Unless this REALLY picks up in the final two episodes, I’m baffled by this review. I can’t wait to get it over with. The plot is “Spooks” levels of “espionage” nonsense.
Thompson’s character, while likeable and against type, is hardly transformational. Whereas, Ruth Wilson playing an extremely ordinary woman seems a much greater departure from her usual roles.
The entire review seems back-to-front.
After receiving an exotic small animal as a Christmas gift, a young man inadvertently breaks three important rules concerning his new pet, which unleashes a horde of malevolently mischievous creatures on a small town.
My 13y/o son loved it. My 10y/o daughter thought it was boring.
I’m caught between the two. Some parts of it I love, like the stairlift and Kate’s Christmas Eve story, but the parts in between are a bit dull. Still, it’s got some gnarly effects work!
★★½
As U.S. troops storm the beaches of Normandy, three brothers lie dead on the battlefield, with a fourth trapped behind enemy lines. Ranger captain John Miller and seven men are tasked with penetrating German-held territory and bringing the boy home.
After seeing this, Teddy Duchamp’s fiercely proud claim that his father stormed the beach at Normandy lands very differently.
And, despite your average American displaying almost religious zeal for them, and annual public displays of “remembrance” here in the UK, I still don’t think we respect our veterans enough.
★★★★
Frank Cross is a wildly successful television executive whose cold ambition and curmudgeonly nature has driven away the love of his life. But after firing a staff member on Christmas Eve, Frank is visited by a series of ghosts who give him a chance to re-evaluate his actions and right the wrongs of his past.
The final monologue DOES go on a bit too long but it also bought a little tear to my eye. Further positives: the Ghost of Christmas Present just seems to get funnier the old I get.
★★★★
During a weekend getaway at a secluded lakeside estate, a group of friends finds themselves entangled in a web of secrets, deception, and advanced technology. As tensions rise and loyalties are tested, they uncover unsettling truths about themselves and the world around them.
It’s not exactly billed as a comedy but I laughed a lot. And, while it doesn’t beat you over the head with social commentary, it’s there if you want it.
★★★½
When the creator of a popular video game system dies, a virtual contest is created to compete for his fortune.
Fresh off an almost career-ending accident, stuntman Colt Seavers has to track down a missing movie star, solve a conspiracy and try to win back the love of his life while still doing his day job.
Never better than great or worse than average. Clearly, a great deal of love was sunken into this movie but sadly very little resurfaces on the screen. And I say that as someone who genuinely appreciates stunt work and Ryan Gosling in comedic roles. Bit of a shame, really.
Still, a long overdue Oscar for Best Stunt Design will be given out in 2028. And that, really, ain’t nothin’.
★★★½
An FBI agent and an Interpol detective track a team of illusionists who pull off bank heists during their performances and reward their audiences with the money.
No idea when I first saw this but I’m sure it was in a cinema. Can’t believe we paid for that…
★★
A live broadcast of a late-night talk show in 1977 goes horribly wrong, unleashing evil into the nation's living rooms.
Don’t you hate it when you sell someone else’s soul to the devil, then the devil reneges and wrecks your career?
★★
A special-ops team is dispatched to fight supernatural beings that have taken over a European city.
It’s not the overall plot or the dialogue but how it’s assembled. Reminds me of all those great TV shows that floundered when the writers went on strike…
Maybe all the money went on costume and props, which are amazing.
★★½
