pdbsm Reviews

The Whore (2010 TV Movie)

The Royal Siren is lousy

[1/10 · 14 January 2024]

I won't waste much time on this review.

This so-called film is juvenile. And truly bad. They tried to make this seem authentic with the costumes and scenery, but it's a childish attempt.

If you're into second rate acting, writing and direction, this so-called 'film' should be right up your alley.

I constantly didn't believe the characters, acting, script or anything else about it.

There's a concept in film called 'willing suspension of disbelief' which means for a film to be successful you must believe the story, acting, and so forth. That is utterly lacking here.

This film is a 'straight to video' kind of deal. You know what I mean.. it could not make a cent.

0 stars for 'The Royal Siren.~ pdb.

Summer Dreams: The Story of the Beach Boys (1990 TV Movie)

Awful, horribly inaccurate fairy tale film

[1/10 · 3 December 2023]

The makers of this film should be shot. Seriously. This film is such a fairy tale five-year-old's account of the legendary Beach Boys it hurts to watch.

If you want to pretend Barbie is a real person, then this film is for you. The people behind this did NO homework - ZERO. I don't blame the actors one bit, they're just following a script and no doubt were quite happy to portray members of this iconic American band.

If you want the Real Deal story of the Beach Boys, then watch Love and Mercy'14. If you want to pretend the world is pink and gay fairies will land every day to give you free gummy bears, then this film is right up your alley. They're so clueless elevator music plays as the credits roll - not any Beach Boys music, lolololol !! -20 stars as in NEGATIVE TWENTY STARS!!!!!!!!!!!

Nancy Wake, the White Mouse (2014 TV Movie)

Something here is very amiss..

[6/10 · 15 November 2023]

I'm watching Nancy Wake: Gestapo's Most Wanted, a 2014 production about the incredibly brave and awe-inspiring heroine from New Zealand who courageously helped the French Resistance first hand in France during WWII. Her story is remarkable and deserves EVeryone's attention.

My problem is with this rather sketchy production. While the docudrama is decently told, there's one overwhelmingly glaring problem: the so-called eyewitness testimonies scattered throughout the film are by 50-60-70 year old men who claim they spoke with her and knew her, and worse ACT like they were there in WWII alongside her.

Nothing is or can be further from the truth. The film was made in 2014. She was born in 1912 (so she was about 28-33 during WWII). These supposed eye-witnesses were at most young children or WEREN'T EVEN BORN YET!!

While I understand these "eye-witness" are probably journalist-historians who interviewed her 50-60 years after the fact (she died in 2011), the fimmaker's representations that they "knew her" are eXtremely misleading. They knew her as a very, VeRY elderly lady. And while there's nothing wrong with that - nothing at all - something is Very Wrong (and unnecessary) in their attempts to mislead the viewer into believing they were there with her in WWII, when there is no possible way that could have been the case.

It's cheap.

Nancy Wake and her incredible story deserve far better.

Nancy's story deserves to be told, but not through deceptions like this. And for that reason in particular, I give this docudrama a rating of about 6.5/10.

As for Nancy Wake the war heroine, she deserves, oh.. at least about 100 out of 10 stars.~ pdb.