djdmuscle Reviews

On the Roam (2024– )

Style over substance

[2/10 · 11 February 2024]

Jason seems like a decent guy but these is the ultimate puff piece of film making.

It looks pretty but there is zero substance to it. Jason seems happy to endlessly repeat himself about how stoked he is without offering any insight at all into the subject.

The first episode I'd love to have heard about the technical aspects of the bikes. Other than how rare they are we learnt absolutely nothing. Quite something for an hour or TV.

I love that he's ecthusiastic for these subjects but as it is it's like listening to a young child try to explain what a nice Christmas they had when they can't get much beyond "it was great".

Only Murders in the Building (2021– )

I keep waiting for the laughs

[5/10 · 21 December 2023]

I've watched the first 2 seasons. It *should* be funny given the cast. Steve Martin has done some great work over the years. Unfortunately, it just isn't funny. It's barely amusing. One assumes it's being made because of some sort of "emperor's new clothes" scenario where the studio just don't want to admit it's a bit rubbish because of the names involved. Maybe, US audiences do find this funny - after all they loved Friends and the US version of The Office (and someone keeps Adam Sandler in work)? I keep expecting a laugh but have watched more in hope than expectation. A waste of talents and a waste of my time.

The Peripheral (2022)

Good book made tedious

[5/10 · 17 December 2022]

This is probably William Gibson's most straightforward book to adapt to the screen. It's an interesting story with some great characters and settings. The TV version manages to lose most of those great characters in a morass of navel gazing dialogue and pointless flashback scenes that only manage to slow the plot to a snails pace. The changes to Gibson's original plot succeed in further slowing and confusing things. What should have been a relatively simple, yet exciting, story of "good guys in a past alternate reality, battle bad guys there, while good and bad guys from the future seek to manipulate the outcome for their own ends" is totally lost.

The Rum Diary (2011)

Poor adaptation

[4/10 · 31 August 2022]

I love the book but this film version is terrible.

The Paul Kemp of the book is pretty much an observer of the grotesque characters and unfolding chaos around him. In the film, Kemp becomes one of the grotesques with Depp playing it like a sequel to Fear and Loathing. It doesn't work and it detracts from every other character in the film. What was a believable story of a somewhat normal guy in an abnormal environment, becomes something absurd and uninteresting. It's a shame that something made out of love for Hunter's work only succeeds in diminishing it. Personally, I'd love to see the book made into a mini TV series with more time to linger over the various characters.

MotoGP Unlimited (2022– )

A good show ruined

[6/10 · 15 March 2022]

Possibly the most amateurish dubbing since since the porn industry stopped bothering. Who on earth thought this was a good idea? A potentially fascinating show ruined. Only the seriously diehard motorcycle racing fans will sit through this, which is surely not the aim of this presumably costly investment? Much of the translation doesn't even make sense. A rider exclaiming that he can't "bend the bike"... Could that be "get the bike to change direction? ".

Altered Carbon (2018–2020)

Fairly dire adaptation of a decent book

[6/10 · 16 November 2020]

The first season was blighted by fairly awful casting. Zero chemistry between the leads. Extended flashback scenes in both seasons only served to completely derail the main narrative and stymie any excitement that they might have accidentally created. The book Altered Carbon is pretty good (it's sequels less so) but this adaptation seemed more concerned with pretty visual effects than actually telling the story or giving us even vaguely likable characters.

Hope (II) (2020)

Nicely made docu-drama

[8/10 · 26 May 2020]

Whether you believe the story or not, this well made docu-drama presents the Knock apparition in its historical context and explains what it meant to those at the time and believers now. It's not a particularly preachy film and let's the details speak for themselves. Certainly worth a watch if you're going to visit Knock.

Rim of the World (2019)

Charmless

[4/10 · 24 May 2019]

Imagine the Goonies written by a talentless writer, with added aliens. The film has zero charm, 90% terrible dialogue and tiresome characters. It's like Independence Day with a lower IQ. No, I didn't think that was possible either