Change Your Image
sukhideol
Reviews
Obsession (2023)
Awful
Two very dull people are sleeping together and they have the chemistry of a damp towel. I don't know what this awfully put together drama was trying to achieve. It does not have the finesse of an art house drama or the thrill of a tense thriller.
I thought 30/40 minute episodes would be an easy watch, but I struggled to get through them any of them.
I didn't warm to any character, quite frankly I was hoping for a black hole to appear and for every single character be sucked into it. Unfortunately that never happens.
I'm shocked that Netflix gave this the green light, perhaps on paper it sounded good, but the execution was terrible.
Berlin Syndrome (2017)
Boring with very little impact
I didn't enjoy this film. The concept is good, but the delivery was not. It's slow paced and could have easily edited 20 minutes off.
There were a couple of other things that bugged me.
At one point it is implied that Andi is a germaphobe, but his apartment is filthy. There is hair in the plughole from the previous girl he kept captured and her fingernail clippings under the bed. So I didn't understand why they made him a germaphobe because it didn't add anything to the story.
Then there is Clare, who has been held captive for weeks, possibly months. Her nails are filthy and her hair is a mess, but she somehow manages to maintain her armpit hair. It reminded me of those 1980's American teen movies were we were to believe that the female geek of the school was just that because she wore her hair in a ponytail and glasses.
I understand these are minor points, but it makes the movie come across as pretentious and badly executed.
Enlightened (2011)
Great Show
This show was not advertised in the UK, so I stumbled on this by accident and I'm so glad that I did. It is up there as a favourite now.
This show reminds me of Nurse Jackie, another great show, where it allows you to judge whether you think the characters are right/wrong or good/bad - they are not telling you what to think of the characters.
The cast is also great, both Laura Dern and Diane Ladd are fantastic as usual. I'm so pleased they have chosen to do TV because in recent years films have not taken notice of their great talents. Luke Wilson is the best I've ever seen him act. I love the motley crew of people she works with - great acting all round.
Also a TV show where a person actually does a full time job without the job being the main premise of the show.
The Slap (2011)
Great acting
I have never read the book, so I watching not knowing what to expect. I thought the acting was great. I'd seen a few of the actors in films over the years (George, Okonedo and LaPaglia), but it was the ones I had never seen before that drew me in (namely, Essie Davis, Lowe and Blake Davis).
The thing I liked most about this drama is that it is never 'in your face', like the racism for example, people make a few racist 'views' rather then full on racist words, so it's all very under lining which often happens in real life. An abortion takes place, but the actual abortion is not the point and whether it is right or wrong, it just give you an insight into the character and what she is about.
As a brit my only taste of Australian TV has been fluffy shows like Neighbours/Home & Away so it was great to see some real drama coming from Australia.