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jdswinburne
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Reviews
Red Rose (2022)
A triumph
The best young cast I've seen in forever, a joyful representation of Bolton and the North in general, fantastic and clever directing, with an interesting storyline that's kept me coming back for more.
It's just felt great to see young talent brought together to create something special that truly stands out from everything else. Other directors should look to this and learn how to 'break through' the din of other, more 'average' productions.
The soundtrack pure nostalgia, with some great cover versions thrown in; the choral version of Barbie Girl is now in my music library.
The whole thing feels so fresh and just beautifully done. Why can't all new TV be like this!
Married at First Sight Australia (2015)
This is a 9/10 for perfect trash telly
We all know it's edited, we know it's hammed up, but for the world of reality TV, it's on the high quality end. The different stages are enjoyable in different stages.
Whenever something happens where you feel like a participant needs to be called out on poor behaviour, the experts do it, and they do it brilliantly.
Minor criticism, I think they should speed up the pre-wedding section, it's less interesting than the ensuing drama.
Defending Jacob (2020)
Drags on and disappointing ending
The production values and acting are good, but this series is simply too long and plods on without much excitement for too many episodes. I also found the ending extremely disappointing.
The Comey Rule (2020)
Fantastic portrayal
Watching here from the UK; excellent acting, great editing and interesting cinematography. Whether it's true or not is irrelevant to this review: if you like political dramas, you'll enjoy this.
Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
Absolutely delivers.
What a phenomenal conclusion to Star Wars. Ticked every box: great pace, perfect dose of action, drama, storyline, comedy, in fact made me laugh AND cry, and the hit all the nostalgia notes it needed to. This is how you end a saga as historic as Star Wars.
Top 10 Secrets and Mysteries (2016)
Produced for neurotic people
I'm really not comfortable with this 'documentary' - it asserts all these odd beliefs without offering balance, e.g. an expert explaining what scientific consensus is, or a representative from a state government being accused of some cover-up.
It's for this reason that I think it's deliberately targeted at neurotic people; those who are essentially vulnerable and worry about the truth of the world around them.
I genuinely think this programme could exacerbate issues for vulnerable people and therefore there's ethical questions about how its content in various places
Informer (2018)
Final episode disappoints
Ah. It was all going so well. Slick production, interesting storyline, great acting. But the final episode: the person that did it, I didn't feel the 'why' enough as I wanted to AND when the main character is told, they do the whole "filming the conversation through the window" thing. COP OUT!
That conversation was an opportunity for raw emotion, for the climax of both those characters' choices to be laid in front of them. I wanted to know how it would be worded, what the response would be. It felt like a huge let down to an otherwise brilliant drama.