Lately I've Been Watching...

The latest in my series of mini TV and film reviews, with trailers and 'where to watch'.  

If you have trouble finding where any show/film is available in your country, this is a good site: Justwatch.  Just put the name of the show into the search, and choose your country further down, from the drop-down menu.  It shows where you can stream, buy or rent.  

However... I've found it to be not absolutely up to date at all times.  Sometimes I've had better results simply putting 'where can I watch ***' into the search engine, or going to the programme's own site, if it has one.

If you would like to see more posts, please click here: Lately I've Been Watching.  If you get as far as the bottom, 'Older Posts' will take you to more.

Film: All Quiet on the Western Front

5* plus ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

(Netflix)

Marvellous film.  It's German, dubbed into English.  I haven't seen the original (made in 1930) for years, but the premise is the same - young men, still in their senior year at school, soaking up the propaganda that going to fight for their country in World War One is a fine, honourable pursuit for any young man, and how they will be lauded as heroes on their return.  Only when they get to Northern France and the hell of the Front do they see the reality, and realise they exist as nothing more than dispensable pawns in a game played out by glory-hungry old generals.

Below the trailer is a 2 minute clip called Uniform of the Dead Soldier.  Chilling.

Film: Train to Busan

5* plus ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

(Amazon, Apple, Studiocanal, AMC+, Roku and lots more)

South Korean film dubbed into English, made in 2016 - been meaning to watch it for ages.  Mostly takes place on a high speed train, as a zombie apocalypse breaks out.  It's not just blood and gore; like all good disaster films, it has human dramas running through it.  Gripping, throughout, need to watch it again!  So well made, every scene is a winner.  For those who love zombie films/TV shows, this is one of the best.  First rate.

Series: Gangs of London - Seasons 1 & 2

4.5* ⭐⭐⭐⭐

(US: Amazon, AMC+, Roku.  UK: Sky, Now)

I watched Season 1 when it first came out and loved it, but realised I'd forgotten what it was about by the time #2 aired, so watched the whole thing again from the start.

This is an extremely violent drama about the Wallace and the Dumani families, criminal kingpins who 'own' London.  S1 revolves around who killed the patriarch of the Wallace clan, and who ordered the kill.  Newly recruited into the Wallace/Dumani crew is undercover cop Elliot Carter, who finds it hard to separate one life from the other.  

S1 is by far the best, especially a brilliant episode set in the remote Welsh countryside, where the person who shot Wallace senior finds that you can run but you can't hide, especially not when SAS-style mercenaries have got you in their sights.  In S2, the amount of different gangs and their members became confusing, and the whole thing is so fast paced, with various gang leaders changing their allegiances more often than I change my mind, that I wondered how it will be possible to keep the story fresh in Season 3.  Maybe by thinking of yet more horrific ways to kill people.

S2 gave the impression that the London underworld is huge, far reaching, that the Capital itself is the fiefdom not of king, government and aristocracy, but wealthy Asian and Eastern European gangs, with a little bit of Somalian and Irish for occasional variation.  Sean Wallace, Ed Dumani and Georgian psychopath Koba talk about London being 'theirs', as if the place is nothing to do with England, but merely a deep well of cash and power to be grabbed, and heads to be sliced off.  Bet they've never even been to Madame Tussauds.

Although it's very good, I did find it somewhat depressing to watch 16+ episodes about these ridiculously wealthy, demonic people who murder, maim, steal and destroy to keep their power and riches, most of which are amassed by the trafficking of Class As and weapons.  None of it seemed to make any of them very happy.  The only character I liked was Elliot Carter's dad.  The others were just fiends in human shape.  

Limited Series: The Watcher

4* ⭐⭐⭐⭐

(Netflix)

Based on a true story.  Bobby Cannavale (love him!) and Naomi Watts play a couple who move out of New York into their dream home in the New Jersey suburbs.  Nothing seems right from the start, and only gets worse once they start receiving sinister letters from an anonymous 'watcher', who appears to be obsessed with the house.

It's one of those stories that make you think, come on, you can see that there is some potentially deadly stuff going on here - get out, now!!  Of course, they don't.  The true story is quite a lot different; there's a bit about it HERE.

It's good, I enjoyed it, but the denouement was so frustrating that I took off the extra half star that I would otherwise have given it.  Also stars Mia Farrow.

Film: The Black Phone

3.5* ⭐⭐⭐

(Amazon, Apple, peacock premium)

Horror/thriller, set in the early 1970s, about children that go missing, and the person with the black balloons who abducts them (Ethan Hawke).  The child actors are terrific.  It's good - I wouldn't rave about it, but it's worth watching.

Series: The Devil's Hour

2.5* ⭐⭐⭐

(Amazon)

Irrelevantly titled, almost - it refers to the hours between 3 am and 4 am when main character Lucy Chambers (Jessica Raines) always wakes up.  The story is nothing to do with the devil, as is implied by this title, by the trailers, the first few episodes, etc.  It's actually about living your life over and over again so that you can stop bad stuff happening, but there is never any explanation about why the Peter Capaldi character (Gideon) who does this, manages to.  So it's all a bit silly.  

Lucy is irritating on just about every level, but especially when she's talking to her disturbed son as if he's a 3-year-old simpleton, and singing in the car (could hardly watch that, it was so cringe-making).  Like Gideon, she gets flashes of possible future events; these involve blood, rain, bodies in body bags, etc, get married to someone other than her 14 year old husband (he seems about 14, anyway).  Why these visions take place is never explained, which makes it kind of a non-story, like it hasn't been properly thought through.  Like the writers started with a concept, but couldn't be bothered with all the detail.  

It's okay in parts, and held promise of interesting stuff at the start.  I liked the Indian detective.  That's about it, really.

Mini Series: The Patient

4* ⭐⭐⭐⭐

(Hulu)

Steve Carell and Domhnall Gleeson star in this story told in 10 x 20 minute episodes.  Carell plays Alan Strauss, a psychiatrist, and Gleeson one of his patients.  Other than that that I can't say any more because it would give away the plot.  Suffice to say that it's a thriller, and it involves murder.

I loved that it's kept concise, sharp and punchy, perfect for the episode length.  Although we're dying to know more about every character's background, it's kind of okay that we don't, as it's implied, and information does come out in dribs and drabs.  Anyway, watch it, it's a good 'un!

Series: War of the Worlds - Season 3

4.5*

(UK: Disney+.  US: Epix, Amazon, Directv)

Appears to be the final season, in which Catherine and Bill zip in and out of dimensions in order to close the black hole, which involves choices being made about which dimension they want to be in when all avenues are closed.  It's good - I liked it a lot more than the second season.  

Documentary: The Greatest Lie Ever Sold

4* ⭐⭐⭐⭐

(The Daily Wire and I think it might be on Youtube)

Candace Owens' documentary about what happened to the 80 million dollars raised for the BLM movement, its affiliations and the corruption throughout.  A real eye-opener - and how George Floyd's death was used to manipulate public opinion.

Worth watching, for sure.

Film: Jobs (2013)

4* ⭐⭐⭐⭐

(Netflix, Amazon)

Biopic about Steve Jobs, starring Ashton Kutcher as the man himself.  This version starts when he was 18 (in 1974) and takes you up to 2001.  I thought it much more interesting than the 2015 version, starring Michael Fassbender and Kate Winslet, which covers the years 1984-1998.  Fassbender and Kutcher both did a great job, but the 2013 is more of a whole story - what I find interesting about the lives of successful people is how they began, how they got off the ground.

In both films one is given the impression that he was not a very nice man, who cared only for himself and would sell anyone down the river to get what he wanted.  But perhaps you have to be like that to be that successful.

Film: Don't Worry Darling

4.5* ⭐⭐⭐⭐

(HBO Max, Apple, Sky)

Florence Pugh and Harry Styles star in this sinister story about what appears to be a Stepford Wives type community, in the 1950s - the marriages are glowingly happy, the men go out to work in their flashy cars while the women stay home and play house, or meet by the pool for drinks, etc.  Eventually, though, Alice Chambers (Pugh) begins to think that all is not as it seems - and she soon finds that forces are at work to stop anyone from looking deeper into what's going on behind the scenes.  Directed by Olivia Wilde, who also stars.  Jolly good, not what what you expect!

South Park 25th Anniversary Concert

4.5* ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

(Paramount+)

Trey, Matt and all their gang, performing (live) many of the songs we've loved over the past 25 years, such as 'Blame Canada', 'Kyle's Mom', 'Let's Fighting Love', 'Gay Fish' and the highlight, in my opinion, 'The Ballad of Lemmiwinks', which they played as medieval minstrels, in full gear.

Unmissable, for any South Park fan.  Also features special appearance of Rush.

Series: Better Call Saul - Final Season (6)

4.5* ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

(Netflix)

Still great.  The final season takes us up to Saul Goodman's heyday, making $$$, and then goes into black and white as it jumps forward to the post-Fring/Mike/Walter White era, when life is not so good.

So well done, all of it.  Vince Gilligan and Michael Slovis are geniuses.  Also, appearances by Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul !!

Half a star off because I was disappointed by the end, but apart from that, totally sound.

Film: Barbarian

3.5* ⭐⭐⭐

(HBO Max, Apple)

Girl turns up at AirBnB only to find that there's someone there already.  Agrees to share.  Then hears scary noises down scary secret underground tunnels leading from cellar, and decides to go and investigate instead of getting the hell out of there.  You know, like they do.  

Guy who owns house does similar, though more convincingly as at least he seems curious rather than scared.  But it's got a few twists on the worn out tropes, which made it slightly more unpredictable.  Not bad.

Lately I've Been Watching...

 The latest in my series of mini TV and film reviews, with trailers and 'where to watch'.  If you have trouble finding where any show/film is available in your country, this is a good site: Justwatch.  Just put the name of the show into the search, and choose your country further down, from the drop-down menu.  It shows where you can stream, buy or rent.  Or you can put the 'where to watch ***' into whichever search engine you use, or go to the programme's own site, it if has one.

If you would like to see more posts, please click here: Lately I've Been Watching.  If you get as far as the bottom, 'Older Posts' will take you to more.

Series: Black Summer - Seasons 1 & 2

(Netflix, Hulu)

5* plus ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Zombie apocalypse, but these are no slouching, slow Walking Dead zombies.  They're more like those afflicted with the rage virus in 28 Days/Weeks Later.

I watched the first season again before starting on the second one, which has just come out - S2 is less frenetic than S1, as it's a few months into the changed world, but it's every bit as impressive.  The stand-out actor is Justin Chu Cary as Spears (episode 5, White Horse, is staggeringly good), and my other favourite character is Sun, a Korean girl who speaks very little English.  Utterly gripping, stark and violent all the way through - the acting, writing and directing are first class.  Can't recommend too highly.

Documentary: The Sparks Brothers

(Amazon Prime, Apple)

5* ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Marvellous.  And there was me, thinking Sparks were just that curious duo from the 1970s who had a couple of hits in the 1980s too, then sort of faded out.  I had no idea how prolific they are, how brilliant, how inventive and how funny.  Total respect.  Even if you think you're not a fan (if you sort of forgot about them after Amateur Hour), you will love this.  It's so well made, my only slight criticism being that at times I wanted to watch the whole song/video, only to have it chopped off so we could listen to someone else talking about them.  

As their career spans over fifty years (I love stories about how the successful made the journey from unknown artistes to recognition!), it's a most interesting look at changing trends in music, video, fashion, the pop industry generally.  Throughout, the Mael brothers come across as very un-pop-star-ish, just two brothers utterly dedicated to their art.  And really nice chaps.  I admit to a bit of a crush on Ron, having watched this.

Miniseries: Time

(BBCiplayer)

5* ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is excellent.  Three one hour episodes - Sean Bean stars as Mark Cobden, an English teacher with an alcohol problem, who gets sent to prison for four years for killing a cyclist whilst driving under the influence.  Stephen Graham plays Eric, an honest and respected prison officer who has little choice but to break the law in order to keep his family safe.

Sean Bean, in particular, is at his best in this.  I was completely engrossed all the way through, although 'enjoyed' seems the wrong word, as it's brutal, shocking, incredibly sad in places and, throughout, reeks of the desperation and despair of being locked up in a place where keeping alive and healthy is dependent on your wits.  It is not without hope, but just when you think that everything's getting better (I was worried that episode three seemed a bit lukewarm, for a while), both Mark and Eric have more shocks in store.

Highly recommended!

Series: Mr Inbetween - Season 3

(FX & FX on Hulu)

5* ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Just as good as the last two seasons. Australian black comedy crime drama: the warts and all life of Ray Shoesmith, some time assassin and general bad boy for hire, but also a loving father with his own moral code who is never slow in putting down the real assholes.  25 minute episodes, violence but with a certain humour and some serious pathos.  Scott Ryan is perfect as Ray; he also writes and produces.  Episode 8 of this group of 10 was particularly brutal, and incredibly sad... so good I'd happily watch it all from the beginning again, and no doubt will at some point.

There will be no more - apparently Scott Ryan decided to put Ray Shoesmith to bed.  A great shame, but the outcome/last episode was not disappointing!

Series: Bosch - Seasons 1-7

(Amazon)

5* ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Watched all of these as they came out, but we decided to watch the whole thing from the start again, as the latest season is the last.

If you haven't seen this, do.  Titus Welliver stars as Harry Bosch, LA Detective.  Yes, as is standard in cop series, the main character has a broken marriage and an emotionally charged personal life, but it doesn't come across as hackneyed.  Madison Lintz (Sophia in TWD!) is terrific as his daughter, Maddie, and my favourite character is the lovely Jerry Edgar, Bosch's friend and partner, played by Jamie Hector (Marlo Stansfield in The Wire).  

As for Season 7, it's one of the best, with some satisfying justice taking place (as well as some that was about to happen as the final credits rolled, that I wish I could have seen!).  Throughout, I loved the relationship between Bosch and Maddie (as well as Bosch and J Edgar); the very end was great, and what I would have hoped for.  I felt most flat when it was over - the sign of a damn good series.  Definitely room for a spin-off....

(TWD Watch - S1: Scott Wilson as a retired doctor who was exactly like Hershel. Worked for me!  S2: Nick Gomez (prisoner Tomas in TWD S3) as an assassin and general ne'er do well. S4 - Ryan Hurst (Beta) as a PI.  S6 - Lynn Collins (Leah) as a manipulative schemer ... and a few others)

Trailer is for Season 7.  

Series: War of the Worlds - Season 2

(Disney, Epix, Amazon)

4.5* ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

If you haven't seen any of this yet, do start from the beginning and enjoy!  A highly inventive version of the traditional H G Wells story, in which astronomer Catherine Durand (Léa Drucker) detects alien communication.  The UK government receives news about an impending attack, but hunker in their bunker rather than warn the public - until Dan, the son of scientist Bill Ward (Gabriel Byrne) tweets the truth. 

The only people left are those who managed to get underground or inside some form of metal hideaway (like my favourite character Kariem, an illegal immigrant played by Bayo Gbadamosi, who stows away in an empty oil tanker to cross the channel).  

Season 2 reveals the truth about the aliens - alas, there are no giant-sized metal tripods in this version of the story, though you'll see plenty of those terrifying mechanical dogs.  It's a fabulous take on the idea, and involves time travel - with the ending leaving a door open that could mean we're going to get a Season 3.  I do hope so!

Favourite characters: Kariem, Bill, Helen, Tom in S2, Sophia, Ash, Zoe and the Colonel from the observatory.

Least favourite characters: Tom in S1, Sacha and his revolting father.

Most irritating: Emily, Sarah, Tom in S1.

Series: The Handmaid's Tale - Season 4

(Channel 4, Amazon, Apple)

4.5* ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I enjoyed this new season on the whole, though the once-every-five-minutes extended close-up shots of June's face as she thought murderous thoughts was a tad overdone.  Of course it was good to see the former handmaids not taking any of that shit lying down, and to see the revenge played out on Fred Waterford, but I wonder if the show may be in danger of going on too long and dragging the story out.  I'd like to see S5 concentrate more on what goes on in Gilead itself, and (possibly) its demise.  And Serena Joy get her comeuppance.  I imagine it will entail June going back in, because nothing is resolved until she has Hannah back.

I have mixed feelings towards Aunt Lydia; I feel that, although severely misguided and with a penchant for inflicting physical pain, she could see the light, and end up helping June to find Hannah - there was something about the happiness on her face when she did something nice for Janine and the commander's-wife-who-was-practically-a-child.  Like she'd realised that being good to people is so much better.

I hope June can be happy with Luke again.  Not Nick ... I think that, although we see evidence of passion and the-love-that-could-not-be, it's partly because of the forbidden element that the strong feelings exist.  Anyway, I'm totally Team Luke.  

I'd like to see more flashbacks about how it all started.  Love that insight, because it underlines the contrast.  Look forward to S5, anyway.

Film: The Tomorrow War

(Amazon)

4* ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I did enjoy this all-action time-travel, apocalyptic romp!  Soldiers travel from 2050 (appearing in a flash of light, in the middle of a football match) to warn the Earth's population that, in 11 years' time, most of them will be killed following invasion by an alien force they call the Whitespikes.  They're asking for soldiers from the present to be 'jump-linked' into the future to help them fight.  When the majority of them come back in boxes, conscription begins... and main character Dan Forester (Chris Pratt) finds some surprises waiting for him in 2050.  

It's thrilling action and great special effects all the way through, and a good storyline, though I took off half a star because the schmaltzy human stuff was at times so schmaltzy that it was spoof-like.  Also stars JK Simmons (Oz, and a whole bunch of other stuff), Yvonne Strahovski (Serena Joy in The Handmaid's Tale), Sam Richardson and Edwin Hodge as Dan's fellow draftees, and you'll spot Chloe from '24' as another.

Series: Why Women Kill - Season 2

(Amazon, Apple, Paramount Plus)

4* ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Unlike Season 1, which was three separate stories in the early 1960s, mid 1980s and now, all very much of their time, this is one story all the way through.  

WWK is a black, black comedy - this season is set in the late 1940s, very brightly coloured and stylised, in the mode of Ratched and The Marvellous Mrs Maisel.  Allison Tolman is excellent as the down-at-heel Alma who longs to be included in the social scene of her wealthy and stylish neighbours.  One murder follows another, and another, and another, as her life becomes intertwined with that of Rita Castillo, the beautiful, unfaithful wife of wealthy and ageing Carlo.

Favourite characters: Alma's daughter Dee (B K Cannon) and private investigator Vern (Jordane Christie).

Film: A Quiet Place Part II

(Amazon, Apple, Virgin TV Go, Paramount Plus)

4* ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Ages since I saw the first film so can only remember the basics, not the detail - alien invasion of deadly nasty monster things that can't see, but if they hear you, they find and kill you.  Thus, those still alive live in silence and hiding.  Useful recap at the beginning of the outbreak, before moving on to Day 474.  Standard killing of monsters, near death moments, gangs of feral outlaws, etc - it's good.  Only thing I couldn't work out was why Emily Blunt and her children don't wear any shoes.  Surely trainers would be hardly any more noisy than bare feet, and probably less so than treading unexpectedly on a piece of glass or sharp stone.  

I liked how some of the deaf daughter's scenes were shown as more or less silent, so that you could see how the world would have seemed to her.  

Cillian Murphy also stars.  

Series: Jack Irish - Seasons 1 and 2

(Amazon, Apple, Acorn)

4* ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Guy Pearce is highly engaging and entertaining as a former lawyer now criminal investigator/debt collector/cabinet maker with a messy love-life who ends up embroiled in one complicated mystery after another. I liked the first series a lot, but my interest began to wane during the second, and more so during the films (there are three episodic seasons and three films).  I haven't seen S3 yet, but from the trailer looks good.  Best described as an Australian Jonathan Creek, I think, except that it's a bit more edgy and Jack Irish is a great deal hotter than JC.

Based on a series of books by the late Peter Temple.

Documentary Film: On the Bowery

(Amazon Prime)

4.5* ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Made in 1956, this hour long documentary follows the fortunes of a few men on New York's skid row, then known as the Bowery, in Lower Manhattan.  The main 'character' is Ray Salyer, a railroad worker, who arrives on the Bowery with every intention of find work and improving life, but inevitably finds himself spending his money in the bars, joining the other drunks as they sleep the night on pavements and in doorways.

Comedy Series: Hacks - Season 1

(HBO Max)

4* ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Really enjoyed this; ten half-hour episodes, starring Jean Smart, who is marvellous as Deborah Vance, a comedienne of a certain age, and Ava, a young comedy writer who finds herself out of a job and goes to work for her.  Highly entertaining, though rather poignant in parts.

Documentary: Overnight

(Amazon and a few documentary sites such as DocumentaryTube)

4* ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Follows the fortunes of the arrogant, narcissistic and foul-mouthed Troy Duffy, former bartender who sold his script for The Boondock Saints to Harvey Weinstein, and got taken on by the William Morris Agency.  Weinstein said he could direct the film, and Duffy's band, The Brood, was given a recording contract with Maverick Records; they would also provide the score for the film.

Duffy imagines himself to be the next big Hollywood power player, and throws his weight around, insulting established names in the industry.  Because of his behaviour, Miramax cancels the film, and he finds himself blacklisted.  From there, everything goes down the pan, and Duffy ends up having lost his reputation, his money, his bar and his band.

Features a few blink-and-you'll-miss-it glimpses of the young Norman Reedus, who starred in the film!

Film: Before The Fire

(Amazon)

4* ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Hadn't heard of anyone in this film, but the very beautiful young woman who stars in it, Jenna Lyng Adams, also wrote it, so I bow with respect.  

The basic story: A pandemic (in which many are are dying and society is on the brink of collapse); in LA, Ava Bourne and her photographer boyfriend Kelly are trying to get out.  Back on his family's farm in the area she grew up in, Ava is bored but feels safe - until her past catches up with her, and desperation brings out the worst in human nature.

It's a low key, atmospheric film, with a 'less is more' approach to dialogue. It's very brutal, showing how quickly and easily the civilised world can disintegrate.  Good, I liked it. 

 

Film: Tomorrow, When the War Began

(Amazon)

2* ⭐⭐

Australian action adventure - to be fair, one of my least favourite sub-genres: Feisty Teens Save The World.  In this, a group come back from a camping trip to discover that an Asian coalition has invaded, and their home town is a war zone.

I watched it because of my never-to-be-sated thirst for anything of a vaguely apocalyptic or post-apocalyptic nature; this is mildly entertaining, but, on the whole, pretty bad.  The dialogue is atrocious, and the acting isn't much better.  It's apparently the forerunner to a series in which they're going to keep on fighting until the war is over, and stand menacingly against a dark background with a variety of weapons.  At times it was so bad that I wondered, in all seriousness, if it was a spoof.