bart_cassel Reviews

The Midnight Club (2022)

Had such high hopes

[5/10 · 24 October 2022]

After watching the first few episodes I had high hopes for this series. But then with episode 4 forward - it just became a big disappointment. It became one big slog - the episodes just seemed to drag on and on. Even the 'stories' within the story started to become ludicrous. The plots were unnecessarily convoluted and complicated to the point of not understanding. The cast members taking on 'story' characters were unbelievable and the accents were so very off. Many of the characters in the over-arching story became very unlikeable.

If you make it past the midway point you are more tolerant than I am. There certainly doesn't need to be a season two - besides all the 'real' characters should be dead by then.

Leonardo (2021– )

Such a tedious and unnapealling portrayal

[2/10 · 28 September 2022]

I rarely agree with the critics, but on this one, I must. Rarely has a life been shown to be so tedious, so wracked with pain and agony, so much grief and indecision as this drama presents. If Leonardo was truly this much of a coward when it came to his personal life and making those around him feel inadequate and unworthy - I doubt we would be paying any attention to him in the 21st Century. This series reduces him to a person with a stunted personality whose only way to express his genius is to scream, yell, rant and rave that both he - and his apprentices are never up to the task. And the silly murder sub-plot is just cringe worthy.

The Patient (2022)

So far - just a trope

[3/10 · 31 August 2022]

So far I've seen this so many times before. The Therapist who needs more therapy than the patients he is seeing. Why some people are reading more into this is beyond me. The acting by Domnhall Gleason is excellent as usual, but Steve Carrel is over the top, which is also usual.

Also, as some have mentioned, episodes that run but 20 minutes is really foolish. Either make this a one time movie, or cut the number of episodes in half and extend their running time. There is no need to stretch this out over months. I'm afraid I can't recommend this - you want a good movie that involves therapy - watch Good Will Hunting

Now that I have finished watching The Patient - what an appallingly - incredibly - enormous - waste of time that I will NEVER get back.

Luck (I) (2022)

Every 5 minutes

[2/10 · 11 August 2022]

If you are looking at your watch every five minutes - you are NOT being entertained. Convoluted storylines that can't be followed. Animation that looks like it came out of the early 2000's. Voice talent that was wasted. The very little kids might like it, but they won't be able to last the one hour and 45 minute run time. I'm still confused by what I saw.

Belfast (2021)

Beautiful movie - terrible soundtrack

[8/10 · 28 February 2022]

I thought the movie was well acted, well told and even though it had it's sentimental moments - I very much liked it EXCEPT for one thing. (Now I know others will disagree, BUT....) I found the soundtrack extremely distracting. Every time a new song came on - it took me completely out of the movie. I know some of the songs had tie ins to what was being told in the story - and yet, I still found them annoying.

Leverage: Redemption (2021– )

Not quite as clever

[2/10 · 16 July 2021]

As the episodes progressed, the over acting became unbearable - everyone in the cast is to blame. This is only a dim shadow of the original series. The plots are thin and not nearly as clever as the original. If you can find it - watch the original series and compare for yourself.

Looking for Alaska (2019)

Disclaimer doesn't help

[4/10 · 5 November 2019]

I don't care if you put up a notice for a smoking and alcohol hotline at the end of the episode, if you romanticize it within the episode you are doing more harm than good. Making such a health risk so obvious and attractive in the show is irrsponsible. While the actors are very adept at their job, I found the banter between them to be typical of John Green which is narcissistic, verbose and self-centered. I lived through the 2000s where the timeline for this show takes place and don't recognize many of the personalities. I guess if you like John Green, you'll eat this up, but for those of us who want a LITTLE reality in their programming, this is mostly fantasy - and not in a good way.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (2017 TV Movie)

Read the book instead

[3/10 · 1 May 2017]

Rarely has an excellent book been so poorly transferred to the screen. You can definitely see Oprah's influence on what was going to be in the screenplay. Gone is almost every scene that would show us Henrietta and HER life, so that Oprah, as her daughter, could monopolize the film. Sad. My advice, read the book instead.