Ismaninb

The biggest problem with episode 1.1, Love in Amsterdam, is that it doesn't do justice to politics in Amsterdam. Only two candidates are presented, while the local government body entirely consists of leftists and the city council sees no less than 12 political parties. The biggest party and the mayor belong to Green Left, while the second party, Democrats 1966, are comparable with the British Liberal Democrats. So no, De Klerk would not be the main rival of Paul Oosterhuis. Also especially the Amsterdam electorate is not very interested in the sex lives of its politicians. This all hardly makes the political aspect of the plot credible. The final scene, with Van der Valk and Hassell sailing a tjalk on the IJ, quite a busy channel with several harbours, is simply ridiculous. Dutch police officers would have had such a chat in a local pub - like the one Van der Valk uses as his briefing room. Granted, better than almost all Dutch productions, but that doesn't set the bar high. Like fionacluck already pointed out, there's quite a lot left to desire. At the other hand I was quite entertained, so six stars it will be.

Title: Unstoppable. First few minutes: a train with dangerous cargo, manned by an unknown. Lead actor: Denzel Washington.

So we have some narrow escapes, some failed attempts to stop the thing and Denzel saving the situation at the end. The only remaining question is how. The rest is just ornament. Watching the first 5 minutes and the last 15 suffices. It's all professionally done, so a 6 it gets.

The purpose of My Big Fat Greek Wedding is laudable. Paint a loving, funny and moving picture of the Greek-American subculture that people can relate with. Alas it almost completely fails. The characters all are flat and uninteresting. Within five minutes you know how the story develops and how it ends. The cultural clash (when the parents meet) isn't a clash as everybody behaves like idiots. The jokes, with one or two exceptions, aren't funny. The scenes that are meant to move you are emotionally void. If you want to know how this genre should be done try Nothing Like the Holidays, which makes you want to be a Puerto Rican (at least as long as the movies lasts).