bbelladdonna

Every time I would feel a lump in my throat and the faint itching in my eyes, these two guys would do their magic, make a funny turn, and I would end up laughing out loud.

The cast is remarkable and each one of them is the perfect pick for their role.

Alan Arkin is pure joy and his character in the show is admirable. As for Michael Douglas, no matter what a pain in the arse he is as a family man, he is still a great, GREAT actor. They both make the show an enjoyable cocktail of wit and wisdom distilled from aging, experience and acceptance of life with all its wins and losses.

At first, I was wondering how comes I am six years late with watching this show. I thought it's a single season thing. Finishing S1E8 and being somewhat sad it was over, I saw it wrote "next episode" in the Netflix lower right corner. What?! Imagine my joy - there were 3 more to see (and hopefully Season 5 on the way). Now I am literally living with the heroes for days and enjoying every moment of it. Brutality was a bit of an issue in the initial episodes, but such were the times, and we have no less of brutality in the modern days - so I got over it. Phenomenal epic drama - thrilling and captivating. Formidable characters brought to life by excellent acting. They make you love them, despise them, wish them a painful and humiliating death, fear for their lives, cheer for their victories big and small... The dialogues are natural, yet full of wit, fun and wisdom.

In my experience of the show, the only bump on the road was the everlasting baby face of King Alfred's plain and irritating wife, whatever her name was (wife I call her, since she could as well wear an apron, chop onions or hold a ladle to no one's surprise). Even after Alfred's death, she looked younger and fresher than her 30-year-old daughter.

That said, I strongly recommend this show.

Personal favourites - Uhtred and Beocca - but there are many memorable characters in both the heroes and the villains, and the ones in between.

When the System is stripped, it's ugly. The Trial of the Chicago 7 is a powerful depiction of the naked king. Strongly recommended.

It is intense. The setting is faithful to the period. Most of the acting evoke the viewer's empathy. Delicate souls, if you are reading this, make sure you have some tidbits and tissue at hand. What one finds irritating in this almost phenomenal thriller is the unreasonable unlikeness of the actors in the continuum young - mature - old. Yes, your looks and physique change as you age, but some key features are still there. In some of the characters even their personality is unrecognizable. However, once you get over the confusion, you are good to go ... on.

It has been a while since reviews and individual ratings were so diametrically opposite. This is obviously a love-it or hate-it show. Now, since the satire uses exaggeration and mockery to expose and criticize stupidity and vices, it is to be expected that a considerable percentage of the audience will find themselves or their ideas/idols targeted. However, it does not change the fact that this comedy is bold and humorous, and the character are hilariously realistic and relatable. In this world where the fear of tomorrow is our common denominator, I choose to enjoy the show creator's idea of how the cliché "love will save the world" could work.

Six episodes into this show and still wondering what keeps me watching. I guess it's the colors and wallpaper scenes, but certainly not the acting.

Indeed, for the last four, the parts I skip add up to 50% per episode. The beginning was promising, but as it happens, the characters failed to build intriguing personality. The pretty ones seem to rely merely on their beauty (pardon my high expectations!) and they act like posing for selfies rather than being epic fantasy heroes. The not so pretty ones do not seem motivated to try any better than being bleached or wacky.

To sum up, Jessica Green is really "blessed with beauty and striking blue eyes" (IMDb quote) but if the makers of The Outpost thought that was enough, they have put all their eggs in one little basket.

The maker of Patrick Melrose surely managed to successfully put together a grotesque bunch of loathing and self-loathing characters. Merely watching the live gallery of failure, frustration, weakness, hatred and despair swirling in a vicious circle makes you dizzy. The cruelty that caused and the indolence that allowed the agony of the helpless boy make you want to reach into the screen and snap some necks.

All in all, it's a powerful drama that stirs emotions which are sometimes so strong that you want to escape, to close your eyes or shut your ears but you can't.

However, the show being such a masterwork, there are certain "petty" details that bother me. Sebastian Maltz is doing a great job for his young age, but I wonder at what point of Patrick Melrose's life his eyes will go from brown to "cumberbatch blue" and his ears repositioned.

The 'wife' in the title was enough to deter me from watching this show. The 'good wife' sounded even less intriguing. I was wandering how they managed to survive for 7 seasons. How comes so many people keep watching stuff about wives and housewives? Speaking of preconception. And then, a month ago, having previously seen both seasons of The Good Fight with gusto (yes, 'fight' sounded way more promising) and finding that it is 'a relative' of The Good Wife, I decided to give it a shot. Result: my first experience with binge watching. Wow!

So much has been said about this show, the splendid cast and the richly developed characters. Therefore, since I am rather late with my impressions, I'll just say - Jason Crouse (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). The way he looks, the way he looks at you, the way he speaks with elliptical sentences sincerely and mysteriously at the same time. Everything about him is smoking hot.

I hope this bit of chocolate will entice the other sceptics to bite into this delicious show.

I wonder why I've never come across this novel. I believe I would have loved it and probably wouldn't have reasons to mind the loose ends such as the unresolved murder of the young detective's father (they would better had skipped that detail in the screen adaptation) or the too decent but not too smart Charles Hayward.

Apart from that, there's plenty to meet the eyes (the rambling Victorian mansion, the giant portrait paintings) and the ears (the dialogues), and to engage the brains (whodunit).

Regardless to the flaws, there's still much of the good old Agatha Christie, the cast is generally fine and the music adds well to the plot and atmosphere. All in all, dramatic and poetic like an opera.

"Mr. Mercedes" came on TV just in time with the hideous trend of hitting the crowd of innocent people with a vehicle. It is just natural to arouse your curiosity no matter whether you are or aren't familiar with Steven King's works and style.

The beginning is intense enough to give you sufficient "fuel" to keep "driving" to the next episode. However, what follows is frustration after frustration. OK, it takes time to catch the bad guy but as the episodes come and go I start feeling like waiting for my boyfriend to come back from a deep space expedition.

To be fair, acting is good but so far the show is full of clichés and predictable actions and unless the characters begin to evolve I'm afraid I shall jump to the season finale and redirect to other entertainment in the meantime.

Man doesn't know where to begin if his huge disappointment with this movie was to be justified by a list of reasons. Total waste of the potential of the original anime idea. The development lacks the minimum thrill: a ten-year-old would have displayed more vivid imagination and come up with a more challenging plot and satisfying ending. The music choice is silly and incompatible with the action.

The characters are painfully reduced to ridiculously unfinished sketches deprived of depth and likability. Light (rather ambitious name for somebody who hardly flickers), is supposed to be a bright student but we didn't see him shine. As for L, I had great expectations from the brilliant young detective but his bad-ass tenacity quickly crumbled like a fortress of sand and he turned into a sentimental nuisance. Yes, he was devastated by the loss of his mentor, but he didn't make him proud by getting broken beyond repair.

All in all, the movie is a tiring hustle-bustle as if ten randomly picked local amateurs were given a task to make a project, and failed. Sadly, or not, it will probably end in the death notebook.

Every time I get lured into reading or watching any of Steven King's works and derivatives I feel like a mental sadomasochist. King is merciless in his treatment of both his characters and his audience. The Mist was no exception.

However, the TV series is a far cry from the original story and the movie. After the third episode I started skipping large chunks and forced myself through just to see if it gets any better. Nope! Whatever they wanted to achieve by stretching the plot, the creators of the show failed. No significant depth of the characters, no thrill, no tension, no compassion, no anger experience, no satisfaction.

Normally, it is wise not to attach too much to the heroes in King's stories because he does not care - he will not spare them because of you. Well, in the TV show you needn't worry about it. On the contrary, you will hope something horrible happens to your favorites so that you can feel something.

I watched the movie again just to refresh my memory on the 'hot stuff' and the dynamics of it. I hated King while I was enjoying his painful playing with my nerves. After the final scene of the movie it was so easy to say 'pass' to the rest of the series. What a liberating feeling!

It was love at first sight with the pilot (okay, it may sound like a cliché but I'll leave it anyway) and that infatuation was not just one night stand. I am only two-thirds through it but I put all my trust in this show for several reasons.

First of all, the story is an excellently matched time travel collage which adds new pieces to the puzzle in moments when you are both caught off-guard but also feel that it was just the right time. Secondly, thanks to the excellent work the actors have done, it is a multidimensional live family photo which looks both romantically heartwarming and chillingly realistic.

My last reason is thoroughly personal. Like in every happy love relationship I have the feeling that "This Is Us" makes me a better person. Not only because I can learn how to make my own amends (when I hurt the people I love or avoid instead of face and deal with sensitive issues), but because in each of the characters I recognize the perfect imperfections that make us humans.

It will make you smile, it will make you cry, it will make you forgive (yourself included).