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karenkaterina
Reviews
Sugar (2024)
Ruined by the twist
I was really enjoying this - old fashioned, slow-paced neo noir. I was invested in the mystery - not just where is Olivia, but why are people protecting Spallings. But then, the twist.
And the annoying thing is, I might well have been interested in the concept of the post-twist show, if that's what it had been billed as, or if it was introduced sooner, or if there was ANY legitimate hint. (Speaking multiple languages does not suffice.) But I was enjoying this NOIR. Why rip that away from me? And the disappointment people who enjoy noir but not sci fi felt, I can only imagine.
After the twist, everything was rushed, nothing was properly tied up. What state is Olivia in? What happened to Jen? What about Sugar's relation to Melanie? Who's going to look after Wylie, for goodness sake? Just so disappointing, when I was looking forward to good detective work saving the day to a jazz soundtrack.
Conclusion: Return initiated, product not as described.
Ripley (2024)
Hypnotic slow burn - if you can get past the casting
To get the obvious thing out of the way first, the casting makes no sense. I spent the first few episodes trying to work out if Tom and Dickie are meant to be 40-somethings in this version, with Dickie having a much younger girlfriend, or whether the viewer is supposed to accept that these 40-something actors are in their mid-20s. The answer? They're meant to be "30s" someone eventually says. And Freddie Miles is played by a female non-binary actor, which means that he reads half the time as a woman and the other half as a 15-year-old boy.
But... once you get over that, this is very enjoyable! It's so beautifully shot, in an expressionist style, that it makes you aware of how by-numbers the blocking and camera angles are in most modern dramas. Andrew Scott is mesmerising, of course (although, since he plays Tom as a really creepy, reptilian weirdo, it's hard to understand why Dickie becomes his friend). The use of music, sound effects and silence really heightened the atmosphere. The 'will they catch him or won't they' ramps up until it gets properly tense. The inspector is brilliant.
I enjoyed this series more with each episode, and found myself wishing there were more episodes to watch. I would like to see a similar adaptation of other books in the series - with Andrew Scott, but perhaps with slightly less weird casting otherwise.
One Day (2024)
Pretty dull
I really struggled with the first few episodes. Emma was prickly and unlikeable. Dexter was fairly charismatic but that wasn't enough. Friends encouraged me to keep going, so I did, and I was pleasantly surprised by the middle section of episodes, from about 6 to 10. Emma developed, becoming more confident and attractive. Dexter just perfected "drunk face" and not much else but it was interesting enough. And then the last few episodes got dull again. "Quick, let's chuck in all the extra years, because no one cares once they've finally slept together!"
Emma's death might have been a big emotional moment if I wasn't familiar with the book and film, but instead I spent most of that episode looking at my watch going," Isn't she supposed to die now?" When she did, I felt absolutely nothing.
The main problems were the pacing (it had to be a whole episode for each year most of the time, regardless of whether much happened); the lack of chemistry between the leads; the lack of range of both of the leads; the deeply annoying minor characters (there is not a human being alive who would go out with Ian. He looks and acts like a needy 10yo); and the fact that Dec's dad is Captain Darling - but maybe that's just me.
The best things were Dexter, who certainly looked the part and could raise some genuine emotion; Dexter's mum, who was excellent; and the music, which really was splendid. But that's not enough to rescue this series. I could barely be bothered to watch the last episode, and only did so for completeness. Disappointing and spiritless.
Ghosted (2023)
Silly fun in exotic locations
This film was pretty much what I expected. Likeable, unkillable, attractive goodies getting up to implausible derring do in a variety of exotic locations (which included London, because that's exotic if you're American); a moustache-twirling villain (Adrian Brodey, having fun with it); a top secret McGuffin that everyone is chasing; pretty dresses; noisy weapons; a car chase.
It's not one to think too hard about, but as long as you cut it some slack, it's fun. It made me laugh quite a few times (the scene with the hitmen in Pakistan 😂), I cared about whether the leads lived or died, and whether they got together (I thought they had decent chemistry). The bus chase was fairly fun, and the use of the spinning restaurant was great, and even a bit tense.
I'm not claiming this is a very good film, and as many people have pointed out, Knight and Day did it better, but it was undemanding, good-natured silly fun and I enjoyed it.
A Spy Among Friends (2022)
Started well, went nowhere
I really enjoyed this for the first few episodes, despite the defects pointed out by other reviewers (poor lighting, confusing cutting), but in a couple of later episode (4, 6) almost nothing happens at all. The cutting backwards and forwards seems to be designed to make it all feel significant when there's not a lot going on. Also, as others have pointed out, you already have to know the basics of the Cambridge spy ring, or you won't have a clue what the whole thing is about anyway, because the series doesn't tell you.
On the other hand, Guy Pearce is excellent, and holds the attention every time he is on screen. His awkward interview after Guy Burgess' defection is particularly good. I would have liked to delve into his motivations more, especially given that he did not seem to like the reality of the Soviet Union at all, despite spying for the *ideal* of it for decades.
Damian Lewis is also quite good (not his best, though), as is the guy playing Angleton, but Mrs Thomas is nothing but a plot device with a dodgy accent. The 60s scene setting is very thorough, but I find it hard to believe that people (including women, apparently) would swear so much even in professional settings. Just modern window dressing to make it more 'gritty' I expect.
The main problem was that by the time they revealed the real reason Nicholas Elliot let Kim Philby go / Kim Philby escaped from Nicholas Elliot, I just didn't really care any more. I know they're spies, but could he not just have told Mrs Thomas this in the first interview and saved all the ridiculous running around? And why did Elliot sit on Blunt's name for so long? Did he suspect that Sir Roger was a spy (as Philby suggested)? Or did I miss something? Maybe I drifted off, or maybe it was simply to dark to see. Anyway, a disappointing morass that could have been much, much better.
Firefly (2002)
Cowboys in space? A bit dull.
I expected to like this series. I loved Joss Whedon's Buffy, I adore Blake's 7, which this is often compared to, but Firefly left me cold. The first episode was promising, with the war flashbacks and the collection/introduction of the regular characters, but then it just got dull and stayed dull.
I am not interested in watching a programme about cattle rustling and transporting stolen goods in an old cargo ship. I didn't like most of the character (thought Kaylee and Hoban were nice). I found the old "backwoods people = ignorant religious nutters" trope very irritating.
The show seemed to think that it was making edgy social points, but they were about as edgy as "slavery is bad" and "don't torture children". And the show seems to have no idea what it thinks about prostitution, which is a noble and highly respected profession, except when it is a dangerous and shameful one five minutes later. And seriously, saloons and duels? If you want to set a series in the 19th century, fine, but actually set it then, rather than making this half-baked future/past fantasy.
I honestly tried to like this, and kept watching episodes in the hope that it would eventually grab me, but it didn't. I'll never know what happened to River or what Shepherd's big secret is, but I don't much care - and that's the problem.