Reviews

Funny boys who live up to their nerd billing (but in a good way). Shane is the skeptic while Ryan is a true believer in the supernatural and aliens. And yet he doesn't believe in Bigfoot, as Shane does, even with circumstantial evidence available to him. Ryan is pretty gullible and is easily frightened by his "ghosts" each and every time. My only peeve is that Ryan needs to learn how to pronounce some of the unusual words he's using. But that should come with more experience. It can be a bit rough around the edges but it's fun to watch two friends have a good time and they're a great match. You'll be guaranteed to giggle.

I'm a history nerd. Fascinated by archaeology and the resulting history that gets painstakingly put together literally piece by piece. Biblical history is interesting and because of a great professor I had in college, I have a penchant for using the bible as a history book. So when I was bored on a gray, barely warm Saturday, I thought I'd check "Ancient Secrets of the Bible" out .

It doesn't have the best actors and its filming isn't the highest quality -- pretty much what you'd expect from a low budget filming company. Grizzly Adams, aka Dan Haggerty who owned the production company and has passed away, was a great bear hugger but his company, sadly, was never big league.

There are some interesting tidbits of information actually using archaeological based research that enhance what was written down three millennia ago. I think that's thrilling. That people from the past wanted the future to know about them. That intrinsic human need to be remembered after you die. Unfortunately, the producers expose their ultimate goal, to denounce science and put forth ideas directly opposed. Some, such as dealing with mitochondrial Eve and the "first" Adam, are so badly misunderstood and misrepresented, even God is embarrassed. Everything we are learning has come to us in a relative blink of an eye. What started only around 150 or so years ago is going to change and evolve as more information comes to us and incredible things are revealed. And, golly gee, there have been and will be frauds -- some people will do anything to be the center of attention.

Creationists shouldn't hate so much and spend less time (and money) trying to disprove something simple and that may end up somewhere unexpected. After all, that's the beauty of science and the reason God brought it into being.

I thoroughly enjoy Simcha Jacobovici. He has passion, brains, a sense of humor and a great knowledge of his subject. I'll watch him on "Naked Archaeologist" any day. But that's not to say he might get things a little off base sometimes. (I think we all know James Cameron can get things screwed up.)

His theories are interesting but they are just theories. There's a lot more that goes into proving something other than making a documentary. (Although people who absolutely refuse to open their minds to possibilities are worse than the ones asking questions.) For myself, I kept getting stuck on the plagues. I've been through a volcanic eruption and it didn't take six months for ash to darken the skies (the 9th plague) or for a tidal wave to occur. They were pretty much instantaneous. So either the timing is off or some poor scribe got it wrong. Frankly, I think Moses was a very savvy guy who, during his self exile wandered around and saw many, many things. A volcanic eruption and the stages leading up to it and following it could very well be in his purview. He was a well-educated man as well. He knew what he was doing. Not that what he did was bad. These were his people - ethnically - being treated badly as slaves. They needed a leader, something to rally around and believe in (the one true God) and a purpose. Moses was a charismatic leader who could do this for them.

As for the small gold talisman that represents the Ark of the Covenant, that is all it is. There will be representations of it because people like holy objects. Heck, there's a pictograph in the Arizona desert that 's supposedly a 1,000 years old or so that looks like the Ark of the Covenant. What are we supposed to do with that?

All in all, it's well told. Watch it with an open and appreciative mind. The best thing about Simcha is that he gets to artifacts other archeologists would prefer to ignore such as the Egyptian monument that called the Israelis "evil ones." Perspective is interesting. History is fascinating

"Blue Murder" is a nice and neat little murder mystery show. It never makes outlandish twists to the plot but it does retain a great deal of humanity. In this particular episode we have three brothers, very close, but all chasing the same dream - to be star soccer players (or footballers for everywhere else in the world). Problem is only one is star quality. And of the two who aren't only one knows it and accepts it - although begrudgingly - and the other is still flying high. Our young star has an amazing future ahead and scouts, promoters and women are throwing all manner of enticements straight at him. But Dwayne is a down-to-earth young man who prefers to be with his family and long time girlfriend. But if that's true why does he have a very upscale apartment and a flashy car?

These are just two baffling questions DCI Lewis (Caroline Quentin) and DI Mayne (Ian Kelsey) along with her capable crew need to find answers to when young Dwayne is found murdered the night he was out celebrating his birthday.

Lewis' team get to the bottom of the sad crime winnowing out the true clues from the misleading trails. All while dealing with her child rearing issues at home mostly in the form of young Tom who has started to develop a sassy mouth and bad attitude. This is probably one of the show's better attributes that you don't see often with male led series. A strong woman in a highly responsible position dealing with a somewhat fractious family life as so many women do. DCI Lewis is trying to keep a city and a family together instead of ripped apart. Her success on the job comes with teamwork and she lacks that at home. As in other episodes, we are privy to Janine's struggle to "get it right" and, like all Moms, raise happy children which is no small feat itself. There are times when it feels extraneous, a bit much but it also serves to draw out that humanity it possesses.

Humor, of course, is sprinkled throughout the program. If it were completely dour it would be unwatchable. In that vein, what I thought was a bit of a giggle was the naming of Saskia Wickham's character - Louise Hogg and subsequently "Boss Hogg" as she is called by her underlings. It may not have been intentional but to an American viewer "Boss Hogg" was a short, rotund, balding and highly corrupt county commissioner with a big mouth and even bigger ambitions in the 1970s television show "Dukes of Hazzard" portrayed by Sorrell Booke. Louise Hogg is completely on the far side of the spectrum from the original Boss Hogg but thinking that the writers were having a little fun is amusing.

All in all it's a good story that entertains and Ian Kelsey is always very watchable. There's worse you could do on a Friday evening.

There are times when I watch a TV show and can't help thinking how actors get through scenes without cracking up with laughter and that it must sometimes require take after take. It must have been so when the very blonde wife screams open mouthed in the face of her very dead husband. One female character already did the body discovery scream but apparently they needed a louder, more piercing one. (And really, do people scream in the presence of a dead body? An unfortunate man dropped dead of a heart attack on a busy city street and my friends and I witnessed the event. None of us screamed nor did anyone else.)

Anyway, this episode of "Death In Paradise" is clever as usual with its twisty turny resolution and the requisite red herrings. It has a couple of things that would never happen in the real world such as an airline attendant becoming a marine biologist based on being the wife of one and within the span of mere months. And Florence continues to wear -- as did DS Camille Bordey -- inappropriate clothing. (C'mon, from a previous episode, she wore short shorts and an off-shoulder blouse for the courtroom where she was presumed to testify. An officer of the court wouldn't dress like that. And in this, she wore a very flimsy dress to go out on the sea in a boat. Sensible women wear pants. Because the odds of slipping and falling are high.)

All in all, and even with its little foibles, "Death" is still entertaining and clever. A good watch for mystery and comedy together.

There is a scene in the beginning episode where teenagers start to chant the lyrics from the song "Monster" - "What's that coming over the hill?, Is it a monster?" They are preparing a Nessie prank but also foretelling the unfortunate arrival of a more frightening, very human monster in their midst.

Each episode of "The Loch" begins with a gruesome shot of a body anchored deep in the famous loch by a curling stone. It will be some time before who he is and how he came to be tethered to the bottom of Loch Ness is discovered. Just one of many mysteries that crop up begging for solution.

On the surface, it's a small town with typical small town secrets but like the majority of tiny communities where everyone knows each other's business, major crimes like murder are unheard of. With the discovery of a body, found to be missing part of its brain, reinforcements from Inverness invade the three cop village. It's needed assistance but doesn't help with building tensions especially with the addition of a hotshot police psychologist who has his own agenda.

Overall, the acting is strong. William Ash as Leighton Thomas is especially good as a man tortured by who he was and is trying to be. There's a plot device or two that are a bit worn and weary but the twists the story takes make them forgivable. The surroundings are a beautiful backdrop to the story - jagged black slate against gray skies to the deep black water of the loch. You can't control the weather but the director puts it to work for her.

It's a good show to watch. It keeps your interest and you want to get to the next episode. Hopefully, a second season is on the horizon.

At the risk of gushing about this series, I can't even begin to put in words how wonderful "Call The Midwife" is. For many of us who are mid-century babies, these women -- both nurses and the maternity patients -- are very much like our own mothers in those years. Even the soundtrack can take you back decades in a single song note - - my Mom and Dad's music. There are some reminders, too, about what parents no longer have to face, like polio, diphtheria, thalidomide, epidemics of measles (I was caught up in one in the early 60s, remember it vividly and it was horrible. They thought I might lose my sight and thus was kept in a darkened room for which seemed like an eternity.) It's a blessing my children and others never had to go through any of it.

There are wonderful actors throughout the series, many kudos to the casting director. The wonderful Judy Parfitt is my favorite as the mischievous but lovable Sister Monica Joan but her role is, at times, heartbreaking as she descends and ascends through stages of dementia sometimes confused but always eloquent -- an octogenarian Ophelia. I'm very impressed with the actress, Jessica Raine. She plays Nurse Jenny Lee with a great range of emotions without making it maudlin or silly. I'm also struck by her uncanny resemblance to a young (and beautiful) Judy Garland -- even if Garland's looks came at the expense of surgery. Helen George as Trixie is great and perfect as the 1960s modern girl. (She reminds me so much of my older cousins at that time though they were much sillier.) Miranda Hart is AHmazing as Chummy! And, of course, you can't not mention Cliff Parisi as Fred Buckle with his many "schemes." Halfway through the series, Nurse Phyllis Crane (Linda Bassett) is introduced. She may rub wrong at first but her heart is just as golden as the others. She also played in another favorite of mine, the series "From Lark Rise to Candleford" as the wonderful and wise Queenie. And throughout these immaculately told stories is the redoubtable Jenny Agutter as Sister Julienne, always kind and stalwart.

There have been some comments on whether London's East End in the 50s and 60s has been portrayed accurately. I don't know about then but when living in London in the 70s, I had been through the slums and what is shown on the show is a bit on the rosy side. But then again it is television.

Don't miss out on this series. You'll be missing out on so very much. And especially on some well told stories about humanity, the goodness of people's hearts, the heartbreak we all face and that life goes on.

I'll be upfront. I am not a fan of Jane Austen. Her writing is emotional without being emotive (believe me, there is a difference) and her "complex" plots are just wasted words. This movie put all her bad habits on display and confirmed my opinion of Austen all over again. Women are made to look conniving, silly or vacuous and men just silly.

Kate Beckinsale is a good actress but she couldn't save this mess. Besides she plays one of the most hateful mothers that ever stood on the planet. Difficult to make that role pleasing. Especially when she goes after an in-laws' son who is half her age but well- monied -- which is, of course, the point. Who cares whether her own daughter would be a better match?

The retelling of the story is done -- perhaps for comical effect -- by occasionally stopping in a pose with captions explaining the moment ala the silent movies. Silent movies could be overwrought and Jane Austen practically invented the emotion so I can see the connection but it made everything even sillier.

Eventually the movie ends with at least one couple married appropriately but you don't get to see how that comes about which is highly unsatisfying. But the movie ends and that's that. There's no denouement, nothing to tie up unresolved matters, nothing. Boom. The end. Truly the most anticlimactic ending ever.

The only person who might enjoy "Love and Friendship" would be an absolutely rabid Austen fan, but they'd also have to be highly forgiving.

I enjoyed this episode until the last five minutes. Other reviewers disliked it entirely but as a English Lit major from a long time ago who studied A LOT of Shakespeare, I found it a bit nostalgic. All the ins and outs of romantic intrigues among the students as well as the petty jealousies of these half grown adults chasing fame and fortune. They are the same everywhere in every age. Though they don't range to murder -- or very rarely do.

But speaking to the story told, it keeps its interest until the end and then suddenly loses steam leaving it limp and wasted. No logic. No reasons. No neat little explanation. I still have no real idea why the murderer did what they did or even if they really did it -- there never is a real confession. It's like the writer was tired of the screenplay, got to a certain point and simply handed it in. Apparently, nobody bothered to read it before filming the final scene. Truly no where near the usual standard expected from the "Inspector Lewis" clan.

"Broadchurch" is a brilliant show. Be prepared, however, for the emotions it evokes. There is nothing tender about the murder of a child and the heartbreak of the families - and the town for that matter - is raw and wrenching. We are introduced to Ellie Miller (Olivia Colman), our small town cop who has lived in tiny Broadchurch her entire life, knows everyone, is overtly kind and has lost her promised promotion to Detective Inspector to a boorish outsider. There are twists and turns, secrets about the new DI, an obsequiously annoying junior reporter with poor judgment and all set in an idyllic seaside town whose occupants have never experienced such a horrific crime along with being in shock and feeling useless, starts to turn on one another.

David Tennant plays a murky but determined detective (Alec Hardy) completely out of his depth when it comes to the niceties of everyday life. He looks like a ragamuffin (or Colombo), doesn't care about making good impressions and will do anything to solve the case including ruin his already precarious health. Tennant plays a curmudgeon exceedingly well and, I think, exceedingly enjoys it.

Overall, this show is very well done. The acting is amazing -- with Olivia Colman doing an outstanding job -- and there will be times when your tear ducts will get a workout. It's a great study about a family facing an unthinkable tragedy and how they cope. What has happened is incredibly brutal and how family, friends, town residents and even the press deal with it is on display. It's very real, it can be frustrating as so much of modern life can be but it is very well worth it.

As others have said, this isn't the best of "Midsomer Murders" but then again surely the ability to offer up consistently good stories should allow for one off show. Maybe my disappointment comes from being a native Westerner with deep roots in ranching and watching Brits play act at cowboys and Indians. There were far too many discrepancies - - cowboys wear jeans (usually Wranglers); posting in a Western saddle is bad form; Confederate flags don't fly here unless it's by a redneck with alt-right leanings and when they are displayed it's usually considered insulting; holsters are tied down, not flapping in the wind; not to mention the silly hat worn by Jack; then the dead man hitched to the horse holding the dead man's hand in cards (aces and eights from the hand Wild Bill Hickock drew and died over). We almost have every Wild West cliché from Billy the Kid to Wild Bill. It's a bit much especially with that gargantuan bullet sent with a death threat through the mail. And I haven't even touched on the shootout in the mock ghost town. Wyatt? The Earps get a mention, too.

To be fair I get annoyed with anachronistic activities that are done poorly. Like those ghastly "Medieval Dinner" restaurants from 20 odd years ago featuring King Henry VIII chomping on turkey legs. Wrong age, wrong king and completely wrong bird (but hunting swan isn't done anymore). But it was good for a laugh and proof that restaurateurs (American ones at any rate) shouldn't mix history and food.

I have to say someone on the show knows their animals though. There are always the most beautiful horses and dogs. As gorgeous as the English countryside which I loved when going to school in the UK.

So not the best show, it certainly has its distractions, but it's just silly fun in the end. And how can you not get a kick out of Tom Barnaby as Marshall Wyatt Earp complete with moustache? Well heeled for a gun fight and saving the day!