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The Lake (2022)
It certainly isn't Schitts Creek
This show so wants to be the next Schitts Creek, and it so isn't. I guess SC's first season was a bit rough, but the characters grew on you. These characters, I genuinely disliked more and more as the show went on. About the only lovable one was the handyman/storekeeper whose name I've already forgotten.
The plot was a bit of a stretch from the start, and, again, grew more rediculous as the episodes unfolded, with an awful ending and no sense of closure.
The show had a lot of potential, and squandered it all. I hope Amazon save their money and don't bother making the second season.
Victoria & Abdul (2017)
Good story-telling ruined
Here is a great tale, with quite a few elements of fact thrown in, told in a way that is often amusing and sympathetic. A lot of the plot is authentically filmed at Osborn House, where the events really happened. But it's ruined by an achingly 'woke' perspective, and a heap of anachronisms.
There was huge potential here: Judy Dench plays Queen Victoria so well; and Ali Fazal fits the bill as a "handsome Indian" as well as playing his part brilliantly and likeably.
Unfortunately all the other characters are two-dimensional caricatures,the Royal Household, the Prince of Wales, and the Prime Minister all pompous racists with no redeeming characteristics. The dialogue though well-delivered is truly banal in many places, and utterly unbelievable.
This could have been a great film, but sadly it isn't.
Sex Education (2019)
Engaging, but destroyed by the setting
My first IMDB review. I really wanted to like this series. It's got a lot going for it, and enough plot novelty. The characters have enough complexity (mostly) and the love triangles are complex enough for a bit of drama. The teenagers are like no teenagers I've ever met, but they're somehow believable.
But, the setting isn't. The show isn't really set anywhere. It's a bit like a British Sixth Form, and a bit like an American High School. It's a bit like the 1980s and a bit like the 2010s. And those confusions aren't just int the aesthetics, they affect the dialogue, and from there they affect the plot. Nothing quite makes sense. So nothing is entirely plausible. And that's ultimately very distracting.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)
Great interpretation of the book
I loved this movie. I don't often give anything 9/10, but I thought it was enchanting, and mostly faithful to the original book. I hated the old movie precisely because it deviated so far from the book. The visual effects were stunning, and Depp's Wonka was suitably eccentric. So much is as Dahl described it - he'd have been proud, I think. I'll admit that it's decades since I read the book, but seeing Burton's interpretation brought it all back to me: I have a good memory for detail, and I think this did really well.
There are some shortcomings: the Willy Wonka back-story doesn't really add very much, and I think the Oompa-Loompa songs will look dated very quickly. Maybe Charlie (and the others) was a little two-dimensional, but I can forgive that.
It's a great piece of escapism, and a suitable morality play if that's what you want, too.
The Jackal (1997)
Tedious and insulting
I'm normally a fan of Bruce Willis, and despite him playing the cold-hearted professional killer, I thought him the most appealing character here. That said, his character makes such a mess of his professional activity, it's incredible he hasn't been caught before. The plot is thin to the point of being nonsensical. The end was no less annoying and insulting for the fact that it could have been predicted from about 20 minutes into the movie.
** spoilers follow ** In Hollywood morality, the good guys always win, with a few casualties along the way, and the bad guys die, or are at least heading for justice by the end. The breathtaking insult of the film is the way that our IRA terrorist, who has somehow become a cuddly, touchy-feely character, gets to walk off to a new life. As does his former terrorist playmate (who is now a loving wife and mother).
Who's the bigger villain? The former (and, so far as we can tell, unrepentant) terrorist, or the hired assassin? I don't see much to choose between them --- in real life, or in the film.
This is the poorest film I've seen this year.