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Reviews
Miss Sherlock (2018)
Thin plots, one-dimensional characters and illegible subtitles
I'm surprised by the positive reviews. I find the stories thin with little character and story development. There's minimal opportunity for the audience to figure out whodunnit. It's considered a cheat in mystery writing when the audience isn't given enough info to figure it out as well. Also the English subtitles are nearly illegible. We gave up. The font is extremely small, and the yellow lettering bleeds into whatever part is the scene the subtitles cover. The subtitles are legible on dark backgrounds only. To solve this HBO should make the font bigger and add a black background under the text. Or better still, let viewers customize the subtitles like close captioning.
Daredevil (2015)
Excellent but realistic horrifically gory violence
We started binging Daredevil on a Friday night after seeing him on the truly awful She-Hulk. It was immediately evident though that I wouldn't be able to watch this show before bed. It's more violent than any movie I've seen - including The Godfather I and II. Impalement, gouging, crushing, dismemberment, enraged door-slamming, blood & brain splatter. The stories are gripping. The characters are not your basic comic caricatures. They are all substantive and credible. But be forewarned. It ain't your mother's MCU. She-Hulk would be out of place. Captain America would've been ridiculed then garroted in Ep1. Good thing it's on Disney+. I can easily switch to 101 Dalmatians before lights out.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Orientation: Part 1 (2017)
S5 is quite dark & dystopian
I found this season to be particularly draining to watch. It's dark, dystopian, heavy laden and claustrophobic. Yet always well written with bounds of originality and creativity.
Brideshead Revisited (1981)
Anthony Andrews
I've loved this miniseries since I saw the original US run on PBS Masterpiece Theatre in Jan-Mar 1982. It remains beautiful and brilliant 40 years later. Most memorably, Anthony Andrews became Sebastian Flyte. He deserved more accolades for his performance.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)
C+ Adequate first draft. Rewrite.
This film has good structure and an interesting narrative, but it could be fleshed out more. Shorten action sequences to what's needed to move the story forward. Add more substantive dialogue. Explore Wanda's grief. Explain the universes. When did Wong become Sorcerer Supreme? Why did America lose her moms?
Psychobitches (2013)
Air this in the US please
It's one of the funniest shows I've ever seen. The British cultural references often sent me to Google. Well worth the effort. The acting troupe has incredible comedic range. The Bronte Sisters. Anna Nicole. Helen of Troy. Emmeline Pankhurst. Janice Joplin. Always hilarious. Always clever.
Sister Boniface Mysteries (2022)
Why isn't Boniface the lead?
Entertaining show, though the simplistic plots aren't as gripping as I'd like. More to the point though, the show is called "Sister Boniface Mysteries," but she's merely a secondary character responding to or in the service of others. It's really about the tension between the detective inspector and the reporter.
The stories are light bordering on boring. Even "cozy crime" should have some suspense. "Father Brown" stories manage the balance well.
The Blacklist (2013)
Love Red, Lizzy not so much.
Just started watching on Netflix. Incredibly creative storytelling which drives an absolutely gripping narrative. Morally ambiguous Raymond Reddington is an original character.
So it's particularly galling that the Lizzy chick remains the central focus of anyone's attention much less the show. Clearly I'm not the only one annoyed by her baseless confidence and sense of entitlement. She runs hot and cold without reason. She loves Reddington, then hates him. She trusts him, then suspects him as if they just met. Why is the US government wasting lives and public resources on a woman who's made such horrible life choices anyway? I understand that she exits eventually. I can't wait!
Black Widow (2021)
Deeply disturbing
I'm stunned that this is a Disney movie. I found the context psychologically unsettling. A spy family with young children, stolen from their own families and raised by adults they thought were their parents, only to be ripped away at a young age to become violent assassins. The attempt to dissociate that grim reality, by throwing in woefully inept attempts at humor, tight leather suits, and unrealistically healthy young women, only serves to emphasize the damage that we're actually watching. I felt ill and would never let a young child or even a teen watch this film. It required too much energy to suspend disbelief that Natasha and Yelena weren't emotionally void and addicted to drugs to quell the psychic pain.