Change Your Image
clwyd-92205
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
WandaVision: The Series Finale (2021)
A respectable final episode that MCU fans will love, though perhaps not necessarily my cup of tea.
The finale of WandaVision is an action-packed episode with some excellent fight scenes and impressive CGI. Fans of the MCU films will get what they came for, no question.
For myself, I had mixed feelings. I'm just not a big action/CGI guy, and liked the series best when it was focused on mysterious, eerie "something's not right here" feeling of the early episodes. So, while I can appreciate the action of the later episodes, it's not as big a draw for me personally.
The episode isn't *all* action, though. There are some truly poignant moments in the finale, and both Olsen and Bettany shine in their roles. Bettany also has a wonderful scene involving logic and reason that was perfect for Vision.
The finale also ties everything up satisfactorily, leaving no messy loose ends to mar the story's resolution. That can be one of the hardest things to do in a limited-run series, and credit to the show's writers for achieving that goal.
My final grade: 7.25/10.
Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense: The Late Nancy Irving (1984)
Clever story marred by a weak lead and thrown together ending
The basic premise of The Late Nancy Irving is solid and genuinely creepy. An American professional golfer is kidnapped and awakens in some weird and posh medical clinic. Initially believing she is there due to an automobile accident, she begins to fathom that things are not what they seem, and something sinister is afoot. All the makings of a classic bit of horror are in place, but unfortunately don't quite come together.
As other reviewers have pointed out, the actress playing the lead role of Nancy (Cristina Raines) just isn't very compelling in the role. She's adequate in the pre-clinic scenes of the episode, but isn't able to carry the episode once she's had her "accident." The scenes of paranoia and suspicion fall a bit flat.
In a similar vein, "Mr. Big" (no spoilers) in the story is also a little "meh." Suitably evil, but not very menacing. It might have been better to keep him almost entirely hidden but for the necessary medical scenes (again, no spoilers).
On a more positive note, the supporting cast are generally quite good. Mick Ford is exceptional as fellow "patient" Tony Graham, and SPACE:1999 alums Tony Anholt and the always reliable Zienia Merton give solid performances as Dr. Marquis and Nurse Lee Parquet. There's a nice bit of depth to the two characters, blending in a bit of grey with the black and white of what is going on in the clinic.
Some people might not enjoy the deliberate pacing of the plot, which I thought worked well in slowly building tension. Most would probably agree that the ending is a little too neat and pat to be effective. The intent was probably to distinguish between the truly evil and the folks who did evil because they felt they had to, but it is an emotional letdown.
6.6/10.
Space: 1999: The Taybor (1976)
A Poor Man's "Harry Mudd."
The Tabor is another 2nd season episode of SPACE:1999 that is essentially a pale copy of an earlier and better episode of Star Trek. Tabor (Willoughby Goddard) is a jovial, flamboyant intergalactic trader who is far less trustworthy and scheming that he at first appears. Basically, he's supposed to be Harry Mudd.
To Goddard's credit, he plays the part with suitable bombast and slipperiness. It would have worked better in smaller doses. In fairness, it's kind of hard to limit the screen time of your guest star/nemesis of the week. I just wish he'd dialed it down to a 7 or 8 a couple of times.
Another plus in the episode is the pretty decent writing for both Landau's Koenig and Tony Anholt's Tony Verdeschi. Both men are believably suspicious and wary of the too-good-to-be-true offers of Tabor, and Koenig exercises some clever initiative that was often lacking for his character in S2 scripts.
The downsides to the episode are pretty much everything else. We suddenly learn that Dr. Russell can make robotic copies of crew members. We've never seen this technology used before, and I don't think it's ever used again in the show. It's a cheap gimmick to advance the plot. The F/X are subpar, with most of Tabor's collection of wondrous treasures looking like dollar store knockoffs of QVC jewelry. The resolution borrows heavily from "I, Mudd", and isn't humorous so much as it Is cringey.
It's still worth a look, but even by the lowered expectations of S2, it's not one of the better episodes of 1999.
Kosmetikkrevolusjonen (1977)
Worth a look, for Zienia Merton's performance.
Let me be up front in saying I don't speak or understand Norwegian, so my review is going to be based primarily on the parts of the film that are in English, and what I've been able to garner through text translations of the rest.
The premise of the film is that a Norwegian company called (Clinox) has a new line of condoms that should be very successful, but their red (associated with communism) color is a touchy subject in an election year. Enter a vivacious, sultry, and thoroughly amoral Hong Kong business woman named Lucy Ferner (Zienia Merton), who promises a revolutionary new method of cosmetics production that will make everyone rich. We quickly discover that this new method involves a machine that can make everything from cold cream to perfume to eyeliner. All from a very special ingredient...poo (feces).
If the premise sounds a little silly, it is. Cosmetics Revolution is not classic film-making by any stretch of the imagination. It's a low budget comedy with a good bit of softcore nudity thrown in ala 70's classic like Ursula Andress' The Sensuous Nurse and all those Swedish stewardess flicks you used to see late night on Showtime and Cinemax back in the early 1980s.
Still, the film has its moments, thanks to Merton. Zienia plays the part of Ferner with assurance and even a bit of swagger. Ferner is a metaphor for the excesses of consumerism and marketing. I laughed out loud at the scene where she presents her list of demands to the owner of Clinox in exchange for access to her new production method. Each demand is sillier and more outrageous than the last, but the superficialities of her charm and beauty sell the deal. You can make anything sound reasonable, if you dress it up in a pretty enough package.
Merton is at her best when playing Ferner as a seducing vamp. She brings a subversive humor to Ferner, as she adapts her look and her approach to each of her marks. It's really nicely done. As a childhood fan of SPACE 1999 (where Merton played the shy but compassionate Sandra Benes), it is quite a change up from what I was used to seeing. She ends up naked most of the time here, but it's not done in bad taste. Merton was a beautiful woman, and the scenes are played for laughs rather than raunch.
5.5/10. Wouldn't pay for a DVD of it, but worth watching if it's floating around on the net.