Elizabeth Ferrell

Don't waste your time with this tepid backwash soap opera. Even though there are some great A-list actors, the writing is banal and the story uninteresting. I found myself drifting , dozing through some of it. The best character in this series is the female detective. She's a bit of a battleax and sometimes funny in her delivery. This series doesn't know what it wants to be...snarky comedy or serious whodunit? My understanding is there may be a second season. For what, I ask? It seems the story has ended, and the book from which the source material is garnered has no addendum thus far. So where will additional narratives spring from? This consideration must mean this series is cheap and flashy for easy marketing to a broad base for Netflix. Nothing substantive here to see. Just more boring spoon fed pablum. I recommend a hard pass.

RIVETING TO WATCH! Wonderfully written and acted, BEEF is about an incident of road rage that goes off the rails and spirals far, far, down a dark rabbit hole of events that profoundly impact the lives of the central characters and everyone in their orbit. How absurd does it get? It's a dark comedy so there are funny moments, but the writers tease you into deeper thinking through the actions of these characters who seem to be star-crossed and karmically destined for their feud. This dark comedy is deep. With each action they choose, they become more unrecognizable to themselves and more lost...but it's this happenstance moment of rage that brings them to an epiphany and a greater understanding of themselves. BEEF will remind you of just how messy life can get, and how one action can set a series of events in motion that can completely altar the course of your life. It was a fantastically thought-provoking and wildly entertaining series. I can't recommend it enough. 👏👏👏👏

Based on the book of the same name by author, Sarah Perry, this series starring Clare Danes and Tom Hiddleston in the lead roles, is about a recently widowed woman who travels to Essex from London with maid and son in tow to explore the myth and rumors about a giant serpent stalking the local waterways. Cora (Clare Danes) is an amateur naturalist and believes the excursion will be an interesting diversion where she can hone her skills. It proves to be quite a complicated visit replete with angry, bible thumping, townsfolk, and multiple suitors. It's interesting to note that this book was recently part of a list compiled by the BBC and is considered one the best Gothic novels of all time. (According to them..I haven't read it) That's certainly high praise and equally recommends it as a mini series, yet I found the series to be meandering, dull, and fairly predictable. I found myself not really caring about the characters and story. I dozed through parts of it...it was hard to stay awake. I was disappointed. I love the actors involved and certainly found no fault with them, but there was some sort of disconnect with the narrative. I really don't think this series is worth your time. Maybe try the book instead. It got great reviews.

It's shocking how utterly thin and abysmally bad the plot and writing is for this small series. It's equally shocking people actually liked this. None of the set-up for the vicar is even remotely believable. I think of myself as someone who has a willing suspension of disbelief, but this was just bad writing, and an insult to its audience. I found myself groaning in frustration throughout. I watched because David Tennant and Stanley Tucci are wonderful actors, but I can't understand why they would jump at this script. I do not recommend.

This final season of Dexter just didn't give us the quality of writing that previous seasons offered. Dexter is a phenomenal character in the pantheon of television. While thrilled to see a new season of Dexter, I was profoundly disappointed by the thin storytelling. Are we really supposed to believe the sheriff was able to arrive at such astonishing conclusions with so little information? No way! Its all so poorly contrived. This new season is an insult to Dexter fans and frankly, I am amazed that Michael C. Hall agreed to this rubbish. If flimsy story telling is your thing, then go ahead and watch. I don't recommend it.

Don't waste your time trying to watch this horrible, overly dramatic, soap opera. The Vivian character is portrayed so badly it's annoying. The real story of Anna is fascinating, but it gets buried in all of the extraneous melodrama and buffoonery of the supporting characters, namely Anna's unsuspecting chums, Neff, Rachel, and Kacy, not to mention, writer Vivian's tiresome pregnancy we're forced to endure. You won't get much substance about Anna in this series. It's truly one of the worst series I've seen on Netflix. I'm just sorry Julia Garner is associated with it. She does a good job as Anna, but her character and story gets lost in all of the bad writing and acting that surrounds her performance. Shondaland just makes this story spectacularly banal.

Phenomenal performance by Natalie Portman. She gives a stunning portrayal of Celeste, a woman who has goes from shy, compassionate, teenage victim, to self-absorbed, brash, mega pop star. As a teen, a single event takes place, changing the trajectory of her life. We can see what fame does to her and her relationships with those closest to her. One gets the impression she struggles with who she has become and she must maintain this difficult persona in order to maintain her place in the pop star firmament. For all her problems, which includes drug and alcohol abuse, she finds her equilibrium in the spotlight and in those glittering moments, her daughter and sister do also. When watching this film, think of it as more of a character study, rather looking for narrative. It's an interesting film, but not a great film. It feels as if there's been too much editing.

A terrible film and certainly doesn't measure up to the original in any way. Although the narrative follows closely to the original, the characters are not fleshed out as individuals with personalities. The film veers when the antagonist roles are switched and the ultimate showdown happens between Duchovny and Witches. And this aspect of the film feels contrived, unexplored, and ultimately unfinished. It just doesn't make any sense. There is a sense that the writer, director, were attempting to take on loftier ideas but just didn't have the space to explore them. Don't waste your precious time watching this film. Watch and enjoy the original again instead.