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Reviews
Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story (2000)
Such a mistake
I gave this 4 stars only out of respect to Megan Follows and Jonathan Crombie and their re-creation of Anne and Gilbert. Otherwise, I was so disappointed at this contrived sequel. Apparently, the Sullivan Corporation chose to write a completely new story to synchronise with the timeline created by the Road to Avonlea series. Honestly, it would have been better to just create a third film from all the wonderful source material in L M Montgomery's books and ignoring the RTA timeline. Unfortunately, Kevin Sullivan's story for this movie is just preposterous, sending Anne & Gilbert off to New York then to Europe and the UK during the First World War. Throw in some spies, a series of unlikely 'chance' meetings and a lot of contrived filler to justify a 3 hour running time. Honestly, it's not worth watching, does nothing to advance Anne's story and just left me longing desperately for the great sequel this could have been if only they'd stuck to the story in the books.
Obsession (2023)
Predictable and unconvincing
As others have commented, this is a cheap rip-off of Damage in which Jeremy Irons and Juliette Binoche gave a much more competent performance. I watched for Richard Armitage who is a fine actor (his NT performance in The Crucible is spine-tingling) but this watery mish-mash, with set piece sex scenes to titillate those who thought 50 Shades was super-erotic, is beneath his talent. There is zero chemistry between the leads and if there is anything admirable in the writing and direction, it's that it makes a refreshing change for the male actor to spend more time with his kit off than the endless gratuitous female-centred nudity that is still awash in TV and movies. In summary, a moderate amount of sex, a thin plot and characters that just don't gel.
Wednesday (2022)
A Netflix star
With both Netflix and Tim Burton being off the boil for me for some time, it took me a while to get around to watching Wednesday ... and then I binged it in 2 days. Jenna Ortega is perfect as the weird goth Addams daughter, being dark, morbid, cutting, with just very occasional hints of teenage angst. Her unblinking thousand yard stare, old soul and cutting dialogue make the character utterly compelling. There are nice throwbacks to both the original series and earlier movies and it's good to see that Gomez is much more the 'uglier' version portrayed in Charles Addams' original cartoons, than the debonair Gomez portrayed by John Astin and Raul Julia. With a decent plot interweaving monsters and murders, the return of favourite characters like Thing, Lurch and Uncle Fester, Wednesday is a return to form for Tim Burton. Netflix content has been largely dire with a very few notable exceptions but Wednesday is one of those shining stars like Stranger Things and The Last of Us that redeems it.
My Bloody Valentine (2009)
Slash, slash, scream
The 1981 original movie typified the slasher flick and this remake upholds the genre pretty competently. The classic urban legend of a deranged killer bringing folks to a gruesome end around a given day e.g. Halloween, Friday 13th etc, is encapsulated in this 2009 version. It's formulaic, sure, but nobody makes these kind of movies for cerebral stimulation or to prompt intellectual debate. Expect screaming, gory deaths, nudity, illicit bonking, vengeance and buckets of blood - well, we'd all be disappointed otherwise. Having said that, it's a decent production though the acting is a little stilted at times - the notable exception is a young Jensen Ackles who stands out from the crowd with a good performance. It's worth a watch if you enjoy the genre and the plot twists keep it tense until the end.
Chupacabra Terror (2005)
John Rhys Davies is good
Legendary 'goat-sucker' chupacabra is captured by Gus from Breaking Bad, on a Caribbean island apparently populated with African meerkats, then taken aboard a ship captained by Gimli - bloody chaos ensues. I watched it because of John Rhys Davies who does his best with a script seemingly written on the back of a cornflake packet. He deserved better. Mildly gory (by today's standards) hokum, good for a Friday evening after a nice bottle of wine or two.
Stag Hunt (2015)
Not the worst film ever but ....
.... a strong contender. Four really unlikeable dudes wander round the moors farting and calling each other names whilst being hunted by a big cat. I was rooting for the cat TBH.