing mother and trying to find a beautiful girl -- the moment he found one, he threw everything out the window instantly. Again, this just doesn't happen... certainly not so neatly/cleanly/simply/quickly.
It tried to be cute and had a neatly-wrapped ending... but was just so unbelievable and cringy throughout.
The Jewish mother stereotype was way overblown throughout and the father's silence and acceptance at almost everything, including his son's near rejection of Judaism and going against religious laws was not realistic. As others have said, neither were the Sabbath dinner/morning after scenes.
I know many formerly religious Jews and things just happened way too quickly in 2 hours to be believable as well -- people who leave the religion entirely or become less-religious have serious reasons, experiences, or deep questions that lead them to do so, and this can take years or even decades. We never saw anything serious that Motti was questioning or struggling with, other than his overbearing mother and trying to find a beautiful girl -- the moment he found one, he threw everything out the window instantly. Again, this just doesn't happen... certainly not so neatly/cleanly/simply/quickly.
It tried to be cute and had a neatly-wrapped ending... but was just so unbelievable and cringy throughout.
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