Reviews

Crafts are having a moment and Tv channels have finally wisened up to their potential as reality-tv concepts. As someone who knows nothing about smithing, this show is fascinating. Unlike too much Tv around, there is little to no emphasis on the candidates' backgrounds and interactions, which is pleasent and allows more focus on the smithing itself. Every concept or technique is explained, and we can follow along nicely.

My only critiques would be regarding the judges, especially Doug Marcaida. He is dubbed a martial arts expert. That is very vague, what martial art? For how long? Where? To what level? All he does is make slashing motions when testing a blade, and grin when estimating whether or not a blade could kill.

Which brings be to my second critique. Like a lot of shows on the History channel, this is geared towards people with less formal education, and pretty specifically the white alt-right working class. The presenter is an ex-army guy with what passes for good looks, a lot of contestants fit the "neckbeard" stereotype and seem very proud of how much damage their work can do as opposed to their level of skill. The tests often involve realistic dummies that are designed to be gored realistically to everyone's joy. Is it necessary? Do many of us fight hordes of attackers in backalleys? A lot of the contestants seem to give little thought as to how their work is used and how they are promoting their profession, they prefer the machismo of bragging about belonging to the isreali forces, or how Conan the Barbarian, a cartoon character, inspires their work.

Still it is a great introduction to an ancient craft and maybe could inspire some to look it up further.

The only adjective that would fit this movie is ""cute"". This documentary tries to look into the appeal of transvestitism in Hollywood; while it is off to a good start it looses it's way towards the middle and ultimately fails to make a point. One of the major flaws I found was that it favours male-to-female cross-dressers, portraying them almost as ""heroic"" while gender-bending females only wear suits to get closer to power or fulfil a heterosexual male sexual fantasy. I find depressing to think that gender roles remain as strict as ever in the world of gender-bending, or rather in the seemingly tiny minds of the academic critics interviewed. These distinguished people drone on and on about common knowledge and all seem to agree, which makes for pretty bland information. Another issue with this movie is that it associates transvestites with homosexuality and transsexuality without admitting it. Or rather, it never clearly addresses the issue or tries to separate the three categories.. The actors interviewed are interesting but don't really get in depth about their experiences, and all that is left are details about brands of fishnets or high heels.. Tim Curry looks like he'd rather be dead than talk about RHPS again.

A total disgrace to the franchise. I don't care how Bond is filmed, this movie looked like an over-sleeked ad, with the light effects on the car and the monochrome palette but truth is: who cares? I didn't want a Wong Kar Wai art movie! I wanted Bond, and he's totally ridiculous here: he's in love (LE SIGH), he seeks revenge (SIGH AGAIN), he's dirty and never proper (blood-stained shirt under a tuxedo, who are you trying to impress?) and leaves a corpse in a dump. Olga Kurylenko is the only good thing to look at but she misses the flair and femininity of a bond girl in my opinion. I don't care for khakis and guns. Add to that the fact that Bond is...in Bolivia and Haiti!! Now I feel as if I were watching World vision: ruins!!! Everywhere!

Where is the glitz and the glamour? Why the hell would I watch (and enjoy watching) semi-formal receptions in ruinous hotels?

The movie is totally lifeless, the two small and supposedly humorous lines of the movie (""She's sea-sick and...yeah whatever) are delivered in the manner of a dead fish and sink the movie. Pitiful. Bond and M share no connection, which may have been the only movie-saviour.This movie is basically crass in a Tiffany box: colourful or colour-matching scenes to impress the viewer and make him forget about the lousy settings, the pointless roughness of the protagonist, the paper-thin dialogues and the overall lack of sophistication in the movie (I mean: a rape scene? Please..)"