Too-Tall-for-the-Desert

I am struggling to find the words to describe how brilliant this show is. It took me two episodes to find my feet with it, but once in, oh my goodness. The film photography is stunning, it is like watching liquid art. I didn't like the black and white to begin with, but loved it by the end. Light and shade has never been better used. Andrew Scott puts in a masterful performance in the lead role. He does that wonderful trick of being able to have you rooting for him even though you know morally you shouldn't. The supporting cast are excellent, with a particular nod to Eliot Sumner who I had never heard of before, but they are mesmerising.

This is not a fast, bang buzz type of show, but like a lot of the finer things in life, if you are prepared to invest yourself, it will reward you in measures.

I watched this show because I needed some good 'switch off' from a hard time. Goodness me, what a load of utter rubbish. Nothing about this show is believable. Guns on a plane, multiple murders on a plane, full mobile phone use on a plane, access to every part of the plane, including the luggage compartment with very unrealistic ease. Cheesy story line, with an implausible plot. Every single 'good guy/bad guy cliche that has ever been done before.

And yet, it met my need like a cheap holiday book. It was like laying on a hot sandy beach, laughing at the nonsense and yet lapping up every single ridiculous minute.

Oh, I so wanted this movie to be great. I am a big fan of Ridley Scott's movies. In my mind a Scott movie is pretty much guaranteed a good experience. So I went in to 'Napoleon' expecting great things and, to be fair, there were many brilliant parts of this movie. Phoenix is brilliant, absolutely perfect for the part. Vanessa Kirby is equally perfect. In fact, I cannot fault any of the acting. The film photography is excellent, although I did think the scale of the battle scenes could have been done better (most of the Napoleonic battles involved 100's of thousands of soldiers, not 10's.). But, where the movie falls down for me is in continuity. It jumps from year to year without any sense of natural progression. I was lost trying to catch up where we were in historical context. I hear that a directors cut maybe coming that will correct this. Hope so and will definitely watch if it does.