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Reviews
Robyn Hood (2023)
Save your ears from the bad music
I don't use the 1 star lightly. But it's hard to conceive of a worse show. One of the main things against it is the ear torture they call theme music. Please, have a care for your ears, people. It's funny that the showrunner is a music video director, since the music and music videos that feature herein are soooooo bad. One might argue the music videos reflect the means of the people making them in the show- but the son of one of my coworkers makes his own music videos, and those are high art compared to this show's (I'm really not kidding).
Also, this is yet another in a long line of things we've seen in "entertainment" lately where the morals and likability are backwards between the villains and the so-called heroes. Sometimes it's because there's an attempt to make things more ambiguous, and they go too far both ways. But in this case I think it's incompetence and a lack of self-awareness. I mean, the "villain" John Prince is certainly treated as though he's horrible, but in reality his actions are pretty reasonable. He's the one to root for. Meanwhile our heroes are obviously supposed to be wonderful, but they come across as a bunch of unrelatable, personality-less stereotypes who are just out for their own self-interest instead of "giving to the poor". Especially Robyn herself- the reason I bailed on the show is because of how unlikable she is. And that plot armor, wow. I should add that Prince's actor is much better than those for Robyn, her mom, and the gang. I'll reserve the 1 star for him.
And then there's the issue of just not bothering to have anything make sense. Overall, whatever your tastes, you can definitely be watching something better.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power: Alloyed (2022)
Please make Sauron the hero instead of Galadriel
This whole series, their version of Galadriel has been bossy, reckless, rude, and unwilling to own to any fault. But in this episode there was a moment where they could have turned it around. After Halbrand has left for Mordor, Elrond asks where he is. And she says something like, "You once spoke of a mistake you made." This was an opportunity for her to admit she was wrong in thinking Halbrand was king despite his repeated denials and insisting on putting him on the throne. We could have had some actual character growth here.
But no, this is Rings of Power's Galadriel, and so instead what she's referring to is a mistake Elrond had said HE made in not trusting HER. Meaning she expects no further discussions on Halbrand. Which also means she does not tell them he's Sauron (kind of an important little detail). She then follows Sauron's plan of making rings, though her genius idea is to make three in order to balance the power between three people. Why is she following the bad guy's plan at all? It makers her seem rather evil and power-hungry, especially as she does not let the others know that it was Sauron who'd taught them how to make the rings. (Also, why do those rings look so cheap? Did they get them out of a gumball machine?)
The showrunners' and actress' explanation for Galadriel being so different from how she was in the books and films is that her later wisdom and serenity were "hard won" and that she had to get to that point gradually. This whole series, though, there has been no change in her at all, even though there were opportunities to learn from her mistakes. It's as though they don't regard any of those things AS mistakes. And that of course is what makes her so uncompelling and unrelatable- a cookie cutter girlboss instead of an actual character.
It says a lot when Halbrand/Sauron is more relatable than Galadriel. Unlike her, he's been patient and diplomatic. And as far as I saw he never actually lied to her. The actor, Charlie Vickers, is quite good too. Have to say, as they've already made so many changes, if they just went all out and made Sauron the hero I'd totally be on board for other seasons!
The Madness of King George (1994)
Solid adaptation
This is one of the best jobs I've seen at adapting a play without making the film seem stagebound. Great acting, great sets and costumes, great music. Interesting look at George III's madness and the resulting court intrigue- which the film portrays with refreshing humor. Lots of fun lines. Real tour de force by lead Nigel Hawthorne. My favorite part is when he reads King Lear with his Chancellor- moving and humanizing scene.
I do have one criticism, and that is for Amanda Donohoe's character. She seems to be there only for sex appeal- which is of course not bad in itself. But she could have been taken out without changing the film at all- her scenes add nothing. Her affair with Rupert Graves' character is particularly annoying.
Forever (2014)
LOVE this show
My household has people with very different tastes, but this is the one show that had us all hooked. I always love seeing Ioan Gruffud, and he perfectly fits this role. It's such an intriguing premise, a mix of fantasy and procedural crime drama, with a NYC medical examiner who's somehow lived for centuries and has come to use his amassed knowledge and observation skills to solve crimes. Helping him are Alana De La Garza as a homicide detective, Judd Hirsch as his adopted son who now looks older than him, and Joel David Moore his quirky assistant. Besides the normal crime-solving, there are also mysteries from his past that he has to tackle. And all the while he has to keep his immortality hidden from everyone but his son.
There was much mourning among fans when this was cancelled after one season. On the bright side, at least the show didn't have a chance to go downhill! Also, it's lucky the season didn't end on a cliffhanger; the finale ties everything up nicely, making this a satisfying watch.
A Marriage on Trial: Johnny Depp, Amber Heard and Truth in the Age of Social Media (2022)
Not a real documentary
Save your time- this is not a true doc about the case. It can only be described as a hit piece, and it should win an award for its creative use of edits. It shows AH "crying" and telling of horrible things, plus some of her "evidence" but it does not go into the rebuttals or the context. Nor does it give Depp equal time re his own testimony and evidence of abuse. We are shown Breaking News correspondent Doha Madani's supposedly live "shocked" reaction when she sees the verdict- but she is not even watching the courtroom feed, she's just being texted the news that Depp won. Some crack breaking news reporting there! And of course Elaine Bredehoft was eager to come on for even more of her 15 minutes.
Overall- the title says "A Marriage on Trial", but that's not what it's about. It continues the narrative that this will somehow harm female dv victims. And it also continues the recent msm obsession with going after social media (including youtubers) for supposedly influencing public opinion- but it does not explain how said social media might have influenced the verdict.
Letters to Juliet (2010)
Pretty scenery marred by a shallow heroine
So as just a scenic trip, this is a pleasant movie- and it really was filmed in Verona. Virtual vacay to Italy? Yes, please! And the concept is intriguing, built around the real life Letters to Juliet. That aspect was interesting, and I liked the hunt for the old suitor. The actors were all good. But there were some things that bugged me and lowered the rewatchability factor...
1. Sophie: I'm a fan of Amanda Seyfried, but the word that I kept thinking re Sophie was "bubblehead". She's pretty shallow.
2. I don't like when a character praises something about another but we don't get to see proof of excellence. Charlie reads something of Sophie's and gushes about how good it was, but why? Did it have proper punctuation? Was is descriptive? Moving? Action-packed?
3. Sophie and her fiance (a chef) go to Verona and we're supposed to think he's a jerk because he does some work by going to villas and sampling free wine and cheese. She's sitting there with a pouty face because she wants to go around the tourist traps. How many people are going to sympathize with her? I mean, when I watch tourist shows about Italy, what the fiance is doing is exactly what the hosts recommend. I remember a Samantha Brown episode where she said to go off the beaten path instead of joining herds of tourists who move from one attraction to another. A note on Juliet's Balcony: it actually dates from the 1930s and was made after the makers of a Hollywood version of the play couldn't find anything like it in Verona. So it very literally is a tourist trap.
4. Talented actors notwithstanding, this is basically a bigger budget Hallmark movie, complete with a jilted fiance who's what most non-fictional women would consider a catch.
The History Boys (2006)
Have to agree with the negative reviews
First off, I'm an American girl, so the film wasn't going to make me nostalgic. I watched it because I knew it was popular when it came out, and I'm always up for a movie with lots of cute young actors! However, it was a major disappointment. I can't stand movie adaptations of plays that seem as though they are still on the stage, and this was one of those- even literally in the end.
The teacher-student angle didn't work for me either. I guess Richard Griffiths' teacher was supposed to be a source of inspiration to the boys, but I didn't realize that until he died and we were specifically told he was. There was one nice scene where he was one on one with one of his students in a tutoring session, and that part was very affective. The rest of the time is spent with him groping his students and looking ineffective as another teacher has to be hired to help the boys take their exams. To compare it to a better education movie, Stand And Deliver- that movie had us get to know the teacher and understand his teaching methods. We also got to know the students and were invested in their progress.
I was also bugged by the teacher's death, just because of the ham-handed way it happened. It felt manipulative and cliched.
The young actors were all good, and I probably would have enjoyed the film a lot more if it had focused on them more than the teachers.
Once Upon a Holiday (2015)
My favorite Hallmark Christmas movie
Whenever the Hallmark channels start showing their Christmas films, I immediately look at the schedule to see when this one is on. Admittedly, that was a challenge last time. I didn't remember the title and tried "A Princess for Christmas" and "Once Upon a Christmas." Not only were they incorrect, but they were the titles of other Hallmark movies!
So, true, the plot and title make it sound like it could be just any other Hallmark movie. But there is just *something* about this one. They spend a lot of time building up the backgrounds of the leads and fleshing out the characters. I just love it and am invested in what happens to everyone. (Shout out to the perfectly cast leads, Paul Campbell and Briana Evigan as Jack and Katie).
Also, one of the most refreshing things about it is that it does *not* have what is mandatory in most other Hallmark movies- something that happens around the hour and a half mark, when suddenly there is a Stupid Misunderstanding and one of the leads goes storming off for a sulk. In this movie, Katie and Jack are - surprise!- mature adults. That detail helps make it my favorite Hallmark Christmas film.
Mystery 101: Dead Talk (2019)
I love this series- keep them coming!
Of the various Hallmark mystery series on now, this one is my favorite, and it's entirely because of the leads. Their chemistry is amazing. And it doesn't hurt that Kristoffer Polaha is the handsomest man on Hallmark (or at least a strong contender). This particular installment is solid, and I recommend it for fans of both this series and of Hallmark mysteries in general. I've seen it a couple times and wouldn't mind seeing it again.
Though as a former denizen of Seattle (and as a lover of pie), I was *so* mad early on in the movie when Amy's former boyfriend invites her to go with him to get the best pie in Seattle- and she refuses! Seriously, I had a hard time getting into the movie after that. I wanted to know what the best pie place was! But on another note, also as a former Seattle resident, it is often painfully obvious to me that Hallmark's Seattle-set movies were not filmed there. Somehow, in this one, they were able to disguise that fact a lot better than usual. Good going, crew!
As for whodunnit- there is no such thing as a random detail in a mystery (or at least in a Hallmark mystery) so I did guess fairly early on who it was. But it wasn't someone that I liked, which is always a happy bonus.