To enjoy this series, don't go into it with expectations that it'll be like the Alone or Bear Grylls series, where you can learn about survival in the wilderness. This is a story of a young woman who faces down her personal demons. It just happens to be set in the Canadian wilderness because that gives her the alone time she needs in order to overcome her personal obstacles -- and at the same time to find her inner strength and determination. The series operates on two simultaneous tracks: the here and now in the wilderness, and flashbacks showing her life up to that point, both as an adult and as a child. I would not disagree with others that there are perhaps too many similar flashbacks that could be edited out to make a 5-episode series instead of 6, but nonethless, the whole thing is quite well done and ultimately enjoyable. Part of that is due to an outstanding performance by Melissa Barrera whom I had not seen in anything before.
Reviews
9 Reviews
Cold
(2016)
Tight little thriller, but check that all episodes are there
1 April 2022
This is not as much of a review as it is a warning: if you watch this webseries on the Roku channel, be aware that as of 3/31/22 they've lost episode #4. Still worth watching, though, as I could piece together what was missing. Annalise Basso is remarkable as the scared but defiant teenager. Good supporting cast, good writing.
No Sudden Move
(2021)
Can't feel their pain
6 July 2021
Good acting, good 50s atmosphere, good plot with twists and increasing complexity, but No Sudden Move just doesn't make it to a rating higher than 7. What's missing is a sense of empathy between the viewer and one or more characters. I just didn't relate to anyone in the film. It's not necessary for the relatable character to be a "good guy". He can just have a vulnerability like Tony Soprano or a determination to right a wrong, like the Mel Gibson character in Payback, but without that, the film fails what is sometimes called the "so what?" test. These chracters steal, get stolen from, kill, and are killed, and it's just: so what? We don't feel for them. We're watching the movie but we're not emotionally participating in the movie. Oh, well.
Infidel
(2019)
Entertaining agitprop
16 May 2021
As a disclaimer, as it seems to matter, I am not a Christian. I say that because Christians are giving Infidel "10" ratings for presumably religious reasons. Well, Infidel is an entertaining and perhaps informative movie, but it's not a 10. It's pretty much a 6 until the last 30 minutes, when the tension ratchets up -- so I gave it a 7.
Jim Caviezel, who has taken roles from Jesus to an ex-assassin, does a good job as a Christian blogger who is manipulated into being more proselytizing than he had originally intended. Other major characters, especially, Hal Ozsan in a love-to-hate role, are good. However, minor characters seem more like cardboard cutouts.
There is also a definite Muslims-are-evil vibe throughout the movie: Christians = good guys, Muslims = bad guys. It's not 100%, as there are 3 Muslims in the movie who don't hate Christians, but everyone else seems to. I also, personally, took exception to the blogger's stated belief that Christians and Muslims should unite against the real enemy, secularists. Oh, well, that was likely in character, as I've heard similar sentiments by other people who think their beliefs should be everybody's beliefs.
Infidel has a couple of "no, don't do that" moments that made me feel manipulated. The writers must have felt that having the blogger do things he shouldn't do or not do, and not say things he should have, helped their story. Meh, I think that's just lazy writing.
Anyway, entertaining, but hopefully will not become a viewer's main perspective on the Middle East.
Jim Caviezel, who has taken roles from Jesus to an ex-assassin, does a good job as a Christian blogger who is manipulated into being more proselytizing than he had originally intended. Other major characters, especially, Hal Ozsan in a love-to-hate role, are good. However, minor characters seem more like cardboard cutouts.
There is also a definite Muslims-are-evil vibe throughout the movie: Christians = good guys, Muslims = bad guys. It's not 100%, as there are 3 Muslims in the movie who don't hate Christians, but everyone else seems to. I also, personally, took exception to the blogger's stated belief that Christians and Muslims should unite against the real enemy, secularists. Oh, well, that was likely in character, as I've heard similar sentiments by other people who think their beliefs should be everybody's beliefs.
Infidel has a couple of "no, don't do that" moments that made me feel manipulated. The writers must have felt that having the blogger do things he shouldn't do or not do, and not say things he should have, helped their story. Meh, I think that's just lazy writing.
Anyway, entertaining, but hopefully will not become a viewer's main perspective on the Middle East.
Blackout
(VI) (2013)
A miss
13 December 2019
Well, I wanted to like this, but it didn't work for me -- just too amateurish, despite having a fairly clever idea for a plot. The filmmakers should get some kudos for trying to recreate a 1953 film noir movie -- why? -- but they should have studied more such movies to prevent anachronisms. For one thing, back then, men in the crime world who didn't know each other well did not use first names, rather they used last names or nicknames -- think Rocco, Marlowe, Mason, Whitey. Some of the slang is off as well. The film also suffers from having the main character be as dumb as a board -- I wanted to yell at the TV screen: don't stand with your back to the door! It didn't help that the actor playing the part had to carry the movie but didn't seem to have either the range of expression or the intensity to pull it off. The other actors weren't bad, despite on-the-nose dialog -- Tracy Timm as Sadie was a sparkplug whenever she was in a scene. More nitpicks: continuity errors like where a character in shirtsleeves gets slugged and wakes up wearing his suit jacket. I admit to subtracting points that no explanation was provided for why the key character had lost his memory. As a final note, it was nice that the film showed a police practice -- roughing up a suspect -- as it was back then, rather than the whitewashed version we usually see on screen.
Kids for Kidnapping
(2023)
Nothing to do with kidnapping
5 December 2019
I don't get the title. This short is basically about some less-than-intelligent and less-than-honest decisions by adults about supervising at-risk teens. Kinda boring for an adult, but probably kids could relate to it.
Prime Suspect
(2011–2012)
OK Police procedural
29 October 2011
Warning: Spoilers
I just happened to have watched the first two series of the original UK Prime Suspect around the same time I watched the first two episodes of this series. It may not be fair to compare the two, as one reviewer said, but for the benefit of those looking for a good mystery....
1 - This is a police procedural, and not a mystery. The difference is that in a mystery, as in the UK Prime Suspect, we're introduced to several characters, one of whom is the killer, and we ride along trying to figure out who dun it. With a police procedural, we essentially watch the cops do their job, narrowing in on the killer, who is not anyone we've seen before.
2 - The UK Prime Suspect took 3 hours to tell a story. This one tries to do it in 42 minutes, so the depth of the story is considerably less.
3 - The original show's idea of a female detective coming on board into a group of guys, who think she slept her way to her job, was done better on The Closer than it's done here. Actually, in many respects, the Closer, which borrows some elements from the UK Prime Suspect, is a better written, better acted program.
4 - The idea of a strong female crime-solver is no longer new. We have In Plain Sight, Castle, Bones, Body of Proof.... t
So, this Prime Suspect is an OK show -- and Maria Bello is interesting to watch, though not as tough as Kyra Sedgwick, as sarcastic as Mary McCormack, as hot as Stana Katic, as weird as Emily Deschanel or as bitchy as Dana Delaney.... In fairness, I've only seen two episodes, so maybe the writers can still come up with something to make the show different, other than the thick-headedness of its characters.
1 - This is a police procedural, and not a mystery. The difference is that in a mystery, as in the UK Prime Suspect, we're introduced to several characters, one of whom is the killer, and we ride along trying to figure out who dun it. With a police procedural, we essentially watch the cops do their job, narrowing in on the killer, who is not anyone we've seen before.
2 - The UK Prime Suspect took 3 hours to tell a story. This one tries to do it in 42 minutes, so the depth of the story is considerably less.
3 - The original show's idea of a female detective coming on board into a group of guys, who think she slept her way to her job, was done better on The Closer than it's done here. Actually, in many respects, the Closer, which borrows some elements from the UK Prime Suspect, is a better written, better acted program.
4 - The idea of a strong female crime-solver is no longer new. We have In Plain Sight, Castle, Bones, Body of Proof.... t
So, this Prime Suspect is an OK show -- and Maria Bello is interesting to watch, though not as tough as Kyra Sedgwick, as sarcastic as Mary McCormack, as hot as Stana Katic, as weird as Emily Deschanel or as bitchy as Dana Delaney.... In fairness, I've only seen two episodes, so maybe the writers can still come up with something to make the show different, other than the thick-headedness of its characters.
Undercovers
(2010)
Has Abrams finally lost it?
24 September 2010
(Note: this review is of the pilot episode only.)
Zzzz. Was there anything in the pilot we hadn't seen dozens of times before? Has JJ Abrams been watching too many 1970s TV reruns? The plot is old, the main characters are more glitzy than interesting, the dialog is boring....
I think we're supposed to give the show high marks because the main characters are a black married couple, which is on the original side. But that's not enough. They have no deeper motivation than they miss the excitement of being heroes. But a good hero has vulnerabilities and obstacles. He/she is not perfect. He has a back story, often involving the loss of a family member, that makes him sympathetic to the viewer. I can only hope that will show up in the episodes after the pilot, because, right now, the best thing that could happen to the show is if Boris gets killed and Gugu has to carry on without him.
And what's with the characters names? Samantha Bloom was a character on VR.5,whose sister and star was named Sydney. JJ Abrams already had a series with a Sydney, so now...? Maybe halfway through the series, Abrams will reveal this is all happening in virtual reality or a parallel universe. Now that would be interesting. :-)
Zzzz. Was there anything in the pilot we hadn't seen dozens of times before? Has JJ Abrams been watching too many 1970s TV reruns? The plot is old, the main characters are more glitzy than interesting, the dialog is boring....
I think we're supposed to give the show high marks because the main characters are a black married couple, which is on the original side. But that's not enough. They have no deeper motivation than they miss the excitement of being heroes. But a good hero has vulnerabilities and obstacles. He/she is not perfect. He has a back story, often involving the loss of a family member, that makes him sympathetic to the viewer. I can only hope that will show up in the episodes after the pilot, because, right now, the best thing that could happen to the show is if Boris gets killed and Gugu has to carry on without him.
And what's with the characters names? Samantha Bloom was a character on VR.5,whose sister and star was named Sydney. JJ Abrams already had a series with a Sydney, so now...? Maybe halfway through the series, Abrams will reveal this is all happening in virtual reality or a parallel universe. Now that would be interesting. :-)
Incoming Freshmen
(1979)
Not too bad
1 April 2002
Been a while seen I've seen it -- saw it on videotape in the 80s -- but I recall it wasn't too bad and had some cute girls. I can still recall the opening scene where the professor is imagining one of his students nude, so I have to say the movie is at least more memorable than a lot of the others of the same type.
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