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krankydoodle

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Posts posted by krankydoodle

  1. I seem to remember Martha's mom being kind of awful last season--especially to Humphrey--but I really don't like how the two of them are treating her this season. Spying on Anne and lecturing her about who she dates is annoying, but I hate how they're essentially forcing her to go along with their lie about living in her house. She did eventually say she might like living on the boat, but how much choice did she have at that point when Martha and Humphrey had already sold the story to the social worker and backtracking afterwards might result in them not getting approved. I have personal experience with family overstepping/outstaying their welcome, so this probably bothers me more than it does most. Ugh. Anyway, it's always good to see Peter Davison. He and Barbara Flynn have nice chemistry.

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  2. I just watched Argylle on Apple TV+ and...kind of enjoyed it. I mean I wouldn't have paid to see it in the theater, the hairstyles for a few of the characters were truly unfortunate, and some of the action scenes were too cartoonish and dragged on too long, but Bryce Dallas Howard and Sam Rockwell made for a fun pairing and the ridiculous plot a good ride. I'm not bothered that this probably won't get the hinted-at sequels, but it wasn't as bad as I expected from all the negative reviews.

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  3. Did anyone else watch Irish Wish on Netflix? I liked Ed Speleers and Lindsay Lohan seems to have gotten some of her old spark back, but I thought it was pretty bad otherwise. I'm fine with a 'magical' premise in a rom-com, but the dialogue was often terrible/nonsensical. During a discussion about how the wedding cake won't fit into the delivery van, Lohan suggests they just make the cake smaller and multiple people react as though that genuinely never would've occurred to them. It's bizarre. Also, Lohan's friends are kind of awful and Jane Seymour's role is pointless. Having said all that, I think Speleers, Lohan, and the beautiful scenery make it watchable enough.

    ETA: A harsh but hilarious review from Vulture: Netflix 'Irish Wish' is like AI-generated harbinger of doom

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  4. I was excited about the new mystery How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin, but the main character refers to herself multiple times in the first few chapters as her great-aunt's benefactor when she means beneficiary. I think it's something that got missed in editing rather than a deliberate choice since she says this in front of various characters--including a lawyer--and no one corrects her. I'm just surprised something like that got missed.

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  5. I couldn't find anything about a release date, just that it was happening. The most recent article I saw was dated Jan 2024 and said that they were currently filming the new season, so maybe we'll get it in the fall?

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  6. I tried watching Anyone But You because I like Glen Powell but gave up about 15 minutes in. I don't get the Sydney Sweeney hype. I haven't seen her in anything else but didn't think she had much screen presence here and didn't see any chemistry with Powell. To be fair, the writing didn't do her any favors. I rolled my eyes when the first scene was her being too embarrassed to ask her coworkers where the restroom is so instead she heads to a coffee shop where she promptly soaks the front of her pants in a faucet mishap. Then their 'feud' kicks off because of stupid choices and bad timing. I hate plots like this. Maybe my expectations were too high because of how well the movie did, or maybe I'm just too old/cranky to tolerate movies that hinge on this kind of misunderstanding.

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  7. I thought there would be at least 4 episodes this season. I still liked it, but Episode 3 felt a bit unfinished. I didn't understand why some characters acted the way they did, and the subplot with Joe's father didn't get as much time as I expected. It was nice of Vera to call and check on him, though, since she's generally bad at that sort of thing.

    The good news is that there will be a season 14, but it will only be 2 episodes: Vera season 14: Release date speculation and latest news.

     

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  8. I really liked episode 2, especially the scenes between the team members like when Kenny and Joe discuss Vera or Joe giving Steph a chance to sit in on an interview. Vera's toothache was a nice callback to the early seasons and how much Joe used to worry about her health. I'm enjoying seeing how their relationship has changed. I laughed when Joe balked at buying someone a tea, so Vera grudgingly agreed to do it instead but still asked him for the money.

    The case was good too. There were a lot of suspects but it was easy to keep track of who was who and it kept my interest even though there weren't a lot of surprises.

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  9. The Long Call is the adaptation of the Two Rivers book series. There's only one season. It's on Britbox in the US.

    I've been rewatching some of the early episodes of Vera and had forgotten that the lead from that show, Ben Aldridge, was in the Sundancers episode from season 2. It's also funny how quite a few of these episodes have other characters comment on how good looking Joe is.

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  10. I just finished the first episode of season 13 and was surprised to see more cast changes than I expected. It's too bad because I liked the characters who left even though their roles were relatively minor.

    It is nice to have Joe back, though, and to see his history with Vera referenced. I don't love everything they did with his character, but I'm relieved he's still married so we don't have to deal with fallout from a divorce. I liked Aiden fine but much prefer Joe's relationship with Vera because he pushes back a bit more but does so with respect and affection.

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  11. I know Peacock isn't that popular, but I think it's become my favorite streaming service. It has interesting originals (Mrs. Davis, Poker Face, Dr. Death, the new Mike Judge show In the Know), great British shows (We are Lady Parts, Vigil, The Capture), and gets movies like The Holdovers and Oppenheimer first.  And I haven't found the ads too intrusive.

    Speaking of ads, though, I watch Prime Video and Freevee through my Roku and have noticed that the sound of their shows is so low that I have to crank up the volume but then the ads are significantly louder so I have to rush to mute them. I didn't have any issues with the volume on Prime before ads were introduced. Is anyone else having this problem?

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  12. I just watched Believer on Peacock and it wasn't good. It was close to 2 hours long but it seemed like scenes were missing. The climactic exorcism scene included some characters who only had a few lines and it wasn't clear why they were even there. I actually liked some of the first 30-40 minutes or so and there was one unsettling sequence near the end, but I don't know if I'll bother with the sequels--if they even go ahead with making them.

  13. On 1/14/2024 at 10:10 PM, AimingforYoko said:

    Night Country is the minimalist version of that, just enough breadcrumbs to show that these are people with full (mostly sad, depressingly)lives and aren't there just to bounce off our protagonists.

    I also thought the episode did a good job of sketching out the relationships between the various characters. I especially liked the scenes with Danvers and the younger cop Peter, though he's so earnest and has such a cute family that I suspect he's marked for death.

    I'm not sure what's going on with Hank other than he seems like kind of a creep. I wasn't sure why Danvers wasn't more forceful about asking him for the cold case file or why Peter was nervous about taking it. Maybe Hank was expecting to get the chief job so dragging his feet about retrieving the file was a power play on his part and Danvers was just trying to retrieve it without risking him becoming openly defiant? Although that didn't keep her from joking about his mail-order fiancee.

    The woman in the drunk tank had the most annoying wail. I couldn't have taken more than 10 minutes of that.

    ETA: I saw an article saying that Hank was Chief before Danvers. I wondered if that was the case. I may have missed it, but I don't think that was made explicit. Anyway, that whole dynamic still seems odd to me and I really want to know the backstory there.

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  14. I started watching The House Across the Street starring Shirley Henderson on Britbox, but didn't make it very far. The lead character and the show's whole vibe made me so uncomfortable, which I know is the point, but I just couldn't--not even for Craig Parkinson. If anyone makes it through all 4 episodes, I'd be curious to know what you think. The reviews I saw didn't seem very positive.

  15. But I don't think Annie knew, did she? Isn't that one of the things Vera says in the confrontation at the end, that Annie's suffering was compounded because she blamed herself for the baby's death? It's possible I missed something because I was getting annoyed that Vera was yet again facing off with a killer by herself. I was so glad for the reveal that she wasn't.

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  16. But wouldn't that make Sandy more likely to follow Tosh's orders instead of giving in to Ruth's requests? I don't know.

    I like seeing Tosh so capable and decisive. If the show continues, I wonder if we'll see her struggling with ceding the DI role to Ruth.

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  17. I also liked the Christmas special, another one based on a book. I think it might've benefited from a longer runtime since there were a lot of characters and the various relationships were so messy, but I preferred the episode's ending to the book's.

    Billy's an appealing character and I'm glad he's been added to the team. I think this is the first time in a long time they've shown Mark out of the office, so maybe he'll take on a more active role now.

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  18. I watched all of season 2 today because they've not only cancelled it but plan to remove the show from Starz entirely after tomorrow.

    I loved the horror movie references and the sharp dialogue. I think Merrin Dungey's character was my favorite because of the way she would just pop in, react to all the nonsense in a somewhat reasonable way, and then nope out. I was also surprised to find myself really liking Gaynor because that kind of teen character usually annoys me, but I thought they did a good job of showing why she is the way she is.

    What I didn't like was Mira Sorvino's accent work, bringing Claire back just to kill her off, and not making more use of Allison Tolman.

     I wouldn't call the show a favorite, but I really enjoyed it--even though it was kind of disjointed. I don't remember enough from the first season to say if it all hangs together, but would've liked to see where it went next. They were already working on season 3 😔

  19. On 12/23/2023 at 2:13 PM, Snazzy Daisy said:

    Wait a minute, who leaked the whistleblower report? 😳

    Could it have been Anders? Something about the way he shrugged off the question made me suspect he might've been involved.

    This last episode felt a bit anticlimactic. And it was kind of cheesy when Benita exchanged nods with Nate, Anders, and Ana at the press conference. So was the ending with Benita finding a new path in telling the story of another woman who'd been conned.

    I think posters mentioned this in previous episode topics, but I wish we'd gotten more about the patients and less of Benita. Yulia's story deserved more time.

    I didn't think we got as much insight into Paolo's character as we did with Christopher Duntsch, but this season was still compelling and it's a shame it doesn't seem to be getting much attention. The fifth episode especially was horrifying but so well-crafted and beautifully acted.

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  20. Poor Sandy. It seems like everyone is either ragging on him or walking all over him. I don't remember him being such a pushover.

    I wish they hadn't killed off Cal. I like the actor and thought it would've been interesting to see Ruth navigate their relationship.

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  21. 20 hours ago, blackwing said:

    I just finished this book, Murder in the Family by Cara Hunter.  This is the first book of hers I read, apparently she has some bestselling books in the UK market.

    Question about the ending (warning, major spoiler): 

      Reveal spoiler

    After it is revealed that Guy himself was in fact the killer, we get told that he is found dead.  The article seems to suggest that he killed himself out of guilt.  But another article states that a woman with red hair and glasses was seen leaving his house, implying that she caused his death by overdose.  So are we to assume that this mystery woman is the long lost missing sister of "Luke" from Canada?  She kills Guy out of revenge?  Even though she thought her brother had died long ago and didn't know that he had changed his identity multiple times?

     

    I enjoyed the full-cast audiobook but found the story itself kind of a letdown.

    It's been a while since I read it, but regarding your questions in the spoiler:

    Spoiler

    Yes, I think we're meant to believe the woman who presumably killed Guy was the original victim's sister. I may well be wrong, but for some reason I thought that she and her brother had secretly kept in touch after he faked his death. She was also a con artist and was close to her brother if I remember right, so I guess I can buy her killing Guy out of revenge even though it happened when he was a child and he obviously didn't even remember doing it. But then the plot got even more ridiculous IMO when Guy's death was ruled suicide even with evidence to the contrary, an unsatisfying ending that really annoyed me.

     

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