atischoo Reviews

Tires (2024– )

Absolutely godawful..

[1/10 · 27 May 2024]

Where do you begin? Take away the comedy, take away the funny, take away the wry real life observations and replace all that with badly written, badly acted, dumbed down misogyny and you've got yourself a show called..Tires!

Found NO saving graces whatsoever, and couldn't imagine working in a place like that or how they would even stay in business! Customers would simply turn on their heels and walk away..

A blue collar target audience..How? This show wasn't about celebrating their humour or the average hard working man/woman, it was demeaning them, stereotyping and running them down. They aren't laughing with you, they're laughing AT you!!!

How did this appalling lowest common denominator of a show EVER get a green light, let alone another season? In fact it didn't ..if a "season" is only 6 episodes long it means they didn't have that much faith in the product to start with.. go back to podcasts Gillis you're just not cut out for this.

Unfrosted (2024)

The film Asteroid City should have been...

[8/10 · 4 May 2024]

If you can overlook the massive product placements, it's a much wittier look back at American post WW2 culture from a "Trad Pop" perspective.

A cast full of well known walk on cameo's is upstaged by the two dumpster diving kids Cathy & Butchie, it was close between them and Bill Burr's Kennedy, deservedly so!

"Calm down it might just be a Botulism flare up" "Granola.. it's gonna bury you"

Well it held my attention and made me laugh, which is something Asteroid City never did. Kudos to Jerry Seinfeld and his script writers.

Worth watching again for the in-jokes and references missed the first time around, while munching a bowl of Swiss Muesli minus the salt & sugar of course.

Criminal Record (2024– )

All a bit meh..

[2/10 · 29 April 2024]

This is painfully sloooow and no idea if it's meant to be a murder mystery whodunnit or a fly-on-the-wall drama documentary about an ethnic police officer..?

Too many looong pensive stares into the distance with not enough relevant dialogue, and that's just the lead Peter Capaldi..!!! He's totally wasted in this..the moonlighting cab driver at the start was his best scene, all downhill from there. Kept hoping for a flash of the Malcolm Tucker's but alas nooo...

What's the point of casting a bigger name actor just to have them standing around looking like they're wondering what to have for dinner tonight? By the time you've slooow burned your way to the end (it's taken until the penultimate episode seven to get into gear) and hopefully the BIG finish reveal..how many are still bothering to watch..?

Maggie Moore(s) (2023)

What the heck was that all about???

[1/10 · 7 April 2024]

This was truly awful..started looking at my watch after half an hour, as couldn't understand how Tina Fey, Jon Hamm and even Nick Mohammed ended up in such a badly written 'B' Movie..! I'm assuming it was for the money, so hope they got well paid, as it didn't do anything for their acting credits or 'brand' images.

It was like two films in one...scenes that involved them and then the rest of the cast shooting the cut price, low rent, even worse script one. So either you had to mentally switch off those 'cheap' parts in order to get to their scenes (which were disappointing to say the least) or turn it off altogether and not bother!

Stuck it out, just to see where it led for morbid curiosity, but in the end wished I hadn't as you were left thinking WHY..what on Earth was that all about? ..as pretty sure the director and scriptwriters didn't know...

The Trades (2024– )

It had a slow start but by Episode 4 it's getting into gear..

[9/10 · 31 March 2024]

Started life as one of the top end trades, in the late 70's. We certainly had this kind of humour and pranks, but factories in those days had just as many women as men working in them, sometimes far more.

And there was almost no graffiti in bathrooms, it was a punishable offence even back then! Can remember a boss saying if you had time for toilet art you're not working hard enough, and we have an easy fix for that!

That said it's starting to find its feet and once the low hanging fruit schoolboy humour stuff is out of the way. The characters are starting to develop, keep going and you may have a blue collar version of The Office..which is no mean feat!

Beacon 23 (2023– )

Dull as ditchwater...and then some!

[1/10 · 20 March 2024]

Started off well enough, a 'lighthouse' beacon in space steering ships past hazards.

This could have been passing visitors dropping into a 'full service station' with interesting stories to tell..instead it focused inwards on Ai's going insane, mysterious glowing rocks, and people (and Ai's) talking to themselves..a lot! But even by the late 20th century most lighthouse beacons were already fully automated, don't have keepers and are remotely operated..never mind centuries later!

The episodes deteriorated rapidly, to the point where you started to question your own sanity for continuing to watch! It got completely lost as the plot just wasn't strong enough to begin with, there was too much disconnected jumping around in time, so you didn't know when each event was occurring in relation to the previous ones and what that meant to the overall story...if anything!!! Even Lena Heady's Yorkshire accent (normally a joy) seemed totally out of place in a sci-fi setting.

A few episodes could be thought of as standalone stories but even those..meh! Be very surprised if season 2 sees the light (house) of day..(season 1 being split into 2 halves)

Constellation (2024)

Kept getting that Dejavu feeling..

[2/10 · 20 March 2024]

Haven't we been here many many times before with Interstellar, Infiniti, The Astronauts Wife, Ad Astra or Journey to the Far Side of the Sun (aka Doppelgänger) from 1969. Even each incarnation of Star Trek has done a version to death.

The problems with trying to show that you are you, in your reality, and not your "quantum self" in two places at once as a plot device..usually means lots of frantic scene jumping back and forth between different 'realities' never knowing who is who OR where you are as the onlooking observer..!

The net result ..a tangled disconnected visual mess giving you a headache while watching it unravel, with little to no reward.

The other problem is ..it's Boooooring!!!

I forced myself to watch Episode 7 twice, the second to count how many times these words were called out ..the word 'Mama' or 'Mummy' was shouted 45 times and the name 'Alice' shouted 68 times in the dialogue..it was monotonous beyond belief..!

Not the first time Noomi Rapace has worn a spacesuit costume but this isn't on par with those performances. James D'Arcy seems woefully underused, and Jonathan Banks is lacking the edge he had in Better Call Saul..it's not him..it's the script.

Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)

Had I known it was THAT long I would have brought a packed lunch...and a pillow

[2/10 · 16 March 2024]

Did the Director forget they had a post production edit suite to use? Considering this is now the third major Scorsese film in a row that's been heavily nominated and then completely ignored at The Academy Awards (along with The Irishman and The Wolf of Wall Street) maybe it's time for a rethink..?

If you're going to make a film three and a half hours long, then consider your paying audience and screen it with an intermission for a comfort break. That way you aren't treating the public like they're participating in a marathon slog ..rather than an enjoyable event for their money!

That said..I got as far as 70 mins and it just couldn't hold my attention any further I gave up..it was just tooo boring, there simply wasn't enough happening in many scenes to justify them being left in the final cut.

If you're a student of First Nations people's and their struggles, no doubt you will consider it valuable screen time..however, if the Director has bored the audience into fidgeting, losing interest and leaving ..it's a missed opportunity at best!

A third of this film could have easily ended up on the cutting room floor (in the days before digital) and you wouldn't have even noticed. The alternative..make it in two parts!! ..that's presuming you can get the audience to watch part 2.

Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000–2024)

It's not how you start, it's how you finish...

[9/10 · 1 March 2024]

Good to see the writing back on form, Larry David going out with a bang in the final season 12, after a mediocre Season 11 phoning it in. The first four episodes to-date have been belters. Ep 4 .. NO I'm Disgruntled!!! A la Spartacus in the Golf Club (most golfers can relate to that feeling).

And who knew what a Lawn Jockey was outside North America? But somehow he made the humour travel, and without offending anyone..in today's climate, that's pure genius!

As it's said..go out on top and leave them wanting more..at nearly 77 one wonders if David is coming back with other projects or is he finally hanging his hat up for a well earned retirement?

Monsieur Spade (2024)

Sam Spade treads grapes 🍇 really sloooowly

[2/10 · 29 January 2024]

I like Clive Owen's presence as an actor, but it's as if he's waiting for the Director to say annnd ACTION! Which never happens.. The pacing is so snail like, it's positively glacial..and you have to wait until the very end of the first episode for the big event..like they were saving up all their eggs for that one basket.

Kept thinking it might have been better filmed in black and white to get some of that original Sam Spade atmosphere, so tried it with TV settings for a while, it helped a little but not nearly enough.

If the idea was to create a small sleepy village in France where almost nothing happens then mission accomplished..it needs to pick up the pace before we all fall asleep.

Reacher (2022– )

Cracked it in Season One..Ruined it in season two

[4/10 · 14 January 2024]

Season 1..had the right sized Reacher this time not the pint sized version of Tom Cruise, so those faithful to the books will be happy.

A good story well crafted, made me want to find that fictional diner in Margrave just to see if the peach pie WAS any good!

Plenty of plot twists and turns and well paced with not too many flashbacks to his childhood but just enough to fill in the backstory of his family & brother.

Willa Fitzgerald's portrayal of a tough Southern female cop was just right.."don't make me come over there and kick your butt". Malcolm Goodwin's 'fish out of water' police chief character added depth and interest.

Season 2..by Ep 7..Threw all the charm built up in season one out the window, and way too many utterances of .."you shall not mess with the special investigators". Goodwin with a short walk-on reprise of his character was wasted..pity they had lightning in a bottle for a while.

Lift (I) (2024)

Imagine if Tom Cruise did stand up.! Yup that's how bad this is as an action movie

[1/10 · 14 January 2024]

I like Hart in comedy dramas, but for some reason he's desperate to be the leading man in an action movie..well now he is ..err sort of!

When I say action movie ..more like an Ai read all the scripts from all the other action movies and coughed up this one as a furball.

If we still had the phrase.. straight to DVD ..this would be one of those. I can imagine in a few years from now this movie will be played on Christmas Day in the Harts household by his children (Instead of Die hard) saying aww dad did you REALLY do this? 😂

Okay Kevin you've had your fun, it's time to go back to comedy drama's..OR you could try your hand at a Sword & Sandals epic..like My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions etc etc.

Pain Hustlers (2023)

The Pharma industry won't like it...good then it will have done its job!

[9/10 · 3 January 2024]

A timely drama-docu-drama showing how the road to hell is paved with good intentions..!

It started off with a 'low rent' feel, assuming they were showing the stark contrast of ..anyone can 'sell' in America no matter what their background.

They soon got into their stride grasping the "American Dream" at the expense of personal and legal ethics, with the tears of regret coming all too late to save the cost in misery and lives.

The dangers of prescribing "off label" for 'other' conditions aren't only restricted to opioids as shown here. There are many more areas of pseudo medicine based on "edited studies" and no formal clinical trials, they could/should be making films about..

Strangely, Blunt's uncle (a British politician) is officially on the record in supporting "off label" prescription drugs for recreational purposes!... So who knows maybe he'll watch this film and change his views, when he sees the trail of destroyed lives it can leave behind...

How the Universe Works (2010– )

The clue is in the title..or ..How a CGI dept works

[2/10 · 29 December 2023]

How the Universe Works...we have NO real idea, these documentaries are just a series of endlessly repeated cgi animations and science best guesses stitched together to make a series.

For if we really KNEW how the Universe works, d'you think we'd all be stuck here..or out there exploring!

Watch for the tell tale phrase...However, now we think..

Science fact: Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from Latin: aurum) and atomic number 79.

Science fiction: However, now we think.. it maybe on the moon in vast quantities..Err no until we go to the moon with mining companies and start digging...nobody knows!

If only astrophysics was as cast iron as the cgi depts ability to turn out nice coloured pictures and animations ad infinitum...and present science fiction as science fact!

The Problem with Jon Stewart (2021–2023)

It's never too late to start a correspondence course to become a REAL Journalist

[1/10 · 29 December 2023]

What can you say about a guy who pretends to be a 'real' journalist, who frequently used the duck & cover excuse when he got it wrong eg. Hey what do you expect folks, this IS the Comedy Channel..!

Bored with retirement he tries a comeback as a 'serious' heavyweight commentator slash pundit...only problem is, he left ALL his credibility back at the Comedy Channel. Even his old followers aren't that impressed he didn't bring any 'comedy' to his new & 'serious' show!

And what most forget is...that without his team of researchers doing all the legwork in the background, he would have very little to say when the studio camera light turns red!

You only have to watch his recent interview with Ian Hislop (a REAL journalist) to see how quickly he gets out of his depth and parrots popular left talking points to keep up in the conversation and appear relevant..

Recently watched his one sided swing at "The Gender Wars" topic and predictably he rolled out his "experts" to present a "scientific" standpoint...of course forgetting to mention that "science" has just as many "experts" with completely differing opinions to those he cherrypicked for his chosen side of the argument!

How about next time he does a special on the best orthopaedic beds for men nearing their dotage. As until he swops his five Peabody's for one Pulitzer and can "report" without expletives, then who knows, I might start to take him seriously!

Nothing Compares (2022)

Plenty compares..and most of it far better!

[1/10 · 29 December 2023]

RiP Shuhada Sadaqat 26 July 2023.

Primarily a cover song singer who got lucky with ONE song...yes only a cover song!!! And lived off it ever since (example: the documentary's title) ..a typical one hit wonder then! Yet many here say she was "before her time" ..that she was "new and original" in her thinking..all very strange, considering her one big hit was covering a much bigger artist's record! Who btw wasn't that impressed with her either! And she only wrote less than a dozen songs herself..

To those wondering why the documentary ended after the SNL show appearance, well that's pretty much when her career did the same...as apparently the show's producers didn't particularly like being lied to about what she was going to do in her 'act' on their live show..! How do you trust a performer to appear again on a live show after doing that?

She then spent the rest of her life bouncing around various campaigning issues pointing fingers, blaming everyone but herself (of course) and ended up publicly contradicting herself on those issues several times, losing any and all credibility.

There are people in life who emanate joy when they walk into a room, then there are others like her who attracted and/or generated turmoil at every turn. No doubt her faithful lifelong malcontent followers are of a similar ilk ..birds of a feather etc.

It was like watching a child grow up on camera, only in her case she stopped growing and stayed as a rebellious troubled teen her whole life..which isn't particularly new or original, Geldof et al did all that long before her but to his credit at least he got out there and did something useful.

At 56 the clock ticks finally ran out! You only had to look at an up-to-date photo, to see the heavy toll her chosen path of being a Trouble magnet had taken. What a pity all those who now praise her in death, didn't bother to do the same when she was alive...

The Pod Generation (2023)

Not so far fetched...

[4/10 · 27 December 2023]

Not sure many are grasping how close we are to this actually happening..this is essentially describing Ectogenesis. That tech is almost ready, it's just waiting for the right moment in time ..which is coming!

The "demographic time bomb" shows birth rates ARE dropping to historic lows in most developed countries..by 2050 many are going to be in serious trouble with aging populations and not enough young people to sustain their economic systems.

Ignoring that the 'pods' in the film wouldn't be mobile eggs but plugged into banks of equipment in a laboratory setting this is almost a smiley face view of a future that glosses over many societal issues..but the premise of birth without needing a woman's womb is VERY real.

And as a woman's womb becomes effectively 'redundant' so does the whole abortion debate! Which was one of the key drivers in needing this technology in the first place..due to it artificially lowering birth rates to well below replacement level..

The film also conveniently skirts around the main ethical issues involved in this tech, that of Eugenics and buying babies made to a customers (aka parent) specifications, or creating humans for 'spare part' surgeries.

Humans as commodities to be bought and sold are called slaves, aren't they? Or do you intend to allow technology advances to redefine that? ..which also means redefining YOU and your "rights"

Vigil (2021– )

Waaay too far fetched..

[1/10 · 27 December 2023]

What an absolutely awful show...this was no 'Das Boot' at least with its WW2 tense atmosphere, you could live and breathe the sweat and diesel fumes along with the crew in that story.

It stretches credibility beyond all limits, since NO police forces would EVER let two officers in a relationship investigate the SAME CASE..so the whole premise of the show falls apart immediately!

It was like watching office politics being played out at 300 ft below sea level with the police detective more focused on her personal relationships at home than investigating a sequence of crimes in an unfamiliar dangerous environment.

Season Two...in a similar vein but in the airforce this time, and now it's as if they're playing at part time Police Detectives investigating a crime to fill in the gaps between the next story about their personal lives.

And WHAT was with Suranne Jones's character's constant playing with her reading glasses? They could easily compete with Jodie Whittaker's Sonic Screwdriver in Dr Who for the most overused prop award!

No idea if season two was about a conspiracy to start a war and sell arms .. OR a public service health message about working mothers doing too much while pregnant...as both were given equal screen time!

Doctor Who (2005–2022)

Pat..wot' av' you done to me Pat? 😢

[1/10 · 27 December 2023]

It should have been finished after Steven Moffat moved on as head writer in 2016..(he co-wrote Sherlock) Russell Davis has been riding his genius coat tails ever since 2004 ..which got SO much worse when Chibnall turned up as showrunner.

Can this latest iteration for the 2023 Christmas Day special even be categorised as sci-fi anymore? ..as with its compliment of show tunes and dance numbers it now looks more like a Christmas pantomime meets Drag Queen Halloween..on ice!

Whatever happened to that time (Lord) honoured 'rite of passage' for kids in the UK to watch this show while hiding behind the sofa? Now they're asking me why I'm behind the sofa..it's to hide the sheer embarrassment!!!

And considering the show dropped around 758k viewers in the uk over just the first three re-launched specials..it appears I'm not the only one.

Slow Horses (2022– )

Can't beat the British spy thriller ..done the right way.

[9/10 · 26 December 2023]

Oldman grows into his name, and only gets better with each passing year like a vintage wine.

Give him a decent script with plenty of pregnant pauses for a glare or three and let his acting chops do the rest. He's become to the spy thriller as Gielgud was to Hamlet ..made for each other!

Kristin Scott Thomas..is cast well as his politicking ladder climbing spymaster, who brings her own gravitas, ie. Beyond the twinset & pearls..lies a cold calculating etc .. And you've got to be doing something right to get one Sir Mick Jagger to co-write and sing the shows theme song!

Season three halfway point..they may have slightly overdone Oldman's unwashed look, as it's now like he sleeps on a park bench at night before staggering into the 'spy office'.. but still a riveting watch..!

Frasier (2023– )

Time and viewing figures will tell...

[12 October 2023]

Early days but it's already suffering the fate of nearly all reboots of previously successful shows..living up to your own standards!

The original series was one of the best TV had to offer, winning so many awards to prove it, competing with that is going to be next to impossible. So the question then becomes WHY would you want to try?

It has its moments for sure and compared to much of the detritus currently being aired it doesn't take a lot to rise above them but you're NOT them..you have a pedigree ..a history to live up to!

The temptation to simply turn this off and go watch re-runs of the original to remind yourself just how good that really was..maybe too great..!

Edit: After season finale.. The kindest way to frame it..might be to consider this reboot as a 10 episode Epilogue, in the vein of .. I wonder what ever happened to ole' Frasier..well now we know and it's time to close the book!

Oppenheimer (I) (2023)

Overhyping is counterproductive as it raises expectations to unrealistic levels that leads to disappointment

[3/10 · 23 August 2023]

Sorry but it just doesn't live up to the pre-game hype! And it's certainly not worth the extra for an IMAX viewing of bland desert landscapes, meetings and chalkboards full of maths symbols!

Yes it tells a story of a complicated man, in a complicated time in history but too many stories jumping around back and forth with a music score so overbearing in places it was starting to give me a headache (earplugs stopped me walking out for a break)

Strange though, as with nearly three hours runtime, Nolan chose not to use a single Japanese actor for a few scenes from their perspective in the aftermath?

For me Downey Jr gave a standout performance even in support as did Matt Damon. Blunt's low amount of screen time was noticeable, as the wife in support of a brilliant contrarian, but boring cerebral genius, who fared little better than Churchill in the post war years! (They had both served their purpose in war)

Will watch again on a TV screen to go back over details missed, in all that loud music & scene jumping. Perhaps Nolan will do a directors cut to add in the Japanese perspective, he could cut the completely unnecessary Florence Pugh nude scenes and keep the same runtime.

Foundation (2021– )

Would Asimov approve???

[2/10 · 15 July 2023]

Grew up on Asimov, but never really liked his interpretation of the future in Foundation, as all it really depicted was the slow rotting, decay and fall of a malevolent Empire ..not something to inspire hope or possibilities in young readers as the next generation to take on the world and make it a better place!

I doubt it was required reading at NASA or they'd probably never have made it to the moon!

This adaptation, although visually impressive, highlights the problem of trying to cover too many bases, by jumping around telling too many stories..you just get connected into a story arc then it's ripped away to plug you into another one..ad infinitum. That becomes tiresome very quickly (same reason I never became a Star Wars fan) ..so only 2/10 and that's for the CGI.

Asteroid City (2023)

An 'homage to a genre'.. at its pretentious best

[1/10 · 3 July 2023]

Described as a science fiction romantic comedy-drama and by trying to be a "jack of all those trades" is why it fails miserably at ALL of them, pick a lane will you Anderson!

Once you get past the highly stylised presentation, it becomes a paper thin 'homage' to what exactly? ..to Anderson's own body of work!!!

There's no interesting story to follow, so it rapidly becomes a sequence of disjointed and very tedious to watch sketches, where the novelty of the cartoon like colorised environment wears off quickly.

Not the only one to ask..how can Anderson put together a cast THAT good and still end up with a complete dud? Spending $25 million making a movie (I'm guessing most of that went on the big name cast) so there's not going to be much left for anything else, you know, like good script writing..