johnatrott Reviews

Cruising with Jane McDonald (2017– )

This is 1st class LIGHT ENTERTAINMENT, not a tedious factual documentary!

[9/10 · 5 July 2021]

Despite the supercilious sourness of some rather silly "reviewers", this series has been one of Channel 5's most popular. Ignore the misery guts and enjoy this show for what it actually IS - fun, light entertainment. In its appropriate genre this is excellent TV entertainment, appealing to a very wide audience that far exceeds dedicated cruise fanatics or pedantic historians and geographers!.

Jane, herself is an enormously cheerful character, with a keen sense of humour and a winning smile that welcomes her fellow passengers, the crew and the viewer, all equally, as warm friends. Her occasional singing, showcased in some episodes, is genuinely very good indeed. The cinematography is of a very high standard throughout - vibrant and colourful with high bit-rates ensuring an enjoyable viewing experience .

This charming combination has produced an award winning show that stands up very well indeed to the multiple repeats it has already engendered and undoubtedly many more to come.

My only criticism, and a strong one, is of Channel 5 for their shambolic re-editing, re-mixing and re-dating of some episodes which has rendered it close to impossible to make logical sense of what was transmitted and when, Otherwise, highly recommended.

A Quiet Place (2018)

This movie does not merit a headline. It barely merits mentioning at all.

[3/10 · 29 July 2018]

It is beautifully filmed, and a pleasure to look at. Other than that, without giving anything away, it is an empty, pointless waste of acting talent with a truly senseless story line (if you could even call it a story line), riddled with major plot holes, no back story, no explanation for anything and at times, so incredibly stupid that I almost walked out. I really should have. Maybe I'll watch it again just so that I can have that pleasure after all.

Mom and Dad (2017)

Repellent garbage - a stinking pile of steaming manure.

[1/10 · 8 May 2018]

Why do people spend good money making such CRAP? Why would anyone actually pay money to watch such crap? An utterly brainless waste of whatever talent was possessed by those who took part in making it. This witless tripe is totally devoid of merit or entertainment value. Oh, and I didn't like it much either.

The Miniaturist (2017)

Ponderous, tedious, close to senseless

[3/10 · 31 December 2017]

Two episodes does not a series make! But it was still one episode too many, Ninety minutes total would have been ample for this dismal, depressing and depraved little tale. It's one thing to build tension, gradually, towards a satisfying climax, quite another to bore the pants off a TV audience with virtually no climax as one's reward. I am sorry but this was a miserable waste of BBC money and my time. The extent of that wastage is probably the most notable facet of this work, although the miniatures were exquisite

Patriots Day (2016)

Utterly ruined by rotten camera work

[1/10 · 22 March 2017]

Twenty minutes into this movie and I am going to stop and have a calming meal while I ponder whether I can watch any more of it.

The problem is this - the camera work is so amateurish that it renders the movie close to unwatchable. Hand held, zoomed in far too close, shaky and jerky as bedamned, it is absolutely appalling. Utterly repellent in it's incessant, nauseating lurches.

I do not know what lunacy possesses a director to think that disorientating his audience in this way will create anything but intense irritation. There is absolutely NOTHING in its favor. It is cretinous to thus ruin what might otherwise be a good movie.

Final Prayer (2013)

Pointless meandering twaddle with no payoff

[2/10 · 11 March 2017]

So-called "found footage" movie making annoys me. It is disorientating, head ache inducing and, in my experience has absolutely NOTHING in its favour. It is completely repellent. The idiotic, too close framing and jittering do absolutely nothing to make a movie more convincing or "feel real". Everything about this ill-considered fad is awful and absolutely nothing is good. After only a couple of minutes, I was tempted to walk out and, having sat through this boring garbage to the bitter, pointless end, I really wished I had. Putting the jittery camera work completely to one side, the "story" was so weak and unconvincing as to be barely existent. I didn't give a flying one for any of the characters and the end was a total flop. There were no saving graces. I have seen a huge number of horror films and this was one of the most disappointing, mainly because hopes were raised too high by overly enthusiastic, self-indulgent scribes who are far too easily impressed by pretentious, vacuous, utterly pointless nonsense.