danielkelso-10265

That's by far the best piece of science fiction story writing I've seen in a long time. And so well executed by the cast and crew. It very much has that Ex Machina feel about it, but more mind bending.

Nice to see Sonoya Mizuno as the lead actor, as she builds her career. She nailed her character. Excellent performance.

There are some calling for a sequel, which I'd absolutely watch, however I hope there isn't one. The story is perfect as is. It doesn't need elaborating.

I was so looking forward to this show. The return of Picard, one of the greatest characters in all of Trek. From the get go, it proceeded to stink up all my expectations. The swearing, the overt sexual references, the lack of chemistry throughout the series, unearned moments that rang hollow, clunky writing, absurd plot contrivances. This show should be axed immediately, and perhaps I can forget this abomination ever existed at all. Whether you're a Trek fanatic or a newb, it has absolutely no redeeming qualities. AWFUL!!

I keep hearing what a great movie this is. Wish I could agree. I remember going to the movie theatre when Heat came out. It was a big deal to see Pacino and DeNiro on the screen together for the first time. And the much awaited scene didn't disappoint. All these years later, and their respective careers have been filled I with drivel in the interim.

At their age, their casting is a complete misstep for this story. Modern technological advancements in de-aging DeNiro aren't particularly convincing. Furthermore, it's a total snoozefest. First hour is like watching paint dry. If you can endure the snail paced story telling, you'll eventually discover some tense and suspenseful payoffs in the fourth hour, but geez, it's hard going.

Probably better as a four part mini-series.

I thoroughly enjoyed that... I think for my generation, The Shining is one of those movies that is etched into your memory. Much like Blade Runner, a sequel to such a revered and influential classic, is surely frought with danger.

Despite the trepidation, I had confidence that the creators behind Doctor Sleep would surely recognise this and rise to the challenge. And rise they did. Though my anticipation of this movie was as much to do with nostalgia as it was for the sheer entertainment, I'm pleased that much of the movie is a stand-alone story; introducing sinister and disturbing characters and a plot that makes you forget about your anticipation of the Overlook.

The pacing is spot on, a couple of truly harrowing and impactful scenes and stunning visuals throughout.

My only gripe.. a small one in the grand scheme of the story, but a significant one if you're anticipating it, is when the ghosts of the Overlook eventually do make their appearance. The twins were rather cheesy and unconvincing. Delivering the same creepy lines, but not exactly the same cadence. The sound and look of them from the original are just so particular, that this movie would've done better to keep them distant; not so prominent on screen, if they couldn't absolutely nail it. And I don't think they did nail that aspect. A couple of the other original ghosts were a little unconvincing also.

But all that said, it was an excellent and compelling story, with much original content and an appropriate dash of Kubrick to complete the experience.

So I just watched it for the first time, weeks after it's release. Wanted to wait for the hype to settle down.

Unfortunately I felt like I'd seen just about all there was to see in the trailers. They were so effective, that I didn't really get much more from the movie.

An intense and, at time's, unsettling performance from Phoenix.

I can't help but feel that if you take the Joker label from it; take it out of the superhero/ villain context, it's an unnecessarily bleak and miserable experience, punctuated by violence used to generate some moments of shock and horror just to create some dynamism. Some have said that the movie is more of a commentary on society; a movie in the tradition of Taxi Driver and Falling Down. Of course, if it wasn't a super villain movie, it'd bomb at the box office and fall completely flat, as, if taken in that context, it's not a great film at all.

It is what it is. A darker change of pace (and often grim) for a movie in the superhero genre. Take it out of that genre and it's just grim.

I remember watching the first movie on VHS repeatedly with my high school buddies as a young teen. It was half decent, but with the drivel that followed in the series, I'm far from a Rambo fan. So I got dragged to this movie unwillingly... You know those movies that you have low expectations for, but when you watch them, you're surprised and give it a big thumbs up? Well this ain't that. It is quite frankly a strong competetor for the worst movie I've ever seen... Alongside 'Freddie Got Fingered.' Absolutely dreadful.

Compelled me enough to watch it to the conclusion, but the final twist was predictable and much of the plot was non-sensical. Mildly entertaining but far from great, which is what I've come to expect from Netflix originals.

How come Netflix churn out plenty of compelling binge worthy productions, but can't deliver a coherent movie? Could've been a gem of science fiction flick, but it was as clear as mud as to what was going on. Too much unexplained. How was the lead character drawing his conclusions? It had the trappings of a decent production; Respectable cast, good score, a story worth telling.... Just didn't quite nail it. Didn't leave enough bread crumbs for the audience to follow. I'm still trying to figure out pieces of the puzzle... Alas, I fear there is no clever twist of plot that eludes me. Only clunky writing. A meal of empty calories.

I thought this a beautiful movie. Elegant to look at and a moving understated performance from Brad Pitt. It's not an action movie by any stretch, though there are a couple of sequences that serve as popcorn wrinkles in an otherwise austere presentation. If you want to pick it apart, you'll find a couple of plot absurdities, but I didn't let them get in the way of a good story. Brad Pitts character narrates throughout much of the movie. It provides the audience with insight into his frame of mind, as he gives little away with his interactions with the other characters. Accompanied by an atmospheric and touching score by Max Richter, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Has potential. Certainly the opening episodes were epic, compelling and set up the promise of a season of hi caliber story telling. Ticks a lot of boxes. Great atmosphere, superb cast, a distinctive score. However, at the midway point of the season I became aware it had become laboured. Story lines were plodding and going nowhere, dialogue became stale; limping towards a predictable conclusion. It felt like a feature movie had been unnaturally stretched in the middle, forced and contrived into multiple episodes.

So ultimately, the season fell short of its initial promise. But, absolutely worthy of continuation. I'm sure they can make the necessary adjustments to make each future episode rich with fresh material, moving the story along more proficiently.

Well I guess this one's a slow burner. I haven't condemned it as bad yet, but nor can I pronounce it good. It's starting to get a little creepy, but it's certainly not as compelling as season one. That season had great atmosphere, cast and a historical event I was far more well versed in.

I'll persevere. I'm hoping by the end of next episode I'll actually be immersed in the story.

What a grammatical catastrophe... There is no purpose for the word "why"; it is completely redundant following the word, "reasons". Why is built into the meaning of reason.

It's well produced with a strong performance from the lead, but it's pretty predictable writing. Black Mirror is typically on point with its social commentary, but the subject matter here is hardly anything new. The laboured point of a generation transfixed by their devices, apps and social media, distracted from the real world around them, leading to tragic consequences is not new ground, and not the originality synonymous with the Black Mirror brand thus far. Like the other episodes from season 5, it's mildly entertaining, but on the whole a comparatively disappointing instalment in the series.

I enjoyed the last one and I don't expect much from a script in a giant monster movie... But even accepting that, I can only say this flick was total utter bilge!! How on Earth do actors of genuine caliber sign up for this tripe. And look at some of these reviews. If ever there was proof in the dumbing down of audiences, it's in the glowing reviews bestowed upon this dog of movie. It's rubbish. That's about as detailed a review it deserves.

Reasonably entertaining, but oddly paced, and perhaps too many characters to keep up to speed with. Enjoyable, but my least favourite in the Avengers series.

I'm a sucker for horror in space movies, so of course I was gonna ignore the damning reviews. Some good concepts. Starts off with a promising couple of episodes, but the dialogue begins to unravel shortly after. I have to respect the cast for attempting to deliver their lines with conviction, for they surely must've greeted the days scripts with utter bewilderment. By the end it's just nonsensical drivel. Hardly surprising it's not been renewed for another season.

I think it's become quite apparent that these user reviews have become an unreliable source of determining the quality of a movie prior to viewing. A couple of days ago, this was on 5.5. Clearly there is a concerted effort to discredit the movie with ridiculously low scores.

This was a quality instalment in the franchise, adding a different flavour with its 90s backdrop. I had a few laughs, a few thrills; it was a well made movie that nicely sets up Endgame. God knows what the trolls are up to.

Maybe I'm just growing more discerning in my middle age, but it seems to me these superhero movies are getting ever more formulaic and predictable. Served its purpose as mindless entertainment I suppose, but a 7 out of 10 movie it is not. I can't help but feel these IMDB scores are manipulated significantly to sway the movie going cattle. Questionable casting, Black Mantis got his ass whooped with every appearance, no plot twists. It's mediocre at best.

A haunted house series?! Not a movie, but a series. It was just too compelling a proposition to pass up, so I binge watched it in no time. Very well adapted to the small screen. Atmospheric, often chilling, frequent intense exchanges of dialogue and at times poetic. However, the final scenes sucked!!! Like an epic song concluding on a badly chosen chord. So much story building and emotional investment, dumped on by a clunky and wholely unsatisfying "happily ever after" finale, complete with a schmaltzy strummed acoustic song of abject mediocrity over the final narrated lines, sucking the life out of any desire to see a second series.

The upshot; Great journey, but the destination stunk it up!!

Well I have to say I'm dissapointed. Enjoyed the first one, but this was pretty weak writing. Pacing was laboured for the first half of the movie, plot threads didn't really stitch together seamlessly and there were a couple of pointless side stories that just felt contrived and added nothing to the experience. This has all been seen and done before. It's classic wait for the DVD" material... Or download... Or stream.

That said, Denzel commands your attention and he's convincing in the role, so it's not a complete write off.

Oh dear!! Never has a franchise been so abused for such a cynical cash grab. I'll give it to you straight. It wasn't teribble; but it wasn't good either. I tend to think that as the second stand alone Star Wars movie, they didn't need to deal with such an iconic character, unless the story was so compelling that it just needed to be told. And based on the evidence here, it wasn't and didn't. The casting was clunky. Clearly aimed at luring a few more bums on seats by appealing to the fan bases of TV pop culture juggernauts Game Of Thrones and Westworld with their respective leads showing up here. I'd pay little attention to this gripe if the movie was fantastic, but it fell far short of that. The attempts at humour are hit and miss, and whatever character development there was left me uninvested in their fates; No emotional engagement as I had in Rogue One. All in all it was underwhelming and disappointing and as I'm well into my middle age years, I see this as purely an exercise at gaining box office dollars rather than delivering a worthy chapter in the epic Star Wars universe.

A very well written and produced gothic chiller. The first two episodes seduced me completely, and though it'd be valid to suggest the pacing was a little laboured over the middle episodes, it certainly provided plenty of chills in a hauntingly beautiful Welsh town backdrop and showcased convincing and compelling performances from its excellent cast. Kudos also to the composer of the main theme; It compliments and enhances the tone of the story perfectly. Thoroughly enjoyable.

This is one of those infuriating shows that is all at once utterly dreadful yet leaves you tragically compelled to watch. It's clearly following the Designated Survivor blueprint; takes a fascinating premise and executes with a low IQ audience in mind. Clunky unnatural dialogue fills each episode to explain basic geopolitics for an audience assumed to be worldly oblivious. One example is in an early episode; heads of various government agencies assemble in some kind of mission control like room in a high drama situation. America needs to use another countries deep space probe, or something or other, to have it intercept this asteroid of doom at haste. There are three possibilities in descending order of proximity to said asteroid. First named country, China, precipitates furrowed brows and meaningful looks. No explanation needed. America has lousy relations with China. Next.... Iran. Forget it. We all know they're irrational and unhinged. Thirdly... India. Peoples faces brighten. We have a winner. Nuff said... But then, for all the clueless imbeciles out there, one of the protagonists states, "An American Ally!!" As if this room full of government and military officials needed the clarification. Clunky clunky dialogue. And it comes thick and fast.

The love interests and sexual tension are all over the place. Everyone is easy on the eye and the main protagonist is an irritating gen y pleb that I just want to punch in the face everytime he opens his mouth. EVERY. TIME.

But apart from all cliched plot lines, horrible writing and one dimensional self righteous characters, I can't get enough of it. I can literally feel myself getting dumber with each episode. Binge watch the entire season at your peril, for you could end up actually brain dead.

But I do hope it gets a second season. I'm hooked.