Iestyn Dallimore

Well acted and quite intense at times, but as another review has mentioned it doesn't actually feel like there's a plot - it just kinda ends suddenly with very little actually having happened. What is included in the film is really good, but with the benefit of hindsight it feels like this concept may have thrived as a multi-part series rather than a single movie, so as to let everything really flesh out and a storyline to properly develop. Saying all that though, this is still one of the underrated war movies out there, it's an enjoyable watch

This had the potential to be brilliant - it's gripping and has a mostly unique plotline with plenty of twists. However, there are so many egregious potholes and unbelievable moments that you just can't overlook, and they overshadow the whole series.

EEOAT is a 'Marmite' film - you'll either absolutely love it, or think it's a waste of time. I find that so many of the messages in here are targeted at a certain type of person that a large proportion of the film will actually go over the heads of others, through no fault of their own at that too. For those who 'get it', this is an eye-opening, mesmerising film that brings everything all together at once into one beautiful bombardment of emotions. For those who don't, it's a mis-mash of weird concepts, strange visuals, and strange acting. For what it's worth, the cinematography throughout is spectacular, the strange FX also playing into the world that's created. The acting is mostly superb - Jamie Lee Curtis puts on one of the best support acts I've seen in a long time, and the whole thing comes together beautifully. The writing is a bit cheesy at times, but it's forgivable as it plays into the whole concept of the movie. Overall, you should absolutely check out EEOAT - as noted earlier it may not be the film for you, but at it's worst it's about a 6/10 film. If you do 'get it', this film will become an unforgettable experience, and leave you feeling emotions that you may not have felt in a long time. It just makes sense.

A pretty solid concept that is really let down by a few really poor episodes and inconsistencies between writers. (5/10) *CONTAINS SOME SPOILERS* To start on a positive note, I enjoyed most of Kaleidoscope. The concept of a 'random order' story is pretty neat, and the order I got actually played out really enjoyably. (I got YGBOVRP between the constant Black and White) I thought the acting was on the whole pretty decent, and the general mystery to be pretty engaging especially in the early stages of the series. The cinematography is also pretty decent throughout, with a noticeable focus on the colour of the episode which is a nice extra detail that could have been overlooked. Music choices did not detract at all either, although I think more could have been done at times to really help build the scenes. Characters are kinda hit and miss in Kaleidoscope. Some people aren't a fan of Giancarlo Esposito's character, but I found him to be a fairly decent lead with some differences to set him aside from your stereotypical protagonist. The rest of the gang bar Bob and RJ were pretty decent too - Bob let down by awful character writing and seemingly endless life, and RJ just left abandoned altogether (I don't blame RJ's actor for the poor performance when his character was so empty - he contributes nothing to the series)! Hannah and Roger put in decent if not great performances - they got the job done. The FBI agents are awful, and are a detriment to every single scene they are in sadly - nothing good to say here unfortunately. My main issue with Kaleidoscope, and the thing that let it down the most, is the writing. The episodes are written by different writers, with different directors for each episode too. This leads to some serious inconsistency from episode to episode, with the entire feel of episodes changing as you go from one to the next. I personally think the mix of writers led to the story being quite disjointed and at times directionless, and would have served far better with a single writer. Funnily enough, the two episodes which pretty much ruined the series for me happened to come at the very end, these being Pink and White. Pink is some awful indirect spin on Home Alone, with two overly goofy goons hired by Bob and painfully unfunny jokes attempted throughout their time on screen. The chronological ending of the series is also incredibly weak - it feels as if they ran out of times and ideas and figured that this was the only way to end it. At least with the ending they chose, they won't have to make a Kaleidoscope 2! Realistically, you could skip Pink as you don't actually learn much from it. White was just pretty poor in its whole execution, with decisions not making any sense and the whole thing feeling too clever for its own good. I think a child could realistically have come up with a better ending than the one they used. RJ's final line is also laughably bad. TL;DR Ultimately, Kaleidoscope is a series that takes a great concept and fumbles it pretty badly. Too many writers, poor execution, and a seeming lack of an overall coherent plan lead to this being a messy, almost disappointing watch. Some episodes are decent, and I hope new ideas like this are explored, but Kaleidoscope unfortunately missed the mark in the end. (This would have been about a 7/10 if White and especially Pink were somewhat decent episodes)