Top Ten TV Shows I Never Thought I Would Like

Since the new Fall TV season will soon be upon us, I thought I would share with you my new favorite shows, all of which are shows that I never in a million years thought I would ever watch, let alone like.

Actually, I don't just like these TV shows.  I LOVE THEM!

Now before I go into the details about why I love them, I want to say that these shows do not replace my usual favorites that I knew I would love and I do, because you know I am a reality TV junkie.  And these are worthy shows.  "Survivor," "So You Think You Can Dance," "The Amazing Race," "Top Chef," "Dateline," The Housewives, "The View..." I could go on and on.. Well, maybe the Housewives aren't particularly worthy, but we all have to have our guilty pleasures. 

I have my regular shows that make up my viewing repertoire season after season and I knew I would like them because I like competitions, dancing, racing around the world, food, true crime and talking heads.  I also see myself as a glamorous housewife, so that's where they come in.

No, the shows I am going to talk about here are ones that I happened upon or was urged to watch, never thinking they would turn out to be so GOOD.

So let that be a lesson to you...don't have preconceived ideas.  Get outside your comfort zone from time to time.  You just might find some gems.

And here are mine:

Alone

 

 

 

 

 

I never thought I would like this show because how boring is it to watch someone being alone?

I can do that by looking in the mirror.

But, boy, was I wrong.  Watching someone trying to survive all alone in the wilderness can be riveting.

I am not sure how I happened to watch this show.  I think I read a review and I do really like reality shows and I like "Survivor," which is actually kind of strange since I am about as far from an outdoorsy person as you can get.  I can't swim, I am afraid of mountain lions and I sunburn very easily.  My idea of being outdoors is sitting under an umbrella on a deck drinking a pina colada.  

 

And this show is on the History Channel and actually about as far from "Survivor" as you can get.  There are no tribes, no plotting, no competitions, no cameramen.  Just 10 guys, each scattered around the uninhabitable west side of Vancouver Island (B.C.) and all very much alone.

 

There is however a prize.  Whomever can stay out there the longest wins $500,000.  Let's just say four guys didn't make a week.

 

Each guy is able to take 10 items of their choice and must film themselves as they go about their business setting up camp, trying to find food and avoiding the many scary critters hanging about.

 

You would think this would be boring but it is anything but.  It is a fascinating exploration of man vs. nature.  Who will last and who won't?

 

And it is absolutely riveting and thrilling.

 

Naked and Afraid

 

 

 

I never thought I would like a show with a title like that. 

I like a lot of crap TV, but I usually draw the line at really tacky titles.

This is another survival show and I know what you are thinking.  No, it's not the naked part I am interested in.  Hubby probably is, but no... It's the afraid part.  I was turned on to this show...well, maybe those are the wrong words.  A friend mentioned this one to me and I think he actually was drawn to the naked part at first but it intrigued me. I actually started watching this show before "Alone" came along.

But this show is as far from prurient as you can get unless you are into naked butts.  Yes, lots of butts, but all of the "naughty bits" are pixilated out, and I noted that as soon as someone could weave a skirt, she did. For most of us, being naked is not something we choose.

 

This show is similar to "Alone" but here you have a man and a woman who meet naked and must survive for 21 days in some godforsaken place like the Amazon or the Colombian jungle.  Each can bring one survival item (they usually choose a fire starter or machete), but otherwise no food, no water, no clothes.  They do however have a camera crew, but the crew does not interfere unless it's a matter of life or death. 

But here is the kicker. 

THERE IS NO PRIZE. 

These people must be nuts.  They do this for what?  The pride thing?  Something to talk about at cocktail parties?

"Hey, I survived out in the Everglades for 21 days with another person of the opposite sex and we didn't have any clothes the whole time or food and we had to eat rats and poop in the woods." 

"What the hell is that about?" you ask.

"I don't know.  So I could say I did it?"
 

The show is a fascinating experiment on not just survival but the psychological issues that can arise between a man and a woman who have never met before, who are naked together in the wild and who must survive together.  All kinds of things come to light.  Funny how often the issue is the man trying to run things.  Mmmm.

 

But this show is fascinating.  So fascinating in fact that I fantasized about how I would do on the show. (Here are more details on that).

 

Steampunk'd

 

 

 

I never thought I would like a show about something I knew very little about.

I didn't even know what steampunk was until a couple of years ago when we did a library program about this literary genre. 

Here I am in my version of a Steampunk Vampire.

(See how much fun libraries are?)!

Now it's a lifestyle (not for me but, you know, other people).

 

This is a competition show that combines elements of "Design Star," "Project Runway," and the Maker Culture as the contestants, steampunk devotees all, create various rooms in "The Manor" and an appropriate steampunk costume.

 

As in most shows like this, there are personality conflicts and drama (the men are clueless about how chauvinistic they are).

If you like design shows with something a little different, such as rooms with medicine cabinets full of poisons and swords that come out of unexpected places, fashion with epaulets and top hats and repurposing items, you will enjoy this show.

 

 

Who Do You Think You Are? 

 

I never thought I would like a show about genealogy.

I mean, zzzzzz.

Reference librarians are not often fans of people doing genealogy as they can sometimes be very demanding and annoying.  Sorry, genealogists, but you know how you can get.  But I understand, because searching for one's ancestors is difficult work, despite the many online resources now available. (Just imagine us older librarians who had to help people do it by hand)!

But this show, produced by Lisa Kudrow, is a personal and insightful look into the lives of famous personalities from Tom Bergeron to Alfre Woodard to Kelly Clarkson as they strive to find out about their ancestors.  They travel to the countries of their ancestors to meet with historians and genealogists to find out where they came from and what their ancestors had to go through so they could get born. Fascinating unknown facts come to life such as Bergeron finding out he is a descendant of the "filles du roi," "The Daughters of the King," who were sent over to Canada in the 17th century to help boost Canada's population.

Sobering and utterly riveting.

 

 

 

 

The Wendy Williams Show

 

 

 

I never thought I would like a show where celebrity dishing was the main theme. 

OK, yes, I would, but I didn't know that's what this show was all about.
 
"The Wendy Williams Show" has been on the air since 2008 and since I love talk shows, I am surprised that I did not start watching it until this year.  If I had known she is as big a devotee to celebrity gossip and pop culture as I am, I would have been there years ago.

 

She starts each of her shows sitting in a chair dishing about what is going on with Kanye and Kim and The Housewives and Ariana Grande...you name them, she dishes about them.  It's like having a wine-infused lunch with your girlfriends.  She is funny and disarming and tells it like it is.  She takes herself less seriously than the ladies on "The View," and is more down-to-earth than Ellen.

 

If you like to be in "the know," watch Wendy!

 

Shark Tank

 

 

 

I never thought I would like a show where people had to pitch their small business ideas to a bunch of mean entrepreneurs.

It didn't sound very interesting at all.  But it is!

 

Hubby and I discovered this show while on a vacation when we couldn't find anything we wanted to watch on the hotel TV.  "Shark Tank" was having a marathon so we hunkered down and really, really enjoyed it. 

 

Like most reality shows, it's all about the personalities and this one is no exception.  Those poor small business hopefuls must get up in front of The Sharks, highly successful businesspeople, and pitch their ideas.  The regular and recurring Sharks are Barbara Corcoran, Mark Cuban,  Lori Greiner, Robert Herjovec (my fave), Daymond John and Kevin O'Leary ("Mr. Wonderful" because he's not). In fact, he can be quite mean.

 

The show started in Japan as "Dragon's Den (Canada's version is also called that and is as much fun as ours and can also be found on cable. The Canadian "Dragons" are not as mean as our "Sharks.")

 

If you liked Simon Cowell on "American Idol," these guys are kind of like that, except they are dashing the dreams of small business entrepreneurs instead of singers.  But it's fun!

 

 

Super Soul Sunday

 

 

I never thought I would like a show that was on early on a Sunday morning and reminded me of church.

I grew up in a church-going family and my Dad didn't expect much from us kids, except not forgetting what he asked us to do and going to church.  So by the time I was 18 I was ready to no longer go to church.  And by the time I finished my freshman year in college and took Philosophy 101 I no longer thought religion had a place in my life.

 

But now that I am a woman of a certain age, I am thinking about my mortality and my place in the world and The Church of Oprah works out just fine.

As you know, I have discovered meditation and I have Oprah to thank for that.  And you know how I feel about Oprah.

  

This show is on Sunday mornings and Oprah gathers an impressive roster of people involved in spiritual growth from the late Wayne Dyer to Gary Zukav to  Elizabeth Gilbert to get us thinking about being better people. Oprah interviews them in amazing settings that are Oprah's homes and you get to feel you are sitting in on a seminar with Oprah. Oprah is using her power for good.

 

I didn't like going to church but I can do "The Church of Oprah."

 

Married at First Sight

 

 

 

I never thought I would like a show that I thought was stupid.

When I first heard about this show, I thought "no way!" 

Talk about a stupid reality show.  The premise is a man and a woman are matched up by "experts" and they agree to marry that person sight unseen.  They don't meet until the day of the wedding when she is bedecked in her wedding gown and he is waiting for her at the end of the aisle.

 

But on a visit to my son and daughter-in-law's, I found out they were watching it and it was almost over.  My daughter-in-law was traveling and I was there to help my son until she returned. They invited me to watch the finale with them when she got back, but that meant I had to get up to speed, so while I was waiting for my daughter-in-law to return from her business trip, I watched all of the earlier episodes.  So I did my homework, watched every episode and it was absolutely fascinating.

 

Here you had four couples invited to participate in a "social experiment," who were handpicked for each other.  They had to get married, to live together for six months and then decide whether to stay married or not.  And what a ride.

 

The couple you thought would never stay together did better than the couple who liked the look of each other and jumped into bed right away.

 

A year later and a restraining order, you wonder about messing with Mother Nature.  Can't wait for another season!

 

Million Dollar Listing: SF

 

 

 

I never thought I would like a show about selling real estate.

Again, I am a big fan of "House Hunters" and "House Hunters International," because I am a huge "looky lou," but I never thought I would enjoy a program about real estate brokers selling homes I could never hope to ever own. 

I knew "Million Dollar Listing: New York" had been on as well as the L.A. version, but I just wasn't interested until the San Francisco installment came on.  I had lived most of my adult life in San Francisco and environs so now they had my interest.

 

But this show is all about the brokers who you will love or love to hate.  And now that I have started watching "Million Dollar Listing: LA" I realize this show is all about the personalities of the brokers.   I love Roh, the Muslim broker who is open to expanding his understanding of others, Justin Fichelston, the king of tech buyers and Andrew Greenwell, the openly gay broker whose biting comments about the other brokers are gold.

These guys are endearing in their desire to be the best. It's funny how enjoyable it can be to learn about real estate and drool over homes you will never hope to live in.

 

Game of Thrones

 

 

 

I never thought I would like a show about medieval stuff, dragons and fighting and peasants and torture and other unpleasantness.

But I do!

So this show did not initially spark my interest at all. 

Initially, meaning about 5 seasons ago. But you have to have been living under a rock to not notice how popular it was and all of the Emmys it has amassed.  My daughter was a huge fan and this show kept getting in my face until I thought, hey, I need to get off the reality TV wagon and start watching some shows that other people like. However, Season 5 was just starting and despite knowing I had to watch four seasons to get caught up, I decided to bite the bullet and record Season 5 thinking that with binge watching we could get to real time quickly.

 

So I got Season One from the library and we jumped in.  However, this project was also smack dab in the middle of our trip to Italy so I took Season 3 and 4 with us.  There's nothing like watching "Game of Thrones" on the computer in Rome.

 

We were hooked after about three episodes.

 

No matter what the era or whether there are dragons or not, this has all the elements of great theatre - family drama, empire building, love, abandonment, jealousy.  It's all here and it's amazing.

 

So now that I know what I have been missing by not watching this award winning drama, I start wondering what else I have been missing:  "Orange is the New Black," "Scandal," "Homeland," "The Fall," "Mad Men," "Breaking Bad"....did I miss any? 

Let the binge-watching commence!




So if we are ever talking about TV shows and I say, "I don't think I like...," stop me and remind me what I said about these shows.

I might be missing my next favorite!

Thanks for Reading! 

 

 

See you Friday

for my review of the new movie 

 

"A Walk in the Woods"

(Robert Redford's take on the Bill Bryson book) 

and

 

The Week in Reviews

 

(What to See or Read and What to Avoid)

 

and the latest on

My 1001 Movies I Must See Before

 I Die Project."

 

If you enjoyed this post, feel free to click on the share buttons to share it on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and LinkedIn, email it to your friends and LIKE me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/rosythereviewer

How Would I Do On "Naked and Afraid?"

As you may know, I am a huge reality TV fan and I have always enjoyed survival shows ever since "Survivor" debuted. 

Back when "Survivor" aired in 2000, there was no show like it. It combined the reality show element of strangers living together in "tribes" with few supplies trying to survive with the game show element of having to compete in competitions to win rewards and immunity in order to guarantee they could stay for one more week.  There was also the drama element of "tribe" members conniving and plotting to vote each other off combined with the need for a "social game," so when the jury of those voted off decided at the end who should win, it would be you. It's all about "Outwit, Outlast, Outplay."  "Survivor" has been on American TV for over 20 years and continues to have good ratings. 

So knowing how TV likes to take a popular concept and ratchet things up, as in, gee, "Survivor" has been so popular, let's make some more of those kinds of shows, then it's no surprise that the powers that be would say, hey, this time, let's make them take off their clothes!

For the uninformed, let me just say at the outset, "Naked and Afraid" is not a porn horror film.  In fact, despite its lurid title, it's not the least bit prurient, unless you have a thing for butts.  You get to see butts, "butt" that's about it.

"Naked and Afraid" is the real deal, a TV survival show that asks the question - how would two strangers, a man and a woman, survive 21 days in the wilderness with no clothes and no supplies save one item each may bring with them?

The survivalists are dropped in a very remote location such as a jungle in Costa Rica or the Serengeti Plain in Tanzania or a desert island in the Maldives.  Did I say this show is also educational?  You learn a lot about geography, as in, where the hell are the Maldives?
(Did I say this blog is also educational?  If you click on my links, you will know.)

If they do survive, there is no $500,000 prize, which is what the "Survivor" winner gets.  It's just some badass survivalists doing it for the bragging rights.

When I say "survivalists," the "contestants," if you can call them that, compete with varying levels of survival skills.  You might have an ex-Green Beret adept at eating worms paired with an ex-stripper who walked the Appalachian Trail by herself.  The show gives each a PSR (Primitive Survival Rating - a score out of 10) at the outset and then re-evaluates them after the 21 days, or however long they can make it.

A camera crew follows them but may not intercede unless there is a life threatening situation or the contestant wants to "tap out," which is "Naked and Afraid" talk for "get me the hell out of here."  I'm done!" 

It's pretty brutal.  The survivalists have to endure hunger and thirst and other inconveniences such as horrible sunburns, insect bites and being stalked by cougars.  I would think it would also be really, really boring since you can't bring a book or your cell phone.

So as I watch the show, I can't help but wonder what it would be like if I went on the show? 

I have some skills. 

I would be a very good conversationalist with my partner, regaling him with synopses of movies and books and the importance of libraries. I could sing parts of Beatles songs for entertainment and since I am a hard worker, gather berries or whatever stuff is around. 

There is a test you can take to see what your Primitive Survival Rating (PSR) would be.  It goes to 10. My PSR is 1.1, which could be better.  That might be because I said I wanted to wear clothes and that my biggest foray into nature was watching nature shows on TV and driving with the top down (If you want to take the test, here it is).

I would need to choose my personal item that I am bringing with me. 

On the show, this is usually a fire starter, a machete, a pot to boil water in or something like that.  I would bring a muumuu.  I wouldn't want my partner and the viewing public to be horrified when I took off my clothes.  However, since the show is called "Naked and Afraid," I guess that wouldn't qualify for the "naked" part so failing the muumuu, I would bring a big needle and some heavy thread so I could sew myself a leaf skirt and coconut bra as soon as possible thus sparing us both, and the viewing public, quite a bit of unpleasantness.

But since we have to meet without clothes, I need to think of a witty thing to say when we first meet. 

The contestants always say something cute or funny about the fact they are meeting each other for the first time without clothes.  They say such things as "We are wearing the same outfit" or "Fancy meeting you in a Colombian jungle.  Do you do this often?" 

I would say "Don't look down. My eyes are my best feature." 



And no way am I giving him a hug!  Ew!


After we meet, we must find a spot to set up camp. 

This might include a day's hike through rugged terrain.  This is when I am wishing my personal item had been sunblock because, when growing up, my brother did not call me "Casper," as in Casper the Friendly Ghost, for nothing.  My skin is so pale, Procol Harum wrote a song about it.

(Enjoy!)

So I decide to cover myself with mud (good thing we are not on the Serengeti Plain) thus solving part of that "naked" thing as well.  Hopefully we will not set up camp on top of a red ant colony.  That would not be good.

As we are setting up camp,  I would ask him if he is married.  If so, I would have to figure out how to broach the topic of spooning while sleeping.  It can get very cold at night and it's going to be bad enough trying to sleep with rats and insects crawling all over us. I will explain to him that I am used to a little poodle cuddling up next to me in bed.

Once we are settled, finding water and food will be the most important task. 

I will remind him that I am very squeamish and cannot possibly kill a living thing. He will have to do that. I will eat berries and seaweed, and kill two birds with one stone (animal lovers, pardon the reference) by maintaining my love of wildlife and losing at least 25 pounds at the same time. But I can spend my time weaving baskets or something or boiling water in a bamboo stick.  This is when I wish I had brought a pot from home and start whining about how thirsty and bored I am.

As the days go by, I am becoming increasingly bitchy about the lack of amenities and the fact that my partner refuses to talk about his feelings. We get in a huge fight and I stomp off to a rock (these things always happen on the show).

After several more nights of no sleep, the silent treatment and getting tired of chewing seaweed, I decide this is not working.  I have already missed three episodes of The Real Housewives, so I decide to tap out, realizing that I don't have what it takes to be "Naked and Afraid."

As I think about my imagined experience, I have come up with a new TV series idea especially for us Baby Boomers, who now make up 25% of the population. 

 

"Partially Naked and Afraid -- For Seniors."

 

Here are some tips for the producers to get seniors to compete on the show.

• "Partially naked" works much better for us seniors.  Some of us have saved our faces.  Some of us have saved out butts.  Either way, we are not likely to be that stoked about flaunting our naughty bits to the general viewing public unless we are nudists.  What we can flaunt is our biggest asset - the great wisdom we have acquired over the years, which we feel the viewing public should hear, even though our kids won't listen to us.  I also recommend shoes.

• Scooters or walkers, depending on the terrain, should be provided for those of us who have trouble walking.  We don't mind if you have to put some camo on them.

• Each contestant should get a swag bag containing a fire starter, a pot for boiling water, a machete, a blanket, sun screen, bear spray, a fishing rod, some smoked salmon, some mascara, toilet paper and a couple of magazines.  Why make us choose which item to bring ourselves or to be bored out of our minds?  It's too hard to decide and we are used to our little comforts these days.  We should also have the option of bringing our dog in case our partner is a dud.  My dog likes to spoon.

• Medications should be allowed (some of us seniors have "issues").  "Medications" can be defined as pills, coffee, a case of wine or some Knob Creek.

• Pajamas.  I am willing to be partially naked during the day, but if I am going to sleep in some makeshift lean-to with no blanket, we seniors need our flannel jimmy-jams.

• And about those locations.  Why can't we be partially naked and afraid in Tuscany?  I'm sure it's scary at night and I would be very afraid after coming back from an evening of wine and small plates at the local osteria.

• Also I think the time out there should be cut down to seven days.  I don't want to miss too many of my shows.

• And it wouldn't hurt if there was a defibrillator and some Viagra. At our age, it can go either way. Or both. You never know. I'm just sayin'.

You may think this is all very silly, but even just imagining ourselves in situations outside of our comfort zones gives us awareness about ourselves.

I now know I don't have what it takes to be "Naked and Afraid," and I'm not even certain I could do "Partially Naked and Afraid," so maybe I should just try camping. 

Or maybe not.

 

Do you have want it takes to be

 "Partially Naked and Afraid?"

 

 

See you Friday

for my review of the new movie 

 

"Amy" 

and

 

The Week in Reviews

 

(What to See or Read and What to Avoid)

and the latest on

My 1001 Movies I Must See Before

 I Die Project."

 

If you enjoyed this post, feel free to click on the share buttons to share it on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and LinkedIn, email it to your friends and LIKE me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/rosythereviewer

"Woman in Gold" and The Week in Reviews

[I review the new movie "Woman in Gold" and the DVDs "The Equalizer"  and "The Rewrite." The Book of the Week is "Audrey and Bill: A Romantic Biography of Audrey Hepburn & William Holden" and I alert you to some noteworthy television:  "Sinatra: All or Nothing at All."  I also bring you up to date on "My 1001 Movies I Must See Before I Die Project" with: the Iranian film "Taste of Cherry." ]

 Woman in Gold

 

The true life story of Maria Altmann, a Holocaust survivor, who takes on the Austrian government for restitution for the art stolen from her family by the Nazis - most notably, Gustav Klimt's "Woman in Gold."

Maria Altmann (Helen Mirren), who left her homeland of Austria as a young woman to escape the Nazis, discovers, when her sister dies, that paintings that were once owned by her wealthy Jewish family and stolen by the Nazis now sit in the Belvedere Museum in Vienna. She especially wants the Gustave Klimt painting, "Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I," also known as "Woman in Gold," because it is a portrait of her Aunt Adele, an aunt to whom she was especially close.  Maria seeks out the son of a friend to give her legal advice as to her rights to get the paintings back especially in light of Austria's 1998 Art Restitution Act.  The Klimt painting alone is worth over 100 million dollars, but it's not about the money.  She wants the stolen paintings back because they also symbolize her stolen life, the life she was forced to flee.

Randol Schoenberg (Ryan Reynolds), a descendant of the Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg, is a young lawyer with limited experience but is basically railroaded into helping Maria until his own fervor for the cause kicks in. However, the Austrian government is not happy to let loose of one of its most famous paintings.  After all, they sell refrigerator magnets with that picture on them.  So Maria and Randol have a long and arduous fight ahead.

Helen Mirren has made a career out of playing imperious women who can wither those she disapproves of with a single glance - I mean, she's played Queen Elizabeth more than once, for god's sake, and is currently starring in that role on Broadway.  And didn't she play this same character in "The Hundred-Foot Journey," except with a different accent? It's starting to be a bit one note. And Mirren's portrayal of Maria is not played as a particularly sympathetic character until the end and by then, it's too late. 

However, the film is saved somewhat by the counter story of her younger self (played by Tatiana Maslany, who has made a name for herself in "Orphan Black") escaping Austria during the Nazi occupation.  But Mirren as an 80 year old?  I think not.

It's good to see Ryan Reynolds again.  He hasn't had a big film role for at least a year and those he has had since 2012 haven't done that well at the box office. I mean, tell me you have heard of "The Captive" or "Mississippi Grind" or "R.I.P.D." If you have, you must be either a huge Ryan Reynolds fan or a much more rabid movie fan than I.  I figure he is trying to shake the pretty boy rom-com typecasting, but, hey, I really liked "The Proposal."  I say, when you are good at something, why not stick to it?  Or maybe he just wanted to enjoy his marriage to Blake Lively. Here it looks like they have tried to "dumb down" his looks, or should I say make him look smarter (he plays a lawyer) and more like the real life person he portrays, by giving him false teeth and glasses.  A shame because he is such a handsome guy.  The director must have not wanted us to be distracted.

Austria is not painted in a particularly good light except for the presence of the journalist (Daniel Bruhl, "Rush") who wants to help them so as to make reparations for the fact his father was a Nazi as in "not all Austrians are bad."

But the film belongs to Mirren and Reynolds, so one wonders why Katie Holmes would choose to play the small role of Schoenberg's wife, and even more mysterious is why Elizabeth McGovern would want the few minutes she gets as the judge who allows Maria's case to go forward in the United States.  Doesn't playing Lady Cora on "Downton Abbey" pay enough?  Oh, sorry. She's married to the director. OK, I get that, then. But why would Jonathon Pryce want this miniscule role as the Chief Justice on the Supreme Court or Frances Fisher hers as Randol's mom?  Charles Dance as Randol's employer in his law firm at least gets some good lines for his short time on film.

But despite all of that talent, the film just didn't gel.  It didn't make me really care whether or not Maria got her paintings back or not.

Directed by Simon Curtis with a screenplay by Alexi Kaye Campbell, the films stands as a grim reminder of the atrocities visited upon the Jews by the Nazis during WW II, only some of which was their stolen art.  In that, the film is a success.  As a piece of film art on its own, not so much.

The story is an interesting, though small, one but it is just too pat and clichéd in its depictions to make us care very much. It's a typical Daniel vs. Goliath formula.  And there are some preposterous scenes such as when searching for her Aunt's will in Vienna, Maria and Randol are confronted with a room full of rows and rows of files that they must search through by hand in one night and naturally Randol finds the relevant file. The whole time they were searching I was thinking, "But can he read German?" 

Rosy the Reviewer says...if you liked "Philomena," you might like this film, but it doesn't have the power of "Philomena."  It's just an interesting idea turned into an ultimately disappointing film.

***DVDS***

You Might Have Missed

(And Some You Will Be Glad You Did)

The Equalizer  (2014)

 

 

A mysterious man with a mysterious past tries to live a quiet life, but is called into action when he meets a young prostitute who needs his help.

Denzel Washington plays Robert McCall.  McCall lives alone in Boston in an immaculate apartment, works at a Home Depot-like store and is helping his young colleague, Ralphie (Johnny Skourtis), lose weight so he can get a job as a security guard there.  McCall also can't seem to sleep because he spends most of his nights sitting in a diner reading classic novels. He has a bit of OCD as he is constantly straightening the salt and pepper shakers on the diner's table and timing everything he does. He also seems to be too controlled, as if he is poised to attack at any minute.

He meets Elena, whose street name is Teri, a young prostitute (Chloe Grace Moretz, "Carrie, "If I Stay") and they strike up a friendship.  When he finds out she is being used by a Russian crime ring and that they beat her up, his vigilantism begins.  He shoots up a restaurant which acts as a headquarters for the bad guys, which brings him to the attention of the head honcho, Vladimir Pushkin (Vladimir Kulich).  Pushkin sends his baddest bad guy, Teddy (Marton Csokas), to deal with McCall.  Teddy is a very bad guy (Teddy is a strange name for a bad guy, don't you think?), who reminded me of a young Kevin Spacy in "Seven,"  one of the creepiest movies of all time.  However, Teddy has no idea who he is dealing with.

The film is slow to start but trying to solve the mystery of McCall's past is as much fun as the action that will soon ensue. If you stick with it, it gets really good with lots of action and violence.  Denzel is one calm, cool and collected kick-ass action hero.  There is a grand finale bloodbath in the Home Depot-like store where, let's just say, Denzel makes use of the many tools that are available there.

Denzel is a credible action hero and gives another one of his great performances.  One can't help but compare him to the original Equalizer, Edward Woodward, but that would be a disservice to Denzel.  Denzel is less like the original Equalizer and more like his character in "Training Day," which is not surprising since this film is directed by Antoine Fuqua, the director of that film too.  Fuqua has created a gritty, moody milieu for Denzel to be one big bad ass, but Denzel exudes a sensitivity that keeps McCall from turning into a cartoon character.  The screenplay (Richard Wenk) is sharp, sometimes humorous and fast paced.

From the ending shot, this appears to be a prequel so expect some sequels.

Rosy the Reviewer says...a smart, riveting action movie.  You will never see a Home Depot the same way again.

 

The Rewrite (2014)

 

 

A Hollywood Oscar-winning screenwriter has writer's block and can't get a job, so takes a job teaching screenwriting at a college in the Northeast.

Hugh Grant plays Keith Michaels, a writer whose screenplay "Paradise Misplaced" won an Oscar, but now he can't even get hired to do a reality show.  He's also a kind of sleazy guy. He hasn't talked to his son in a year. His agent gets him a teaching gig at Binghamton College (not to be confused with SUNY Binghamton), where he almost immediately manages to insult the woman who teaches Jane Austen (Allison Janney) - not a good idea - and he clearly doesn't know what he is doing so he tells his class to come back in a month.  He is just basically a sarcastic, jaded Los Angelean who is disdainful of what he perceives as "the boonies." Enter Marisa Tomei, an "older" serious student who is trying to get her life together and you can tell what is going to happen from a mile away.

Where is our stuttering, cute little Hugh who thrilled us ladies to the core in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and "Notting Hill?"  I know, we all get old.  But that doesn't excuse him from sleepwalking through this thing. I should have realized what I was in for when I saw him on talk shows recently promoting the release of this DVD.  He was sleepwalking then too.

J.K. Simmons is Dr. Lerner, the Head of the Department, an ex-marine who "likes to follow the rules."  Too bad "our hero" doesn't.  He shags a student and chooses his class from their pictures on Facebook (pretty girls and geeky boys), rather than on the merits of their submitted screenplays. His class is like something out of "Welcome Back, Kotter," except each of them is obsessed with something. You have the sex-obsessed girl, the guy obsessed with Star Wars, the girl obsessed with "Dirty Dancing," the know-it-all girl obsessed with hating "Dirty Dancing" and you have the usual kooky mix.  Where is Vinnie Barbarino when you need him?

Chris Elliott shows up (where has he been? - I used to love him in "Get a Life") - but doesn't bring the kookiness of his past.

Marisa Tomei is always good and is the bright light here, but she and Grant have zero chemistry and in fact, this is not really a rom-com at all.  She is here more to help Keith out of his slump, so if you are expecting our usual charmingly clumsily romantic Hugh, you will be disappointed.

Writer/Director Marc Lawrence and Grant have collaborated several times, most notably "Music and Lyrics" and "Two Weeks Notice."  Unfortunately, things have gone downhill since "Did You Hear About The Morgans?"  And now this.

Basically this is your typical "fish out of water" story where our hero learns from those he originally disdains and they learn from him (Yawn), and I guess the theme here could be: Sometimes our "rewrite" isn't exactly as we would write it for ourselves but at least we get a second chance.  If Hugh continues to sleepwalk through his films, he might not get another one.

This must have gone directly to DVD because I don't remember it in the theatres at all.  Good thing, because if I had spent real money on this I would have been even more disappointed.

Rosy the Reviewer says...for a movie about writing a brilliant screenplay, too bad this wasn't one.

 

 

 

 

***My 1001 Movies I Must See Before I Die Project***

 

 

 

268 to go!

 

Have YOU seen this one?

Taste of Cherry (1997)

 

An Iranian man drives around Tehran looking for someone to bury him under a cherry tree after he kills himself.

Why it's a Must See:  [Director] Kiarostami] is a master at filming landscapes and building parable-like narratives whose missing pieces solicit the viewer's active imagination.  This even extends to the film's surprisingly cheerful, self-referential coda: profound isolation radiates with wonder and euphoria."
---1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

 

Despite the fact that I know you all respect me as a serious film-goer and though I can appreciate the originality of the story and the artistry, there are four things that can mar my enjoyment of a film:  No women, bleak desert locations, long monotonous periods of time where nothing happens and non-stop talking. Unfortunately, this film had all four and translates to me as boring. Maybe I am not such a serious film-goer after all, but despite the "art" part of a film, in my mind, it must also be an enjoyable movie experience.

This wasn't.
 

Rosy the Reviewer says...I didn't get it and not really sure it's a movie I must see before I die.

 

 

 

***Noteworthy Television***

Sinatra: All or Nothing at All

(Showing on HBO through mid-April)

The life and career of "Old Blue Eyes."

 

Alex Gibney, who brought to the screen "Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief," turns his lens on Frank Sinatra, the "Poet Laureate of Loneliness" and shows what a brilliant documentarian he is. 

 

This two-part HBO series begins in 1971 with Sinatra's first "retirement" concert.  Sinatra chose the songs for his swansong to illustrate his life and Gibney uses those songs as a jumping off point through this series to focus on aspects of Sinatra's life.  He backtracks to Sinatra's early years, his strong-willed midwife mother, his desire to be the next Bing Crosby, his early marriage to Nancy, his obsession with Ava Gardner, his so-called Mob connections, his views on race and women, his women, his acting career, the kidnapping of his son, what he did to elect President Kennedy and Kennedy's subsequent snub, Sinatra's marriage to Mia Farrow and the denouement of. his career  It's all here and I dare you not to be moved.

 

Sinatra would have been 100 this year so there are few who remember the phenomenon that he was.  Hysterical "bobby soxers" screaming for Sinatra predated the hysteria that Presley and the Beatles unleashed.

 

Sinatra exuded the cool that the TV series "Mad Men" has exploited but he also wasn't able to change with the times.  Women were "dolls," smoking and hanging with the Mob were cool and rock and roll mystified him.

 

Rosy the Reviewer says...Sinatra never wrote an autobiography so this serves us well as a full homage to the legend that was Sinatra and Gibney does him proud.

 

***Book of the Week***

Audrey and Bill: A Romanic Biography of Audrey Hepburn & William Holden by Edward Z. Epstein (2015)

 

Reveals the love affair between Audrey Hepburn and William Holden during the filming of the movie "Sabrina."

Audrey Hepburn, with her elegant gamine looks, has remained a cultural and fashion icon despite the fact she passed away 22 years ago.  Holden, possibly not as well-known today, was known for his American manliness.  Both were Oscar winners and when they met on the set of the movie "Sabrina," a love affair ensued, despite the fact that Holden was married.

However, when the much younger Hepburn learned that Holden could not have more children, she broke off the affair and despite affection from afar, they were never really together again.

So the title of this book is a bit of a misnomer. However, it is a well-written dual biography of two of Hollywood's greats.

Rosy the Reviewer says...despite the fact the title is a bit misleading, this is a good run-down on the lives of two popular actors from The Golden Age of Hollywood and who should not be forgotten.

Thanks for Reading!
 

That's it for this week.

See you Tuesday for

"Anglophilia"
(and no, it's not a disease. 
Well, maybe it kind of is. 
Check it out on Tuesday to see what you think)

 

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