Reviews

This is one of the best TV series of its kind. Most spy stories are far-fetched tales of brave heroes who single-handedly save the planet from villains ready the blow up the whole world, and of course they do it all by themselves, by sleeping with beautiful women, jumping from 50 metre tall buildings, killing an army of villains with just one revolver, etc etc etc - think of the 007 and the Mission Impossible movies, for example.

This is way more realistic. Of course there are some holes in the plot, but in general this TV series tends to be about team work by a group of ordinary people who happen to work for MI5, and whose work, in fact, takes its toll on their private lives. The actors of this TV series will plant bugs in a house, try to infiltrate terrorist cells, do intelligence work etc all to stop the villain in each episode, but it is all quite realistic: there isn't a computer analyst that can retrieve everyone's school records from 50 years ago in 10 seconds, like in Criminal Minds, nor unrealistic heroes of the kind played by Sean Connery, Tom Cruise, etc. Nonetheless, or, actually, because of this, the stories are never banal and, in fact, most episodes are mini-thrillers: you think you figured it all out but only in the last ten minutes do you realise that you, in fact, hadn't.

Another aspect I really appreciated is that it doesn't try to portrait security services as the 'good guys' against the 'bad guys' who simply 'hate us for our freedoms'. In many episodes of the show, for example, the motives of the villains are related to things like war atrocities committed by Britain and by Nato. You will hardly find any of that in American shows. Take '24', for example: that show is all about 'us' vs 'them', about how the end justifies the means, and about how it is right to torture prisoners, etc. Spooks is entirely different, which is one of the many reasons it is one of the best TV series of its kind, ever.

This is the typical movie you must say you like if you want to show off how intellectual, cool and sophisticated you really are. What starts off as a potentially gripping thriller (a woman survives a car crash but suffers from amnesia) turns out to be, in fact, one of the most pathetic, boring and pointless films of all times. The rhythm is slower than pet turtles running for the gold medal. And the plot? There really is none. The story is full of pointless characters who add nothing to the story. The plot is open to interpretations, but even what is considered to be the most likely plot is extremely blurred and unclear. One of the movies I hated the most of all times. If I could, I would sue the director for damages: I want two hours of my life back!

PS Even if you liked it, please do not define this a thriller: it is not.

Very funny Neapolitan comedy. The plot is witty and original, and the trio Salemme, Casagrande and Buccirosso is at its best. The comedy's only limitation is that it all revolves around the city of Naples (the largest city in Southern Italy and the 3rd in the country): its dialect, its traditions, its sense of humour. Most of the jokes would be hard to grasp for Italians from other parts of the country, let alone for foreigners. In other words, if you don't find this funny, please try to understand that most of the lines are untranslatable: most jokes seem indeed stupid and make little sense when translated into English, but let me assure you they are quite witty in the original version.

This is the most disappointing movie Quentin Tarantino has evere made; don't get me wrong, I love his films (I deem Pulp Fiction and Reservoir dogs to be absolute masterpieces) but this one... The first half of the film is not that bad, but then it degrades into a B-movie with plenty of pointless violence that just doesn't fit there. And those poor fx... I almost get the impression that, after shooting the first half of the movie, the budget was cut... And they even made a sequel!!!!