normanemailer Reviews

The Buccaneers (2023– )

Hopes dashed ...

[3/10 · 16 January 2024]

I was doubtful that this series would break new ground in period drama. The pilot was veering between credible and nonsense. Huge amounts of money have been spent on sets, wardrobe, design, actors, et al.

Here's my take, having watched 3 episodes with reasonable expectations, I found out that what was promised as a serious piece of drama, based on the late classic author's unfinished work, has deteriorated from average into Mills and Boone. It's shallow, vacuous, irritating, and doesn't deserve a second season. There's little depth to characterisations, and it comes across as modern, feminist, predictable, and boring.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)

A disappointment

[6/10 · 18 September 2023]

Having seen all the Indiana Jones movies, I was surprised that the studios decided on one more outing. Even more so that Harrison Ford would accept playing the rôle once more. CGI is there to de-age him for the first part of the film and then we see what an 81 year old body looks like on a semi-naked man who's prepared himself with diet and exercise.

What Waller Bridge contributed to the writing and acting was unwanted. She has no charisma on the big screen and being signed by a desperate Hollywood to help write a script that was weak and had plot holes from the opening.

This was flat, lacked tension, a lot of tell instead of show. Should never have been made.

The Survivor (2021)

One man's journey through darkness and evil in a lifetime.

[10/10 · 9 May 2022]

Ben Foster should get an Oscar for his extraordinary portrayal of Harry Haft.

The emotional changes he experiences.

The physical changes are remarkable from POW camp and Nazi brutality to middle age in America.

The Sopranos (1999–2007)

There's some life like acting

[8/10 · 13 April 2022]

Steven van Zandt has to be the worst actor. His performance is laughably bad! It seems most of the gangsters are just being themselves and their real lives are just as dodgy.

The Outfit (2022)

Pure class

[10/10 · 10 April 2022]

Everything and everyone in this well-crafted thriller is perfection. The acting, the script, the direction, the photography. A screenplay that Pinter would have delighted in.

Station Eleven (2021–2022)

Watched every episode ..

[4/10 · 23 March 2022]

I couldn't get involved in this series. It's so fragmented and messy. After a while I longed for some clarification but it never happened. Pretentious and self indulgent.

Reacher (2022– )

This is good!

[10/10 · 5 February 2022]

I've read all the Reacher novels several times. This adaptation is true to Lee Child's storylines and characterisations. Okay, it's not deep but that's not what the stories pretend to be. But it's what made these stories some of the biggest sellers in the world. Alan Ritchson is perfect casting and plays Reacher perfectly.

The Worst Person in the World (2021)

Selfish

[3/10 · 23 January 2022]

It's an overlong story about an immature woman who uses men sexually on her journey to discover what she wants. This are tales that millions of people - men and women - have experienced. Nothing new to see here.

The French Dispatch (2021)

You like it or you don't

[7/10 · 15 December 2021]

This is one of those self indulgent movies that from time to time get made because one or more famous names are attached to it. In this movie there are many big names involved. It requires them to do their wacky performances and anything off the wall is ok with the director.

It's not a cheap production and much money has been invested. It's the kind of movie that if you criticise it negatively saying it's not much good you're dismissed as having 'not got it'.

Family Business (2019–2021)

Season Three very disappointing

[3/10 · 6 December 2021]

After funny and credible plots in the first two seasons the third is just nonsense and without humour. Well, the writers thought they were writing comedy but it's desperately bad. Should have quit after two seasons.

Temple (2019–2021)

Season One was good. Season Two is a comedy.

[3/10 · 17 November 2021]

If you've watched season one then it's important you realises that season two has changed from a drama to a comedy Season Two is such a let down from the first one. It's really struggling to create credible storylines now that the main character achieved his only motivation in the first season. Now the storylines border on comedy and there are so many plot holes and unbelievable explanations that the show has become a disappointment. That's a shame because it's a strong cast let down by poor writing,

Ridley Road (2021)

What was the ending all about?

[5/10 · 15 October 2021]

A mixed bag of actors. Some classy ones and some not so classy. But the script was full of cliches and this adaptation lacked credibility. The neo Nazis seemed more like a dark version of the Keystone Cops. Like Vigil this is another BBC series that promised much but failed to deliver mostly because of the storylines.

Squid Game (2021– )

Dubbed version

[3/10 · 7 October 2021]

Terrible voice actor in the main character. Childish. Stopped watching. Subtitles are better.

The Many Saints of Newark (2021)

cliche and stereotypical

[2/10 · 4 October 2021]

I so wanted this to be good but the script was nonsense and the actors, many of whom have done good work in the past, are simply playing their characters in a lazy and stereotypical way. Everything is represented as so many Italian mob flicks have done for decades. There's nothing that adds to the Sopranos.

Endeavour: Striker (2021) Season 8, Episode 1

Accents

[7/10 · 18 September 2021]

Every character apart from Morse is sounding common. But they're accents are cod, cliched, and it undermines the storyline.

Black Widow (2021)

Could do a lot better

[2/10 · 1 August 2021]

It's an ego trip for Johansson as CGI does all the work and no acting required. It's a leg up in Hollywood for Pugh. But, really, 134 minutes? Really? I don't think so.

Dunkirk (1958)

Excellent portrayal of the heroic evacuation of Dunkirk.

[10/10 · 4 June 2021]

Streets ahead of the recent star filled movie with the same name. Terrific performances, cinematography, direction, and the number of extras for the beaches scenes were beautifully filmed and decades before CGI.

Frasier: Mother Load: Part 1 (2002) Season 9, Episode 12

Very poor episodes

[1/10 · 7 May 2021]

Whenever Daphne's mother and brother are in episodes I switch off. They completely ruin the comedy by their over-acting. And the brother is particularly bad in playing a drunk - unrealistic - and his awful London cockney style accent which is as bad as Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins in the 1960s. That Daphne has a northern accent because she comes from Manchester yet her mother has a south of England accent which is different from her son's seems to have escaped the casting department. Very poor.

Frasier: Cranes Unplugged (2001) Season 8, Episode 10

Season 8 in a rut

[5/10 · 4 April 2021]

It's so very obvious that Jane Leeves is pregnant and excusing this by saying she's on a food binging spree is insulting to the viewers. Some other way round this should be found to omit her from the series until she's given birth. She could go to see her mum in Manchester. And that's another thing. Daphne is the only one in her family with a Mancunian (Manchester) accent. Her mum and brother speak with London accents. Well, Millicent Martin is British but Antony LaPaglia is Australian and his 'cockney' accent is as bad as Dick van Dyke's in Mary Poppins in the 1960s movie.

Frasier: Dark Side of the Moon (2000) Season 7, Episode 22

Daphne's brother is serious miscasting.

[5/10 · 21 March 2021]

For some reason Anthony La Paglia does a London mock cockney accent despite his family coming from Manchester. For those who don't know London and Manchester they are several hundred miles apart and with completely different vocal accents. La Paglia is hamming it up and his appearances, as well as Millicent Martin playing Daphne's mum who also does a London accent, spoil what is usually a very funny show.

A Man Escaped (1956)

An almost unbelievable yet true story

[10/10 · 7 March 2021]

This is an incredible film that is full of suspense even though the outcome is known by the title. But it's no spoiler as seeing the extraordinary self belief the hero has as well as a patience that Job would envy. Planning his escape whilst learning of his impending execution shows the enormous courage and will to live and going on to defy all the odds. Fantastic achievement.

Schitt's Creek (2015–2020)

This show is top of the ratings

[1/10 · 9 February 2021]

I've watched 4 seasons. Not because I enjoyed it - I was hoping it would it would improve. It hasn't. I realise I'm in a very small minority of those who think this show is beyond awful but I have tried to be objective. I haven't laughed once. The comedy is puerile and probably enjoyed by pre-teens or people who find over-acting and mugging funny. The storylines are predictable and the actors seem to think that pulling faces is the way to go. It's a family affair with father, son and daughter in the cast and other Levy relatives involved in production. I've worked professionally in comedy in TV and theatre including stand up.I've worked with some of the best comedy writers and producers and I feel I'm in a parallel universe where everything is the opposite.

Big Little Lies (2017–2019)

David E. Kelley created this astute satire ...

[7/10 · 23 December 2020]

A screenplay writer as accomplished and with an excellent pedigree as Kelley has is always enjoyable to watch. In casting a bunch of neurotic actors to play neurotic characters he managed a to encapsulate the neurosis of the Californian elite and self-indulgent wealthy. But it doesn't work for more than a season. It becomes repetitive and boring to watch a lot of people none of whom we care about.

Mank (2020)

Tom Burke

[6 December 2020]

Orson Welles had such a distinctive voice and although he could do accents his natural speaking voice was American. As soon as Tom Burke spoke - in a very English accent - I knew I couldn't watch anymore. It's not a tenor role, which is Burke's pitch, and if an actor can't do an approximation of Welles voice then it won't work. And it doesn't.

The Crown (2016–2023)

Season 1 & 2 were good and credible

[5/10 · 18 November 2020]

Seasons 3 & 4 are ridiculous in the overacting and unbelievable story lines. It's more like Spitting Image on acid than a drama. Anti monarchist and silly in its attempt to create something to appeal to the masses.