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Reviews
Perry Mason: Chapter Eight (2020)
Ho Hum, film noir but NOT Perry Mason
This was dark film but it sure was NOT Perry Mason.
They've cashed in on the name Perry Mason. Nobody was likeable, it was a mess. Overdone and unsatisfying if you were expecting anything redeemable.
The best: Jon Lithgow as lawyer E. B., Chris Chalk, the actor who played detective Drake, Andrew Howard as Ennis the bad guy was utterly terrifying perfect performance, and a captivating Tatiana Muslany as Alice. Lily Taylor was super as always as Alice's desperate-to-survive mother, Birdy.
Della's part was unbelievable, Perry Mason played by a favorite actor of mine Matthew Rhys was the most unlikable of losers. None of the relationships worked. Sad to say. And that's going to be our cast going into season 2.
So of the characters I found interesting, only one is returning for Season 2.
It's too bad the writers couldn't just do a film noir detective series aka courtroom drama set in that time period and just not call it Perry Mason. But then again, the name is what pulled so many viewers in isn't it?
The mother of the dead baby, mother played by Gayle Rankin, was so very unlikable I almost wanted to see her go to prison for being so stupid. No wonder she ends up as she does.
Citadel (2023)
Ghastly acting!
Maybe there was some potential in the script, but the wooden acting of the two "stars" Chopra & the Rob Stark guy was disappointing. He should've stuck with a "Bodyguard" sequel IMO.
The actress who played Celeste had more character, even as an amnesiac. I didn't even like her in NOS4A2, but here she was more intriguing.
The upside-down intros were useless and annoying. The jumping around timelines was a recipe for a boring and cringeworthy spy series.
If this is what Prime is basing a whole "spyverse" series upon, ugh, their money is wasted if this was supposed to be the hook that drew us in.
The Last Duel (2021)
A disaster
Ridley Scott made a mess of a horrid story. A waste of 2 1/2 hours.
The only good things about this film are: 1.) Jodie Comer as Marguerite de Carrouges, 2.) that Marguerite lived, & loved her son, and 3.) husband Sir Jean de Carrouges dies 2 yrs later in the crusades so she had peace and prosperity for 30 years after his death. 4.) Nathaniel Parker was interesting as Marguerite's father, Sir Robert de Thibouville
Everyone is horrible. Gratuitous, graphic bloody violence to animals that added nothing to the story. A beyond-tragic tale of a woman who is raped (which we have to watch, twice!) in a world where she has no rights, relies on her husband and males in power to do what's right, and even when the husband tries, he puts her life on the line - if he loses the duel she will be stripped, head shaved & burned at the stake until death. There's enough horror and rape in real life, we don't need blockbuster films about it.
Nothing to see here but despair and awful characters.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)
Janelle Monae was fantastic!
Janelle Monae and Daniel Craig were great! Ms. Monae has my total admiration for how she carried off this role. Craig was very good. This installment, #2, didn't have the right vibe, the characters didn't inter-relate enough, just two-dimensional sadly & too much silly smashing glass at the end. Plot was ho hum. Ed Norton wasn't right for the rich eccentric; they needed more of a Robert Downey Jr. Tony Stark type. Also, casting two long-haired blonde beauties was too confusing. We kept thinking one was the other in various scenes. Whiskey should have been brunette if they were dead set on casting Kate Hudson. I really could have seen Kaley Cuoco in that role too. Too many references to pop culture and Instagram - obviously pandering to young people who aren't their main audience any way. Mistake.