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finleyharry
Reviews
Purple Hearts (2022)
Insufferable Female Lead
The usual modern day Netflix film. The insufferable female lead who thinks she's the bee's knees despite being a waitress. The weak male lead who's a California liberal's idea of a conservative Marine.
However, it's an all round pretty decent plot which is entirely plausible and makes for a nice little love story between two unlikely companions.
But the whole movie is smattered with some sort of weird anti-male rhetoric. The female lead's t-shirt reading "the future is female", and when asked what men can expect in the future she replies "it's not looking good for the bros." Is it now cool & trendy & acceptable to hate men?
The lead male character is laughable. He's weak, a complete pushover and acts nothing like a conservative Marine would in real life. I don't know whether it's the script or the actor, but it's cringey. I didn't want to have to use the word "cringe" in my review, but that's pretty much the best word to describe this movie.
Élite (2018)
Seasons 1-3 excellent! Then stop watching
Look how they killed my boy 😭. The cast & storyline for seasons 1-3 are just great. I loved the show until they released season 4... it just goes so downhill. I'd recommend anyone to watch the first 3 seasons. It's not worth it after that. The cast changes & the story changes.
There's not a whole lot more to say than that. I guess I'll try fill out the character count for a bit longer.
Oh yeah, the whole plot of seasons 1-3 is really good and it is a genuinely engrossing mystery. And once the characters work out who carried out the murder, it's perfectly frustrating to watch them be unable to prove it. Loved it.
The Last Czars (2019)
Tragic at every turn
This documentary/drama series details the tragic tale of the downfall of the Russian monarchy & Tsar Nicholas II's family.
The combination of narration & historians' insights, alongside actors really works well here. Whilst you are immersed in certain parts of the Romanovs' world, you are also given key context, and situations are explained in simple terms to help you understand what exactly is going on. I really hope that Netflix can use this format for other historical shows.
The series itself is tragic. Of course, most people watching know how it's going to end, but you find yourself hoping that maybe, just maybe, it won't end the way it's supposed to. Having said that, it doesn't romanticise the Romanovs heavily and shows, at many points, how out of touch they were, and how bad some of Nicholas II's political decisions were. It's just the sad tale of a man, who was unprepared to lead an empire, being thrust into the role of Tsar, and the only thing he ever seemed to love doing was spending time with his family.
I would definitely recommend everyone to watch this. It's fascinating at many turns, and here in Britain we don't get to learn much about pre-war Russia, so I learned quite a bit. And what we do already know, probably comes from the Disney film, 'Anastasia'.
I'm willing to bet that a lot of the bad reviews for this show are due to its hybrid format, not for the content.
Glass Onion (2022)
A Real Step Down
I cannot believe this film is currently garnering a 7.3 when the original Knives Out only sits at 7.9. This really isn't much of a whodunnit like the first film is. The murder only takes place a fair chunk of the way through the film, and then it takes you on a long flashback for pretty much the rest of the run time. The cast is nowhere near as strong as the first film. Dave Bautista & Kate Hudson just can't act. Edward Norton's character was so over the top and cliche that it wasn't even funny. The other 'suspects' were so forgettable that they just added nothing to the plot, and were a waste of budget. The film didn't introduce the suspects at all, so you couldn't even begin to form theories.
The end was just a mess. The reason for the murder was just "bleurgh" and it was so far-fetched that a complete "idiot" could become a tech billionaire from a simple, stolen idea. The completely virtuous sisters were dull heroes, nothing like the slightly flawed, but kind-hearted Marta from the first one. And the final scenes, where the murderer is revealed, was so disappointing! There's no clever reveal, or satisfaction of catching the murderer, it's just a childish and, quite frankly, annoying sequence of smashing glass items and arson. And with the billionaire's super lawyers, it's quite likely he'd get off the charge of murder anyway because the whole case relies on some disgruntled associates actually having to lie in court.
Such a poor follow up to what was such a great film. It seems like everything Netflix does turns to **** nowadays! If you haven't watched this yet, I'd lower your expectations. But if you're really, really bored on a Sunday afternoon, then it's maybe not too bad to have in the background.
I Give It a Year (2013)
Enjoyable enough
It's enjoyable enough but it's almost an anti-rom com. It doesn't leave you feeling good at the end, which is what a rom-com should do. Rose Byrne's character was unlikeable from the get-go, and her husband got less likeable throughout the film.
The main shining light was Stephen Merchant's character. I thought he was funny everytime he was on the screen, unfortunately that wasn't often enough.
I probably wouldn't recommend watching this film, there's just no substance to it. However, Stephen Merchant's monologues are probably worth catching. But you can probably find those on YouTube instead.
Outer Banks (2020)
A Great Escape
As a teenager myself, which is the target audience for this show, I love it! The backdrop and scenery of this show is just amazing. The characters are for the most part interesting and likeable, and the story is tense but fun. The best part about this show, and all my friends say so too, is that you can just put it on when you're having a bad day and be transported to a world of freedom, sun, love and friendship. Which is pretty much all that teenagers want!