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pippa_smith
Reviews
Kin (2021)
Keep your friends close, but you enemies closer
Why the backstabbing, corrupt, murderous villains who are the (forcefully) close family protagonists hold such a strong emotional hold on me I can't explain. Everything they do from drug taking, worse still trafficking, money laundering and indiscriminate shooting resulting in collateral damage I find abhorrent, so why did I invest concern for some, not all, of them? The differences to the way the males and females strategise and deal with confrontation is marked. A couple of plot holes (says the arm chair expert!). It wouldn't matter where in the western world this was located, the story would be similar. Pleased to read there is a Season 3 because the unaddressed plot lines would have frustrated me left at the end of Season 2 which came with a jolt. You can't choose your family.
The Diplomat (2023)
Why so patronising?
Take many US productions with a US protangist (politician, lawyer, socialite or in this case a field agent turned ambassador) and plop them into Britain and a patronising tone and conversation ensues. Sterotypical casting of a pixie like assistant, a straight-laced house manager and a goofy or inefficient 2IC being part of the team.
The location shooting was lovely. The ensemble cast good. The story however, has a few holes eg POTUS dropping in at the last minute, unannounced!
Keri Russell was fine as the impromptu ambassador with a devil may care attitude and tom boy swagger but the attempt of making her look ill-prepared and not groomed for the role shouldn't have needed the hairstyle of a preschooler having a bad day with a pair of scissors.
This is possibly one of the only performances by Rufus Sewell that I have enjoyed. His calculating maneuvers come across as being done in the shadows, without too much arrogance being displayed. Either way, the activities were implausible and illegal.
Other characters made you like and want to throw darts at them as the need arose.
Spencer (2021)
What was the purpose of this film?
Spencer appeared to be the unravelling of a fairy story. Not based on fact or true events. However, actors were playing well known, internationally recognised people, using their real names. Situations were contrived and stilted. Slim fragments of truth as headlined in the tabloids, to this day, provide fodder for the casual thinker of more than a decade of issues for this problemed woman squashed into one weekend. For the uninitiated viewer, they might believe that all this happened!
Kristen was good at her impersonation but not graceful in her movements and awkward in her delivery.
Lovely costumes, impressive German manor house and fascinating, fly on the wall scenes of the upper class and below the stairs.
Harry & Meghan: The Complete Story (2022)
Lacking in Substance
The Good -
No expense spared in production value; climatic and dramatic music; lovely diffused photography; attractive camera angles
The Bad -
Historical inaccuracies; a revision of lifetime personal events; poorly performed re-enactments; contrived dialogue; reality TV set up of videoed events of private moments
The Ugly -
The ultimate smulchy dribble about a couple who have tried to weave in world wide historical events and social issues to use as an excuse as to why they act as they do.
Like an expensive, glossy magazine; a sugary drink or a flat beer the shows leave you unsatisfied.
Cheers to the outstanding cast members; them and they!
Swimming Upstream (2003)
Only the strongest can swim against the current
Swimming Upstream is not a typical macho sporting flick - you will be forced to think.
The movie will effect all your senses and may expose skeletons from the cupboard, normally remained locked away for years and years.
The capturing of the intense Queensland light, searing heat and crystal clear water is set against the contrast of the struggle of the family members.
Disregard the sport and the period the film portrays and relate the same story to your own or other's family relationships - the story is all too close to home.