Josselien Janssens

In short: a Greek version of "It's complicated". Delightful and shockingly confrontational drama at the same time. On any small island large world issues will get put in a micro-pressure cooker. Add a full measure of "Greekness" and the mixture stews in the attitide of a culture that takes all aspects of life-including parties- probably too seriously for their own good. Main criticism: The 19-year old Klelia - love interest of the 40-something music teacher Orestis, is too mature for her age. As a 25-year old she would have been a lot more believable - and their relationship would have been too. Still, this level of maturity @ so young indicates the likelihood of a sequel that focuses on her predictable ptsd breakdown in her early 30's. Other than that: a lovely Greek Island Revisited experience for anyone who has spent more than just a few holiday weeks on one. Oh Greece! Probably the most beautiful country with the best food on Earth. Probably also the most liberal and accepting, yet at the same time paradoxically the most restricted, and therefore most frustrating, culture on the planet.

Jon Hamm is a master at depicting characters that are as bluntly unsympathetic as they are bluntly uncharismatic - while keeping you fascinated due to their therefore unlikely love affairs and conversationalist prowess. This seems so deliberate that it can only be pulled off by an actor who totally masterfully pulls both the sympathy as well as charisma strings. That mastery may well be what makes Confess Fletch as strangely compelling to watch as Mad Men was. Despite - or because of?- the at times almost bewildering absence of both those crucial sticky factor ingredients in the main character. Perhaps the key to this inexplicable captivating capacity is the fantastic chemistry between Jon Hamm and John Slattery. Slatterys characters in both Mad Men and Confess, Fletch ooze charisma to the point of glowing in the dark, as well as that bewitchingly sympathetic humor thing that is too good to be true. That makes you acutely recognize as well as love the fact that you'll never be able to trust them (the characters, I wouldn't dare speak for the actor) with either your wallet or any uttered commitment to monogamy on their part. A magic duo for sure. It made me pay attention to the other duos in the script. Contessa de Grassi and her stepdaughter Angela are equally paradoxically well-matched - the Contessa's shamelessly shallow over-the-top convolutedness offsets Angela's sincere obsessiveness. And sergeant Inspector Monroe and Junior Detective Griz are the third magic duo in the film - Monroe, the almost-but-not-quite stereotype dry dogged investigator, is the Watson to Griz's passionate junior Sherlock. The plot, unfortunately, is most definitely lost in all of this - the edge of seat thriller factor from the start ends up frayed and bursting at the seams from to much detail and twists at the end. The end tries to conjure up that successful heist feeling that belongs with, for example, the Oceans' series. However, that outcome is too construed and unnatural for the murder mystery it starts off as. The heist-factor seems glued on as an afterthought - it is as if, at the end, you were actually watching a completely different movie. This is why Confess, Fletch lacks five star tightness. The acting chemistry makes for an enjoyable Friday night in regardless. I would score it a 3.5 if that were possible, and am magnanimously rounding it off upwards rather than downwards thanks to the full engagement of the quality cast.

The casting and characters are sheer perfection - Christian Slater!!! The Ad Guys!!! Mr Prezzident!!! Nikita Goodman!!! to name just some - I truly enjoyed how well the 60's were charicatured as a whole. Timing, however, is crucial for making a good joke into an unforgettable bellyshaker. The timing of this comedy simply isn't right. Things aren't going well enought with The West, to be in the mood for a fun crack at the main problem with the American corporate mindset, its directly related, epically proportioned, fearsomely culturally contageous, national health problems, and its also directly physically related plummeting collective mental health levels. Re. Hugh's Viking Horns: my loudest "Too ******* Soon!!!!" doesn't cut it. It isn't funny in the same sort of way, Jerry, as Nazi jokes will never truly be funny. (Except for in 'Allo 'Allo. They got some other things wrong but their timimg was perfect. Because there must be one exception to every rule in the same way as there must be a weaving error in every masters' carpet, since they are still only human and therefore cannot aspire to omnipotent perfection, according to our originally ALSO very civilised global religious neighbours.) Especially untimely, when same said jokes are made in what is the thick of a global battle for prevailing political sanity -that of the precious middle ground- that hasn't been won yet. Because it actually needs the kind of mind power that is fuelled only by an epidemic of intestine tracts capable of digesting so-called "fresh fruit and vegetables" to stand a chance.

Looks like lots of people didn't get on board to Neptune with Deep Space Philosophical Brad. Even though there is some serious hard core Deep Space fighting in this as well, as his fan base would expect. A bit to our own surprise, however, bff and I - ever-hyper-critical, not particularly Sci-Fi minded, and since our late teens able to quote Thelma & Louise backwards in Texan ("You get your bleep back here, Thelma, now!" "Darryl, go bleep yourself!") were totally gripped. Special Kudos @ TLJ and score composer Max Richter.

I'm royally late (pun intended) in catching The Favorite. Still this movie is so good that I will put my 2 cents in on reviewing it. This movie is not for the fainthearted! I believe that may explain some of the negative reviews. Modern audiences are generally so sugared up when it comes to movie narrative to be able to withstand any other flavors. And there is not a lot of sweetness in this plot, except for the rabbits. Olivia Coleman, Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone completely and utterly rule as a ferocious, traumatised & traumatising power struggling triangle. And that's just the acting. The sets, costumes, supporting characters and dark palace atmosphere make for the perfect bedding. The script may not have meant to be historically accurate, but it does shed light on barely historically documented aspects of romantic as well as ferocious reality of power women through the ages. In my view the *gist* of the narrative is historically undoubtedly quite realistic where it comes to the reality of being queen and or part of her household. All accolades in my view completely and utterly deserved for the actors and producing team. If this were theatre (and this plot would lend itself perfectly for stage adaptationt!) Olivia, Rachel and Emma would relentlessly and uncompromisingly bring the house down. "Bravo!"

I can’t be as raving about From Scratch as most reviewers seem to be. But let’s start on the plus side: the scenery, cinematography and locations are fantastic. It’s a good story although you do know for sure what’s going to come, already from episode 5, way too long up ahead and the narrative leaves you lingering between hope and fear, along with the characters. While this may have been intentional, it got me really impatient by episode 6. I’m don’t tend to confuse personable agreeableness and physical beauty with good acting. So I’d give most of the acting a B, except for Lino’s character and his parents Filomena and Giacomo, as well as the earthy, grounded Hershel and Maxine. The actors playing Amy, Zora and Lynn do not seem to be very authentically connected to their character, more like trying to depict a stereotype that the audience expects. To me, the “sweet” is a bit too sweet, and the “bitter” a bit to polished and cushioned, to be really felt. In a good recipe these are two of five flavours that should be in balance. In this food-oriented miniseries, the sweet unfortunately drowns out the rest. As for the romance, this series to me is more about how easy we’d all wish true would be like, then a realistic depiction of a relationship grounded in life’s hardships, that is growing stronger with the challenges. Nevertheless, it’s worthwhile to watch, if alone for the cultural aspects!

Nick Hilton, in reviewing this series in The Independent, you all but admit doing your exclusive, entertainment critic journalism work while dealing with your taxes and/or cooking at the same time. So I'd question whether you have perhaps become a bit too complacent about your elitist professional position to keep a clear view. Because this is, in fact, an excellent series. Not only because Joanna Lumley is in it, although that alone will crank up the "I'll uncompromisingly grab you by the collar and keep shaking until the last minute" levels of any show. (True. I'm biased. Like most women of Edwina's daughters' generation who dabbled with singing and acting at 17 and realised just in time they would be dead by 29 if they did go all in, Patsy has been to me, what Marianne Faithfull is to Patsy, in an inverted sort of way.) As if the Illumleynation and otherwise exquisite actors wouldn't keep this series going by itself, the narrative is blowing your mind at every turn. The plot is indeed so convaluted, and the edge-of-seat-moments are so twisted and unpredictable that normally I would have switched it off after 15 minutes without giving it a second thought. I have a daytime job that requires all my focus so any convalutedness in entertainment or journalism, tends to lose me quite fast. Despite these incredible odds, retaining my focus is exactly what this series, somehow, unbelievably, managed. Thereby respectfully honoring the fact that, as opposed to Nick, most consumers of entertainment products, have to watch this in their spare time. Thanks to the Xmas break-factor, I greatly enjoyed binging it in two sittings. For all that duration, Fool Me Once kept me from ruminating about: - the clear and present effects of climate change where I live - the irreconcilably polarised state of US politics - the dreadful situation in the Middle East - Putin's next moves - the illogic of the declining enthusiasm in democratic countries to support one of them which is being invaded by a dictator, and - the directly related, nagging question whether in the near future we will still have the precious and delicate privilege of being able to consult fact based independent journalism at all in Western Europe. Keeping my mind off those issues, is an artistic accomplishment. Getting paid to watch tv is perhaps best left to others, while you deploy your clear and present independent journalistic intelligence in safeguarding that profession.

It may be a bit difficult for Americans to understand the amazingly enlightened role model that Tirzo's character is in this series. He will reject every novel concept to the world that he knows, with great undiplomatic force in the first instance: by saying and doing things that would nowadays be self-censored out of American scripts out of fear for upsetting anybody watching. Then finally, he will get his head around inclusiveness issues that apply to his own flesh and blood, so long as they give him a little bit of time. After all he really doesn't truly MEAN the awful things he says. They are just a reflection of his own inner pain and trauma. As a European, I find the Spanish attempt of grappling with inclusiveness and equality in society, as portrayed in Entrevías, much more realistic and palatable than the American way. The overly hypersensitive American political correctness culture at this time, makes watching many otherwise great American films and series psychologically comparable to eating a donut coated in so much sugary goo, that the enamel cracks off your teeth after a couple of bites and you instantly get diabetes. If you ask me, this fear to upset one another has in some ways and places become its own worst enemy, and is starting to have a counterproductive effect, to it's laudable objective. America could definitely do with a bigger dose of Tirzo. A character that would fit in the best Clint Eastwood movies - and Jose Coronado is easily as great an actor. The rest of the cast too, are top notch actors - a true delight to watch in action. What I also like about this series, is that puts intimate violation (just to be exhaustive: of anyone, of any gender, nonbinary identification or preference, towards anyone of any gender, nonbinary identification or preference) in it's proper place: as a criminal transgression of the absolute worst kind. And does so very unambiguously, "Tirzo style". Sure, the love story between Irene and Nelson is quite heavy on the telenovela sauce. But hey, that's fine with the old fashioned romantic in me. After all, hands up all of you watching, who DON'T want true love to prevail in the end? Of course in my corner of the world we haven't been exposed to season 3 and 4 yet. Personally I can't wait, and keep my fingers crossed for all ending well for the young star-crossed lovers and their wonderful crowd of family, friends and fellow inhabitants of Entrevías. PS: reading other reviews makes me glad I can watch the original Spanish language version with subtitles! I highly recommend that over dubbing any time.

Les Combattantes and Le Bazar de la Charité neatly and punctually set the record straight for French Netflix screenwriting, after having to enure the narrative "Bordelle Royale With Cheese" the plot of Dix Pour Cent unfortunately turned into. This series is a great and long overdue Western European redresser of gender balance in representation of who gets to fight heroically in all those horrid gruesome pointless wars throughout the ages. No loose ends, j'aime. And it's just plain edge of seat intense, both in terms of storyline as well as acting. Merci mesdames 'sieurs.

Le Bazar de la Charité and Les Combattantes neatly and punctually set the record straight for French Netflix screenwriting, after having to enure the narrative "Bordelle Royale With Cheese" the plot of Dix Pour Cent unfortunately turned into. Unfortunately all too realistic evil political plotting and clever retributional twisting by the heroines ans heros around a historic tragedy. The Oscars for best Actor and best Actress In A Foreign Series go to two amazing young children. Highly bingeworthy all round.