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waynehansford
Reviews
The Grand Tour: The Grand Tour: Sand Job (2022)
A Bland Job
It pains me to say negative things about three presenters that normally deliver television gold, but alas, the latest Grand Tour was just the Same Tour, in a different part of the world. The format simply hasn't changed, remote location, adapt three cars, they will breakdown and one of the team will get left behind, they'll play trick on each other and have a drag race.... This used to be filled with belly laughter moments, but they clearly couldn't get them across the border into North Africa so left them in the production room never to see the light of day. It was simply a bland job. Such a shame.
The Couple Next Door (2023)
Technically the couple across the road but...
Started off with potential... then just became nonsensical. Why would someone move diamonds around in a big van and why would they need a police motorcycle escort? Put them in a glove box of an inconspicuous car mate... and as if an off duty copper can just rock up and collect their police bikes and take them on a jolly... (I won't get into the CCTV located on a random tree on a forest back road!) And then there was the heist to regain the diamonds they lost, for heaven's sake, Dan couldn't have looked more suspicious if he waded in wearing a balaclava... and how easy and convenient was it to get a security van that matched the normal bank security van... it was all effortless. It had all the tension of a discarded thread of Cotton. Then there is Hugh Dennis's character Alan, who added nothing to the plot whatsoever, other than to give the director an opportunity to film him having a five knuckle shuffle in the neighbours bedroom... and omg, Hugh's attempt at playing a stroke victim was as hilarious as watching him on Mock the week, which he is far more suited for. He sounded more like a knackered android than someone with a slurred speech impediment. The bad guys henchmen comes on the scene in his old BMW which stands out like a sore thumb on the quiet suburban street, but the wyle old copper totally misses him across the street (that's probably realistic to be fair LOL)... but the stupidity just goes on and on... the end scene in the forest, people being shot everywhere, Evie's father goes to their lodge to sort out a domestic between his daughter and son in law and rocks up with a shotgun! Why!?!? But lucky he did because the henchman was there with a sniper rifle and then Evie takes the gun off Pete without him feeling it and shoots him point blank range, but he's all good... but then... the police arrive and all the characters are paraded around back in front of the lodge... so the scene is.... They all run deep into the woods, have a shoot out, the the law takes them back to the lodge... and Evie is stood watching Pete (who she just shot) be loaded into an ambulance, and the police woman casually comes to collect her... as she moves slowly back to the police car you can see Dad being marched off and Dan perched on a car with a gun wound to his leg... I mean what the hell... they would have taken them off site immediately. The story falls well short of what it might have achieved, it's a patch work of nonsense, trying to be suspenseful, but it's just laughable. The scenes are poorly devised, often without context, acting was pretty shocking and everything oh so conveniently fell in place.... I could go on about the child dan fathered with another woman, another pointless plot, but you probably get the gist that this simply is not good TV.
The Terminal List (2022)
Action packed entertainment
No nonsense, fast paced series about revenge, no weakness in ability to deliver, just relentless action.... Brilliant BUT.... Would have been 10 stars if it wasn't for the twist at the end... it simply didn't need it.... his brother? Really? It added nothing in my POV. But overall one of the best productions that PV has delivered.
Formula 1: Drive to Survive (2019)
Antagonistic propaganda
Would be good if it were factual, but the reality is the producers should be ashamed about the way they twist the facts which triggers negative reaction to drivers and teams, never before seen in the sport. People can be easily influenced by such programs in this social media driven world, and the Ill-informed resort to abuse and socially unacceptable behaviour based on what information they are fed. Producers should be more responsible.
Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022)
A series long remembered
The Star Wars universe is a fickle place... especially for fans who grew up with it in the 70's... there wasn't much in the way of spin off series and films so we had to make up our own minds what the rest of the wider universe would be like. Now we see this realised in films and TV it can often fall short of what you imagined, I think that is why SW fans moan so so much... I am an original 1977 veteran, and yes OWK had points that didn't meet my imaginative expectations, but overall, it ticked the boxes, especially the final two episodes. Brilliant and thank you.
Clarkson's Farm (2021)
TV at its best
Hands down the most enjoyable few evenings of viewing that I can ever remember having, TV at its best, utterly entertaining with a touch of Clarkson magic.... Gerald and Kaleb should have their own show!! Lol!!
Dark Places, Deadly Illusions (2021)
Retitled? Really?
"Grace" original title was "deadly illusions"... call it what you want, it doesn't change the fact that it's a pile of tripe. Don't change the title, just delete it, because it's a waste of cloud storage.
The Crown (2016)
Powerful
Powerful compelling well casted and supremely acted.... another fantastic success
Billions (2016)
A little bit of history repeating
Billions has always been a favourite, high powered slug fest between the law and the high rollers in the stock exchange. You don't need to understand anything the characters saying about finances etc to know it's a power play that puts one over their opponent nor do you need to understand the law to know the retaliation is a blow of equal measure. Well scripted and supremely acted makes each episode very enjoyable. However now season 5 is here it's getting a little samey.... and some of the story lines are questionable, I doubt Axe would be this successful in real life the way he throws his money around for short term revenge and Chuck hiring the brother of someone he put in jail last season, to steal a ring and plant it in the safe of a bank governor would be a dick move, simply exposing yourself as a criminal or someone who makes unscrupulous moves to undermine the system you stand for... it's getting a bit desperate now and needs to bow out with a mighty ending...
Long Way Up (2020)
A fantastic journey shared on TV
An awesome view of South America, which put the place in a different perspective for me. beautiful scenery, extremely helpful people and presented so brilliantly by Ewan and Charley that you felt you were on the journey with them. The series made Friday's worth waiting for, although disappointed when each episode ended... this series was made even better due to the new challenges of using electric vehicles.... what's next?
The Queen's Gambit (2020)
A Netflix masterpiece
Compelling series, brilliant cast, script and performance, a superb production by Netflix and everyone involved, kept us glued to our seats. a must see.
La casa de papel (2017)
Starts well but....
Seasons 1&2 were great, season 3 struggled but a fantastic finale, season four is getting a little far fetched, looks like it's running out of steam
War of the Worlds (2019)
Drawn out
Full of intrigue and promise, but it's simply too slow and drawn out, no exciting revelations or cliff hangers, and the season finale was lack lustre... we didn't need eight episodes to establish the characters and the fear of mechanical k9's wears off quickly... and 18 rated? Really?...