The_Old_Coot

La Brea is in the top 10 in Netflix and has a good premise, so I checked it out. Meh!

Acting: Yawn. Mumbled lines, no chemistry with other characters, exception of Riley who is excellent.

Casting: Bleh.

Sound: Pounding kettle drums and screaming synthesizers way overused, sound effects pumped up to blow your speakers. Like a guitarist who can't play and just turns up the volume.

Camera work: As if the photographers were drunk, careening around and always moving the camera. Otherwise too many closeups and lingering on actors for reaction shots for no reason as the actors' reactions were forced and fake as if they saw the camera on them and realized they had to do something. Some brilliant scenic photography, though.

Editing: Jumping from short shot to short shot, purposeless.

Writing: Random events happen for no reason. Important information is glossed over or even left out.

Even the actors seem to be confused about what they are portraying.

Overall: I watched it to the end of season 1 hoping it would find its legs and get better. Just got worse.

DS9 is inconsistent. It vacillates from outstanding, memorable episodes to outright yawners. I've only watched five seasons but stopped due to boredom.

The biggest issue is the lead actors.

• lead Avery Brooks looks like he has just reached the point of remembering his lines and rehearsing in front of a mirror. He stares at the camera and ignores those around him. No chemistry with the other actors whatsoever and he does not even begin to become the well-written character that he portrays. Like a decent guitarist in a show who has only just learned the song and is also out of sync with the rest of the band.

• beautiful Terry Farrell is one dimensional, doing her best but seems like she needs a better cast to let her really show her skills

• the actor who plays Bashir looks good but makes you fall asleep whenever he comes on the screen. He would do better as a photo model.

• the actor who plays Kira is cute and likeable but the portrayal needs to be stronger. It's as if she's focusing on being cute and not letting go to portray the character.

• Worf has a powerful, over-processed voice. Keeps your interest for a while, but you need more

• the exception is O'Brien, an excellent performer. When he stars in an episode you breathe a sigh of relief. And of course Odo is fantastic in his role.

• but: the unusual races, the Ferengi, the Cardassians, even the other Klingons, have outstanding actors. One never gets tired of Dukat, Garak, Martok, or even the female changeling.

The writing is inconsistent. Some episodes are the best of many ST series. Others look like they're designed for character development but instead of having the characters face interesting challenges in these episodes they just talk you to sleep.

Still, this series is better than many other shows. No loud sound effects, shaky and jumpy camera work, or fast cuts designed to hide weaknesses in writing. This often sleepy, slow-paced series is still far ahead of many of the other offerings out there.

What is the difference between a video game and a movie? The makers of this flick don't seem to know. This movie is so boring that towards the end it just becomes little more than flashing lights. Way way too much camera movement too.

Kind of like listening to a band with their volume at maximum that plays only one chord.

Who would have thought that this fantastic cast would be reduced to such imagineless boredom? No character development, hard to find a story.

Too bad, because Paul Walker deserved a send off much more worthy of his talent.

As an FF fan, I wasn't even disappointed. Just dizzy.