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Reviews
NCIS: Hawai'i: Nurture (2022)
Just here to offset the crappy one star reviews.
I get that some people won't like a given television show, but to give it a low rating AND go to the trouble of writing a review I would've thought they could put in a modicum of actual effort and write some sort of review that has substance and isn't just a general rant without anything worth reading that actually explains the issues with this particular episode or the show in general.
And it was nice to see Bronson Pinchot in front of a camera again.
If you made it this far, I hope you got more out of this review than you might've by reading the one-star reviews. If not, consider yourself trolled... I guess. ¯\_(o,o)_/¯
Houses with History (2021)
Not too bad.
The presenters are a tad quirky, but it's not overdone as with so many shows these days. The show is a bit light in the actual work of restoration/renovation but still works well. The quality of the product (the homes) seems to be top notch. I will say I hope they don't have Jonathan Knight of Farmhouse Fixer back, his show, and his on camera presence is less than pleasurable experience and I couldn't watch his show at all. I was really disappointed to see him and the cheesy "NKOTB" jokes make an appearance on this show.
The Last Duel (2021)
Marginally better than mediocre
Apart from Matt Damon's less than stellar acting as a 14th century French night, which harkened back to Kevin Costner's portrayal of Robin Hood in Prince of Thieves, the way in which the story was presented was a hard slog to follow. The costuming wasn't bad, but those jousting helms... It's as if the writers and armorers were utterly clueless as to why people in the Middle Ages and before developed coats of arms and the associated livery. One was clearly wearing red, the other blue, yet for the actors' vanity (I presume) someone decided to throw hundred of years of martial knowledge and weapons and armor advancement out the window and create helms with half the face exposed, for jousting no less. I read somewhere that Damon/Affleck felt the "tin can" armor was too heavy and restrictive for the foot position of the duel that followed the unhorsing of each, yet merely a cursory internet search shows that armor of the late 14th century had not yet developed to such an advanced state as to reminder a man unhorsed to even rise from the ground. Setting aside my own experience wearing armor and fighting, and the time I've spent researching such things, I'm baffled as to why it's so behind the pale for writers and directors to do the least bit of research as to make such things in historical films at least marginally correct.
Mediocre storytelling and bad armoring aside the combat scenes were well choreographed and filmed, and while I can imagine this could be hard for some women to see the story of one's rape retold three times in violent scenes I fear the fight scenes and decent wardrobe and scenery weren't enough to rate this any better than a solid Meh+. Definitely not Damon's and Affleck's best work, though Jodie Comer drives home a stellar performance as the most aggrieved Marguerite de Carrouges. I feel she alone warrants 6-stars, the others should strive to do better, in my most humble of opinions...
The Ice Road (2021)
Bull Run? More like Bull Sh&%...
Ok, thin plot line aside, and ignoring that this isn't nearly Liam Neeson's best work, there are plenty of glaring issues with one's suspension of disbelief. Now, I may not know a lot about trucking, and I know even less about trucking on ice roads, but I know this- you simply can't flip 2 semis, on ice, with no other equipment save for those same 2 semis. I also know once you've righted them, there's sure to be plenty of damage to the sides what was laid down upon, yet there we go truckin' along shortly afterward with nary a scratch in 'em and by golly the mirrors didn't even get broken. And sure, you can just hitch a winch to a truck and tug her right back into the ice, and if'n ya gotta a trailer half off a cliff, why just unhitch it and use that winch (didn't it get brown off trying to pull the red cab outta that ice a few scenes back?) and tug that trailer back onto the road, a road far too narrow for two trucks yet there they sit, side by side.
Sure did blast them miners out awful quick at the end too... My "Bull Run" meter was pegged the whole way through and I can hardly believe I stuck with it. Whomever thought this movie was good oughta have their head checked, I think they're suffering the same TBI as Gurdy. RIP to my good man Gurdy too, perhaps the best acting in the whole film and he dies right before the goal line? His death served no purpose whatsoever. Crying shame.
Sniper: Ghost Shooter (2016)
Meh...
It's a shame that some decent actors were duped into this sub-par film full of so many bad clichés and a nonexistent storyline. From a sniper rolling down a mountain side never loosing his rifle before popping up and making a/w a dozen long shots with said rifle, as though the glass hadn't been knocked off in any way, to the oh so tired "you should see the other guy" line this movie fails to deliver on all fronts. Not the worst film I've ever had the displeasure of watching, but damn close.