joepm28 Reviews

Poirot: The Million Dollar Bond Robbery (1991) Season 3, Episode 3

Well below the usual standards for Poirot

[4/10 · 21 May 2024]

I've been watching Poirot from inception and overall I'm finding the series very enjoyable in that lighthearted crime drama manner that the Brits manage to do so well.

And then The Million Dollar Bond Robbery came along.

I would say, ignore the rating of 7 or more. I'm being generous giving this episode a 5. The positives of this episode are the usual interplay of Poirot and Hasting with the added benefit of the crime being set on the maiden sailing of the Queen Mary. Yet, as other rating less than mine can verify, this was a very confusing plot with a number of needless twist and red herring. And, it apparently significantly deviates from the story written by Christie. While still worth watching, this is an episode of Poirot the fall well short of the usual standards.

The Best Offer (2013)

Intriguing and engrossing - yet then turns and too long

[7/10 · 1 May 2024]

I was recommended to watch The Best Offer and I found it was extremely well done.

Geoffrey Rush is renowned auctioneer Virgil Oldham. Rush gives a deep and nuanced portrayal of an elegant, refined man of impeccable taste yet with an underlying element of profound OCD and loneliness. His shell of impenetrability proves to more brittle than he could have imagined when he is asked to take on the commission of valuing and then selling an old villa in Rome that is chock full of antiques. The villa also includes the owner, a young heiress Claire Ibbetson (Sylvia Hoeks) who is suffering from extreme agoraphobia, not having ventured outside the villa in years. Not wanting to go in to any spoiler, these two quircky characters commence a testy relationship. This then turns to a deeper level as they come to understand each others characters. The film is real great at the start with an engaging plot, fantastic scenes and a deep development of characters, especially Rush. Yet, it does unravel towards the end, especially as the film could have been condensed in to 90+ minutes instead of 2+ hours. Definitely worth catching.

Him (2016– )

Intriguing and subtle, sort of unresolved in a good way

[7/10 · 19 March 2024]

I went in to HIM not really knowing what to expect. I found it engaging and mostly in a challenging way. Yes, it has the affectation of never actually calling the protagonist (Fionn Whitehead) by his name, just him. It also has shades of Kyle XY, though in a much more British than American way.

The series is more about the angst of a 17 year old trying to figure out how he fits in to the two new families his divorced parents have both moved on with, seemingly leaving him behind. Oh, and he also has supernatural powers - or does he? It is rather well done in that regard, where I at least was questioning were his telekinetic powers real or was this kid just delusional. The entire cast was good, giving real feeling of trying to make their own lives work while not knowing how to deal with a troubled teen. It was also well done being kept at just three episodes. Overall, I'd recommend giving it a watch.

Shadow World: The Haunting of Mysti Delane (2015)

Unwatchable

[2/10 · 25 February 2024]

I put this in my queue and then watched on Gravitas and, even after fast forwarding through at least half of the movie, it was downright intolerable, incomprehensible and just awful.

Mysti seems to be on the spectrum and, instead having her seek psychiatric help, her sister (Airella?) leaves her to her own devices. So Mysti roams through the woods of where ever she lives - Oregon? - and is harvesting some sort of twigs that allow her to 'pass over' to the other side. Her sister come over and then starts railing on her, yet then seems to go down the same 'mystical' rabbit hole.

The whole film is badly shot, badly acted and has no discernible script or directing that can redeem it even for a few yucks. Just awful. Avoid at all cost.

Fool Me Once (2024)

OK, but could have been done in 4 episodes

[6/10 · 14 February 2024]

Many of the featured reviews are trashing Fool Me Once pretty bad, yet I found it to be an ok watch, just that it was much, much too long to get to the conclusion. Also it was just chockfull of red herrings and blind leads, some of which came to pass, others which were tangentially, at best, related to the story. And, without giving anything away, it was just too much ripped from the headlines, too much conspiracy theory mumbo jumbo and too, too much of 'good' people gone bad with almost everyone having some sort of dirty past or misdeeds in their lives. As the saying goes, sometimes less is more.

Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire (2023)

Derivative - yes. Enjoyable - very much so.

[7/10 · 28 January 2024]

Sure Rebel Moon is derivative of so many other sci-fi movies like Stars Wars, Galaxy Quest and on and on.

Yet, with that a given, I really found it to be very enjoyable.

The plot is set up right from the beginning on a small, rural farming community on an outer edge planet in a universe where the Motherworld is all powerful. But, having lost its king, it is now under the sway of more nefarious forces. Well, one of the Moterworld ships show up at the farming community in search of rebels and to appropriate the communities crops. One person, an outsider with a mysterious past, Kora (Sofia Boutella), fights back - tremendously. So, that leads to her and the crop master, Gunnar (Michiel Huisman) to leave on a quest to gather an army to protect their village against the Motherworld's forces. At this point, you can pretty much mail the rest of the script in as the two of them gather together a motley crew of killers, all with a grudge against the forces of the Motherworld, and proceed on their rebellious mission.

Like many reviews will have stated, this is not a very original film. Most every scene is a copycat from some other sci-fi film. However, I really enjoyed it and found it engaging for the over two hours running time. And, while I have a pretty good idea what is coming in part two, it is definitely a follow-up film that I'll watch.

The Moon Over the Alley (1976)

Not quite quirky, the songs aren't great and then a jarring ending

[5/10 · 13 January 2024]

Caught The Moon Over the Alley on the BFI channel. The BFI's offerings are usually pretty hit or miss as to how good or bad the films are, with some real classics and some real duds. And The Moon Over the Alley was definitely a dud IMO.

The film is set in late 1970's London in the Notting Hill section. Back then, from what I've read and not being a resident of London, Notting Hill was down and out back then. Kind of like the East Village in NYC. The movie centers on the boarding house of a German couple and the surrounding neighborhood's working class, hippies, artist and the just plain marginal homeless. I got through about the first 20 minutes or so, but then the barely passable songs every five and the strained attempt for verisimilitude got wearing. I fast forwarded to the end - and this is where the movie went from quirky to nasty. There ensue a couple of scenes of violence and sexual assault that were jarring from the prior tempo of the film. It just threw the whole film off, IMO. And thus my low rating and caution before viewing this low budget, amateurish film.

The Terence Davies Trilogy (1983)

Poignant, heartbreaking and ... oh so real

[8/10 · 11 January 2024]

I just watched all three of the component pieces of The Terence Davies Trilogy separately so I'll rate each one individually below. Yet, combined all three create a poignant and heartbreaking profile of a repressed homosexual man in mid 20th century Liverpool that so few may relate to in the 21st century. From lived experience, the film is so real of what many gay men went through for most of the 20th century. It is brilliant.

Children. 8 out of 10 As a boy in 1976, when this film came out, and as someone who was struggling with my own homosexuality back then, Children presented a slice of life that hit so close to home. The loneliness. The hiding. The longing. The sense of shame. And most of all the threats, at times real, other times imagined, of the bullying by other boys. Young Robbie Tucker (played by Phillip Mawdsley) comes off as almost catatonic at first. One might attribute this to opening scenes where we see Robbie being bullied. Yet, as the film progresses, so too does our understanding and appreciation of Tucker's struggles with family, with school and mostly with himself. These are interspersed with scenes of Tucker as a 30-ish young man. While perhaps dated, the film still resonates as to the struggle of growing up as a marginalized children, not just those who were LGBTQ+. For such a short film, under an hour, Children packs a bigger wallop than many other like films.

Madonna and Child 7 out of 10 Death and Transfiguration 7 out of 10 Each at less than 30 minutes, these two film don't pack as much of a wallop as Children, yet they build on young, middle aged and then older Robbie Tucker as his repressed sexuality haunts him. All of this is due to Tucker working to care for his mother and due to his stifling Catholic upbringing. It is just heartbreaking. The scene where Robbie is on the ferry crying in his loneliness is so very sad - and so resonant of the scene from Children when Robbie and his mother were on a bus and she was crying in like despair over her own life.

Terence Davies should be lauded for an uncanny representation of sexual repression in quietly wrenching manner.

Children (1976)

Short yet poignant, near brilliant

[8/10 · 10 January 2024]

Let me say that Children will hardly be a film for everyone.

Yet, as a boy in 1976 struggling with his own adolescence back then, Children, made in that same year, presented a perspective of my own life that hit so close to home. The loneliness, the hiding, the sense of shame about one's sexuality and the threats, at times real, often times imagined, of the bullying by other boys. Young Robbie Tucker (played by Phillip Mawdsley) comes off as almost catatonic at first. One might first attribute this to opening scenes where we see Robbie being bullied. Yet, as the film progresses, so too does our understanding and appreciation of Tucker's school and family struggles which are then interspersed with scenes of him as a young man. While perhaps dated, the film still resonates in way that all marginalized children in our 'advanced' Western society will easily relate to. For such a short film, Children packs a bigger wallop than many other like films.

Love Actually (2003)

Many vignettes with the positive outweighing the negative

[7/10 · 26 December 2023]

With Christmas 2023 I finally got around to watching Love Actually. And I have to say it's a fun, endearing, silly and a few touchingly sad moments that make for an enjoyable, if somewhat long, movie well worth seeing.

Each of the individual storylines moved a long quickly with some being better developed than others. The best developed plot was the one involving Alan Rickman and Emma Thompson. The Hugh Grant one was silly yet fun. Liam Neeson and the kid from so many movies and TV shows back then was good. The Keira Knightley one was poignant yet unbelievable. The Colin Firth one was also unbelievable yet was so sappy and heartwarming. The whole Bill Nighy aging rocker plot line was a hoot. And the two storylines about the movie stand ins and the chav going to America were cute yet forgettable. Best of all was the one about Laura Linney's distant longing for a colleague that eventually comes to pass, yet not as might have been imagined. That one will stick with me as so touching.

Addendum 12/26/23. Reading various reviews and critiques of Love Actually, many are trashing it for being superficial and misogynistic. And yes, there are elements of both in a number of the storylines. The Knightley-Lincoln one was the worst for this, especially with the creepy wedding video. Yet, I found the two best storylines and also the most heartfelt to be those with Emma Thompson and Laura Linney. The first a mother f two young children dealing with a straying husband. The second a single woman trying to start a relationship while also dealing with family issues. Could both characters have been more 'empowered'? Of course. And yet, that's not the way relationships and the world actually work most of the time. To me, both storylines and both actresses gave stellar performances showing a side of life that isn't always about a happy ending.

Haunters of the Deep (1984)

Scary for the kids - or if you're a kid at heart!

[8/10 · 2 November 2023]

The British Film Institute (BFI) channel is where I found Haunters of the Deep. They seem to have a few of these children television shows from the 1970's and1980's. Haunters of the Deeps is low budget yet with a great ghost story that is enhanced by the Corwall setting. If you have young children (that is under 12) they might find it a very scary. Even as an adult, there is definitely a spooky factor.

Haunters of the Deep is set in Cornwall in a coastal town that was formerly a center of tin mining. Josh a young local boy, while on the coastal headlands, see an apparition of a young boy in the mist. He then is forced in to a play date with Becky, the daughter of a mining executive in town to see about re-opening the mine. I won't give much more away other than that the film bring a number of plot lines together full of folklore, adventure and a reasonably gripping suspenseful ending - all in only 50 minutes. A movie worth seeing, especially with the family.

She Will (2021)

An ethereal overload that is just wow!

[8/10 · 28 October 2023]

I went in to watching She Will thinking it would be some typical horror movie where an aging star goes away to a forbidding place - the highlands of Scotland in this instance - and then is subject to some sort of malevolent forces at work.

Totally wrong!

She Will defies categorization - it has surreal elements similar to Night of the Hunter, Blue Velvet and Strawberry Mansions to name just a few movies. Yet, it is uniquely original. It starts out setting up certain expectations with Veronica Ghent (Alice Krige) as an aging star who has just undergone surgery. She is fleeing London for recuperation in the isolations of the wilds of Scotland. Along with her is a for hire nurse, Desi (Kota Eberhardt), who is trying to be helpful yet keeps coming up against the icy hardness of this aging diva.

They arrive at the retreat, which turns out not to be as alone as Veronica thought it would be. There is a party of followers of some sort of new age mystic named Tirador (Ruppert Everett) cavorting around the manor house. This throws Veronica in to a snit. However, she is given a cabin where she and Desi can have peace and quiet - or so they think.

I won't give any more away other than to say Veronica, and by extension Desi, proceed to go through some really earthy, pagan and whacky stuff that is just an overload of sights, smells and touch that is relayed in a stupendous manner by the director, Charlotte Colbert. There are definitely strong, very strong, witch, pagan and feminist undertones that are developed in a very organic manner, to say the least. The film keeps build this sense of connection to organic, ethereal forces until it comes to a climax that can only be described as a shattering catharsis, then peace and eventually an almost post orgasmic bliss.

I was stunned by She Will and would highly, highly recommend it.

Out of the Darkness (1985)

Halloween treat for kids, good enough for adults to enjoy

[8/10 · 27 October 2023]

Stumbled across Out of the Darkness on BFI and it was just great!

Out of the Darkness is one of those films that if you catch it as a kid it will likely stick with you for the rest of your life. Alas, I'm well past that stage, yet I still found it tremendously enjoyable.

The story tells about three young kids - a brother, a sister and the brother's friend - who go with the siblings mum to check out a weekend cottage they just inherited in the Derbyshire country. They come to find out the cottage once housed a family four that were killed by the Black Death. The plague was carried over from the next village of Eyam by a boy trying to save himself (And apparently Eyam really was devastated by the plague.) What ensues is a haunting that is more poignant than scary yet leads to a gripping finale. I don't want to give too much away, so definitely see this gem of a British production to get a cozy scare.

I Sent a Letter to My Love (1980)

A letter, love, heartbreak

[10/10 · 30 September 2023]

An unforgettable film in the way it explores a quiet sense of longing.

I saw I Sent a Letter to My Love so many years ago when it first came out. And it is one of those movies that will haunt you years after you've seen it.

Louise (Simone Signoret) and Gilles (Jean Rochefort) are two older, single siblings, he crippled and in a wheel chair. They are living together in their parents house with little to do other than talking and bickering with each other. They're joined each morning by Yvette (Delphine Seyrig), the daughter of the baker, who come to deliver their daily bread.

Then one day Louise decides to place a lonely hearts ad in the local paper. Much to her surprise and initial humor, she gets a reply from her own brother. From there, matters just unfold as the two, one knowingly and the other not, start a rather torrid correspondence.

The film is simple in its setting, on the beautiful French coast and in the simple home of Louise and Gille, while being extremely deep in a visual manner of exploring longing in those who have many regrets or unrealized expectations. Signoret is breathtaking in her appearance and her acting while she is fully supported by outstanding work from Rochefort and Seyrig.

Quite simply a stunning film.

Basket Case (1982)

Schlock grind house film with 1980's gritty NYC front and center

[7/10 · 14 September 2023]

As someone who went to college in early 1980's NYC and lived in Manhattan through 1990, Basket Case gives you a real feel for the grittiness of the Big Apple back in those bad olde day.

Dwayne (Kevin Van Hentenryck) arrives in NYC from Upstate NY to take up residence in a sleazy SRO hotel in the heart of Time Square - and this is back in the day when Time Square was NOT family friendly. I mean X-rated theaters, peep shows, adult bookstores, flop hotels and greasy spoons frequented by hookers, johns, pimps, drug dealer and the flotsam of humanity that drifted through the Deuce back in those days. Dwayne show up with a basket of 'laundry'. Only it ain't laundry - its the monstrous remnants of his detached, yet still living, Siamese twin. And this deformed twin is on a rampage of vengeance for which Dwayne is a mere pawn to its needs. The movie is over the top, even if somewhat derivitate of 1972's Sisters by Brian DePalma. If you love low budget horror flicks, Basket Case had few equals.

Brain Damage (1988)

Decent schlocky 1980's horror/comedy, and with a few brief moments of male eroticism

[6/10 · 10 September 2023]

I caught Brain Damage on ScreamTV and was pleasantly surprised, yet not wowed enough to give this 1980's low budget horror/comedy more than a 6.

Brian (Rick Hearst) wakes up one day feeling awful. His girlfriend, Barbara (Jennifer Lowry) comes over to see where he's at. Well, he's too sick to go out so his roommate/brother Mike (Gordon MacDonald) fills in. Comes to pass, some worm-like alien life form that looks like a blue turd has escaped from the neighbors' apartment and has now taken Brian on as its host. The creature, Aylmer (pronounced Elmer), is able to gives Brian a hallucinogenic rush into his spinal cord. In return, it demands to be hooked up to living human brains. What ensues is Brian spiraling out of control under Aylmer's influence as he becomes a complete drug addict and unleashes Aylmer's killing spree in some creative ways. The film, while very gory, is also kind of funny, yet sort of in the middling range of this genre.

As an aside, I will say there are some awesome male twink shots just about halfway through, one of MacDonald in his tights whiteys and one of Hearst showing his bare butt.

The Banshees of Inisherin (2022)

Starts off well, then half way through becomes a total downer

[4/10 · 10 September 2023]

The Banshees of Inisherin was one of the most hyped movies of 2022, nominated for multiple Academy Awards. So, I finally got to watch the movie and was floored at how it in no way lives up to the hype.

Set in the early 1920's while the Irish Civil War is underway, the fictional isle of Inisherin lies isolated off the coast of the Ireland. The two leads Colm (Brendan Gleeson) and Padraic (Colin Farrell) are longstanding friends who drink at the pub together daily, given that there is nothing much else to do. Well, one day Colm decides he doesn't want to hang around with Padraic. From there, the situations unfolds, first in a somewhat humorous and melancholy manner. Then, about half way through it takes a turn that is dark, scary and, worst of all, nonsensical. And it doesn't get better.

The movie raise existential questions about friendship, what's important to each of us and those around us; even about what is a well lived life. Yet, it goes about it in such a heavy handed, and unrealistic, manner full of despair and sadness, that it becomes so depressing.

Don't be fooled about this film being a black comedy. The Banshees of Inisherin is a poorly wrought tragedy with a few light hearted moments.

Brief Encounter (1945)

Very good, but not all that

[7/10 · 7 September 2023]

Brief Encounter is one of those films you constantly hear or read about as being all that. Well, I finally got around to watching it and it was a very good film - especially when considering it is from 1945 - yet it is the type of film that shows its age and not to its benefit.

Two middle class Brits, a housewife (Celia Johnson) and a doctor (Trevor Howard) have a brief encounter when she gets a speck of train soot in her eye at the station in Midland (where is this?). Well, as with any middle class habitat, they encounter one another again, and then again, and before you know it a romance blossoms. An illicit romance since they are both married! The whole concept of the film was risqué for 1945, yet for modern day it just comes off as so dated. Johnson and Howard both give restrained yet stellar performances. And the goings on in the trains station refreshment room are worthy of a picture on their own. Overall, very good, yet doesn't stand up to the test of time to rise to above 8 or more stars.

The Woman in Black (1989 TV Movie)

Very scary - way better than the 2012 version

[8/10 · 5 September 2023]

I had read about The Woman in Black from some horror movie site yet found it very hard to find. Eventually, I caught it on YouTube - and it was really, really scary!

What makes this version much better than the more recent version starring Daniel Radcliffe - which, BTW, I gave a 7 to - is that it is more of a slow burn horror.

The film is about a London lawyer in Victorian England who has to go and close out the estate of a dead widow that lived in an isolated mansion in the middle of the tidal marshes. Well, as soon as he gets to the small town and the mansion, creepy goings on start right up. The best element of this 1989 production is that it delivers scares by creating a ghostly atmosphere and a really feeling of dread. It does not rely on dramatic deaths that were used in the 2012 version, an element that I don't believe was in the book itself. Also, if memory serves me, this was a relatively short film. It goes to show how you don't need to drag a movie on for 90+ minutes in order for it to deliver. Definitely worth seeing.

Friday the 13th: The Series (1987–1990)

Overall an 9, with highs and lows

[9/10 · 2 September 2023]

I have been huge fan of Friday the 13th: The Series back to when it originally aired in the late 1980's. What really makes every episode, even the less than stellar ones, come together are:

1. Great core cast of Chris Wiggins and Robey and then John D. LeMay in seasons one and two and less so for Steven Monarque in season three. The four of them bring a no nonsense approach to retrieving the endless number of cursed objects while facing danger and evil incarnate yet keeping themselves ground even given the bizarreness of their mission.

2. Excellent episodes with just a few clunkers. And they manage to weave together the absolute craziness of the cursed objects that are feeding on the victims greed, lust, fear, hate, ambition and even good intentions.

3. No shame in racking up a body count and in some pretty gruesome ways. I especially appreciate that episode after episode all these violent deaths are happening in one city and that the police and no one else seems to be intrigued or perplexed!

4. Episode guest performers that deliver fantastic, even over the top, performances, especially those that come back two or more times to play completely different characters.

5. A clear portrayal of evil v good and where the stars, while not being overtly religious, obviously having a degree of faith in their mission to fight evil so that good can triumph, and often being very forgiving of those that come under the spell of the cursed objects.

Overall, this is just a classic show that falls in to the category of being watchable again and again.

The Lake (1978)

Horror short - short on scares, long on confusion

[5/10 · 12 August 2023]

You would think that when a filmmaker does a short horror film they would be sure keep it tight and concise for maximum impact in an abbreviated time. Well, that is not achieved in The Lake.

A young couple and their dog are on a short road trip where they stop by an abandoned farm. The couple seem to have known each other for some time based on their conversation. The man then recounts a story of a horrific family murder at the farm house that had occurred some years back. These must have been when the two of them were children since the woman remembers the incident but still needs to have it all explained to her (so really for us, the audience). Then the two drive off in their VW Bug to a nearby lake. There they have a picnic, make out and go walk in the wood. Strange things start to happen, that seem to be attached to the murders, yet it is never clear how. The whole movies then descends in to a haunting that is more a muddle of confusion that is lacking in real scares. The Lake, while short, is not very good when it could have been.

Rose Red (1994)

British short film is intriguing, yet just ok

[6/10 · 12 August 2023]

From 1994, the British film Rose Red (not to be confused with the Stephen King work) is a short, running around 30+ minutes. With a small cast and presumably set in some sort of future, the movie puts forth that some large corporation has created a means of virtual reality by hardwiring peoples brains and then having them float around in an immersion tank. Yet, the process is not risk free, with someone hacking the system which then kills at least one participant. For such a short film, Rose Red was intrigue, having shades of Blade Runner's Tyrel Corporation as well as so many other films where people enter an alternative universe. Yet, it was kind of muddled and I finished with a degree of dissatisfaction. I found this was an instance where greater length would have resulted in a more coherent film.

The Witcher (2019– )

Sliding Fast. S1 = 8.5/10, S2 = 6/10, S3 = 5.5/10

[6/10 · 31 July 2023]

Just having finished watching Season 3, The Witcher is on a trajectory that is going one way only - that's down the drain.

Season 1 was great. It had a the compelling story of Geralt as the Witcher which predominate with his nemesis, soon to be something more, in Yennefer, the ugly duckling turned in to a powerful sorceress. Add to the mix Jaskier, the humorous, bawdy bard. In the background of all this was Cirilla, Princes of Cintra, who has magical powers that everyone is interested in. Yet, this backstory did not overwhelm, with the season dominated by Geralt and Yennefer.

Season 2 is where it started to all go south. Still compelling, yet just too much of the focus on Ciri and not enough on the Witcher. And Yen was just floundering around looking to get her mojo back.

Season 3 glimmers of some of the Season 1, yet just getting totally bogged down in Ciri all the time. Geralt is almost a second thought to the whole season. And then the whole storyline is like GoT in just being way too much exposition and intermittent action/fx.

While I love Cavill in Season 1, contrary to what so many others are writing, even his Geralt is hitting the skids. So, I totally can not blame him for getting out.

Like the curse of so many of these series, if you don't have a clear beginning, middle and end, Hollywood will just keep milking it for all its worth. I'm not likely to watch Season 4.

8/4/23 Update. I have not read the books. Reading online, I understand that the story is somewhat true to the books. Yet, just like GoT and Peter Jackson's butchering of The Hobbit, if The Witcher is going to turn in to a medieval soap opera spanning 7 seasons, count me out. Like the old mini-series of yore, this should have all been wrapped up in 3, maybe 4, seasons.

The Devil Conspiracy (2022)

The devil unchained - good, could have been better

[7/10 · 20 June 2023]

The Devil Conspiracy falls in between the portentousness of quality films like The DaVinci Code and the more run of the mill satanic nonsense where it's all about evil with a bunch of blood and gore.

The positives were the movie had a better than average story line that, depending on your grounding in faith, at least had a clear conflict between evil - Lucifer - and good - the Archangel Michael. And it wasn't one of these films where apocalyptic events take place over the course of a few days or a week. No, they did a slow burn. Also, the characters were well developed - the evil including the good - which gave more depth to the story. And the scenery, sets and costumes were fantastic!

The big negative for me was when the movie kind of ricocheted between being tongue in cheek versus serious and then getting even somewhat campy at the end. Not a big flaw, it just made the movie kind of off at times.

If you love the ooga-booga story line of the Church and the battle between good and evil, The Devil Conspiracy is for you.

A Woman of Substance (1984)

Goes from an 8 to a 5 over three episodes

[6/10 · 29 May 2023]

I found the first episode and most of the first part of episode two to be engaging while the second half of episode two and all of episode three just sank in to soap opera and business drama pablum.

The opening with the old Emma Harte (Deborah Kerr) establishes where the story will land, yet not how we're going to get there. Then it goes back to young Emma's (Jenny Seagrove) start as maid in the stately English country home of the Fairleys, local gentry and industrialist with cloth mills and other operations. From there it's all about Emma's grit and determination to help her family while making something of herself. During this time turns against the Fairley's with their scheming and disregard for the people in their employ. Emma's bitterness and grit reach their zenith when Edwin Fairley (Peter Chelsom), whom she loves, gets her pregnant yet fails to stand by her. That ends episode one.

In episode two, Emma moves to Leeds, has her baby and begins her trajectory of success as a business woman. This is when the story starts to fall to pieces. Everything is rushed, with quick jump shots from one period to another while characters are introduced pell mell, with many not as fully developed as they should be.

Then, the whole series goes off when Emma meets Paul McGill (Barry Bostwick). They have a quick, intense love affair when Paul then reveals to Emma he's married. Yet, she accepts it and they have a child together, with the next 14 years in one big jump then with another big jump to modern day, about 40 years later. That's when I started to just wait for this to be over since it became so bad.

In the end, the series really is about Emma being a hard, calculating woman who was a bad mother, yet we're suppose to sympathize with her since she's sacrificed for them. The series offers this insight to explain and even forgive Emma. Yet, in the end it was all on her for being a neglectful and then spiteful mother.