Reviews

Imagine being one of the most maligned writers to ever a helm a TV show that has run almost consistently for nearly 60 years. Imagine creating one of the most criticised and disliked season of a pop culture titan that has been contributed to by hundreds upon hundreds of writers across thousands of pieces of media. Imagine that then, after that, you decide to disregard the entire past 57 years of TV, hundreds of books and even more audio stories with no tact or sense of continuity or reason so you can brand your mediocre name onto a once perfectly written story and lore for no reason. Chibnall, why? I've been watching this show for as long as I can remember and this nearly made me give up on it, I had to go back and watch older, better episodes to reignite my passion for it. Dear god retcon this insane, sloppy, embarrassing piece of media and bring back the old lore, it was so much better. I'd take time's champion any day over this.

I watched Utopia only recently, after hearing bits and pieces around the internet about Utopia as this lost masterpiece sullied by its American remake, and so I began to look for it. I was pleased to discover it on my BritBox subscription, and so I proceeded to watch both of its two seasons, my take away? This is one of the best shows ever put to screen.

Never has a show felt more real, and raw than Utopia, exploring how your everyday person would react wrapped up in a conspiracy thriller usually populated with highly trained police officers or people knee deep in the seedy under belly of L. A., or London, or New York or wherever it takes place. These characters are the sort of person that would work two cubicles down from you in an office building, actual people with actual emotions and not just one singular trait that takes over their entire personality. Not only this, but the show's excellent use of ultra-violence, a much detested trope in these dramas which include "shock value" for no particular reason than what it says on the tin, is amazing, being extreme enough to feel chaotic and horrifying but infrequent enough to not be overwhelming.

Plus, the writing put forward by Dennis Kelly, the show's creator, rivals some of the titans of TV (e.g. Game of Thrones). As stated before, the characters are incredibly relatable and likeable, including ones that aren't. A character, who at the start of the series commits a school shooting, comes off as one of the most empathetically wrote characters ever who you will in a strange way love by the end of your viewing. Not only this, but there are multiple twists and subversion of expectations in every episode; this ranges from character you think will be one of the main leads just dying suddenly without it feeling like a copout to massive reveals that come out of the blue yet are completely believable and have been teased throughout the season if you know where to look.

Another quick note is the score put forward by composer Cristobal Tapia de Veer, which makes very single track a rememberable masterpiece unlike most TV shows, where usually only the main title is remembered.

If you like violent, twisty-turny conspiracy thrillers then this just might be the best one to ever air, although I haven't seen many great shows, so don't be annoyed if you find another one better. But still, take my advice, watch Utopia.

I watched Creep as I fancied a quick horror just after watch Sinister (2012) and saw that it was on Netflix. I had heard that it was alright so I decided to put it on and wow was I surprised.

The story follows Aaron, a freelance photographer who is hired by a dying man named Josef who wants him to film him for a day so he has something to leave behind for his unborn son, Buddy. But, the moment Josef is introduced, we know that he has some sort of ulterior motive.

The performance of Mark Duplass as Josef and director Patrick Brice as Aaron is outstanding and excel in a scene halfway through the movie, which I won't spoil but it's so incredibly disturbing that I could barely sleep that night. I really don't know why more people don't talk about this film because although it is short, it is absolutely terrifying and you would not regret watching it.

I want to start this review by saying that it is not for everyone. There are scenes of incredibly disturbing violence and uncomfortable actions committed by Robert de Niro's character.

So, the story follows Sam Bowden, a lawyer with an idyllic home life who, 14 years ago, his client was rapist Max Cady who has just been released from jail and is now hellbent on destroying Bowden's life.

Easily the best thing about this movie is Max Cady, played expertly by the forever legendary Robert de Niro. He's so uncomfortable to watch as the things he does seems inhuman and horrifying, he really gets under your skin and it's only added to by the impeccable acting. By the way, to anyone who's watched the black and white version with Robert Mitchum, this is one hundred times more intense. Hell there's a rape scene in this that is so incredibly disturbing because you don't see anything, well, you do see Robert de Niro rip a girl's cheek off with his bare teeth but other than that, it's left to your imagination.

The film is absolutely phenomenal and is well worth a watch if you can take that but it is very full on. There are some incredibly tense and exciting scenes in this, especially the final scene in the titular lake and its a dizzying ride that is a marvel of writing and acting.

Warning: There is a scene around the middle with Max Cady and Bowden's daughter that is the most uncomfortable thing you will ever watch and it truly gets under your skin, so be cautious.

This movie is terrible, bad lighting, bad acting, Martin Scorsese randomly being in it for some reason and it being god awful. Christ, this movie had pop culture references that were outdated before it came out. This movie's biggest sin though, is the main character, played by a perfectly good actor - Will Smith. Seriously, this gut lies to everyone, cares about no-one but himself, takes a family air loom from a friend that was given to him out of the kindness of her heart so he could pay of his debt but then he bets it on a horse race because he over hears some random person say that the race is rigged. You don't want to watch the film because you don't care. Also, this movie cost £75 million dollars and it looks ugly as all hell and they didn't properly light some of the shots. It is a massive skid mark on the trousers of Dreamworks.

I watched the first episode of this and I have absolutely no desire of ever returning to it. Everything felt a bit like padding and there was no actual treasure hunts until the end in a place called Hendrick's lake. But the worst part is that it didn't have a bloody ending. They all got excited over what they think could be a wagon full of silver at the bottom of this lake, saw irregular shapes on a solar scan and a diver found a part of a wagon wheel but they couldn't investigate further because a random storm suddenly happened that apparently they knew about before but didn't mention. And then, it ended. They literally said they'd go back in a couple days but no, there was absolutely no resolution. They didn't even just pull up a bit of junk, there was nothing to close it off. It was just like, oh, we can't do it today? Okay, I guess we end the show then. I really don't recommend watching this, just watch something better. There are probably better things exactly like this on the history channel, so watch those.