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Reviews
Judge John Deed (2001)
SUPREMELY RELEVANT IN 2024.
I wish they would air this entire series now. It is sorely needed. A maverick high court judge fights government/corporate corruption and fights for the rights of the common man. As always with British series, particularly the BBC productions, the actors are classically trained and strike the perfect notes. We have all come to expect that and are rarely disappointed. The writing for these case studies is exemplary, the personal foibles of the characters well developed but not exhausting. I recommend this entire series to all who come across it. One review quibbled that his love interest and ex wife appeared before him in court in every episode. It was one way to keep the cast numbers manageable and also to develop both women as characters. It did not bother me. EDIT: Two episodes from series 5 were removed from future viewing when "someone" presumably a rep from big pharma, objected to the portrayal of the MMR jab as harmful and causing autism. Truth be told a whistle blower scientist at Merck confessed that they knew for a fact it causes autism and had always known it. So much for corruption of the media. Evidently the Brits are not aware of the truth as it has now been proven. All combined jabs use aluminum as an adjuvant. It causes brain damage. There are no autistic elder Americans at all - because there was no vaccine until 1989. Autism rates went from 1 in 50,000 to 1 in 34 due solely to childhood vaccines. So yeah, BBC is likely in the pocket of big pharma as is the UK government.
Line of Duty (2012)
Honestly the most hateful characters
I assume these guys were meant to be the "heroes" or at least the protagonists. They hound an honest cop with trivial complaints who was doing his job destroying his life. You know they have utterly failed when you are rooting for the suspect. Add to this gratuitous violence and the absence of even one single character anyone could possibly care about and it all adds up to a waste of time. The actors were fine, many of whom I have seen in other series and liked them. Sad that they were stuck with these . Scripts. Edit: Having endured three seasons of this drek I can only conclude that the writers are sadistic satanists who should be banned from ever writing another word anywhere. Their demonic plot is to make every halfway decent character suffer torture and death and every flat out villain not only triumph but dominate and prosper. No one wants to live in the world these monsters are creating. They should confine it to their caves and leave the rest of us in peace.
Bancroft (2017)
More 'hate cops' propaganda
I have noted elsewhere that police detectives are now being portrayed by Brit TV as drunkards, drug addicts and hysterics, but this is a new low. The central cop character we are forced to look at for endless hours is a psychopathic serial killer. She kills or pummels anyone who threatens her promotion in her job. - which in itself is preposterous. Brit TV, which I used to love, is now so chock full of propaganda that I have lost not just patience but any interest in it. I will stick with the BBC productions from the 1970s and 80s. And PS according to ITV and the BBC, all blonde women in the UK are married to - or in sexual relationships with - African men. And vice versa. I have not seen a Caucasian couple in these series in three years. Are we meant to think that they have gone extinct?
Marcella (2016)
a mentally ill detective . again
I have long been a fan of British crime series. They used to be clever whodonits. Now, we get endless soap operas where the investigating detective is alcoholic (Scott and Bailey,), a drug addict (Crime, /the Killing), a criminally neglectful parent or a mentally ill hallucinating sicko. Marcella is the last. (I had to keep fast forwarding through her personal traumas to find the segments that actually had something to do with the crime and finding the criminal.) Many of these - especially the Netflix productions - will also treat you to lots of gory violence and lots of inter-racial sexual intercourse. If you love seeing severed heads and hands and watching sex, this series is for you. Also there is not one single moral or likable character anywhere in this lineup. Every last character is not just flawed, but irreparably immoral and ugly. So don't bother looking for a hero or heroine. None present. To add to this debacle there is relentless electronic bleatings meant to pass for a score. I actually muted the sound many times to get rid of it. The actors did a bang up job of being evil and ugly, so have to give them that.
Dublin Murders (2019)
Not enjoyable
The least attractive and most unlikable characters ever created for a British crime series. You won't be able to identify a hero as there isn't one. I would not want to know any of those characters in any situation. I stuck to the end but there are much better options out there. No fault of the actors. Just bad writing. Even the plot line was not plausible. This is the lowest rating I have given on this site. But then I tend to only watch the better films and series. There is a list of Brit crime series posted on this site. Have a look at that. Unforgotten probably the best of the lot. Silk is also excellent.
The Killing (2011)
First time ever it took 30 hours to tell you who done it.
Loooooong drawn out story but good actors, if dour in the extreme. I watched it a second time to see if there were any clues in the behavior of the guilty that could have shown us their real selves. Nope. And that I think was a failing of script, the direction, the actors. You don;t kill someone and then carry on ladida as though nothing had happened. The guilty party in season 3 was sharp and never never would have made the mistakes presented in the script. Was it necessary to kill and injure all of the false leads? And these guys are supposed to be great detectives? So a lot of flaws. But I got hooked all the same, so I would still recommend it.
Pride and Prejudice (1995)
The only filmed version to bother with
Brilliant production, casting, direction. Perfect. It is an education in what extraordinary limitations women faced in this era. They could not inherit or even earn a living without facing social condemnation. Any family member who violated the social mores stained the entire family with disgrace. It would be many more years before women were permitted to inherit land and estates, and the Brits have Austen to thank for raising awareness. My only quibble with my beloved Austen is that estates such as Netherfield and Pemberly could only have been owned by peers of the realm in this period. Not a Mr. Darcy or a Mr. Bingley. They should have been at least earls. (To the reviewer who complained that Jennifer Ehle was not beautiful, I can only think that this person wanted to see peroxide blondes only. Ms. Ehle is one of the most gorgeous actresses England ever produced with the face of an angel. The main problem with the casting is that the actress playing her sister, Jane, is meant to outshine her and was in no way way as beautiful as Ehle.). Checking the locations I noticed that the crew had to trek from one end of England to the other to create the story's environs of 200 years ago with several National Trust mansions being recruited for the purpose. If anyone is interested, Longbourne is currently for sale for 10 million pounds sterling. It is every bit as magnificent as in the BBC series.
The Seventh Veil (1945)
Hopelessly dated
I watched this for James Mason who I always find interesting. But in this case ...For starters, they scored the film with Rachmaninoff because at the time it was the only classical music widely known to the public. Those concerti can only be played by pianists with large hands. Anne Todd could never have done it. Add to this she never looked at the keyboard while "playing" . Ludicrous. Then after an interminable build up, she is "cured" by a psychotherapist who is delighted that in the end she rejects the two suitors who were kind and loving to her and opts instead to spend her life with her abuser. Very healthy. Don't bother.
Barry Lyndon (1975)
Deadly
You could watch this for the camera work, but slow, tedious, just deadly and boring. The acting is so godawful it is torture to watch them. A depressing story about a pathetic loser with almost no script at all. If I had to hear " a fine family fortune" one more time I would have thrown something at the screen. Just awful.
Middlemarch (1994)
The Revenge of Mary Ann Evans
I only turned to this video adaptation having exhausted all of the Austen, Dickens and Trollope available. All fiction is autobiography to some extent, and Evans' novels are no exception. She was an adulteress and a social outcast who pretended to be married and pretended to be a man. Portraying her critics in her characters as professional and moral failures whose dreams and ambitions are frustrated and thwarted no doubt gave her some satisfaction. But in the end I look to be inspired. Middlemarch is neither inspired nor inspiring. In a time of central bank created strife, scarcity, want and struggle, I have no patience with uninspiring literature or its film adaptations.
Sense & Sensibility (2008)
A gorgeous adaptation
I love this adaptation of my favorite Austen novel. It brings the characters to life- especially Col. Brandon, who is terribly stiff in the novel but portrayed as a noble and romantic hero here. The score is so so beautiful, by Britain's best film composer. The choice of location for Delaford - a 200 room castle - was a little over the mark, but never mind that. One thing always bothered me about the ending - that Margaret and the mother were not invited to live at Delaford but merely invited to visit now and again. How did Austen imagine that they could survive with little money and little help all on their own. But that was how Austen wrote it. I cannot agree with the lead reviewer who considered that the "moral of the story was that feelings should not take precedence over adherence to society's conventions". Austen was hardly conventional in her own life, although this is an early work and reflected a more careful approach than she took in later novels. If there is a "moral", which I do not believe Austen intended, it is that feelings must be tempered by reason and reflection, and that acting on impulse can lead to heartache. Society's approval or disapproval was not really the point, in spite of Fanny's insistence that Marianne may have damaged her reputation . I was also pleased that Willoughby's confessional scene was included. It goes on for many pages in the book. Austen seemed determined to forgive him, although readers rarely do. Still this is a classic film version, not to be missed and the characters are drawn with more depth than in the film version.
Garrow's Law (2009)
Wonderful historical series
Brilliant casting, great writing, and much to teach us about the injustice of the British legal system in the 18th century. Burning a convicted defendant alive is torture. Hard to believe this still went on at this point. Wondering if anyone knows why they used incense in the courtroom . Our own justice system owes a debt to Garrow.
Belgravia (2020)
Brilliant cast
The UK acting pool constitutes a repertory company of superbly trained actors. It is satisfying to see them in so many different roles, and Belgravia featured some of my favorites. Philip Glenister, Tamsin Greig, and Harriet Walter were standouts. As for the writing, it is a bit of Downton Abbey redux, as Julian Fellows adores the aristocracy and loves to write about the Victorian peerage. The flaw is that he ignores entirely the immense suffering happening across London. Historical inaccuracy is not okay. The heroes land in the Thames in the final episode and recover immediately, when the fact is that the Thames at that time was full of sewage and the pathogens would probably have killed all three of them. But the story was engaging as were the characters and held up all the way until the last ten minutes when he just had to throw in a "there they go" Downton wedding. Are we really meant to believe that Lord and Lady Brokenhurst would have been jolly at having missed raising their own grandson, who now heads off to India . I am all for happy endings. We certainly need them. But they must make sense or we cannot really take them in.
Sanditon (2019)
Not Jane Austen
Andrew Davies' biggest failure. As an Austen scholar I am appalled and irritated that Austen's name would even be attached to this piece of mediocre claptrap. Not only is the story line one Austen never would have written, the characters Davies created are not those Austen would even recognize. This is a collection of the most venal and self-serving characters even assembled in a period drama. Austen's aristocrats were ridiculous while real. We could mock them. The wealthy dowager of Sanditon is crude, contemptuous and disgusting and speaks like a Brooklyn yenta. Austen, while virginal, well understood society's rules around adultery and the social cost of premarital sex and wrote about them repeatedly. But sex always took place offstage and was spoken of in the most euphemistic terms. Davies actually has an ingenue masturbate one of the series most despicable characters. In real time. On screen. Good heavens. The series was so poorly planned that Davies concluded the first season with the absolute worst resolution possible, with no assurance that the show would be renewed. Poor ratings sank it. It was subsequently picked up but by then the romantic lead had contracted for another job and bowed out so had to be "killed off" .ensuring that the central romantic figures would never marry. We now read that this atrocity is to have two more seasons. God forbid. When you are in a hole stop digging. Davies does not know how to stop digging.
Edit for Season 2 - The hole gets deeper. Davies clearly panicked when his romantic lead bowed out and he had to completely rethink a plot line. By turning his lead female into a Jane Eyre governess in love with the gruff and crusty Rochester figure he was grasping at straws, and it smacks of desperation . Worse he seems to have abandoned 19th century speech patterns entirely. I am truly perplexed by the positive reactions from viewers. I suggest you watch the real Jane Austen film treatments to understand what you missed.
Spooks: The Greater Good (2015)
Glad to see a reprise
I loved the series and wish they would pick it up again. Likely more relevant now than in the prior era. Wonderful cast and direction. The film is missing the private lives element that made the series so poignant. But I still welcome it.
All About Eve (1950)
One of my top ten favorites
Great film, great writing, great actors - with the exception of Ann Baxter who must be the absolute worst actress ever to appear on film. No kidding.
Close to the Enemy (2016)
no, it is not about "bigotry and racism"
Clearly the lead reviewer is one of those who defines every issue as "racism and bigotry". this is just a minor work - yes, really really poorly acted - with gratuitous sex scenes telling a story about the lead up to WWII (Poliakoff's favorite subject ) in 7 hours that could have been and should have been told in 2 hours.
Emma. (2020)
roll over jane austen
Austen was a master at skewering arrogant fools, especially wealthy arrogant fools.They were her neighbors, after all. The first two film versions of her novel, Emma, captured the subtleties and language of her characters. This film relied on broad almost slapstick comedy - so much so that the reader, audience had no way of connecting to or caring about any of them. Add to that treason the huge departures from the original story lines and the waste of great acting talents in cameo roles such as Bill Nighy, and you have a total travesty. There were already two creditable versions available. Why produce this piece of junk at all.
Poldark (2015)
series 5 is an anomoly
Longtime fan of the series. the latest, series 5, I have read, is not based on the novels and was concocted by the writers. It jumps out at me because while Poldark is always engaged in some risky venture or other, this season is bloodier and drowning in danger, leaving aside the more inspired stories of life in the cornwall mining district. so it is difficult. It focuses on the corruption of both the British government and its justice system, and I have to wonder if the writers are more commenting on the current state of affairs in both the UK and the US than on the early 18th century. I do hope they carry on with series 6 next year, which should resume the actual story as written and take in the next generation of Poldarks. I want to respond to those who found the story of Ned Despard artificial. fyi He was real, and he had probably the only inter-racial marriage in England in that century and was a famous abolitionist and reformer. He was in fact hanged on a false charge. So while the character of Ned and his wife were historically accurate, those characters never appeared in the novels. Since this season is filling in the time lapse between the novels, I guess the writers thought they could jump on his story as a relevant one.
The Missing (2014)
torturous plot tempo
No slight on the performances, but while I usually don't mind slow moving stories, this was beyond the pale. I recommend watching episode 1 then episode 8 and skipping the rest. oy
Grantchester (2014)
season 4 is a car wreck
I do not share the views of others that found fault with the characters or stories. On the contrary I was totally drawn in by them for a particular reason. Unlike sickeningly happy american television, each episode showed us disappointment and profound sadness - things we all really experience and share. It all had a ring of truth for me - right up to the close of the third season when the "hero" ditches the love of his life, the woman he has loved since childhood presumably, for the church. --leaving her to raise her infant alone and this after having promised to marry her. It made me think of a line from the play Closer - "men are crap". Season four begins a mult-car wreck that sees the "hero" run off with an African woman and Leonard carry on with his gay lover. yeah sure. Inter-racial marriage was a scandal in the 1950's, homosexuality totally illegal as it was in the US. and how many Africans were in England at that time? My guess is that one could count them on the fingers of three hands. Yet we see an African archdeacon. yeah sure. The show reads as though the writers all abandoned it , replaced by a few amateurs . beyond disappointing. just irredeemably horrible.
Unforgotten (2015)
brilliant direction and acting. holes in the story
Spoiler alert. While I was drawn in to the characters, thanks to great direction and superb performances,, as I think of the story, the lapses are difficult to digest. . In one season we are meant to believe that two rather lightweight women were able to take the lives of much larger men without difficulty. In another we are meant to believe that the one character who shows persistent empathy and compassion throughout the first five episodes is actually cold and evil. Serial killers do not become small town GPs and care for patients and friends with great generosity. Also why does he create what he calls a "typical teenage girl" who at age 15 has sex with a 23 year old guy - a crime in the US
- , does drugs, works in a bar, and ambles around in a rainstorm after midnight on New Year's eve when thousands of drunks are out and about. And also that a detective on the job for 30 years rather than being inured to death and homicide is so squeamish that it causes her to suffer a nervous breakdown. The backstories on each of the characters are rich and so persuasive one feels that one knows these people. And that alone makes it worth watching. I just wish that the writer had done a better job of giving us some justification for the crimes.
Series 5 is a disgrace. Disgusting characters with no redeeming features no one would ever want to spend a day with. Yuck. What was he thinking.
The Good Mother (1988)
true picture of the intrusions of the state on private lives
Painful as this film is - especially for women - it is accurate in its portrayal of the intrusions of the state on the lives of parents. Laws and practices vary by state, but Massachusetts is notable for its readiness to separate parents from their children for minor infractions or parenting the state disapproves of. It is a warning to parents to stay away from protective services if their beliefs are progressive in ways the state does not agree with.