Reviews

I'm late to this, having just found out how good Korean television is, but I couldn't pass on the opportunity to leave a review and express my love for this series. It blew me away, broke my heart and healed it again, all in 16 fantastic episodes. I'll miss it, will miss the characters, but I'm sure I'll think about them often.

It has everything, literally everything. Writing, acting, directing, cinematography, all sublime. The theme of healing through kindness is so uplifting. The difficulty of the lives of all these characters does not detract from the beauty of the message. You'll be rooting for all of them to find happiness and while they don't necessarily get the all American happy endings, they all end up in a better place, and at peace. I loved, loved loved it.

On a final note, RIP Lee Sun-kyun. An amazing actor who gave an outstanding performance and so didn't deserve what happened to him. Some of his scenes in this broke me.

I'll start by saying that if you've watched the first two episodes and are wondering how the hell this can stand with Band of Brothers and The Pacific, I'd say keep with it because as ordinary as the first couple of episodes are, the last couple are amazing and justify sticking with it.

Controversially, I enjoyed The Pacific slightly more than Band of Brothers, though both are brilliant. Masters of the Air is, I'd say, the weakest of the three but still very much worth watching. The last few episodes are worthy of a 9 rating. I gave it an 8 because of how slow the series was to get going and also because there were a few cheesy lines/moments that I think detracted from the show.

The ending had me in floods of tears and even though this isn't as good as its two predecessors, I'm thankful to have learned of the heroics of these amazing people and grateful their stories are still being told.

This really didn't seem like it would be my sort of thing at all so I'm late to watching it and I went in with zero expectation given the 6.4 rating.

It was one of those days though. Time to fill and not wanting anything that would involve either engaging my brain or worrying about how crappy the world is right now.

I have to say, this was perfect. A really sweet distraction from all the awful things around us. Were parts of it reenacted? Possibly. Does it detract from the story? No! Shame on you cold dead-hearted cynics marking it down. Everyone's an influencer now, but I felt positively influenced after watching this and don't we all need a bit of that. Wishing Matt & Khani all the happiness in the world.

So I watched season 1, loved it & rated it a 9. Watched the beyond excellent season 2, and had to increase my rating to a 10. This show is really THAT good.

I didn't think Succession could possibly be rivalled in 2023, but The Bear gives it a run for its money. Which show is going to get all the awards? I honestly don't know.

The acting isn't even acting. It's like nothing I've seen before, it's so real. Kudos to the actors but also the directors. All those close up shots, the pain, the angst. Family disfunction & the trauma of mental illness laid bare. Wow! Just wow!

Hats off to every single performer, but special mention to Jamie Leigh Curtis in the Seven Fish episode. I couldn't take my eyes off her. Riveting. And cousin (Richie)... Who wasn't rooting for him on his journey in season 2? I had a lump in my throat during every scene he was in. Amazing.

Finally, I have to mention the writing. It's perfection. On a par with the writing on Succession. I just love this show & cannot wait for season 3.

... that a disservice was done to this story by painting all the Germans bar one as unhinged psychopaths. It wasn't necessary. Pantomime villains are nowhere near as frightening as the everyday guy who turns out to be capable of the worst cruelty. The banality of evil, as written about by Hannah Arendt surely elicits more fear/loathing in the audience?

Moving on, I wanted to love this but by the time I'd finished it, I only liked it and I think my score of 8 is a little generous. It could & should have been better, which is a little frustrating given the money thrown at the CGI, which was great by the way.

Some of the acting, apart from the two leads, who were fantastic, was, shall we say, sub-optimal. I cringed at some of the dialogue and let's not mention the accents (Mark Ruffalo, what was going on with yours?). As for the final scenes on the beach, it would have made more sense had Hugh Laurie not previously delivered the monologue about it being worth his entire family dying for, curse or no curse.

Is it worth watching? Yes. Dont set yourself up for watching a masterpiece, or it being anywhere close to as good as the book though as you'll likely be disappointed.

This is beautifully made and equally beautifully acted television. If you suffer with a poor attention span this might not be for you, but if you love a slow-burn character driven piece then give this a chance.

Sigourney Weaver, as you'd expect, is magnificent as June, a woman with demons, on the face of it, cold, stubborn and unlovable but with a story of resilience and a deep desire to do right.

The rest of the cast give good performances, but the revelation is the little girl who plays a young Alice. Wow! What a superstar in the making.

I loved this and it definitely deserves a wider audience than it seems to be getting.

A masterpiece. I'm still shaken & processing what I've just seen 24 hours after watching it & I'm going to have to watch it again to fully take it all in. It was THAT good, and that 27 minute single take scene! How? I mean, just how? I'm gobsmacked.

Phenomenal acting, the best writing, and superb directing to get those performances from the entire cast. Kudos to Jeremy Strong, Sarah Snook & Keiran Culkin as they give lifetime best & award winning performances but let's not forget that every single supporting character in this episode was superb. I don't think this hour of television will ever be bettered.

The first 6 episodes were great. Good storyline, great acting, plenty suspense. All set up for a storming ending, but what a disappointment. We were left shaking our heads & asking each other "Is that it?" and indeed that was it.

Prior to the final episode, this was a solid 8, possibly even a 9, if I'd have been feeling generous. I've decided to give it a 7, and that's mainly for the performances of Jeff Bridges & John Lithgow. Hate being disappointed by poor endings.

I laughed, I cried, but mostly I just loved this beautiful, touching and heartfelt documentary. There's not much else that needs saying. Just watch it and fall in love with Tata & Miguel.

I fully enjoyed this show, even the monologues, especially the monologues. What is it with people's attention spans nowadays? It's thought provoking and the acting is top notch, especially Zach Gilford who played vulnerable so well. Ignore the bad reviews and just enjoy it for what it is, an intelligent drama with religion as a theme and satisfying undertones of horror.

... and boy do we need those. Justin Tinerlake is great but Ryder Allen steals the film. He's adorable and to think he was 7 when this was shot. Remarkable. What a superstar.

....why on why was the script so corny? The film deserved better than some of the quite laughable lines they had the poor actors deliver.

Such a wonderful piece of cinema, and it's all kinds of annoying that films of such quality get so little attention or promotion.

Perfectly pitched acting performances & beautifully filmed. It's a treasure of a film.

I'm not at all into climbing, or heights, but this documentary is about way more than what you may think the subject matter is.

Determination, friendship, resilience, and so many admirable qualities that make this documentary so watchable and so enjoyable.

Well worth a watch.

I'll watch almost anything that has Omar Sy in it, but I genuinely have no idea why he signed up for this. Presumably he agreed before he'd read the script. If you're happy to have a storyline that insults your intelligence then this is for you. That said, it is an easy watch and Sy is excellent as always.

Beautifully paced, wonderfully acted & genuinely moving drama of the highest quality. The two lead actresses give performances worthy of all the awards & the supporting cast is brilliant also. Yet another gem of a television series from Spain.

If I were French I'd take to the streets to demand Darren Star & Lily Collins be banned from ever entering the country again. 3 of the stars are for the lovely shots of Paris, which tells you how bad this is.

I stuck with the first series, and needed to, as some of the acting & bits of the script were dire, but I'm glad I did as the second & third series were great & very much improved on both scores, though you really do need to suspend belief with a couple of the storylines.

Kelly Reilly steals every scene she's in & is the standout of the show, though Kevin Costner gives her a run for her money.

All in all, it's very watchable and if you like GoT, Succession & The Sopranos to see feuding families ripping each other to pieces, then you'll like this

I didn't expect a great deal when I sat down to watch this, but had a spare hour & I love horror films, so I thought I'd give it a shot. I'm so glad I did. The suspense builds really well during the film & while there's little blood & gore, it certainly delivers on a psychological level, in a similar way to the first Blair Witch film. So if you liked that, you'll like this.

... but it did nothing for me. The performances were fantastic, especially that of Jonathan Pryce, and it had some interesting moments & lovely scenery, but I felt almost nothing while watching it, or after. It just left me feeling flat with not a lot to say about it.

Just came across this accidentally while browsing on Netflix & put it on as a background watch while online. My husband and I however, had put our phones down within minutes and were totally absorbed in the stories of lovely people with aspergers attempting to find love & their incredible families.

We laughed. We cried. We were totally invested in every story & watched the whole series that evening. It's just wonderful & a perfect antidote to the horrible world out there. Just do yourself a favour & watch it.

This was a decent film based on a story I didn't really know and it should have been really good. Sadly some cheesy scriptwriting let it down. The only acting performance I didn't like was Keira Knightley's, and she's normally great, but that may be because she was given some awful lines to deliver. I'm not sure any actress could have made them believable to be fair to her. So... pondered giving this an 8, but decided on a 7.

This is an excellent drama, heartbreaking, intense & beautifully acted by the whole cast. I'd no idea how it could only have a rating of 7 till I realised those who have no sympathy for the plight of refugees had been maliciously low-scoring it. Ignore them & watch this for it tells a story we should all be witness to.

Well done to all involved.