Pelrad

The British Thriller series is one of the joys of television that runs in danger of being forgotten. It is brilliantly written and scripted with great performances and no CGI. Every episode has its own cast and characters, and the series gets an A+ for variety; there are even episodes on the supernatural - ghosts, witchcraft and the like.

"Who Killed Lamb?" is a more straightforward who-done-it mystery that will keep you guessing to the end. It is an odd entry in Thriller as it has unique opening & end credits and music and is not included in some DVD collections of the series. On the surface, the victim and his circle of associates, friends, and family seem like ordinary people living ordinary lives, but as the detectives dig into things, there are all sorts of secrets and dirty dealings going on. I liked it! 8/10.

Dune is one of those forgettable flicks during which one keeps waiting for something to happen, and nothing ever does. The plot? Basically, an uninteresting little fella goes to check out a desert. Visually, the movie is deplorable and difficult to watch - dark, blurry, dusty, smoky, no colour, very ugly. Keep some pain killers handy for the eye strain. There is no memorable dialogue here. The acting is mediocre and none of the characters will captivate your attention. While the film is not a complete disaster, one would expect much better from a budget of $165 million.

The remake of the evil clown movie, i.e. IT... After trying to stomach too much gore, bullying, and violence and feeling unsatisfied by the lack of spine-tingling, I got about halfway through the movie and wondered when the kids now as adults would reunite to take on the evil. Needless to say, it never happened. Very disappointed. I prefer the original two-part movie which was a story of kids traumatized by evil seeping around town and trying to figure out what was going on. Years later they reunite as adults to face their fears and avenge their lost friend by finally taking IT on. It made an impression on me, as many of us as kids growing up sense that there is something not right about our town and return to it later in life to figure out what was going on. I feel the new IT blew it by axing this major plot point. Visually, it was decent as were the performances and it came close to engaging me but ultimately failed. 5/10