TV: The Split, Seasons 1-3

This is a British series about marriage, divorce, and relationships. Almost all the main characters are legal professionals who specialize in family law and so you get to see storylines of marriages coming together and falling apart for one reason or another. The main storyline is about the slow dissolving of the main character’s marriage, hence the title. Hannah and Nathan go through some crazy ups and downs throughout this series. 

The writing is so good and the acting is so good and its starring my new favorite actress, Nicola Walker, from Unforgotten. This is a three-season series. I watched all three seasons on Hulu.

Photo by stevepb

Fall 2023 Cheesy Romance Triple Play

Big Sky River (2022)

Honestly, I don’t know where the title comes from. A recent divorcée travels from New York to spend the summer in Parable, Montana. While there, she falls in like with the widowed sheriff, make some friends, and is enamored by the beauty of Montana. There’s a slight complication because her stepdaughter who comes to visit, feels emotionally attached to her and abandoned by her father. I’m sure you can guess what happens in the end. This movie is based on a book written by one of my favorite romance authors, Linda Lael Miller. The cast features Kavan Smith, frequent Hallmark romantic lead, Lochlyn Munro, who you’ve seen if you watch any TV, and Lucia Walters, who was on the last season of Virgin River! 

Production: Authentic production and styling and a really good but terribly under-used supporting cast. Maybe that means there will be a sequel.
Tropes: Career vs. Love
Diversity: Some representation of BIPOC, but I’m not sure if that’s what Montana looks like!
Production: Front Street Pictures and released by Hallmark Channel.

How’d you watch it: DVD checked out from my local library.

To Her with Love (2022)
I’ve never done this before, but I want to analyze the DVD cover before I watch the movie: This is a Hallmark Mahogany production, Hallmark’s Black or African American line of films. There are two attractive Black people on the cover, and in the background is the brick façade of some kind of institution. There’s some kind of mural (I hope not graffiti) that fades up into the photo of the couple. So I am thinking that they’re playing on the Sidney Poitier classic To Sir, With Love, and the institution-like building is a school. The closer I look at the mural on the cover, I notice that it might have students or kids or people sitting at desks or maybe in an auditorium. I see some hands up in the background so maybe a classroom? But I hope its not an inner city classroom. Please no basic stereotypes!
The movie: Yes! This is an excellent Hallmark cheesy romance movie! No they did not fall for the basic stereotypes! A teacher fills in as the art teacher at her old high school, while she hopes for a job at a better-funded school and/or her dream of teaching abroad comes true. Of course, she meets another very dedicated teacher who also happens to be a handsome single man. I thought the story was unique and I love the throwback to To Sir, With Love. I like that in the end she didn’t have to give anything up and that it wasn’t just romance, but also friendship that she gained. Brittany L. Smith from Sweet Magnolia fame plays the friend in this movie!

Production: The acting was on par for a cheesy romance. The locations and styling looked authentic and the people comfortable in them. The only really bad thing was the lighting, which was off in many scenes. You would think they wouldn’t have such a hard time lighting Black folk since this is a Mahogany.
Tropes: Shared Goal • Return to Hometown • Career vs. Love
Diversity: Yep.
Production Co.: Evergreen Film Productions and released by Hallmark Mahogany
How’d you watch it: DVD checked out from my local library.

Pumpkin Pie Wars (2016)
The children of feuding bakers take up the mantle to win the annual baking competition for their respective parents’ bakeries. In the process, they learn that each of them has a skill that could help the other, so they trade to try to win the contest, and to succeed in their endeavors beyond the contest. Acting is on par with a good Hallmark movie. I found the story charming and somewhat unique with different-than-expected ending. Pumpkin Pie Wars is a good Hallmark movie that I watched on a DVD checked out from my local library.

Production: The production and styling gives a sense of authenticity: The actors look comfortable and familiar with the sets and costuming.
Tropes: Friends to lovers • Secret Contract/Agreement • Family Feud
Diversity: Nope.
Production Co.: Crown Media Productions and released by Hallmark Channel 

How’d you watch it: DVD checked out from my local library.

TV: Ode to Deadwood

 I found this old review I wrote January 5, 2016. Things have changed since! 

I am re-watching Deadwood Season One... It's funny to me how deep I fell into this show immediately even now as I'm watching it for the second time. This is notable because The Wire, which is possibly my favorite TV show, has a slow start each season and it takes about three episodes before you get fully invested and wanting to know what is next.

Deadwood hits you... BAM! Who's this guy who walks funny? Why is that whore so dedicated to that mean dude?  What the heck happened to that family and why is that plotline taking so much time in these episodes?

I think this show is shot beautifully. The cinematography manages to take in the landscape of this mining-camp-growing-up and also focus on the characters. The dialogues are framed really well, and just leave the audience wanting to know who is the real bad guy in this situation. Some scenes are just downright artsy fartsy, but nothing seems out of place.

I particularly like David Milch's character dialogues and monologues in this show. I like the way the word "fuck" is used so artfully and sometimes completely appropriate and intelligently. He does good dialogue, but not always good story as was evidenced in John From Cincinatti, which was the flop-of-a-TV-show he carelessly tossed Deadwood aside for. Butthead.

So, now I'm re-watching and loving Deadwood, a show that will never offer me a finale. A show who's characters are forever stuck in screen-written purgatory. May you one day rest in peace.

TV: Grimm

Lately, I've been spending Friday nights re-watching Grimm with a friend. It’s such a fun and slightly cheesy supernatural show that I watched when it originally aired with commercials and a week or more in between episodes (that's live TV for those of you who only know how to binge!). It’s set in Portland, but there is a diversity of people shown that may or may not be true to life. I love that when you see people of color they’re not all in subjugating rolls. POC are playing positions of power, they're not always the first to die, and other cultures' myths and folktales are included, so Wesen (half human half creature supernatural beings) are POC, too. I find that part uplifting and something I only now am noticing as I re-watch.

I love the story. I like how they mix folktales of the world in with the modern life of today. Now that I am able to pause at the beginning, I can read the quote they show and try to place the story. I am highly annoyed at how long it takes for Nick, the main character who is a Grimm descendant and a Portland cop,  to reveal to Juliet (his girlfriend) and Hank (his partner) about the world of Wesen and his abilities to see them. Holding back helpful information is just an annoying trope that is often used in movies and TV shows that bothers me. My favorite character is Rosalie because she is logical and doesn’t just jump on things when they happen. AND because she’s an apothecary, which is cool, and she seems to enjoy helping people. I also love Wu because he gets the funny lines and he gets really interesting side story arcs. 

I stream this on Amazon Prime. 

Movies: Dark River (2017) and Wild Mountain Thyme (2020)

What these two movies share: Images of the beautiful English countryside, farms, farm animals, rain, two people who don't communicate well and don't know how to deal with their emotions in a healthy way. They are two very different movies though. Dark River being a sad drama and Wild Mountain Thyme a funny romance. 

Dark River, 2018 ***

A sad story about a woman who returns to her family farm after running away from the man then the memories of her father‘s abuse. She struggles with her brother for control of the farm, but no one wins. Starring Ruth Wilson who I recognize from so many things, especially Luther and Jayne Eyre, and Mark Stanley from many things, too, especially Game of Thrones and Sanditon, and only in flashback scenes as the abusive father, is Sean Bean, also of Game of Thrones fame. Trigger warnings: Sexual abuse and sheep shearing, which can be scary to some. Don't judge. I watched this on Amazon Prime. 

Wild Mountain Thyme (2020) **** kept popping up in different algorithms and lists because I clearly love  romance movies and British shows. Yes, I do know this movie is set in Ireland. So there. I finally watched it and was so anxious with the characters acting out in such a lovely way the stereotypical act of hiding emotions of human connection while overly expressing emotions that cause or maintain rifts that is soooo associated with British (and Irish) people. But this was as much heartwarming as it was heart-wrenching. I can watch Emily Blunt and Jamie Dornan over and over in this movie. Surprisingly, Christopher Walken and John Hamm show up as an excellent and entertaining supporting cast. 

Reviewer Christie Lemire sums this movie up well:

"A slight from childhood, which we see in an early flashback, and the rights to a small piece of land connecting their families’ properties serve as insurmountable obstacles to the fact that they’re clearly meant for one another. Besides knowing everything about each other, sharing decades of history and enjoying a lively chemistry, they’re the only single, gorgeous people of their age around. And so we must wait 102 minutes for them to acknowledge they’ve secretly been in love with each other all this time."

Trigger warnings: Christopher Walken being himself while pretending to have an Irish accent. 

I watched this on Hoopla. 

Photo by TimHill

TV: Behind Her Eyes (2021)

I heard about this show on a podcast and thank goodness, they didn’t say anything except watch it until the end. I’m glad I listened.
Behind Her Eyes comes off as one of those shows where people, usually women, make a series of decisions showing bad judgement, or being too nice, crossing their own boundaries. Other than the disclaimer to watch to the end, there was some other intrigue that hooked me along through the whole series.
It was worth waiting until the end. I really enjoyed the show. Good writing. Good production. Good acting. This was a Netflix original, British and has some speculative elements. Things I like.

Spoiler below. I’m warning don’t read until you watch.**********
The end was a mind-blowing reveal, which I still won’t spoil (for you greedy readers!) But I love, love, love the dip in the speculative fiction pool! Astral travel?! Wasn’t that fascinating and amazing? I would never participate because of all the possible terrifying situations pointed out in this very series! The dumbest part of this show was when she decided to astral travel into the house, which was on fire, instead of calling 999 for help. What can you do during an out of body experience to help someone in a burning building?
When you take over another person’s body, you lose access to all “institutional knowledge” and have no idea how to care for that body. I thought it was pretty unrealistic that a White person occupying a Black woman’s body would have any clue about how to do her hair, so it should have been a mess or at the very lease an ugly, messy bun.

Movie: Buck and the Preacher (1972)

The Civil War was over and by law the slaves were freed. But when the promise of land and freedom was not honored, many ex-slaves journeyed out of the land of bondage, in search of new frontiers where they could be free at last. They place their hopes in the hands of the few black wagonmasters that knew the territories of the West. None of this came easy, for not only did they have to overcome a hostile wilderness, but nightriders and bounty hunters were hired by ‘persons unknown’ to hunt them down and turn them back to the fields. This picture is dedicated to those men, women and children who lie in graves as unmarked as their place in history.

So begins the film Buck and the Preacher, an excellent western movie starring, directed, and produced by Sidney Poitier and Harry Bellafonte. Production started in 1971 and it’s only 117 minutes long. What can you do in that amount of time? You can tell a really good story with Black western antiheroes riding horses, chasing, and being chased in the chaparral. There’s also a little romance. 

I had never heard of this movie before this year. I listened to or read a Harry Bellafonte retrospective after his death (April 25, 2023) and heard that he and Sidney Poitier made a western! While I was never steeped in Sidney Poitier or Harry Bellafonte films, I feel like I should’ve heard of this one. Not only is it a good western movie, but it highlights some important historical facts like the newly freed slaves heading west to flee The South and the lack of opportunities of the east, while being hunted by former slave catchers turned “field hand recruiters” trying to scare them back to The South. Harry Belafonte and Sidney Poitier both gave excellent performances. Ruby Dee shows up in it too, and makes a third to the pair of Buck and the Preacher. The Native American characters, I believe are played by Native actors, which, in the 70s, is not that common. If you want to see a pre-woke-BLM, feel good, western with a cast full of people of color, you should watch Buck and the Preacher.

I checked out the DVD from my local library!

Photo by MikeGoad 

Movie: Palindromes (2004)

I first watched this movie at least 15 to 20 years ago. I suspect I watched it on Palm Pictures channel, which is where I caught a lot of obscure and weird movies at the time. I enjoyed it’s oddness and quirkiness. I enjoyed the fact that the same character is played by a collection of actors. Aviva, a girl, you never know how old she is, decides she wants a child/children because she always wants to have someone to love and she thinks a baby is the way to go. So, when she gets a little older, she goes about trying to getting pregnant, runs away, and in the process encounters people in different extremes of functional-disfunction. Re-Watching this today, in this post Roe v. Wade world, with so many battles over the right to an abortion, how social media has affected the mental health of teens, the ultra conservative movement’s success, Palindromes is perfectly appropriate for 2023. Seeing Aviva played by six different girls, different ages, races and sizes, is so affective and disturbing.
“People always end up the way they started out. No one ever changes. They think they do, but they don’t.” -Mark, not a pedophile.

TV: Cedar Cove Seasons 1 and 2

Cedar Cove is a Hallmark Channel series that centers on a County judge and her friends in a small coastal northwestern town. Cheesy and predictable is fine. Sometimes it’s exactly what you need. So season 1 is fine. Nothing great about it. Season 2 started off fine, but then it turned into a commercial for Jimmy Dean. The product placement was so blatant, at one point, the camera closes in on a shot of a plate of Jimmy Dean sausage next to the box. No. I do not want to participate in these shenanigan.

I watched Season 1 with a free preview through Amazon. I checked out Season 2 on DVD from the local library. 

TV: Sanditon Seasons 1-3 2019-2023

Jane Austen’s unfinished book was brought to the screen and completed in this three season light drama. Ms. Charlotte Heywood, an ingenious and out-spoken farmer’s daughter, visits Sanditon, an up and coming seaside resort town and becomes entwined in the lives of the key players, including visionaries and investors in the town and a rich heiress who’s the daughter of a plantation owner and his slave. Along the way, Ms. Heywood (and everyone else!) finds, looses and finds again romance and love. The show wraps up a little too perfectly and a little too modern, but obviously still worth watching. Andrew Davies, the writer/producer of some excellent British series, is responsible for the quality acting, writing, and production that make Sanditon an enjoyable and fulfilling watch.
I watched this on PBS Passport.

TV: Little Fires Everywhere (2020)

This limited series was fantastic! I read Celeste Ng's well-written slow-peeled-onion story Everything You Never Told Me for a book club and was enthralled by her storytelling style and capability. I should have read Little Fires Everywhere, but I watched this first. 

Watching Little Fires Everywhere during this this period of racial unrest, it was especially apparent how on the surface, the issues that the main characters face have much to do with white privilege and conscious and unconscious bias. The script is full of judgmental and downright racist statements. But the beauty of this story, which you learn as the onion peels, is that in this case, its not simply about racial issues. Its about the house of cards the two main characters built for themselves.

Ep 1-3 I spent trying to decide who was worse: Mia or Elena? At the end of ep 3, Mia was in the lead for being unnecessarily secretive and vindictive, whereas Elena was just being a self-focused elitist racist. Her hate-ability was passive. Mia was actively hurting people.
By the end of ep 4, you get a sense that the composed Elena is coming unhinged, and there’s a feeling of familiarity to it: she’s done this before! What’s worse is that she has raised another little monster and propagated her self-focused elitist-ness! And while teenagers make dumb teenagery decisions, mini-Elena takes it to another level of threatening and de-valuing her so-called friends’ lives.
At the end of ep 6, the flashback episode, you come away with a good foundation for both Mia and Elena. Their lives of struggle and unhappiness were of their own construction. They both set up their lives so that the cards would fall and they would have to hurt someone in their future, namely their children.

The last two episodes for me was about redemption. 

I streamed this in September of 2020 with a limited pass to Hulu. 

Movie: Still Life (2006, released in the US 2020)

I found this movie as I scrolled through the offerings on Laemmle’s website at the beginning of October. I saw a familiar face on the poster, and after some quick research discovered it was the same director of Ash is Purest White, and the familiar face was that of the lead actress from that movie. I knew immediately that I had to watch this film and I invited Dante who I saw AIPW with.

The movie opens with a slow camera moving along and looking into the faces of the passengers on a river boat at the end of this long pan, we are introduced to the main character. For the first 30 – 45 minutes, Sanming gets into situations that make him seem like a pushover of a guy, but eventually you get the sense that he knows when and how to fight his own battles. He traveled from one part of China to Fengjie County to search for his ex-wife and daughter. 

A few acts into the movie, we meet the actress’ character, who has also travelled from one place to Fengjie County. but she is in search of her husband. 

I remember reading about this director after I watched AIPW and I remembered that he used his art to shine a light on what is happening in China. In this film, looming over all the characters and blocking the sunlight from the story is the backdrop of the flooding of this area and the ongoing eviction of its residents and demolition of their homes to make the area a more enticing tourist location. 

At a certain point, the two main characters’ searches had proven fruitful, but not completely fulfilling, then the movie just stopped. Roll credits.

I get a sense that the director was trying to convey a sense of the unrequited life of the people from Fengjie County. How these two emigrants from another place landed there and immediately became overcome with the oppression of inevitable homelessness and the hopelessness of the situation. And all for what?

And then there were random speculative events that had nothing to do with the story, but added to the film another heaping spoonful of something to think about!

I enjoyed the film thoroughly. The acting was superb. The locations and landscaping were haunting and honest.

I streamed this during the pandemic, when Laemmle's had streaming options, 4/25/2021.

Photo by nana_yu

TV: The 24 Faces of Billy Milligan (2021)

 Monsters Inside: The 24 Faces of Billy Milligan series was an opportunity for the producers to utilize the cornucopia of footage, photos, primary source documents, and the people still alive who could speak on the topic of Billy Milligan. Unfortunately, they didn’t use it well.

The production techniques they used made this documentary series seem more like watching a ghost hunting or mythical creature reality series. They used anticipation and/or ethereal music throughout giving the impression that every moment was building to something, but you never got to a peak, just a few hills here and there. The interviews involved flashes between slow zoom in, shaky cam and security-camera effect. Some of them even looked like they were staged in these abandoned-seeming locations that had no significance to the story. On top of all that original footage they had to work with, there were terrible reenactments.

On top of the really strange production, it was too long. After the first two episodes, there is hardly any mention of the other personalities. It turns into his family, friends and some of the psych experts recounting his escapes and returns to mental institutions.

There were a lot of interviews with French-speaking psychology experts posing thoughts and commentary about the Milligan story, and I found myself thinking, “What does this have to with a French-speaking part of the world? I’m so confused!” It was impossible for me to take this docuseries seriously.

Overall bad, over-produced storytelling. This 4-episode series could have easily been cut down to 1-2 episodes.

I watched this on Netflix, 1/24/2022.

TV: Being Mary Jane Seasons 1-4 (2013-2019)

 Nothing ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to know. - Pema Chodron

When I first started watching Being Mary Jane, I enjoyed it. The show felt like a more grown Insecure. You have a main character who seems put together outwardly, but is a hot mess internally. She is surrounded by interesting characters who support her. That seemed real. It had a sense of authenticity.

At the onset, Mary Jane was already in these fraught romantic relationships. There’s David, the tarnished penny that keeps turning up, and Andre, the married man. As the show progressed, you see her fighting her way out of those relationships, but instead of learning from them, she hauls around the unresolved emotions, ruins a couple of potentially healthy relationships, and runs in heels towards unhealthy relationships. She not only sabotages her romances, but her friendships and family, too. Sabotage seems to be her method of operation. 

Of all the relationships MJ sabotages, I’m most upset about Sheldon, played by Gary Dourdan in season 2 and Lee played by Chike Okonkwo in season 4. How could you Mary Jane?!

In season 3, one of Mary Jane’s close friends commits suicide and the season ends with a lot of issues unresolved. 

Season 4 was terrible. The script was awful compared to the other seasons. It seemed like that authentic character interaction was lost in the writing. It was more “put together.” Characters were finishing each other’s sentences, there were silly comedy tropes and techniques, and I really hate silly comedy music. No matter what she did that was reprehensible, people were forgiving Mary Jane left and right. I hate-watched the season because I was hopeful for season 5. Lo and behold, they only finished one episode of season 5 and gave up, like I should have at the end of season 3.

I listened to the Therapy for Black Girls Podcast episode (search for session 3) analyzing BMJ, and it brought my attention to how much in transition MJ is at the beginning of season 4. Note that she’s living in a hotel and having a hard time finding a permanent place to live while her position at work is also fluctuating. And then when she gets a permanent residence, she kicks her love-interest to the curb! 

If they ever think to revive BMJ, or maybe if they want to make a made-for-TV-movie to finish it off, I’d like to see the movie fast forward into MJ’s future and show her lying on a couch, being analyzed by a therapist (An idea put forth by Dr Shivonne Odom on Therapy for Black Girls). They can go through her past relationships, and flashback what happened after her friend died in season 3, since that is yet to be resolved for viewers.

I think Being Mary Jane seasons 1-3 are worth watching with your full attention, but pull out the ironing board, a jigsaw puzzle or feather duster so you don’t feel like you’ve wasted your time watching season 4. FYI: I heart Gabrielle Union. I have listened to both of her memoirs twice.

I binged this series on Hulu.

Movie: Tár (2022)

 “Tar… What is that movie about? Some sexually predatory artistic genius? She’s an EGOT, for crying out loud, and it’s so punitive. They drag her down so far that after that after a while it sort of turns into a gothic horror film.” Critic, Peter Rainer at the AirTalk 2023 Oscar Preview

Tár - A strange movie with nearly five minutes of credits at the beginning of the film, and a short set of end credits with music that yanks you out of any atmosphere left over from the last scene. Tár is about an egotistical conductor. She’s just so focused on her life,  maximizing her experience and prioritizing her pleasure and her expertise, that she loses sight of other people. Turns out almost everyone in her life dislikes or fears her. Her ego-self has lied to her and convinced her that she’s immune to the consequences of her cruel and inappropriate behavior. Those pesky consequences catch up to her when a scandal involving the suicide of a protégé comes to light. I gotta appreciate the comedy of a conversation  between Tár and her mentor when she asks him about how he would deal with “a student or a colleague misinterpreting your actions” and he immediately jumps to the conclusion that he’s been accused. Once convinced he’s not, he begins listing off conductors who have been accused and there is a list!

Cate Blanchett disappears in this performance: she is Lydia Tár. I was skeptical at the beginning of this, but I fell into it, and into the rabbit hole of the story until the end. The last chapter, so to speak, was rushed, and again the ending was odd. I see why Blanchett was nominated, but I also see why people aren’t raving about this movie. Overall, the story left a lot to be desired. I can’t think of any good reason to see it again. I’m trying to think of Tár in the same vein of Everything Everywhere All At Once, because I gave that movie a lot of credit for being different from traditional storytelling. Both movies use nontraditional techniques. So, with Tár I wonder what questions are still left unanswered. At the end of the movie, I still don’t know who was tormenting Tár throughout the film. Did we start to channel the mental break depicted in Black Swan? Or was what we saw onscreen Tár tormenting herself or paranormal, even? What was the story with the Russian cellist?

Click here to hear the AirTalk 2023 Oscar Preview

I watched this movie on a DVD checked out from my local library. 

Movie: Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)

When trying to describe Everything Everywhere All At Once, maybe the easiest part to explain, is the sci-fi aspect of this film, but I won’t because this is a film you need to watch knowing as little about it as possible to really enjoy.
The hardest part of this film to explain is the emotional aspect. I found the emotional roller coaster difficult to understand, but compelling. Was all of it the result of a case of modified Problem That Has No Name combined with Immigrant Child Complex?
Overall, I was engaged with every aspect of it: How the actors are styled, how the sets are styled, the action sequences, the dialogue, the consistency of universe jumps, the music, even the confusing emotions. I was all in watching this movie and hopefully I’ll get a chance to see it in theaters one day. My heart jumped when I heard my favorite song mixed into the soundtrack behind the fight scenes: Claude Debussy’s Clair de Lune.
You should see this if you like movies. It is an experience worth living through and I could experience this one at least one more time. 

I watched this on the Showtime app in Hulu. That makes as much sense as the time jumping. 

TV: Yellowstone Season 4 (2021)

I don’t have a post with my summary of season 3, but of course, it was intense and it ended with a bang. Season 4 picks up right where it left off: The Duttons are tracking down who ambushed them at the end of season 3. 

Casey’s family is shattered but spends the season working to heal in their shared traumatic experiences and their commitment to each other. They are warriors. Through their storyline we delve into some Native American traditions. 

My favorite character to hate, Jaime, continues to be himself this season. For a person who is supposed to be so politically savvy, he sure is gullible. And although I think Beth needs to get over her original beef with him, she’s smart enough to keep him at arm’s length. Because even if Jaime isn’t causing the trouble on purpose, it seems to somehow arrive in his wake. 

“How can someone so brilliant be so fucking stupid?” – Beth Dutton

Watching the evergreen-hard-as-rock love story of Beth and Rip is worth putting up with any Jaime screen time. And their nucleus is expanded when Beth picks up an orphan, Carter, aka “Boy,” who uncannily embodies the best and worth of both of them. 

We get to learn more about the ranch hands Jimmy and Lloyd. Jimmy is sent away from Yellowstone Ranch and gets a chance to grow up. 

“It’s called life. Most of it hurts, but its so when something feels good we have a frame of reference.” – Emily, Jimmy’s fiancée. 

In a flashback sequence, we get to meet Dutton ancestors played by Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. This is the lead in to the spin off 1883. 

I loved, loved, loved all the rodeoing and show horses and seeing the cocky Taylor Sheridan himself doing some cutting and stopping. 

And as always, the music supervision is on point. I discovered Sturgill Simpson, a country artist I’m adding to my playlist, Turtles All the Way Down. 

Just in case you can’t tell, I love this show and I’m sad that I can’t watch it whenever I want because Paramount wants to hoard their goodies. I would watch this show over and over like The Sopranos if I had access to it, but I will one day when all these streaming services get their stuff together!

Movie: Cyrano (2021)

This movie was a pleasant surprise! Cyrano is a retelling of the classic tale, but instead of an odd nose, Cyrano is not of “normal” stature. I had no idea that I’d be watching a musical. I almost gave up at the beginning, but I’m happy I gave it some more time, because what started off a little silly grew into something quite fulfilling.

Peter Dinklage knows how to pull your heartstrings and he brings his acting, action and singing skillsets in full for this performance. The other actors brought their A-game to flush out this story. I was so happy when I recognized the face and voice of Glen Hansard (I first learned about him from the movie Once) in the Wherever I Fall sequence, which also features two other musicians, Sam Amidan and Scott Folan, performing that amazing song. I haven’t mentioned yet that the music and lyrics are great and worth listening to separate from the film (Soundtrack available on Hoopla!).
The personal styling and sets are done beautifully and draw you into the story. This film won the 2022 Best Decor/Design of a Comedy or Musical Feature Film at the Set Decorators Society of America awards and the Excellence in Period Film award from Costume Designers Guild Awards. I loved the dance sequences that flow seamlessly between and behind the dialogue and action.
Cyrano the film is based on a stage play and the screen adaptation was done by Erica Schmidt, Peter Dinklage’s wife. It was directed by Joe Wright who also directed another one of my favorite movies, Pride & Prejudice, starring Kiera Knightley.
I found the story Cyrano to be charming, moving, heartbreaking and the production to be visually aurally rich. This would make one half of a perfect double-feature with the movie Once.
I watched this movie on Amazon Prime.

TV: The Watcher (2022)

 The Watcher, a 7-episode series on Netflix, is another show that left me with more questions than satisfaction, in fact, I’ll just say that I dread-watched this, meaning I didn’t really want to watch the show, I just kept watching because I wanted the mystery solved. The show was good at getting across the creepiness, but it held for too long and my anxiousness turned into annoyance. It also doesn’t help that the couple, played by Naomi Watts and Bobby Cannavale, are so unlikeable and everything they do is despicable.

This series is inspired by a real story. Check out this article by Quinci LeGardye, who summed up this series perfectly: “frustrating and engrossing.” Go ahead. Take a minute and read or scan it. I’m not going anywhere. 

The true story of 657 Boulevard (the house) that LeGardye details in her article is much more interesting than what happens in the show. Unfortunately the article doesn’t make a good miniseries. Maybe we’ll get a good feature documentary. 

Now for some questions:

If someone sends you multiple letters letting you know that they’re watching you, why don’t you start by getting better window treatments? In the Netflix series, everyone can see into 657 Boulevard. Neighbors, cars passing, the Watcher.

Why does the kid who installs the security cameras have access to the live feed? The camera installer character was wholly problematic on many levels. I just didn’t understand why this character needed to be at all. 

I did not heed my own advice to turn off what you’re watching if you don’t like it. Don’t waste your life. 

I streamed this from Netflix.  

TV: One Step Beyond (1959-1961)

You’ll witness things... Strange. Different. But not to be denied...

Similar to Twilight Zone, One Step Beyond features a different story each episode, all stories claim to be true accounts of the paranormal. I borrowed some DVDs from the library and got to watch a few episodes. Here are my favs so far:

The Trap- a man has strange dreams that recall another man’s accident.

The feminist in me watched Tonight at 12:17 and shook my head at how women were not only treated but generally considered weak hysterical things. 

Where are They? The mysterious rock rain in Chico, CA.

The Executioner- about the scout and his dog in the civil war

Persons Unknown- set in México about the Aztec giant ghost that haunts an abandoned convent made me think of Wakanda Forever. 

It’s clear production was not equally distributed in each episode because some were just awful: unfocused camerawork, clunky editing, bad writing, poor location choices, etc. My parents said even when they watched the original airings the quality was hit or miss. Unlike TZ, episodes of OSB look as if the film was restored from fire damage.  All that aside, they were still fun to watch and I'm looking for more ways to watch.

2022 Holiday Movie Marathon Part III: Holiday Horror

You won't find any romance in this part of the marathon, but all three films I watched had a lot of cheese.

Black Christmas (1974) 🎄🎄🎄
This could have easily been edited down to a 43-minute TV movie and really didn’t have an holiday theme, it was just set at Christmas time. The original Black Christmas was an otherwise enjoyable 70s slasher: Think Halloween + Scream. A sorority house is being terrorized by serial killer, but it takes everyone so long to figure out what’s happening that many of the house’s occupants are killed. There’s an undertone of a feminist theme: How women often go unbelieved because they are accused of easily taking to hysterics and then there’s the big decision by one of the housemates to have an abortion despite the father’s wishes to keep the baby.
The cast was full of familiar-to-me faces such as Andrea Martin who I recognized from My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Olivia Hussey from the old Romeo & Juliet movie and John Saxon who I know from Enter the Dragon, but he’s been in so many other movies/TV shows, I’m sure I’ve seen him elsewhere. I found myself down an Internet rabbit hole reading about this movie and found this interesting article about the Call is Coming from Inside the House trope.
Upon further thought and reading, I was fascinated by the 70s-era telephone wiretapping and tracing technology that was featured in the movie. I didn’t really appreciate the quality of this film while I was watching it because I was watching it with a holiday theme in mind. But this film has a lot of the elements that make a great horror movie in my opinion. This might make it onto a future horror movie compilation list.

Production: Standard, 70s slasher: Authentic location and styling. Cheap-looking camerawork. Cheesy acting.
Tropes: Call is Coming from Inside the House • Stalk & Slash
Diversity: If you’re talking about featuring men and women equally in the cast, yes, but no POC.
Production Co: August Films
How’d you watch it: Kanopy

Black Christmas (2006) 🎄
What is similar to the 1974 version is that the story is set in a sorority house during Christmastime. Another similarity is the subplot of an issue of the day: In 2006 one of the sorors discovers that her boyfriend is posting sex videos on the internet. While in 1974, one of the sorors was fighting with her boyfriend about the decision to abort an unwanted pregnancy. The drunk soror character in both films gets murdered using a glass unicorn. Oh! Andrea Martin, who plays one of the sorority sisters in 1974, returns in the 2006 film as the house mom.
Notably different is the inclusion of the story of the killer, Billy, who used to live in the house. Whereas in the 1974 version, the identity of the killer was unknown to the audience. There are flashbacks that reveal Billy’s awful childhood, which include Billy + his mom = incest child, Agnes, storyline (Barf🤮). Depravity: Cannibalism. Incest. An obsession with eyeballs. Beyond that, the 2006 version was full of so many dumb decisions, wrong turns, and nonsensical actions, even more than your typical horror movie.
One positive thing I can say about this movie, is that it looked good, but they lost all cool points because of a story that’s goes too far.

Production: Looked well-funded.
Tropes: Call is Coming from Inside the House • Stalk & Slash • Escaped Mental Patient/Convict
Diversity: Still no.
Production Co: Dimension Films
How’d you watch it: Kanopy

Jack Frost (1997) 🎄🎄🎄🎄
A serial killer is being transported to his execution when his transport collides with a tanker full of an experimental acid. His body dissolves and he is reborn as snow, and using the form of a snowman, he goes back to terrorize the small town and sheriff who originally captured him.
This is the perfect B-horror movie and it just so happens to be set around Christmastime. This has been one of my favorite movies for years. I own the VHS which has a fantastic holographic cover. I know you’re just green with envy now.
Fun fact: The town square was filmed on location in Fawnskin, CA, a two-hour drive from Los Angeles.

Production: The perfect blend of authentic and cheesy. There was so little real snow and the fake snow looked funny. Special effects?! Ha!
Tropes: Supernatural Stalk & Slash • Small Town Sheriff- often seen as not being able to handle higher-level crimes
Diversity: Nope.
Production Co: Frost Bite Films Ltd.
How’d you watch it: Amazon Prime

And now its time to settle down for a long winter's nap. The End. 

2022 Holiday Movie Marathon Part II: Non-Theme Holiday Movies

Not everything I watched fit the music theme and I rewatched a couple of my old favorites. Wanna hear about 'em? Here ya go!

A California Christmas (2020) 🎄🎄🎄
A developer sends her spoiled son to convince a farmer to sell her land. He pretends to be her new farmhand in an effort to influence her. To be convincing, he gets a quick tutorial and lifeline calls from his butler and the actual farmhand. Of course, the son and the farmer fall in like, but brace yourself for the identity reveal. This was a cute story, but boy, did they skimp on the script and some of the actors. If it wasn’t for the comedic efforts of the butler and the actual farmhand, I would have tapped out on this within the first 15 minutes. Turns out the writer and the female lead are one and the same.

Production: Budget. The locations looked authentic. At times the camera was in and out of focus, and the lighting was uneven. Plus it looked like they had a weird filter over the daylight scenes.
Tropes: Disguised Identity • Forfeit the Player Card - One character is known as a player, but is now interested in monogamy • Ghosts of the Past • Enemies to Lovers • Save the Business- Similar to shared goal, one character is faced with a failing business and is able to save it with the help of the other character
Diversity: A couple people in the main ensemble are POC
Production Co: ESX Entertainment
How’d you watch it: Netflix

A California Christmas: City Lights (2021) 🎄🎄
The sequel to A California Christmas, this time the farmer-vintner goes to the city and gets to experience the rich son, now her fiancé’s life of luxury and privilege. This time around, the writing was terrible, the acting was terrible, and the production was cheap. Parts of the story were just nonsensical. What CEO would cancel a gala a couple of hours before it started and tell guests to go to the soup kitchen next door?

Production: See above.
Tropes: Jealous Third Party Interference • Shared Goal • Career vs. Love
Diversity: A people in the main ensemble are POC
Production Co: ESX Entertainment
How’d you watch it: Netflix

2022 Holiday Movie Marathon Part I: Music Themed Movies

Another year, another set of holiday romance movies (and miniseries), or as I lovingly refer to them, HolRoms. This year I decided to try something different: A theme! I chose the theme Music and searched through my normal sources to find movies that fit. I also watched some non-theme movies because it’s always nice to let other people choose and I try to play well with others. I took a detour from HolRoms and watched a few holiday horror movies. That was fun.
Takeaways: Netflix needs to release a compilation of songs from their Christmas movies. There are some catchy tunes in the movies they produced.

I’m sticking with last year’s rating scale of Christmas trees:
🎄🎄🎄🎄 Favorite!
🎄🎄🎄 Good.
🎄🎄 Alright. I was able to finish this movie, but, yeah.
🎄Not good.

Christmas with You (2022) 🎄🎄🎄🎄
A middle-aged pop star is a-looking for some inspiration to help her write a Christmas song when she ventures to meet a teenage fan. Teenage fan’s dad just so happens to be a music teacher working on a new Christmas song… can you predict what’s going to happen from here?! Starring Freddie Prinze, Jr. The song they write is cute and catchy and I would listen to separate from the movie.
Overall, this was a thoroughly enjoyable, charming, feel-good, and sentimental holiday movie that requires a good deal of suspension-of-belief, but it’s worth it.
Some minor complaints: There’s a scene with a weird POV as dad and daughter walk through the high school hallway. Why did they shoot it that way? Also, I don’t think it would have hurt the story had Angelina just told her agent, boyfriend and promotional team that she was going off to find inspiration instead of just disappearing and dodging contact attempts.

Production: Filmed on location with real snow! The concert scene looked a bit janky, but otherwise authentic-looking locations.
Tropes: Shared Goal- A shared goal pushes two people to work together and fall in love/like • Opposites Attract • Celebrity Life- Fortune and fame causes problems real and potential
Diversity: The cast was almost totally Brown and Black
Production Co: GMT Films
How'd you watch it: Netflix

Movie: A Very Country Wedding (2019)

This movie is unique to me in that it is a non-holiday sequel to a holiday romance movie: A Very Country Christmas. Unfortunately, it wasn't as good as that holrom, in fact, it really suffers from bad writing and bad acting. After meeting and falling in love in the first movie, Zane and Jeannette are finally getting married - actually minutes from walking down the aisle, when mean record exec from the first movie calls and says Zane needs to ditch his wedding in order to make it to a gig on time and if he doesn’t go he’ll be in breach of contract. There is soooo much wrong with that premise and the multiple plot lines that follow. I fast-forwarded through unnecessarily long dialogue and was able to get the gist of this movie in less than 30 mins. 

I only watched this to set up the next installment in the A Very Country movie series, which is another Christmas movie. Hopefully it’s better than this one. 

How did you watch it: DVD