Movie #1933 ........................."The Handmaid's Tale" (Hulu) Season 1, 10 episodes, 55 mins. each

Movie #1933 "Handmaid's Tale" (Hulu, Season 1, 10 episodes, 55  mins. each
I have been wanting to see this t.v. series for a  long time, ever since it came out, because I respect the book a lot.  However, after  watching the first 10 episodes (Season 1), I can say that I have seen enough, I think.  This series is so grim ---- lacks any humor at all ---- the pacing is soooooo slow; just waiting for something to happen, I have fallen asleep several times and had to watch things over.  It rarely changes in the slow pacing --- there's lots of gaps and pauses, and Joe Fiennes and his wife say all their lines the same.  This series definitely showcases Elisabeth Moss, whom I have been a fan of since "West  Wing."  But because it is stretched out into so many seasons, with 10 episodes each, for 50 minutes each episode, they fill it with more characters and more plot and more violence than the book had.  Maybe it is just me, and maybe it is the fact I am watching this show during a pandemic, but I feel this is too close to the reality we are facing now every day, so I don't need to see the rest of this series at this time.  I would rate it 4.  And I'll move on to something else.

"HANDMAID'S TALE"   10 episodes, 50+ minutes each, season 1 on hulu

Set in a dystopian future, a woman is forced to live as a concubine under a fundamentalist theocratic dictatorship.

Creator:

 Bruce Miller

Stars:

 Elisabeth Moss, Amanda Brugel, Madeline Brewer  |

Movie #1932 ........................."Gavin & Stacey" - Christmas specials and Season 3 (Amazon Prime)

Movie 1932 "Gavin & Stacey" - Christmas Special, Season 3, another Christmas
Special (Amazon Prime) ---- continued to love this show as they go through the trials and tribulations of Gavin moving to Cardiff, in Wales, much closer to Stacey's relatives.  They try to  have children and Smithy tries to parent from the  UK, while his kid grows up  in Wales.  Stacey applies for jobs, and the two families get together for a number of reasons.  We highly recommend this comedy, and can't wait until it continues some day in the future.  very memorable quirky characters here --- and James  Corden continues to impress me with his bountiful talent!  5 out of 5


"GAVIN & STACEY
Christmas Special  - 12 Days of Christmas 2008
The Barry folk come to Billericay for the holiday. Gavin surprises his mum and Smithy with news of his promotion in the company's new operation, located in Cardiff.

Season 3 ---- 6 episodes   2009
Gavin gets used to new job, Gavin  and Stacey  try to get pregnant, And there's a wedding

Christmas Special -- 2019
15 years later --- updates us on how everyone has changed (or not) when everyone comes to xmas at Essex and the Brits --- this one ends up in the air so we suspect another season  or christmas special to come?

Creators:

 James Corden, Ruth Jones

Stars:

 Mathew Horne, Joanna Page, Alison Steadman, James Corden, Ruth Jones 

Movie #`1931 "Collateral" - netflix streaming - miniseries with 4 episodes

Movie #1931 "Collateral" (netflix streaming - miniseries with 4 episodes)  I watched this because I really like Carey Mulligan , and the story gripped me from the opening.  But then the interest in it petered out for me because in  my opinion, there were way too many characters on the fringe of the story that were introduced and we were forced to follow them for no real good reason.  Maybe one of them was a witness, etc.  It was, to me, a way of stretching this story that could have lasted maybe a movie length, at most.  It just wasn't all that interesting to me, so I don't recommend it as a must see.  Strong in acting by Mulligan (not a surprise) but the script gave her little to do.  I'd give this a 3 out of 5.

"COLLATERAL"  2018   ---- 4 episodes, about 50 minutes each -- some nudity and violence

London detectives investigating the seemingly random murder of a pizza delivery man uncover a convoluted case of interlocking circumstances amid a cross-section of British society.

Stars:

 Carey Mulligan, Jeany Spark, Nicola Walker 

Movie #1930 ........................"Gavin and Stacey" - t.v. series , seasons 1 and 2 +Christmas special

Movie #1930 "Gavin and Stacey", t.v. series from  Amazon Prime -- Seasons 1 and 2 plus Christmas special. This was a wonderful find, full of lots of laughs --- quickly spoken, they never wait for the laughs, full  of quirky characters, and there isn't a show that goes by that we don't laugh out loud several times.  It's  that funny to us.  Hope it will be to you, too, if you take this recommendation and watch it.  It is very popular on the BBC, so it's terribly British, and sometimes makes references that we "yanks" don't get, but what I really like is that it is a mixture of Welsh and Brits, and I haven't really experienced any of those differences before.  The whole show deals with Stacey (Welsh) and Gavin ("Brit) who meet up after talking on the phone for a few months --- they bring traveling companions with them for that first date (Corden and Jones, the writers of the show) and the date is  a doozy and changes all 4 of their lives.  The rest of the shows in Season 1 lead up to a wedding, and Season 2 shows  lead up to a break up of sorts --- it deals oftentimes with the meetings of the two families, so  there's a lot of universal humor, but also, because they are quirky, out- in- left- field kind of moments that we delight in.  Check it out, and see what you think.  But it was so popular, Corden and Jones after 15 years put together a Christmas reunion show Dec; 2019 and it was such a hit, that they plan to do a season 4 in the future.

"GAVIN & STACEY"    2007-2010, each show about 30 minutes

Gavin and Stacey have been continuing their romance on-line and by telephone for the last six months. Now they want to be together but will their friends and family let them?

Creators:

 James Corden, Ruth Jones

Stars:

 Mathew Horne, Joanna Page, Alison Steadman, James Corde, Ruth Jones 

Movie #1929 ........................."Anne with an E" Season 3 - Netflix streaming

Movie #1929 "Anne with an E" Season 3 - netflix streaming --- Oh, no, it's over.  I really am going to  miss this enjoyable series.  This season covered quite a bit:  Anne becoming 16 starts her thinking about her genealogy  and her real parents; there's a death of a close friend she has to deal with, plus her confusing feelings toward Gilbert (and vice versa), taking the queen's exams, moving away from the Cuthbert and going to a new school, dealing with the cruelty our government gives to her native american friend, dealing with being a woman and the rise of feminism, and freedom of the press.  That's quite a bit for the season, add to that a very satisfactory ending that had me in tears (of joy) and I would give this season a 5 out of 5.  

"ANNE WITH AN E"  Season 3, 10 episodes, each about 50 minutes 2019

The adventures of a young orphan girl living in the late 19th century. Follow Anne as she learns to navigate her new life on Prince Edward Island, in this new take on L.M. Montgomery's classic novels.

Creator:

 Moira Walley-Beckett

Stars:

 Amybeth McNulty, Geraldine James, R.H. Thomson 

Movie #1928 ........................."Barry" Seasons 1 and 2 (Amazon Prime)

Movie #1929 "Barry" Seasons 2 and 2 (Amazon Prime)  It took quite a span of time to see this entire two seasons but we finally completed it.  We started watching it on FX and then didn't stick with it then, so when we came across it again, and with the pandemic had the time, we finished it.  I liked the  humor, and I am all over the theatre stuff that Barry gets into --- but I don't like the violence at all.  I know it is the whole other part of his life and the reason for his inner suffering through both the seasons, but there are some scenes I just have to look away ---- they are done with so much dark humor --- blood squirting out of the top of a guy's head  -- it's meant to be bizarre, and because we don't like the guy, it probably is being played for humor, but it's pretty gruesome for me to laugh at it.  However, Hader is doing an excellent job of getting the torment across of this guy who has been suffering with PTSD for a long time.  He  has found a job he is finally good at but now wants  to get out  of it --- and the audience can't help but root for him to do that.  To be continued in Season 3...... I give this 3.8 out of 5.  It is not for the faint of heart .


"BARRY"    26-35 minutes each episode,  Season 1, 8 episodes, Season  2, 8 episodes

A hit man from the Midwest moves to Los Angeles and gets caught up in the city's theatre arts scene.

Creators:

 Alec Berg, Bill Hader

Stars:

 Bill Hader, Stephen Root, Sarah Goldberg 

Movie #1927 ........................."Hollywood" (streaming netflix - limited series)

Movie #1927 "Hollywood" (streaming netflix) mini series ---we binged this week on this mini series " Hollywood "--- actually, it  should be called "Dreamland" --- since  this series came out these past couple of weeks,  perhaps you've seen or heard about the not -so- free service gas station that Dylan McDermott (kind of a pimp) runs in Hollywood that the new kid , Jack, gets a job at, and subsequently  makes a successful  connection with Patti Lupone, one of his many customers, who happens to be the wife of Rob Reiner who is the head of Ace Pictures in this fictional place --- the password to get there is "Dreamland" -- I like that title better because you need to know this is a revisionist tale of Hollywood (not a true biography)  --- a what if account -- what if there's a black writer who has written a story about the sad actress who jumped off the Hollywood sign and is able to  persuade an  up and coming  young guy who happens to be dating an outstanding black actress to direct it (because he could make her the lead -- ahah!) , and they in turn persuade a closeted gay (through the gas station)  to get the green light for the production --- and then that film (showing an interracial relationship, this would be in early 1950s Hollywood) would win several Oscars?  What would Hollywood be like now?  Because this  still hasn't happened in real life (see what I mean about the title should  be "dreamland"?)  .......... so I think the series is saying, we are way behind, folks.  There's another big part of the movie and that is the gay issue --- Now, in this me-too movement, it seems like creator Ryan  Murphy (of "Glee")  wants to remind us just how tough it was for people like Rock Hudson, Guy Madison, George Cukor, and a host of others who were trying to deal with Hollywood pressure to stay closeted for a host of reasons.  So we see that climate here --- how dangerous it was, how pressuring for men, too (in addition to the couch auditions we've  heard about for the women)  --- The male side of it is a topic not brought up a lot but is covered quite well here.  Disclaimer --- there is a lot of sex in this show, and the acting is just okay with some of the "newer" actors (the tried and tested ones are great, though) and the dialogue is clunky at times, but I applaud the effort  -- the story needs to be told , and  I'm glad I watched it.  I'm  not sure I would recommend it, though --- not unless the topic seems appealing to you.  I'd give it 3.5 out of 5.



"HOLLYWOOD"   7 episodes, about 55 minutes each , 2020     rated R

A group of aspiring actors and filmmakers in post-World War II Hollywood try to make it big - no matter the cost.

Creators:

 Ian Brennan, Ryan Murphy

Stars:

 David Corenswet, Darren Criss, Laura Harrier , Patti Lupone, Rob Reiner, Holland Taylor, Dylan McDermott, Jeremy Pope, Joe Mantello, Jim Parsons, Mira Sorvino