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johnwwwatson
Reviews
Death on the Nile (2022)
Finally, Remarkable & Unforgettable!
I'm 62 but have been watching films before my time since tubes landed in my living room. Not just silent movies by Chaplin & Keaton, or talkies like Marx Bros. Bogart, Hitchcock, Orson Welles and I can never name all the rest with Olivier, Brando, Holden, Fonda, Heston, Newman, Redford, Nicholson, McQueen, Hoffman... enough!!! Nevertheless, I will never forget Casablanca, Citizen Kane, The African Queen, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Little Big Man, Godfather, Cool Hand Luke, Chinatown, Forest Gump, The English Gentleman... enough!!!
And finally, almost too long of a wait, at 62 yrs old, one of the most well made, story telling, acting, directing, cinematographic, remarkable, memorable, unforgettable films of 2022! Thank you Kenneth Branagh and Agatha Christie (and Morena Baccarin)
Red Election (2021)
I wanted to like this but distractions
Woo-Hoo! MI5, cold-war, conspiracy politics, what's not to like? I wanted to like this but distractions made it difficult. It started off spectacular with action and espionage then diversity casting convoluted the story. Let's say you are aware of the racial climate and are not racist so you cast people to prove it but their acting or their character script doesn't support them being there. That's what is distracting to me. Either someone is cast in an inconceivable position they would not achieve in real life or their acting or lack thereof interfers with the believability required to make the scene/story right. UK does this a lot and with gender and race and we've seen our share of Queen Latifa or Whoopi Goldberg playing doctors, lawyers etc opposite stronger leads and it just doesn't work. Casting is so afraid of a person of color given a role that portrays them in any way racial but when by casting them in an inconceivable role it backfires and looks like an affirmative action fail. My opinion.
Moon Knight (2022)
What a Show! No Woke All Action
I can't believe I avoided this show because it was Marvel and Disney. Sadly I'm 2 episodes in and there are only 6. There's a Sci-Fi, Action, Adventure, Mystery, Thriller feel while the lead actor is very good with comedy as well.
I see good story, good acting and you learn about the characters as the appear and disappear. And Budapest is awesome. Sometimes things aren't what they seem and one shouldn't judge a show by it's cover, at least watch the preview!
The Endgame (2022)
The Woke List
First, I'd watch Morena Baccarin in a Hillary campaign ad. If you didn't get it in Serenity or V, at least you got it in Deadpool, right? Morena comes to us blended with Italian, Lebanese, Portuguese, Brazilian and just the right amount of New York swagger.
Back to another Hollywood ripoff, because they do it so well. This show is loaded with action and it is better than most of the safe for prime time we are stuck with (ps. If you're still adding a laugh-track to your show, maybe it's not funny - Sorry Chi McBride, you are the best) The Black List was AWESOME... the first episode, then it was just the same old **** and it's still on. This is better, but still diluted with the usual new quota of black actors filling the screen since the big whine at the oscars, the new normal. I cannot count all my favorite black actors on all my fingers and toes, but putting them in roles that are not believable from Scandi & British television to American roles while they are too young and too inexperienced to have achieved that character's status is as bad as everything else in Hollywood, done for ratings not reality. But please Hollywood, black America asked for more roles not a handout. And you don't need to ease your guilt by writing their characters smarter than all the other actors. And black people need role models in the home too so stop with the tired cliché of interracial relationships. Show America a strong black man & smart black woman in a supportive relationship. So yes, I watch it because of Morena Baccarin but I won't give it a high score even if you "cancel" me.
The Ipcress File (2022)
Still Love Michael Caine
Having finished The Ipcress File 2022 Episode 1, I just had to watch my copy of Michael Caine's 1965 The Ipcress File and we know who's is the best but I stress, like the many remakes of Heaven Can Wait, I like Warren Beatty's 1978 because that's my generation as Robert Montgomery's 1941 original "Here Comes Mr Jordan" was my grandparent's favorite. If you have never seen Michael Caine cutting his teeth in The Ipcress File 1965, only a year after his first real lead in "Zulu" 1964, watch it! That said and repeated, Stop complaining about remakes! The only way to keep a good story alive is to retell it. Let people decide to research and find prior versions. I will be watching each episode of The Ipcress File 2022 because it is a good story!
OVNI(s) (2021)
Good Clean Fun (when we need it)
I just finished Episode 1 and it was effortless to enjoy it, even with subtitles. Only 30 minutes goes by fast especially with good actors giving 100% to untypical dry humor. It's not campy or raunchy; it's good clean fun that lets us forget the horrors of the last year and the years coming; Even if we have to go back in time before all this madness took the fun out of life.
Thank you France!
Holding (2022)
It's as good as it gets
I don't agree with the reviews maybe they're really upset with something else. I enjoyed Episode 1 though casting was social/political - my opinion. Hollywood has done the same, casting someone a smarter race and the other race is stupid. Evident in EVERYTHING to come out of Hollywood. But why is the UK casting a local small town merchant or senior detective this way. Other than that, typical UK fare with good actors, scenery and story. I could watch 100 episodes thank you very much.
From (2022)
Better than King & Shyamalan
Better than Stephen King & M. Night Shyamalan!
Characters, writing, story,direction, casting, cinematography. I'm half way into episode 2 when I have 4 episodes; no binging. These are cookies I want to last. Relax. Watch and enjoy.
Hitler's Last Stand (2018)
I was impressed
The level of historical battle accuracy and reenactment was top notch. I have been watching war movies for over 40 years. My dissatisfaction has always been with equipment, vehicles, artillery etc. It's not easy finding WWII tanks, trucks etc that look new and many Hollywood movies must use 70 yr old resources. We all know by the 1940's everything in action was shiny brand new, yet in film, 70 year old stuff looks 70 years old. Not here. Equipment and uniforms were new as they should have been. Hitler was a bastard and we need to keep educating each new generation so they understand it must never happen again. That said, without turning this into Schindler's List, it still should have depicted the lose of innocent life caused by the Nazi Final Solution; extermination of all Jewish people.
Reacher (2022)
Rollercoaster Thriller
Dirty Harry meets Walking Tall meets Above The Law!
Sorry Tom, there's a new Reacher in town and he just ate your lunch.
I've never watch the lead actors prior stuff so I get an extra first time benefit.
I am very disappointed... there are only episodes.
Enough said.
After Life (2019)
What can I say, it's Ricky Gervais!
What can you say about a series created, written, directed, and acted in by RG? Everyone here has already said it so I'll just say Thank You Ricky. Please don't forget us, Make more stuff!
Aziz Ansari: Nightclub Comedian (2022)
Use to be like one of us
Use to be like one of us. Now it just feels like he pulled up in a limo to try some woke jokes then he's back to Jolly Old London. Cheerio Aziz, here's to you remembering what side of the tracks you got your jokes from. Not my bloody cup of tea mate.
The Puppet Master: Hunting the Ultimate Conman (2022)
Robert Hendy Freegard David Clifton is still alive?
I am so happy Netflix has become a source of true crime stories and I am dumbfounded no one in Great Britain, France or the rest of Europe cannot find Robert Hendy Freegard David Clifton, and expose him to the world. There shouldn't be anywhere he can buy a coffee board a plan or rent a car without a warning photo up. All the women and family lives he's destroyed and not one relative has found him and ...
Ray Donovan (2013)
Made it to Season 4 Episode 12
I looked forward to each season episode 12 climax and I wasn't let down. Why I watched? I liked the story and most of the characters. But, just like the Sopranos, the kids grew up and started talking too much and the wife never quit talking and just got uglier. Every season, I was praying for Abby or Bridget to get killed, throw in a Bunchy, I wouldn't mind. Ray is a perfect fixer surrounded by family drama. Now the show wasn't called " The Donovan's" so why am I fast forwarding past the drama so much. I could even live with the Micky Donovan revolving door as long as every season ended with bad guys losing. I say I made it to S4E12 because that was my season finale. I liked Steven Bauer's "Avi" too much to watch the series without him. At least I can thank Mr Kelly for not letting the Russians kill him. I have a hunch they could have, maybe they were trying to warn him how easy it would be to kill him off and that would have been it. Search Steven Bauer and he is not without baggage and we don't know how much he brought to the set. I forgive him and blame Tony Montana. Something happened and I think it ruined the show and his career. RD was a great vehicle for Steven Bauer to steal the show every time he was there. I read an article that said Warren Beatty told Steven he could be the next Warren Beatty. He blew it. It's not all SB's fault. Tony Soprano became a show about a daughter and a complaining wife too.
Like it or not, This is my honest review (opinion). Forgettaboutit.
Vera: The Ghost Position (2012)
I hope it's a real transfer
Wunmi Mosaku as DC Holly Lawson is distractingly annoying this episode. Whether her choice or the writer's, her character asked for a transfer and I hope it's real!
Moment of Proof (2021)
Loving this show 😍
I don't care what cancel whiners are saying, this is a good show, good stories, good real detective re-enactments.
My only complaint is to see criminals in the UK getting short sentences. Even if you get 10, 25 to life, they will not serve it all unless crim ate a baby and gets 75 yrs to life.
Wolf Like Me (2022)
OMG - More Please!
Just 1 episode down and wow!
Action, Sexy, funny, twisted, cute, new! Everything has been woke and diverse and from the country down under comes relief. Sadly only 6 episodes so far so binge and lose or ration these episodes and hope more. Thank you Aussies, good luck down there!
Trigger Point (2021)
I really liked this until the end goof
I'm enjoying this, I'm thinking maybe Barry Pepper has come into his own. He's 51 now, his maturity can successfully play a retired hitman or agent. The writing wasn't bad, the action, the casting, the actors, all carried their own water. But in the end when Elias is confronting the librarian Irene who is really Nicolas' gate keeper, it gets ugly she cusses Elias out and he shoots her twice in the face. So how does she end up in the end saying goodbye to Nicolas? Big goof.
Invasion (2021)
Glad I ignored the negative reviews
One of the best Sci-Fi's in history was a novel written in 1898 and Orson Wells adapted it for radio in 1938; The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells. I believe there wasn't any action or special effects except for the terrifying ones in our imagination. The reviews I read were awful and I thought, kids, drama, no Sci-Fi... I'm not gonna waste my time. But sometimes I revisit a film or series in a different frame of mind and realize I shouldn't be opinionated and I shouldn't 100% believe someone else's opinion. I never have so why now. That brings me to Invasion. I'm one episode in and don't want to finish all three in a hurry because I like it so far. I was absolutely wrong about the kids, the drama, the Sci-Fi and... Sam Neill; he is so good in this first episode.
Except for teasers, I didn't see any special effects, but felt them. I'm tired of Marvel, Giant Robots and Superheroes. The beauty of this, the beginning is like Stephen King stories, you can almost imagine it's real and that's what's scary, that's the special effect we all look for when we escape into the make believe.
When Nature Calls (2021)
Not David Attenborough nor Jim Carey but...
I had high hopes, even took the bait at the very beginning when I heard proper eloquent English roll of Helen Mirren's tongue but it all came crashing down when the started trying to be funny. Animals are funny enough if you just film them with cartoon music. Still, I'm going to use it for background without sound because the film is truly remarkable. My doctor's office has a tv on without sound most of the time and it works; we are occupied while we wait. Try that, maybe even play jazz or classical music with it 👍🏼
Calls (2021)
Is this what we've been reduced to?
I just love watching audio only (sic).
I guess considering a year of masks covering our mouths this is what we get.
Too annoying. I kept skipping to new episodes hoping for a miracle, nope...just more creative screen savers. Is this the 70's before video? Make me listen to this and I will confess... about anything you want. OK, if you're on a plane or train or somewhere that you can only listen and fir whatever reason you've decided not to listen to educated informative podcast or audio books, then maybe take the pencils out of your ears and these whiners might get your through your trip.
Elize Matsunaga: Era uma Vez um Crime (2021)
No Justice for Victims
No Justice for Victims
Well made docu-drama even if it was all about the murderer. Again someone can not only murder you, their spouse, but in a jealous rage, shoot you in the head, dismember your body, draining your blood in a bathtub, discard your body parts like trash along the roadside, send fake emails to your family that you're still alive and only when police have evidence, they confess they did it but because you allegedly slapped them once and you were cheating with an escort like you were and like she was when you met her. Then at trial, they cry and look fragile and everyone forgets about you, the dead victim. She'll get a light 20 yr sentence with "5" furloughs a year to leave prison while you are confined to your coffin and your family is torn apart every time they see her on the news on a furlough getting her hair or nails done. Conclusion: Don't date, don't marry. Pay for services and that's it. And try not to be a dead victim. Fight back to the death, theirs.
Made for Love (2021)
Have you ever been stung by a dead bee?
Have you ever been stung by a dead bee?
That's how I feel with this show. I wasn't in love with the two leads both kind of annoying in the first episode but there was something to it... And then here comes Mr. Magic himself... Ray Romano. Let's not call him underrated because his career is his milestone. Still, Ray makes you forget you're watching an actor.
Ok, here's the bad part... there's only 8 episodes and I'm 5 in not wanting this to end. I hope it gets more seasons. Ps: I have a rule, if I am annoyed at an character, they're doing a good job acting. I now like them both.
Katla (2021)
New Scandi Rocks!
I hate comparisons but this is a compliment. Katla plays like Stephen King and M Night Shyamalan were trapped in an ice storm and came up with this. I'm a Scandifan. You name it I've seen and I'm finding more. What I like most, 3 episodes in, is that it's still Scandinoir without the cold, bleak, hard edges. I can't stop watching it and hope this is a new hybrid of Scandinavian film/tv.
War of the Worlds (2019)
Mostly Hits & Some Miss
I read some of the titles & reviews saying this was too slow. I'm guessing these review are from people brainwashed into watching nonstop junk action like Transformers or Godzilla. I stopped watching this when it came out because of the writer's Helen Brown character played by Elizabeth McGovern. Instead of behaving like a Neapolitan well read & well traveled American that has settled in France, she comes across as a petty simple minded housewife from anytown USA. The links of the chain are important and if everyone else is acting like aliens invaded earth and she is acting like a bitter ex wife, there goes the flow. I'm watching it again because season 2 is starting up and now I can fast forward the stupid drama filler. The story is fine, the special effects though few are fine. Just a few moments when writers tried to please too many people or let their kids write for them.