itsgotmyleg Reviews

Gracepoint (2014)

Just watch Broadchurch

[6/10 · 15 August 2023]

I get why they wanted to make an American remake of the fantastic Broadchurch. I really do. But they were so concerned with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.

Inferior in every possible way, Gracepoint lacks all the charm, character and brooding of the original. On paper, the cast is fantastic - Michael Peña, Anna Gunn, Nick Nolte, and a returning David Tennant. But the performances are so flat compared to the stirring emotional turns from Broadchurch. I think Anna Gunn has it worst of all. She's a great actor and I've loved her in Breaking Bad and Deadwood. But she's no Olivia Colman, and her Ellie Miller falls so flat and feels so two-dimensional. Maybe if I hadn't seen Broadchurch first, I'd have thought differently. But Olivia Colman's Miller was so raw and biting and wonderfully flawed that Gunn's performance seems a mere shadow in comparison.

David Tennant returning in the same role (albeit, with a different name) was surprising. It was jarring to hear much-loved lines from Broadchurch delivered with a (not always great) American accent. He is still amazing in the role, but it just didn't ring as true in Gracepoint as it did in Broadchurch.

If you haven't seen Broadchurch, give this one a go. If you have, maybe skip this as it pales significantly in comparison.

The Idol (2023)

Just gross.

[1/10 · 30 June 2023]

I don't even know where to begin. Despite hearing all the behind-the-scenes drama, I was still willing to give this a go. Mainly because I love Schitt's Creek and I wanted to see Dan Levy in a new role.

Really wish I hadn't. From the first episode, it was gross, exploitative garbage. And as if that isn't bad enough (it really should be) it's just bad. It's really bad. It's just so, so bad. And the characters are all awful, awful people. I have a hard time with any story that doesn't involve at least one character that I can feel some kind of sympathy toward. There are rare exceptions (Succession), but for the most part I need one person to be a grounding presence. This has absolutely none of that. Everyone is terrible. They use and abuse Jocelyn in a myriad of ways. They sponge off her, control her, coddle her, all the whole trying to ring every last dime out of her career. All the while not giving a single thought for her well-being and mental health.

Jocelyn herself shows moments of being an interesting person, until The Weeknd's Tedros comes into play. Then she's just a doormat for yet another character. And while I am always loath to yuck anyone else's yum when it comes to sex, I don't necessarily want to see it on my tv screen. The frequent and gratuitous (and unnecessarily graphic) sex scenes between Jocelyn and Tedros are just a hair too far for me. If they advanced the plot in some way, I'd be able to maybe squint really hard and give them a pass. But seeing as they seem like torture porn for the sake of torture porn, I'm just not able to climb on board.

All in all, my recommendation is "don't waste your time".

Love & Death (2023)

Starts slow and awkward, but quickly finds it's bearings and by the final three episodes, you'll be hooked

[8/10 · 17 June 2023]

I found this series started very slowly and I almost gave up on it after the first two episodes. However, the performances by Elizabeth Olsen and Jesse Plemmons were very good and I thought, why not finish it. It's only a short series.

Boy was I glad I did. The show really picks up in the episode where Candy and Betty have their fateful showdown, and then it's a rollercoaster of emotions until the final credits roll on the very last episode.

While Olsen and Plemmons absoluteky stand out, there were no weak performances here. Keep an eye out for Bob (Candy's lawyer) in the latter half of the series.

My advice, despite a slow start, stick with it. If you're a fan of true crime (or even if you're just a fan of great actors doing what great actors do), you won't regret it.

Catherine Called Birdy (2022)

Loved the book as a kid. The movie is...disappointing.

[5/10 · 11 October 2022]

I was so excited to hear that this book was being adapted into a film! And when I saw what a strong cast it had, I was even more excited.

The excitement passed about 15 minutes into the film. In it, Birdy is a far cry from the spunky young heroine from the book. She is whiny and selfish, and not much else. Bella Ramsay does a good job with a one-note character. But the script loses all the humour of the book.

An excellent supporting cast is pretty much wasted here, and I just found myself wishing it was over. The ending was preposterous and unsatisfying after suffering through almost two hours of lacklustre story.

Do yourself a favour and read the book. The characters are better, brighter and I think you'll find it an all-around a more enjoyable experience.

Hocus Pocus 2 (2022)

All the fun of the original, but modernized for a new generation of kids

[8/10 · 1 October 2022]

I loved the original movie. I've watched it every Halloween since it came out on VHS, and then I upgraded to DVD. To say I was excited when they announced a sequel would be an understatement.

I'm always a little nervous about sequels though. Either they surpass all expectations and further a much-loved story, or they pale in comparison and end up tarnishing what was once a favourite. So how would Hocus Pocus 2 hold up?

Very well, as a matter of fact. There are a lot of callbacks to the original which will delight long time fans. And there are a lot of funny moments that will have adults and kids alike laughing. The performances of the three young leads are solid, but it's the Sanderson Sisters themselves that steal the show. And that's exactly as it should be.

It's clear that Midler, Parker and Najimy are having a ball in this film, and their chemistry is once again magical. They have as much love for these characters as we the fans do, and they are as silly, charming and delightful as they were the first time around.

I won't spoil anything for those who haven't watched yet, but I had as much fun watching this movie at *mumblety* years old as I did watching the original way back in the 90s, and that is the real magic of this film.

Devil in Ohio (2022)

Devil in NoHio

[2/10 · 8 September 2022]

I feel like the creator and writers of this show had a checklist of trite tropy things they wanted to cover, and then proceeded to let a bot do the rest. How else can you explain the fact that this entire plot revolves around family services, police, and inter family relationships, when the writer (s) clearly have no experience with any of those things, and didn't bother to do a lick of research. I also question whether they've met a human adult or child in their entire lives.

The performances are wooden and stilted without an ounce of emotion behind them. I expected more, if only because I've loved Emily Deschanel in other things. But she is the worst of all! Her character is deluded and selfish and apparently the worst psychiatrist in the entire known universe if the way she conducts herself around the mysterious young girl is anything to go by. And Emily is clearly putting in the least amount of effort possible into her performance. But then again, so is everyone else.

Did I watch the whole things? You bet. It was like watching a car accident and paint drying at the same time. I felt like I had to see it through because it couldn't possibly get worse.

It got worse.

Take my advice, skip this one.

Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022)

Obnoxious child actor and badly written characters ruins another Star Wars project

[3/10 · 31 May 2022]

I thought we'd never see another performance as awful, stilted and just painful to watch as Anakin Skywalker in The Phantom Menace. But here we are. Leia is written as a spoiled, obnoxious brat, which is not the fault of the young actor playing her. Maybe I'm spoiled by the fantastic young performers in projects like Stranger Things, but I couldn't focus on anything other than how terrible the character of Leia is. The chase scenes in episodes 1 and 2 were laughable. And why is Jimmy Smits putting on that terrible accent?

So many questions. And this is not good enough for me to care about the answers to any of them.

Outer Range: The West (2022) Season 1, Episode 8

Too many unanswered questions. Terrible pacing.

[5/10 · 6 May 2022]

Over the last 7 episodes Outer Range raised a lot of questions. About the Void. About Time. About the characters. About the buffalo. This episode had a lot of heavy lifting to do to answer all of the questions and try to bring the story to a satisfactory ending place. Or at least a place where we could jump off into season 2 (yet to be announced). It failed miserably. There are so many things left hanging, and so much time was wasted on scenes that dragged, or in the end had no point.

I was really disappointed. I was looking forward to this series and even though I went into episode 7 slightly nervous that there was a lot of ground to cover in two episodes to wrap things up, I was hopeful they could do it. Turns out, my hope was misplaced.

The show relied too much on Brolin's performance, trying to make Royal into a sympathetic character. But he's not sympathetic. He's manipulative and selfish and out of all the characters, at the end I feel the least amount of connection to him. I was rooting for him to die. But instead nearly everyone around him dies instead.

If you haven't started Outer Range yet, I'd say don't bother. It really is wants to be clever, but it's just not.

Encanto (2021)

Mediocre Snooze Fest

[5/10 · 3 January 2022]

Overly saccharine, forgettable songs, predictable story. Moments that were meant to be funny fell flat. I didn't hate it, and I've definitely seen worse films. It was just so very "meh" that I honestly wouldn't recommend for anyone to bother wasting their time.

Mr. Corman (2021)

Directionless.

[4/10 · 9 November 2021]

It's truly a shame that the makers of this show couldn't choose a direction and stick with it. Every episode felt like a completely different show featuring many of the same characters. And while I admire the creative ambition, maybe instead of doing a lot of things in a very mediocre way, they should try to narrow the focus and do one thing really, really well.

I was so disappointed because I love JGL and I have suffered from anxiety for years, so I was interested to see him handle such a complex and timely subject. But oh man. I was left feeling even more anxious with every passing episode. I had to stop after the fifth episode and had to force myself to go back and finish the series. I really wish I hadn't. It didn't get any better.

All of the characters are unlikeable, and although the acting is superb, the material is confusing and contrived, and the show itself was just an assault of too many different film making styles all smashed together.

Even if you love JGL, unless you're prepared to sacrifice yourself to this assault on the eyes with little to no emotional connection or payoff, then I'd suggest giving it a miss.

The Haunting of Bly Manor (2020)

Overrated, poorly paced.

[6/10 · 26 October 2020]

I was so looking forward to this, knowing that it was supposedly based on Turn of the Screw, and what a fantastic job this team did of The Haunting of Hill House. While most of the performances are okay (I was getting pretty tired of Dani's one-note dithering by the end of the third episode), the story drags on and on the closer it gets to the end. The episode where the "history" of Bly Manor is revealed is so anticlimactic and is just so nonsensical that it left me not wanting to finish the series. Why spend an entire episode with the telling of such a boring story, and one where you can see how things will turn out within the first five minutes.

This series was underwhelming and over-hyped.

The Art of Racing in the Rain (2019)

Don't bother. Predictable garbage.

[1/10 · 24 August 2019]

So bad, even it's very heavy-handed attempts at emotional manipulation fall so so flat. Jammed with a few too many terrible and trite racing metaphors for life, and predictable from the very first moment. Even the adorable dog can't save this one.

Horrific writing, terrible acting, uninspired directing. Just... don't bother.