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Reviews
Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent (2024)
A nice beginning
The series debut was fine.
People seem to forget that this is Criminal Intent so we get a twisty plot, over-intelligent detectives who might be on the spectrum and not much courtroom action.
Although far from perfect I think the premiere delivered.
The quips exchanged by the lead detectives keeps things light when things are heavy (and it might hint at a deep relationship between the two) and the plot twists were just enough to keep the episode moving along.
The use of the city of Toronto is done well without bludgeoning the spectator with Toronto overdose.
My only qualms with the first episode is I'm not sure I enjoyed the police lieutenant, her dialogue seemed off and also there was way too much walking (fast) and talking!
All in all I'll be sticking around to watch other episodes.
Lover Stalker Killer (2024)
Better than average but....
This is actually better than most Netflix crime documentaries.
For one it doesn't have several useless episodes with information that keeps on repeating in order to fill the time. It's a relatively zippy 1h30 and there is very little filler.
I've got three qualms about this that keeps me from giving it a higher rating.
1- If I could figure out within 15 minutes what was going on how come the first cops couldn't? There's no information about the cops' ineptitude in handling the initial case.
2- The prosecutor says this will be a hard case to prove, no slam dunk etc. And then the film makers spend all of two minutes on the actual court case. That's shoddy film making.
3- What was the perpetrators motives? The mindset etc. Nothing was explained or explored and that made for a less than compelling ending.
Netflix almost knocked it out of the park with this one.
The Walking Dead: Dead City (2023)
I had very low expectations
I had very low expectations but I was pleasantly surprised.
Negan and Maggie's characters have very good hateful chemistry and it somehow works to have them at each others throats constantly. JDM's acting is particularly good and the writers have done a nice job with Negan's arc.
Also, it was nice to have a city setting instead of being in woods. The set design was really good.
The new characters (Ginny, the Croat) are interesting and not one-dimensional.
Also good is the fact that there are only 6 episodes which makes this compact and not draw out like the main series started to feel. Great job by all and looking forward to season two.
Reacher: Fly Boy (2024)
Really bad
This season finale was really bad and ludicrous, stretching believability to its very limit.
Apparently Reacher now has superpowers but all he's missing is a cape. That helicopter scene is totally ridiculous.
The whole build up of the season is wrapped up within the first 20 minutes and there was never any doubt of the outcome. Predictable, predictable, predictable.
Whoever wrote season two and whoever gave the go ahead to make should never be allowed to work on television shows ever again. They took a great first season and made season two laughably campy and ridiculous with sloganeering instead of actual dialogue or character development. At this point I don't even care if there's a third season.
Role Play (2024)
Enjoyable actors but...
The cast was very enjoyable and the acting was also on point.
However I never really felt there was real chemistry between Anna and Dave even though the script was front-heavy with establishing their normal relationship.
The main problem with the film is the poor script that squanders the situations the characters are in and can't quite decide if it's an action film or a comedy. It was going for comedy but more often that not it fails in that department.
The movie only gets really enjoyable in the last 20 minutes where there is a semblance of comedic elements and those are well executed but it's too late.
There was a making of a good film here but it just doesn't land.
Reacher: The Man Goes Through (2024)
Slightly better
This episode was better than the last two episodes (they weren't easy to beat) but it was still subpar.
The positive: there were some nice Neagley/Reacher moments that finally showed some nice acting chops from both actors.
Also positive, the second part of the episode was more cerebral and slowed down and there wasn't as much dumb sloganeering about not messing with the 110th.
The negative: once again the raging battles were unrealistic with bad guys (who are supposed to be professionals) that can't shoot to literally save their lives.
Also negative, that sing song part between the soldiers felt forced (do the producers realize Crazy on You is a song about sex/love?)
Other negative, Langston the Big Bad, is not a very compelling villain and does not instill fear and menace so it lessens the drama.
All in all, like I said a better episode but nothing that rises to season 1 excellence.
The Walking Dead: The First Day of the Rest of Your Life (2017)
Those garbage people
I'm rewatching this series and I find it as engaging as the first watch (in some case even more) but I do remember why I started souring a bit on the series initially: the garbage people.
Whoever decided to include these clownishly bad characters should have been fired on the spot. They bring nothing to the story and they drag down every scene with their dumb way of speaking. Plus the affected way in which these characters carry themselves is laughable. It's like theater kids trying to look tough and edgy.
It's really a shame because the show carried some nice emotional weight in season 7 only to squander it with the garbage clowns.
Also when will shows stop with ridiculous catchphrases like "we win" and other platitudes especially in fights. In real fights people yell expletives not "we must win this for us". C'mon.
Reacher: Burial (2023)
I'm done with this season
This is the episode that got me off the Reacher train.
First let me say that I loved season 1. Loved it so much that I watched it twice and recommended it to friends. It wasn't perfect but it made up for its imperfection by having a solid story and a compelling and believable main character and secondary characters.
Season 2 is the opposite with huge plot holes an unbelievable storyline. Especially unpleasant are all the cartoon-like villains that offered for fodder. It's like the gang that can't shoot straight. This episode was particularly bad with what appeared like amateurs tasked to do a job.
Also, although Reacher's acolytes make for an attractive cast, they are not as compelling as season 1's acolytes. Their banter is repetitive ("you don't mess with blah blah blah") and boring and theirs jabs at Reacher just tiresome.
I don't know who wrote this second season but it needed a rewrite before it was filmed.
Misanthrope (2023)
So tedious
This is basically a (bad) tv cop show stretched out to almost two hours.
The script is basically non-existent with characters yelling substituting as character development and storyline. Although writers try to bake in some elements to make the viewer care a smidge about these characters it rings hollow and the viewer is left not caring if any of these people die. Plus the mental health message rings completely hollow because it feels tacked on and inauthentic.
The acting is wooden at times (Woodley) and obnoxious and verging on the goofy at other times (Mendelssohn) and all the others seem to be amateurs.
Plus I dislike how the film was shot and how it looks. Overly glossy and straight to dvd-like.
Also, at no moment did this look like Baltimore.
I struggled to finish this dreck of a film.
No Hard Feelings (2023)
Surprisingly low score
I'm genuinely surprised by low score!
Is this a classic comedy? Maybe not
Is it funny? Yes!
Instead of going to the other two big movies out at the same time we went to this film and we didn't regret it one bit.
Jennifer Lawrence can do no wrong in this film and she's got great comedic timing.
The concept/subject matter could have been gross but it's handled very well and comes across in a sweet-natured way rather than raunchy and dumb (though it has moments of both). That fight scene alone is worth the price of admission!
I've recommended this film to friends and I'll definitely watch it again when it comes to a streaming service in the future.
Whiplash (2014)
I wanted to like this....
I wanted to like this movie, I really did. I tried but I found every main character sort of loathsome with no redeemable traits. Though I don't need to like characters in a movie to be able to be absorbed by a film, I found myself rooting against most of these characters.
I love J. K. Simmons but he felt very wooden and I had the impression that I could see his acting and nothing felt real or organic in his play. Plus his sociopathic behavior had rolling my eyes at the idea this was enabled by the school.
Miles Teller's character was just as unsympathetic and I was hoping he failed at every turn.
Plus this movie is a total sausage fest with women only serving as plot points and not counting as real people.
Everything Sucks! (2018)
Very sweet
I thoroughly enjoyed this and binge watched it in the same day. Kudos to the producers for keeping the episodes under 30 minutes.
That being said I was surprised I enjoyed this so much. The performances were very good overall and the kids and their emotions were believable and well played by the actors.
Normally in shows like these some of the kids are unlikable but this wasn't the case here as all the kids were flawed but nuanced. I was rooting for many of the characters (including the adults) to succeed and the situations they were in felt plausible.
My only complaint is that there was no second season. Shame on Netflix.
Catching Killers (2021)
You've got to be lucky
Several things strike me with these episodes.
1- the emotional involvement many of these detectives have in these cases sometimes feels very unhealthy. I totally understand wanting to speak for the victims and their families but it seems like it's at the expense of their own. The result is I often feel like I'm watching a quasi-therapy session for those detectives and I'm not sure how I feel about that in the context of how this series is framed.
2- a lot of these killers seem to have been caught by luck and not by dogged investigation.
3- although I know this is from a law enforcement point of view but a bit more about the killers would be appreciated especially because they are "built up" for the whole episode.
Love & Death (2023)
Very solid all around
This gets a solid 8 rating from me.
Story was well told, well sequenced and there were no extra episodes of fluff to prolong the length of the series. There seems to be a tendency in many series to add extra episodes for "character development" and this one didn't succumb to the temptation.
The actors were all very well cast and they universally gave outstanding, nuanced performances with kudos especially to Elizabeth Olsen and Jesse Plemons.
The set design and overall look of the movie and the use of music was well thought out and spot on.
I finished this in the span of 36 hours so it was very binge-worthy.
Little word to mention that I don't see where this deserves a "moderate" on the sex/nudity front. There were no exposed breasts and virtually all of the sex was with the actors keeping their clothes on! What were some of you watching?
Der Fan (1982)
Creepy good
One of the better films in the stalker/obsessed fan genre.
The main actress is very convincing and you can feel her turmoil as she grows more obsessive. The fact that the actress conveys this mostly with her eyes, face and body language without resorting to many words is even more impressive. It fits the mood of the film perfectly.
Another big plus is the music that is at once creepy and driving and the actor playing the rock star is also very convincing.
Very good camera work too.
Unfortunately I saw this film in a theater with idiotic 20 year old that giggled through the whole film but even they couldn't diminish the power of this film.
MH370: The Plane That Disappeared (2023)
Why was this made?
There have been innumerable shows and docs about this plane's disappearance so why was this one made?
Does it bring new information? Nope
Does it bring new insight? Nope
Does it bring proof? Nope
Does it bring in-depth, reality-based analysis? Nope
Nothing new is talked about in the three (!) episodes of this dreadful "documentary".
Even worse, the so-called "experts" interviewed only spew the most ridiculous of conspiracy theories without an ounce of proof as to what they are advancing.
Netflix (once again) makes a "documentary" that advances no proof or evidence and does not advance any motive behind the theories.
Simply awful.
The Last of Us (2023)
Very good but...
I've enjoyed this series very much so far. The characters are played very well by the actors and for once they wrote the child character as not overly bratty and annoying.
My main gripe is this tendency in modern series to grind the action to a halt with stand alone flashback episodes. I know not every episode can move the story along and knowing a characters past can explain their actions now. However these episodes are usually overlong and they lack subtlety.
This is the case with episode 3 and 7 of this series. We get 1 hour long episodes that could easily have been condensed in 15 minutes. The audience is not dumb, writers need to stop thinking they are.
It was especially problematic in episode 7 because episode 6 was so good and then we were left hanging. These breaks in the story actually kill momentum and do not serve as cliffhangers like the writers think they do. A measure of proof is episodes 3 and 7 are the lowest rated here. They are fine episodes but momentum and story killers not enhancers.
That being said this is an outstanding series and the friendship between the two leads is very endearing and well played.
Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal (2023)
Useless
I despise what modern "documentaries" have become.
There once was a time when documentaries searched for facts and brought up actual clues that might have been missed by law enforcement thus leading to a re-examination of a case. Well no more.
The modern "documentary" like this piece of junk peddles in rumors, supposition. Not even hearsay! On several occasions people (including a "journalist") relay rumors with zero facts to back them up. They just throw it out there that some members of this family might have done something but they offer no proof.
Why should anyone waste their time watching 3 episodes of rumors?
The only positive aspect of this hot piece of garbage is the first episode that lays out nicely the family's standing in the community. The rest is nonsense and it does not give the viewer additional (credible) insights into these crimes.
The Walking Dead: A New Deal (2022)
This is why I stopped watching
When people ask why I stopped watching the Walking Dead I can point directly to episodes like this.
The episodes before this one were tense, dramatic, had some action and intrigue and they we are saddled with this episode that is slower than molasses.
When will writers learn that having people talk is not necessarily character development?! An hour of people talking about where they want to live is not compelling or even interesting especially because it stops momentum from previous episodes and this is something that the show has done continuously for about 4 seasons. They could get away with it when the characters were more compelling but the show is populate with uninteresting characters and useless subplots (Pamela and her son, ugh).
Three Pines (2022)
So bad
I'm glad some people seem to enjoy this series but I am not one of them.
I've not read the books so this review is only about the series.
1- The overall tone seemed off with characters trying to be somewhat quirky but simply being annoying and that set an odd tone that didn't seem to fit the story. Many characters also came off like caricatures of people which made things even less believable.
2- The acting was amateurish and wooden at best.
3- The writing was weak as was the dialogue
4- The editing was weirdly done with scenes not flowing naturally.
5- This is apparently set in small town Quebec. Quebec is a french speaking province so having all the characters speaking english in that part of the world is not credible at all.
6- Apparently filmed in winter but I see no steam coming from the character's mouths when they are outside.
So, so bad.
Fatale (2020)
This was bad.
I'm really surprised Hilary Swank turned in a decent performance considering how bad the script and direction were. She plays her character with some measure of nuance (at first) despite the awful script.
The main problem with the film is the preposterous concept that could have been interesting if it was a Law and Order episode not a film that goes on for 102 minutes of implausible situations after another.
Multiple murders happen with seemingly no investigations, characters do the dumbest thing possible and ending is just plain dumb and right out of the worst horror movie.
I hope these actors got paid well for starring in this dreck.
The Clovehitch Killer (2018)
So much to like yet botched by the ending
Positive:
All the actors are convincing especially Dylan McDermott.
The slow boil quality of the movie is a plus. The pacing is nicely done.
The son's back and forth is credible and nicely played and scripted.
The teenagers are played as teenagers, not super annoying like many others in films recently.
Negatives:
That ending is AWFUL!
There is no real indication why the son acts like he does and why his girlfriend went along with this. That ending basically sucked the air out of the whole film and I feel lets the viewer down. The emotional investment of the viewer is stopped dead in its tracks with that ending. Whoever scripted this turned the movie from potential semi-classic into maddening drivel.
Crime Scene: The Texas Killing Fields (2022)
Overlong
You know a series is too long even if it only has three episodes when the same sequences are used time and time again in each episode. This could have been condensed in a single hour plus episode instead of three frustratingly long episodes.
Frustrating because like the families portrayed in this documentary, there is no real closure and for the viewer (at least for me) I have questions but not about this case but about how this series was clumsily built by creators. There's no real emotional build up and no real insight about the investigations. The « big reveal » happens with five minutes left and it feels like throwaway information.
Very disappointing watch.
The Sex Lives of College Girls (2021)
Watched two episodes
I wanted to like this, I really did.
The actors are likable enough but between stereotypical characters, somewhat unconvincing writing and bland storylines this just falls flat. It didn't need to break new ground but it could have been engaging in its own way but it struggles to be merely enjoyable. Plus the acting is somewhat iffy and wildly inconsistent.
I wasn't expecting a raunchy sex comedy-like series but it's hard to believe that a series that wants to be about sex can achieve pure boredom with a subject as titillating. It feels off because adults are writing about the sexual experiences of college women but it feels like it was written by bland 13 year olds.
I might give it another episode or two but the show feels like a missed opportunity.
Sleeping with the Enemy (1991)
Not bad not good
First thing first: did the husband not use the bathroom after his wife's death??
As 90s thrillers go this is not awful but the pacing is a bit slow. Also her neighbor Ben is way too insistent bordering on creepy and the two matching so quickly doesn't ring true at all and feels more like a plot vehicle than actual romance. I didn't see what these two characters had in common or what they saw in each other.
Julia is pretty good in her role but Patrick Bergin is a little wooden and one note.
The film did ruin the song Brown-eyed Girl with that MTV-like montage that was used so much in films from the 90s and early 00s.