tommaguzzi Reviews

Give Them Wings (2021)

A Gritty north east drama until the last act

[4/10 · 7 May 2024]

I read the book Flipper's side so I knew the story well enough. More than half of that book is about the author's adventures following Darlington Fc home and away, season after season and to be honest is a pretty dry read, mentioning various matches, who scored and what the results were. Content which is understandably barely scratched at in this film which concentrates mainly on the struggles of a disabled man trying to overcome the trials of having an unloving father who all but abandoned him, a mother who suffered a stroke, trying get a job, his relationship with his mother's female carer and one of his multiple suicide attempts. The film also omits huge portions of his complex family from his mother's 2 marrages.

The cast are very good especially Toyah as his mother and the settings are also seem very real.

I can accept these ommisions, what I can't understand is how the film descended into outright fantasy in the last act and how everybody ended up playing happy families. It wasn't in the book and I seriously doubt two people one of them disabled and still in a wheelchair could use a single home made hang glider, fly it to Darlington stadium, land outside the ground where all the main characters just happen to be watching the match run outside for a group hug.

This feel good fantasy ending spoils all that went before and ruined the film for me.

Hot Skull (2022)

Better than anything out of Hollywood these days

[8/10 · 22 December 2023]

This is a breath of fresh air. A series which just tells a story without pushing any agenda. The characters and sets are totally believable, the producers have created a real world populated with people who I could emphasise with and will certainly care if and when they get killed later on.

There are some plot holes ( like no one has a real job apart from shopkeeper, security guard or government police ) in the premis but which Sci fi apocalypse story doesn't. The environments are suitability dystopian without the biker- drug lord gangs trope. There are no 110 pound female girl bosses kicking 220 men trough walls. This world is very real and very grim. I haven't finished the series yet but it truly hope it's high standard will continue. I will edit this review later if anything changes.

Ted Lasso (2020–2023)

Very very overated

[2/10 · 13 October 2021]

This is not a comedy, it's really about football, it is just a series of scenes which end up with setpiece feelgood speeches.

The premise is absolutely ridiculous, unqualified people including the kit man are not allowed to coach top level football. Even if they were the players would hound them out.

I stayed with it for series 1 but I am out now, they couldn't help themselves and the anti male and Sjw virtue signaling adjenda while always present, has become a full blown storm in series 2 making it just another unwatchable soap.

Siren (II) (2013)

Not too bad

[6/10 · 6 October 2021]

An unusual plot performed by competent actors spoiled only by the contrived ending, which doesn't hold up in the light of day.

It is still worth watching and gets a solid 6 stars from me.

The Blackout (2019)

Better than anything Hollywood makes these days

[9/10 · 10 May 2021]

Excellent Sci fi action. A little bit long maybe but a great story, nice effects when needed and a cast of what looks1000s of extras. No woke B. S. is a welcome change. Russian movies are the way go.

Chad (2021–2024)

Trash

[1/10 · 2 May 2021]

Hiring a teenage boy to play a teenager might have helped but I doubt it.

Is this a real life "Springtime for Hitler" plot by the producers?

Life (I) (2017)

Good looking stupidity.

[3/10 · 26 March 2021]

There nothing much I can add which has not been said.

It looks fantastic, zero g effects are outstanding. The plot idea is ok the execution is terrible. 20 minutes in the supposed highly trained scientist astronauts turn into stupid people doing stupid things I gave up 1 hour and 15 minutes when the stupidity became intolerable. Reading other reviews has told me I saved myself from losing even more brain cells by missing the idiotic ending. 3 stars for the visuals.

The Watch (2020–2021)

Terrible

[1/10 · 24 March 2021]

How anyone could make a Discworld series this bad defies all logic. But the BBC are not what they once were and not content with destroying Dr Who they have moved on to crush Terry Pratchett's work under the iron boot of woke dogma. This show is rated 5.2 it has to be artificially enhanced. Do not waste your life with this mess.

Janapar (2012)

Very overrated

[2/10 · 17 March 2021]

This is a mix and match YouTube blog it is not a proper film so how it found its way onto Amazon prime I have no idea. The scenery and cycling shots are nothing special and have been done better100s of times before. The editing / continuity is terrible. I had to rewatch part of before I realised that the first rider who was with a girl was not the one with the girl that this film is supposedly about. One minute he is in Africa with maleria next shot he is in a flat with a girl in Armeina. No explanation, no background how they met, its all over the place. He sets off again alone but is pining for her at the top of the first mountain and turns back, he arrives to a locked door, again no explanation what happed. Later they set off continuing his world tour together but only get as far as Iran and arrive at her parent's home. They unsuprisingly veto her. He carries on alone, gets as far as Yemen sleeps on a beach and rides back to Iran. They get married, no build up no explanation just the ceremony. They arrive at what looks like his wealthy parent's house in England, no explanation how or why. The end. 2 stars for the occasional nice scenery don't waste your time.

Sintel (2010)

An excellent short animation

[7/10 · 3 February 2021]

This is a top quality animated film and i don't want to leave any spoilers. Just watch it and you won't be disappointed. If I had to make one small criticism it would be that the girl didn't appear to get any older, if they had made her age gradually through the quest maybe added the tattoos as she gets older changed her features and body shape slightly, hair colour ect it would have made the ending much more poinient.

G-Loc (2020)

Could have been so much better

[3/10 · 2 February 2021]

A low budget scifi which borrows some ideas from the expanse. The 2 main characters are equally unlikeable and constantly make stupid decisions, the villan looks too much like the male lead and it was hard to tell who was who during the fight scenes. The acting was average at best, the sets were probably borrowed from somewhere else but cgi was fairly good. When the best character is an animated stick man there is a problem. All in all 3 stars mainly for the cgi.

Shockwave: Darkside (2014)

A steaming pile or dog doo

[1/10 · 2 February 2021]

Do not waste your a minute of your life on this. Its not even so bad its funny. He cardboard acting matching the cardboard space suits sums this thing up perfectly. A total waste of time. 1 star because I can't give it less.

Daylight's End (2016)

Generic zombie vamp post apocalypse film

[4/10 · 4 January 2021]

You will think you have seen this before because it copies ideas from every other film in the genre. Less well. The combat is repetitive, gets boring so quickly I used Amazon 10sec FF all the time during the prolonged action scenes. All the usual characters are present. Strong silent loner, Hottish female lead Wise old veteran, punk biker gangs ect, every trope in these films, they are all there. The plot is laughingly bad, nothing makes sense, the survivors have made a home in a police station/prison full of steel doors and rooms with barred windows yet no one thinks to close and lock them when the vamps break in. They could trap them, ambush them, fire bomb, electricute, UV light them. But no, they run upstairs, down corridors never closing a door and blast away until all ammo used up and then use knives until the vamps catch and kill them, except the loner/hero of course. Survivors make an idiotic plan to escape using scavenged vehicles to travel to aircraft abandoned for years then just and fly off to somewhere supposedly safer. They get a running vehicle but then hero/loner besides getting all his red shirt allies killed in a needless attack on vamp central leads them all back to the prison, vamps chasing him down the street in Broad Daylight without burning up, which is exactly what happens to their leader 15 minutes later when said hero lures it outside to kill it. Then it ends. No explanation no idea if the survivors make it. They still look like they are trying for the aircraft but now the vamps leader is dead there should be no reason, since hero/loner said once lead vamp is dead the other vamps will no longer be a threat. loner/hero drives off after getting half the survivors killed, leaves them to it and thats it. I made it to the end so a generous 4 stars for average acting, decent locations and post apocalypse feel.

Hell on Wheels (2011–2016)

No one is safe

[10/10 · 16 November 2020]

All reviews pre end of season 2 are void.

Honestly I had to go outside. I grabbed a bottle of beer from the fridge and just stood in the garden. I have not been affected like this since I saw KES when I was just a lad.