Change Your Image
AllanWB
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
Salvation (2017)
Excellent and only brought down slightly by the second season.
I thought season one was excellent and for a number of reasons.
The stand off between the superpowers was ongoing and maybe a little transparent but then a third party was thrown into the mix closely followed by a fourth protagonist. That's when it started to get really good.
However the second season seemed as if they could have finished the story in six or seven episodes instead of the thirteen that it took. The long winded monologue type dialogue from say episode two of the second season began to get annoying but still the story rambled on.
I see that many people disliked the end. I loved it and honestly didn't see it coming at all.
An excellent series which was marred slightly by it's second and final season.
The Equalizer 3 (2023)
Should have stopped at No. 2
Just like John Wick 4 should have stopped at No. 3. The equalizer should have stopped at No. 2.
Denzel Washington is one of my favourite actors. I will go out of my way to watch one of his movies but this latest instalment of the franchise was so poor compared to the previous incarnations.
To start with I found it very slow going. It didn't captivate me as the previous two did. The characters were uninteresting. Even Denzel appeared only half interested. I can't put my finger on just what it was that made me not enjoy the movie.
Maybe it was the storyline. For me it didn't really have the oomph that the others did. It didn't seem to be going anywhere.
Maybe it was the script or the director or even that they should have knocked it on the head at No. 2.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Subspace Rhapsody (2023)
One of the best episodes so far.
Incredibly clever. Science Fiction as it should be.
This episode is what Star Trek is all about. Exploring Strange New Worlds.
Well, they boldly went and it was (for me anyway) a one hundred percent success. It was light hearted, amusing and definitely something that hadn't been done before and isn't that what the Star Trek premise is all about - "To Boldly Go"
I've seen the detractors comments and just don't agree. Why are some people so afraid of change or of trying something different. If Gene Roddenberry hadn't tried something different then none of us would be commenting on this episode.
A rock solid 10/10 for trying something different and for making it work incredibly well.
Hijack (2023)
Idris Elba deserves better ...
... why did he ever sign up for this.
I'm fully aware that it has a reasonably high score on IMDB but for me it's not going anywhere.
Four episodes in (that's all I've watched, so far) and I still don't know why the plane has been hijacked.
Some reviews say that Elba should be nominated for an award. I'm still on the fence with that one. He is one of my favourite actors but this TV series just doesn't do him justice.
For me it's too slow, too contrived and I almost always know what's going to happen next. A TV series with an "A" list actor such as Idris, should be exciting, different and engaging. Unfortunately, for me this is not the case.
Quarterback (2023)
Get rid of the wife's, girlfriends and hangers on ...
... and it would be an excellent series. I'm British but have been an avid football fan since channel 4 in the UK started broadcasting it way back in the early 80's.
The QB's in the series are without a doubt all great players and the series highlights that very well. However please, please get rid of the screaming wife's.
There was one instance in the first episode when Pat Mahomes wife was in the VIP box with some of her female friends. Pat threw a TD and the camera cut to the VIP box where his wife was going ballistic. Screaming and shouting and jumping up and down. Her friend (I assume she was her friend) started doing the same thing but only after she realised what had just happened. She was a millisecond late in jumping , and shouting and seemed to me that she only did it to impress Pat's wife. The whole thing then became so false.
Without the screaming wife I would have given it at least a 7 or 8.
John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023)
Maybe it's just me, but ...
... I am of the opinion that John Wick Chapter 4 is the longest and least likeable of the franchise. Well, it's definitely the longest at close to three hours and the least likeable for me for the following reasons:
The fight scenes are way too long and ludicrously staged. The CGI blood spray in the fight scenes is laughably amateurish as is some of the choreography.
John Wick is an assassin, a human being. He's not endowed with superpowers. He can't fly or leap tall buildings although you wouldn't know it after watching this 4th outing.
It's down to the director and the script. It must have been an easy pay day for the writer because there's hardly any dialogue. We get a few monosyllabic grunts from John Wick and then another idiotic poorly done fight scene.
I think JW5 should go back to basics. Sure, keep the fight scenes that made the franchise famous but at least cut them down a little.
War of the Worlds: The Attack (2023)
I tried, I really did ...
... but I just couldn't stick it out.
The acting was so-so but the story was a no-go, as were the special effects. Some of the special effects were so 1980's - think "War Games" with Matthew Broderick.
The writing and direction were so sub-par that a school production could have done much better.
Early on in the movie there's a scene in one of the lead characters mum's kitchen. It was probably one of the worst acted scenes I've ever seen in a main stream movie. It should have been cut and left on the cutting room floor. Actually it was so "wooden" it could have been cut with an axe.
I've given it a very generous 3/10.
Dark Encounter (2019)
If the first hours doesn't send you to sleep ....
.... then you're in for a treat.
If you can get past the cliché ridden, plagiarised, poorly acted, directed and written first 60 minutes then you´ll be pleased that you did. The first hour blatantly steals so much material from Close Encounters of The Third Kind and Contact that I was really surprised.
However the last 30 minutes or so more than make up for the previous 60 minutes off utter boredom.
I, for one am so glad that I stuck it out.
Star Trek: Picard (2020)
I was so loking forward to this show, but ....
... after 3 episodes I just can't take it any longer. What a mess, this isn't Star Trek. I don't know what this is but it isn't Star Trek.
UPDATE March 6th 2020
After forcing myself to watch further episodes I've now reduced my rating from 2 stars down to 1 and I really wish I could give it a Zero. I thought Discovery was bad but this rubbish makes Discovery shine.
Le chant du loup (2019)
Started off pretty good but .....
.... went downhill rapidly. It's not a bad movie but it's not a good movie either. Some of the acting was very mediocre, some of the CGI was dreadful and I completely lost the plot (literally) for the last thirty minutes as I couldn't figure out which submarine we were supposed to be on. All in all, an entertaining couple of hours - apart from the last thirty minutes.
The Conners (2018)
Made me laugh ...
... and isn't that what a comedy show is supposed to do. Roseanne was never my favourite character so I don't miss her like most people seem to.
First Light (2018)
Entertaining and very watchable
Apart from one or two glaring continuity errors this is a well produced, directed and acted movie. There are a few obvious holes in the plot but all in all an enjoyable movie. A solid 7/10.
Grand Prix Driver (2018)
Tell us something that we don't know ....
This four part documentary is basically a McLaren marketing ploy that lays the blame for the last three years fiasco clearly at the feet of Honda.
Four really abysmal twenty minute episodes that are clearly not aimed at F1 fans and didn't really tell me anything that I didn't already know.
It seems to me that after the ousting of Ron Dennis the team is now being administered by 'marketing managers' rather than racers. This cant be good for the worlds number one motor sport.
Dreadful, really, really dreadful.