HeshamMashhour

So I watched this film twice.

Once alone and then again with a friend.

It's definitely an easy watch and heartwarming - two things we've come to expect from Christmas films.

The only issue is, that there is some real "gold" in this film, which was sidetracked to give more room for a dated and bland love story.

Sophie (Brooke Shields) is an unhappy writer who, despite her massive commercial success, feels "lost."

She flees to Scotland in search for a little family mystery and seems to find herself there through the genuine relationships she cultivates with the locals.

Why can't this be the main focus of the plot? Why introduce a duke with a castle (and baggage)? Unrealistic tension between them until they finally fall in love, only to fall out for a silly reason - and get back together?

Why can't Christmas movies be more than about finding a partner/lover?

Wow. If you decide to ignore the bad writing, unoriginal storyline and weak direction (why does Billy have to narrate every single thing) - I think you'll find Billy, the protagonist, thoroughly infuriating.

Moreover, I'm still not sure what to make of the acting. Adam Demos (Brad) is a terrible actor, this much is obvious. What I can't decide is if Sarah Shahi (Billy) is equally terrible - or whether it was Billy's limited character that was blame.

Why does Billy only ever seem capable of two emotions? She's either really horny and moaning or on the verge of tears and massively distraught. This emotional liability does not seem to fit in with the rest of her character; a thirty something year old with two children and a PhD in psychology - someone experienced whose been on plenty of dates and slept around.

How can someone like Billy still believe she needs a man to self actualise? Get a grip Billy!

This film is perhaps worst for its anti feminist messaging - Billy appears to derive both purpose and identify from the men she chooses to be in a relationship with.

She's torn between having a quite life with Cooper and the kids and living wild with Brad - never realising that the source of her non-fulfilment is that she's chasing after a construct of a woman that a guy like Brad/Cooper would date.

Why can't she just be Billy? What's so wrong with Billy? And why (eight episodes later) does she never realise this.

This show has ZERO character development from any of its characters. Especially Billy.

Daveed Diggs is the world's worst actor and I'm fairly confident he can run any tv show or film he takes part in to the ground.

Daveed; if you're reading this please never act again. But even with the world's best actors; the plot holes are striking and show the mediocre production effort.

The director also really has absolutely no clue what he's doing as evidenced by the show's extraordinary slow pace. Snowpiercer feels almost senile and leaves me fuming more than anything else.

It also probably doesn't help that Season 2 was largely devoid of Jennifer Connelly's divine presence - which was the show's saving grace in Season 1.

The Hunmingbird Project is no doubt well made and enjoyable to watch.

A week later, however, and I'm struggling to find anything memorable about this film. Salam Hayek delivers a good performance and I kind of like the look of the gray hair and glasses on her?

All in all, The Hummingbird Project fails to make an impact with audiences because it fails to make us care for the lead characters and their struggles. There are a few twists added for good measure here, but they don't serve any purpose other than complicate the already cumbersome narrative.

I feel like this film perfectly illustrates the problem with so many Netflix Originals.

Billed as a comedy/thriller with Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler as the two leads, I don't think I laughed once. Neither was I exactly "thrilled," by this, "Murder Mystery."

This is definitely odd.

We know Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston are capable actors and have good on-screen chemistry together. Moreover, the concept was interesting and had potential. This film should've been good!

But it was let down by bad writing. Classic Netflix. There are no funny moments in this script, the formula is very predictable and storyline completely arbitrary. In the end, it's very difficult to care about the fate of two protagonists who are oddly charmless and caricature-like, living in an alternate universe I doubt anyone will find realistic.

Netflix has been in the habit of making some questionable shows lately (see What/If). This show, however, really isn't a bad watch.

The screenwriting and acting is good. It feels very "believable. It's probably the first show I've seen in a long time that is about teens and has characters that feel and act like typical teenagers. There's no doubt that it's well written and the three main characters in the show have good chemistry together.

I also really enjoyed the 30 minute/episode format and felt that it worked well.

My biggest problem really was that I felt the show was too abstract and there really wasn't much going on. Moreover, the premise of the show (shoplifting, it's how the three girls meet, connect and become friends) doesn't really add much to the plot lines. They could've really met anywhere and under any circumstances and so the decision to use shoplifting seems a tiny bit random.

All in all it's a good show however and definitely a step in the right direction for Netflix.

I spent the duration of this film in absolute fury. Women like Evelyn Ryan who choose to be spineless, refusing to stand up for themselves and tolerating years of abuse at the hands of their husbands should not have films made about them.

Did Evelyn Ryan not stop once to think what impact staying with her abusive husband must have on her young children? Did she not consider that she and her children would've all been far better off had she left her husband?

Of course she didn't. Because she's spineless.

Honestly, I can't think of a worse role model for young women today.

Why is this film so slow? Why is this film so charmless? Why is this film so awful?

The chemistry between the two leads is non-existent throughout the film and they're more or less awkward around each other making the film difficult to watch. There isn't anything original here in terms of the plot, it's your stereotypical girl grows up with boy, life gets in the way and they lose touch only to meet sixteen years later and have their flame reignite.

But like honestly, we can sweep all this to one side - Marcus is the definition of toxic masculinity and a man who thinks the world and its women owe him. Why then do the filmmakers feel Sasha should give him a second chance and build her life with him? Marcus is the kind of guy who will drag anyone down with him. He's that kind of loser.