Short reviews of TV shows and movies we watched in December.
Movies
- Troll: A decent B-movie. Good for a Saturday night with popcorn and beer. (Netflix)
- Everything, Everywhere, All At Once: I'm not sure what to think about this movie. I had no clue what was going on after the first 20 minutes or so but still kept watching it. Definitely made for the Tik Tok generation, not mine. (Amazon Prime)
- Black Adam: I've seen several negative reviews of this, but we enjoyed it. It's not Citizen Kane, but it's well-made and moves along quickly. (Crave)
- Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery: I don't understand the fuss about his movie. It's fun, fast paced, and I liked the Elon clone, but it's no better than an average episode of Midsommer Murders. David Craig's accent really got on my nerves after a while. The first one was much better. (Netflix)
- Amsterdam: I'm not sure how much of this movie is actually based on real events, but it is an enjoyable film. I do wish the director had chosen pure black-and-white instead of sepia for the colour though. (Disney+)
- See How They Run: This is a murder mystery set in London in 1953, not long after the premiere of Agatha Christie's classic play, The Mousetrap. It's twisty and arch and quite enjoyable. (Disney+)
TV Shows
- Death in Paradise (seasons 10-11): The main attraction of this show is that it's set in the Caribbean. (Britbox)
- The Peripheral: I had high hopes for this and they were mostly fulfilled. I was surprised at how much the show diverged from the novel but the writers did a good job of adapting Gibson's story and extending it. The ending was rushed and the season should have been a couple of episodes long. Still, it's one of the best if not the best show we watched all year. (Amazon Prime)
- Vera (seasons 10-11). Good twisty plots but Vera's vocal mannerisms are getting on my nerves. I'm tempted to count how many times she calls people "love" or "pet". (Britbox)
- Antiques Road Trips (seasons 19-20): This show gets a little cute at times but we like seeing the off-the-beaten-track places they go to in the quest for the perfect antiques. (PBS)
- Whistable Pearl (season 2): I like the setting for this, but found the plots a bit implausible. The first season was better. (Acorn TV)
- Nova - Rebuilding Notre Dame: This repeated some material from the BBC documentary I saw earlier this year, but it's still fascinating to see how complex the restoration is. It definitely gives you an appreciation for the skills of the cathedral's medieval builders. (PBS)
- The Witcher: Blood Origin. I didn't care much for the first two seasons, but this is worth watching just for Michelle Yeoh wielding a sword. (Netflix)
- Midsomer Murders (season 23): The venerable and classic British mystery drama returns for yet another season. Nothing new here, but that's fine with us. (Acorn TV)
- Jack Ryan (season 3): Another action-packed spy thriller with a twisty, tense plot. Lots of money went into this one and it shows, although it would have been better two episodes shorter. (Amazon Prime)
3 comments:
Regarding Vera. She is meant to be a Geordie (from the North East of England Newcastle and North and West of Newcastle in Northumbria (previously Northumberland)). When conversing with someone use of Love and particularly Pet are commonplace in Geordie conversations. For Yorkshire folk its love or dear and with Lancastians it is duck. It is all part of the local dialect.
Thanks. I hadn't realized that about the dialect. I still think she over does it.
Pet even made it into the title of a 80s Comedy/Drama about a group of construction workers out of work due to supressed building trade in the UK trying their luck in West Germany https://www.youtube.com/@AufWiedersehenPet/featured
60's comedy "The likely Lads" and its 70s follow up "whatever became of the likely lads" is another Geordie set series where Pet features heavily in the dialog
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