ComeTheApocalypse I'mInCharge

Series One is really all about getting to know Keith and Marg and the immense task they have taken on. So, if you are a DIY fan looking for ideas and success over adversity, series one will not float your boat. Series Two, however, is all about the transformation of the Sunday School living accommodation. Each episode follows the couple as they source reconditioned mid-century furnishings, make unique pottery fixtures and artwork, and work with the building team to transform the ground floor, room by room, until they have working utilities, a kitchen to cook in, a lounge, a breathtaking Victorian boudoir etc. I hope the next series sees the pottery and workshop designed, built and open for business.

Series 1 - excellent, tight writing, great character development, charismatic cast..... Series 2 - great, but I began to feel preached to, writers with political/identity agendas are a danger to light entertainment.... Series 3 - no doubt about it, my white, heterosexual, waspi identity is getting a bashing on the altar of any and every non white/waspi/straight identity and agenda the writers of this show can sabre rattle over .... So sad that the show got hijacked in this way, because the show's ensemble are great actors, the writers didn't need to politicise everything. This is how good television gets cancelled. I find myself wondering which radicalised university campuses the writers emerged from.

I think Ryan Reynolds did an excellent job of becoming part of a movie ensemble and not standing out as 'Ryan Reynolds'. He (Adam) and Walker Scobell (young Adam) gelled really well and their shared idiosyncrasies were maintained throughout the movie. Normally not a great fan of Mark Rufallo (their father), but he's such a good supporting actor and he allowed the story to draw the viewers into a pretty implausible implausible time travel / sci fi- lite romp. Jennifer Garner was her usual solid and believable mom and wife. All in all it really is a family fun couple of hours guaranteed.

Lesson number 1... don't read the book first. Lesson number 2... don't watch the movie - read the book. The book is excellent. The author builds such a rich and vibrant picture of early 1970's and you become truly invested in JR, his sorrows and his search for answers, and a life for himself. Supporting characters are there to add richness to him and develop him as he grows. The movie uses cinematic colour techniques (much is shot in a too dark internal location) to show mood, and the barkeep role Affleck woodenly inhabits steals attention away from JR. Because of that, the movie seems like a weak parody of a very, very good book. Clooney did not do justice to the excellent work of a fine author. He seems to have done a less than attentive job on the soundtrack, too. Several songs were actually released much later than the date setting. That's sloppy. I did not make it to the end.

The first episode was as far as I got, and I couldn't even finish that. Everything is shot in near darkness making it virtually impossible to see what is going on. I know they were trying to capture the sense of a bygone Victorian era, but it was frustrating beyond belief.

The highlight of this movie for me was the cameo role, played by Arturo Castro. The whacky policeman who gets to babysit the kids while mom (Garner) and dad (Ramirez) are 'processed' and then accompanies mom and dad when the kids escape to the carnival alone. The only times I managed to laugh... The whole YesDay premise was an opportunity lost, I think. The film targets middle-class, affluent families. Having done YesDays every year for three decades I know what a blessing they can be for low income and poorer families. Doing all sorts or whacky fun stuff together, and it doesn't need to cost a dime. But this family could afford personalised track suits; costly meals; to ruin the whole interior of a car; crowds invited to parties; and on and on. I kept hoping other families would be shown, snapshots of different socially and economically advantaged families getting their YesDay kicks. But no, just this one, this very middle class, very pc, very mediocre family. If I warmed to any of them, it was possibly the daughters, but even they were predictable. I'm ashamed to say I never made it to the end. As a YesDay veteran, I am relieved and pleased to know my family had much, much more fun and it never cost a dime. Any parent thinking of starting an annual YesDay for their brood... do! The baseline has been set here, and its low.

Apart from the irritating predictability of Tom Hiddleston either sleeping with or mooning over every beautiful female that appears, It's a very well crafted and presented series. Stirs the British Bulldog spirit. Warms the cockles of a patriots heart - any nations patriotic heart. And the whole cast are very, very good.