Bill-412 Reviews

Suite Française (2014)

Don't rent this from Amazon

[5/10 · 20 February 2024]

This is a very good movie, but the Amazon version of it is terrible. Do not rent it from Amazon.

There are long conversations held in german, and a few in french. But there are no subtitles provided for this, so the movie just kind of stops there. The plot developments provided by the conversations -- what are they saying to the mayor, where are the troops headed off to, how do the german officers interrelate -- are all unknown. Terrible.

Then, when the epilog material is to be provided, conveying interesting stories about the author and the manuscript, we see more than thirty seconds of just black screen, followed by a picture of a woman with no explanation as to who she is or why we should know her.

Just a terrible recording, go rent this somewhere else.

Pete Holmes: I Am Not for Everyone (2023 TV Special)

Nothing there

[1/10 · 31 October 2023]

This one is truly bad. Like many comedians' subsequent stand up routines, this one is extremely thin on content. Take away all of the bedroom and bathroom jokes, there is about five minutes of actual comedy, and not too funny at that. I think I had one chuckle.

Add to this the endless giggling by the comedian at his own jokes, something he is far too old to keep doing, and this one is not worth your time.

Too bad, back-when he was a candidate to be an important player in the game, different enough from the standard fare, but he could not keep it going apparently. Spread too thin or not enough to start with? Doesn't matter, same fate as John Mullaney.

Marriage (2022)

Theme music

[7/10 · 15 June 2023]

Lay off with the criticism of the theme music. It is an official recording of an important composition from the 2010s, and it won the Pulitzer Prize in music. Much preferable to the usual stuff.

The series is very interesting, its plot strengths being how she handles her work situation, and how he handles being out of work with no prospects at his age. He seems to want someone to talk to, and she seems to have ideas that the boss is not interested in.

As to the characters, the daughter is irrelevant and uninteresting, but the father could get more screen time. Also could use more at her work and the other folks there.

Could have a second year, but better to just end it here.

PS better casting would be the two leads from Mum.

Iconic America: Our Symbols and Stories with David Rubenstein: Fenway Park (2023) Season 1, Episode 1

Rambling

[3/10 · 8 May 2023]

There is twenty to thirty minutes of good content here, about pre-Fenway Boston, building the park, and then renovating it.

But then the program rambles into (1) a fan-version of the history of the Red Sox, appropriate more for ESPN or youtube, with personal stories of little interest to outsiders, and (2) discussions about the difficulty of the Red Sox in integrating the team after World War Two, appropriate more for the endless cries of racism by PBS or MSNBC, not really tied into the history of the park.

These programs should be limited to thirty minutes each, staying focused on content related to the presumed interest in civic and architectural history. No need for social or political commentary.

Iconic America: Our Symbols and Stories with David Rubenstein: The Hollywood Sign (2023) Season 1, Episode 2

Quickly became boring

[3/10 · 5 May 2023]

The program was interesting when it talked about the hollywood sign, how it came about and was refurbished, and what los angeles was like at the time the sign was constructed.

But this is PBS. So we were then subjected to the required preaching from a small number of minority speakers whose feelings were hurt that the past was different from the present. They can find sexism and racism everywhere, and they did -- at least one-third of the show was spent rehashing this woke agenda. Suddenly it became a different show, and the editing-in of these scoldings was not even clean. Off-topic and boring.

This should have been one-half hour of interesting interviews and clips. Cut our the narcissistic scolds. Stay on point.

Our Italian Christmas Memories (2022 TV Movie)

Distracting casting

[5/10 · 15 November 2022]

There is some good in this one, although the Alzheimer's angle is cheap and cliched. Bridges and Power are very good, actually almost excellent, although she makes some questionable hair and costume choices. There are the tiresome Hallmark broken family tropes. Hallmark never seems to hire a hair styling crew.

The diversity police must be happy, though. Every couple is mixed race, including the pregnant lesbians.

Perhaps Hallmark is reacting to the new competition from GFAC, with more recognizable actors and slightly more complicated production design, but there is not enough here to make it stand out.

Magpie Murders (2022– )

Too bad about the casting

[9/10 · 19 October 2022]

The show is interesting, if a bit too meta and complicated for its own good. Perhaps there was no interest in making "just another mystery," but this one seems more than a bit smug about itself.

The obvious drawback is the ridiculous, distracting affirmative action casting. The book author is also the screenwriter, but why are white characters switched here to minorities, if not to satisfy political concerns. Especially in the 1955 story, these casting decisions are inappropriate to the times and the profile of Britain at the time.

Manville is superb, the other cast members are adequate to mediocre, but at least they check all of those required woke boxes.

Yellowstone: Blood the Boy (2019) Season 2, Episode 6

Those poor students

[7/10 · 9 October 2022]

What a waste of tuition dollars for students in American History at Montana State. They get Monica, an academic lightweight (a mere high school teacher) with an attitude and a severe political agenda, focusing on narrow issues rather than the one hundred years of history they are supposed to be covering. Instead of textbooks and lectures, they attend an Indian rodeo.

The Monica character may have started as affirmative action casting, unfortunately a common thing, but the actress is Asian not American Indian. Is not this a highly objectionable offense for the woke mob?

But she also a terrible actress and her plot line is totally irrelevant at this point. She should run off with her therapist and live a happy life in some other show.

The Secrets of Bella Vista (2022 TV Movie)

Oh Brother

[1/10 · 20 September 2022]

Let's see, in the first thirty minutes we have pregnant lesbians, a cliche hispanic family, immigration problems, and a Holocaust backstory. That checks so many woke boxes, they must be going for an award.

Too bad, because there is a kernel of a good story here, with two sisters, various legal problems from an interesting family history, artistic family members, and a love story. The three lead actors are pretty good, although the others are less than meh.

Why is this so difficult? Keep it simple and tell the story without the distractions. The Hallmark machine is making few and far between good movies at this point, apparently losing its focus.

Love's Labour's Lost (2000)

Silverstone is Awful

[3/10 · 16 August 2022]

"Good try, but no" is the best way to put it. Clever, sometimes too much so, this movie is less than the sum of its parts: it cuts so much of the original story and thus is like Branagh's Magic Flute, finally a bad miss. A collection of ideas, almost of skits, some of which are quite good, but that ultimately don't hang together.

The actors and acting are quite good, except for Silverstone: There are dozens of actresses who would have done this part well and upped the quality of the show, but she is just awful.

Swap the lead actress, spend ten more minutes to make the story smoother, and it could work. But this, no.

ShakespeaRe-Told: Much Ado About Nothing (2005) Season 1, Episode 1

Don't buy this on amazon

[6/10 · 7 August 2022]

The amazon version has cut about ten minutes from the show. It already is much shorter than the original, but the amazon version misses a lot. Now the focus is on Hero not Beatrice. An interesting effort, but we miss so much of the repartee.

Nikki Glaser: Good Clean Filth (2022 TV Special)

just as expected

[2/10 · 18 July 2022]

This is the usual second-concert problem: Ten years of material to do the first concert, only a fraction of that to do the second. So the content is extremely thin, it's much much less funny, and there are too many meta jokes about what it's like now to be rich and famous. Who needs that? Who finds Amy Schumer tolerable at all any more?

Plus, the limitations of jokes about extreme sex are again obvious here. When it's "I need to top what I said before," the comments are so narrow and bizarre that it's not close to being funny. Eating out your mother? In the first minute? Imagine the third-concert, if anyone will pay for it to happen.

Too bad, because she has some talent in timing and delivery. But it would be smart to develop new lines of content. You've long ago exhausted the gutter material. Time for a re-design. Move on.

Christmas List (2016 TV Movie)

Too cheesy

[5/10 · 13 July 2022]

Alicia Witt seems as childish as the young actors. And It is not cool that she is banging the boss. Even Witt should not be doing that. The music is not good, and the secondary characters are so unlikable. Skip this one.

Loot (2022– )

Can't buy it

[2/10 · 25 June 2022]

Too bad, this had a chance to be a really thoughtful yet amusing show. But a foundation donor would not be talked to by an employee in this manner, the employee would be fired within minutes, in fact would not talk this way to begin with. And the lead would have a chief-of-staff or top advisor so that there would be not even a single PR faux pas. Regrettable, not watchable.

On Chesil Beach (2017)

If I were the editor

[9/10 · 21 June 2022]

A film that is quite good but I would have done this instead.

1) A bit more on the relationship between Florence and her father. Needs to be more clear.

2) End the movie with the excellent second beach scene, or, better, in the record shop.

3) If you must go further ahead in time, hire correct-age actors instead of using the awful aging makeup.

4) Make more about the class differences between them, and of Edward's preferred plan for his future in the marriage with Florence.

Candy (2022)

Worth your time

[6/10 · 27 May 2022]

Good set decoration, music, and atmospherics, characters believable. Better though as a 100 minute movie. The female leads were very effective. The affair subplots (Candy and Jackie) were on-point.

Rip in Time (2022 TV Movie)

Slightly corny but quite good

[10/10 · 26 May 2022]

Well written, spectacular cinematography and music. All casting choices were good, no affirmative action effects that are so common on hallmark today. It's been a while since they've made one this good.

Road Trip Romance (2022 TV Movie)

Writing, acting, casting

[3/10 · 15 May 2022]

The hallmark diversity department has taken over. Every couple in the wedding party was mixed race. Just like in real life. This has become predictable and tiresome. Is the audience demanding this?

Ozark: Pound of Flesh and Still Kickin' (2022) Season 4, Episode 11

Too Much Netflix Money

[3/10 · 15 May 2022]

Most of the season's "second half" has been a waste of time, not advancing the story, just burning up the production budget to no real end.

Like most series, this one has hung on too long, lost its sheen even with the critics. Plot and characters are stuck in a hole. Should have ended with Helen's demise.

Anatomy of a Scandal: Episode #1.6 (2022) Season 1, Episode 6

Preposterous ending

[2/10 · 1 May 2022]

Who signed off on this ending?

The show was fine and would have ended nicely without the ending balcony revenge-fantasy scene.

David E Kelley is an attorney and should know that a 20 year old case based solely on hearsay evidence and no physical evidence would go nowhere, especially against a prime minister and cabinet member.

Two possible endings only: the men go down, but Kate is disgraced and disbarred, and Sophie loses all life privileges for her family.

Or the more likely ending, no balcony scene, life goes on, all parties are guilty of something, but no one can/will blab about it. This is reality.

We get the feminist message: all men are incompetent pigs, all women are victims, all women are heroes, women are superior, smug, and self-righteous.

Insulting to all. Especially to those who watched till the end.

Julia (2022– )

A swing and a miss

[4/10 · 30 April 2022]

Superb acting by Lancashire, Pierce, Neuwirth, Light, and Glascott. Very nice set and production design portraying the historical period.

But this goes way, way off the rails with a totally fictional character (Alice) and fictional events (Beard in SF). Affirmative action casting, revisionary feminist and racial themes grossly exaggerated, such terrible mistakes.

There was a great story here with Julia and Judith, and it entails true events and historical characters. Is that not good enough?

Julia: Foie Gras (2022) Season 1, Episode 7

What a mistake

[6/10 · 30 April 2022]

The show comes to a dead stop with any scene involving Alice. This is a totally fictional character, and now we have to contend with a mother and boyfriend. The affirmative action police have committed a terrible error with this.

Anything that takes time away from Lancashire, Pierce, Neuwirth, Glascott, and Light is grievously wrong. Compare any Alice scene with the one in Knopf's office between Light and Glascott. Who signed off on this?

Taylor Tomlinson: Look at You (2022 TV Special)

Inferior to the first one

[4/10 · 18 March 2022]

First because she is now a celebrity and talks too much about that. Way too much meta material, almost none in the first one. She is too into herself.

Second because, like all stand ups, the material is much thinner. For the first one there was a development period of at least five years, but for this one only about one year, so much less substance and less testing time for it.

Presence of Love (2022 TV Movie)

The best new one in a while

[10/10 · 15 March 2022]

A good story, not the usual. A wonderful lead actress and some great Poldark scenery. None of the usual forced affirmative action casting, nor the usual bimbo leads or annoying dogs. More like this please.

Playing Cupid (2021 TV Movie)

Not this one

[2/10 · 23 February 2022]

An unengaging female lead, and another affirmative action cast. Looks like a good budget though, someone must be watching. Hallmark's reruns are a better bet than the new ones.