Change Your Image
laurafluck
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
Pieces of Her (2022)
Toni Collette is brilliant, series is mediocre
I've loved Toni Collette since 1994 when I first saw Muriel's Wedding and she's turned in magnificent performances in pretty much everything else I've seen her in - this limited series is no exception. She's brilliant as always.
The same cannot be said for the rest of the cast.
For several episodes I was convinced that the actresses playing Andy and young Jane were the same person because they're both flat, wooden, one-dimensional with zero stage presence and a combined three facial expressions: scared, dead-eyed and "do you smell that?"
David Wenham, who for some reason sounds like Jon Voight when he tries to put on an American accent, phoned in his performance. I saw nothing of the passionate young actor from LotR and 300.
Even Terry O'Quinn was bleh and he's one of my all time favorite actors.
The story itself was OK... it's an interesting premise with a kinda creepy mystery that quickly becomes boilerplate and mundane when more details are revealed. It was... fine I guess but nothing I'd ever feel the urge to rewatch.
Lost (2004)
They were not dead the whole time - stop perpetuating a lie.
Everything that happened, happened.
Anyone who claims they were dead the whole time was NOT paying attention. A character in the final episode literally explains this in the most obvious way possible. What I find truly ironic is that LOST is an intense character-driven narrative that was never meant to be binge watched. Those of us lucky enough to have seen it when it originally aired were part of the community on the message boards where we picked apart each episode, theorized and compared notes. This is how the show was produced to be watched! People who speed binge through the series haven't let the details sink in, they've missed out on inference needed to solve mysteries.
Anyone who said the mysteries weren't explained was not paying attention. Watch the show, remember details, use your brain and with the exception of the infamous Outrigger question (which in the end has zero bearing on the overall plot) every single mystery has an answer.
Ice Cold: Murder, Coffee and Jessica Wongso (2023)
What did I just watch???
I've seen every true crime documentary on pretty much every streaming platform and this one is just a mess.
The biggest problem is what it leaves out - cyanide is not going to turn a drink orange or make it smell rotten. The smell is usually not detectable at all but if it is, it smells like bitter almonds, it doesn't smell rotten.
The interviews are disjointed and poorly edited, not to mention mostly people who are clearly using Netflix for their 15 minutes. The employee who suspected Jessica immediately (/eyeroll) and claimed she knew there was something wrong with her and Jessica's "main character in his own universe" father get WAY too much screentime.
Save yourself 90 minutes and read articles about the case instead.
Manifest (2018)
Derivative and disrepsectful
Aside from the fact that this show wants to be LOST so bad it's not even funny, it's incredibly disrespectful to the families of flight MH370.
As if those two points aren't bad enough - the acting and writing are flat and predictable. The first 10 minutes are bible verses and voice-over narration that provides us with painfully unnecessary spoken exposition... some of which is just weird. Describing child twins as an old married couple is creepy. Going out of your way to say your parents are still in perfect health made it incredibly obvious that one of them won't be there after the time jump.
A few minutes later one character tells another that she heard her own voice in her head and he immediately diagnosis it as psychotic and tells her to keep quiet before she ends up being lobotomized. Like... what?
*sigh* This is why I don't watch new things. The only reason I gave it two stars instead of one is that the show's logo is kinda neat. Whoever made that is OK, everyone else involved in this show should have their union cards pulled.
The Last Cruise (2021)
Why do we care about ignorant rich people?
This documentary totally missed the mark. It had a real opportunity to show the early days of COVID from the perspective of people truly affected by illness and fear... and while some of the disparity of the haves vs have-nots was on display, it was done in such a way that I think the filmmakers wanted us to feel sorry for the passengers. Granted, I may have done, had they not showcased mostly ignorant, rude, self-absorbed westerners who we know proved during 2020 that they don't care about anyone but themselves. "Who cares if my stylist dies from a virus, I want a haircut!" (You know, THOSE people.)
Also, as an aside - if you suffer from motion sickness, the first first cell phone footage in this documentary may trigger you.
House of the Dragon (2022)
Time jumps hurt Season 1
While this is a good show, it's hard to determine if it's good because we all loved Game of Thrones or if it's good on its own. The show's biggest advantage, adaptation wise, is that its source material is COMPLETE. Unlike GOT we - hopefully - won't have to deal with sloppy, off-book showrunner writing that damaged the later seasons of House of the Dragon's predecessor. Fire & Blood has always reminded me of the appendices of Lord of the Rings and I love the potential that gives House of the Dragon.
What is clear from the first shot after the opening expository scene is that HotD came with a big budget and intended to use it. Seeing a Targaryen swoop through the clouds, down to the Red Keep and fly over the heads of completely unbothered King's Landing residents was impressive. But as the show progressed it felt at times like the inclusion of a dragon in some scenes (the coronation for example) was more spectacular than narrative.
Then, there's the time jumps and recasting. Granted, the casting was excellent - but even well-cast actors can only do their best with what they're given (to paraphrase the late Lady Crane.) Character development was nearly impossible when the characters are dramatically aged just when they are getting in the groove of their storylines. Even Matt Smith - whose Prince Daemon is never recast - doesn't arc so much as zizags from one extreme personality to the next.
The entire season felt like setting up a chessboard (one side black, the other green) which isn't necessarily a bad thing unless you throw the pieces out and switch to checkers halfway through. Fingers crossed that House of the Dragon's sophomore season learns from its mistakes and goes for character development over special effects.
Wolf Hall (2015)
Excellent series, however...
... there were some strange and unnecessary inaccuracies.
Katherine of Aragon had strawberry-blonde hair - I'm so tired of leaving this point in reviews of nearly everything that features her as a character.
Mark Smeaton did not boast about sleeping with the queen or name other men. He was brutally tortured for 24 hours before "confessing" that he'd slept with Anne three times. I assume this was left out to maintain audience sympathy for Cromwell, but there are other historically accurate ways to do that. (Reminders of his daughters' deaths? Showing how insanely charitable he was? Even leaning harder into how he blamed Anne for Wolsey's downfall might have worked as a justification.)
With all due respect to Claire Foy, the portrayal of Anne throughout the series is frankly offensive. Yes, she had a fiery temper, but her outright violence is questionable. They chose to have her punch her sister-in-law (which did not happen) rather than having her rip a necklace off Jane Seymour's neck (which DID happen.) Her behavior during her arrest and trial was too shaky - even her enemies said how composed she was and there was great concern than she may have been found not guilty because she defended herself and turned public opinion in her favor. However, the show gets points back for the execution scene - it's almost word perfect and the tiny details (the executioner taking his shoes off for example) were well done.
Blood, Sex & Royalty (2022)
Overdramatized, overacted and offensive
I get what they tried to do, but they failed miserably. Just go watch The Tudors. You'll get the same level of historic "accuracy" with WAY better actors in a show that doesn't try to claim "docu" status. This is nothing but low-budget camp that damages the reputation of the historians attached to it.
Speaking of The Tudors - did you think we wouldn't notice, Netflix? Did you think we'd miss the establishing shots of The Field of Cloth of Gold, of Calais, of Anne's coronation literally pulled from Showtime's archive? Did you think we wouldn't recognize the heraldic trumpet music you took from their soundtrack? "Three points! Earl of Portland!" You couldn't even bother to get new voiceovers? Half of this production IS The Tudors, you used enough of their work!
This "docu"drama is filmed with commentary from respected academics like Drs. Tracy Borman and Lauren MacKay and Professor Susannah Lipscomb. These women are three of my favorite Tudor historians and their inclusion lends credibility to literally incredible dramatizations. It feels like someone watched Bridgerton and The Spanish Princess and said, hmm.... Seriously, I spent most of this series waiting for Philippa Gregory to show up because that's the level of historical accuracy we're getting here.
As a historian and Tudor enthusiast and I was increasingly offended by the ridiculous characterizations, inaccuracies and misogyny. Katherine of Aragon (who had RED HAIR PEOPLE. RED HAIR.) was not foisted on Henry - it was a love match. He married her, by choice, AFTER the death of his father. Anne was not an easily hurt, scheming twit - she was pious, calculating and the intellectual superior of all the men around her. Anyone claiming these are "feminist" portrayals of these women has NO idea who they really were.
So anyway, what they tried to do is pull in viewers like my kids. However, my daughters (23 and 17) both laughed and left the room. Not because of the subject matter, they already know it all from me, but because the presentation skipped right over the cute, quirky, modern goal and landed squarely on stupid.
If I had to guess, the historians were interviewed first and then the show was filmed. If I were them, I'd be pissed. Three hours of my life I'm never getting back.
The White Princess (2017)
The shining 'middle child' in the Starz Tudor trilogy
On par with (in my opinion) The White Queen and FAR AND AWAY exceeding the awkward and ill-cast Spanish Princess, The White Princess dramatizes a good chunk of the reign of Henry VII by focusing on the women who helped him keep his crown: his mother and his wife.
Now, as a historian and I can tell you that there's no evidence that Margaret Beaufort ordered the deaths of the Princes in the Tower (though, for the record, I don't believe Richard III did either) or was verbally abusive to Queen Elizabeth and she absolutely did not murder Jasper Tudor. If the current Royal family would allow DNA testing of the two sets of bones that could be the Princes we could also put to rest the claim of Perkin Warbeck that this series upholds as genuine. But that's a rant for another day.
However, the stellar cast, excellent performances, mostly-not-terrible costumes and fantastic chemistry between Jodie Comer (Elizabeth) and Jacob Collins-Levy (Henry VII) absolutely overcome the annoyances of history intentionally changed for dramatic purposes. Here, it succeeds where the Spanish Princess fails abysmally.
I still can't stand Phillipa Gregory (who I will never forgive for her slanderous representation of Anne Boleyn) but I do love this series.
The Fall of Anne Boleyn: Execution (2020)
Well done!
Tracy Borman has long been my favorite Tudor Historian (with Lucy Worsley an incredibly close second) and in this documentary she delves deeper into not just the last days of Queen Anne's life, but the outrageous circumstances that brought about her execution. She doesn't touch on some of the things the Catholic church managed to lie about for centuries (the warts and that fabled 11th finger) but the machinations of Cromwell and the King and their threats and pressure to Anne's uncle and father to support allegations of incest, adultery and treason with absolutely no supporting evidence. I've always believed in Anne's innocence, but if any part of you harbors some doubt, this series will erase it. (Also a peek at Elizabeth I's locket ring! I've heard about it and read about it but never seen it!)
Oh, and I'm not marking this as a review with spoilers. Come on, people, you've had 500 years to catch up.
Killer Sally (2022)
Well done, but hard to watch if you are a DV survivor
First and foremost, if you, like me, are a DV survivor, parts of this will be VERY triggering... but it's my own experience in DV that makes me believe Sally's side of this story. Her descriptions of the abuse, her reactions to it, the feeling of being unable to leave, all of it was spot on. And as for "no imminent threat"... when you are a battered person the threat is ALWAYS imminent.
Not only was she poorly represented but the prosecutor is a disgusting excuse for a human being. His reaction to her trial and conviction even today is gleeful. He should be ashamed of himself but I doubt he's capable of it.
The Spanish Princess (2019)
More Misses than Hits
UPDATE: I recently rewatched the series and revised my rating from a six down to a four. I also spent an entire day sending errors and goofs into IMDB support, so that section should be more expansive soon. My compliments to Harriet Walker and Stephanie Levi-John remain as they are absolute, brilliant diamonds in the rough, ill-matched, overacting cast that surrounds them. And why does no one age?! The series spans a period of at least 26 years and the most change we get is a scraggly beard on Henry VIII, who went from far too old in Season One to way too young in Season Two. (Seriously, he was TEN when he walked Catherine down the aisle at her wedding to Arthur and FORTY when Catherine was sent away from Court in favor of Anne Boleyn.)
The White Queen and White Princess had errors, dramatizations and annoying characterizations (Philippa Gregory seems hell-bent on maligning Margaret Beaufort) but at least they were well produced, well cast and well acted. The Spanish Princess is a poor sequel that shouldn't have gotten eight episodes, let alone sixteen.
Original Review:
Historian and huge fan of Showtime's "The Tudors" and having recently fallen in love with The White Queen and The White Princess, I went into this show looking forward to seeing the rarely dramatized early years of Catherine in England. It was nice to see some of The Tudors weirder inaccuracies (Henry's two sisters being melded into one and married off to the king of the wrong country and the exclusion of real-life people of color like Doña Catalina de Cardones) corrected here, but for what it gets closer to right historically it also fails dramatically.
The costumes are an unqualified disaster - I don't even have the space to get into detail.
Season One isn't terrible, with the brilliance of Harriet Walter (My Lady the King's Mother) and Stephanie Levi-John (Lina) absolutely carrying the season and distracting us from Charlotte Hope's terrible accent.
However, in Season Two, the King's mother is dead and Lina is frequently sidelined by plot points taking place at the absolute wrong times in history. The "aging" beard on Henry VIII is laughably bad and don't even get me started on Catherine not only being present at the birth of Henry Fitzroy, but performing an episiotomy and delivering the child. The characterizations of the Scots are offensive (and yes, I say this as an American of Scottish descent) as this becomes the only instance in which Ray Stevenson is nigh unwatchable. Catherine did NOT ride into battle (nor did her mother, ever) at Flodden. We don't even know for sure she was pregnant at this time in history. So while she did rally troops and demand the body of the dead king delivered to her, she did NOT ride into battle - I cannot stress this enough.
Long story short - if you want to watch a dramatized account of the Wars of the Roses and Henry VIII's reign - watch the White Queen and White Princess but then move on to The Tudors. It may be historically weirder in some places, but at least the cast can act.
Six Wives with Lucy Worsley (2016)
Lucy is THE best!
Lucy Worsley (though closely followed by Tracy Borman and Suzannah Lipscomb) is my favorite historian and her accounts of the six wives of Henry VIII is my favorite Tudor documentary. Her enthusiasm and clear passion reminds me of my favorite history professors from college and I'm absolutely the kind of history nerd who re-watches documentaries for fun. Having a woman presenter is extra important when learning about women who lived in a time dominated and chronicled by biased, misogynistic men.