eddiesterling Reviews

Rebellion (2016–2019)

Worth the watching

[8/10 · 26 June 2017]

I am from Northern Ireland, so I have to declare an interest in watching this series. After what I felt was a shaky start, I found myself being drawn into the personalities and the events. Episode by episode it seemed to improve. The sets and characterisations were convincing. If there is the odd historical inaccuracy well, this is not a documentary, it is entertainment ... and in that it succeeds.

The Daughter (2015)

A powerful film

[10/10 · 14 March 2017]

I have just finished watching this movie and am impressed by, quite simply, every aspect of it. It is fraught. The acting is superb; the script taut. Rarely these days will I give a film ten out ten, but this one deserved it. At the end I was left feeling bereft ... totally drawn into the emotional maelstrom of the families.

Wild (I) (2014)

Enjoyed this movie

[8/10 · 26 February 2017]

When the credits rolled I asked myself: "Why have I just watched this film"? A young woman soul-searching after her mother's death ...

OK, so Reese Witherspoon is very pretty, but it had to be more than that, and so it was.

I think it helps that I backpacked myself - meeting a wide variety of eccentric characters in my journeys(but without the sex, unfortunately).

I empathised with Cheryl; enjoyed the score and the cinematography. Plus, there was a bit of feel-good factor towards the end ... and what is wrong with that?

Eye in the Sky (2015)

Yet another waste of my time

[3/10 · 23 February 2017]

Hand-wringing; lip quivering; teary-eyed; worthy twaddle. And strangely devoid of tension. Heaven help us ... if our security was in the hands of such duffers there would be little hope for the civilized world. I suppose I should have been alerted when I saw Helen Mirren was in a leading role. Won't get fooled again ...

Roots (2016)

Is this a joke?

[1/10 · 21 February 2017]

A few weeks before I happened on this re-make I had once again enjoyed watching Zulu. There is the wonderful opening scene of bare-breasted maidens ceremonially dancing with their little spears under the shocked eyes of Ulla Jacobsson in her role as missionary Margareta Witt ... and that was in 1964. So what do we have in 2016? Women prancing around in perfectly fitted bras and bodices. Good grief, I am not being salacious, but that is so risible, and it just paved the way for more politically correct rubbish and distorted history to avoid triggering the sensibilities of today's snowflake generation. When will I ever learn to avoid re-makes?