Reviews

I'm all for slow burners and well made films, but I am half an hour into this one... and the story has barely even begun. A long winded gay scene has already happened, but they're still bumbling.

For all the "touching film" and "powerful punch" commentary here, I'm not sure what the others are watching, but this is one painfully boring pace.

We're supposed to dig deep into this nothingness of a narrative and find some meaningful story of depression or nostalgia, or something. Sorry, that sounds like a stretch. It's a film for people with no better option of things to watch.

The sensible commentators with the old reviews are the more authentic ones. The recent stuff just seems to be shills or bots.

"Heartwarming", not really. "Heartbreaking", yep, but not for reasons of emotional depth, more because this was a colossal waste of time. Pretentious pile of maudlin palaver.

One of the dullest shows, a morose kind of chick-flick material. No way is this deserving of an 8.4 rating. Every two minutes someone walks around totally naked. That explains the rating, I suppose, because everything else is lacking. Boring dull juvenile stories, a colossally irritating lead female character going through relationships like ligerie, all explained by adolescent angst. Palaver.. none of us had quite a lame excuse for being woefully promiscuous. Capped off with more melodrama in the form of maudlin music--Spotify has a playlist that has a slow lineup of humdrum melancholy music. A hard pass.

Form and style over any substance. After gems such as Grand Budapest Hotel or Royal Tennenbaums, this nonsensical mess is just painful to muddle through. All the gushing reviews here are basically fanboys who are besotted with a gratuitously clothes-free lead actress in a totally pointless scene or to. Oh, but it's "art". Sure.

That this tripe has a 7.7 rating tells us the general state of affairs in movie land. Most of the star power is focused on TV shows now, with slim pickings for good films. Needless gore and predictable pap here. Nicole Kidman has about 5 scenes in all. Fight sequences are meh and full of random music. Childish fare for gory "action lovers".

Such an important, intriguing theme. The script is not bad at all and available in multiple languages. But it's marred by oh-so-momentous acting as if it's a high school play, and to make matters worse, raucous music that's suppose to shrill and thrill every other minute. Distracting to the point of making one want to take a break. Could have been a great show but the 9.4 rating (desi crowds hard at work) is undeserved.

Don't let this film's surface crypticness fool you. It'll appear to suck, but that's only because "it's inverted, it's entropy run backwards". See, lines like that may appear to glow with juvenile wisdom that wannabe youngsters can swoon over and feel like a part of the 'in' crowd, but in reality it's a gem of imagination that will slowly dawn on you over time. When you watch it 6 times. Or, of course, you could find something more meaningful to do with your time.

The premise was fun and started well as a wanton romp through the world of globetrotting airline crew. The blaring music at every second step was merely distracting at first, but soon became grating. Clearly a work of American shtick. Couldn't stand it by episode 2 as the story went into absurdia. Fine for people who only watch loud run of the mill shows, as the high current rating shows. Others can pass.

The production values are clearly American schtick, which I suppose is fun for some. The music here blares every second to tell us how to feel. The acting borders on overbaked but fortunately stops just short. It's the story that makes this work. Brilliant escapism.

In this kind of context, it's hard to top Billions. The stories and characters developed so well especially in the first two seasons. Suits was a bit of Americanism overload with incredible smart-alecy rubbish, but watchable. This one is somewhere in between. I'd ignore the naysayers based on one episode. It's a decent start. Yes, it's interns and their travails, which young millennials seem to lament. The script is fun and there's a modicum of truth in it. I'd watch this show. It's a solid 7 out of 10, nothing more, nothing less.

Great script, intriguing theme if you go past the first somewhat woozy 10 mins of episode 1. I'm not sure why the rating is low overall because each episode is highly rated by the same audience -- hmm. Don't miss it, superlative show and I can't wait for the second season!

What a fascinating subject and evidently the makers did a thorough job of going over the happenings with a fine tooth comb. Sadly it's manifestation on screen is a bit too indulgent. There are bits where for 10 whole minutes the camera pans from face to face in a room, each breaking into tears. Seriously. It could have been a bit more inveigling, thrilling, given the spurious way in which poison was administered. The police procedural of that. Instead it's a maudlin story of several individuals dealing with the confusion and trauma wreaked on a small town. A small film may have been a better format. The three loooooong episodes are just way too draining except for people with absolutely nothing better to watch. At best a 5/10 affair, which is sad because this story is important for more people to hear.

At the 8.1 average rating at the time of this writing I'd say it's way too over rated. Good show, intriguing plot, but way too many loose ends and too drawn out. I'm all for slow-burn narratives but when the script is progressing. Here it's just a stretch. There's not much plot. Entire threads go untold. The ending is odd to the point of being annoying. A 6/10 show for the overall feel, but this won't be lining up for Emmy's.

Anyone who's seen the lead character in Chewing Gum or Black Earth Rising knows she's a solid actress. The first episode is interesting at first; then not. It's a bit of a mess. But if you persist you realize it's that way for a very specific reason, as if to manifest the protagonist's state of mind. The second episode is crackerjack. I'm now hooked and curious about what happened and how. A beautiful narrative.

I was so excited to find something rooted in Investment Banking. But this is no Billions. The high rating at the time of this writing is clearly propped by youngster testosterone. This is a 4 to 5 out of 10 at best, and that's being generous. People speak with weird European accents, the dialogue is cardboard, the themes get progressively preposterous. So wanted this to be a decent show, but this is no Billions.

Every line is a smart-alecy quotable quote. As if people can't speak normally. An artist knows when there's too much of a good thing. The story seems to be meandering, if not absent altogether, replaced by adolescent 'cool' dialogue...let's see. One or two more episodes is the rope I'll have for this should-have-ended-by-now run.

What a taut, well made thriller. Far more plausible and insightful than the farfetched histrionics of Jack Ryan. The production quality is mature, the narrative well paced. Great film for the discerning viewer. If you enjoyed shows like The Bureau (Le Bureau des Légendes) or Homeland, you'll love this. Yes the ending is not as pat and conclusive as a younger person might want it to be. I loved it.

An interesting premise, but way too drawn out in some episodes. The theory starts out very promising, but then it's such a grand idea at eventually such a small and absurd scale that it's preposterous. Should have been a 4-episode miniseries in the way Brit shows are and this could have still had a relaxed, pensive pace. It's insightful and well produced, just way too too to sloooooooow, which makes it hard not to be distracted in every other scene.

A very interesting and possible plausible theme, ethereal music and setup, some thrilling twists. It's a great show for the Mr. Robot or Mr. Mercedes lovers. But I feel a couple of episodes were way too drawn out just to stretch to 8 episodes. Had it had the freedom to wrap up in 5-6 episodes, this would be right up there with the top shoes of the last decade. Still, a super watch, very much worth your time.

If you've seen shows like the French show about espionage, The Bureau, or more soberly directed ones such as McMafia, this American production has everything that's associated with the brash production style. The first 10 mins already have Fleetwood Mac's "Tusk" blaring louder than any dialogue. Smart alecy, model-like characters follow. This is sad, because it detracts too much from the story, which is decent but not quite the caliber of other shows. For better-produced American shows, Homeland or Unbelievable are a cut above. This is 6/10 at best.

I really wanted to like this. The theme is intriguing, and given the expanse and arc of the Ottoman empire, and the lasting mark it has left on the world around it, also perhaps very important. Sadly this series is no GoT gap-filler. It's made for a teenage audience or those who appreciate senseless bravado.

Not sure how the Dexter lead was in this farce. Loud horrid music, poorly acted semi-gore "thriller" bordering on the gimmicks used in horror genre. Police work is negligent and laughable. After thirty minutes of being patient we just had to move on. I'm surprised there were some viewers who liked this. I guess that's why this low caliber stuff is made - surprised to see Netflix as the producer behind it.

Loud music and smart alecy model-style cops make this show appear far more run of the mill fare targeted at the teenage crowd. Too bad because the plot wasn't half bad. But the show was difficult to tolerate for people accustomed to usual British police procedurals, which are invariably more mature than their American counterparts. This might as well have been made in LA.

Caught this at TIFF. One had a managed set of expectations beforehand given the schmaltz in Dicken's feel-good novel with black and white morality in its characters. There are fun lines, but the loud music at all times is a bit too much. Half way through the movie you start wishing it'll get to its crowd-pleasing end. It takes another hour to get there. Characters are predictable platitudes. Hugh Laurie looks genuinely bored in his underused waste of time. Watch the 1999 show with Maggie Smith instead.

David Suchet set the bar so high that not many have been able to match his immaculate take on Poirot. But Malkovich hits a new low. As much as I like him as an actor, his Belgian/French accent is missing entirely and comes across just as an idiotic affectation. The style of the show is needlessly over-stylized for the young crowds who might have enjoyed the new Sherlock (I quite liked the first season too before style took over any semblance of substance.) This is a sorry excuse of a drawn out three episode series. The David Suchet episode is available on YouTube and still stands head and shoulders above any other version of ABC Murders.

The only people who "got bored" or left with puking scenes - as if that were the main thing - are probably people who like loud, senseless action rubbish made by Hollywood. To those who like shows like The Fall or McMafia or Informer, this is a beautifully narrated tale. Gentle in pace, but riveting in how the plot unfolds. One of the best shows of the last few years. And an important story. Watch it if you've enjoyed shows made for mature audiences who don't need raucous music to tell them what to feel scene from scene.