krankydoodle

I thought Ho was a bit less objectionable than usual. He at least did try to help, however poorly thought out his ramming the house was. And he was reluctant to leave Catherine when she chose to walk home after quitting. I was disappointed that we didn't get to see the fallout from River leaking the documents. I wanted to see Judd getting ousted, Ingrid trying to take everyone down with her, and Cartwright Sr.'s reaction to it all. Still a fun season, though, and the next one can't come soon enough.

A Christmas special just showed up on Britbox. There were some plot developments that were easy to guess from last season's finale, but it was a nice episode.

That was a great start! I'm impressed again by the cast they've assembled. I can see why so many people would've been taken in by Edgar Ramirez's character, but didn't expect Benita to get involved with him so early on. I hope Jack Davenport gets more to do. The close-ups of the surgery were hard to watch, especially since the operation was on a child, but I don't think anything will be worse than the bone cracking sounds from last season. It took me a while to get used to the time jumps, but it got easier about mid-way through. And nice work by returning director Jennifer Morrison.

I also got sucked into watching Christmas movie recently and, among a lot of stinkers, was pleasantly surprised to find one I really liked. This is Christmas on Prime is a cozy British movie starring Alfred Enoch, Kaya Scodelario, Timothy Spall, Joanna Scanlan and Ben Miller. Enoch has the impulse to get to know his fellow commuters better so proposes a Christmas party and the movie follows this disparate group of people coming together to make it happen. There is a romance between Enoch and Scodelario but the movie's more of an ensemble piece and I thought it managed to be sweet without crossing over into cheesiness.

Most of the channel deals Amazon offers during the holidays look like they went from 99cents to $2.50-3. Still a good price, though.

The first 3 movies are on IFC Films which was part of my AMC+ subscription. I watched movies 4 and 5 on Viaplay through Roku.

The credits say it's a Paramount+ show, but The Burning Girls starring Samantha Morton and Rupert Graves is streaming on the Roku channel. It's based on a book by CJ Tudor about a vicar who moves with her teenage daughter to a rural area where mysterious/creepy things happen. I wasn't a fan of the book but tried watching the first episode anyway. It's not for me, but both the book and the show have been generally well received, so what do I know. A series adaptation I can recommend more enthusiastically is based on the Department Q books by Jussi Adler-Olsen. Technically these were movies released theatrically in Denmark, but I think they've only been available to stream in the US. I just watched Journal 64, the 4th in the series and sadly the last starring the original ensemble. The Marco Effect is the 5th and has a new cast and I believe a new production company and is unfortunately a major downgrade in every respect. It's a real shame, but at least Journal 64 is a nice send-off for the previous team.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b049fg98/episodes/player You can listen through the website or download the BBC Radio app. I've noticed that while many BBC radio shows have multiple voice actors, Nicola Walker is the only narrator for Annika Stranded. But it works. The episodes are surprisingly short, though.

This was a good binge watch. It had a more straightforward story than the graphic novel, which I'll admit left me a bit lost at the end, so I mostly liked the changes--especially with the character of Whiteman-Weissman. I would say it's on par with Prime Video's The Devil's Hour, another mind-bending, time loop mystery show that I enjoyed but hasn't really stuck with me. I was a little irritated that this was billed as a miniseries when the ending suggests that they're hoping for another season. Having said that, I probably would watch if they continued.

I enjoyed it too. Sandra Oh and Awkwafina had great chemistry together, there were some fun cameos (though the one at the end was bittersweet), and touching and laugh out loud moments. My favorite gag was the various titles for the Quiz Lady viral video. And I think I prefer Will Ferrell when he's more subdued like he was here. I'm also a sucker for animals used well onscreen, and appreciated that Mr. Linguini didn't have a cutesy gimmick but was just a sweet old dog who liked to hang out with his people and sleep. I was tickled that the bookie's plan was to win him over instead of hurt him. I'm glad everyone got a happy ending but am glad that didn't include their mother because she was terrible.

I caught this on Hulu today and was pleasantly surprised. The movie doesn't bear much resemblance to the book and I was disappointed by the turn that Ariadne Oliver's character took, but it was atmospheric and entertaining. This was more low-key than the previous two movies, which worked in its favor. It also had fewer big names, but I thought all the actors did well even if many seemed underutilized. Not that I remember seeing, though she does use an apple as a calling card when she first drops in on Poirot and apples come up a few more times.

It was amazing, just kept building and building. I loved how Dupin had to take a beat to absorb and appreciate the WTFery of that monologue. I was expecting Morella to escape the party unscathed, so I'm interested to see what happens with her next. Tammy is getting the least screen time, which is too bad because I'd like to see what she's selling as part of her GOOP-like business. I think the actor playing her husband is kind of bland, though, especially for someone who's supposed to have amassed millions of followers.

Bruce Greenwood is so good in this it's hard to believe he was a last-minute replacement. So Frederick's wife was the only 'innocent' among the partygoers? Maybe Verna just took pity on her after seeing her awkwardly dancing by herself.

I wasn't expecting this to be as campy as it is, but it's working for me so far. I should've guessed they were going in that direction after seeing images of whatever they're doing with Mary McDonnell's hair on the show. Nice stealth cross-promotion for Netflix's Is It Cake? show.

The graphic novel this is based on has a shockingly low rating on Goodreads. Not all of it worked for me, especially the ending, but I think it deserves higher than a 2.87. The show looks like it deviates from the source material somewhat, so I'll watch it if only to see if what they've changed.

Olivia Holt was the real standout for me, but Kiernan Shipka was also great and I loved seeing her Gen Z character react to the 80s. I haven't been impressed with most of the Amazon originals I've tried so this was a fun surprise.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Mrs. Sidhu Investigates. I know it's often how cozy mysteries work, but sometimes I just can't when a random chef/landscape gardener/whatever pushes their way into criminal investigations. Mrs. Sidhu got close to being annoying a few times, especially in the first episode, but Meera Syal managed to keep me on her side. And the scenes when she was remembering her father were genuinely moving. Craig Parkinson is also a big part of the appeal. Mrs. Sidhu's son, on the other hand, can leave any time ugh.

Sorry! I kind of love Leap Year, which I know a lot of people dislike. I wouldn't argue that it's a good movie, but Amy Adams, Matthew Goode, some beautiful scenery, and a few romance tropes I enjoy are enough to make it work for me.

Has anyone read Poirot and Me by David Suchet? I keep meaning to pick it up but I just have too many other books on the go right now.

I just watched Rye Lane and thought it was delightful. The leads are incredibly charming. It's about two people who randomly meet while they're both getting over recent breakups, then wander around the city for the day getting to know one another while going on minor adventures. They hit a snag, of course, but it's all really well done. There's also a surprising--though very brief--cameo that felt like a sort of passing of the torch moment. At the other end of the spectrum is What's Your Number? from 2011 starring Anna Faris and Chris Evans. I gave it a shot because someone recommended it and I like both actors, but wow did I hate it. The premise was stupid and the characters were awful. I don't know how it managed to score as high as a 6 on IMDB.

Mike Flanagan's last few series didn't work for me, but I'll give this a shot to see Carla Gugino wreak vengeance on terrible rich people. I did enjoy Doctor Sleep and thought Kyliegh Curran and Carl Lumbly were great in that, so I'm interested to see what they do in this. Bruce Greenwood is much more believable as Mary McDonnell's twin than Frank Langella would have been.

I just finished Hi Honey, I'm Homo!: Sitcoms, Specials, and the Queering of American Culture by Matthew Baume and would definitely recommend it. It helped that I watched a lot of the shows he discusses (Golden Girls, Friends, Ellen, etc.), but it was also interesting to learn about the ones I wasn't as familiar with (All in the Family, Barney Miller). The author also has a YouTube channel, so some of the material might not be new to you if you've watched his videos.

Yes, I'm not a jazz fan anyway so found the awkwardly inserted singing scenes especially grating. It also bugged me that Ridley broke into a few of the suspects' places. He may not be a police officer anymore, but he is working with them in some official capacity so wouldn't his illegal entries potentially jeopardize any prosecution? I do like the DI's wife and their son, though. It's nice to see a detective character with a happy family situation for a change.

I've heard people speculating about that and I don't think it would improve the movie much for me. If anything, I might be more annoyed if that's the way they go. I'll see part 2 regardless and hope it works better for me.

This is one of my favorite movie series and I was even more excited after the glowing reviews started coming out, but I was disappointed. I don't understand what they were doing with Ilsa. Everything involving her seemed underdeveloped: she barely had any lines, I didn't buy that Grace seemed better able to hold off Gabriel, and the team's reaction to her death was strangely muted--even considering the threat they were facing. If working around Rebecca Ferguson's schedule was the issue, surely they could've come up with a better way to explain her limited presence. I enjoyed Hayley Atwell, but the way it feels like they just swapped her in has kind of soured me on her character. I started to get worried about the movie during that government office scene at the beginning with the clunky exposition dump. And I'm usually able to shrug off issues with the plot because the other elements are so much fun, but there were a lot of things that bugged me in this one. But whatever, I'll still see part 2. And there was some great stuff here like the sequence with the yellow Fiat in Rome, the return of Kittridge, and Shea Whigham doggedly tracking Ethan only to lose him every time.