Change Your Image
Constable-Plod
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
Kitchen Nightmares: Bel Aire (2023)
More deserving restaurants, please.
Ramsay's back but somehow the fire's gone out, both for Ramsay and his producers. The massive Bel Aire diner in Queens, New York, was a filthy mess, rotten food everywhere, thousands of dollars of stock sitting in unmarked containers, ready to be served, only to be returned by dissatisfied diners. The Bel Aire is run by two clueless owners, silver-spooners who were gifted this million-dollar venue by parents who didn't teach their boys how to run a restaurant properly, how to clean up or how to buy and store produce. Mum and Dad were constantly on the premises, glad-handing old customers, or turning to snap at their boys, without ever pointing them in the right direction.
Ramsay's discoveries of rotten food in open containers and rancid fat above every fryer, was glossed over in a few minutes. Both Ramsay and the audio guy were seen gagging and retching and it was almost like the stench came through the TV.
Two minutes later, the restaurant is cleaned, all fixed up and equipped with tens of thousands of dollars worth of brand new equipment. And the two clueless owners were hugging Ramsay and high-fiving at their good fortune.
I'm a big Gordon Ramsay fan, I regularly rewatch entire series of Hells Kitchen, but I am very disappointed this time with Gordon, his producers and the network. Lazy, clueless rich kids wearing Rolexes and gold chains, with a multi-million dollar restaurant present from Mum and Dad are the last people Ramsay and the network should be helping out.
80,000 US restaurants closed down, or went bankrupt during the covid pandemic. What about the many hard-working, talented chefs who lost everything, or are saddled with covid loans and are struggling to survive? Shouldn't they be the recipients of the Kitchen Nightmares largesse?
PICK BETTER BATTLES GORDON!
PS: Ramsay seems to be in a contest with a certain former president to see who can wear the most caked-on make-up.
Not a good look, Gordon.
Lioness (2023)
Inspired by real events from the War on Terror
I have to laugh at the all the down-voting tough guys here, blathering on that no woman could ever..., it's impossible, blah blah blah. They're the type of men that drove so many women into the overcrowded women's shelter featured early on in the first episode.
It says it on the tin, "Inspired by an actual US Military program...as the tip of the CIA's spear in the war on terror." With the extensive use of military hardware and footage, it obviously has the backing of the US military.
If Audie Murphy hadn't been widely lionized and publicized as a winner of the Congressional Medal of Honor, how many people would believe that a 5' 4" grade school dropout, weighing 112 lb, was America's greatest ever WWII hero?
How soon these tough keyboard warriors forget that the CIA operative who tracked down Bin Ladin was a woman who was subjected to much of the same criticism and sexist stereotyping that inspires these 'military experts' to give this show one or two stars.
It's not the best 'war on terror' show I've seen, but it's pretty good and if inspires at least one young woman to join the armed forces and achieve even some of the feats shown here, that's a good thing for America and womanhood around the world.
90 Day Fiancé UK (2022)
Is Episode 12 the Finale?
I can see why most of these participants have to make do with online romances. One-on-one they all seem to have PhDs in misunderstanding words and intentions.
I'm no big fan of "Sean" the dodgy Japanese dude, but Victoria-Emma seems to interpret all his actions and most of his words the wrong way. Her social filter seems to be set on "this is deliberately designed to hurt/affect me. How can I misinterpret it to further my victimhood?"
The less said about Richard Porter, the better. A perfect lout who for some unknown reasons thinks he's a great catch. The negativity associated with "mail-order brides" can be ascribed to predators like him.
Shaun is just pathetic, he expects us to believe he got out of "cleaning management" because of the "pressure of the job." Now he's back to just cleaning, at a vastly lower salary and he still has trouble doing anything other than telling long-suffering Christine that she's his everything, he loves her. Does he have any interests other than whining and sobbing how much he loves Christine?
Kadie is doing better than most, but her accent is so broad, I wonder Alejandro can understand her. She did bite the bullet and go to Mexico but her fear of any food other than fish and chips and sausage rolls makes it seem she won't be very adaptable in the long run.
Emma, I just don't get it. What on earth do she and Hossein have in common, other than his wish to live in the UK?
I'd write more about Marvin, Calum, Sam and Pat, but their stories have barely got off the ground and according to IMDB, the series, at 12 episodes, has already finished. Surely they have to come back to tidy up the relationships, bring all the participants together, at least? If we have to wait until 2023, I think I'll give it a miss.
The Next Thing You Eat (2021)
Have You Never Worked in a Kitchen?
Anyone who's ever worked in a professional kitchen knows the expletives fly all the time. Big deal. The content is far more important than a few swear words. I'd bet good money that the majority of wowsers here whining about the bad language voted for a president with yellow hair and a fake tan.
Yashagaike (1979)
First Major Japanese Film I Translated
Others here have described the film more than adequately, all I have to add is that of Feb 2021, Shochiku have announced that it will be digitally remastered and re-issued. I hope I get a chance to rework the subtitles!
Back in those days, when videotape wasn't readily available, we sat in a screening room, watched the film, made notes and received an audio tape of the dialogue to work on back at home - using audio cassette player, the original (often uncorrected) Japanese script and a typewriter. As you can imagine, it was difficult, if not impossible to remember all the actions and nuances that must be addressed to make the subtitles work seamlessly, especially since Japanese can be very vague at times, often leaving out the subject, or the object of a sentence, so he/she, or here/there, that/this must often be guessed at. It was always a painful experience to watch the complete subtitled film, surrounded by the producers and usually the director, continually wincing at what must have looked like simple translation errors.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy the remastered masterpiece by often underrated genius of Japanese cinema, Shinoda Masahiro.
Ray Winstone in Sicily (2020)
Ray Winstone at his best
Ignore the 1/10 review by a tin-eared American incapable of understanding British English. Winstone tells it like it is and gives an entertaining view of the fascinating Italian island that is so different from the rest of Italy. Good times with good mates in a great place, what could be better?