Reviews

A lot of patience is required for this crime drama. Long episodes in a long season. Our hero, Sarah Lund goes a-hunting for a white whale with red herrings as bait, but it all comes off a bit fishy.

For the first ten episodes we're constantly fed this will she or won't she move to Sweden thread, but we KNOW the main character is not going to abandon the case with more than half of the series to run!

The political games from Town Hall are interesting at times, but in the end are completely irrelevant to the murder?

The grieving parents are brilliantly acted, but episode to episode I bounced from sympathizing to disliking.

Sarah Lund comes across as bloody minded and determined, dressed for a Christmas dinner and chewing on her thoughts... Staring into the middle distance and waiting for an intuitive clue to solve the case, after half a dozen disasters she gets it!

I found the music a bit campy and distracting. If this is Nordic Noir how about some low chords to build the tension? The music says melodrama, not drama.

I liked the various stories. The effects of a murder on the family, how politicians try to use tragedy for political gain, a female cop in a male dominated force... Any would make a nice (mini) series. But trying to knit them all together proved too hard. Instead of a beanie we got a tea cosy.

That said, I'll probably put the kettle on and try season 2. I am able to binge it for free, not sure I would have stuck with it week to week when it was released.

My favourite Law and Order. It must be one of the first tv shows to poach a Hollywood star. D'Onofrio's Goren made the show, but his partner, captain and ADA were all well done too.

Unfortunately season six starts with a shock. Besides new cast members (by now it had been done many times) we get new camera work, which can seem like daytime soap operas. And the music takes a distracting turn, in the fourth episode we get a chase scene with 70's music. Groan. By the start of season seven I just had to laugh.

There's still good episodes, but more forgettable ones too. It was always such an intimate and small cast, so choosing to switch more than one at a time hurts it. The old Captain and ADA are missed. Goldblum comes in strong in season eight, but by then he's needed to quirk up another stale cop show.

But those first five seasons are brilliant and worth revisiting. I liked the fact the personal lives of all was understated and not driving the show (in the first five seasons!). The Goren/Eames relationship is brilliantly done, subtle but strong, much like Mulder and Scully. There was plenty about Goren that was hard to believe, his intellect, interests, skills, history and empathy... But it was New York in the early 2000's, impossible things could happen.

I cannot say I'm a dyed in the wool Wes Anderson fan. Loved Rushmore, liked the Tenenbaums, didn't mind others.

The all star cast left me wondering if this movie needed a cast of nobodies to do it justice? The characters themselves are brilliant, I liked almost all of them and their autistic style (my son is autistic, so I'm not having a go there). But an A list cast clocking on for ten minutes fell flat.

The movie didn't bother breaking the fourth wall, it built a doorway which I constantly leant against. Making getting into it a challenge.

Was it an exploration of grief, or technology, or the meaning of movies/plays/life? In the end I had difficulty thinking as the movie just kept up a steady stream of monotone questions and ended with a cultish chant that I just didn't feel.

Perhaps this film is a deliberate puzzle, or magic eye piece, into which you have to stare through before some beautiful moment of clarity appears.

But I'd have to watch it again to discover it.

I didn't realise till three quarters in that this was supposed to be a comedy! (When Cooper went all Forrest Gump on his superior) The few laughs I'd had till then had been me laughing AT the movie. Especially the dancing.

Unfortunately because I was waiting for a dramatic bloodbath I perhaps missed a few more jokes. I also disliked all the characters, which was building up to make the bloodbath worthwhile. After my realisation I still had doubts, hoping for a chest to explode till the final scene.

Knowing it's a comedy now, I'm sure if I watched it again I might appreciate the comedic range of all those serious actors. But given I only discovered the plot (or point) when the twist showed up at the end... Meh.

I still heart Huckabees though.

Great house. Nice neighbourhood. Has a boathouse! She has a sexy overbite and he a sexy torso. Bargain! However...

After the fourth or fifth jump scare I was numb to the rest. For a short movie they really jammed them in, but most were pointless. (As a device to stop falling asleep watching wood chopping: it works)

Casting Ryan Reynolds as the 'putty in malevolent hands' was a good idea, but I just didn't buy it. If he was able to be a bit funny early on it may have helped. Instead he went from wooden to splintered.

All attempts to give the story some depth felt disjointed, then the history of the house was almost farcical. No, not built on a graveyard... No, not built on an old lunatic asylum... No, not just the house another American flipped out in and grabbed his gun... Oh wait, I think it was the second one. Pity it wasn't a pet cemetery, then Harry may have got some vengeance.

It's a good late night tv movie. But definitely a renovators delight... Maybe the next remake?

After ten minutes I got nervous. Any film that wanders into Manson territory will do that to me. Then Cliff picked a fight with Bruce Lee (perhaps unfairly portrayed, but to a purpose). I suddenly had a glimmer of hope that the ending may be "basterdized". Thankfully it was. There was still a twinge of sadness as the credits rolled and I remembered the true history. But when the dog food flew I practically cheered!

I've since watched the film a few more times and actually enjoyed the story of Rick, the actor struggling to stay relevant and his stuntman Cliff. But the ending gets me smiling every time. Proof that serial killers can be made fun of, if you have the courage (or clout) to do so.

I rather shamefully admit I always enjoy this show when it pops up on the cooking channel. It looks beautiful, Rick's recipes are easily adaptable and delicious and there is enough tranquil scenes to make you wish you had the cash for such an adventure.

There is a theme with almost every ex-pat Rick meets on the journey however. On the last episode it hits you on the face; They are incredibly insufferable and love to chit chat and somehow have many negative things to say despite they're idyllic lives. Even Rick is a bit off in the last episode, lashing out at Van Gogh then gushing over an unknown bull fighter before drinking his fish soup.

I understand nobody's perfect, but if they could have edited out 'the insufferables' complaining, the show could have left an optimistic glow, like a sunny morning on a French canal?

So if you want some inspiration for some delicious french food, or french holiday. Spare yourself the last episode and enjoy...

And don't be English.