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Reviews
Candyman (2021)
The biggest atrocity in this movie is the script
Can't say I should really give this film even a 1 out of 10 score, but I will for Tony Todd's oh-so-fleeting cameo right at the end of the movie.
The rest of it is a deeply unsubtle and at times ludicrous vehicle for BLM identity politics. Honestly, there is no nuance here, or any kind of context, it is just an out-and-out attack on the police force (who are without exception all white men) and white society in general.
Based in Chicago, what it doesn't mention are anything like the facts regarding the virtual civil war being fought between black gangs vying for drugs territory. And the mind boggling homicide rate that this involves. Much easier to follow the path of least resistance and blame a white conspiracy for the failings of an entire community. But still.
Taking all of that into account, it is still a terrible movie. The script is risible, and the lead actors are hopelessly miscast. Now I ask myself why on earth they did not persuade the brilliant and charismatic Tony Todd to have portrayed the lead once again?
Maybe he read the script and thought better of it.
Blood Conscious (2021)
This risible nonsense scores a mind boggling 83% on RT
Like quite a few other people, it is easy to get sucked into the ratings game and base a film on its latest score.
With that in mind, an 83% score on RT would appear to be a good starting point, right?
Wrong.
This film was a cheaper-than-cheap amateur fest with a cast that appear to have been plucked out of the nearest drama school's reject cupboard. There's no story, no tension, no scares, and I reckon that even the 3 main characters were trying their very best not to burst out laughing throughout.
So you have to ask yourself how and why this garbage gets an eye watering 83% score on another well known review site. If critics cannot be honest in their appraisal of a film, then they are demeaning themselves, the movie industry, and most obviously the viewing public.
Away (2020)
Sugar and Space - A Soap Opera in the Solar System
If I could recommend viewers to watch this bilge, I would suggest they fast forward to the final few minutes of the last episode. The landing was just about the only watchable part of the entire series.
The rest of it is a huge dollop of sentimental tear soaked hogwash, with Hilary Swank appallingly wasted as a fragile mother of a teenage girl and wife of a disabled husband. Her tears alone could have supplied the crew with all the water they ever needed.
The crew of the mission are a washed up bunch of religious head bangers, failed parents, closet homosexuals, and collectively, they would have been more at home in a drama about the inmates of a lunatic asylum.
I won't go into the science and realism (or lack of), as many others have already done that. I will say that on a dramatic level, it fails on just about every score.
The Sinner: Part VIII (2018)
So very disappointing
I think we're all unanimous here when we say the first season was perhaps one of the best starts to a series we've ever seen. It was utterly compelling and pure genius.
So why then is season two so far below the standard set in season one? The cornerstone of season one revolved around the motive for the killing in the first episode. That was completely devoid in season two, and the viewer was left completely baffled as to why any of the events in part one even took place.
In fact, I reckon the entire season could have been just 3 episodes long - 1, 7 and 8 - and nobody would have noticed the difference.
The entire season was a mess, with a second rate cast in my opinion (apart from Bill, of course), and it was a shocking fall after the never-to-be-equalled first season.
The Man in the High Castle: Fire from the Gods (2019)
Why oh why oh why.......
A brilliant show overall and an excellent last season ruined by a disgraceful ending. Why can't these highly paid writers and producers give loyal fans a satisfying ending? Is it too much to ask? They had so much to work with, especially with John Smith, but instead gave us a completely meaningless and totally unexplained ending.
Fans invest so much in TV drama, and it is a betrayal of their loyalty when the producers of a show throw in the towel like this.
Timeless (2016)
Just plain wrong.
I am a real fan of the time travel genre, if it is done properly, so I was more than willing to give Timeless a fair crack of the whip. Sadly, it failed on all scores. I didn't care about any of the characters, and the way they were assembled was simply ludicrous. You have to accept that the time paradox doesn't count in a show like this, however, there surely has to be some level of credibility if your crew are going to change events and realise consequences. Which is why the latter part of the story gets even more convoluted and even more incredulous.
The whole concept seemed rushed, and the script looked like it was written in about 10 minutes on someone's lunch break. I hated the heavy handed politics, I hated the plot holes, but most of all, I hated being treated like an eight year old instead of an adult.
Although there are some superficial similarities, Timeless cannot and must not be compared to the vastly superior El Ministerio Del Tiempo, a Spanish time travelling series, which I recommend very highly indeed.
Timeless is yet another lazy re-hash of a fairly well-trodden genre, and must be consigned to where it surely belongs - into the darkest depths of history.
Switch (2011)
Well acted and directed... just very, very silly
Poor old Eric Cantona! Apparently lots of potential buyers have been put off this DVD because of the cover, but let me tell you this, Cantona actually puts in a nicely understated performance. He's not the problem in this film though. It's the utterly ludicrous script that spoils what could otherwise have been an excellent action thriller. On the plus points, the lead actress puts in a superb effort (although the film never explains why a struggling artist has the skills of a CIA agent), and most of the cast are good actors. There are also some very good action scenes, and a memorable foot chase through the suburbs of Paris.
Apart from an excellent start, and an intriguing premise, the film quickly descends into a brainless chase movie, with some truly ridiculous scenes (the mother with the shotgun being one of the most stupid), and any number of coincidences unexplained. Worse than all that, though, is the motive of the killer, which is completely incredible. The ending will leave you scratching your head. I have no problem with the suspension of disbelief, but there has to be some credibility, otherwise you end up laughing, like I did. It's a real shame, because the film is well directed, there is an excellent cast, included the much maligned Cantona, and with a credible script and screenplay, it could have (and should have) been a rock solid thriller. It is simply too far fetched for my tastes.