iamthetopp's Reviews

Good Omens (2019– )

8/10

Quirky performances, good writing and well paced.

27 June 2019

Can an angel and demon stave off armageddon? Possibly, if they screw up enough things along the way.

Really enjoyed performances throughout. Tennant seemed to be channeling Bill Nighy as Billy Mack from Love Actually, and he did it with aplomb.

Six episodes felt like to proper length for the material.

I also think it is healthy that we can laugh at ourselves and even our faith.

5 out of 9 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Chernobyl (2019)

10/10

Incomparable

4 June 2019

No television show, movie or documentary has ever reached me the way Chernobyl has. Brilliant in every dark and beautiful aspect.

Normally when "Hollywood" and history meet, history is on the losing side. Not here. It is laid bare. In all it's humanity and all of human's defects and beastly nature. Though not void of liberties with some facts, history wins here. So does just a little bit of our humanity.

Thank you! Thank you all! Cast and crew.

10/10, awards to follow.

3 out of 5 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Jack Taylor: The Dramatist (2010)

Season 2, Episode 1

7/10

Another solid Jack Taylor installment

30 June 2013

Solid performances by Iain Glen, Nora-Jane and supporting cast carry The Dramatist.

Set several months after The Magdalena Martyrs with Jack experiencing sobriety for the first time in years, we get a closer and more personal look into his character as he is commissioned by a local professor to investigate a student's apparent suicide.

As the events unfold and suicide turns into a couple of homicides, we see a connection to Jack's past. Layers of Jack's character are further revealed as he deals with a close personal tragedy and confronts consequences of previous inebriate actions.

Yet again the world gets a peek into a rich Irish culture and history with the introduction of "Deidre of the Sorrows" by J. M. Synge.

16 out of 17 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Mitch Albom's for One More Day (2007 TV Movie)

5/10

Not Disappointed

9 December 2007

Not the best movie, but I don't think it pretends to be.

Michael Imperioli showed range as the lead character. It was good to see him as something other than a criminal/cop.

Ellen Burstyn was graceful and elegant in her "effortless" portrayal of Michael's mother (I say effortless because she makes if look so easy, not that it is).

My biggest problem with the movie came from what seemed to be gratuitous cuts to different time lines. To me it made the movie painfully choppy. The story/plot is not a complicated one, but the editing became increasingly irritating as the movie went on. For One More Day loosely reminds me of another movie that doesn't apologize for its sentimentality and uses of flashbacks to reveal its story, The Notebook. However, The Notebook makes effective use of flashbacks and knew where to draw the line.

I lost my father recently, and speak to my mother regularly. This is the kind of movie that reminds us how precious the little time we all have is, and how more valuable time with our family is. Cherish the moments before they're gone.

18 out of 22 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

The Siege (1998)

5/10

Promising start, doesn't deliver in the end

15 November 2007

Warning: Spoilers

This started out so promising, but devolved into a predictable fear mongering mess.

Zwick/Wright got so many details right, but once a political slant is unveiled, the performances became transparent and the ending was clichéd Hollywood nonsense.

Islamic extremism, FBI/CIA communication failures, terrorists on FBI watch lists entering the country on student visas, suspension of habeas corpus for "suspected" terrorists and of course rendition and torture of an American citizen that is suspected to be a terrorist. So many elements that in '98 must have seemed alien to the public are now widely understood in a post 9/11 U.S.

However, even after 9/11, posse comitatus has not been suspended, martial law has not been authorized (save Pakistan), internment camps for U.S. Muslim citizens have not been created or populated, and politicians of both parties, as well as major media outlets and a groundswell of opposition (activists, truthers and the ilk) to torture/police state/rollback of constitutional rights (as enumerated in the patriot act) have vowed to not let these things evolve to the extent that this movie portrays.

Thus my comment on the political slant that takes over the second half of this movie (I'm a centrist anti-partisan). The first half was good...then oh my.

Denzel's performance was fine, however his character became more and more self righteous and preachy as the movie went on. Bruce Willis was...OK, I guess...but his character went from reasonable to tyrannical in an unbelievable blink of an eye (key word - unbelievable). Tony Shalhoub was fantastic! No criticism here. Then there's Annette...ugh! Ughly character (ignorant CIA agent of course) ughly performance - did she pay somebody to get this roll? And finally the military, portrayed as bullying automatons with no conscience or soul...please haven't we had enough of troop bashing?

**Spoiler Ahead**

In the end...well, the self righteous wins out and Willis stands down, but at least Annette got shot ;-) I still recommend the movie for the first half, and as a commentary on how to avoid the second half.

1 out of 3 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

My Kingdom for a Cook (1943)

4/10

Placid Famliy Fodder - Featuring Venerable Charles Coburn

10 January 2007

The year is 1943, and as Robert Osborne of TCM candidly pointed out prior to the beginning of this movie last night, there were few leading men available for boilerplate cinematic products like this one.

It's not a bad "bad" movie, it is certainly not offensive. There's just nothing working for the movie other than the effortless performance of Charles Coburn.

Charles won an academy award for a movie filmed about the same time (Best supporting actor - The More the Merrier 1943) and appeared in a total of six movies released in '43.

If you happen to be looking for a soft and warm family comedy with Mr. Coburn, I would recommend, one of my overall favorites, The Devil and Miss Jones, or the above mentioned The More the Merrier (both also star the delightful Jean Arthur).

I recommend this movie only for those who don't want to have to think during a movie, are having trouble sleeping, or don't want to be disturbed while doing their crossword puzzle. It's a good "bad" movie.

4/10

4 out of 6 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

iamthetopp

Reviews

Tell Your Friends

Recently Viewed