billiejoesmum Reviews

Who Killed Jill Dando? (2023)

Don't make the doc unless you have something new to report on!

[3/10 · 2 October 2023]

This was an incredibly boring and drawn out documentary that achieves absolutely nothing.

I wish I'd started counting how often they'd show clips of her with comments about her being the nation's sweetheart, girl next door, tv's Diana etc, because that seems to make up the bulk of the documentary. We all know how much she was loved and how sad everyone was when she died.

They skirt around the various theories, and come to zero conclusions.

At best this should have been one episode, but in reality it probably shouldn't have been made until they found something worth reporting.

I get the impression they investigated and found nothing, but decided to make the documentary anyway.

Deceit (2021)

Good, but too slow.

[4/10 · 2 September 2023]

The story is a great look at one of the terrible ideas the police have had, but the pacing is terrible with too many of those fuzzy memory sequences.

It would be far better if they'd combined episodes 2&3 and taken out all the scenes that don't move the plot forward.

Oh, and those dark brooding imaginary sequences of characters not actually being there. That's not how trauma works and it's a poor plot device.

The acting was actually quite good, and the script isn't the worst.

It would have been nice to see it done by a competent director and cinematographer.

This character count is excessive.

Girl in the Basement (2021)

Watch Room instead.

[4/10 · 19 April 2023]

Having watched Room long before this, it was far, far better.

Instead of trying to cram 20 years into one film, they'd have been better off focusing on the aftermath more.

Aside from the "and they all lived happily ever after" ending, the makeup was ridiculous. Their attempts at aging consisted of a few grey hairs on the daughter, and app nothing else. The mother had the same hairstyle in almost every scene, despite the 20 year time span. They even all had the same cars, bikes etc.

This is a great disservice to the real life people (and it has happened many times) that have suffered this imprisonment and abuse.

The Unforgivable (2021)

Pay attention to the details.

[8/10 · 6 November 2022]

There's a number of reviews here from people who have clearly only been half watching.

Katie isn't in high school, her younger (adoptive) sister is. She doesn't still live at home, the parents make her stay with them after she has the car accident.

She's either at university studying an advanced level of music, or she's just playing a recital at the university. Her being 25 makes absolute sense.

Ruth isn't supposed to be 57. She was still in high school when her sister was born, so she'd probably be in her mid 40's.

As for it being slow, that's the point, and the drama and acting is what makes you enjoy it all.

My only criticism is the lack of ending.

There's a hint that she was going to get her relationship with her sister back, but whether the lawyer (Viola Davis) actually explained what had happened was left unnecessarily ambiguous.

I'd have much rather see a scene where that was all wrapped up.

Other than that, excellent writing from Sally Wainwright transposed to an American equivalent. It makes a change from our material being stripped down for American audiences with all the nuance left out.

Sophie: A Murder in West Cork (2021)

Stick to the podcast.

[4/10 · 28 June 2022]

This isn't up to the usual Netflix documentary standards, giving far too much airtime to locals who don't seem to have any link to the case.

The only conclusion you can draw from this is that Sophie was horrifically let down by the incompetent and corrupt local Gardaí.

Promising Young Woman (2020)

Dark in subject, yet so visually light.

[10/10 · 17 June 2022]

I rarely see anything that deserves a 10, but this is so deliciously dark, yet light and airy at the same time.

There's never any direct reference to sexual assault, despite it being the subject of the film.

There's no gory non consensual sex scenes, just what is known to have happened with the audio of the video.

It's actually a relatively easy film to watch as a SA victim, because it's so carefully handled.

Oh, and I loved the ending, she literally gave herself so that they could be brought to justice.

Ozark: A Hard Way to Go (2022) Season 4, Episode 14

Such a let down.

[5/10 · 11 June 2022]

Inconclusive endings work well for art house films that are designed to make you think.

They don't belong tacked onto series that people have spent hours investing in, waiting for the culmination of the constant promise "when we get out".

I spent the whole episode tensing up, waiting for that big finale, only to start to get concerned with only 8m to go, and very little sign of things being thoroughly wrapped up.

I really thought it was going to end up with either Omar or Camilla double crossing the other, or both being taken out and Wendy taking over the cartel, whilst simultaneously running her charitable empire.

Instead we had Jonah maybe shooting someone and fade to black, with no idea if the Byrds ever achieve what they've been working towards for four seasons.

It seems like the writers just gave up on part 2.

Karen (I) (2021)

Terrible film, and no subtitles!

[2/10 · 21 February 2022]

Could have been great, but terrible casting combined with unrealistic dialogue just makes this film laughable.

I quite like Taryn Manning, but she was a terrible fit for this. She seemed like a teenager trying to pretend to be an adult, and the wardrobe just heightened this. They tried with the haircut, and the clothes would be fine on someone who looked old enough to wear them, but they had a twinset & pearls combined with converse trainers, which looked ridiculous.

The dialogue from the POC sounded like the writer had googled the parlance used in the social Justice movement, and threw it in there wherever they could.

I'm a white woman in a very white part of the UK, and even I know that's not how black people speak to each other in natural conversation.

The action sequence looked like an Amateur Dramatics club playing at pretending to die. The 'person who is shot suddenly popping back up to finish their assailant off, before collapsing again' trope is so cliché. And it's amazing how Karen was supposedly injured badly enough to feel woozy from the blood loss, but isn't bleeding at all as she walks upstairs!

Lastly, for a film that is supposed to be highlighting social injustice against a marginalised group, the fact that there's no subtitles or audio description for disabled people is appalling. It may be a low budget film, but there's no excuse to have it inaccessible in 2021. I had to guess at some of the dialogue, but I suppose the only saving grace is that my guesses can't have been any worse than the actual script.

Banished (2015)

Repetitive and unrealistic.

[4/10 · 24 October 2021]

I know that period dramas don't need to be historical re-enactments, but the language in this drama was so 20thC, it was hard to watch.

Women with loose hair, happily talking about sex in literal and graphic terms instead of the subtle euphemisms they'd have used at the time (even the more common women). A vicar's wife openly talking about pregnancy and childbirth, when it would have been "with child" and never overtly mentioned.

The worst aspect was the lack of plot though. There was so much that could have been done with the premise, but it was all 'will-we-won't-we-hang-him' and cutting rations every other episode.

I'd love to have seen them trying to grow food, catch it, facing the aborigines etc. But the whole thing came down to who got to **** who, as if the convict women would actually have had a choice anyway!

Grey's Anatomy: Fight the Power (2020) Season 17, Episode 5

Virus doesn't discriminate, but the conditions do.

[10/10 · 4 June 2021]

I know this season is being pretty heavy handed with the discourse on how race is a big problem with Covid, but none of it is untrue, those of us who don't live in black communities just don't see it.

As Jackson tries to explain to the audience, it's the environment that systemic racism has created for POC that makes them so much more likely to catch the virus; overcrowded housing in poor communities, being frontline workers in jobs that put them at direct risk, being unable to isolate (or shield even if immunocompromised) because of being unable to afford to stop working or pay for separate accommodation, even if infected, and not being able to access healthcare because of no insurance, or prejudice from services. All things that are significantly more likely to be happening to people who aren't white.

One reviewer mentioned that Britain still has people dying and hasn't got this problem. Every death from Covid is tragic and unfair, but that's not the point.

They may not have realised that (outside of major cities) we are a much whiter country, with significantly fewer POC, and although we still have a problem with prejudice and disadvantage, it isn't the same culture as the US, with its long history of slavery. Even then, we still have issues with the so called Indian variant spreading like wildfire through ethnic minority communities, because of the differences in the risk factors.

As I said, it's easy to think that a problem doesn't exist because it's not in your environment.

I live in a very white area of the UK, and I'm extremely grateful for the cultural education that I've had from Grey's. I know very few POC, and it's taught me a lot that I just wouldn't have learned organically from my own peers. There are so many topics covered that just aren't an issue here (gun violence for example), so this sheltered white woman is thankful for the education.

Grey's should be applauded for its commitment to diversity and never shying away from the real issues.

Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel (2021)

Two docs in one. A very interesting presentation.

[7/10 · 13 April 2021]

If you just want to see how Elisa died, this isn't the doc for you. That story could be told in one hour, but this goes much deeper and I enjoyed it.

It had an interesting approach to getting to the 'ending', and I spent the first episode trying to remember how (or if) she died because it was a few years ago and I've watched too many YouTube videos on crime myself.

I don't know if it's deliberate, but they do a great job of exposing those web sleuths and the others involved with a victim mentality. There's so many ironic sound bites, you wonder if these people can hear themselves.

There's the hotel guests (who I do feel sorry for having drank and showered with corpse water) who couldn't believe all the homeless people that were "like, just sleeping outside" and generally complained about having to share planet space with 'undesirables'.

Then we have the hotel manager who seemed to expect pity from the audience (and those present) for her tough life not being able to evict vulnerable poor people, having to put up with them dying, and her lovely line about "the guests were all complaining about the water and having stayed here, but how do you think I feel having to work here?!" as if someone dying in awful circumstances was ruining her life. Especially when she defends her culpability in the situation.

The various YouTubers, some of whom seem to have contributed to the problems highlighted, espouse all the grief they feel over a person they don't know, even going so far as including a fake cry-sniff. I get the impression they were disappointed there wasn't a gruesome murderer on the loose.

The two parts I refer to are obviously the main story of Elisa's death, but the other seems to focus on highlighting the problem YouTubers, or 'web sleuths' caused with their incessant theories, commentary and attempts to do the police's job without their resources and information.

This was really interesting and something I'd not seen covered before.

I have watched a quite few true crime YouTube videos, but never of recent crimes or ongoing investigations that could potentially do harm.

These guys seem to be actively hampering the investigation with calls to the tip line or requests for police reports. They claim to want to solve the crime, but don't have the critical thinking skills to realise that if a police officer describes how they found a crime scene to the media, it wasn't necessarily how it was originally discovered. I noticed that wording on the first clip of the officer reporting on the tank, but apparently they needed to attend a court case years later to realise the police weren't actually involved in some massive conspiracy.

All the time this was going on, there was no regard for how the family must have felt with theories over their daughter's death being blasted all over the internet.

The footage of visiting her grave was just disgusting, and proved that they were just exploiting her for views.

I do think that Elisa was a very sad victim of circumstance. If she had been staying elsewhere, a more expensive hotel where people with mental health and drug problems weren't a daily presence, then someone would have called for help. Then again, there's no guarantee that if they had called the police, she wouldn't have reacted badly and been shot.

Lastly, I think the element of the story where these 'sleuths' ruined a man's life and destroyed his career & mental health was saddening, maddening and all part of the wider story, which was actually a very interesting presentation of how a mysterious disappearance became a viral phenomenon the internet wanted to solve without training or becoming a detective.

American Murder: The Family Next Door (2020)

No respect for privacy of the victims.

[6/10 · 27 November 2020]

This was overall a good show for it's length. It could definitely be improved by being a short series and going more in depth, but it still exposed the deception fairly well.

The reason I gave it a lower score was that it showed extremely personal communications from Shannan to her husband and friends, which her next of kin may have given consent for, but still took a lot of dignity and respect away from her IMO.

I would be mortified, if after I'd been murdered, all the texts & letters discussing my sex life - in detail - were plonked on a screen for entertainment in a Netflix documentary.

Things like 'I've taken a night shower, he knows that means I want sex' or 'I'm so horny today' should stay between either a couple, or the close friends one chooses to share it with, not the rest of the world.

They could still have used most of the texts to demonstrate a marriage breaking down (or one person neglecting it), without using everything and leaving her some dignity.

I know if it were possible, I'd be haunting the one who gave those permissions as well as the husband who murdered me and me children!

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (2020)

Prefer it to the first.

[9/10 · 25 October 2020]

Warning: Spoilers!

I actually think this is the better film/movie. It relies less on toilet & vulgar humour to embarrass unsuspecting victims, and on more (in comparison!) subtle commentary on human behaviour and attitudes to deceive people into exposing their own views and reactions.

The 'moon blood dance' went wayyyy too far. Without being too frank, even a woman/girl from a poor country wouldn't allow herself to deliberately leak through to the point of spoiling an expensive dress that would be extremely special for her. It just isn't that messy unless you don't use protection. I know it's for comedic effect, I just think it was more crass than funny and spoilt the tone of the film (even with all it's anoos jokes).

The rest was pretty clever though.

The pro-life pastor being more interested in saving the "baby" than Borat seemingly admitting to sexual assault, child abuse & incest; the plastic surgeon nodding along to his description of the 'jew nose' and happily telling Borat what he recommends doing to his daughter's body whilst not directing any of the consultation to her until she asks if he'd 'sex attack' her; the dress shop owner just laughing when he asks for a 'no means yes' dress; his hosts openly admitting that they think that the Clintons drink children's blood and that Democrats shouldn't have rights, then later claiming that the Holocaust is a hoax (!); his song at the rally with the audience all happily singing back that various people should be injected with 'Wuhan flu' (that 2s ago they sang was a hoax) or chopped up like Saudi's; and the whole Rudi interview... all set up some very shocking, but funny & clever ways of exposing some of the extreme beliefs and behaviours towards certain people that permeate through society.

Only the Instagram influencer is listed in the credits, and they mention that they explained in advance to the elderly holocaust survivors (that would have been rather cruel), so I can only assume that the others were being themselves on camera.

The timing was just right for this sequel, with Covid & the US election in 10d. I'm not sure if they jumped on the opportunity to use Covid as a plot line, or it was just a coincidence that they were already filming, but it was a great way of showcasing some of the crazy things going on.

Baron Cohen has a great talent for taking a silly character & a silly story and using them to create a clever narrative on the things he gets to observe.

Special (2019–2021)

Especially nuanced.

[10/10 · 22 October 2020]

This show works on so many levels, it's just a pity that it seems to have attracted viewers (and reviewers) that can't see the nuances behind the characters and their behaviour.

On one hand, I can relate to the story - I'm a disabled millennial who is LGBTQ+ On the other, my disability was acquired late in my life, has effectively ended my career and I'm not trying to date. It's wonderful to see a character that's even a little bit like me on screen though.

I can relate to the internalised ableism (although I've only lied about extreme accidents to nosy strangers to amuse myself), the anger at someone doing something to you that's inappropriate (I've been 'relocated' against my will by people who don't listen when I tell them to stop, a common problem for wheelchair users, especially women), and the disheartening realisation that your disability has been the reason for someone's actions - e.g., set up with another disabled person.

I've no idea what it is like to grow up disabled, with a mother who insists on catering to your every need, then trying to break out into the world and away from that suffocation.

This is where I can still have empathy for Ryan though. He doesn't know any different than calling his mother to deal with everything. I can certainly understand being upset that you were given a jacket that belonged to a guy you thought was creepy and told it was a loving gift!

He's obviously trying to get some independence and learn to manage himself, along with shaking off the selfish behaviour he was conditioned into by his intensely over-protective mother. The scene where it takes the super-btch Olivia to give it to him straight was brilliantly done. It's a pity that in doing something positive to change, he still forgets his Mum and does behave horribly.

I love Kim and her body positive character, Jessica Hecht does a great job at playing the co-dependent mother and the writing really is good, I particularly love all the millennial pop culture references.

The one thing that lets the show down is that Ryan Connell is not a natural actor, even playing a character based on himself he comes across quite stiff. I have wondered if he has tried to act out his CP, i.e, exaggerate it as RJ Mitte did in BB, rather than just being an actor with CP. I would have taken a star off for it, but felt I had to give it 10 to offset all the low ratings from those who have attributed the difficulties and complexities of a disabled character to just being an "a-hole" (yes, I know we can be a-holes too) rather than it being part of the story.

I'm hoping that as it's already placemarked on IMDB we'll definitely be getting a series 2. It would be good to see Karen try to deal with getting her son to unlearn the dependency she's taught him and getting a life of her own, and Ryan living his true self by writing about his experiences, plus getting a boyfriend, obvs!

Ozark: Kaleidoscope (2017) Season 1, Episode 8

Good, just needs more clarity.

[8/10 · 20 October 2020]

I loved this episode (although I'm usually a fan of flashbacks in most shows, to me it feels like a bonus piece) I just wish there was some clarity on which period we were jumping to/from. At one point I couldn't quite tell if she was depressed because of the car crash, or the car crash happened after she'd got depressed because she couldn't get back into the job market.

If they'd put a month caption before each scene, or perhaps even lit/coloured each time period drastically differently to be a bit more subtle than text on the screen, it would have left the viewer a lot less confused and able to focus on the drama. I can't quite fathom a reason why you'd not make it clear when moving in such an ambiguously non-linear fashion.

Ozark: Nest Box (2017) Season 1, Episode 7

Wtf pronunciation moment.

[20 October 2020]

Not a bad episode, but I had to skip back 3 times to hear Marty say buoy as boo-ee over again.

Did he just not know the word (like my 9yo self pronouncing fatigue as fatty-goo), or do some people genuinely say it like that??

Rather spoilt the tone of the episode, but cheered me right up because I was laughing so much.

Can't wait to see them sa'ill some bowats from the shoreey out to the church in the next episode!

The Secrets She Keeps (2020– )

Watchable but lacked closure.

[7/10 · 13 October 2020]

This wasn't truly as bad as all the reviews, but it had its flaws.

The stolen baby story was okay, but the 'dressed as a nurse and pretended to take it for a blood test' trope is so overdone. I'm sure they could have thought of a more original plot device if they'd put their minds to it.

Whilst the actions of the mother are all entirely understandable, it was Aggie that really seemed to draw the most sympathy, she really must have been broken by her experiences. Her character (and Carmichael) is what saved this.

My biggest gripe, and this is a big one - what happened to the other 3??! They put in that aerial shot of the graves as a big plot twist, then never explained what happened to them. Did she roll over one (as implied), did she fail to feed them? One death is possible, 3 is not.

Also, why could she not have any more babies? Did she lie about IVF and steal one to trick her husband, or did she actually have IVF and another baby died??

There's so many unanswered questions that they could have spent better time answering those, rather than dropping them in and just dragging out the marital bed hopping by the others.

Also, did anyone else notice her accent? She seemed to be doing an accent at first but by episode 3/4, she was supposed to be English, and lost the accent completely by the end.

Pan Am (2011–2012)

Much better if watched in original episode order!

[7/10 · 27 August 2020]

I'd been wanting to watch this series (well, the 1 series we got) for several years, as being an older millennial, I find the history of women in eras like the 60's fascinating. I was really glad that it finally appeared on prime video as we get given restricted access to US shows in Blighty.

It does have its flaws, namely being a bit saccharine, whereas I think I would have enjoyed it with a grittier format, especially the sub-plots with the CIA & MI6.

The lack of smoking stood out to the point of being quite silly, especially after MadMen which was brilliantly accurate in that specific.

The confidence of the women to regularly stand up to male passengers and colleagues let the show down. I would like to have seen more of the double sided personalities of the stewardesses, intelligent and determined amongst themselves and their partners, but having to play the part of the 'bimbo' in public, and the frustrations & anguish that must have caused them every day.

The worst crime the show committed was flucking up the episode order, so that by the time you watched the penultimate episode, it made little sense. I think it could have been salvaged if it hadn't been messed up for whatever reason they decided to change the order. The storylines weren't too complex with too many characters, it was a very simple plot to follow. In fact, as I have a chronic illness, I relegated this to my 'bad days watchlist' because it is one of those shows you can watch in bed without having to concentrate too hard.

Please, if you take just one thing from this review; watch episode 13 between episodes 9 and 10 (I think, can't check now.), it will infinitely improve your viewing experience.

Outlander: America the Beautiful (2018) Season 4, Episode 1

Wonderful adaptation

[10/10 · 15 May 2020]

This is probably one of my favourite episodes of the series so far (and I'm up to S5).

I should probably add that I *have read the books* and thus am getting so much of the nuance that many other reviewers clearly missed out on by simply viewing this as just a TV show.

Please, before you pass judgement on the many coincidences, leaps of imagination etc, remember that this is an adaptation of a long series series of novels, crammed into a few hour long episodes per series. Even better, read the books before continuing. I hadn't heard of the Outlander books until I stumbled across this show, and after a few episodes, realised I was missing so much from the many reviews mentioning the books, so paused my viewing of each series until I was up to date with each novel.

This is why this episode was depicted so wonderfully for me. The juxtaposition of Claire's returning to an America that is yet to exist, the future she describes to Jamie; compared with the savage, uncivilised behaviour of Stephen Bonnet at the end of the episode. The choice to play the modern song during the attack was wonderful, it perfectly symbolised his shattering of their American Dream.

It was also a refreshing change from all of the violence depicted so far.

By all means enjoy this show as TV alone, but I promise you won't regret picking up the books.

Otherhood (2019)

Snoozefest

[3/10 · 13 April 2020]

I'd had this on my Netflix list for a while, mainly because it had three reputable actors in it.

I really wish I'd spent my evening on something else though, as this was just dull, dull, dull.

The performances were entirely credible, but the story and script were incredibly boring.

The most entertaining thing about watching this was reading the review from a paranoid viewer who interpreted the bumper sticker on one of the Mother's cars, not as a visual aid to show more of the character's personality; but as a deliberate attempt to brainwash the audience into some awful liberal mindset. Although becoming sadly as predictable as the plot of this film, these angry outbursts about subliminal political messages in television littered throughout IMDB are quite entertaining to read.

Citizen Khan (2012–2016)

Dated, vulgar and just not funny.

[2/10 · 23 February 2020]

Having enjoyed previous British-Asian comedies such as Goodness Gracious Me & The Kumars, I expected something of a similar calibre when recommended this show by an acquaintance.

It's only offensive in that it just plays to stereotypes rather than parodies them in a humorous way. As many others have said, this is 70's era material without any of the quality.

The toilet humour, bad accents and "calamity" based material obviously appeals to the lowest common denominator. It's the only explanation for this having more than one series.

I managed 3 episodes before I deleted it from my viewing history.