The History Channel meets PBS quality in this outstanding film/documentary series that defines the perfect boundaries of mixing the two genres. As an amateur history buff, I was amazed by the depth of information presented in the script and by the program's accomplished consultants. The acting and staging brought realism to new heights. Most outstanding, for me at least, was Justin Salinger's portrayal of U. S. Grant., both as a soldier and a man Salinger breathed life into his character with expressions and nuances that characterized Grant himself. Can't say enough good things about the grit and determination of his portrayal.
Reviews
16 Reviews
Days of Our Lives: Beyond Salem
(2021– )
A Cheap Offshoot of DOL
25 July 2022
Find the cheapest trinket you can in a Big Lots clearance bin, then compare it to this show. Ths trinket wins.
I stopped watching DOL several years ago but thought this might be a fun place to catch up on some longtime characters. Good Lord, Beyond Salem is painfully bad. Embarrassingly bad.. Bad bad bad acting, sets, writing storyline, and beyond believable "coincidences.
Cringeworthy.
Drake Hodgsen still can't act. The actress who plays Abe's lady friend mugs her way through the script. Tony Demera has no backbone. That is just a start. Even Marlena can't rescue this.
Beyond Salem is an insult to DOL's decades of being a quality daytime drama.
I stopped watching DOL several years ago but thought this might be a fun place to catch up on some longtime characters. Good Lord, Beyond Salem is painfully bad. Embarrassingly bad.. Bad bad bad acting, sets, writing storyline, and beyond believable "coincidences.
Cringeworthy.
Drake Hodgsen still can't act. The actress who plays Abe's lady friend mugs her way through the script. Tony Demera has no backbone. That is just a start. Even Marlena can't rescue this.
Beyond Salem is an insult to DOL's decades of being a quality daytime drama.
Inventing Anna
(2022)
Entertaining
21 February 2022
This film is one step up from a Lifetime series. Just as badly acted, but the story is compelling and addicting. It's about real life con artist, Anna Delvey, who lives the Kardashian life off others. Julia Garner was quite believable as Anna Devlin although writers did not give her much to work with. Actress Anna Chlumsky's clumsy acting is filled with facial expressions that made me want to laugh
I could go on and on about the director's mundane tunnelvision and the colorless writing. Not gonna bother.
But I watched it all and will watch again. It's like watching a trainwreck.
I could go on and on about the director's mundane tunnelvision and the colorless writing. Not gonna bother.
But I watched it all and will watch again. It's like watching a trainwreck.
Line of Duty
(2012–2021)
Binge Watch Superstar
7 November 2021
Wow. Stock up the fridge, stoke the fire and curl up for some of the best TV you'll ever see. Perfectly cast, filmed acted and written, Line Of Duty doesn't disappoint at all. And forget about predictable outcomes, because stunning twists run rampant and tie the seasons together.
Bosch
(2014–2021)
Botox
1 July 2021
Compare the returning law enforcement characters from season 1 to season 7. Hollywood botox ruins the believability factor. No police force in the world pays enough for all their procedures. Older seasoned veterans with the skin of 20 year olds. Why can't we appreciate the aging process like other countries and just allow people to be?
Atlantic Crossing
(2020)
Wasted Opportunities
28 April 2021
This could have been a masterpiece of historical storytelling with a script that focused on the Norwegian peoples' suffering under Hitler and the Royal family's many efforts to free them. But after the first riveting episode, the script becomes stuck inside Sweden's politics, Buckingham Palace and Washington DC with boring storylines that go nowhere. Honestly, I was insulted for the brave Norwegians and their Royal Family. They deserved far better, especially from Masterpiece Theater.
The Great British Baking Show
(2010– )
Addicting and fun!
17 February 2021
I am watching all seasons on Netflix for the third consecutive time because TGBBS is as satisfying and addicting as chocolate! It is charming and cheerful and filled with the nicest people you'd ever want to meet. The baking tips, trials and mishaps equate a college culinary course for the viewer who, like many, probably rushes to the grocery store afterwards for fresh yeast and passionfruit.
The season with Alice, Henry and Steph (season 7, I believe) is especially charming.
Also worthy of applause are the filming and editing of each episode. Superb!
Give the show a try. It is well worth your time!
The Fall
(I) (2013–2016)
Challenging
9 February 2021
Warning: Spoilers
This is challenging to watch and you deserve to treat yourself if you make it through all three seasons.
First, it's unbelievably slow. Slow. Slow. Second, Gillian Anderson is more robotic than a robot. Third, believability factors stoop to new lows:
Storylines that are introduced, then go nowhere: Public swimming pools inhabited only by Gillian; City streets which are completely empty except when the storyline calls for otherwise; Gillian wearing tight leather pencil skirts and 4 inch heels to do police work, traipsing through forest and sand and riverbanks; A mom whose 15 year old daughter has free reign to live life without any supervision; A wife who leaves for work despite the fact her husband has just opened two beers for himself and the 15 year old babysitter; Police chasing a suspected serial killer who is within arms reach 24/7... You get my drift
Learn to knit. It's more entertaining and certainly more worthwhile.
First, it's unbelievably slow. Slow. Slow. Second, Gillian Anderson is more robotic than a robot. Third, believability factors stoop to new lows:
Storylines that are introduced, then go nowhere: Public swimming pools inhabited only by Gillian; City streets which are completely empty except when the storyline calls for otherwise; Gillian wearing tight leather pencil skirts and 4 inch heels to do police work, traipsing through forest and sand and riverbanks; A mom whose 15 year old daughter has free reign to live life without any supervision; A wife who leaves for work despite the fact her husband has just opened two beers for himself and the 15 year old babysitter; Police chasing a suspected serial killer who is within arms reach 24/7... You get my drift
Learn to knit. It's more entertaining and certainly more worthwhile.
The Spanish Princess
(2019–2020)
Fiction, Not History
13 December 2020
Programs which dumb down history to earn an audience? It's all the rage and shames us all. The truth is so much better. Tne truth is a historical learning tool for the future. The Spanish Princess takes the truth and twists it into a grotesque abberation just to gain an audience. The film's beginning disclaimer leads us to believe a few facts have been altered. BS. Almost all facts have been altered or invented. Shame on the filmmaking industry for trying to pass off such stories as history simply because a few characters and hardly any events are historically accurate.
Marcella
(2016–2021)
Totally Boring
17 June 2020
Season 1 and 2 gave us multiple storylines and sympathetic characters, and Season 2's ending left me wanting more. After the first 3 episodes of Season 3, I couldn't be more bored. Slow, confusing, and completely unbelievable storyline. And that blond wig is so God-awful that I want to rip it off Anna Friel's head. Spare me the rest of Season 3. I'll watch reruns of mediocre shows before returning to this.
Sweet Magnolias
(2020– )
Sweet and Girly
8 June 2020
This is definitely a show for bffs to bond over. Nice characters with genuine likeability factors but the story offers too many sugar sweet resolutions and too little depth or realism. Jamie Spears is a pleasant surprise in this talented cast.
Designated Survivor
(2016–2019)
Season 3 Is A Major Disappointment
23 February 2020
Seasons 1 and 2 are network TV at its best --intelligent, fast paced, intriguing, and believable. Both seasons rate 10 stars. When Netflix took over for season 3, it ruined the show by pandering to political correctness, cyber everything, dropping the F word too often, a gay sex scene that goes too far, and turning the storyline into a soap opera haberdashery of boredom that stretches believability to its fullness. Shame on Netflix for ruining a good thing.
The Eichmann Show
(2015 TV Movie)
Humbling
20 August 2019
I have watched this several times, each viewing leaves me silent and reflective. Having just finished another viewing and comparing it to today's American political climate, I wonder how much we really learned. Can we take these lessons and reteach them today, or has history become too irrelevant in this world of greed?
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