alanhurst Reviews

Elizabeth I (2005)

Very Disappointing

[3/10 · 12 September 2022]

Hate to take issue with all the eulogies here, elevating this film to greatness and praising Helen Mirren to the heavens, but we found this terminally tedious viewing. Admittedly, we watched it mainly for entertainment rather than to be wowed by Ms Mirren's stratospheric (apparently) acting skills, but we found the story sometimes desperately slow, the acting hysterically over the top in places, the historical accuracy more than slightly questionable, and the director's resort to unnecessarily gory execution scenes almost laughable.

Not a patch on Glenda Jackson's portrayal of Elizabeth I in terms of either acting skill or storytelling, and Cate Blanchett's Elizabeth R at least gripped the viewer as a pacey, involving and well-acted story, so much so that one forgave it it's historical inaccuracies.

So if you are someone who goes weak at the knees at idiosyncratic, over-the-top performances by big-name stars like Helen Mirren, by all means watch, enjoy, and write your lavish review.

But if you simply want to see a good story well told, well paced and competently acted, don't waste your time with this. Somehow it just seemed a bit 'emperor's new clothes' to us.

Battlestar Galactica (2004–2009)

Yawn-Inducing Plot Holes : Got Bored After One Series

[2/10 · 30 May 2021]

Watched on the recommendation of a friend and after looking at the iMDB ratings - so OK, it couldn't be too bad.

But a decent plot idea was, for me, rather spoiled by at times crawlingly slow pace, the irritating repetition of scenes we'd seen before, and some spectacularly tedious plot devices, most notably the blonde Cylon 'No 6' who kept appearing in scenes supposedly inside the wimpy and unconvincing scientist Gauis Balthar's head, and the fact that the scientific process he had developed for telling Cylon from human - and which one would have thought would have been a screaming priority for the entire colony from the President and Commander downwards? - seemed to be just a minor, unsupervised and low-priority add-on to the main action.

In the end I watched the first series but then decided that there were more rewarding things I could do with my time......

Ozark: One Way Out (2018) Season 2, Episode 7

Yawn, yawn, yawn.

[2/10 · 30 August 2020]

Many more episodes like this and we will revert to something more interesting. Like watching paint drying. Absolutely dreadful, drawn-out episode with two major figures acting out of character and the story slowing down to a snail's pace for the sake of what we presume was meant to be suspense - starting playing games on my iPad at one point while we waited for something to happen. Have enjoyed this series so far and do hope that the script writers aren't starting to run out of ideas, but we'll see......

Prison Break (2005–2017)

Tediously Overlong

[4/10 · 23 June 2020]

Good plot idea and would have made a good film; but as a series this is yawningly overlong, with all sorts of plot devices and other contrivances (like the repeated, and sometimes very implausible, contretemps between prisoners with a supposed common interest in escape) which are all clearly aimed at prolonging the story for just a bit longer.

Was determined to find out how the prison break went (if indeed it ever did?) so persevered until the end of series 1, but at some points got so fed up waiting for some meaningful plot development that we started watching half an episode at a time, switching to something more interesting when it became clear that an episode was going to be just another 'filler' to push the climax a bit further away. And as far as Season 2 and beyond goes - well, thanks, but no thanks.

Oh, and one clear downer: having the brother on 'death row' mixing with his fellow inmates so close to his execution date is serious unrealistic, 'cos this isn't allowed.

The acting is very good, so by all means watch it if you don't mind a lazy, meandering story and have nothing better to do with your time; but there are innumerable more pacey and absorbing dramas available to binge on. The Shawshank Redemption this isn't.

Quiz (2020)

Disappointingly Biased and Inaccurate.

[1/10 · 16 April 2020]

Found it hard to believe how one-sided this representation of the Ingram case was.

Heavily biased towards the defendants' side, to the point where we were left wondering what jury would ever have found them guilty on the court evidence as depicted here?

I can recall the original documentary and the damning evidence (none of which was, strangely, represented in this drama) of the Ingrams' attempted deception and would suggest, since this is still available to view on the internet, that anyone interested in the case watches it rather than this biased, soft-soapy nonsense.

Stranger Things (2016–2025)

One Season Was Enough......

[4/10 · 20 February 2020]

Watched Season 1 and decided that was enough.

Half decent plot, but executed at a desperately, crawlingly, S - L - O - W pace and with some good acting performances but too many downers, like the half-witted plot devices involving squabbling kids or bickering adolescents, not to mention Winona Ryder's hysterical overacting and an unhealthy reliance on jump cuts in the middle of suspenseful scenes - a bit like running up behind someone and shouting 'BOO!' - as a means of scaring the viewer.

Overall I found myself checking which episode I was on and looking at my watch wondering how long it would be before we got to something meaningful and, eventually, how much more of I was going to have to endure before I could switch to my next bingefest.

Seems, from the average review score, to have scored a hit with most viewers so by all means give it a go. Maybe I'm just getting too old.

Denial (II) (2016)

Absolutely Superb - Watch It And Judge For Yourself.....

[9/10 · 16 October 2019]

Very well written and executed account of David Irving's unsuccessful libel action against Deborah Lipstadt and Penguin books. All the more so for the fact that the court exchanges are acted out verbatim - as they actually happened.

Well presented, dramatic and thought-provoking. I could go on at length - as some reviewers, especially the more negative ones, have done - on detailed aspects of this film but would urge anyone reading this to just watch it and judge it for themselves.

Killing Eve (2018–2022)

Quickly Goes From Fascinating to Implausible to Ridiculous

[4/10 · 27 June 2019]

Starts off well: MI6 operative hunts psychopathic contract killer, with Jodie Comer particularly impressive as the latter. But then becomes increasingly unrealistic and hard to swallow as these two develop intimate, caring feelings for each other - something which is a bit difficult to believe in a psychopath, let alone a member of the supposedly cynical and hard-nosed intelligence community.

Add to this a somewhat tedious plot, in which each turn seems written more to prolong the plodding story line and justify another series rather than satisfy the viewer's desire for plot development and eventual denouement, and we decided that two series were quite enough for us: I guessed (based simply on what would be the most likely set-up for series three) how the final programme of series two was going to end before we actually got there.

Other aspects of the plot, such as the nature and involvement of 'The Twelve', are hinted at but little more - any meaningful revelations on this presumably being saved for series seven or thereabouts.

Worth watching just to see Jodie Comer's superb acting, but the first half of series one will satisfy that need. Just be warned that after that you may, like us, get bored waiting for something plausible and meaningful to happen, to the point where you almost stop caring what happens next.

John Le Carre this isn't.

Humans (2015–2018)

Interesting Idea, But......

[4/10 · 31 July 2018]

Potentially good plot, spoiled by a desperately slow story and a surfeit of wearingly one-dimensional characters. Scientist creates sentient robots, human-like in many ways, including the capacity to hate and to be prepared to use violence to eliminate those unlike themselves.

Will humans and these 'synths' be able to do something mankind has, on it's own, so far failed to do and come together, focus on their similarities rather than their differences, develop an understanding of what it means to be human, and formulate a meaningful future?

Currently halfway through series three and, frankly, getting bit fed up waiting to see where this is going: plot development is like trying to swim in treacle, with pretty much every move in a meaningful direction frustrated by a contrived and often over-dramatised counter development involving the same old characters with the same old hate-filled motives - particularly wearing in the case of certain of the synths, whose ability to think logically never seems to extend to an appreciation that an eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind?

Perhaps I do this series an injustice? Maybe I would be able to report on some believable and entertaining movement in the story if I just watched to the end of series three? Well, perhaps; I'm just not sure I can be bothered to.