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Reviews
Love & Mercy (2014)
A biopic like no other!
It's hard to know where to start with this movie. It is a mesmerising voyage through key parts of Brian Wilson's life. It also shows us what a musical genius he is and certainly made me ask myself whether he'd have been capable of producing all the incredible music if he hadn't been afflicted with the psychological problems that have affected him to varying degrees throughout his life.
The movie cleverly avoids flooding the viewer with wall-to-wall Beach Boys hits, just feeding us snippets of songs as they were being worked on in studio sessions. And, BTW, kudos to Paul Dano for singing some of the tracks himself.
Dano and Cusack give stellar performances as the younger and older Brian Wilson, respectively. This is not typical material for Cusack, really, and he carries off the role with aplomb. The supporting cast are also excellent, particularly Paul Giamatti (Does he ever turn in a bad performance? I can't think of any!) and Elizabeth Banks.
It's a shame that Love and Mercy didn't get a wider cinema release and I'm sure a lot of people may not even be aware of its existence. But it rally is a superb movie and I encourage everybody to check it out. You won't be disappointed.
Jesse James: Lawman (2015)
Utterly Dreadful
This is the worst movie I have ever seen. It's not even Z grade.
The acting in terrible, the action is feeble, the costumes are ridiculous, nobody can ride a horse properly. The gunfights look like the stood there shouting "bang!" when they pulled the trigger.
Fonda never leaves the room he's in and delivers his lines like he has never acted in his life. Sorbo looks like he just isn't interested. And that's hardly surprising, frankly. I can only assume these two are so hard up that they signed up for this turkey.
Avoid, at all costs.
Even if it's in the bargain bin!
The Last Ship (2014)
Very enjoyable viewing
First up, some of the people reviewing on here seem to have forgotten that this is ENTERTAINMENT, not a documentary about the navy. Is it 100% accurate? No, of course not. Things have to be glossed over and procedural corners cut in order to keep the show racing along.
And it does race along. It keeps the plot moving along at a cracking pace, with just enough CGI which, for the most part, is very well done for a TV show.
The cast are generally pretty good, too. Dane, Mitra and Baldwin play the main characters and do a very good job, Baldwin especially. The supporting cast, particularly Pyper-Ferguson (Tex), are all excellent too.
By comparison to dross like The Walking Dead, which is simply a tedious repetition of slaying zombies and gets very boring, The Last Ship has a much better variety of story lines in each episode.
It's excellent entertainment and there's good news that they've renewed it for series 3, coming mid-2016.
Cradle to Grave (2015)
Very enjoyable comedy/drama
This series has been something of a surprise hit with me. I gave a miss initially, but then watched episode 1 on the BBC Player and was hooked. It moves at a good pace, interweaving the various threads throughout the episodes and across several episodes. The casting and acting is top notch all around. They've recreated the 70s superbly, too, and it really rolls back the years for those of us who are almost the same age as Danny Baker (I'm a couple of years younger). In addition, the music from Squeeze really fits the bill, along with a superb 70s soundtrack.
And ignore all that nonsense about Peter Kay's cockney accent. It doesn't matter. He does a great job with the role of Danny's father.
All in all, a great watch. I hope they push ahead with series 2. I read that Baker and Pope are already working on the second series.