lmkixx Reviews

Beckham (2023)

Excellent, fascinating documentary series

[10/10 · 8 October 2023]

This is a series to binge! I watched all episodes in one evening and plan to watch it again. This easily could have been 6 or 8 episodes and instead it's very compact without a bunch of filler. If you're not a football fan (I am) it will still fascinating. Plus it's nice to see all the old footballers and hear what they have to say.

Maybe 10 years ago I heard David Beckham do a radio interview with Ryan Seacrest and he was so funny and personable. It was about a book Victoria had just written, something like "How to have a great marriage". As soon as I saw this coming on Netflix I figured it'd be great and it is. He really is a very down to earth guy despite having so much money. I highly recommend this docu-series. 10/10.

Tour de France: Unchained (2023– )

Heart stopping drama

[9/10 · 1 October 2023]

I gave 9/10 stars only for the reason that the English speaking parts weren't closed captioned. With the different accents and people wearing masks it was difficult to catch everything. Other than that this is an excellent, compelling, but stressful, thrill ride.

Maybe show a little more about why these athletes do what they do (love their sport) because it seems like nothing but torture for everyone involved. Oh, and explain what the green jersey means. I would also be interested to learn what cycling did to combat PE drug use and the whether or not it's still a problem. I was glad to see there will be another season.

Highly recommend.

The Flash (I) (2023)

Loved the mother and son relationship

[7/10 · 17 September 2023]

I am not a fan of super hero movies. I've seen the first two Spider-Man with Tobey McGuire and the two Wonder Woman. That's about it and I only enjoyed parts of Wonder Woman. I did also enjoy XMen First Class and Days of Future Past.

I did enjoy this one. I liked Ezra Miller's double performance, thought he was really good and very watchable, and the plot and of going back to change the past was well done. I didn't like the lengthy superhero sequences. The struggle to save the mother and father was the best part of the movie. The mother and son scene was the highlight of the movie.

If you have a partner/friend like me who can't make it thru super hero movies without falling asleep or being bored to tears then try this one on them. I really liked it!!!

Burden of Proof (2023)

Thought provoking true crime story

[6/10 · 11 June 2023]

Even though editing could of and should have made this true crime story more condensed it was still worthwhile. I felt empathy for the family members as the whole thing was perplexing for them all. The poor mother was a sad figure, a tragic doormat, who took continual browbeating tirades from her son and the police and never stood up for herself or demanded answers.

The police department made major errors, no surprise there. As soon as it was revealed that the original case file was missing I immediately knew the police department had misplaced it. Not much was said about the original investigation but it sure seems that they didn't seriously investigate back in 1987 when they did have leads but that seems pretty typical scenario for a missing teenager unfortunately.

Daisy Jones & The Six (2023)

70's nostalgia

[6/10 · 26 March 2023]

Enjoyable showcase of the usual 70's band cliches of sex, drugs and rock and roll. The positive is the show captured the vibe and look of the 70's. The performances are excellent and well cast. The biggest negative was the quality of the original songs. At no time could I, who was in my 20's in the 70's, believe that those songs would be hits or even popular. The lyrics were too wordy, too convoluted, the music wasn't catchy and didn't have memorable hooks. The writer used Fleetwood Mac as her inspiration, but different Fleetwood Mac's members sang lead on songs, not Nicks and Buckingham both singing lead, at the same time, on all songs like Daisy & Billy did here. I just didn't like the music of The Six. Not believable, not realistic, not much fun. The only slightly memorable song, imo, was the regret me, regret you song but even that one COULD have been so much better than it was.

Station Eleven (2021–2022)

Excellent, but not for everyone

[10/10 · 23 January 2022]

Station Eleven should appeal to people who enjoy a different type of storytelling. Not everyone will, that's pretty obvious from these reviews.

I loved it. I didn't mind the time jumpiness. Loved the story, the performances, the weirdness. The performances of the younger/older main character were stellar and totally compelling. The only weak performance was from the actress playing Alex but I'm not sure If it was a poorly written character or poorly acted or combo of both.

Only Murders in the Building (2021– )

Selena Gomez!

[4/10 · 5 January 2022]

It's hard to understand how she was cast. They wanted someone young with a following? I didn't know anything about her except she used to sing and now I know that she really can not act at all. It's kinda of embarrassing.

Attica (2021)

Interesting, but limited

[6/10 · 23 November 2021]

After watching this documentary I couldn't help but wonder why the filmmakers didn't explain why the state police and corrections officers went in without a valid plan to save the hostages. They knew the hostages were dressed as prisoners. What was the finding of the investigation into the incident? Did the state continue with the lie that prisoners killed the hostages? How long did the retaliation against the prisoners continue? When did the treatment of prisoners improve? Just too much was left out and left unsaid.

Mank (2020)

Interesting but somewhat confusing

[7/10 · 5 December 2020]

Am I the only one who hard a hard time telling the male characters apart? I finally could recognize the Thalberg character and the Mayer character by the end. I generally don't mind black and white but color would have helped to be able to differentiate them, imo.

I enjoyed it throughly and Gary Oldman was wonderful. The cast was first rate and Amanda Seyfried used Madonna's voice from A League of their Own and Desperately Seeking Susan

Shawn Mendes: In Wonder (2020)

Not much here

[3/10 · 26 November 2020]

This was an unfocused documentary in my opinion. I expected more than this. Wasn't about Mendes' childhood, not much on his family or inspiration. Nothing in depth on any of his relationships or inner thoughts. Just some repetitive concert clips, a visit home and a vocal injury and it's effect on a concert. Maybe they should have just done a concert documentary because this wasn't that interesting. It needed some realness, some insights into his character or something.

Love on the Spectrum (2019–2021)

Excellent for everyone!

[9/10 · 16 August 2020]

I enjoyed seeing these young man and women share their hopes and dreams with us, the viewers, when obviously it had to be very difficult for them. It's inspirational to see them want to make a connection with a potential partner without getting all judgey like so many "normal" people do.

Unfortunately, this show is an awful indictment of the Australian educational system when we hear that they were officially diagnosed at age 13, 18, 19, 20 etc. I work in education and, seriously, within 30 seconds of meeting most of them would think to myself, oh they're on the spectrum. Especially Olivia. Diagnosed at 18, she said and no, zero additional help in school???

The Umbrella Academy (2019–2024)

Season 2 is more entertaining than season 1

[6/10 · 10 August 2020]

Season 1 was practically a snooze fest. Knew nothing about it, not even that it was a comic book. I watched because I heard that Season 2 was a time travel to the 60's and thought that sounded interesting. I would/should have watched a recap instead of all of season 1.

Liked the 60's setting and story of season 2. What a brilliant decision to cast Aiden Gallagher. His character, Five, is the driving force of the show and he handles it so naturally and seamlessly and is totally believable standing up to/bossing around all the adult characters. And he gets to wear the same clothes for two whole seasons! Cool for him, no constant wardrobe fittings, ha ha. The main actors have a good chemistry with each other.

I recommend Season 2. Don't waste your time on 1 just watch the recap.

Cheer (2020–2022)

Dramatic and compelling documentary series

[10/10 · 25 January 2020]

Cheer is well worth watching even if you don't like cheerleading. I didn't,but I sure appreciate it now and I highly recommend watching and I'm going to try to explain why.

The five students that the film highlights are all damaged in some way by their childhood for different reasons. It's kind of an overused trope that a person can overcome a difficult situation and can achieve anything, but the difference here is the degree of trust, love and truth that the team members have with each other and with their coach. The honesty that you hear from them is moving and astounding.

Another reason I love Cheer is that afterwards in thinking about what made it so special was that this doc shows gay young men as just people who are friends, teammates, just regular guys hanging out. How many times do we see the one gay man in a TV show who always has the funny comeback or is annoying or ridiculous in some way? Or just always the sidekick? I loved that these guys were/are such great role models just by being themselves. And they ARE GREAT role models!

Possible spoilers

The team totally buys into coach Monica's system and ways and that's also worth thinking about while watching. Is this abusive behavior to push them soooo hard? Why 41 full outs? In 2020 is it going to be 51? The obsessiveness seemed over the top. And at one point she is, deservedly, angry with a team member for continuing to perform with his club team even though he was injured. She makes him continue to practice way past what seemed safe or appropriate.

All in all you will love these people and their bond to each other and cheer for them to succeed in every way. What a great group of inspiring people