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Brian7250
Reviews
Silent Witness: True Love Waits: Part 2 (2013)
Good, except for one thing.....
As well as framing different men who had all previously been accused of domestic violence, the killer had removed a little finger from each of the women who were his victims. These were identified by the team as belonging to the nine women involved, so presumably all of their bodies were found. There were three groups of three, admittedly each group in a different location, but each three fairly close together, and all within a short period of time. My question is, regarding the missing fingers, would it not have been likely that the police would have connected these cases, rather than thinking that they were the victims of different men, each cutting off a finger in the same way?
This Time with Alan Partridge (2019)
Have I missed something?
Has everyone giving bad reviews seen the whole series? There have only been two episodes shown so far, as far as I know. I would admit the first one wasn't as funny as it might have been but the second one certainly was and I'm sure the rest will be very good. Why anyone would give it one out of ten after just one show had aired is beyond me. As they did, I'm giving it nine out of ten just based upon the second one and my belief that Steve Coogan never disappoints in the end.
Do You Know This Voice? (1964)
A Good Crime Story
A good suspenseful crime story, with some great performances, especially by Dan Duryea as the scheming bad guy. I liked his line when he realises what might happen if he's ever found out - "before ya know it, I'll be doing the trapdoor fandango". Well worth watching.
Runaway Car (1997)
Ridiculous
You put a larger vehicle in front of the car, perhaps one on either side, you slowly apply the brakes to stop the car. I think the police use this all the time. Then again. just drive off the road and hope you don't crash too badly, which is what they did anyway, eventually. That's about it really.
Blood (2018)
It all makes sense in the end
Unlike some recent serial dramas, this doesn't let you down in the last episode, everything that has gone before seems to fit. Why was everyone, especially the main character, behaving so strangely? Who did it and why? A logical and very emotional conclusion which will strike a chord with a lot of people. Well worth a watch and Adrian Dunbar is brilliant, as always.
Pain & Gain (2013)
Comedy about tragedy
Based on a true story, it's about three sadistic, brutal kidnappers and murderers turned into a crude comedy as if they were a modern version of the Marx Brothers or the Three Stooges. I'm sure the victims' families must have enjoyed this one - NOT. That's it really - and even if it wasn't based on a true story, should never have been made. It's sad to see such good actors taking part in this drivel.
Hangman (2015)
What a let down
You don't really need to know how or why this guy came to be in the house. Actually why is pretty obvious - he's a psycho driven by control, power and sexual perversion. You can accept what he does,safe in the knowledge he will pay for his crimes in the most terrible way by the end of the film. That should be the point of a film like this, the realisation of the family of what has actually been going on, the sadistic crimes that can only be cancelled out by an even more sadistic end for the perpetrator. The film might have been acceptable if that had happened. But no, there is no point in the suffering and ultimate death of the happy parents, the boyfriend, the handyman, the murderer survives to kill again. Who on earth writes an end like that, what sort of a viewer enjoys the fact he gets away with it and indeed is seen to be lining up another set of victims? Perhaps someone who looks forward to making or watching a sequel, perhaps with the same disappointing ending, maybe a real-life serial killer who thinks that the guy is a hero? Like other recent films with similar endings, what would have been a sensible and satisfying end for most of us is sacrificed in favour of a 'clever' ending that leaves you feeling you've just been cheated out of a couple of hours of your life.
The Limping Man (1953)
Good film with an interesting ending
I'm surprised that so many people seem to be disappointed with the ending of this film. The story is typical of a 1950s British crime film with good performances by all - but this ending makes it a bit different. It has the inevitable American lead, in this case the excellent Lloyd Bridges, to make it attractive to the US. The story is seen through to the expected ending but then we find that the story was not perhaps located where we thought it was. It does not mean that the story, still a fictional one of course, becomes any less entertaining because of it. As I get older I realise that an "unconscious" mind, so to speak, is capable of great detail and can set many random and complex problems for which it then tries to find solutions, it must then try to resolve at least some of them before it returns to full consciousness. The clues are there, remember the limping man being followed to the riverside, where did he go? Yes, the shock of the ending is sudden, but when you wake up it's usually like that, all may be forgotten in a flash. Did the writer of the original story or the director think of it like that, or was it just an attempt to be different, a joke, just for the sake of it? I don't know but I liked it.
Hidden 3D (2011)
Awful
Is it possible that so many people could be involved in making a film like this and yet nobody actually bothered to watch the edited film before its release, just to see if it made any sense? It seemed as if they just shot various unrelated scenes, out of order, and just left it that way. There was something about addictions taking on a form that could be removed from their host, weird children who go for the neck but don't actually draw any blood and swarms of flying insects that didn't seem to have much to do with anything. It was like a badly constructed home movie made by a few friends who thought it would be easy to make a horror film. Awful. Budget = $8,000,000, Wasted = $8,000,000.
Scoop (2006)
Not Good
As a long time Woody Allen fan, I have to say I was disappointed with this film. His acting was unconvincing, he seemed to have lost the ability to inhabit the part he was playing, it was rather like he was just going through the motions, reading the lines without the emotion and humour that he always had before. Perhaps he should have employed someone else to do the part on this occasion and, although it pains me to say it, maybe he should stick to directing in future, unless the part is much more suitable for to what he can do now. Sadly, as director, apparently there was nobody to tell him it just wasn't working, and even great directors get it wrong sometimes. If he really wanted to be in it, I think a Hitchcock-like cameo would have been enough. Some great names in the cast, but it was as if they all simply wanted to appear in a Woody Allen film, regardless of the quality of the script, which was poor - and a storyline that was ridiculous.
No Country for Old Men (2007)
What a let down
I remember when this film was released, there was so much hype and they only showed brief trailers on TV, suggesting that it would be really shocking when you finally saw the whole thing. I saw it for the first time last night on British TV. It was just another film where the main character goes around killing for fun. No real story, no proper explanations, the only 'good guy' is eventually killed, the police are totally useless, the criminal uses a pneumatic gun to open doors (big deal), is dumb enough to get injured himself a couple of times, but presumably gets away at the end. Fade to black. Completely unsatisfying. When will some of these directors realise that it takes a bit more than violence alone and being a bit different or 'clever', just for its own sake - to make a good film.