TV Review!

“Japan Sinks! 2020” on Netflix Review by Suzanne 7/9/20

This is an animated series, based on a book from the early 70’s about an earthquake and tsunami in Japan. They made a movie out of it, too. That explains the terrible title, I suppose (it’s the name of the book, too). The artwork is so good, and the story so interesting, that sometimes you might forget that you’re not watching a live-action show.

The action centers on the Muto family, who are in different parts of Tokyo when the first earthquake hits. The dad is working at a construction site. The mom is flying home on an airplane. The daughter is at a track meet in a stadium. The little brother is playing video games at home. There is another, worse tremor, and then all find each other, but they have to deal with more tragedy and disaster.

This is not a series for children. There is blood, violence, and death. For the rest of us, it’s a really good action/family drama. It’s very different from American disaster movies and books. Usually, they start with a lot of different characters, before the disaster, and then we see who survives and who doesn’t. That’s the same formula used in “The Poseidon Adventure,” “Airport,” “The Towering Inferno,” and all the rest. It’s nice to see that someone has made a disaster epic without adhering to the same formula. Check it out because it’s worth watching.

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After catastrophic earthquakes devastate Japan, one family’s resolve is tested on a journey of survival through the sinking archipelago.
From director Masaaki Yuasa, the project marks the first anime adaptation of the bestselling science fiction novel by Sakyo Komatsu.
Masaaki Yuasa (Director) Sakyo Komatsu (author)

An ordinary family is put to the test as a series of massive earthquakes throw Japan into total mayhem. From director Masaaki Yuasa (Devilman Crybaby), the first anime adaptation of the bestselling science fiction novel by Sakyo Komatsu, Japan Sinks: 2020 premieres July 9th only on Netflix.  Trailer

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TV Review!

“Was It Love?” on Netflix Review by Suzanne 7/9/20

This is a fun little Korean romantic comedy about a woman, Noh Ae Jung (Ji-Hyo Song) trying to be successful and provide for her daughter. Along the way, she finds that she has more suitors than she can deal with. Ji-Hyo is very funny. She really made me laugh.

Although the series is light and fun, it also addresses an important social issue in South Korea. Single moms there are treated horribly by everyone and feel great shame. I didn’t know this, myself, until I looked it up. In the show, Noh is defiant about how she’s raised her daughter, No Ha-Nee (Um Chae-Young) alone, but she’s treated rudely by some people because of it.  Thankfully, she does have her mom to help her out (even if she does sometimes smack her on the head).

In one scene, her teenage daughter gets in trouble for fighting a bully. When she arrives to the school, the parents of the bully demand to speak to the girl’s father. Apparently, they have a big problem there with gender inequality, too. When Noh speaks up to tell them that she is both mother and father to her daughter, the bully’s dad tells her that she must be stricter with her daughter, so that people won’t know that her bad behavior comes from not having a father. Ouch!

Most of the show, though, is about how Noh tries to become a film producer and keeps running into guys she knew growing up. Then she suddenly has four different men interested in her, after being single for a very long time. It’s worth checking out if you don’t mind reading subtitles!

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There was no press release. This is from Netflix’s site: Was It Love? 2020TV-MA 1 Season  International TV Shows
When four very different men appear in her life, a single mother who hasn’t dated in years begins to rediscover love — and herself.
Starring:Song Ji-hyo, Son Ho-jun, Song Jong-ho
Creators:Kim Do-hyung, Lee Seung-jin

This is from Wikipedia: Was It Love? (Korean: 우리, 사랑했을까; RR: Uri, Saranghaesseulkka; lit. We, Were in Love) is a South Korean television series starring Song Ji-hyo, Son Ho-jun, Song Jong-ho, Kim Min-joon, Koo Ja-sung and Kim Da-som. It premiered on JTBC on July 8, 2020 and is available for streaming worldwide on Netflix.

Noh Ae-jung (Song Ji-hyo) is a single mother with a strong survival instinct who has been single for 14 years. All of a sudden, four men who appeal to her in different ways appear in her life. Oh Dae-oh (Son Ho-jun) is a bad but attractive man, Ryu Jin (Song Jong-ho) is pathetic but handsome and rich, Goo Pa-do (Kim Min-joon) is scary and sexy, and Oh Yeon-woo (Koo Ja-sung) is a flirty younger man.

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TV Review!

“Stateless” on Netflix Review by Suzanne 7/9/20

This is an Australian show, developed by Cate Blanchett, who plays a small role as the wife of a cult leader (she sings!). The drama follows a family of immigrants from Afghanistan (Fayssal Bazzi plays the father, Ameer), who are tricked by greedy con artists. To say that terrible things happen to this poor family is an understatement.

By contrast, a beautiful flight attendant, Sophie (Yvonne Strahovski) gets involved with a cult (one where they dance a lot). She’s got some serious mental problems, which are made worse by the cult and its leader (Dominic West). She ends up swimming out to sea and gets tagged as an immigrant. In her delusions, she tells them that she’s German, so they put her in the same immigration detention center as the others. The show really tells us about the plight of immigrants, especially in Australia in the early part of this century.

These people are all brought together in an Australian immigration detention center in the desert, along with some others. It’s a compelling drama, and the acting is top notch. It’s based on a true story.  There are only 6 episodes to this miniseries, so check it out.

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Six-Episode Limited Series “Stateless” Premieres July 8 on Netflix
Yvonne Strahovski, Jai Courtney, Asher Keddie, Fayssal Bazzi, Dominic West, and Cate Blanchett star in the project.

Stateless is a limited series about four strangers (an airline hostess running from a cult, an Afghan refugee, a young father, and a bureaucrat trying to contain a scandal) whose lives collide at an immigration detention center in the middle of the Australian desert

Trailer

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TV Review!

“Ju-on Origins” on Netflix Review by Suzanne 7/9/20

This is a horror show about a house that is haunted and affects the people who visit it. There are many different characters, so it’s sometimes hard to remember who’s who. There’s a writer who’s investigating the paranormal, and a young woman who kept hearing things in her apartment. It turns out that her boyfriend is haunted from visiting the house. He keeps seeing the ghost of this young woman, holding her dead baby. A young girl, who had some sort of scandal at her previous school, starts at a new school. Two girls and a guy convince her to go to the haunted house, to see the stray cats living there, but they have something darker in mind.

The show starts out a little slow, but it gets better, and scarier. The ending of the first episode is shocking. This is probably too scary for me to keep watching, but you may like it.  Plus, it’s only 6 episodes!

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JU-ON: Origins

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TV Review!

“Amar Y Vivir” on Netflix Review by Suzanne 7/9/20

This is an entertaining telenovela from Colombia. It follows two main families: the Hererra family, who lives out on a farm; and the Romero family, that lives in the city (Bogotá). It is in Spanish, so you’ll have to read the subtitles if you’re not fluent. It’s worth it, though.  Netflix translates the title to “All For Love,” but it actually translates to “Love and Live.”  They even sing a song about it.

The incredibly handsome soldier, Joaquín, comes home from military service to help his mother, and sister Alba, on their farm. He’s not too happy to learn that their powerful neighbors have been taking part of their land and harassing his family. Their neighbors (the villains of the show) burn down their house, kill his mother, and kidnap his sister. He frees his sister, but the villains beat him up and throw him into the river to drown. He survives but learns that his sister was put on a bus to the city by helpful neighbors.We recommend buying your favorite at super low prices with free shipping, https://www.swisswatch.is/product-category/rolex/gmt-master/ and you can also pick up your order at the store on the same day.

The Romero family’s daughter, Irene, wants to be a famous singer. Her family owns a fruit stall in a market. Her friend takes videos of Irene singing and posts them to YouTube. Irene is also concerned because her father (who also plays in her backup band) is an alcoholic and gets involved with the local mob (he owes them money).

Joaquín and Irene meet in a coffee shop when Joaquin goes to Bogotá, looking for his sister, Alba. He doesn’t know that she’s become a stripper/prostitute. The love story of Joaquín and Irene is the big romance of the show.

If you like good drama, with some action, music and romance, you should watch this.

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TV Review!

“Quiz” on AMC Review by Suzanne 7/9/20

I apologize for the lateness of this review, but you can still watch this On Demand, on the AMC website or on Amazon Prime.

This is an excellent 4- part series, based on a play, of the true story of a British family, Charles and Diana Ingram, and her brother, Adrian, that kept trying to win on “Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?” Matthew Macfadyen (“Ripper Street”), who’s always excellent, plays Charles, the Army Major. Sian Clifford plays his wife, Diana. Trystan Gravelle plays her “loser” brother. Michael Sheen, who is also a fabulous actor (whom I love in “Prodigal Son”), plays the host of the game show, Chris Tarrant.

The first part shows what happened from the point of view of the TV studio. We see how they come up with the idea for the show, and how it becomes successful. Then it looks like the family, and their friends, are cheating. In the second part of the series, we see it from the family’s point of view. They contend that they didn’t cheat. They just practiced a lot for the show and then won. However, since it’s based on real events, it doesn’t have the best ending.  It seems to me that these folks got a raw deals.  See what you think!

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AMC Announces New Premiere Date for Miniseries Quiz

AMC announced today that the premiere date for its three-part drama series Quiz will be Sunday, May 31 at 10/9c. The second and third episodes will air on Sunday, June 7 and Sunday, June 14 at 9/8c, respectively. The full series will also be available to binge on AMC Premiere beginning Sunday, May 31 at 10/9c.

A three-part drama directed by the globally renowned Stephen Frears (A Very English Scandal, Florence Foster Jenkins, Philomena, The Queen) and written by playwright James Graham (Brexit: An Uncivil War, Ink, This House, Labour of Love), Quiz tells the extraordinary and sensational story of how Charles and Diana Ingram attempted an ‘audacious heist’ on the quiz show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? 

Major Ingram (Matthew Macfadyen), his wife Diana (Sian Clifford) and an accomplice, Tecwen Whittock (Michael Jibson), who was sitting in the audience, were accused of cheating their way to a million pounds on what was the most popular game show on earth in 2001. The couple stood trial for conspiring by coughing during the recording to signify the correct answers to the multiple-choice questions posed to the Major by host, Chris Tarrant (Michael Sheen).

For more of the latest news from AMC, sign up for the Insiders Club.

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TV Review!

“Trackers” on Cinemax Review by Suzanne 7/8/20

This is an action drama with too many characters. I had trouble following it… a little bit. There are three main groups of people. The PBI (Presidential Bureau of Investigation) is trying to find out all they can about some terrorists that are planning something. Their main hero is Quinn (Thapelo Mokoena), who likes to ignore his superior’s orders. Meanwhile, they’re told that they’re going to be disbanded soon. A former PBI detective, Lemmer (James Gracie), who doesn’t say much, takes a job helping someone, in a shady deal. A woman gets a job at what looks like a magazine but it’s secretly some kind of spy place. I’m guessing that they’ll all intersect at some point. I think Lemmer and Quinn are probably the real main stars of the show, but it’s hard to say at first.

What’s confusing to me is that sometimes they speak in English, and sometimes in Afrikaans, and sometimes in other languages. The closed-captioning sometimes just says “speaking Arabic” and that covers up the subtitles that tell me what they’re saying. That’s highly annoying. That’s the fault of Cinemax, though, not the show itself.  Also, the name “trackers” doesn’t make much sense as a title.

If you like action shows, this has a lot of action. It reminds me a little of “24.”

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Drama Series TRACKERS Debuts June 5, Exclusively on CINEMAX

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TV Review!

“McCallum” on Ovation Review by Suzanne 7/8/20

This is a British TV series from the 1990’s, but it’s very good. It’s new to us here in the US, as far as I know. You can also watch it on Acorn TV if you don’t have Ovation.

Scottish actor John Hannah plays a motorcycle-riding forensic pathologist who works in the morgue at St. Patrick’s Hospital in London. In the first episode, he gets involved with a co-worker who ends up dead. He’s married but separated from his wife. Still, she’s not too happy to learn that he had a one-night stand with this other woman. From what I can tell, he has relationships with other women in the series as well.

The police are not so friendly or great in this series. They seem to be crude and ill-tempered, and they don’t treat McCallum very well.

The series lasted for two years, which is a shame because it’s kind of a cool show.

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OVATION DEEPENS THE MYSTERY WITH ELEVEN TITLES FROM DCD RIGHTS INCLUDING SIX FILMS AND FIVE DRAMA SERIES

Featuring Matthew Goode, Lucy Lawless, John Hannah, Joanne Froggatt & more

NATPE / Miami, FL: Ovation TV, America’s only arts network, has acquired the non-exclusive U.S. broadcast rights for eleven mystery titles from DCD Rights. As part of the network’s Mystery Mornings block, the deal includes two seasons of McCallum (9 x 90’), three seasons of Rebus (10 x 90’), drama series The Code (6 x 60’), drama series Missing (2 x 90’), and drama series The Strange Calls (6 x 30’), plus six films: The Mystery of a Hansom Cab (1 x 90’), The Poison Tree (1 x 90’), Bloodlines (1  x 90’), A Model Daughter: The Story Of Caroline Byrne (1 x 90’), Safe House (1 x 90’), and Venus & Mars (1 x 90’).   The announcement was made today by Scott Woodward, EVP Programming and Production, Ovation.

Set in the East End of London, STV produced show McCallum follows the life of Dr. Iain McCallum (John Hannah), a motorcycling forensic pathologist with a passion for truth and more women problems than he can handle. Surrounding him are the dedicated St Patrick’s team of Angela Moloney, Sir Paddy Penfold, Fuzzy and Bobby… close friends at the sharp end, making up a formidable body of opposition to those determined to flaunt the law.

“We’re pleased to have these mystery titles bolster our ever-expanding Mystery Mornings slate,” said Woodward. “Our audiences have responded extremely well to the international flair and artistic storytelling of mystery titles and we are happy to deliver more of this content across all of Ovation’s platforms.”

Nicky Davies Williams, CEO DCD Rights adds, “These drama titles each have strong storylines and characters to engage and enthrall viewers throughout the world.  We are delighted that Ovation has acquired them to air on their channel later this year.”

All titles set to air in 2020.

About OVATION America’s Only Arts Network

Art has the power to inspire us, elevate our thinking, and awaken our senses. As an independent television, production and digital media company, OVATION has an unparalleled commitment to the arts, culture and captivating entertainment. Showcasing a lineup of critically-acclaimed premium dramas, arts-related specials and documentaries, and iconic films, OVATION salutes innovative storytelling, lives for the art in entertainment, finds beauty in the everyday, and applauds art in unexpected places. OVATION is available to nearly 50M subscribers via cable, satellite and telco systems including Comcast Cable/Xfinity, DIRECTV/AT&T U-verse, SPECTRUM, Verizon FiOS, as well as on VOD. Through THE OVATION FOUNDATION, the company is committed to advocating for the arts, nationally and locally, and has provided more than $15M in contributions and in kind support to arts institutions and arts education.  You can follow OVATION on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, OvationTV.com, and through our App, OVATION NOW.

About DCD

DCD Rights is one of the UK’s leading independent television programming distributors representing 3,200 hours of content across a wide range of genres, including drama, factual entertainment, lifestyle, music, documentary programming and formats. DCD Rights’ catalogue contains shows from top international producers/directors and independent producers and also features classic and cutting-edge concerts. An independent for more than 30 years, the company formerly named NBDtv became part of production and distribution group DCD Media plc in 2006. Find out more on www.dcdrights.com.

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TV Review!

“Crossing Swords” on HULU Review by Suzanne 7/8/20

This is a pretty funny show. It uses stop-motion animation, similar to “Robot Chicken” on the Cartoon Network (it’s created by the same people). The show is about a young man named Patrick who yearns to leave his horrible family and be a squire to the king. Along the way, he finds that things in the Kingdom are not what he’d dreamed.

The series uses both slapstick comedy and wordplay in its humor. It’s not as gross as some of the animated shows I’ve seen today. The characters are peg people, similar to Legos. It’s not a kids’ show, though, because it does have sex, violence and nudity.

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TV Review!

“The Woods” on Netflix Review by Suzanne 7/7/20

This is an interesting Polish murder mystery. Much of it is seen in flashback. Something happened  to some teens in the past at a summer camp. We see pieces of it, and one of them is a Warsaw prosecutor in the present. A body is found, and he’s questioned because the man has his contact information in his pocket. This person is one that disappeared that summer, along with his sister. He’s never been able to get over her disappearance, so this body showing up may lead him to find her.

It’s not too slow, like some dramas I’ve seen lately from foreign countries. It does a good job of showing you the characters and circumstances. It does reel you in. It has beautiful locations and lots of interesting flashbacks. What more could you ask for in a murder mystery?

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NETFLIX ANNOUNCES POLISH ORIGINAL SERIES – “THE WOODS”

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TV Review!

“Love, Victor” on HULU Review by Suzanne 7/7/20

This is the series sequel to the movie, “Love, Simon” (2018). That movie was directed by Greg Berlanti, who has created most of the shows on The CW. I hadn’t seen the movie, so I watched that first. It was pretty good. In the movie, Simon Spier (Nick Robinson) is a closeted gay high school boy at Creekwood High. It was based on a novel, “Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda.”

This new series follows a different gay high school boy, Victor (Michael Cimino) – one who is Latino and has a very religious family. Both the movie and show take place at a high school, Creekwood High, in Atlanta (not a real school). However, there are no Southern accents to speak of. That’s what happens when you cast people in L.A., I guess.  Like Simon, Victor is very handsome.

Ana Ortiz (“Ugly Betty,” “Devious Maids”) plays Victor’s clueless mom. Anthony Turpel (“Bold and the Beautiful“) plays his dorky friend that lives in the same building. Victor tries to figure out if he’s really gay or not. He has feelings for a girl, Mia (Rachel Hilson), but also lusts after Benji (George Sear), who is openly gay.

It’s a fun little teen drama. I think it’s slightly more realistic in the TV show than in the movie. I don’t know why any gay teen would be closeted nowadays, unless their parents are super religious – especially in a big city like Atlanta. The movie didn’t quite ring true to me for that reason, but the show does seem true.  Not only does Victor have to worry about his conservative parents, but he’s the new guy in school, which is always tough.  Check it out. Teens should love it.

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School’s back in session, so get ready for all the feels with the official trailer for Hulu’s upcoming YA dramedy series Love, Victor, set in the world of the 2018 groundbreaking film LOVE, SIMON. The series will premiere with all 10 episodes (binge) on June 19^th, only on Hulu.

Trailer: https://youtu.be/uh-IaEaEdE0

Synopsis: Set in the world of the 2018 groundbreaking film LOVE, SIMON which was inspired by Becky Albertalli’s acclaimed novel, Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, the series follows Victor, a new student at Creekwood High School on his own journey of self-discovery, facing challenges at home, adjusting to a new city and exploring his sexual orientation. When it all seems too much, he reaches out to Simon to help him navigate the ups and downs of high school.

The series stars Michael Cimino (ANABELLE COMES HOME), Ana Ortiz (“Whiskey Cavalier,” “Ugly Betty”), James Martinez (“One Day at a Time”), Isabella Ferreira (“Orange is the New Black”),  Mateo Fernandez, Rachel Naomi Hilson (“This Is Us”), Bebe Wood (“The Real O’Neal’s”, “The New Normal”), George Sear (“Will”, “Into the Badlands”), Anthony Turpel (“The Bold and the Beautiful”) and Mason Gooding (BOOKSMART).

The film’s original writers Isaac Aptaker (“This Is Us“) and Elizabeth Berger (“This Is Us“) serve as executive producers alongside Brian Tanen (GRAND HOTEL), Jason Ensler (“The Passage”), Isaac Klausner (THE HATE U GIVE), Marty Bowen (FIRST MAN), Adam Fishbach (“Narcos”), Wyck Godfrey (“I, Robot”), Pouya Shahbazian (DIVERGENT) and Adam Londy. 20^th Century Fox Television serves as the studio.

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TV Review!

“Perry Mason” on HBO Review by Suzanne 7/6/20

So far I’m liking this new series. It’s based in part on the Perry Mason novels from the 1930’s, rather than the old TV show. This Perry Mason is a disheveled private eye in Los Angeles. They do a good job of making everything look like it’s from that period. I suspect that we’ll see, eventually, how Perry goes from this scruffy war vet to the dapper lawyer that we know in the TV series….just like other prequel series, such as “Gotham” and “Smallville.”

In the first episode, Perry is following and taking photos of a rotund film star (similar to Fatty Arbuckle), to see if he’s staying true to the morals clause in his Hollywood contract. He has some rough dealings with the studio when he hands in the photos of the man, having sex with one of their up-and-coming starlets (and asks for more money). Meanwhile, Perry is helping his lawyer friend E.B. Jonathan (the always-terrific John Lithgow) by investigating the kidnapping and murder of a baby. Police corruption is an important part of the show.

While I enjoy the show, I wish they hadn’t told us in the first episode who the murderer was. That’s one of the best things about the original Perry Mason and most other old cop and detective shows. We learned whodunnit at the same time as the heroes. Seeing the “spoilers,” as it were, really did spoil it for me. I’m sure there are other, bigger mysteries, but that was disappointing.

Tatiana Maslany (“Orphan Black”) plays a preacher woman. We also get to meet Della Street (Juliet Rylance) and Paul Drake (Chris Chalk). Check it out and see if you like it.

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Drama Series PERRY MASON Debuts June 21

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TV Review!

“The Sommerdahl Murders” on Acorn Review by Suzanne 7/6/20

This is a Danish police show, set in the seaside town of Elsinore, but it also involves relationships between the police and their families. Based on a series of books, the main characters are Dan (Peter Mygind), a police detective; and his wife Marianne (Laura Drasbaek), a forensic pathologist, who work together and celebrate 25 years of marriage. Dan is your typical TV cop who works long hours and puts everything into his job, neglecting his marriage and family. Dan’s partner is Flemming Torp (Andre Babikian), another detective. A woman’s body is found washed up on the shore, so the detectives try to find out who she is and who murdered her. They discover she gave birth, so they try to find the baby. Marianne and Dan’s anniversary dinner is pre-empted by the investigation in the first episode.

Up until this point, I was pretty bored. It moves very slowly. Towards the end of the episode, though, things picked up quite a lot as Marianne meets an old school friend, which inadvertently (in a somewhat contrived way) gets her dragged into the murder mystery. Quite a few shocking things happen. It might be worth tuning in to the rest. There’s only 8 episodes. The writing is pretty good, and the characters are more like real people than what you normally find in a police drama.

If you want a more detailed review, go here, but it does have spoilers.

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“The Sommerdahl Murders” Acorn TV June 29

Monday, June 29, 2020

THE SOMMERDAHL MURDERS, Series 1 (Acorn TV Exclusive, Foreign Language, Danish, with English subtitles)In the beautiful Danish coastal town of Helsingør, Detective Chief inspector Dan Sommerdahl (Peter Mygind, Flame and Citron) is the undisputed hero at North Sjælland Police. But while he can look back at a remarkable history of solved homicides, things aren’t going as well at home with his wife, Chief Criminal Technician, Marianne Sommerdahl (Laura Drasbæk, Pusher), who feels neglected and distant from her husband. When the body of a young woman washes up on a beach, Dan and his best friend and colleague, Detective Flemming Torp (André Babikian, The Protectors), quickly determine this wasn’t an accident, and they are in hot pursuit to find the murderer and the baby the female victim had just given birth to. At the same time, when Dan finds out that his best friend is in love with his wife and the admiration is mutual on the wife’s end, these new dynamics put these relationships to the test, under the stress of trying to solve new murders and keep the city safe. (8 EPS, 2020)

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TV Review!

“BNA: Brand New Animal” on Netflix Review by Suzanne 7/6/20

I wasn’t sure if I would like this series, but I got hooked pretty quickly. The animated show takes place in a world where beastmen (humanoids with animal characteristics) are treated like second-class citizens by humans. The series is from Japan but made for Netflix. The heroine is a girl named Michiru, who escapes the regular world to go to a land called Anima City, where beastmen can live and not be bothered by humans. She looks like a raccoon girl, but she’s something called a tanuki, which is a kind of dog that looks like a racoon. Tanuki are featured in Japanese legends and folklore.

As we get to know Michiru on her journey, we learn that she has special powers that she uses when scared, cornered or in danger. When she gets to Anima City, she finds out that nothing she thought about the place is right. The beastmen live in their human form most of the time. Michiru, however, is unable to return to her human form. Also, she was a human teen and then suddenly turned into a beastman, whereas the other beastmen were born as beastmen. She meets up with a superhero called Silver Wolf, whose real name is Shirou Ogami. They form a friendship as they try to figure out what happened to Michiru, as well as fight crime and corruption in Anima City.

We learn that Michiru had a friend back in school who also turned into a beastman and was carted away. My guess is that both girls are the “Brand New Animal” hinted at in the title.  Perhaps Shirou is, too, since they all seem to have superpowers.

The show has a lot of interesting characters. I watch Netflix shows with the closed-captioning on. The problem with that is the CC dialogue can be very different from the dubbed dialogue. What I found very odd, though, is that, on the one hand, Michiru is very childish. She doesn’t act like a teen. She acts more like a child or pre-teen. Many times in the series, it is very loud, exaggerated and has bright colors, like many children’s shows I’ve seen. However, the show is also very violent. Shirou kills criminals in a very violent way. Remember that these are animals. In one scene, he rips off the villainous antelope or deer beastman’s antlers, and then stabs another beast with it. In a fight with a rhino beastman, he tears off its horn. Even though it’s animated, it was horrible. There is also a series of violent baseball games, where some of the beastmen fight to the death. I think it’s strange to have a show that seems very childish in many ways, yet it’s also very violent. The story is good, and it has some adult themes (no sex or anything), but it’s a strange mix. I would not recommend this to anyone under 18.

I have some friends who watch a lot of anime, and apparently, Japanese youth are more used to violence in their pop culture than our kids are, so I guess that explains it. I’ve seen a little anime before, but it never had this odd mixture of “kid’s show” and “violent action show.” If you’re an adult, it’s worth watching. The mystery of Michiru’s background and how it affects both the beastmen and the humans is intriguing. Also, I can’t wait to see whether they’re going to keep Michiru and Shirou as friends (almost like brother and sister) or develop it into something more.

MORE INFORMATION:

Morphed into a raccoon beastman, Michiru seeks refuge, and answers, with the aid of wolf beastman Shirou inside the special zone of Anima-City.

Proofread and Edited by Brenda

The opinions in these articles are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of TVMEG.COM or its other volunteers.


 

“The Baby-Sitters Club” Review by Eva 7/5/2020

The Baby-Sitters Club,  based on the book series by Ann M Martin, has been made into a series now streaming on Netflix.

For those (like me) who have never read the books, they center around a group of best friends who start a babysitting business. The show has been updated for 2020, with nods to the past — like the fact that the girls use a landline to get their babysitting job calls.  The phone is a white princess push button phone that they bought on Etsy.  The girls also want to use social media to advertise their business, but they can’t because they are not thirteen and are unable get an account.  The girls decide to use an old-fashioned form of advertising: they print fliers and hand them out in their neighborhoods.

I really enjoyed this show; it is very well-written and smart.  The girls speak like junior high girls and don’t sound too grown-up or younger than their age.  I originally watched this show because I thought my six-year-old niece might like it, but I think this show is more appropriate for kids ten years old and up… not because it has anything bad in it, but because older kids will be able to understand it better.  I think this show is great for families to watch together.  Parents will enjoy it, and so will the kids.  I think it is the perfect show for families to binge-watch together because it is a positive, happy, funny show.  I give this show 5 stars.

More Information:

Watch it at www.netflix.com/thebaby-sittersclub

THE BABY-SITTERS CLUB RETURNS!

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The opinions in these articles are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of TVMEG.COM or its other volunteers.

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DVD Review!

“Earth’s Sacred Wonders ” Review by Suzanne 5/20/20

There is a lot of beautiful scenery in this documentary, and you will learn about a lot of great places in the world. You’ve no doubt seen many PBS documentaries with beautiful scenery from around the world. What makes this one different is that it’s about places that are considered sacred or spirtual.

If that kind of thing appeals to you, buy this DVD. It would make a great gift for anyone. I’m not really into sacred or spiritual things, though, so it’s not really my cup of tea. I would rather just worship mother nature and her wondrous places, and not other spiritual entities.

MORE INFORMATION:

Earth’s Sacred Wonders

­The earth’s architectural landscape, throughout history, has largely been sculpted and inspired by faith. Today, more worshippers than ever are flocking to these sacred structures and global landmarks. For some, these places are settings to quietly contemplate, but for others they are sites to find extraordinary acts of worship, dangerous challenges, and remarkable deeds of devotion, rarely seen by outsiders. Earth’s Sacred Wonders takes viewers on a journey, set against the most breathtakingly stunning backdrops this world has to offer, to discover the lengths that people will go for their faith. Filmed across 5 continents in 12 different languages, filled with compelling stories, this program showcases how some of the most profound sites of worship are places of powerful spiritual significance and human drama.

Street Date: Available now
Run Time: 165 min.
SRP: $24.99
Format: DVD, Digital
Genre: Science & Nature

Proofread and Edited by Brenda

The opinions in these articles are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of TVMEG.COM or its other volunteers.