jonathanfergusonvernon Reviews

Rogue Heroes (2022–2024)

Great talent revealed

[9/10 · 14 November 2022]

Ok. My late paternal grandfather was in this lot then. Then it is all about the ability of the actors to characters to carry the story! Boy they do that. Talent here that will reappear in the greatest films and series anyone produces for the next ten years.

The story lines are cheeky, the language convincing ... and the heavy metal music ludicrously anachronistic but does it for me (not my other half who wants music background options as a button). High War to Hell in 1942 or Vera Lynn? Or pay a composer to do their brilliant stuff.

The BBC is finally taking on the likes of Netflix and is as precious to the British as the NHS and ... hang on, we're getting the Stranglers into the credits ... does this say more about the age of the production crew.

The Takedown (2022)

Great Fun. If Omar Sy is in it - watch it!

[8/10 · 23 May 2022]

What a delight. What an original take on the buddy cop movie too. So much swank, so much comedy and drama, a great backdrop in the Alps. The opening scenes are as good as they come from the biggest Hollywood movies, this isn't Mel Gibson, but Omar Sy has the natural size of The Rock, and the lovability of Ben Stiller. He's a charmer and a joy to watch.

The Batman (2022)

Tedious from beginning to end

[2/10 · 23 May 2022]

I fell asleep on my first attempt to watch this. The next day I picked up the story, even started again at the beginning - it still made no sense: all mood and no drama. And I fell asleep again, on several occasions. Watching the series Gotham has more story and drama than this. Just horrible, and worst of all I was conned into renting it for a whopping £15.99. A terrible waste of money. I will be cautious now of the director/writers here.

The Northman (2022)

Dreadful

[2/10 · 23 May 2022]

A total let down from the first scene to the last. As other reviewers have pointed out ANY episode of the series Vikings did a better job than this. Awful script, attempts at Shakespearean language and everyone doing a silly accent. How do this ever get made and released? Worse, how was I suckered into paying an exhorbitant £15.99 to rent it.

Pandora (2019–2020)

Awful

[1/10 · 5 December 2021]

Dreadful. And I had to purchase an episode in order to discover this fact. Inane scripting, cliche, stiff acting. Relentless unrelated mall music in the background. Like a High School play made for TV. How does this kind or torrid stuff ever get made.

The Five Juanas (2021– )

So compelling

[10/10 · 20 October 2021]

Wonderfully done, a clever 'who did it' and such an anthem to strong women. Delicious acting and so many unfolding moments of genuine joy despite some of the dark themes.

37 Days (2014)

A brave, contained, watchable dramatization of a series of meetings that led to World War

[7/10 · 14 March 2014]

It falls short of 'Shakespearean' though it is largely accurate. Some dubious casting and location shooting suggests they'd have been better off 'interpretting' the scenes ala 'Oh, What a Lovely War'. Re-interpreted as a 90 minute movie the sub-story of romance in the office might carry it. I half expected to find the junior clerk from the British Foreign Office at the bayonet end of his counterpart from the Richtstag . Armed with a transcript and played in excerpts this would be a valuable 'Open Educational Resource' - better than showing 'Blackadder', more objective than the massive 1964 'The Great WR' too. Worth discussing across the social media to understand what the origins and causes of the First World War were.

It's hardly a spoiler, but they do go to war and millions die.

Johnny Got His Gun (1971)

Life Changing

[10/10 · 17 October 2013]

Few films have left me so moved and shocked. I saw this film in passing, perhaps twice when I was in my teens. Half-hearted attempts to give it a name failed until I clicked through an IMDb list. It is gripping, moving and wonderfully told. You can never again lie awake in bed at night and not imagine how you would cope with such a nightmare. It poses so many questions about what it means to be alive, violent conflict, war, nursing and treatment and the right to live or die - even the 21st century question of what defines 'to be alive' and ways today to communicate through brain wave activity when there is nothing else to monitor. This should be seen by anyone with an interest in the First World War alongside documentaries, action thrillers, romances and comedy about conflict on this scale. As pertinent to those interested in the Second World War, indeed any conflict where a combatant is left horrendously broken and then kept in the quasi-statis of the undead.