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This six-part series is riveting TV. An interesting-enough premise (transferring a mind into a new body) soon brings a whole host of unforeseen problems. So many parallels with current issues of refugees, surveillance, police state tactics, church-state divide, political donations, and many more. Episode 2 is a little light on as it takes time to fill some backstory, but the pace and plot soon pick up. Do not miss this.

I'm glad the ads don't give away the story. The promotions department - obviously fearing no one would want to watch Eastwood as grizzled grandfather to a young male Asian neighbour - instead touts this as Dirty Harry takes on the Crips, if you know what I mean. To a small extent that's true, but not the undercurrent. The girl who played Sue has a big future, what confidence on screen. Everyone has a father, uncle, granddad just like Eastwood in this role. And we all have our own prejudices against migrants - until we get to know them. Don't want to give too much more away - this is a must see. And ignore the nitpickers who want to find fault with minutiae in this film. When I put this up against 95% of what comes out of Hollywood, this film wins hands down every time.

Just caught this at the end of a run in Manly so I'm obviously a few months behind the rest of the amateur critics. If you like Tom Hanks and Ron Howard this is not your sort of movie. If you loved American Beauty and Mystic River then you can add this to that nice little collection. This is one of the most thought-provoking films I have seen for some time. You kept expecting the worst from the 'bad guy' but it never came, thank goodness - it would have trashed the film and deflected attention from the rest of the plots. All the characters reminded you of someone you know. There was a lot of 'real'ness about them. All those people who panned this film have obviously not spent much time at the local playground with yummy mummies who bore you with their small talk and constant self-obsession. Or they haven't wondered if the grass is greener on the other side. Or both. I found my emotions and thoughts being swept from one place to another as the various threads unfolded. The scene with the 'bad guy' on a date was brilliant and tossed your brain around like a tiny boat. Perhaps this movie was way too close to the bone for those people who didn't like it - then again, perhaps they're the sort of people featured in it. And for all the fears about what the 'bad guy' might do throughout the movie, who can honestly say they did not feel for him when his mum left him that haunting one-line note ? As it turns out, there is more than one 'bad guy' in this movie. It's everyone to a degree. Some people draw the line at varying degrees, hence our different takes on morality. So when the ex-cop does an about face at the end, maybe he truly did have an epiphany and realised he, too, had to change. Maybe this film was made too late to qualify for the Oscars the other day but if the 'bad guy' doesn't get nominated for best supporting actor then the whole thing is a farce. Go see it - even if it's on video or DVD. And be prepared to be honest afterwards. Many critics weren't.