234. Web-series Reviews – 80

 More web-series reviews…

The Offer – Came out in 2022.  Oscar-winning producer Albert S. Ruddy's never-before-revealed experiences of making The Godfather (1972).

One of the reviews from IMDB...

This series is done with so much love and reverence for the film that it's impossible not to like if you loved The Godfather, and who doesn't like that movie?

After a single episode, I was all in. It's the perfect mix of great acting, good story, and a fun script. I was dubious about this when I saw the trailer, but my doubts were gone almost from the beginning of episode one. The movie was larger than life, so a series about how the film came to be was definitely worth a shot.

I may come back and change this initial euphoria, but for now, this is one of the best things I've seen in a long while. I mean, come on! It's a series about the making of the most epic gangster movie and one of the best films ever made, and it has gangsters in it. What more could anyone want?

The scenes with Coppola and Mario Puzo are genius. They both make the process of writing look exciting, positively thrilling like I've never seen before.

One complaint, and it's major. There are WAY too many scenes shot in almost complete darkness. I am so fed up with this technique and for the life of me, I don't understand why directors think shooting in the dark is so cool. Just about every scene is shot in candlelight, an unlit room with light shining through a curtained window, a club or office as dark as a cave with visibility at about ten feet. If there is daylight, it's only to show characters walking into ill-lit rooms, or shadows playing a prominent role. Puzo and his wife sit in a dark kitchen. Couldn't he pay the electric bill? Turn on a light!

When Puzo sees the line at the bookstore the lighting was so bad that I could barely see anyone. Wasn't the whole point of the scene to show a mob? It was like people hiding in the dark. Why was this scene at night? It was a book signing. You can sign a book during the daylight hours and viewers might be able to see something instead of squinting at the screen.

If it were available, I would have watched the entire series in one night. This could be the best thing ever on TV. I almost want to tell viewers to wait until it's all available before beginning the series so as not to have the anguish of waiting for the next installment in what could be the best TV series ever-no kidding

If you would have told me beforehand that Giovani Ribisi plays Joe Colombo, I would have laughed, or at least been a bit skeptical. He's a stroke of pure brilliance in a series that is loaded with talent and great performances. I had a difficult time recognizing many of the actors because they were so far from anything they'd done before.

Another complaint I have is that we have to wait around until the end of June to see this through to the conclusion. I want it now! This reminds me of a true story. Back in about 1989, a group of friends were sitting in my living room ready to go out for the night when The Godfather came on the TV on some network station. We all promised that we'd go out after watching a few scenes. I mean, we'd all seen it a million times already. Well over an hour later, when Michael goes into the bathroom and comes out with the pistol, there was a message on the screen: To Be Continued Tomorrow.

We all said to heck with that, and someone went out to the video store to rent a copy so we could finish watching it for the 1,000,001 time. I don't remember what happened after that, but we probably went out to a bar and talked about the movie for the millionth time. The moral to this story is don't jerk people around by making them wait. Just hand over the product like they do at Netflix.

My Take – Go for it!! Excellent series!!

 

One of Us – Came out in 2016.  Also known as Retribution.  A horrific murder rocks the lives of two families living side-by-side in isolated rural Scotland.

One of the reviews from IMDB...

There will be inevitable comparisons to 'The Missing'. Will keep this comparison brief, as anything should stand on its own two feet without constant comparison, 'One of Us' is not as good. That said, while flawed it is well made and gripping in its own right.

'One of Us' cannot be faulted visually or in the production values. The Scottish scenery is like a character of its own, so beautiful yet so atmospherically remote, and one is indeed reminded of Scandinavian crime dramas such as 'Wallander' or to a lesser extent 'The Killing'. Photography is pretty exquisite too, capturing the scenery wonderfully. A broodingly moody music score always helps, and the one in 'One of Us' works well, almost cinematic-sounding but not intrusive.

Writing here has much to say about adult and sensitive topics such as euthanasia, murder, drug dealing, grief, misconduct, adultery, Parkinson's and incest and deals with it all in an incredibly intelligent, clever and non-biased way. While the storytelling is not completely flawless, for me it does have to be commended for trying to be different from other mystery dramas, focusing enough on the mystery but focusing also on the aftermath and repercussions for the families and also presenting a moral edge. There is a huge amount of atmosphere too, the production values help as well as the skillful direction, but it is high in tension and conflict with plenty of twists and turns that all feel relevant and stop the storytelling from dragging.

The denouement is intense and very affecting, though admittedly while the motive was a shock and didn't see it coming for a second the murderer's identity, after such a great job by the writers diverting suspicion onto one character to another, wasn't so much, very much strongly suspected them at the end of the penultimate episode.

As said, it is not perfect. There are parts of the drama, especially in the first episode, where there are so many revelations and so much being told that there is a danger of missing something and it occasionally feels confused. The resolution of the female police officer's story was rather illogical, in real life she would have not got away with what she did regardless of her personal situation. That's personal opinion of course. Also loved what was done with the characters, so vividly drawn and presented as characters that are both vulnerable and deeply flawed, one gets to know them so well and really care about their main situation and also other subplots that while one cares about how the drama ends one doesn't really want any of them to be the murderer.

Reception to the acting has garnered mixed opinions, being positively received by most critics but panned here. From personal opinion it was very good, and while the overwrought opinion is understandable the frenetic emoting and looking downtrodden/miserable fitted the tone of the storytelling and the nature of the situations/topics covered very well. Admittedly though, the frenetic emoting is overdone somewhat by Joanna Vanderham who occasionally comes over as robotic in the first two episodes before registering stronger when her material gets meatier. A couple of actors, such as Steve Evets, do speak low and quite quickly and when the Scottish accents are as thick as they are it is not always easy to understand. Juliet Stevenson and John Lynch however in particular give very nuanced and moving performances, Stevenson brings out her character's vulnerabilities heart-wrenchingly in the second episode and Lynch is often incredibly powerful in the last.

In conclusion, has a few problems, particularly the odd story lapse and a couple of performances that could have been better, but mostly very successful and gripping.

My Take – Worth a watch!

 

Thirteen – Came out in 2016.  26-year-old Ivy Moxam steps out of an ordinary house, on an ordinary street, on an ordinary day. Ivy hasn't been seen for thirteen years; she was kidnapped in 2003 at the age of thirteen.

One of the reviews from IMDB...

A woman escapes from a house in Bristol. At first the police are skeptical of her story but it turns out that she is Ivy Moxam, who was kidnapped 13 years ago at the age of 13. Now begins the task of reuniting with her family and friends and restarting her life. Meanwhile, the police are trying to catch her kidnapper, Mark White, but questioning Ivy makes the details of her kidnapping and imprisonment murkier and more inconsistent. Moreover, it appears that Ivy wasn't always a totally involuntary prisoner. Then Mark White kidnaps another girl…

The plot to this series initially sounded similar to the movie Room, but this is different to Room in many ways. While Room concentrated on the mother and son and how they (especially the son) cope with life on the outside, Thirteen has more of a mystery drama feel to it. It does cover Ivy's having to adjust to life after 13 years of isolation, but it also covers to a very large extent the police's attempts to unravel what happened while she was imprisoned, their relationship with Ivy and their attempts at catching her kidnapper.

Very intriguing, the mystery/crime-drama side, with a few good twists and turns. Even at the outset you aren't sure that she really is who she says she is, and later we start to think she may have been more accomplice than victim. This creates a wonderful greyness to Ivy's innocence, and fuels the intrigue.

The human drama side is also done pretty well, though does feel a bit slow and clumsy at times. Reasonably emotional though.

Solid performances all round. Jodie Comer is OK as Ivy, though doesn't really shine. The best performances probably come from Richard Rankin and Valene Kane as DI Carne and DS Merchant respectively.

Great opening song - "In your dreams" by Dark Dark Dark.

Well worth watching.

My Take – Worth a watch!

 

Tehran 2 – 2nd season of Tehran.  Came out in 2022. 

One of the reviews from IMDB...

Always a sucker for a well-executed spy show, I didn't stand a chance against Tehran. The show is bold, but believable. The writing and pace leave you on the edge of your seat wanting, worrying, and then waiting for the next show. Niv Sultan is perfectly cast into a powerful role where she feigns anything but just that. The supporting cast is strong, and the story relevant.

A beautiful, but deadly, Iranian-born Mossad spy has infiltrated Tehran. Iranian counter-intelligence is always close behind, or sometimes right next to her as she wreaks havoc around town. Everywhere she goes, she leaves a trail of Iranians with broken egos and wounded hearts. Tamar Rabinyan's struggle between sacrifice and the mission is a familiar one in espionage. She does great things for an even greater good, but this comes at a significant emotional cost.

The writers of this show are amazing. It is no easy feat to make so many complex moving parts come together with into beautiful, believable scenes. The detail and psychology of the characters is outstanding and very well executed by the cast. The relationship between Feraz and his wife remind me so much of my own relationship. The ways the Mossad agents exploit him have me laughing out loud sometimes knowing I would do the same as him in that position. Glenn Close plays Marjan, Tamar's handler, and kills it as the multi-layered personality she needs to be to keep the freight train rolling down the tracks with no brakes.

I do not give out A(s) easily, but this one gets an A+ from me. From the title, I had reservations I could relate to a middle eastern show, having only seen certain sides of the culture. The beautiful part about this show is that it shows how ordinary and familiar life can be on the other side of the world even though the show is based in extraordinary circumstances. I highly recommend this show to anybody with a pulse and promise it'll raise yours for a bit each episode.

My Take – Excellent.  See Season 1 and then this one😊

Cheers till next time😊!

Daffy Definition

Patience – The virtue most needed just when we run out of it😊!!