Michael Cox

Excellent. Some over the top situations, but hey, that's dramatic license. Acting great, location fantastic, nice to see some Indigenous actors such as Dallas Goldtooth (could use a few more), the lead actor Jason Clarke, with Haley Bennett and Dominic Cooper, deserve another season. Please Apple renew! Great ending. Just had to be. And look: those of you who say this is unrealistic? You want real to watch police work, go sit in an office for three hours doing paperwork, then sit in a car driving around, arrest one person, then more paperwork, then have lunch at some takeout place...you get the idea. Of course this isn't realistic! And because it is episodic, you have to have a "omg" moment at the end of each episode, otherwise why continue watching. So get real and enjoy the unreal.

Appalling performances from all but Emma Thompson. Over-acting. The writing and realization of certain characters, particularly the "evil" spy master and his toad-like deputy defy logic and comedy. It is hard to reconcile this with Slow Horses as being from the same author, but I haven't read the books, so my guess is that the production team on the one (SH) is far more accomplished than the people making DCR. There's a line they've crossed in which my "willing suspension of disbelief" has been betrayed by slapdash writing and over the top "humour" which isn't funny, is one dimensional and panders to a low common denominator: namely, those people who rate it highly. A waste of talent and a waste of time.

Only two episodes in and hooked. A fascinating premise. Group think extended globally. No more countries, no more wars, no more animal cruelty, no more human cruelty. Would it be utopia? How will this series main character deal with the deaths caused by anger? Her anger!? If we all knew everything and we all thought alike, what would be the point of living?

I’ll give DW four stars for his performance, but this Spike Lee film is embarrassing. An old man made this (and I’m 70)! A respected filmmaker who thinks he can create a contemporary remake of a classic while mixing genres, music, even editing. Boring! And: what’s with the little faux-Super 8 clips? Are you stuck in some time warp? And the doubled-action cuts? Like that is supposed to be hip? You’re making a film that celebrates Black culture while filming it like a tired old man. No wonder this didn’t go theatrical. Apple seems to be on a roll with overly long films that stretch an audience’s patience*—if you want to celebrate Black music or Puerto Rican music then make another damn documentary! * Invasion, Fountain of Youth, etc.

Good for a rainy Saturday screening With the kids but as an (expensive?) adventure it falls flat. Too much exposition, too many American accents, little throw-away lines supposedly funny but we’ve heard them all before. This is an attempt at an Indiana Jones grand archeological action film and it misses the mark. Casting is everything.

Quite possibly the worst film I've seen. Ever. And I've seen plenty of mediocre films! Over-acted, terrible dialogue, satire that is so broad and on-the-nose its just boring, gratuitous and cruel violence, there is nothing to recommend it. Yet, curiously, it gets four star reviews in reputable media. I saw it with a friend who is a cinematographer and director, and though I walked out ¾ of the way in, apologizing to him for recommending it, he stayed to the bitter end. Today, he texted me: "Ok, I agree. That was the worst film I think I’ve ever seen. Bummer."

Two things stand out: this is one of the most honest portals of relationships I’ve seen in a very long time; and, it has the sexiest —and restrained— flirtation in cinema. Acting is great.

I don’t have any expectations. Nor did I know this was based on, or a riff on, an anime series. I don’t watch anime, or read it, or chew on it, but I really enjoyed the first episode of the live action version. I am getting a little tired, however, of splattered blood as an easy answer to dramatic tension and resolution in practically every cop-bad guy-action-comic-drama-buddy series, of which this is one.