msghall

The pilot and first episode of this series are wonderful examples of tight direction, facile editing, witty writing and fine acting. However, the director, Euros Lyn, of this episode blows it with inept editing and awful camerawork (although that can also be blamed on cinematographer Steve Lawes). Lyn and Lawes love to frame their subjects up super close so the characters go out of frame too often, hiding important elements of the plot and causing great frustration for the viewer. It's almost as if they hate their audience.

Even worse, Lyn and Lawes love to mix out-of-focus with in-focus in the same shot so that the image is constantly hard to see and distracting. Your eye is always trying to determine what is important to the plot. There's no flow to the editing, either. What a waste with such acting talent and wonderful scripts.

The user reviews drop down an entire point on IMDB from the previous episodes. While 7.9 could be a respectable score, it's far below the previous episodes. How can any director and/or cinematographer screw up such wonderful source material?

Chilling recounting of all-too typical abuse by religious monsters under the guise of caring. In this new era of abuse in all sectors of society, by the Taliban, by the Catholic church, evangelicals, Trump supporters etc., this show is more than timely, perhaps even a precursor to a new world of authoritarian abuse in the name of a deity.

This is not a perfect documentary, however. The main narrator and director is annoying with her whiny, loud voice that gets irritating after the first half hour. She dominates the proceedings and takes away from the impact of the show. I found it hard to totally empathize with her, but not the other victims, because she can be overwhelming too often.

By the third season, it became apparent that, while the plots are often superlative, the soap opera elements, particularly the relationship between Walker and North, become a wee bit too forced. David Hayman is too fine an actor to be acting to some of the rather stereotypical male ego and aggression writing. Walker is becoming insufferable with his fragile ego and childish jealousies. He becomes a bit of a cardboard cutout of the overly simplistic man.

After the last episode, it seemed implausible that North would stay with Walker. I wished she had left him after the last episode. As an interesting character, she should have. Now it's just prolonging an untenable relationship that doesn't quite ring as realistic enough to keep the show interesting.

Forget the 1 star jingoistic reviews of this Japanese production. Yes, it moves slowly and deliberately. Yes, the details about uniforms etc may not be as exact as some viewers may demand. But for me the story is the thing.

The big bonus is Takao Osawa, the smiling buddha general of the Kingdom series of movies. His calm but decisive nature provides the bedrock of this series.

And yes, it could have been more disciplined in its editing but that's nothing new for streaming movies and TV shows these days. A little bit of patience pays off here big time. Stick with it. The rewards, while not spectacular, are worth it.

Here's the formula for movie investors to make a quick buck without much expenditure: Cast a young, blonde pretty woman newly moved to strange surroundings; give her an absent, unattentive husband; a too-friendly neighbour; a mysterious 'watcher' who follows her around; skeptical police. Add in that nobody believes her and you get the picture.

I won't give the ending away but you've seen it all too many times before. The writer and director pile on one cliche after another. This is generic filmmaking at its most cynical. It's just a money grab with no intention of providing unique or quality entertainment.

Kate Box doesn't need to do much to be funny. She just is. Her reactions are priceless as was shown by scene-stealing performance in the wonderful "Rake" series. She doesn't disappoint here. She keeps the entire project from falling down.

The plots are merely serviceable but adequate. The acting fine. The writing occasionally boring but mostly touched with wry wit. But there is a big issue here. For some unexplainable reason, the two creators, both named Kate, have no visual style.

In fact, the directors they hired are so incompetent, they darken the series - even in the brightest sun - so that this all looks like it was shot in twilight. The faces, so important to more talented writers and directors, are often hard to see and decipher as they filmed with their faces darkened. Putting faces in darkness is an insult to Box and the other actors. Their work is often hidden in the shadows. (Perhaps the lack of lighting is due to budget restraints?)

Obviously, the Kates are talented humorists but are slaves to the words. They needed to have someone show them how to light a show and let the actors shine by showing us their internal emotions and thoughts on their faces and posture instead of spelling them out with dialog.

The dull talky script says nothing. It crawls along like a wounded beast. It's only rescued by the fine acting of Maya Erskine, leaving boring scriptwriter and star Glover to talk s-l-o-w-l-y with big boring gaps between his inane utterances. It doesn't help that the sound design is almost silent for background sounds, making each dull bit of dialog just sit there. Yes, it does pick up after awhile but by the time it does, who cares?

If you have an IQ under 100, this may work for you. This flick is pedestrian to the point of boredom. Only Erskine gives it life. Unfortunately, Glover's slow motion delivery results in the viewer nodding off for most of this lethargic exercise in bad - no worse, BORING - scriptwriting. It's about an actor's ego getting in the way of art. Avarice is a slow motion killer of art. Glover needs to his priorities straight.

The creators of this series did a fine job the first season of repairing the damage of Discovery and the boring first season of Picard. It was fun, it had solid plots and a good cast. This season is a big letdown so far and this episode is a disaster of inane conversations and bad acting.

The actor playing Uhura is one of the biggest problems. Unlike Nichelle Nichols, who exuded a noble maturity and dignified presence, this actor disappoints with a little girl's voice and lots and lots of hand wringing. Her crying, her breakdowns, her internal battles are more soap opera than what we're used to from ST actors. But she is just a small part of the problems with this talky episode.

You'd think that the people behind Strange New Worlds would have learned from the far superior ST tribute show, Seth MacFarlane's The Orville, that is far more in the spirit of Gene Rodenberry's vision than anything we find in this episode. But no. For some head-scratching reason, the writers just don't get it.

It seems Goldsman and Kurtzman are more interested in a quick buck than delivering on the promise of quality and imagination that Gene Roddenberry is famous for. The magic is no longer there.

It's not hard to see Widmark's problem with journeyman TV director Totten. First problem: the lead character's reputation precedes the film but not the audience. We are never given enough information on the circumstances of Widmark's character and the bodies he's left behind. All we have is circumstantial comments from others but no real look back at the reasons the town wants him gone.

Second problem: There is not enough motivation for the lead character to stay in town. He could leave at any time with a beautiful woman who neither wants to marry him nor receive any love from him. The script doesn't give us enough reason for him to stay.

Other than that, it is a decent enough movie. Not worthy of Siegel, who only shot nine days.

You know right from the beginning that this show is a director's vanity project, using talentless actors like the dubious lead and pouring on jokes that are hit and miss, mostly the latter. It gives you the feeling of cheapness and superficiality.

Rachel Sennott's whiny, spoiled-brat voice and unpleasant looks tells you right off the bat this is not going to be a pleasant experience. It would have helped if creator Seligman had cast actors who have some connection with the camera to evince some sort of empathetic feelings from the viewer. Instead, you find yourself looking away from the actors, realizing the jokes would have more humorous impact had they been delivered by more talented actors to which the audience could identify.

UK cop shows are exemplary at portraying the reality of police work and especially at uncovering the ineptitude and corruption of police officers and detectives. However, this series goes over the top. It's as vile in many episodes as the criminals it contains. Stott, known for his explosive, temperamental acting style, goes WAY over the top here. He screams, yells and berates when he's in a good mood. When he's not, it's almost comical the way he explodes in anger.

This is especially sad considering the plots, direction and writing are all quite fine otherwise. Too bad there aren't more moments of levity or real compassion to overwhelm the tantrums galore.

This director has done some interesting movies but they all have a bit of boredom in them. With this flick, Aster drives a car so slow, he drives it Into the ditch. Phoenix is a fine actor but he needs material that is worthy of his skills. This is the case with this effort. It is too slow. Too measured. Too flat to excite, even in the smallest increments. I could only watch minutes at a time and returned to it several times to completion. It felt like a chore.

This is not entertainment. It is revelatory. It is not profound. It is an indulgent exercise in tedium. The fine actors in this movie deserve better. And they should've known better before committing to this snooze fest.

Strange New Worlds is a breath of fresh Star Trek air. Perhaps owing something to the inspired "Orville" take on ST, this series takes us back to the best qualities of starship adventures, negating the lesser values of "Discovery" and the tepid first season of "Picard."

However, this episode falls flat. It takes place mostly in a courtroom and involves endless dialog, a sure sign of a weakened episode in the annals of ST. Worst of all, one of the most important questions of the episode is never resolved, leaving a question in the viewers' minds. Was this an oversight? It doesn't help that Una's lawyer is overacting to a sometimes embarrassing degree. In the past, especially with "Next Generation", episodes involving trials are exceptional, especially with Patrick Stewart's eloquence and skill.

Luckily, this episode is an outlier, perhaps created to present a more "adult" aspect to the series. That may be, but it doesn't work as well because it ignores the strengths that makes "Strange New Worlds" such a compelling show. Seeing the pitfalls of the past two ST series, this stumble worries me about the quality of the rest of the episodes.

The opening to this movie is superlative. The battle scenes flow with fury and speed. The editing and cinematography is exceptional. So far, so great. However, the minute the dialog starts in the Paramount+ version, everything changes. It is the dubbed version only. And dubbed in the worst possible manner. The voices and sound design of the interior scenes are so bad, they harken back to the 50's dubbing. Emanating from a silent background, voices sound like they're coming from an isolated recording booth. Everything sounds phony and even hysterical, almost as if this is a mocumentary. Truly tragic that the Japanese original language is not available on Paramount+. It looks like a solid flick.

You know there's a problem right in the first minutes when a bloodied footprint on the floor looks as if it had been painted on the floor perfectly. Foot prints do NOT look like they are perfect; only part of the print survives.

That's just the harbinger of things to come. The dialog is aimed at a pre-teen level. It's not rocket science that's for sure. Then there's the production values. Cheap. Cheap. Cheap. You get the feeling creators Liz Helden and Daniel Thomson are more worried about the money coming in than in creating an intelligent, vibrant series.

It all unfolds like a cheap "TV movie" with boring camera angles (lots of static cameras - a sure sign of boring direction}. While the actors have some appeal, they are equally boring as the writing. It's all a cheap money grab without the artistry or care needed to make a series watchable.

You can always count on Brit Marling to bring on the boring. She opens this dirge with the main actor speaking to a group. It's obvious from the opening seconds that the actress is not a top tier talent, She speaks slowly and quietly; the words from her mouth so dull and pointless my mind was already wandering by the three minute mark. I cared not for her or any of the other actors. It's not all their fault; they don't have much to work with. The whole thing would work better as a book, not as visual art. Ignore the usual 10 star paid reviews. This is a soggy waste of everyone's talent and most certainly that of any intelligent, sensory viewer.

This is a dull series with dull characters and dull actors. There's an ugliness that lies on the surface that is hard to wash away. The acting is fine, the writing Ok, the direction slow and deliberate. What's missing is dynamic dialog that distinguishes worthwhile series. The words spoken are often trite and predictable. But worst of all are all the fake reviews here, all saying virtually the same things, obviously from a script provided to people to review. The underlying ugly spirit that reverberates throughout distracts from any entertainment value. This should have been and could have been MUCH beter.

From the first episode, you can see problems with this series. It's a collection of unrequited everything - so frustratingly British - until you the viewer becomes frustrated. Not so much the stilted, witless dialog but the lack of charm from the main characters fail to involve anyone - that is, anyone over the age of 12. This is really aimed at lower intelligence and lesser experience of the viewer. It's really for pre-teens. Which is fine but the script condescends to that age group, with little respect for its audience. The cast is competent and sometimes extraordinary (Pooky Quesnel is as usual brilliant and stands far above those around her when it comes to talent.)

This is not a bad show. It's directed competently if unremarkably. The script is adequate. The acting much better than the content, although British Ben Mendelsohn's American accent sounds awkward and fake, taking away from his otherwise fine performance. I've seen this actor in many UK productions and he's always been reliable; however his accent coach has let him down, leaving him with exaggerated "r's" making him sound at time more like a pirate (Arrrrrgh!) than a chief investigator. Likewise, Ralph Ineson, another fine UK actor, sounds phony with his bad US accent. Why cast these people and not American/Canadian actors with genuine accents? Because the director is Argentinian and not familiar with the way we speak in North America. Despite these drawbacks, it's still a relatively enjoyable outing. Just not nearly as good as it should have been.

I was surprised and delighted to discover this series. I don't usually watch older SD shows on BritiBox; they just don't have the resolution to enjoy. But Griffiths is such a fine actor and most of the cast are interesting and entertaining. Not perfect of course but one of the better detective shows of the 90's.

Too often the scripts call for good people, like Henry and his cohorts, to be bullied while they just smile through and rarely fight back. It's fine with the wonderful Malcolm Sinclair as the epitome of the vacuous, pompous, dull-witted Henry's boss but too many other bullies dominate the episodes. The relationship between Henry and Margaret begins to seem too strained by season three. Perhaps something happened between the actors? In any case, one of the better scripted and acted shows from Britbox.

Johnny Manziel has a story to tell but it is not this amateurish mish-mash of dated quick cuts and inept editing. The choppiness of the delivery takes away any cohesiveness in the presentation. The dizzying quick cuts leave you puzzled about what you just saw because it's gone before you can soak it in. Netflix has been scraping the bottom of the barrel for the last couple of years but this must be some kind of nadir. I wanted to find out more about Johnny Football and see his history of great plays but instead we have only seconds of each play cut up in a mish mash. You learn nothing about the man and even less about the game in which Manziel played. You get the feeling that director Duffy is more into his own gig rather than that of his subjects.

This is a bit of a predictable series, made quickly with TV-style lighting rather than movie subtlety. But it's the cartoonish music in the background that drives me nuts. Why is it there? The 90's are long over; why the cheesy synth sounds. Cheapens the whole shoe.

I've enjoyed two Korean comedies recently, "Extraordinary Attorney Woo" and "Mr Queen," both of which are wonderful shows, complete with excellent translation and tight scripts. Not so with "Burn the House Down." It's definitely not as finely-tuned as "Kingdom"

Still, I enjoyed it for what it is. But while I was watching it, I couldn't stop thinking about the Korean "The Housemaid" and how it ended with a house (and living room/staircase almost identical in both) burning down. Weird how close these shows are.

It used to be Silent Witness was an eminently watchable series. It had tight writing, solid acting and intriguing story lines. No more. The dialog is infantile. The acting unnatural and stagey. But most of all, in this case especially, the guilty party is presented to us in the first half hour. It spoils the rest of the story. There's no mystery who the villain is. But that is just the beginning of plot holes, ridiculous coincidences, stereotypes, sloppy editing and boring conversations. I wonder if the folks behind this series studied the demographics and decided the average Silent Witness viewer has an IQ of 100 or below.

After just finishing the "Extraordinary Attorney Woo", it's obvious that Park Eun-bin is a future star. If she has a facility with English, she could become the international star that China's Gong Li almost had.

While her portrayal here is nowhere near as entertaining and rewarding as her role in 'Woo' or 'Castaway Diva' she still manages to bring the goods. That's not to say the rest of the cast isn't stellar. They are all wonderful, esp. Kim Ro Woon.

While I enjoyed the series, it just doesn't have the magical properties of the more comical 'Woo' or the equally wonderful, "Mr. Queen." (The sappy music and overdone weeping also don't help.)

Don't get me wrong. I really like this series. That is, up until now. Near the end of the episode, the writer creates low-thought cliches to cheaply build up suspense for future episodes. However, placing a character in a vulnerable situation, alone in a seedy café, only to venture across the street into a dark alley and TURN HER BACK to the alley to phone her boss and lover that she has solved the case when we KNOW what is about to happen, is sheer unimaginative writing. We already know where these scripting tricks are leading. Highly manipulative. It's insulting to our intelligence that this particular character would put herself in such a stupid but all-too neat ending.