Film Reviews by RP

Thankfully this isn't a Family Guy in Space. Seth MacFarlane clearly has a soft spot for the Star Trek type series of his youth. While humour is there the stories are nice nods to the ethical dilemmas the more hopeful sc fi series approached. Not always with the ending you would expect. As with any ensemble cast the stories stand or fall on how the audience invest in the characters. They are a nice mixture and carry the episodes well. They are all different enough for us to care about them. If you liked Star Trek and all that followed it, then you probably will enjoy the series. Artfully done without too many antics that would spoil the pace and flow. Already granted a second series. It is well worth a watch.

The first half of the season is great tv. After the end of the last series we see if Elizabeth can clear her name and convince her one time work mates that she is no sleeper spy. The roller coaster ride of the first half ties things up in a typical unlikely but acceptable manner and the viewer can relax and breath. Then we go into the sort of season that looks hurried to fit in changes in circumstances and makes us believe that the unlikely events lead to tragedy when we all know they really don't. Lots of long faces and stupid nonsensical conclusions. A great shame but at least by the end we are back into the well trodden path we had before the break into a hurried feeling plot and script writing. Usual good soundtrack makes it all just about hang together.

Have to say I quite enjoyed the film. Nothing we haven't seen before and it felt very stylistic of a few other films. But on saying that it did have some nice engaging performances from the leads. It didn't drag for me and at less than an hour and a half seemed well paced. Well worth a canter but without reaching a gallop. Worth the watch.

Overly ponderous but satisfying enough. A story that seemed to have been pretty much done before. A daughter feared by her Dad but who grows up and seems fine once she finds a faith. But all is not right and its genetic. The acting does its best to mix the mundane with the supernatural and tends to pull it off. Enjoyable enough even if it feels like we have been here before.

Another consistent season with Holmes and Watson. Nice to see the return of some popular characters from the past if only for a few episodes. The episodes are on the whole up to the normal fast paced and head scratching quality although the ark in this season is a little underwhelming. Nelsan Ellis who plays a pivotal part in that ark sadly died soon after the completion of the series and left behind a memorable piece of work. Didn't quite capture my interest of previous seasons but the high quality is still there to enjoy even if the plot devices were a bit clumsy and awkward (the reason for Homes drastic haircut for instance). Enjoyable nonetheless.

Sad to bid a fond farewell to the monsters that were just misunderstood and seeking redemption. Or were just monsters who wanted to the darkness to take hold and cover the light. Most of all we say goodbye to the nicely quoted poems and songs that were scattered throughout the series. Nicely acted and at times even thought provoking. The well paced final series ended as all good series should with a tear and a 'yes but what about...' Featuring all the characters we thought we knew from books and previous films but clearly didn't. Plus the ever brooding witch in search of a God that she felt had left her but......A thoroughly enjoyable romp then with touches of true pathos and some violence. Well worth the time to watch this excellent but sadly too short series.

You don't need to know anything about Poker to enjoy the film. Just know about people. The pain of a childhood that feels wasted because it never reached the potential of others hopes and dreams. The anger at being let down. The gamble to make something of your life and then the ultimate pressure from those in power. I thoroughly enjoyed the acting and was convinced by the relationship of Father and Daughter. Without that the film would not have been so moving. I enjoyed the narration to explain the intricate parts and feelings of the lead character. First film I would want to see more than once in some time because despite the subject it was so convincing. Did not expect to but was really engrossed and involved by it.

The excellent second season was always going to be a hard act to follow. The cliffhanger ending to so many characters made it must watch if a little gory tv. However this third season is almost split into two. The tidying up loose ends takes up much of the first half of the season. Even then we are left with the style over substance of slow motion pouring of wine and cutting of meat. There are also too many moments of dialogue like ' But why didn't you kill him when you got the chance'. Yes we are all asking the same question.

Second half of the season introduces the new baddie. Those familiar with the films and books will know that The Tooth Fairy or The Red Dragon enters the show. Slightly unconvincing and the usual plot of lets live in an isolated shack when danger emerges. Still If you put any credibility built up in the first two seasons aside. This is just about a good watch if a little underwhelming.

For those of a certain age. Watching British films about ordinary life and family struggling against the chaos of war. Were pretty constant entertainment on a Sunday afternoon. Plucky Brits going through a hard time while sadness and disaster were only a breath away. It is refreshing to now watch films featuring the same plucky and stylised view coming from those who were placed on the other side of War and World. While the animation lacks the detail we are used to and the characters sometimes merge. The story and the hopeless struggle of a girl growing up in all senses of the word during the Second World War is always emotionally moving. The wonder and thrill of the expectation of War is always secondary to the struggle of just going through life. Until the War can no longer be viewed from a distance but is literally coming right at you.

From the innocence of drawing rabbits as breaking waves on the sea. To trying to fit into a new family. To watching the slow destruction of hope and Country. This is a film well worth watching. Not overly sentimental but sometimes almost too colourless. The need to endure to survive circumstances beyond your control is a powerful watch.

The Trailer for the film has a nice little musical soundtrack running through it. The Film has no musical soundtrack at all. No doubt this adds to the realism and the heavy guilt we all supposed to feel. One casual act can lead to consequences we have no control over. The film is well acted and at times awkward to watch. Like walking into a room where people continue with what they are saying and just ignore your presence. But the lack of dramatic impact is partly down to the lack of music. It is fine making things look real. But when everything feels so downbeat and raw we tend as a viewer to have time to question motives. Would the Doctor really care so much even when she feels threatened? If guilt is so overpowering then wait until you do something that is really bad. Life is real enough for me. My realism in films need to have a musical accompaniment.

Well we all have to decided what we all do from here. No more cartoon violence, or cartoon sex. No more genuine moments of horror and blood spattered explosions of fear as well as tenderness and friendship. The last short series of Banshee felt hurried but with the introduction of Eliza Dushku as an FBI agent investigating the latest macabre murders. Everything managed to finally come to fruition. A generally entertaining series with lots to enjoy. A bunch of characters you wouldn't necessarily want to meet. But having met them I will miss them now they are gone.

As this film franchise has gone on the only consistent thing about it is the plot and the editing. The plot consists of betrayal and the editing consists of 'let's get this done as quickly as possible'. But having stuck with it I felt obligated to finish the franchise off. I mean I did the same with Harry Potter and frankly can't remember anything worth noting from those films either. For 'Underworld' we have the battles, the slinky vampires and the same rough werewolves. Forgotten as soon as you finish it but should have lasted longer in the mind. However the editing just wanted to finish the film as soon as it could. Which just made a throw away and a bit confusing.

A fine cast were obviously given the script for the first half of the film before they signed on. A philosophical look at gender engineering, life and what happens when the life we make doesn't want to behave in the way we want it to or expect. But then the second half of the film decided it has had enough with all that stuff and wants to play at Terminator. The pay off at the end is so predictable that anybody who didn't guess it from the first moment would have been a better person than me. On saying all this it is an enjoyable romp. But a romp instead of a better film that it could have been.

Overly long but in the end the film manages to convey a simple truth. Despite a traumatic childhood our heroine has forged a successful and typically French sophisticated life. Yet after another awful incident She still is no shrinking victim. As the film goes on we begin to realize why. Without shame you cannot be a victim. Sometimes the acting feels too by the book. A wonderful lead performance just about manages to make the film hang together. But otherwise we tend to be left with very obvious characters. Enjoyable and thought provoking if overly long.

No doubt that the thriller was a good idea. But as we have seen similar before they made it into an arty, meaningful, lost dream, wistful, looking back on what could have been, multi layered type of film. It works well and has a great cast that add substance and depth to what could have been just another thriller. Yes It could be argued that it is a case of style over substance but there is nothing wrong in that. Just in case you didn't pick up on the little pointers between the past, the present and the fictional book, the extras add the hammer to explain it. Well worth a watch I thought.