artemis84-1

I sometimes watch bad stalker movies. I find their predictability, bad acting and uninspiring dialogue somehow entertaining on a rainy day.

But this was bad-bad. Who green lit this? Who wrote this and why did they want to punish us?!

Having read the bestselling novel by William Landay it is based on, 'Defending Jacob' has been on my watchlist for a while. I added it as soon as I found out it is in production without knowing anything else - I enjoyed the book so much that I was already sold into watching the series without needing to know more.

Therefore I was very pleasantly surprised to see none other than Chris Evans starring as Assistant DA Andy Barber whose teenage son Jacob (Jaeden Martell) is accused of murdering a classmate.

Without including any spoilers, the premise of the 8-part mini series centers around the ambiguity of Jacob's innocence, his parents' determination to protect him whilst being ostracized from their community, the relationship between father and son, and whether a proclivity for violence can be determined by one's DNA.

All characters are well-cast in their respective roles. Michelle Dockery does a fine job portraying Andy's wife, but it is Chris Evans who carries the show.

I'm all for dark and gloomy atmospheres, but each episode looked like it was shot with the same blue-tinted filter and every single interior had an oddly similar minimalistic, barren feel to it. This took away from experiencing the emotions the actors were trying to convey and was too sterile for the subject matter. Portraying a child's murder and its consequences shouldn't be filtered into oblivion. The audience needs to see the rawness and magnitude of this tragedy and not blue-tinted fancy furniture store displays.

I started out really wanting to like this. The cast certainly did the best with what they were given and the first 3-4 episodes were intriguing enough (although frustrating at times) to keep me going.

Had it not been for the last episode, I would have likely given this a higher rating.

I don't want to put any spoilers here, so I will just write that I genuinely don't understand how one can ruin something when they had all the right ingredients: a bestselling novel, a great cast, and a seemingly generous budget to work with. I almost want to say it takes a special kind of talent to mess that up.

This would have worked great as a feature film (same cast), especially if the storyline fully followed that of the novel.

It's really a shame as I was very much looking forward to this and as a viewer, I almost feel 'scammed' after watching the finale. I can't defend any of this.

Welp - I went for it. I watched the very much hyped "Borat 2", which is available for free for Amazon Prime members and premiered yesterday. I put my cringe PPE hazmat suit on first because just like its predecessor, this "moviefilm" very much relies on sometimes painfully cringey, uncomfortable situations in order to relay its social commentary.

Although I appreciate the talented Sacha Baron Cohen's work and admire his very vocal criticism of Facebook and the spread of misinformation, the Borat-type genre was never my cup of tea so to speak. But given the now infamous Giuliani incident, the masochist within me decided to watch the whole thing and decide if the screenshots I saw were really as bad as I thought or a clever marketing ploy.

Well, they were both. It definitely hyped up the movie even more, and yes, Giuliani is totally inappropriate and gross with Maria Bakalova, the actress playing Borat's 15-year-old daughter, Tutar.

Bakalova (24), did a phenomenal job. Originally from Bulgaria, she has not had any major roles until now. It must have taken not just a significant amount of talent/skill, but also quite a lot of courage to agree to this risky venture and her character outshone Borat's.

For me personally, the movie was just not as great as its predecessor. It lacked the originality and 'unscripted feeling' the first Borat film brought with its shock value. Although this still had plenty of shock value, it was obvious that it was orchestrated and that took away from me seeing it as Borat vs. Sasha Baron Cohen in character trying to convey a social commentary.

Worth a watch, just make sure to wear your cringe protective gear. You will need it.