Sunday, May 17, 2020
WKRLEM TV: World on Fire
I have been struggling to find stuff to watch as we are locked down these many months. Just recently I have come across this BBC production that is being presented by Masterpiece Theater. It's called "World on Fire" and it is a pretentious soap opera that traces the beginning of World War Two. It is very well done and the production values seem top notch.
Now this is supposed to be highbrow but it has the typical soap opera touches that they would scoff at but still use to keep an audience. One of my favorite actors Sean Bean plays a great role where he has to hide his natural authority and play down his personality. He does a masterful job. Believe it or not Helen Hunt is pretty good too. Of course she plays a gold plated bitch so it was type casting.
They had to throw in a gratuitous gay subplot but hey that's entertainment these days. Still and all it seems quite entertaining.
Highly recommended.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
18 comments:
Right up my alley.
I like Helen Hunt, but she's one of those actors who seem to play themselves, or at least the same character in everything they're in.
Many productions are now female centric. Watching Killing Eve and there is the soap opera and gay stuff. But, it's well made so I can let it go.
The only thing I think I've seen Helen Hunt in was "As Good As It Gets" with Jack Nicholson. Good movie. I never watched "Mad About You."
I've watched some good, some awful, and some mediocre movies of late.
"The Lobster" is described as a dystopian absurdist dark comedy. It is all of those. Colin Farrell stars. I liked it.
Another off the wall weird one is "Buster's Mal Heart." Emphasis on the weird. If you want to watch a strange movie, that won't disappoint.
"The Wrong Missy" was hilarious. David Spade stars, but Lauren Lapkus steals the limelight.
I'm really looking forward to the final season of "Dark" on Netflix, which is supposed to hit next month.
"The Last Kingdom" was a fun series. It just added a fourth season, even thought it wrapped up neatly after the third season. It's supposed to have a fifth season in the works. Sort of like Game of Thrones without the magic dragons. It's based on the historic King Alfred the Great and his struggles to unite England and ward off the Danes. It gets the major historic events right, then fleshes out the characters.
"Carrie Pilby" is a coming of age flick. Entertaining, but pretty light stuff.
I was not impressed with 'World on Fire.'
The gay subplot is just part of it.
It is way overly stylized. It reminds me a bit of 'Winds of War' but the difference is Herman Wouk could at least write.
But it does have its moments. The Polish girl is great and it does roughly track with history.
Sean Bean's talents are wasted.
Helen Hunt has the worst face job since Jacko. Yikes!
Jeeze, Evi, save a little for next week ;)
Her most annoying role was the wife in Survivor.
I liked her in Twister. And I thought Mad about you was good.
It was probably Good as it Gets I noticed she's always the same person.
Debora 🤗
Deborah 🤗 (I lost an h)
We watched that until we ran out of episodes.
If you want to see gratuitous gay subplots, check out "Versailles" - a series about Louis XIV and the building of his palace and his reign. All the male leads look like 70s rock stars. There is plenty of fruitiness to go around. I was disappointed that it was not done in French with English subtitles, but it's actually done by Brits doing the work the French refuse to do.
Watched the trailer after chick's post. Was that rapping in the background of a WWII movie? Life is too short lol.
Watched the trailer after chick's post. Was that rapping in the background of a WWII movie? Life is too short lol.
Indeed. However, I don't recall it playing in the actual series. My favorite character in the series is the mother who starts out a bigot and morphs into the anti-bigot.
Does anyone know of a good French language series? I want to review my comprehension.
Depends what you like. I liked Black Spot and The Tunnel. I can watch iffy premises (Black Spot) if the writing and acting are excellent. It's all about creating a mood.
If you want to brush up on German, I liked Old Money. Quirky.
The opening scene of Black Spot drops you right in. I watched all three on Netflix, but don't know if they're still there. LLAP <------- time to switch to decaf. Nah.
The BBC has been throwing Gay subplots into almost everything for a few years now, including rewriting Agatha Christie plots. They are also turning some characters anachronistically black. The recent Les Miserables did both making Javerts black and a closet case. I look forward to the day Idris Elba plays Queen Victoria.
Chickie I thought "The Bonfire of Destiny" was pretty good. It was a little soapy so your wife and daughter would enjoy it.
Also "Call My Agent" which is also on Netflics. It was fun and all in French.
Great suggestions, guys! Enough for a couple months at my pace.
Someone recommended "Bosch" on Amazon Prime, so I checked it out. First season was good. Second season wasn't as good, but still entertaining. One thing really bothers me, though. They never roll up their car windows when they park. Is that a southern California thing?
Post a Comment