michaelrthomson

Once again we find the American content creators, this time those cheerful folks at Peacock, taking an idea that others have already done very well and turning it into some sort of over acted, over produced and over faux celebrity filled trash tv show.

I've only just finished watching the first season, which had none of the personality, charisma, intrigue or suspense of other countries efforts, instead as I say this American rendition was filled with people I barely had ever heard of, 'celebrities' from reality shows, a former Olympian whose bad reputation preceeds him and a whole cast of other people who claim to be famous or who simply were not famous at all, at least not as far as we could tell. Oh and rounding out the selection was the catty woman off the show about rich folks on boats, and the woman who was I think originally on the Amazing Race and spent that entire thing whining and crying who has I believe subsequently been on every other reality show and has performed poorly, much like she did on this one.

So yes, dear reader, you'll get the sense that I have no much to say about the show other than it is exactly what you might expect it to be, there are pretty much no personalities you'd want to see win which is established quickly, it also seems to clarify that most of the 'celebrities' barely share a brain cell between them, and that the real work horses of the show are the suppoesed normal folks with normal day jobs.

The presenter is fine, but I find it odd that he refers to it as 'his castle' when we all know its the same one they use for the UK edition of the show, and for a man who is so proudly Scots in his ancestry, he does a terribly job of playing the Lord of the Manor here, rather, he just seems to rather enjoy rehashing the role Claudia does in the Uk edition and roaming about in a ever more unusual set of Tartan suits.

All in all I feel like they would have been better off just having normal folks on it, or is american society now so devolved that people will only watch a show if it is choc full of these faux celebrities? Maybe that is it, but they could have saved all those air fares and the castle hire fee and just shown the UK edition, or the original Dutch one, or the Kiwi one or better still the Aussie versions (of which there are now two seasons). It just seems sad that entertainment in the US now seems to be as much about auto celebs as the american music industry is about auto tune.

My firm recommendation is give this a hard pass, every other country does this better.

So I think Paul Mescal has lots of potential as an actor, his delivery is always thoughtful and there is something decidedly normal about him, he's not over done in any way shape or form, he's just a guy, who acts well and you know, is relatable...

The girl in this, unknown, never heard of her, and she was fine, she played a role.... nothing stood out as exceptional to me, and nothing said terrible actor with no potential for the future.

Regrettably the same cannot be said for the story, i don't usually do this sort of retrospective any more because its all just a tad boring, and been done to death, aren't we all just a little tired of retrospective women with an axe to grind and most certainly that seems to be what the plot summary of this is about...

What actually happens though is a great big pile of nothing, like literally just nothing, there was one scene toward the end with the girl as an adult, in bed with a woman because you know, have to tick that diversity box, otherwise, its a story about a seeminly drunkard and elusive father and his ever so trying to be grown up 11 year old daughter on a very boring resort holiday in Turkey. I kept thinking it would transpire that they were at the scene of one of those resort massacres back in the 00's, but nope, nothing but a lot of drinking, swimming, moping about, more swimming, a mud bath, more beer, more meals..... i don't really see what the point of this was, i mean if you want to watch resentful brits on holiday, there are way more amusing ways to do that, not least of which would be to jump on an easy jet flight to spain or somewhere and listen to the brits grapple with non-english speakers by assuming that yelling everything breaks all language barries, and of course like australians, they also love a drink and spend nearly all of their time on holiday drinking, eating and yelling....

So yeh, its a movie where absolutely nothing happens, not a single thing of any merit that justifies its existence. I'm sure the arty types will adore it for something or rather, but we average every day joe types, well you know, at 50 years of age there are better uses for two hours of our time,, afterall time is growing limited and spending it on a film where nothing happens is not a good use of the diminishing time we have. Sorry Paul, i imagine this was appealing to being, but somewhere along the way your nice guy easyness just accepted a film that you should have passed on.

I thought maybe foolishly that this might be something new in this genre, but no, its the same found footage type scenario with supposed equipment and machines that pick up ghosts talking and so on, but all it was is the normal thing of a whole lot of people walking around in the dark, screaming or jumping and saying something moved, or that a dust mote is a spirit and all that rubbish. There is all the normal footage of cameras in basements and ceiling spaces, dead rodent skeletons and of course the whole story about the conjuring films plays a supporting role but this has no where near the story, interest or presence of the films based on the stories.

Utter garbage, but typical of this type of nonsense. I'm yet to ever see a show that does what it says on the tin in this genre, and this one sure doesn't deliver anything new. I'd like to say there are better options, but that is pretty much not the case, all these paranormal investigation shows are as bad as each other evidently, and no amount of jimmied light metres or cameras seems to be nearly as able to record an actual event as much as the imagination of those approving funding and distribution for shows of this sort.

So, you'd think from the reviews this might be historically interesting, well acted, written and generally conceived.

At least, that is what I thought.

But no, the casting is poor, the acting is high school panto at best, the scripting is cliche and laughable, but perhaps most importantly of all for a story that portrays itself as telling the story of how Elizabeth I came to the throne, it has so many historical errors it is just not worthy of the view.

I suppose its fair, if unfair, to suggest this is probably American made and funded, and thus its alignment with historical accuracy is about as close in this as it was in shows like Reign or The White Queen.... It veers towards a factual point in time, but it fluffs it out with a lot of fluff, alot of mistruths, lots of impressions, and of course for good measure, a whole pile of Boobs and Ass and grunting and furtive shagging.

So far i'll confess i've only watched two Episodes, i'm not sure i'll progress to the third because I'm not sure I care, and because the other reviews from Ep3 on are so dire that i'd probably rather just not. The most annoying thing about this historically inaccurate drama (or whatever it is) to me is the very glaringly wrong title afforded to both Elizabeth and Mary of Princess. Long before Henry VIII died in 1547 the title of Princess had been removed from both, and officially the records show they were both simply referred to as "The Lady Elizabeth/Mary" as the case may be. Getting something that basic right should surely be a simple google search for a writer. Seemingly the writers of this could not be bothered with google, or with any real fact checking whatsoever.

It seems to my mind they have taken every generic story and cliche and woven those into this, its rather like if you went through the garbage bin at McDonalds, eventually you could probably find enough bits to serve up a plastic tray of something resembling food, and that is what this is, a mishmashed mess of muck trying to pass itself off as something you'd be at least open to consuming, but alas, all you will find here in truth is a lot of over done under cooked and slightly nauseating garbage.

There are way better documentaries, books, show on the topic of the Tudors if we haven't already done them to death - it really is time we all moved on to the Stuarts, or the Hanoverians or anything besides the over cooked Tudors.

Generally no fan of American comedy, it just usually isn't funny or at least its American funny, not witty smart funny.

Anyways, it turns out this is less of a comedy and more of just a story of friends, despite the short run (four hours total) i found myself caring about these characters and wanting to see more of their journey - for me it was entirely relatable, the same friends, the same stories and the same circumstances (albeit without the NYC glamour and expense) - the writers are clear gay as a flock of birds because they really do tell the gay story well.

Each was well acted and quite funny, most of the gay mid life cliches are represented here which makes it relatable for a middle aged gay person. The female character lead (Tisha) was awesome, absolutely relatable as the cliche faghag but what a sassy friend she would be to have in life, and the rich sad divorcee is also terrific value and would be a real asset in life. The gay friends are the normal gay friend cliches (one slut and one fat and old) but these are also relatable - and quite amusing. The weakest of the group is the slut character, acting is average and his stories could have been so much more, but we are just left with the sterotype and not much more.

Doogie Howser is a real laugh, i know he can sing and i know he can dance, but this proved he could act as well, and show some depth. His character did exactly what i myself have done in the same situation before, so is relatable and sad and yet hopeful all at the same time.

I find myself hoping this show gets to tell more of these character stories, the chemistry is good, the writing is good, whats not to love in a bit of light entertainment.

So i'll preface this with the follow admission - within about 30 minutes i'd had mostly lost interest in the film, there with dinos, check, big one small ones some as big as yer ead.... and then there were the original cast playing sort of the same roles as in V1... which was you know, nostalgic and interesting, though also a tad expected a tad dull and a tad uninteresting.

I'm not sure why so many american films seem to insist that kids with superhero powers or whatever 'gifts' this girl has are locked away, i've no idea what the gifts are, were they explained I don't know, as i said i'd switched off and the only thing really likely to draw me back was a big dinosaur eating some creepy science guy or some everyone hates tech billionaire (would it be fun to have put mark zuckerberg or elon musk in this film?)...

Anyway, there was shooting and guns and plots to destroy secret facilities, and some dinosaurs and some baby dinosaurs (cute) and a very angel lady flying helicopters and saving the day as usual, and chris pratt keepig his covid belly sweatshirt on for this one.

I don't lknow, maybe it truely is time to hang up the dinosaur thing - i mean what more can they do with them... well besides another asteroid I suppose... but it feels boring and tired and about as lacking in credible story or plot or goals or points of interest or new learning opportunity as i feel likely to be voted sexiest reviewer of 2022.

I can admire the effects , no doubt a lot of moneu got pumped into this plus more for marketing and junkets etc.... and to be honest, that money might better have gone to training nurses or helping ukarine or doing anyting at all that might reduce the damage humans (not dinosaurs) are doing to destory our world....

Maybe the next incarnation could have some green goals included but please spare us the hippys and greta and all those god damnawful whining millennial gen y/z types.

I've saved the film like every other pirate and if i'm snowed in during a snow storm here in tropical old new zealand, well hell, its sure got to be more meaty than watching the entirey Happy Potter story through, including the dire spinoffs. I'm also still angry the only attractive man (Billy was it?) in the one with Tea Leone got killed off i mean hello, if you have eye candy there is merit in having it live. That is all.

I watched this a week ago with some friends, we figured it looked interesting and might be a flash back to the good old days of 80s horror/scary with a big of creepy thrown in.

The opening the slow, it really probably took 20/25 minutes before anything much happened, and then we just got a kid in a basement, a crazy guy in a mask (not groundbreaking), and a ringing telephone....

I'm not entirely sure why the phone, i guess it was a means to make the premise make some sense, having ghosts talk to him would of course have lost the audience that doesn't believe in that stuff, but yeh, weird is how i would describe this. Showing the kids randomly all cut up and disfigured would probably just have been a more thrilling way to go with this...

I found my mind wandering, and the ending sort of just seemed a tad 'meh' to summarise it. This could have been so much more, it could have been more creepy, more scary and more everything - i don't know, maybe blumhouse were going for the good christian demographic who don't want to be too scared about anything.

The only real shining star here was ethan hawke, although his face was pretty much obscured by that every altering mask throughout. There was no real reason given for that, nor in the end was there any point to his brother or the ending involved there.... gruesome yes, but a thriller or a relevant plot point is in doubt.

Sadly i feel let down by this, it had such potential as a new and slightly creepier version of 'the lovely bones' which I suspect it was probably based upon, but no, it just sort of didn't deliver on the promise and if I was in the mood for an abducted kid by the weirdo film, i'd go with the Lovely Bones every time.

Yet another not groundbreaking or innovative show comes out of Netflix studios...

Sure, the scenery is pretty, but should that really be the biggest selling feature for a supposed drama/thriller/survival show. This particular trope is about as well worn as infidelity, murder, police procedural and the ghost hunter shows. Its dull and boring, the acting is what you'd expect of someone who no one has probably heard of (well i certainly haven't). The writing is weak and uninspiring, the characters are unrealistic and in the case of the boyfriend just dull and vapid and entirely without any merit at all.

I'm not sure what happened to Netflix, once upon a time they made terrific shows like Sense8, that the world was horrified when they cancelled, in 2022 it appears cancellation is about all that is left to do with Netflix, cancel it entirely if this is what they think is television worth watching.

I get my netflix free with my mobile phone plan, and even then i will admit I don't know that i'll ever actually log into it again, at least not until they resume making content worthy of the huge audience they are barely clinging on to.

It could be that you, like me, thought 'hey why not, she can kinda sing maybe she can kinda host a show on something she is known to be interested in'..... at least that was my theory.....

1. Faux friend celebrities - has anyone heard of these people? I've no idea, maybe in america these are well known people. The title 'celebrity' doesn't have a very high bar any more, and certainly it doesn't suggest that the celebrity has an actual talent or specific skill, and this is certainly true here. There is no celebrity besides Kesha, and there is no talent at all, anywhere.

2. Running about yelling 'what the hell is that' does not make for a scary show, a thrilling show or even a show about ghosts and so on - it just makes for a very boring and tedious waste of time. This genre of show is of course notorious for never actually showing footage of anything besides hosts and their handoffs running, screaming, yelling, running more, entering dark rooms and yelling and running.... this show follows a VERY well worn path to the same places and tells the same ahhh stories. There is NOTHING new to see here, it is THE SAME.

3. Kesha is a mediocre talent as far as her singing goes so i'm not sure why someone didn't bother to screen test her before giving her a show - she has about as much charisma here as a bowl of vomit - which is odd because that is probably the thing that she has in abundance compared to say her vocal talent - it is likely why she is a celebrity - but she appears to have decided to leave her charisma at home on filming day and instead decided to regurgitate the aforementioned well trodden path of ghost chasing nonsense.

Ive no idea who approves these shows, but whoever they are they need a performance view. This is trash, its unoriginal, badly done and worse of all it completely lacks any reason at all to go past Ep1. Sorry kesha, i feel bad for you because you know, angry lady singer who has probably had a bad life and needs a new job or a job description refresh, but this isn't your thing - perhaps you need to try another thing has been singers do that isn't acting or television and film work because lady gaga you ain't.

So this story isn't news, at least not to americans I suppose, but to those of us outside of that bubble, the documentary series on Netflix and now this offering were as best I can remember my first hearing of this story.

As one would expect of actors of the Callibre of Colin Firth and Toni Collette, there is a lot of very specific and nuanced preformance, there are dynamics at play in this relationship and across the relationship of the mix and match family that this show does a far better story of exploring - unlike the documentary this show really does seem to be putting considerable energy into telling the stories of the children within the broader group, as well as letting us see mow of how Kathleen was functioning and struggling with propping up all these kids, a big house, a busy job and a husband who seemed to spend much of his free time writing stories that may or may not sell copies, and sneaking about with men for sex - whether or not we know if she knew is open to debate until about Episode 7 when he question to him clearly hints that she is very aware of what he is up to, thoguh the extent of it is of course a mystery.

I feel like that oldiest bossy daughter, played by Sophie Turner was just as irritating as possible, i mena can Sophie Turner even act - i'm yet to see any convinving evidence to support that particular proposition. The younger trouble daughter is similar of not much consequence besides he occasional rants and tantrums. The two sons are obviously just spoilt man babies whose father (or in fact their step mother) has funded to life the life of a well off country gentleman with little job, little income and little ability to do anything besides being persistent parasites on Kathleen.

I can't say much for the acting of any of the attorneys either, in the doc, the actual attorney was great, so why didn't they just use him for this, he would have been far more animated and able to capture the audiences attention - whoever that act was was just a tad, well, mmeh.

There is no doubt this is going to always been on the other stories that will never be solved... there is absolutely one person who knows what happened, possibly two people but which of those option replays was compelling? Perhaps i'm actually going for the owl.

Who is married so long and doesn't figure out their partner is cheating, she wasn't blind, she must have controlled the money so where were the funds coming from the pay these rent boys? Kathleen knew and of that i have little doubt, the question is did she care enough to care...

The family are evidently dysfunctional and we so long before the Owl or the firght on the stairs happened, and it would seem that dysfunction is an inevitable journey for them all.

Should be be out of jail - well I must say, if i was on that jury and saw those injuries, and if someon ehad actually shown that owl footage, then no way. If it just went on autopsy and blood and the tensions in the marriage, well i imagine he would have die in the big house.

It is far better than the reviews imply, you just have invest time and consideration into the story being told, and my advice, watch the documentary version before this series.

Admittedly I did watch this about 3 years ago when I first came out, because it was interesting insofar as I lived in this part of London around that time, and I never heard about these murders at all....

The documentary is good but not great, there are holes everywhere and what it is attempting to convey is somewhat lost in the concept that it was police ineptitude that created this problem, and to some extent that is probably true. Its also probably true that had this been four teenaged girls the coppers would have been a little more cogent in their investigation and it is also fair to assume that their dismissal of the lives of gay men was in no small part due to institutional homophobia.

What is less clear to me is how this guy managed to lure all these young men to his place. I mean come on, he was no oil painting was he, and no matter what inducements were on offer, one would seriously not have thought you'd meet this chap at the local tube station and decide to go home with him, no, you'd get back on that tube and leave. Maybe drugs were involved, or the promise of gods knows what, and it is sad as much as anything that this may have been all it took to get probably vulnerable young guys to go with him. It begs the question to me around why people make the choices they do. All of us gay men I should imagine are none too saintly and we I suppose will all have those experiences we look back on and think (after seeing this doc) 'there but for the grace of god go I' - the concept of going to a strangers house for sex is not a new one, or a diminished one at all, and yet it is probably a very risky behaviour - the risk is perhaps also part of the thrill of it.

Anyways, the documentary shines something of a light on the choices we make as people as much as it does the lack of action by the local coppers. They failed to connect the dots that were plainly there to see, and because of this, the questionable choices of the men involved became fatal choices. I see there is a 3 episode series out in recent weeks that I think from the synopsis is a serialisation of the families story around this case, haven't seen it yet, but will get to it, will be interesting to see how they address these questions if indeed they do so at all.

This story is a salutary lesson to any of us who think its entirely safe to go off to a random strangers house and to be so vulnerable, sure, not everyone is a psychopathic killer, but, some people are and ultimately we are each accountable for the decisions we make.

Not exactly a new concept, these 80s retrospectives are all over the place from every angle and every production company to varying degrees of success.

Rob Lowe, being the icon of the 80s that he is, who in no small part thanks to Botox looks still remarkably like he did 50 years ago (either botox or he is a vampire), takes a trip down what I'm sure for him are clouded memory lane ways.

The challenge to me, and to any other non American is that this show pretty much just talks about American culture, for example the episode about adverting just talks about American ads, great if you're American and remember them, otherwise kinda boring and has one reaching for the mobile device to check the newsfeed.

A bit of 80s flashback isn't bad, but when television today is consumed by a global audience, you loose a lot of the audience by simply staying in one geographic location in terms of what you present in my opinion. This could have had so much more, besides bad hair, shoulder pads, synth pop and the origins of rap, the 80s had huge global things happening, the world was changing very quickly, but this show choose to focus on Super Bowl ad slots and American pop stars like Madonna.

If you're American I've no doubt you'll appreciate this as either a flash back or a fun look at your own pop history, but if you're not, then this is a pretty lacklustre show compared to others of the same sort.

I suspect Rob Lowe and Madonna should be retired gracefully and for the same reason, neither really has anything to add at this point that hasn't already been done before, by better.

So there are already a few reviews that basically tell the story here, or tell you something of the way in which the story is told.

What is entirely disappointing to this middle aged white guy, is that this film is following in the tradition of nearly every film/thriller with a gay lead, the make the lead out to be quite crazy. I'm not sure why this trope has died along with smoking on screen or leering at womens boobs or ass, but it is well past time this stereotype was retired.

Anyone coming to see this just because it talks about the fact the lead is gay is going to find themselves disappointed and also wondering why the heck cinema is still portraying our community this way in a film that tries oh so very hard to do pretty much everything without the intention of offending or triggering anyone.

Sure, this is one of those shows and concepts where the first reaction anyone with any degree of Tudor history knowledge would be skeptical at best, and down right wary at worst.... I was one of these myself, initially I simply said no, I wouldn't watch this because the reviews and write ups on it suggested there were agendas that had less to do with telling a history story and more to do with modern politics... so I waited, and waited some more....

I am a little disappointed that I cannot add a voice of modest approval to the show back when it was first shown, there were a few modest or kind reviews by our reviewing peers, but they were swamped out by the plethora of reviews who I would dare to say had more than reviewing a historically based tv show on their minds.

There are plenty of other stories, documentaries, movies, bookes, podcasts and probably YouTube channels and snapchat stories about Anne Boleyn, it would be fair to assume at this point, that pending the Vatican actually opening ALL of their stash of files, the majority of the story, real or made up, from contemporary sources has pretty much been exhausted. It would seen to our eyes that she, and those who died with her for the crimes she was herself accused of, were without doubt not guilty, or at least not as guilty as the full story given at the time might try to want us to believe. Plenty of intellects have attempted rewrite of Anne's story, trying to make it seem less scheme and a whole lot more one of a woman who was surrounded by bad and awful men who wanted her out of the way. Given what we know know of Henry VIII, one would tend to conclude the kinder version of the story is likely the true one - after all, it is remarkable what a leader will do for power, or an heir, or to hang on to both.

I personally did not hate the writing, there were a few too many odd pauses in proceedings, and some rather unexplained drop offs to what they were saying. Fundamentally though, I think they did a good enough job for what this show was, it wasn't trying to be a documentary, it was trying to shed a new light, or a different one perhaps and that I think it did successfully. Henry was fairly light (unusually) in both dialogue and nature, it didn't seem this actor quite got the evil tyrant bit sorted

The shining star was Jodie, she showed elements of an almost mythical personality that I have no doubt were there, she was jealous and spiteful and rather petty and peevish at times, spoiled and more than a little bit snob and brat all mixed in with scheme and intellect and manipulation. I felt she portrayed a genuine care for her daughter that few other actors have radiated so well when playing this role. Sure, would Jodie has been the expected choice, probably not, but was she right, hell yes she was, because she bought to Anne some traits we have never really seen or heard about. There is no denying she is a strong actor with an immense talent for forecasting her emotion through both word, act and expression.

One may pick away at the details that were out of whack, like them all having lovely white teeth *unlikely in 16th century UK or even today, or the manufacturing on bulb candles or pots scattered about..... but it is fluff, it is not a core part of the story.

I think the makers and casting team are to be applauded loudly, Jodie is to be commended and congratulated for taking on what would always be a challenging role in the Uk and for delivering a performance I imagine Anne would appreciate.

A quote from the first fifteen minutes which is as much of my life as this rubbish deserves.

Utter lack of dialogue or story or acting classes or cgi courses. Don't recognise any of the cast but I'm sure they will quickly move on to another c or d grade show.

The writers need a good swift kick, there is not writing talent on display at all, rather there is trite lacklustre rubbish that contradicts itself repeatedly.

It's a shame, in more capable hands this might have been interesting but evidently it's not only covid that is the ruination of 2021, but it is also ruined by yet another terrible tv show. We got rid of the kardashians ( well we can only hope ) and find this - if this is what passes for tv these days, I'm all for reviving reading books.

From the outset it was obvious this show would develop a following, the characters evolve and the story lines create engagement with each and every one, from the lead five, to the broader cast there is something here for everyone.

Kat Stewart who many will probably know from Offspring brings an entirely different yet familiar character, Doris Yonane brings an entirely loveable and often times entirely dislikable but relatable character whose comedic sense just enhances the experience, Katie Robertston plays the sweet and lovable one who time shows has a heart of steel and a depth of humanity and compassion that is compelling, Stephen Peacocke is the cliche tradie who gets the lady but who moderates the handsome rogue part with a deep charm and thoughtfulness, and Roy Joseph plays the somewhat confused and cliche gay role that also brings a story line that will be familiar to any other gay person over the age of 25 or from an ethnically not white family - each actor over two seasons that I've seen has grown more and more into their role, so much so that one really does become invested in their individual and collective story.

The writing is witty and fun, but also at times it is sad and evocative, in a very short series run this show covers many topics and it manages to do so in my opinion with style, grace and a lot of flair, whilst also being fairly realistic about the flaws and fabulously of people. I think these are each and together stories many of us will be able to relate to, to empathise with, and to grow attached to for these characters. I cannot wait for season 3.

The overarching concept seemed interesting...

Sadly though this is the sort of budget rubbish thrown together in some sort of conspiracy theorist cash grab. Its all a whole lot of stories about mostly unheard of people, events and songs that try their very best to inject some degree of mystery. There is about as much mystery here, or indeed story interest as there might be in a soggy mop or a come back album by that wife of Kurt Cobain - who of course is mentioned here... but in no way that is new, interesting or indeed worthy of the twenty minute time investment.

I am rarely quite so mean about the TV show, but this sort of rubbish is entirely the reason why humanity is doomed, well that an all the ghosts, drugs, conspiracies and UFOs of course....

In conclusion, I can recommend this show purely to those who are no longer alive, or who no longer have any sort of intelligence, or indeed brain function. Utter rubbish upon which the money should have been used more productively to feed the hungry or shelter the homeless. The production company 'hideout pictures' sure will need a hideout after this rubbish, I'm sure no one is ever going to admit to being involved in this trash besides all the no name no bodies they interview throughout asking for their irrelevant tales of mystery.

Having read other reviews I figured this would be a fairly typical journey of a movie - including the inevitable outcome, and the constant jumping around in time.

Along with that standard fare, it included infidelity, relationship dysfunction, grumpy teenagers, and a lot of pensive moments.

So that's all the to be expected elements, mostly.

Surprising was the acting skills of the two really main actors here - Mr Affleck basically did the same thing he usually does and does well - the other two however showed ability and range well beyond anything I'd have expected given their past choices and showings in various films.

Generally this wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible, it was a story we've all seen before, but it was told in a fairly sensitive way, and does pay homage to the strength of friendships.

What was lacking was detail, all the time jumping just confused me, and did not really show how the relationship grew to become what it did for any of the three lead characters - and some elements of the story were entirely absent until the end credits rolled. Perhaps someone edited out a few points that would have detailed those missing things, or perhaps it was just a case of lazy writing. The strength of any friendship comes from time and shared experiences, compromises and give and take... and sadly for me this movie really missed that element completely which really made the sombre ending a little more understandable.

It was by no means a bad film, and seeing the cast perform beyond previous expectations might be enough to inspire some people to watch this, and that would be entirely fair and reasonable. The lack of story building is however a flaw that might lead others to also question how exactly did they get to that place and thus leave you also feeling like part of the story just go left out.

Would I pay to see it again, no. Would I watch it again somewhere else, perhaps.

When an original idea is stolen by Americans and then taken too far.

It's incredibly slow and not in the least bit does it make any contestant look like they have any skills as a dancer.

As for the judges, I guess they are well know in the USA, BAG and Paula are more vroadly known, by fraud and Ashley add about as much interest or talent to this show as a piece of road kill. The judges comments are almost as dull and inane as the entire show.

If only the yanks could just do something well once instead of turning everything into this sort of steaming pile of turd.

I thought if POSE was anything to go by this had potential from the description I saw before it showed up.

Regrettably it's just another 'reality show' with a group of judges who i've never heard of - except that idiot with the long hair who claims he is a world leading fashion person - maybe he is, in America?

Anyways, basically the Houses are up against one another to win a prize.. so yeh, it's POSE, but without the talent or acting or well scripted story lines.

I don't doubt the Houses are good at what they do, sadly for me this show is just ruined by a twit filled judging panel, and god damn awful music choices.

I watched two episodes just to be sure, and that was more than sufficient.

And just incase the point got lost, why is Law Roach(?) a thing, awful, I wouldn't watch a show with his name on it ever again.

Wow, Netflix really are getting desperate, or bored or simply overly feminist to produce this pile of trash.

Lets not pretend Gwyneth actually has any clue about the topics she would have us think she is an expert in, rather all she seems to do (and those who support her and this rubbish) is promote misinformation and fake science/non existent science to promote her own views and products.

Netflix, I fail to see why one would pay to continue to belong to your platform, when it would seem all you can produce of late is this sort of rubbish.

I'm sure Gwyneth is a lovely lady in a lot of ways, and I do imagine she does quite a bit of the good deeds by rich folks things, but giving this lady a tv show to promote her fake beliefs is just beyond belief.

Asher is not enough to save this dull diatribe on youth, culture, technology and poor decisions. The majority of the millennials are as wooden as a clothes hanger and the pacing is just poor. I don't think this is at all a new story, maybe teenagers will find it interesting but even they probably look for some quality in their viewing decisions (except anything kardashian related obviously). It just reminds of all the bad elements of high school but with more pc leanings.

I would guess if you're also watching this you likely have some interest and knowledge of the history and story of the Romanov dynasty and perhaps more so the story of Nicholas, alix and Rasputin. Sadly it seems neither the writers or producers don't seem to have any great knowledge nor the majority of actors any training in that craft.

The narrative is just lazy also, a well told story doesn't really need all the plot holes filling by narration.

The one positive is perhaps the costume design which evokes wealth of that period (mostly).

If you're interested in the story certainly don't come here for any insights, but if conversely you just want boring mindless twat then grab the popcorn.

Lastly, I understand the need for them to speak English, which in reality the could and often did, but I doubt very much if the spoke it in a weird northern English accent.

So I figured Sean Penn, it can't be bad.

I was wrong.

It turns out this is a dull study on horrid teenagers or early twenties and how much life screws them up, evidently, mixed with seven plus minute montages of music and scenery and tooth brushing.

Somehow I made it through all the episodes, I think I was hoping the daughter may die and the boss lady might stop being a trite chiche of the female boss with asperger syndrome.

Regrettably I spent six hours or more on this, and ultimately if I had a choice between season two of more of this or dying in an exploding rocket, I'd go with the rocket for sure.

So much potential wasted on mediocre acting and self absorbed storytelling.

A last, something fresh and new, that isn't more reality trash thrust upon us... it has more depth than the Kardashians could ever hope to, and more heart than much of the fodder on offer these days.

Its a wonderful flashback for those of us who were teens in the 80s, the stone wash denim, the hightop shoes, and all that neon.... it's well thought out and although I grew up from from New York and all that entails, I can certainly appreciate what is being shown here with nostalgia.

The story lines seem to be going somewhere, it has multiple layers with at times complex character behaviour, it seems to me to be telling a story about family, and the reality behind the truth that a family isn't always about biology.

The acting is mostly good, there are a few bumps along the way I will say, but those of better acting ability do compensate mostly for those who are simply lacking experience in front of a camera. On the dislike side, the guy from Dawsons Creek, awful character, and if he could indeed ever act it appears he forgot how to which is a surprise as he is probably the face most well recognised in this.

Its certainly a colourful and entertaining show, it appears to confront issues of the time reasonably head on and with honesty and relevance that would have been the norm back then. I find it mostly engaging and enjoyable, and certainly think it is worth the investment of time, no doubt you will become as hooked and interested in the evolving stories of the lead characters as I am.

I trust this show will continue beyond the current first season, as I say, in a sea of rubbish this is an oasis.