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neilanosim
Reviews
The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst (2015)
Incredible. You must see this.
I'm not one for hyperbole. I'm not one for 'best eva' nonsense. But after almost half a century on this planet, I developed a taste for documentaries. On a personal level, there is no better crime documentary than Morris's 'The thin blue line', but 'The Jinx' is not a movie, it's a series.
I watched this after the massively overrated so called 'whodunit' 'Making a murderer' (he did it, obviously!). I was blown away. I think the last time a documentary series dragged me in like this was with 'The Staircase'. Is this better than that? i would say, 'yes' ,but only just.
This will have you on the end of your seat. I watched this with a few friends one night and I've never heard a room go so quiet once it got going. It will utterly absorb you. We planned on watching one episode but ended up watching the whole series in one go until 3.am. With work the next morning no less! Whilst I do not recommend that, I recommend getting hold of a copy and watching it.
But make sure you start in the afternoon, because you won't be able to wait for the next part. For me, the master of understatement, I would say that I can't think of a better documentary series than this.
The Punisher (2017)
Are the reviewers on here high or something?
First of all, let me thank one of the reviewers here for giving me one of the biggest laughs I've had in years by saying that the lead's performance was that of an emerging Robert De Niro, which would be around 'Taxi Driver' time. The lead is wooden. A poor actor. Which is why he's starring in a poor action TV drama.
I've seen the movie (the more recent one) and I thought that was actually not too bad. This TV show? Garbage. We've got a (sort of) superhero who wants to open up with his feelings. Bless. You'll get to see countless minutes of him moaning about his life and dreaming of his dead family. He goes to therapy too. What superhero needs therapy?
This poor show fills its time with lots of action and fighting. A few car chases here and there. A lot of political correctness too. White Christians evil , remember kids? A lesbian character with a sexist, racist boss, all the usual nonsense we've got used to. The boss is a white guy, of course.
Yes, this show is for the braindead, I'm afraid. If you like 'punch, punch, bang, bang' and have the attention span of a goldfish, then this show will be right up your alley.
The score of 9 on here is an insult to the universe itself.
Rubbish unless you like guns, fights and whinging superheroes in therapy
Mindhunter (2017)
True crime mixed with fiction. And it works!
I've only managed to see the first four episodes so far, but I'm really impressed. It oozes class, and you can see it has Fincher's stamp all over it. Set in the 1970s, the dialogue (particularly the bar scene in episode one) can be a little shaky at times, but overall the show has an excellent script.
Without wanting to sound like a prude, it does seem to have a few overly graphic sex-scenes (between the lead and his girlfriend). They just don't seem to be relevant though, and are merely a distraction. All the characters are great, but I'm not sold on the lead's girlfriend. It seems like she's only there for the sex scenes, although her studies help the lead to get into the killers' minds at times. Or so he believes, but that is the point of the show. If there is no obvious 'why' then how can a detective find the 'who'? The leads start to interview well known serial killers (real ones, played by actors of course) and I have found this to be the most interesting part of the series so far. We also keep seeing clips of a very well known serial killer (Dennis Raider, I believe) before he goes on a kill spree.
Overall, a well acted series combining elements of criminology, psychology and sociology. It also blends fact with fiction. I recommend this to fans of serial killer documentaries and movies such as 'Seven', 'Zodiac', and of 'The Silence of the Lambs.' Excellent.
The Disappearance of Maura Murray (2017)
Better than expected.
I had only a brief idea of this case, but the premise of this mystery interested me enough to watch this show. The show is fairly low budget, but a professional job is done by all involved. Production wise, think of Leah Remini's recent documentary on Scientology.
There are a few 'leaps of faith' made by the main investigative journalist, but this case is just one of those where you perhaps have to do this, if you wish to solve it.
I have my own theories too, but no matter which one I try to use to fit this story, I still manage to come up with questions and things that don't make sense. Credit must also be given for the scientific investigative methods used, such as driving the route and establishing time-lines. And also a test done on the car, with regards to something found stuffed in the exhaust pipe. The makers also managed to get interviews with those closest to the case, including Maura's family, eyewitnesses and the police.
You may come up with more questions than answers when watching this, but at least it does appear to help 'lessen the load' with regards to red herrings and blind alleys. It also opened my eyes as to the rather (at times) cruel word of 'web sleuths'.
I am a fan of crime documentaries, and although this is not 'The Thin blue Line' or 'The Jinx', it is well worth watching.
Recommended.
The State (2017)
An insult of one's intelligence.
This mini-series has received a lot of criticism, with good reason it appears after my viewing of this abomination. You can all argue the toss abut how 'evil' the west may or not be, but surely even the extreme leftist, Komminsky, could not make light of ISIS recruits and their motives? Komminsky wants us to believe that British citizens who went out to Syria in 2015 to fight for ISIS were simply misguided as to ISIS's actions. Of course, in 2015 and in the year or two leading up to this, the whole planet watched the news with horror at the mass beheadings on the beach, of the aid workers beheaded live on social media, of the people burned alive in cages and of the (mostly Yazidi) children sold into sex slavery after having their fathers and brothers slaughtered in front of them. We all knew this.
Is Komminsky really trying to tell us that ISIS recruits were not salivating over the thought of beheading non-believers? Did he really expect us to swallow that a Yazidi sex-slave would be saved by a disillusioned ISIS fighter? Really? What a horrifying and disgusting way to address the treatment of the Yazidis under ISIS. This is not a good way to treat such horrors. If you are female, imagine if it were you being passed around by filthy ISIS thugs like a piece of meat after having your family killed in front of you. And imagine then, if one of your nations most popular TV stations made a drama on such things and had an ISIS thug as some kind of anti-rape superhero? It's disgusting.
Not only that, Komminsky manages to pull at the heart strings and lingers for some time at the aftermath of a missile strike on a baby hospital. Yes, a baby hospital. Most of them in incubators, so really sick babies too. Komminksy lingers on babies under rubble and baby body parts all over the place. However, with ISIS's atrocities, he offers nothing like the scale of graphic horror.
Komminksy has pushed the boundaries for some time, but with this, he has over stepped the mark. I asked if Komminksy expected people to swallow his nonsense that ISIS are all happy-clappy, intelligent and generally lovely guys and girls who were duped into joining. Sadly, I know quite a few head in the sand liberals who will buy this hook, line and sinker.
Disgusting.
Prison Break (2005)
Prison Poop
Being one of those who watched the original series, I too was looking rather forward to this show. Although the show had become a shadow of its former self during season 4, many had hopes that this show would return to former glories.
However, if like me, you can't really remember everything that happened back in 2009 and prior to this, then the first episode will have you saying, 'What the heck is going on?' So, I would recommend at least reading the 'plot so far' online somewhere or even watching the first 4 seasons again.
The show itself is not worth the current 9.3 on here. That, frankly, is a joke. As is this new season, sadly. The first episode (SPOILER ALERT!!) has a guy saying he is on a 'jihad' and that this is a good thing. Our hero agrees. A gang of ISIS type loons bump into our heroes and although everyone in town seems to have an AK47, these jihadis don't! A bike chain is what they seem to bring with them. Yep, this show is a bad 1980s video game, with some really tacky lines and ridiculous situations.
Overall, this show started going badly downhill in season 3, and this effort to rescue it is a a failure. It seems the liberal agenda has got hold of this show too and turned it into a 50% politically correct mess, and 50% Double Dragon video game from 1987.
Poor. However, stick around and you just might get to see our heroes being rescued by some trans gendered terrorists who've seen the light, and go on to beat up ISIS all by themselves with a shoe.
The Fall (2013)
A missed opportunity due to misandry, plot holes and slow pacing
Atmospheric it may be, but after a promising start to this drama, 'The Fall' descended into chaos for a variety of reasons.
The premise is that a serial killer (a sexual sadist with a penchant for strangulation) is on the loose and a rather cold feminist cop is on his trail. The first season sees some excellent episodes, that must be said. The acting is also pretty good throughout, although GA's 'throaty/whispering' voice grates a bit after a while.
However, as the show develops, one started to notice that all the male characters are either; murderers, rapists, paedophiles, wife-beaters, adulterers or alcoholics. Oh, and sexists, of course. For three seasons! Not one 'normal' bloke, it seems. However, all the women are great. It did get a bit tiresome.
Next up, some huge plot holes. In Season 3, the killer (a massively violent and physically strong psychopath) is allowed to be interviewed and walk around a 'psyche unit' without cuffs or any security whatsoever. Really? Add to that, the countless times the suspect is in full view of the cops (with all the evidence needed to arrest him in hand)and it does become rather silly. The pace of the show is overly pedestrian, too.
As for the the female lead (the'genius cop'), she watches the killer turn his car around 50 yards in front of her on a tiny dead-end country road and says nothing to the umpteen police offices standing nearby. Just takes his license number! While he is the most wanted man in the country! In real life,the lot of them would jump in their cars, call for the roads to be blocked ahead of them and get the helicopter out! As for end, it was a real let down.
A missed opportunity. It could've been great.
And IMDb's spellchecker recognises 'misogyny' but not 'misandry'. Strange times we live in.