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.