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Reviews
Mr Inbetween (2018)
I love this series!
I've aways been a fan of bad guys, something draws me to them. This show is a perfect blend of Ray's criminal endeavours and his day to day life. If you like to see bad guys get their comeuppance, this is for you.
I tend to binge watch, so saw all three seasons over 3 days.
We slowly learn about Ray's character and his past. He's not truly a bad guy, he just doesn't know what else he can do - and he's damn good at it. He clearly has anger issues but never injures somebody without a reason. He knows when to be violent and when to use psychology to get what he needs. He can also be caring. He's fantastic with his daughter and his brother.
We also find out about his best friend, 'boss', and others. There are some slow parts but it all builds the storyline and gives us the background to Ray and the other characters. There are funny bits and tear jerker times.
Scott Ryan, who plays Ray, has not had any acting training. You wouldn't know this from watching the series, he is amazing. He also wrote all the storylines himself. All the others are fantastic too but special mention has to be given to Nicholas Cassim, who plays Bruce - his character has Motor Neurone Disease, which he does not have in real life, and he portrays it so well. It's great to see such a debilitating illness getting such prominent screen time to show how it affects the individual.
I have many favourite scenes but probably my absolute favourite is the very end of the last episode of season 3, in the taxi, especially when Ray looks at the camera - I love it when actors break the 4th wall by interacting with the audience, and you know it's about to kick off!
The Villain (1979)
I love this film!
Forgotten how many times I've seen it. I first saw it many, many years ago and a few years ago bought the DVD. It's great fun, akin to Wile E. Coyote trying to get Roadrunner - although in this case the target is a beautiful woman and a naive man taking a box of gold across country in a wagon. Many japes along the way will have you laughing. Highly recommended.
Conan the Barbarian (2011)
Meh
I am a massive fan of the Conan books and the original films with Arnold Schwarzenegger. This is not a patch on them. I've read on here that it was supposed to be closer to the original storyline but it's very weak.
The film: I love Morgan Freeman but I don't know why they spent a chunk of money getting him to narrate the beginning. The storyline started off a bit weird with Conan being pulled from his mother as she died,then was strong around Conan growing up (although I very much doubt he could have taken out the five raiding party guys), and was weak with him as an adult. The only saving grace was the storyline of Khalar Zym searching for the mask and the pure blood descendent to bring his wife back, which wasn't supposed to be the main purpose of the film. The ease of killing someone and the blood splatter was totally over the top, although I appreciate this was done to add to the 'ambience'. Conan had no really serious fights until Marique conjured up the sand men but the only reason he struggled was because she threw the poisoned knife at him.
The acting: The lad who played Conan as a child nailed it. Ron Perlman was wasted. I don't know what race the raiding party guys were (ie the ones young Conan killed) but their makeup was fantastic. I didn't know adult Conan was played by Jason Momoa until I looked up the cast - I've only ever seen photos of him with a beard and never seen any of his films - his smouldering eyes in this are the only thing going for him but I don't think that's a fault of his acting ability. I wouldn't class Ukafa as a sidekick (which Conan always has) or of any particular use that I could tell and I could hardly understand him. Stephen Lang who played Khalar Zym was amazing with what he had, as was Rose McGowan who played Marique, although it was weird and creepy when she started 'coming on' to her father. Tamara was a strong character most of the time - until the storyline called for her to be weak, which spoilt it. Couldn't understand Ela-Shan (the thief).
Overall, I won't be watching it again. I'm not surprised it bombed at the cinema and they didn't make a sequel.
Dream Big: Engineering Our World (2017)
Interesting but not informative
The 8/10 review by Jollen has a comprehensive review of the programme and I recommend reading this too.
I have though rated this 6 based on the information (4) and the scenery (2). The programme is 42 minutes long but doesn't actually start until 5 minutes in. Jeff Bridges is not a great narrator, his voice isn't overly clear and I had to listen intently.
All the segments are led by female engineers, which must have been the intention. This aside, there is some interesting information and encouragement to become an engineer, the latter again no doubt the reason for the programme. I did find the programme engaging overall.
The less positive: The second segment, which is based in Africa, has an African style song. This song is used in each successive segment and no longer fits with the style of what we are being shown. Some of the segments should be longer or should not be included at all. We are shown the Great Wall of China but more time is given to what it looks like than to how it was made or remains standing. The last segment is on a new San Fransisco transport hub, saying it is going to be greener and more efficient, but no further detail is given. There is a lot of time wasted on unnecessary scenic views (based on the programme's intent) and unnecessary graphics.
The Creative Brain (2019)
A good primer to being creative
Other reviews here have said there's nothing new in this programme but I have read and watched many other things about the mind and still found this enjoyable. It doesn't explain how the mind works, as other programmes do. It features individuals who have found very interesting ways to be creative, and explains ways to get your own brain to do the same. Comments have been made on the presenter's voice but I didn't find it annoying and he can't help the way he talks!
6 Underground (2019)
Too ridiculous for an action movie
I love action movies. Put your brain in a box. Unbelievable car chases, bullets flying but nobody gets shot, thin plot lines. That's exactly how 6 Underground starts, with a little bit of back story and character introduction. Cars explode and flip over around them. One of the characters bleeds profusely yet doesn't lose consciousness, while another tries to stem it during the wild chase. At one point we have an amusingly done typical scene of avoiding running over a mother with baby, and two dogs. After 30 minutes of car chase, with cars, Vespas and people flying, I got fed up and stopped the film.