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prhayhurst
Reviews
The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live (2024)
A Proper Walking Dead Spin Off
From the first episode this has the feel of TWD, up until season 6 or 7 anyway.
All the components are there, the story and the characters are on point, and the feeling you get while watching was the same excitement as the original.
Unlike the other spin offs, this has been carefully thought about and written with the general viewer in mind, and not just trying to adhere to the comics, and keep those viewers happy, so it seems to me.
This has produced an excellent show, which I will watch after I have rewatched TWD, unlike the other spin offs, which were OK but forgettable, and didn't feel like TWD, Darryl came close, but being set in France, and the overall feel was it's downfall.
Star Trek: Picard: Surrender (2023)
The best episode yet
I thought the first season was quite bad, especially the end, with an awful story running through it, although it had the odd episode that was ok. It really seemed like it was written by someone who knew nothing about Picard, or had even seen TNG.
The second was slightly better and more watchable, they sat down and watched a couple of TNG episodes before thinking up the story me thinks. Still, it wasn't what it should be, considering Patrick Stewart is getting on, you'd think they'd have given him better.
This season however, especially this episode is quite amazing.
Getting the whole TNG cast back, watching things pan out, seeing them all sit round the table again, just gives you goose bumps.
The story is just like a double episode of old, it's got that Trek feel to it, unlike the other seasons, and unlike some other ST shows that have been made.
Some moan about "fan service" I think, when it comes to a franchise that involves characters from an old show that people love and enjoy, you have to, and must, cater to them.
Trying to build a new audience on an established character(s) from the past without acknowledging fans of the original is ridiculous, you get, pretty much, season one!
The Terminal List (2022)
Has a story and not woke! Please read if you care to.
I've read other reviews from here, some praising, others not.
If you want from a series or a movie, a lot of racial, gender and lgbt+ pandering and no story, just go to Netflix or most other streaming sites.
If however, like most people on the planet, you think most people should all be treated equally, and NOT be singled out for any reason, watch shows like this.
Why do most shows and movies concentrate on the buzz word of the moment (in this case, several) because it sells.
Unfortunately for them, it is the minority of people (facebook, twitter etc) that makes it seem like it is the majority, that makes them feel they can do this, as well as Hollywood, which is a law unto itself.
This series is a revelation, as it has done well, been well received, and has ruffled the feathers of those on high!
This is well acted, paced, not in bad light (I suppose depending on the tv you have) and I guess, those who dislike Chris Pratt for no reason what so ever, really need to give their head a wobble!
Dexter: New Blood: Sins of the Father (2022)
What do people want!
I thought the ending was very well done, well rounded, all areas tied off and the characters sorted out, unlike the original ending, which I also didn't mind FYI.
In this day of the Twiiter and social media age, people seem to think they have the perfect end to every show, unfortunately for them, and luckily for the rest of us, they are not employed as writers!
You cannot make everyone happy, there are always some that think they know what should happen, I think Dexter dying and Harrison taking his mantle is a great way to end.
They didn't like how it ended last time...boo hoo, now they have a proper ending, and still not happy!
I roll my eyes!
No Time to Die (2021)
A decent Bond
I left it a while before watching this, mainly due to the fact I concentrated on the negative reviews it received.
After watching it, I have to say it is a pretty good Bond film, with all the trimmings.
I feel the reason for this is, I went in with the feeling it would be quite awful, no high expectations, and as is often the case with movies, once you think they are going to disappoint, or even have no opinion at all, that's when they turn out to be great.
It is a bit long, and certain scenes are longer than they should be, but it doesn't matter, neither does the plot, which is pretty much typical Bond.
Having watched and enjoyed all the films many times, there are a few ropey ones in there, but it doesn't matter, because they are fun, as this is, and this plot is much better than some.
My one complaint, he should not have died, every other film carries on after an actor leaves and it makes no difference, though in this case it will.
No idea how they'll do it.
So watch it and leave any expectations at the door, it made it better for me.
Attack of the Hollywood Clichés! (2021)
Good for movie clichés, not the woke clichés
Half of this was enjoyable, and half wasn't.
Rob Lowe was a good presenter, very tongue in cheek with every category, and has charisma in spades.
The movie clichés were fun, the woke "clichés", and those brought in to talk about them were not.
You could see those who were there to talk about clichés in general, and those who were there just to say their piece about certain "clichés" and get their viewpoint across, as you could feel their heart rate rise and their excitement grow!
Netflix cannot make anything without an agenda, not a movie, show, or, as it seems, a light and entertaining documentary!!
It's worth a watch if you have a spare hour, if you're like me though, expect a lot of eye rolling in certain places.
Loki (2021)
Quite enjoyed it
After Falcon & the Winter Soldier I was a bit wary about watching this, as that really didn't grab me, and the story was awful, but at least this had a major character in to carry it so I gave it a go.
I'm glad I did, as it had all the Loki charm and wit you'd expect, though there are plenty, especially in the final episode, of chat, so much so in episode 6 from He who sits behind a desk, that I tended to tone him out, hearing the adult sounds you hear in Charlie Brown.
I did think watching the show, the TVA is what the world is going to become, when all those woke nutcases get in power, anyone that has an even slightly differing opinion will be pruned lol.
The Tomorrow War (2021)
Great action adventure sci-fi
It's not often these days, you get to sit down and enjoy a movie that is pure entertainment as this is, without any wokeness or political agenda, it's like a breath of fresh air.
Yes they touch on climate change a bit, but it's for the story not to make a point, it's how film's should be made, enjoyable.
It's a rip roaring, action packed ride, great acting, humour and brilliant CGI.
It reminded me of Starship Troopers in places, great fun to watch.
Nobody (2021)
The pseudo intellectuals are panning another movie on here I see.
I very much enjoyed this film, I had seen the trailer and thought it may be good, after watching it, it was better than I thought.
Don't be taken in by the low reviews, they happen on most films of this genre that have a high body count and are fast paced, you'd think they sit down thinking they were watching a Shakespeare adaption, or a movie based on true events.
I can only conclude it either offends their eyes (poor little angels) or their brain (they think) is far too powerful to enjoy such a film, in which case, why watch it in the first place?
Bob Odenkirk seems like a normal fella leading a boring mundane life, until he is burgled, then, after he decides to track down the burglars, all hell breaks loose.
We find he isn't just a normal guy after all, which I loved, unlike others that play this kind of role, where you would expect a bit of a past by the way they look, you don't with Bob, he is slight and average, which, if your going to be a government assassin, must be a plus.
Plenty of old school action and bodies to match, with a very good soundtrack too.
The plot is simple but good, the script is on point and has dark humour throughout which is a nice touch as well.
Highly enjoyable.
World War II in Colour (2009)
Extremely enjoyed this
Very good watching, not as good or in depth as The World at War, but seeing it in colour is superb, and the narration by Robert Powell is great, although he isn't Laurence Olivier.
There are a few things that irk, they seem to gloss over how brutal some people were, the Japanese for one, and Stalin another, as he was worse than Hitler, though, as I said, this is really not that kind of in depth documentary.
Others on here have stated, this seems to swing the way of Britain winning the war, well, if Britain were to have surrendered in 1940 when Hitler wanted us to, not only would the Nazis have control of our armed forces, as well as our colonies armed forces too, which meant they would have been able to defeat Russia.
The whole of Europe would have then been Nazi, and America would have to fight Japan and the Nazi force!
Food for thought.
Vikings: New Beginnings (2019)
I loved it, balloon or no balloon
I'm not a student of ancient history, or even geography, so misplaced facts here or there do not detract from my enjoyment of this series.
If a show (or film) tinkers with historical facts in order to make it fit in with things (as they have always done), fine.
If they do it in order to try and change historical facts, or for political reasons, absolutely not fine!
On the other hand, the balloon incident was above and beyond, still enjoyed it though.
Honest Thief (2020)
Easy on the eye and brain
It makes a change these days, to watch a film that isn't promoting some kind of agenda in one form or another, ruining what could be a good film by hitting you in the face with what they think you should be thinking.
This is a simple, if somewhat unbelievable story, of a successful bank robber of 10 years, who falls head over heals, and decides to give himself up to the FBI in the name of love, and honesty, only to be double crossed by a couple of agents.
Some hokey lines are OK, as it's fast paced, with great action scene's.
Quite an old fashioned movie, put your brain on hold, and enjoy.
The Lost Pirate Kingdom (2021)
Nicely done, Extremely enjoyable.
I really enjoyed that.
It is well acted and the experts are a joy to listen to, very informative, as well as the narration by Derek Jacobi.
Seeing as it's all real, as real as we know, I quite liked finding out how all that started, and finding out about pirates I've heard of, very interesting.
There were a couple of places where a judgemental tone was used by an expert, when describing what happened, this shouldn't happen, it's historical, your just describing how it was, not projecting this societies views on those times, still, it didn't detract.
It does make me want to watch Black Sails again, almost the same just with fictional characters, added to the real ones here, and the situations the same, just a bit different.
The Mandalorian: Chapter 16: The Rescue (2020)
Well, amazing!
What can you say, it was perfect, a Star Wars fans dream come true.
Everything you would want, everything the new movies failed in, everything accomplished in one episode.
So many other comments have said it, but it had the feel of the original Star Wars, as has the whole series, but this one had Luke!
Luke in full jedi mode, absolutely brilliant, along with R2D2 as well, superb.
The Mandalorian: Chapter 10: The Passenger (2020)
Superb episode, some people have been spoilt!
Everything about this episode was amazing.
Acting, CGI mixed with practical effects and the music. A lot of thought went into making this, as has the rest of the series, which makes this highly watchable and entertaining, as it was meant to be.
The problem comes with some viewers of the show, who want a continual advancement of the plot, which is how most, if not all modern series are these days, and that has spoilt them as they cannot enjoy how old shows used to be (which I'm sure Fraveau was going for here)
Each episode was self contained, and had a separate adventure in each, which you always looked forward to.
Yes, there was a plot of some sort, but that mostly got a couple of episodes a season to progress it, (until the end of the series).
Why certain people feel the need to rate this so low, only for the fact that it doesn't progress the plot, is quite frankly, pathetic.
The Gentlemen (2019)
Guy Ritchie back to his best
After Lock Stock and Snatch, this ranks up there, almost with those, not quite reaching those high peaks, mainly because his directing style was new, now we're quite used to it, but it's a welcome reversion back to a London gangster scene.
Shot as you would expect, quick edits, slow mo, superbly shot, excellent script with humour, violence, swearing, a decent plot and great acting, mainly from Colin Farrell and, surprisingly, Hugh Grant, who steals every scene he is in.
One bit made me laugh, mainly because I know the area,
"Where's he from?"
"The posh part of Croydon"
"There is no posh part of Croydon!"
So funny and oh so true hehe.
Obviously he can't make these kind of films constantly, but I'll settle for one every several years or so.
I look forward to his filmaking style, I like the fact that you know there's going to be plenty of non pc humour along with the action, blood n guts and a lot of bad language as well.
Bad Boys for Life (2020)
I roll my eyes at the neigh sayers
I honestly thought before I watched this, it's probably going to either look, feel or be different in some way, or the plot would be awful, things along those lines.
So when I did watch it, I was pleasantly surprised, as it's done very much the same way as the first two.
It has the same feel, filmed the same way, which you see straight from the beginning, music is the same, plenty of wise cracks and violence and even Smith and Lawrence' chemistry still works.
The plot isn't too bad, it's not The Godfather, but you don't watch these films for an engrossing storyline, it's an action film, and that's what you get, as you did in the first two.
A very enjoyable watch, with a touch of sentimentality.
Rambo: Last Blood (2019)
If you are a Rambo fan, you'll love it, unless of course...
...you are a pseudo intellectual, that scrutinises everything in a movie in order to pick holes in it, in which case, don't be watching any of the Rambo films, in fact, stick to high brow movies, preferably ones with subtitles, that concentrate on the meaning of ones true existence!
This is a rip roaring, revenge packed action thriller.
Put your brain on hold, as you have to do watching any of these kind of films, and enjoy, it's not that hard.
The plot is simple, the violence is fantastic, the blood and guts, although most comes in the last 10 mins, is awesome, and you get an aged Rambo being, well, Rambo for the last time, supposedly.
A welcome edition to the box set.
Rambo III (1988)
Not as good as the first two, but worth a watch
I went to see this at the cinema in 88' as I was old enough, the previous two i saw first on pirate videos.
It was fun then as it is now, more bloody and more action, and it has humour as well. Also, very well made, you can see where the money was spent.
Didn't really seem like a proper Rambo film though, in the desert fighting for some Afghanis against the commies, and not for his country. Yes it's for his friend, but your meant to think he is willing to die for a bunch of people that he's had a quick weird game of polo with.
Watching it now in 2020, you tend to think, shame he just didn't find Bin Laden and kill him along with everyone else lol.
If you get past the fact of who he is defending, and what they went on to become and do, it's not that bad, it's always good to kick a rusky commies behind.
They shouldn't have been there in the first place, and if they had never been there, history may have been different.
The Old Guard (2020)
Issues issues issues
I am sure in a few years or so, there will be a rebellion of sorts against these sort of SJW and woke movies, shoving their agenda down your throat, in a similar form as happened at the end of the 90's early 2000's, when offensively funny movies became very popular, off the back of a lot of PC censorship and activism happening.
Until then, we are left to endure stuff like this, female centric, gay couple, white bad guy, men subservient to woman, etc, tons of woke tick boxes that happens i almost every movie and tv show these days.
The action was quite good but the story was awful, as so many have said.
One thing early on, when everyone at her base realises the girl (Nile) isn't dead and her wound has healed, why on earth do they start treating her as an outcast? I thought, being American, they should be quite godly, and thought it was a miracle, not bannish her like Conner bleeding MacLeod! I was expecting one of them to say, she's got the devil in her lol
Speaking of which, this is no Highlander, oh no, not endearing or rewatchable.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: The Totally Excellent Adventures of Mack and the D (2020)
Loved the episode, a great homage to the 80's
It is nice to see the writers have a place in their hearts for the movies and TV of the 80's.
This episode was rammed with references to those shows and films, and filmed in such a way that really brought back memories, and made me chuckle.
Robots that anyone can run or walk away from (but don't as per any 80's sci fi movie) killing people, characters using clichés left right and centre, the obligatory gore fest, computers being used for unbelievable reasons (who knows, they may do that, that's what we thought in the 80's!) and more.
It was such fun to watch, and well put together by someone who knows what they're doing.
Of course some of the lesser reviews are by younger people who just won't get it, or people who have no sense of nostalgia, but for me, and people like me who remember the 80's or others who like watching things from that time, I'm sure they'll love it.
Anna (2019)
A good film almost ruined by errors with tech
I enjoy a good film set in the recent past, and I don't mind a couple of inaccuracies with a couple of things, it's bound to happen. Though when a film is set between 1985 and 1990, you would have thought whoever made it would've done their research so much better than this.
From a laptop with windows on, mid to late 90's mobile phones being used by most characters, and hd cctv to tiny cameras in beanie hats, you would've thought it was made by students rather than Luc Besson.
This distracted from the actual film, which was really rather good.
The twists and turns throughout made it an enjoyable experience, as well as the action sequences, and the story.
Speaking of the story and the use of mobile phones, why use them at all? And why not substitute the phone she has to take for microfilm or a classified folder, Something believable for the time?
Worth a watch but suspend belief if you remember that time, if you don't, im sure you'll think it's all as it should be lol
A Quiet Place (2018)
Oh dear oh dear.
I gave in and watched it after it being shoved in my face on Netflix for over a year or so, and having been in lockdown a while I thought I'd give it a go.
Having read a few of the other lower ratings, I can't help but agree, the family is just a sandwich short of a picnic, leaving a 4 year old at the back of the line while walking home single file, having a baby in a world where the tiniest noise can cause instant death. Not thinking, hmm I could sound proof a room and chat away, I'm sure I can find some egg boxes or some such!
And the aliens have the worst evolved hearing close up as their only sense, from afar, can hear a cough a mile away, but next to someone heavy breathing, not a clue! They are so armoured, the army couldn't kill them, but a shotgun shell does just fine!
Talking about the army, who knew they use sound to hunt people, not one thought, you know what, maybe we should try different sound waves on them, maybe ultrasound or some music! I'm sure one of them must've watched Mars Attacks.
It started quite slow, had a few jumps, but then the glaring stupidness of it all just made me want it to end.
I was very glad when it did, not caring either way who lived or died.
Star Trek: Picard: Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 2 (2020)
I enjoyed the series, but there are niggles.
The season as a whole has been enjoyable, plot holes aside.
I'm sure the makers assumed people like me would like it as they resurrected old favourite characters, and rightly so.
I have trouble with the writing, especially of this episode, where the climax ends up with not much at all happening, you watch 10 episodes awaiting a big finale that never occurs!
Not just that, the characters pair off in the last scenes, where did that come from?
I have no problem with 7 of 9 or Raffi being lesbians, though they were straight during the show, no, it's the fact they hadn't exchanged a sentence between them the entire time that gets me!
This just seems added, as it conforms to the Hollywood norm these days.
It has the same SJW undertones as other shows out there, though this is more subtle, and more watchable than let's say, Discovery, which, by default, is SJW'd up to the eyeballs...that is until that scene of course.
I shall watch the next, hopefully it will get better, maybe a proper Star Trek writer may come on board, who knows.
Preacher (2016)
Great series, but does get silly
I did enjoy this show, but, once or twice during seasons 1 to 3, it tended to get a little, well, preachy, though they were the best seasons.
1 and 2 were excellent, 3 was good, 4 was very silly in parts, if it weren't for the fact I was invested in the characters and the storyline, i would have stopped watching in S4.
By the end of S4 though, it kind of redeemed itself in some way. Where 1 and 2 were quite gritty and (I do say this lightly) believable, 3 went beyond but watchable, and 4 just went very silly, until the last episode, which I found made it all make sense, and a very good ending.
Basically, I loved the entire series as a whole once it had finished, as you knew where it was going throughout, religion is absurd.