TV: Yellowstone (2018) GC

Recipe: take the production level of a good Hallmark movie and use it to make a drama television series set on a Montana ranch. Then sprinkle in some f-bombs and sex scenes to give it a harder edge. Here you are, on a rustic pine platter: Yellowstone!

Yellowstone is about a family that has been the caretakers of a huge swath of Montana land for several generations and their patriarch who is trying his darndest to hold onto the power he has in the state so he can pass it on to his four children and possibly also his long-time ward turned right-hand man. Criminal behavior abounds as their grip on Montana starts to slip. The four children all go through their own private miseries and you end up wondering what the heck is John Dutton fighting for?

The acting in the first few episodes was pretty cheesy. Australian actor, Kelly Reilly, who played Beth, kept dropping her Montana accent and just overplayed the role. Kevin Costner was there. Wes Bentley was cheesy. Kelsey Asbille brought her top-notch game to the sets. She was outstanding in this cheesy crowd.

The writing was cheesy to basic. There were some flashback scenes to help explain Beth's erratic behavior, but they were oddly placed in the narrative. In the episode, A Monster Is Among Us, there seems to be (or at least I hope there was) some juxtaposition about blood in bathrooms. Gross. Oh yeah, Kevin Costner was there.

My mom told me about this show while we hiked amongst the redwoods. Like a storyteller, she recalled the storyline in A Monster Is Among Us because the terrain reminded her of the episode. Her version was much more colorful and interesting.

Something about TV shows and movies at this level of cheesy keeps me coming back for more. So I finished Yellowstone and I found it entertaining. I will give season 2 a go.

This show is cheesy, so I'm giving it a rating of Good Cheese.

Movie: Royal Matchmaker (2018) GC

Royal Matchmaker is a thoroughly cute Hallmark movie about a professional matchmaker who takes on a prince as her latest client. Of course, they fall in love.
Stars: Bethany Joy Lenz and Will Kemp
Obstacles: Tradition and a woman more befitting of a prince
Quality: All the levels are set at good: Plot, writing, art direction and acting.

I would definitely re-watch this and recommend to any fan of cheesy romance, so it gets a rating of Good Cheese.

I checked the DVD out from my local library.

Movie: Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018)***

Can You Every Forgive Me? is an enjoyable movie with Melissa McCarthy playing a very believable and funny-by-happenstance woman who finds herself forging letters by famous authors.

All the levels are set at good: Good acting, good production, good writing, etc. Melissa McCarthy and her co-star, Richard E. Grant were both nominated for best actress and supporting actor respectively at the Oscars, Golden Globes and SAG Awards. After finally watching CYEFM?, I am surprised they were nominated because there wasn’t anything great or inspiring about this film. My suspicion is that voting committees were impressed by McCarthy’s non-comedy performance, which was good, but not award worthy.  

I would watch this again and would recommend it, but I don’t think it offers anything spectacular to the cinematic world so I’m giving it three stars***.

Mini rant: Vice, Green Book, I, Tonya, Get Out, Lady Bird, Birdman, Her, American Hustle were all nominated for Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. Can You Ever Forgive Me?  gets nominated for Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama. What the hell is that about? 

I checked the DVD out from my local library.