John McCormick

The Watch on BBC is impenetrable if you don't know the books. If so you are among the lucky ones. If you do know the books then it is difficult to follow but when you realize what is happening it is nauseatingly bad. Someone forgot to tell the producer and actors that Pratchett books were supposed to be fun. The author was a genius who wrote great plots with great characters. I can't say that about the people who dropped this turd on TV. Vimes is OK. Carrot is OK. Cherry is ridiculous the actor/actress may be fine but they apparently only had about 7 actors to choose from for the show. GoodBoy is not the size of a dog but fits in the hand and rides in Sybil's pocket unnoticed. Detritus is somehow vulnerable to crossbows, new for a piece of granite. Vetinari is not a thin obvious graduate of the Assassin's Guild, but a heavyset woman. I can't even describe Lady Ramkin but she is not in this show. Angua is a pitiful wretch which should be put down, out of her misery and ours, not the superwoman from the books. Naked, dirty and looking like you were dropped from the fourth floor is NOT the same as sexy. This show is an absolute insult to Sir Terry Pratchett (deceased) Hogfather was great. Good Omens was great. Making Money was good. Going Postal was great. The Watch was apparently produced and written by people left over from destroying Dr. Who. (No I do not object to a female Dr. I object to bad plots, terrible writing, and several very mediocre actors.) The Watch seems to have been produced to kill off any future movies. On the up side, it is on TV, you can watch something else in the time slot, and ... sorry, can't think of anything else nice to say about this.

What can one say about yet another Hammer Studio Frankenstein story except that if you've seen one you've seen them all - which isn't a put down at all. These movies are like fast food. If you eat at a burger place because you like the expected then what is wrong with watching movies the same way - you wouldn't want one every day but sometimes you just want to relax and go with the flow. This movie won't disappoint if you like any of the other Peter Cushing Hammer movies.

Just watched the pilot. Silly, juvenile (NOT Juvenal [Decimus Junius Juvenalis] the Roman poet), and overall light fun which is a nice break from watching the Republic collapse in a civil war. Mr. Dansen’s acting ability may be challenged but I think he can rise to the occasion. Favorite character so far is the sandal wearing geek who turns out to be top executive material while the “professionals” will obviously be the but of most jokes (yes, I know what the word BUTT means, try to keep up.) While I never owned or wore sandals, I was and am a proud Geek. Level 6 Google Guide Tried to post this right after the show finished but there was no place to post a review last night.