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Deo geullori (2022)
Every Moment Counts
The Glory is a 16-part Korean drama that we finished watching last week. The episodes run for between 47 and 60 minutes. The final episode is 71 minutes. It is the story of Moon Dong-eun, a woman who was brutally bullied by four rich girls in high school. The first episode is difficult to watch. Eighteen years later Dong-eun sets her plan for revenge in motion.
Sometimes Netflix has a habit of stretching these shows into more episodes than are necessary to tell the story. That's not the case here. Moon Dong-eun's revenge plan has many moving parts, there is a lot of story to tell and many important characters to flesh out. A few episodes dragged a little, but most of them just zipped along.
We watched The Glory with English dubbing and with the subtitles turned on. They were always in sync. People who know about these things have said that the translation was excellent.
The trailers won't tell you much. The modern day portion of the story itself moves along more or less in a linear way but there are many flashbacks. Some scenes, especially in the final episode are shown out of sequence. I think it works. Some people have complained about how the girls were played by different actors in the high school scenes. At first it is difficult to keep track of the Korean names.
The Glory is a dark drama with violence, an otherworldly amount of profanity and precious little comedic relief. In the final episode, near the 7-minute point, when Dong-eun says to one of her former tormenters, "my schedule has opened up", the viewer might feel like taking a really deep breath and letting it out.
The Brokenwood Mysteries: Shot of Love (2023)
The Worst Episode In The Nine Seasons
In season 9 we learn that Mike is still married to Tabatha and she's stalling signing the divorce papers. So Mike and Beth set out on an 8-hour road trip to Tabatha's house and we learn why Tabatha has been stalling and why she insists that Mike bring Beth along.
Tabatha is stilling holding a grudge for the time that Mike missed her mother's funeral for a work-related reason and now it's payback time.
After Mike & Beth arrive Tabatha employs various stalling tactics in order to get Beth alone. She uses that time to destroy any chance that Mike & Beth might have had. On the surface it might look like Tabatha is looking out for Beth. But don't be fooled, there's no altruism here.
I I agree with one of the other reviewers in that The Brokenwood Mysteries has lost it's way. I won't be watching episode 6 of season 9 and I won't be back if there is a season 10.
Vera (2011)
Otherworldly
I've been watching UK crime drama shows for years, Banks, Morse, Lewis, Gently and many others. I stream them on various services. I have wondered about Vera and finally started watching.
Vera and other shows like it are 100& criticism-proof. These stories exist on another planet where Detective Chief Inspectors go off on their own unescorted, knocking on doors, taking witness statements and then return to the squad room to belittle their subordinates, make disparaging remarks about their appearance and generally have temper tantrums.
If this is your cup of tea then I wish you well. I'm only watching as far as S2-1 so I can see how Vera reacts when Holly asks for a transfer.
The Coroner (2015)
The Selective Morality Of Jane Kennedy
There is so much wrong with this, everything in it is so far removed from reality, the only explanation is that it takes place on another planet.
Jane the Queen's Coroner can't punish a culprit so she does the next best thing: she pays a visit to the man's wife and shares the evidence of his extramarital affairs that were discovered during a Police investigation.
The Trouble with Maggie Cole (2020)
Disappointing
It was the presence of Dawn French that drew me to this show and make no mistake, the production is totally centered around her Maggie Cole character. And that is the main problem. Maggie is totally unlikeable, a self-centered prat with an inflated idea of her own importance with absolutely no self-awareness and no off switch.
The way that Ms French approached the role was not helped by the way she mugged for the camera in all her close-ups. Really, I do not recall those exaggerated facial contortions in her other roles. It's distracting.
There are some likeable characters: the writer, the mom, the grocer's daughter, the young woman working in the pub and Maggie's son & his wife.
The ending to the story is satisfactory but it's clear that Maggie did not learn a thing.
Alex Rider (2020)
Lose The Fresh Prince
I began to lose interest when we were introduced to Alex's friend at school. You know the one, the annoying Fresh Prince guy with bling on his blazer, a toque on his head and his sleeves rolled up, none of which would be permitted in that school. I checked and learned that this pointless character appears in every episode. Comic relief I suppose.
Cardinal (2017)
I will watch season 4 but only to see how it ends
The books have been sanitized for the television audience and much inspiration has been taken from Scandinavian crime drama shows. After three seasons there is a repetitiveness that I find annoying. The central theme of each season has been that of a highly intelligent crazy person holding stupid crazy people in thrall with mayhem ensuing. So many times the subordinate criminals realize they're in trouble, have a chance to cut their losses and get out, but they don't. The Police make many mistakes. For example setting up a roadblock to apprehend criminals who, "have already killed, have military training and military weapons" with a single cop standing on the road. What do you think will happen? And they even fall for the old, "body-on-the-road" trick. Having said that, I like the two main characters. But I think Detective Delorme needs to look at the big picture more often and not think of every interview and every incident as first a means to advance her career.
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006)
Missing Scenes?
My wife and I saw Borat last weekend and we give it a 10. This post is more of a question than a comment. We saw the film in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The film that we saw did not include the sing-a-long scene in the Arizona bar. Was this scene deleted from the movie before it was released? Did viewers in other areas see this scene? Also, in the trailer there is a scene that shows some sort of US Civil war re-enactment. One review that I read mentioned this scene but we did not see it. We do not have film censorship in Ontario except for certain illegal acts so I don't understand why we didn't get those two scenes here? Comments?
The Great White Hope (1970)
Where's Jim?
I saw and greatly enjoyed this film when it was first released. I was reminded of it today because of the Ken Burns documentary that is coming out in the near future. For some reason I wondered who was the actor who played Jim Jeffries in the film. Of course I turned to IMDb.
Imagine my surprise to see that there is no listing for a "Jim Jeffries" character. What's the deal with this? The names of real people were changed for some reason? I can't understand why Hollywood sometimes does this and sometimes they do not. The names of the main characters in Inherit The Wind Were Changed. But James Brolin wasn't forced to play a president named Reginald Raygun.
Why change the names when everyone knows who the characters are?
Victoria & Albert (2001)
They Spoke German, You Know.
I loved "Victoria and Albert", it was really great. However, I have just one little criticism. It's a fact that Victoria and Albert and their children spoke German amongst themselves. People who knew them remarked that they spoke English with a German accent. So why can't these "docu-dramas" show them speaking the language that they really spoke, not plummy English?
Just wondering.