Reviews

So, 20-somethings get married and three years later they live like strangers in the same house? Hubby afraid to go to wife's separate bedroom? Wife forgets what hubby looks like with no shirt? The usual chaebol-family dynamics, fantasy world of high end designer clothes, older women acting like Joseon-era upper class snobs, men are generally depicted as weak, to be manipulated. Poor boy rich girl story combined with terminal illness plot. Girl in this case in firm need of a redemptive arc. A side plot with a former boyfriend entering the picture, some evil caste type scheming to add to the soup. A lot of standard stuff, stir and serve.

Kind of the mid point it seems as the main plot points have been established. Slow start with a lot of tears but a mystery is heating up. What seems a little unusual for a K Drama is the grey shading for all the characters. Even the evil antagonist has some benevolent points, and the star protagonist, well she did kill a guy. The murdered guy had a moment of weakness but otherwise may have been an OK husband and father. The husband, the sister, the pretty boy and his girlfriend all have various and bad sides. Only the Halmoni is a saint. This was a John D. McDonald advice on how to write better stories. The last two episodes were heavy clip shows with many flashbacks. So the rest of the arc will be how the heroine turns the young man over and what really happened to the son.

Season 1 wraps up on a good note, definitely leaves room for more episodes. Story is well done and requires some thought, following who is who and which is which. The daughter Alice seems the smartest and best head on her shoulders. Mom Jo becomes increasingly befuddled and less astronaut like. Dad Magnus is a bit of a waste and doesn't add much to story, they could send him off for another nap in the next series. The phlebotinum tech is easy enough to grasp. A Euro-centred story with less USA involvement apart from a sour Henry/Bud, NASA or SpaceX don't enter the story. Episodes 6 and 7 in the far north were interesting as the different realities combined.

One of the stars of the entire series Haas Team Proncipal Guenther Steiner gets a lot of airtime as he faces some ups and downs over the season, a ood start marred by poor performances. He curses and shakes his head and its surprising to see his lack of knowledge of the car itself. It doesn't end well for Steiner but the show makes it appear he was ready to throw in the towel on his own. For William, s new guy. James Vowles is shown to be a dry techy engineer promoted to get his team out of the basement. Having learned his trade at Mercedes under Toto Wolff he seems a good choice for the British team and his development will be of interest. Show does well in contrasting the two men.

Improve so much by Silverstone? The series is weak on showing technical details and instead has Zak Brown cheerleading underlings with manager-speak and mollifying his boss during the slow start to the season. But the engineers did a lot of aerodynamic work on the car which dramatically improved the performance, we can't really see if Brown even knew what his team did other than "trying harder" and "doing better". Lando Norris continues to hope for a win, tough with Red Bull so far ahead but he does come across as overly smug and entitled. Just be best of the rest so far, a World Championship is not a given. Piastri is given some shorter shrift as the #2 and new guy.

Infidelity is the core of a story that is both the root of the personal conflicts and an everpresent issue among the characters. The good men are for the most part expensive clothes models and helping hands, always nearby and using muscle as needed. Narrative is a little extended, there was that choking episode that seems to have been a filler and some slower paced plotting in the early episodes, that whole campground sequence was stretched. Actress playing Soo-min the antagonist has some over-the-top scenes. Ji-Hyeok is a bland idealized boyfriend. Ji-won the protoganist has the largest character arc going from a sickly mouse to a rich and strong executive, some interesting writing has her going out of her way to aggravate her opponents. Everybody gets their just due, the meek and mild have learned to be more assertive and successful, others have funerals or incarceration. Direction uses a little too much of the K-Drama rewind technique, showing an event then following up with how it happened afterwards. Some sci-fi time travel aspects are dealt with, certain events have to occur but not neccesarily to the same individuals. 16 episodes wind up with a happy ending as a second-chance at life tale.

Episode 8 takes a darker more dramatic turn as the Sun Family resolves some issues. This whole series had a mix of chop-socky martial arts, some gags, blood splatter and human drama. Too much glamorizing of thr organized crime Taiwan Triads, the antagonists actually had the moral high ground, at least until Episode 7. Youngest son Bruce was a weak actor and sort of the Fredo in the Corleone Family. Regal Michelle Yeoh is the Queen of Sino Cinema and still has a fight scene with an Oscar in the rear mirror. Lead actor Justin Chien can hold his own with both the action and romantic sequences. So somewhat entertaining but a a little half baked.

A team theft caper movie, not exactly original but reasonably well done. Hart plays it straight with little mugging or hamming it up, his co-stars follow suit. Biggish names D'Onofrio and Reno have little to do but say a few lines. MBatha Raw is an actress on the rise. Good to see Sam Worthington something other than Avatar. The other team cast were competent unknowns. Screenwriters have a vague idea of NATO and Interpol. CGI and SFX were a a little cheap and silly but overall the movie moved along well and some amusing moments. Friday night snowstorm flick filled the time nicely. Not a 10 but a good 7.

Interesting recap of the Lennon murder with interviews of the people who were actually on scene. The now retired cops sound real and seem out of central casting. The CIA and FBI are brought into it but doesn't really go anywhere with that line so the end focus is on the sentencing and parole hearings. Parallel to the Hinckley trial and eventual release is made, kind of a progressive view which probably makes some sense here. If Chapman is no longer being punished and the public safety is not at risk why keep him in jail 43 years later? At some point he should do like Red in Shawshank and give up on parole, then it will happen.

But it's getting to be Maddie not Harry. Good season, nice to see Lance Reddick in there one last time. The other old Hollywood Division guys really need to let go though. Honey Chandler gets to do the stuff half-brother Mickey Halley does in the books. These are adapted screenplays but it's fun to try and recall some of the plotting carried over from the books, such as The Crossing. The Televideos introduce some new characters like Mo and his role is the weakest, the super-hacker who can do-it-all is a little too stereo-typish, but the actor does a good job with the script. Maddie develops as a competent street cop, getting more story arc and growth, cliffhangar of sorts hints at some further Bosch family issues next year.

Written by women for women, all the she/her characters are smarter and more resourceful than the men who need coaxing and prodding to perform. Males are shown as outright weak or stupid or various combinations of either. The Billie Chief of Staff is a frankly fantasized puppet master. Otherwise a decent political thriller, newbie ambassador with a penchant for black pant suits is thrown into the deep end and knows how to swim. Fairly good plot with latest real world elements thrown in, Ukraine and Iran. Michael McKean is good as a Biden-esque POTUS, Rufus Sewell bares all as an American house-hubby. The Brit actors are stolid and speechify, males need to be told and women perform in the background. Not really sure if this series passes the Bechdel Test though.

Maskerading as a movie. And yes the rubber mask thing gets the meta treatment, hopefully put away for good. Car chases, motorcycle chases, parachutes, trains, knife fight, gun fight, sleight of hand, it's all there loosely connected to some kind of key mcguffin. And bringing back old characters, this Kitteridge guy is he a goodie or baddie? Hard to pay attention. Ving Rames is still the tired old computer hacker genius; pro tip Luther, just turn off the laptop wifi and you will be OK. Benji is just silly. Ferguson doesn't say or do much and gets a write-off. Cruise gives his all, two running scenes plus the physical stunts. Instead of biggest yet should have gone for best yet.

Ok, put aside the unrealistic tech and physics moviemakers are artists and can't be expected to have engineering degrees. This has been the way it has been since silent movies, only James Cameron gets it right and his movies make $2billion dollars. But I digress, a dystopian near future when things are bad for women and kids, a couple try to flee to get to a non-EU paradise. They run into numerous problems and the woman never gives up trying. With only a few random tools and objects she tries, fails, tries and progresses, an allegory for life as a whole. Some shocking Uber violence at the front end grabs attention and it doesn't stop.

Another feminized KDrama, a cautionary tale about the desire for fame and beauty expectations. Girls and ladies of all ages are the combatants with no redeeming male characters. Men are only brutes or simps good for disposal. Even the male cops are at best ineffectual drones. A lot of hair pulling, screaming and gunplay as one seeks vengeance on another. Faces and actresses change often as the years go by and surgeries alter their looks. There's a prison sequence so some heavy action is built in as a given. The main masked protagonist does have a bit of a redemptive arc but the ending hints at a continuing cycle. Not really black humour, just a depressing view.

Of the characters only four are depicted as gay, skin hound Larry is the only who can be described as happy about it, having an influential spot in government and all the side action he wants. Ellen, Pam and Tyler are basically miserable about it. But on the cisgender side it's split about 50/50 between those we are happy or contented and the misery loves company group.

Ellen - gay unhappy Allan - gay happy Pam - gay unhappy Tyler - gay unhappy Ed - cis unhappy Karen - cis happy Margo - cis neuter Molly - cis content Wayne - cis content Bill - cis neuter Sergei - cis neuter Kelly - cis happy but singled Danny - cis unhappy Jimmy - cis unhappy Aleida - cis happy Dani - cis happy Dev - unk Gordo - cis unhappy Tracy - cis happy

So while Ellen gets a lot of airtime the orientation of the characters is relatively balanced to have some personal dynamics, although only 80% cis maybe too low.

So Season 3 ends with a couple of regulars written out. Some ludicrous plotting detracts from the overall story, there's been a decision to add a lot of Apollo 13 / The Martian / Let's Engineer Our Way Out of This problem solving techno babble with plenty of human drama along LGBTQ and disaffected offspring subplots. Joel Kinnaman remains strong as does Wrenn Schmidt. The Danielle Poole character is written as a strong black woman but her decision to land the Sojurner was a major command error. Many have commented on the pregnancy and Danny Stevens stories and this is where the ludicrous description comes in. Season 4 looks likes it is coming, one supposes we'll find out how the '96 Presidential elections turn out and how Comrade Madison makes out along with the folks left on the Red Planet.

Another season ends with a dramatic heroic episode. During the course of the season female characters rise and are shown to have the better smarts and logic. Testosterone lunkheads like Baldwin, Gordo and Bradford have their uses when the time comes but need a lot of distaff guidance. Margo, Molly, Tracy, Ellen, Dani and even Karen outwit and manage the men they encounter. The season also delves into US vs USSR paranoia and it's hard to tell if the show runners are showing the US actions as stupid and provocative or heroic and defensive. And once again the FX team does a great job tweaking old videos to suit new dialogue and scenarios, the Reagan stuff is spot-on. Good series but far from perfect.

Somewhat of an inside joke in one of the episodes the characters talk about a character actor seen on a sit com TV episode. This entire series seems to be a cast of modern day John Fiedlers, all very professional and competent but each one seems elevated from their usual background supporting roles in the industry. Kinnaman is the biggest small screen star and has a good brooding presence as an astronaut. More human drama than space tech but the show gets most of the Apollo era tech right enough. Later episodes use the LEM as an all purpose space craft as opposed to our parallel universe where it was a one time use vehicle, but that's minor. A very good touch was using the Presidents' voice overs in a Watergate Tapes style, the Producers had a bit of fun with their make believe dialogue. Some of the lines in the script are lifted whole, "failure is not an option" from other sources and other known historical quotes are blended in. The last three episodes are well done with good tension and conflict; with all the character actors in play the viewer has no idea who will survive. Pretty good TV!

A missing kid story bringing I elements of organized crime, pedophiles, French/Brit/EU dynamics. Nesbitt as the lead Tony brings a pugnacious tenacity to the father role but it is the French detective Baptist's played by Tchéky Karyo who does a great job as a cop trying to do his job but with some personal family issues. Pedophilia is of course part of the story but the show runners try to balance the stereotype with a more nuanced view. The story could have shown more about the Reporter and what he got out of it all. And thending seemed tacked on to give some hope that poor Ollie has a less than final end to his story. Narrative flips around between years, one can tell by the actress's hair colour which period is which. Good series overall.

The big generator repair was the topic this episode and it's a major failure of the show runners and writers to not hire any or even better tech advisors and engineers. The turbine generator is just art director ridiculous and eyes roll. The entire silo concept would have had more logical engineering systems when built by the Founders 140 years earlier. You can think of the silo as a 10,000 passenger cruise ship or submarine and would need to be a self-contained habitat with multiple tech redundancies. Ok maybe there's a clue to what it all is when one character explains the steam comes from "somewhere". James Cameron for example does a great job in adding real tech into his sci fi films, even non-engineers can sense the added realism and possibilities. The Silo team appear to know steam is hot and saw a cutaway drawing of a turbine and then built a story around those two. It was good drama and tension though to get the repair completed.

Good action flick rom-com, no sure why all the negative comments. Chris Evans flips the narrative with the guy-girl dynamics, doing a 180 from his Captain America stereotype. On the other hand Ana de Armas reprises her roles from James Bond and the Gray Man and is credible. Even almost the same black dress. Some over the top action sequences like the bus chase and big finale, but hey it's a movie. Evans' Marvel Universe buddies make amusing cameos as well as a couple of others. Adrien Brody has the nose for a French role and hams it up. A few good one liners and sight gags bring about some chuckles, this is a good couples flick!

All in all this is a decent action flick. These kind of movies always try to make you think it could really happen, just off the radar of the evening news. But a major event with many law enforcement officers killed in action or a wild gunfight in a downtown park with more deaths would be headline news even in the land of the 2nd Amendment. JLo is fine with the gritty glamour puss role and Joseph Fiennes looks like he can take on more work, the kind Charles Dance was typecast as. The stunt coordinators deserve some kudos with some good sequences; the chase scene in Havana, the snowmobiles were done just beautifully in a snow filled landscape. Some slow points and this viewer was left wondering where in the Lower Mainland of B. C. the movie scene was taking place, rather than listening to the dialogue.

It starts out OK, a twist on the old Yankee in King Arthur's Court gag, Ted is amusing at first with his ways. Over three seasons most of the characters become annoying and glad to see them go. Roy, Jamie, Rebecca and Nate lack written wit, where is the clever British repartee as per Churchill and James Bond? Is the UK the land of endless F-bombs? The Sam O. Character comes off best as does the restaurant hostess and Trent the reporter , even Coach Beard ends up as weird and not in a good way. Lasso spends three years in a foreign country and still needs Premier League Football explained to him. This series is very overrated and the cast were stuck in thinly written roles. The Producers and show runners should have put effort into development.

Unreedemed, so far. Except for the disabled father none of the male characters are shining examples. The 1988 dad Mosazu has potential along with Solomon, the rest are severely lacking. Sunja and her peers are the power, brains and strength in their relationships, this is a feminized ideal. A fallen woman Hana adds some sense of balance. The series has great production values and cinematography, hardly any sex or violence. And yes, Japan was pretty mean to their Korean colonials, that historical axe gets a good grinding here. Could use a bit more humour and plotting, I understand the adapted screenplay has changed some of the source material.