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Not your ordinary romantic drama. Let me confess, I am a certified cynic, I hate sentimentality and romance movies. That should give an idea how good this film is. Hard nut as I am, thank god I watched it alone because I spent a good amount of time sobbing like a baby. This is a beautifully rendered study of a relationship, with all it's trials and tribulations, it's wonderful spontaneity, passion, rawness, laughter, tears of joy and sadness. The main characters were so natural with each other I honestly felt I was watching real people, not acting. Actually, the whole cast was wonderful. It painted a very realistic picture of life in modern China, with the cramp and poor living spaces for migrant workers, the hustle that people need to do to get by in a big city like Beijing, the small moments and details between strangers that give you that slice of life amongst regular people. It felt realistic without being too heavy. I loved the vibe, yet it never glossed over the hardships of life. I won't give too much away as others have already covered those details. What I will say is: I really needed this. You broke this old cynic. Thank you!

A breath of fresh air! Mobsters, old guard Monarchists, National Socialists, Communists, and people just trying to survive, social and political unrest, personal vendettas, greed, power, fear and guilt - this has everything, wrapped up in a modern take on the film noire detective genre. I don't know that much about this time period between the wars, and this may throw a few viewers off, but the show has enough going on for it not to matter too much. I hope what I've just watched has some factual basis, if so, then this is the best history lesson I've had. Loved every minute. One small negative would be the plot/s being somewhat convoluted, with so many characters having a role to play in the audiences seduction/deception. Still, this series beats anything I've watched in the English language - I'm British btw. Can't wait for the 4th series! For those of a more thoughtful turn, I'd highly recommend watching HEIMAT, the monumental German series that spans from just after WWI up to the reunification of East/West Germany.

Hallmark channel tries Downton Abbey. To be honest, this was pretty bland, characters seem to be strangely uniform...like they were all written by the same person...of course it's Mr Fellows! I didn't mind Downton Abbey, that was also bland but watchable, it got very boring by the end though. I guess this is his attempt at an Atlantic version of sorts. Now I know what you're thinking, maybe this isn't my thing. Well, you'd be wrong, I love period dramas! I'd just like them to be more demanding of their viewers. Fellows always does a good job setting things up for an interesting show, but he often fails to inject enough jeopardy in his characters and story lines. The characters especially are poorly written, wooden and rather two dimensional, I didn't really get a sense of who they were beyond their standing in society. As another reviewer pointed out, it feels like a set on a production lot in a film studio, very stagey. I get it, it's supposed to be New York being newly built before our eyes, but you didn't see any of the hustle and bustle of the city, none of the work being done that made the city a centre of commerce and industry. With Sky behind this I'd expect a decent budget, what happened? I don't get it. Maybe they thought the largely female audience weren't interested in historical context - in substance, that we just wanted strong women in pretty dresses prancing about in grand houses, competing with other strong women in pretty dresses also larking about in more grand houses. It really felt like I was watching a Hallmark channel production, just with a bigger budget, but the same shallow mediocre quality. All costume and no drama! Rather then watch this, I'd recommend Martin Scorceses film The Age of Innocence based on Edith Whartons book of the same name. Now that's how you do 19th century New York high society. And it absolutely looks authentic!

3.5 Stars I have to agree with some of the reviewers here (mostly poc), the film isn't entirely believable yet still very worthy. Contrary to many, I thought the first half was the most poignant and interesting, especially Hap and Florence. The precarious relationship between the black and white families is so well captured, so visceral, the tension is overwhelmingly palpable. There are many moments that were deeply affecting, Haps voice over the fields as the sunsets describing life, not as some abstract thing but one lived through the toil of survival, and Florence coming to understand why her mother had to care for white children and not her own out of love and indeed fear. They are the centre of the story for me. The story starts to wobble when sons Ronsel and Jamie return home from the war. Their relationship didn't quite ring true for me, yet I do understand why Jamie wasn't like his family and that the war solidified this difference. It became a conscious rebellion for both Jamie and Ronsel when they returned and it wasn't going to end well for both. Question is, would Jamie have gone that far had he not had a particular experience in the war (Redtails), one that changed his views? Racism was normal back then, no one would have questioned the way things were, it was like common sense. So Jamies openess to Ronsel feels understandable yet doesn't add up considering his upbringing, there should have been more development there - something crucial is missing. Doubts aside, it is brilliantly acted by the whole cast, (though I understand the accents may have been all over the place!). It's an uncomfortable film to watch throughout, yet the ending is full of hope. This is a flawed yet superbly rendered film for first time director Dee Rees and I look forward to seeing her future projects. A well earned 3.5.

3 Stars Very interesting time period, still pretty wild with no rule of law whatsoever. Particularly intriguing politics running through. I'm baffled why it's been cancelled? Seems like it's got a lot going for it as a serious critique of the times and definite resonance for todays audiences. Actors were really well cast, particularly the brothers, others were two dimensional. I'm no expert, but I'd say the shooting scenes weren't all that realistic, as others have pointed out. The situation seems to be based on real events, but they took liberties for the sake of 'entertainment'. Personally that's a minus for me, as I think keeping it real is much more powerful than embellishment and exaggeration. A major criticism connected to this is the casual attitude to killing. There are countless scenes of extreme violence, from people who wouldn't normally be.This doesn't make sense, even in a dangerous and violent place, and it's not even really that. There are men and women walking around town casually going about their business when a shoot out happens...? With palpable tensions felt in a small town, I'd stay away from any trouble if I could help it. It's not the violence itself I have a problem with (I've seen worst and enjoyed it), it's the story and the allusion to realism that doesn't add up. When we consider the brothers and their abusive/homicidal father, to then turn around and casually use violence in the storytelling? No, just because they're our killers (good guys?) doesn't make them any different than the killers on the other side. This is glorifying and justifying killing and murder. How can we go from the brutalisation of the brothers which should be the moral center of the story, to counting how many were shot as if it were a competition between the Sheriff and Connie? There just seems to be a moral hole in pursuit of a political point of view and satisfying audience expectations for swift justice (literally no due process). It's unnecessary and defeats the obvious political aims of the show. Will this ever get a another shot for a second season? Who knows. But I'd recommend it anyway, it's an interesting attempt to do something different from a period we know very little about. Just wished they didn't pander to the lowest common denominator.

A very watchable series, my first of this genre. I've never heard of the books, and didn't know it was an adaptation so I was open to anything. As much as I enjoyed the first watch through, the mark of a really good show is the second watch, and I have to agree with many of the critical reviewers here. A lack of complexity and the story unfolding way too quickly resulted in missing detail and inconsistency in the characters journeys. It just seemed all a bit rushed and dumbed down. Ok for the first watch as you just want to know what happens next, but not ok if you want to go back and savour some of those details and moments that make a show really special. In the right hands, there are ways to condense and re-imagine without losing depth and consistency, without losing the soul of the books, but it seems the makers didn't have enough vision, skill, maybe time/budget? to pull that off. It's a rather commercial, standard affair - another genre show restricted to that genres fan base/demographic. I wished they'd pushed the boundaries more, they could've made this into something really exceptional, even ground-breaking. I'm guessing Harkness as producer may have restricted the adaptation too? A few negatives that stick out, the choice of songs was absolutely atrocious, sometimes laid over action or as the episodes ended. Good god, whoever made this decision should look for a new job. Literally the worst taste in music I've ever seen on screen. Bucket please! Another thing was the unnecessary inclusion of the little houseboy come surrogate son. Too much time was wasted on this odd piece of sentimentality, as if they (did Harkness write this in the books?) needed to make sure we would all be swooning over Matthew as potential daddy material. Honestly, really? That was seriously cringe worthy. You know this is set in Europe? Couldn't they have gotten European actors for some of the characters in the Congregation? Like Domenico, whose supposed to be Venetian, but has a London accent(?) like myself - yes, I'm British. It's great our actors are getting these parts and I love that Knox and Baldwin have kept their lovely Welsh accents (slightly toned down of course), but everyone in this show is British! Malin Buska is brilliant as Satu. She's probably the most interesting, complex character in the series, practically used and abused by witch and vampire - I see a reckoning coming in the final series. Most successful scenes are those with Philippe played by the brilliant James Purefoy, particularly the message to Ysabeau, that really gave me a sense of time and deep connection between the two, even though they have no actual time on screen. That was well done. Of course I loved Goody Alsop, there was a rare funny moment where she asks Matthew to sit down because her neck doesn't turn that far anymore, haha! I hope that's from the books. Generally the casting is good, and I didn't mind Teresa Palmer being a bit deer in the headlights, I thought it added to her characters story arc as a novice witch. (I got over her Australian accent creeping in occasionally, though American audiences may be less forgiving!). All said, this is still very watchable, but don't re-watch too soon after. Forget it, then come back to enjoy the ride again. For those who like action based, plot driven fantasy drama, this is for you, just don't expect that much depth or originality. PS I agree with Marcus, some the best music was from the 80s, LOL!

Kind of boring - and I've watched 15 hours of the monumental series Heimat in succession and loved it - had a lot of existential talking and not much else but it had me gripped from the start. Midnight Mass, I completely zoned out by ep2, couldn't be bothered with the rest. Sorry, if you can't keep me interested then you failed. And what's with the cliched over the top sound effects and editing, seriously you think that's good enough nowadays? The script is dull, characters are 2 dimensional, the 'scary' or 'weird' goings on were just blah. Nothing much to keep going.

Watchable, ok characters and storylines, but doesn't have the edge of reality like the original British series. As the series went on, it became quite comic bookesque with stock Russian spies and their absolutely terrible accents. The acting by the end was quite frankly embarrassing, very hammy and flat. I don't know if there was a budget issue, but it sure felt that way. And what time frame was this suppose to be? There were civil rights protests (in SF?) and young people in what looked like mid 60s clothing, but the main characters and everything else was mid 50s?? I'm a Madmen fan, so these details would be noticed. Sorry, I much prefer the original, it had a real air of danger, suspense, grittiness and seemed more authentic to the times, not a wishy washy version like this one. This is ok for something to put on in the background while you're doing something else, but not enough to hold my attention.

This has daytime TV written all over it. Almost amateurish. Very poor writing, flat characters, uninspiring cast (students looked too old for college), hammy acting, boring plots. Felt like I was watching some trashy soap opera with murder thrown in. And the time jumping was just unnecessary. I couldn't care less about any of the characters. 7 Seasons? Wow, a lot of easily pleased people out there. Knock yourselves out. But I'm looking for more substance and depth to keep me interested.