Death Comes to Pemberley

IMDb writes, "Elizabeth and Darcy, now six years married, are preparing for their annual ball when festivities are brought to an abrupt halt. An adaptation of PD James's homage to Pride and Prejudice." Rhys (The Americans) is Mr. Darcy. Martin (Becoming Jane) is Elizabeth. Goode (Watchmen) plays Wickham. I read what was on episode one, but got bored with the book after that and stopped reading. The next two episodes of this Masterpiece Mystery from BBC will be new and exciting. It's really well done. All in all, I say: WATCH IT

Wallander

This is based on a Swedish tv show. Branagh (Dead Again) is a detective in a small seaside town in Sweden. Hiddleston (Thor) has a small part as the newest member of the squad. It is touching - I can feel the weight of his emotions in every episode. I am streaming it on Amazon Prime. All in all, I say: SEE IT

The Mindy Project

An Ob/Gyn, her partners, her friends, and her employees all trying to find their way through love and loss. It is a quick half hour comedy. It is very well written and the acting is great! It is sarcastic and quick witted. I love it. Kaling (The Office), Messina (Argo), and Camp (Pitch Perfect) all star. All in all, I say: RENT IT - season one is hilarious.

The Ice House

A British tv movie. I was curious about it because Craig (the new James Bond) starred in it. It looked like an interesting murder mystery. Well, not so much. I was bored quick and had a hard time getting past the mumbling and horrible acting. All in all, I say: SKIP IT

Forever Odd

Sequel to Odd Thomas. Koontz brings back Odd a young man who has recently lost the love of his life and is looking for meaning in his own. He wants nothing more than to be in heaven with his girl, but heaven has other ideas. A good friend has been kidnapped and it is up to Odd and his supernatural abilities to save the day and defeat the bad guys. At the end of the book, he and ghost Elvis are going to spend some time in a monastery in hopes of getting some peace and quiet. I love this character. All in all, I say: READ IT if you saw the movie based on the first book or read the first book. SKIP IT if you don't like the supernatural and/or mystery.

The Purge: Anarchy

Grillo (The Grey) is a soldier out on a revenge purge for the death of his son a year ago, in this sequel. There is a lot of the history in this film about why the purge came about and why it still exists. There is a group that wants to get rid of the purge. People are purging less, so the government has intervened. There are three main groups in this. A group out to purge for fun, a group trying to survive, and a group of government vigilantes Grillo is the reason I watched it - he is so hot. He does an excellent job. It is more of a psychological thriller and look into the divide between the wealthy and the poor and less of a slasher film.

 

Ejogo (Away We Go), Gilford (The Last Stand), and Sanchez from Glades (Gilford's wife in real life) all star. All in all, I say: RENT IT if you saw the first - I think this one is better. SKIP IT if you didn't and don't like horror flicks.

Chef

Favreau (Swingers) writes and directs this great film about a dad. He is a chef and spends most of his time at a restaurant cooking for his boss (Hoffman from The Graduate). When a food critic (Platt from West Wing) gives the restaurant 2 stars and says the cook is playing it safe, Favreau not only re-thinks his food, his career, but also his family life. Vergara (Modern Family) is his ex-wife, Downey (IronMan) is his ex-wife's ex-husband who helps him finance his food truck. Johansson (IronMan 2) is a fling.Leguizamo (Executive Decision) is his best friend and business partner. The cast is amazing. The plot - as always - well done. All in all, I say: RENT IT

Godzilla

This film reminded me of Godzilla vs. Mothra. Godzilla is the good guy in this film. The monsters in this - 3 of them - are more in the back drop. It's the people and one family in particular that is the focus.

English actor pictured above Taylor-Johnson (Avengers: Age of Ulton), Japanese actor Watanabe (Inception), Cranston (Breaking Bad), Olsen (Oldboy - American Version), British actress Hawkins (Layer Cake), French actress Binoche (Blue), and Strathairn (Lincoln) all star.

Plot: "In 1999, the Janjira nuclear plant was mysteriously destroyed with most hands lost including supervisor Joe Brody's colleague and wife, Sandra. Years later, Joe's son, Ford, a US Navy ordnance disposal officer, must go to Japan to help his estranged father who obsessively searches for the truth of the incident. In doing so, father and son discover the disaster's secret cause on the wreck's very grounds. This enables them to witness the reawakening of a terrible threat to all of Humanity, which is made all the worse with a second secret revival elsewhere. Against this cataclysm, the only hope for the world may be Godzilla, but the challenge for the King of the Monsters will be great even as Humanity struggles to understand the destructive ally they have. Written by Kenneth Chisholm (kchishol@rogers.com)"

All in all, I say: SKIP IT

Heatstroke

Dorff (Blade) gets top billing, but he isn't in the movie much. It's more about a woman who protects her boyfriends daughter from evil guys out in the middle of the African savanna. The bad guy - gun dealer - is played by Stormare (The Blacklist) and the daughter is played by Williams (Game of Thrones). All in all, I say: SKIP IT.

Wolfblood

A British tv show in its third season. Season one was recently released here in the US - I streamed it on Netflix. A teenage girl and her parents live in the country and every full moon they lock themselves in because the turn into wolves. They are called wolfbloods because they chose to live among humans - they are tame. There is a group that prefer to live wild like wolves themselves. They are 'supernatural werewolves" just natural wolves. It's more of a typical teen drama. The others seasons don't sound very interesting. All in all, I say: SEE IT - it's not bad.

Penny Dreadful

Season one aired on Showtime. A Penny Dreadful is a cheap movie that cost a penny to see in London back in the day. The dreadful part - they were scary, horror movies of sorts. This shows centres on the supernatural. Hartnett (30 Days of Night) plays an American gunslinger who doesn't wish to return to the states to face charges and meets a girl he wants to stick around for. He needs money, so he joins the group as their protector of sorts. Dalton (Hot Fuzz) plays a famous explorer and hunter who is seeking his daughter through supernatural means because she was taken through supernatural means - she is Mina Harker - you know the one Dracula wants. Green (Dark Shadows) plays a clairvoyant who communicates with the spirits and blames herself for what happened to Mina. Piper (Dr. Who) plays a girl that the gunslinger is attracted to. Dorian Gray makes an appearance as does Dr. Frankenstein (Treadaway from Fish Tank) and his monster. All in all, I say: RENT IT - I've already seen about four episodes through Netflix.

A Long Way Down

Brosman (November Man), Collette (Sixth Sense), Poots (28 Weeks Later), Paul (Breaking Bad), and Neill (Alcatraz) all star. Four people run into each other on the roof top of the most popular building to jump off of. They all want to commit suicide for different reasons. They agree not to do it until Valentine's Day, but you guessed it: by then they have changed their minds for the most part and they have developed a friendship. All in all, I say: SEE IT - it's not fabulous, but it ain't bad. I watched it on Netflix streaming.

City of Ember (movie)

Same plot as the book- see my review on those. Robbins (Dead Man Walking), Murray (Groundhog Day), and Treadaway (Penny Dreadful) all star. All in all, I say: SKIP IT - it had potential, but they messed it up a bit. Just read the book.

Lethal Weapon series

 Gibson (Mad Max) having lost his wife is a good yet crazy cop with suicide on the brain. He is partnered with Glover (Predator) who is about to retire. Glover also has a loving wife and kids - which appeals to Gibson. They work to together to get a drug smuggler played by Busey (Predator 2). All in all, I say: SEE IT - I remember watching this in theatres with my mouth open - I loved it. (1987)

The partners are still at it, but this time it's South African diplomats who are up to no good. Can't arrest a diplomat. Pesci (Goodfellas) also joins the cast. Gibson has a love interest (Kensit from Bitter Harvest), but she's killed which spurs him to get the bad guy in the end. All in all, I say: SEE IT - this one less action than the first. Gibson's character is more stable, but it was funnier.

Cast is back again, but one addition: Russo (Tin Cup). She's a cop who is helping the two capture an arms dealer. Gibson and Russo hook up! All in all, I say: SEE IT - might as well you saw the other two right?!

The fourth in the series is a definate - this is the end - for the viewers to get closure and know everything will be alright. New character added - a cop who is dating Glover's daughter: Rock (comedian). Li (Hero) is the bad guy in this. The martial arts in this is good. Some of the lines are really good. The acting is same as always. It just wasn't as good as the first - I guess you get use to the formula and it has lost its newness. All in all, I say: SEE IT - got to end the series - go all the way!

Dukes of Hazzard

I loved, loved, loved this show as a kid.

1979-1985 the show aired. It had the same basic plot every week. An uncle raising three kids - two nephews (Schneider from Hot in Cleveland and Wopat from Django Unchained) and a niece. "Cousins Bo and Luke Duke and their car "General Lee", assisted by Cousin Daisy and Uncle Jesse, have a running battle with the authorities of Hazzard County (Boss Hogg and Sheriff Coltrane), plus a string of ne'er-do-wells often backed by the scheming Hogg."                Written by Ed Stephan
It was filmed in Atlanta, Georgia for most of season one and then moved to California. The car was the star of the show, and its signature horn. Waylon Jennings wrote and performed the theme song, "Good Ol' Boys". All in all, I say: SEE IT

There was a reunion tv movie in 1997. The cousins go to the farm in order to save it from being developed by a crook. All in all, I say: SEE IT

In 2000, there was another reunion called Dukes of Hazzard: Hazzard in Hollywood. The cousins try to make music and sell it in order to build a hospital in Hazzard County. All in all, I say: SKIP IT

In 2005, Hollywood gave the show a reboot as a "big hollywood picture". Knoxville (Jackass) and Scott (American Pie) played the boys, and Simpson (singer) played Daisy. Nelson (country singer) played Uncle Jessie. There were some cameos. "Bo and Luke Duke are southern cousins. In Hazzard County, Bo and Luke help their Uncle Jesse and their sexy cousin Daisy run the Moonshine business and always getting into trouble with Sherriff Roscoe P. Coltrane and recklessly driving in their orange car "General Lee". Boss Hogg, the mean and corrupt local county commissioner who hates The Dukes evicts The Dukes from their farm. Bo and Duke travels to Atlanta and meets up with old friend Katie Johnson and her friend Annette as they set out to find out why Boss Hogg has evicted them from their farm and what he plans to do. With local ace race car driver Billy Prickett in town to take part in the Annual Hazzard Road Race rally, Bo and Luke sets out to save their farm and foil Boss Hogg's scheme."                Written by Daniel Williamson 

All in all, I say: SKIP IT if you really liked the show. SEE IT if you thought the show was ok and you like cheesy comedies. 

A tv movie from 2007 that is about when the cousins were teenagers. All in all, I say: SKIP IT

The concept was actually taken from a 1975 movie called Moonrunners.

IMDb writes, "Grady and Bobby Lee run moonshine for Uncle Jesse, who prides himself on his old-school moonshining methods, and refuses to buckle in to the 'big business moonshine' of Jake, who controls these parts for New York mobsters." All in all, I say: SKIP IT

NCIS: New Orleans

Bakula (Quantum Leap), Black (Jarhead), and Pounder (Orphan) make up part of the NCIS team that works in New Orleans. They do the same thing NCIS does, but not what NCIS: LA does. They solve military crimes. I gave it a go - about four episodes. All in all, I say: SKIP IT. I just didn't get that the cast had much chemistry.

NCIS: Los Angeles

Office of Special Projects in LA has two agents that go undercover. Cool (SWAT) and O'Donnell (Circle of Friends) are the 2 undercovers. I watched about three episodes and found it not only unrealistic, but boring. All in all, I say: SKIP IT

Zoe's Kitchen

As their website states: "Born in the Mediterranean and raised in the South, Zoës Kitchen is a natural extension of Zoë Cassimus' lifetime of cooking for family and entertaining friends. Our menu is inspired by Zoë's family recipes and her simple, fresh-from-the-garden sensibility. At Zoës, ingredients are delivered fresh through the back door daily. Our team hand-washes, cuts and prepares each item from scratch in our kitchen because as Zoë says, “if it wasn’t food 100 years ago, it’s not food today.” Nothing is fried and there are no microwaves! What you’ll find at Zoës Kitchen is Mediterranean-inspired food, where grilling is the predominate method of cooking along with an abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables, fresh herbs, olive oil and lean proteins; all while keeping our guests’ dietary concerns in mind-- with gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan options."

I had a cup of chicken soup - it was more like a bowl - and it was delicious. I also had a chicken salad sandwich which was also delicious. As a side, because I couldn't help myself - I had potato salad, which was....you guessed it delicious. There was also some very good herbal iced tea to drink. All in all, I say: EAT IT

black-ish

IMDb writes, "A family man struggles to gain a sense of cultural identity while raising his kids in a predominantly white, upper-middle-class neighborhood." It has potential and I love the premise. Problem: everyone is over acting, not acting, or trying too hard - other than Fishburne (Matrix) who does't have much of a part. All in all, I say: SKIP IT

Stalker

Cases and personal life of detectives in LA's Threat Assessment Unit (TAU). It is headed by Q (Divergent) who is amazing even without martial arts. The new guy in town is McDermott (The Practice). This is how we like McDermott - the good guy detective!! The writing is excellent. The acting is excellent. There is a little mix of humour which is desperately needed. All in all, I say: SEE IT

Gone Girl (movie)

Based on the book  - which I never read. Pike (Jack Reacher) goes missing and Affleck (The Town) is accused of her murder. With the help of his twin sister (Coon from the Leftovers) and Perry (For Better or Worse) he manages to get through to her. It helps that she is robbed while in hiding and comes across a clearly delusional ex (Harris from How I Met Your Mother). It is creepy and disturbing. All in all, I say: SKIP IT