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plainjane1334
Reviews
The Gilded Age (2022)
Well Written
No this is not a clone of Downton Abbey. Why would it be when it is a different country and different culture and different time period? It is a well portrayed story about the newly wealthy wanting to enter New York society and being met with resistance. I found no character in this that is supposed to be Violet. There are several strong minded opinionated women in this, but none of them are similar to Violet. Nor were they intended to be. Nor is the music is the same as Downton Abbey music as one person complained. Nothing like it at all. Nor is it "woke" because one of the main characters is a young Black woman. Yes she faced prejudice as any Black person would have in that time period, but that was not the focus of her story. Nor was Mrs. Russell like Alva Vanderbilt. This woman actually loved her daughter and saw her as more than a possession and a rung to climb in society as I have read about Alva Vanderbilt. Alva Vanderbilt wanted no less an English Duke for her daughter and she got one even though her daughter had been in love with an American man with a good reputation in New York Society. Mrs. Russell only wanted someone for her daughter who was more than a fortune hunter, although, yes, she did want her to marry well. Although Mrs. Russell could be fooled by a fortune hunter thinking he was more than that because of his high position in New York society; her husband is not weak, the way Alva's was. He is very savvy, he would never allow their daughter to be forced into an unhappy marriage. Plus, there was no indication Mrs. Russell wanted her daughter to enter English society. If people watched more than the first three episodes where the story was being set up, they would have realized that.
Sweet Magnolias (2020)
Great CLEAN series, no F bombs
Unlike many reviews here I like that it is like a Hallmark movie My only gripe with Hallmark movies is they are over within 90 minutes. By the time I start to get invested with the characters it is finished. I do not need fast action crimes, explicit sex, occult, and F bombs to enjoy a good story. I just want a good old fashioned story about friends or family.
If you liked Cedar Cove, When Calls the Heart or even Counsel of Dads or Parenthood I think you will like this.
Homefront (2012)
I thought it very good
This is the story of 4 women on a military base in England. Two are the mother and wife of a soldier recently killed in Afghanistan and how they handle their grief. . One is the fiance of his commander who is trying to learn how to be a good officer's wife while dealing with 2 teen children, his daughter and her son. The last is wife of another soldier under this same commander. She is a friend of the young widow and she also befriends the commander's fiance. She seems to have the perfect marriage, and has it altogether. She is the good friend the other women lean on but but then she discoverers her husband has been cheating.
The story is good as we watch how these 4 women resolve the issues of their lives with the help of their friends. I found this on Amazon Prime and yes it is well worth watching.
Return to the Secret Garden (2000)
This is a child's movie for children under age 10
This was decent and not nearly as horrible as the other two reviewers would have you believe. Just remember this is made for young school age children who have not reached their preteens. Any child 11 or 12 years old, and certainly older, would find this too childish as it is targeted to a younger audience.
I would think most would realize this, as the original Secret Garden was also for made young children. Yes, it is American made, and it looks to have been filmed at the Biltmore House and grounds which is near Asheville, North Carolina USA.
My guess is this was a budget film and since the Biltmore House was modeled after an European château, that this was the nearest building that could be used in the United States to simulate a manor in Yorkshire, England. However,the young previous reviewer is right, I have no seen any English castles that look like this. The château's look is more Continental than British.
To the young teen reviewer I must also clarify, those were bad supposed British accents, not Australian. If he thinks those were bad, he should hear some bad accents of the supposed southern United States done by actors from other areas of the United States in many a top box office movie. I am from Georgia, USA, so I know this even if others from other areas of the world do not. As far as the accents, I am guessing though, this being a children's movie, it was assumed most young children would not notice.
As far as the Biltmore House being an American hotel, this reviewer's American friends stirred him wrong. It was built in the late 1800's as a home for the wealthy Vanderbilt's, who had many homes all over the United States and elsewhere. It seems they spent a lot of time in Europe and wanted a home that looked like an European château.
It is now a museum, not a hotel, and it is really something to see, between the house, the attached winery and green houses, and the basement boiling alley. I enjoyed the movie just for seeing the house and it's secret passages!
I must say though that "Back to the Secret Garden" is a better sequel. Although it is more a sequel to the 80's Hallmark adaptation than the novel. Highclere Castle does make a better Yorkshire manor than Biltmore House. I believe that was also produced by an American company, the difference is they used a real castle in England instead of "America's castle", Biltmore House. Even though both stories are overall only mediocre entertainment for anyone over the age of twelve, being targeted to a very young audience; the better location did make a better movie for atmosphere alone.