Wandering through the Shelves

Thursday, May 11, 2023

Thursday Movie Picks #453: Period Drama

Hello there and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks a weekly series where you share your movie picks each Thursday. The rules are simple: based on the theme of the week pick three to five movies and tell us why you picked them. For further details and the schedule visit the series main page here.

---

This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Period Drama

---

I’m simply selecting the last three movies I saw the first half of the year.

The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021)

I read Macbeth as a teen, not for school but on my own so I wasn’t able to fully understand; Shakespeare’s language is a challenge for me. A few years ago I saw the movie with Fassbender in the title role, I got the gist of it but not all of it and still didn’t quite get why it is such a popular play. I was apprehensive watching this new one but decided to just give it a go and it finally clicked…I finally understand it. I do like the movie as a whole, the story the way it was presented here made someone like me who doesn’t understand Shakespeare’s language understand it easily. The visuals: it was shot in black and white with great use of light and shadows and the set was stunning…I love the minimalism and the whole gothic expressionist architecture…it was, looking at IMDB, all filmed in the studio. Performance was generally so-so for everyone…Denzel was great in some parts and moderate in others. I think both leads are older than the age the characters are suppose to be so that made some of the lines not quite work when uttered by older actors.

The Pale Blue Eye (2022)
The mystery is a bit thin though still a decent enough gothic horror movie. I do highly recommend to watch the movie for the visuals. The wintry landscape was just beautiful and filmed in such an atmospheric, melancholic and eerie manner.

The Banshees of Inisherin (2022)
This brought back McDonagh as writer/director and costars Gleason and Ferrell together again who all worked on In Bruges. I love In Bruges, so I wanted this to be great, unfortunately this was quite disappointing for me, it was just so-so, others though seem to love it as this is a well reviewed movie.

---

If you are participating be sure to add your blog post to the linky widget below (Enter your Blog Post URL, your Blog Name and your email {which will remain hidden}). Please also visit the other participating blogs, spread the word about this series, and also link back to my blog on your own Thursday Movie Picks post :)

---

Participating Blogs/Bloggers

Thursday, April 27, 2023

Thursday Movie Picks #452: TMP Television Edition - Lukewarm Second Season

Hello there and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks a weekly series where you share your picks each Thursday. The rules are simple: based on the theme of the week pick three to five titles and tell us why you picked them. For further details and the schedule visit the series main page here.

---

This week's Thursday Movie Picks is TMP Television Edition - Lukewarm Second Season (Series that had a hot First Season and a not so hot Second Season)

---

Heroes (2006)

The first season was outstanding; it was a series which I really looked forward to the next episode. So I was excited about the second season, unfortunately it was such a letdown. I can’t really remember now why, since it’s almost 20 years ago now, but I think the story was just not as interesting and the characters started doing silly things. The same goes for its other subsequent seasons which were all never able to have that same magic from season one.

Felicity (1998)

Felicity didn’t have the kind of stellar season one that Heroes had, but it was a decent show and its first season was I think well liked by its target demographic. Then Felicity, the title character, cut her curly locks and it lost some of its audience. Here’s the thing…I don’t think the quality of the show dipped, not like Heroes, Felicity I thought was a consistent series. The problem was I think not just the haircut, it was Felicity herself. I have not seen the show in two decades, but I vaguely remember Felicity having two quirks. One where she pauses a lot, unable to spit out what she actually wants to say. The second where she sort of rambles a lot when she’s nervous or something…these two things occur frequently and they can make her annoying. However, her big curly hair makes her cute/attractive, so her annoying quirks are somewhat tolerable. But when she cut her hair in season two, it really is one of the worst hairstyles ever, she is no longer as attractive and all that annoying quirks that used to be tolerable is now not. This is a fictional character after all, one that can easily be dropped, …so I can understand why people choose not to watch a show with a very annoying main character anymore.

The Morning Show (2019)

The first two were easy picks but I had a hard time picking a third series. This I think fits well. The first season of The Morning Show had a lot of buzz for multiple reasons. It is one of Apple TV+ first few TV shows released when it was launched. It starred a few big movie stars. It had a Me Too plot involving a news anchor which was something very current at the time with the scandals that some real anchors were embroiled in. Anyway I thought The Morning Show’s season one lived up to the hype, it was an entertaining season. The second season was subsequently released in 2021 which I don’t remember hearing much buzz about that I even forgot there was a second season. Not a fan of the second season, to me it basically just dragged on too much of the same drama from the first season and not really in an interesting way along with some other messy secondary plot dramas. I would say compared with the first season, it had a lot less focus.

---

Participating Blogs/Bloggers

Thursday, April 13, 2023

Thursday Movie Picks #451: Erotic Thrillers

---

This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Erotic Thrillers

---

Another quick one. This sub-genre isn’t the greatest but the twists while often silly make it a fun entertaining watch. I am picking movies I recently watched.

Wild Things (1998)

Saw this years ago. Don’t remember anything so rewatched it this year. Everyone in this is so corrupt with everyone conning each other…the movie should be renamed Dirty Things. Anyway I enjoyed the 90’s-ness of this movie; the twists were silly but fun.

The Voyeurs (2021)
A young couple having moved into their new apartment finds that their neighbours in the building opposite them have large curtain-less windows and are shamelessly living out their lives and romantic lives in full view of their neighbours to see. I thought this was interesting. The twist though came as a surprise and which I thought was over the top and a little nutty.

Deep Water (2022)
In order to avoid a divorce, a couple have an agreement that the wife would be able to have affairs with other men. Then the wife’s lovers start to either disappear or turn up dead and the husband becomes the prime suspect. A little on the moody self-serious side but still thought this was pretty entertaining.

---

Participating Blogs/Bloggers

Thursday, March 30, 2023

Thursday Movie Picks #450: TMP Television Edition - Companion Reads

---

This week's Thursday Movie Picks is TMP Television Edition - Companion Reads (Pair a book to a TV/mini series that makes a good companion read because they feature similar themes/subject - not necessarily the book it was based on)

---

The first two picks were easy finds and what inspired the whole Companion Reads, the last was a little hard to think of.

Lost in Austen (2008) and A Visitor's Guide to Jane Austen's England (2014)

Lost in Austen follows a modern woman, a fan of Jane Austen, who finds a portal to the world of Pride and Prejudice. Switching places with Elizabeth Bennet, she pretends to be Elizabeth’s friend visiting her home. I love this mini series, it is so much fun to see a present day woman trying to live in regency England; I remember there was a scene where she couldn’t identify the instruments to brush her teeth with…it was twigs and some cleaning powder. A perfect companion read is the non-fiction A Visitor's Guide to Jane Austen's England. It is such a fun and insightful read covering how people of the time lived and socialized, how they traveled, the fashion of the time, money matters, what they shopped and do for leisure, marriage and also health. I think this book provides very good context for anyone reading a Jane Austen or regency novel.

A Teacher (2020) and Tampa (2013), My Dark Vanessa (2020)

In limited series A Teacher, a teacher has an inappropriate relationship with her student. I thought this was interesting as it gives the perspective of both teacher and student. Two good companion reads to A Teacher are Tampa and My Dark Vanessa, though I do think there is a difference in that the teacher in A Teacher was unhappy about her life and the relationship she started with her student was part of her imploding her life instead of making certain difficult decisions, while the teachers in the two books are a lot more predatory in that they went into teaching specifically to get access to children. Tampa is quite controversial, it is a first person narrative of a teacher, Celeste, so you are basically in the head of a predator and she is unrepentant in her pursuit and conquest of teenage boys. My Dark Vanessa is from the perspective of a woman, Vanessa, now in her 30s who had a relationship with her teacher when she was 15, one she is adamant was consensual. However, as the Me Too movement gets more press coverage and previous allegations of sexual abuse by other students resurfaced against her teacher along with new allegations, she reluctantly reexamines their relationship…was she too just another victim. Of the two books I definitely recommend My Dark Vanessa, the middle of which is a bit long but the last quarter or so was really good.

Home Before Dark (2020 - 2021) and The Good Girls Guide To Murder (2019)

In Home Before Dark, a young girl, an aspiring journalist, starts her own newspaper and begins to dig into the unsolved case of her father's still missing best friend who had been abducted as a child, where she believes the man imprisoned for his supposed involvement in the crime was wrongly convicted. A good companion read is The Good Girls Guide To Murder, it is quite similar in that they both have precocious girls trying to investigate a crime in which they believe the main suspect was falsely accused and the victims are still missing. In The Good Girls Guide To Murder, five years ago, a teen girl went missing and the prime suspect is her boyfriend who eventually committed suicide after texting a confession of her murder. In the present day, Pip, a girl in her last year of school before university decides to make a podcast for her final year school project focusing on the local murder suicide as she believes the boyfriend was falsely accused and the real killer is still out there living among them.

---

Participating Blogs/Bloggers

Thursday, March 9, 2023

Thursday Movie Picks #449: Companion Reads

---

This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Companion Reads (Pair a book to a movie that makes a good companion read because they feature similar themes/subject - not necessarily the book it was based on)

---

This is coming in late. I'm picking some of the movies I’ve enjoyed and paired them with some of books I like that I think make great companion reads.

Strangers on a Train (1951) and The Kind Worth Killing (2015)

Strangers on a Train itself is adapted from a Patricia Highsmith novel, but if you want something contemporary, a little similar but different, try The Kind Worth Killing, which according to its own blurb is a reimagining of Strangers on a Train. The initial premise is certainly very similar, two strangers meet in an airport, one of them expresses a desire to kill their cheating spouse and the other willing to do it. That’s where the similarity ends as The Kind Worth Killing gets a whole lot more twisty, it even kills one of its major character quickly and on the whole is such a wicked fun read. This has a sequel, The Kind Worth Saving, which was released just the past week.

Practical Magic (1998) and Garden Spells (2007)
Practical Magic the movie is a little different being more supernatural and magical as compared to the book which is more of a family drama of a gifted family and Garden Spells is more like the Practical Magic book. But the basic premise is very similar, a family with two sisters with some magical skills, with one sister returning to the family home after a long time away. I really enjoyed Garden Spells so if you’ve enjoyed Practical Magic, movie or book, it’s likely you’ll enjoy it too.

Promising Young Woman (2020) and Sadie (2018)

In Promising Young Woman Cassandra’s best friend died when she was in medical school and for the years after that Cassandra has been out on a reckless and suicidal quest for justice and revenge. In Sadie, Sadie’s sister was recently killed and she herself had recently disappeared out on a desperate, reckless and suicidal quest for justice and revenge. Sadie is a dual narrator novel; the other (the first is Sadie) narrator is a radio host who has been tasked to start a true crime podcast. When Sadie’s disappearance gets his attention, the missing Sadie becomes the focus of the podcast. If you like Promising Young Woman I highly recommend Sadie as it is quite similar in its basic premise and is soo good. However, in all its bleakness Promising Young Woman still had moments where it was darkly funny…Sadie on the other hand is relentlessly bleak and heartbreaking.

---

Participating Blogs/Bloggers

Thursday, February 23, 2023

Thursday Movie Picks #448: Romance Tropes / TMP Television Edition - Friends To Lovers

---

This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Romance Tropes / TMP Television Edition - Friends To Lovers

---

Hey it's February and it's time for the Romance Tropes Edition. Take a look at what's in store for the rest of the month.

February 2 - Romance Tropes Edition: Travel Romance
February 9 - Romance Tropes Edition: Cinderella Plot (A heroine being swept off her feet by a wealthy guy)
February 16 - Romance Tropes Edition: Forced Proximity (characters are stuck together perhaps sheltering from a storm together, or are on a long haul flight, or stuck in a lift…etc)
February 23 - Romance Tropes / TMP Television Edition: Friends To Lovers

This theme turned out to be quite tricky. I’m picking three British series I like.

Misfits (2009 -2013)
This is a gem. A favourite. The gist: 5 juvenile delinquents (about late teens early 20-ish youths?) are stuck doing community service at their community center when they get hit by lightning during a freak storm and get some special abilities. They all sort of become friends as they each learn how to use their new powers. Two of them eventually become more than friends, but in the new world of special abilities, things get difficult for them.

Fresh Meat (2011 - 2016)

This is a funny comedy about six university students sharing a house, two of them eventually form a romantic relationship, though a difficult on and off type. The series ended in 2016, but I thought it was the kind of series that could have continued on with a fresh batch of students living in the house.

Crashing (2016)
The series follows a group of mostly 20 and 30 somethings who are friends/lovers/rivals living in a disused hospital as property guardians. Two of them are childhood best friends who have recently reconnected and have always been sort of in love with each other but have trouble admitting it, so much so that when one or the other inadvertently admits it, each immediately take it back treating it as a joke. They're a disaster but the series itself is very funny and I was disappointed that it only had the one season.

---

Participating Blogs/Bloggers

Thursday, February 16, 2023

Thursday Movie Picks #447: Romance Tropes Edition - Forced Proximity

---

This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Romance Tropes Edition - Forced Proximity

---

Hey it's February and it's time for the Romance Tropes Edition. Take a look at what's in store for the rest of the month.

This theme is harder than I thought it would be. I’m picking the first three that came to mind.

Can You Keep a Secret (2018)

While on a flight, I think because she was nervous during turbulence, a woman starts rambling random things about herself to a stranger seated next to her, only to discover later when she got back to her office that he is their new boss. The movie is ok, rather forgettable. I don’t know why they keep making American adaptations of Sophie Kinsella’s novels. I’ve read many of her stand-alone books (not the Shopaholic series), and would love to see a British adaptation of one of them because I think much of their humour have been lost in translation in previous adaptations.

Destination Wedding (2018)

Two middle age singles attend a destination wedding and ended up having to share or get placed together often. Like I think they were on the same flight, airport shuttle and taxi and roomed next each other…and so on. The movie is so-so, but it was nice to see Ryder and Reeves reunited on screen almost three decades since Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

Before Sunrise (1995)

Jesse and Celine met when they were seated near each other on a train in Europe. I actually never liked Before Sunrise that much, it was just a so-so movie to me as the banter between the two was not that engaging with little spark. I am glad though, that despite how unimpressed I was with Before Sunrise, I did decide to watch Before Sunset when it was released…because I really love the sequel.

---

Participating Blogs/Bloggers

Thursday, February 9, 2023

Thursday Movie Picks #446: Romance Tropes Edition - Cinderella Plot

---

This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Romance Tropes Edition - Cinderella Plot (A heroine being swept off her feet by a wealthy guy)

---

Hey it's February and it's time for the Romance Tropes Edition. Take a look at what's in store for the rest of the month.

February 2 - Romance Tropes Edition: Travel Romance

February 9 - Romance Tropes Edition: Cinderella Plot (A heroine being swept off her feet by a wealthy guy)
February 16 - Romance Tropes Edition: Forced Proximity (characters are stuck together perhaps sheltering from a storm together, or are on a long haul flight, or stuck in a lift…etc)
February 23 - Romance Tropes / TMP Television Edition: Friends To Lovers

I’m going the period drama route as such plots are more suited in a historical setting where women have almost zero career options, so to better themselves financially, the only option often is to marry well. I’m picking the movies I like.

Mansfield Park (1999)

The book is actually my least-liked Austen novel as Fanny Price was so dull and doormat-like in the book. However, in the movie they changed her personality, Fanny is more lively and opinionated with a sharp tongue, which is why I enjoyed it more. In Mansfield Park, Fanny is in love with one rich man and courted by another charming rich guy and yeah one of them is actually her cousin which is gross but this is set in the late 18th or early 19th century when such things are acceptable and normal.

I Capture the Castle (2003)

This is a charming adaptation of one of my favourite books. In the movie, two sisters living with their family in a crumbling castle and surviving on their father’s meager book royalties see an opportunity for a better future when the rich American-British brothers and owners of the castle come to visit their properties.

Pride and Prejudice (2005)

Elizabeth wasn’t quite impressed by Darcy’s wealth due to his lack of social skills and poorly delivered proposal. Things change though when she sees how grand Pemberly is and how fondly his sister and housekeeper speak of him.

---

Participating Blogs/Bloggers

Thursday, February 2, 2023

Thursday Movie Picks #445: Romance Tropes Edition - Travel Romance

---

This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Romance Tropes Edition - Travel Romance

---

Hey it's February and it's time for the Romance Tropes Edition. Take a look at what's in store for the rest of the month.

Today is the start of the Romance Tropes Edition which will run the whole of February. This is the third year I'm running this annual special edition. The Romance Tropes Edition, if you weren't here previous years, is very much inspired by the sub-genres and popular tropes in the romance novels I’ve read. Here are the movies that I like.

Somewhere in Time (1980)

Two types of travel featured: domestic travel and time travel. I really enjoyed this romantic period drama fantasy. Christopher Reeves plays a playwright. Taking a break from work, he leaves the city to stay at a hotel. There he finds a photo of a beautiful young woman, a famous actress from several decades ago who was once a guest at the hotel whom he soon realises is also the same old woman who had approached him with an odd message when he was a college student.

Before Sunset (2004)

The whole Before trilogy involves travel and romance but my favourite is Before Sunset, the middle movie. In it, Jesse, now a published author, goes to Paris as part of his book tour and is finally able to reconnect with Celine.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (2018)

It’s a nice little romantic drama about a writer who travels to Guernsey to meet members of a book club. While there she becomes engrossed with their World War 2 experience living under German occupation and falls for a local guy.

---

Participating Blogs/Bloggers

Thursday, January 26, 2023

Thursday Movie Picks #444: TMP Television Edition - 2022 Freshmen Series

---

This week's Thursday Movie Picks is TMP Television Edition - 2022 Freshmen Series

---

I'll reiterate what's been said in previous years' similar posts, limited series cannot be included today. This TMP theme refers to Freshmen, which means the first season, therefore a limited series with only one planned season is not the first of anything. Here are my favourite freshmen series of 2022, all of which have been renewed for new seasons...there really were some really good new series that launched last year.

Slow Horses (2022 - )

This series follows members of MI5 that have screwed up and have been relegated to Slough House where they are called Slow Horses and get the "boring" jobs or the ones the agency wants to distance themselves from with plausible deniability. This is so much fun and one of the funniest spy series I've seen and with Gary Oldman being so sharply funny as this cranky, unhygienic and sarcastic ex-field agent/spy now head of the losers known as Slow Horses. The series had its first season in April 2022 followed by the second season in December. Each season is a short 6 episode with one story arc and I've enjoyed both seasons...I am really liking series with short seasons...its the best way to tell a story concisely without dragging out a plot with unnecessary fillers Anyway Slow Horses have been so well received, it's already been renewed for season 3 and 4 with season 3 already shot and its sneak peak viewable at the end of season 2.

Heartstoppers (2022 - )

It's about two boys at school who becomes friends and start to fall for each other. This is one the most adorable sweetest teen romance drama series I have ever seen. It is soo good. Teen dramas tend to have a lot of kids just being nasty towards each other, here they make an effort to be kind and compassionate which is just refreshing. If you like The Half of It, I would highly recommend Heartstopper.

Bad Sisters (2022 - )

Four sisters plot to murder their vile sexist, racist, homophobic brother-in-law to free their beloved sister and niece from his control. This darkly funny dramedy is told like a mystery, where we know from the beginning he is dead, we just don't know how he died. It slowly reveals the events that would lead to his death through multiple flashbacks. Bad Sisters is a funny funny series, but also rather sad and horrific...the brother-in-law is just a horrible horrible person...like criminally so. Anyway I was so surprised that this is getting a second season since I thought the first season ended neatly.

The Recruit (2022 - )

A lawyer working for the CIA gets entangled in a case where a former asset threatens to expose her relationship with the agency. This is actually a very fun action spy series with a bit of humour. I do like its rather unique angle to a spy story where the main character is a lawyer, whose main job is to assess and advise on the agency's legal options, but instead gets drawn into a case that puts him in multiple dangerous situations that he is ill equipped to cope being not an agent and have zero fighting skills.

Severance (2022 - )

In an unknown near future, employees can volunteer for a procedure called Severance, where their memories are surgically divided between their work and personal lives. I found the first few episodes so dull; I didn't know why people liked it and giving it such high praise, I almost gave up...but I ended up liking the series a lot. I'd say you have to see at least halfway through the season, that's when everything sort of clicked for me and the series just got better with each episode. It really is a terrifying vision of a future version of work life balance.

---

Participating Blogs/Bloggers

Thursday, January 12, 2023

Thursday Movie Picks #443: 2022 Releases

---

This week's Thursday Movie Picks is 2022 Releases

---

This is coming in late, so it’ll be another quick one. I am picking my favourites.

Catherine Called Birdy (2022)

This is such a fun and funny coming of age comedy about a girl in medieval England.

Kimi (2022)
I really enjoyed this tech thriller that feels very current and highlighting a very real privacy issue for virtual assistant tech.

The Valet (2022)

The plot kinda seems silly and it kinda gives an impression of being a romantic comedy, though it is not. It’s just a comedy and it is funny and just very sweet.

The Wonder (2022)

The opening was kinda odd. The story moved rather slowly and only started picking up halfway through but I ended up liking the movie a lot; it was beautifully shot and haunting. The main character, the nurse, reminds me a lot of Jane Eyre; independent, with a quiet strength and very resolute.

---

Participating Blogs/Bloggers

Sunday, January 1, 2023

2023 Thursday Movie Picks Schedule (Final)

Just one thing before you scroll down to the final schedule. If you haven't read my 2022 Thursday Movie Picks Schedule (Preliminary) post, click the link and read it. I had written about some RUDE participants. Basically if you want to participate in TMP, participate properly…don’t be that rude person.

--------------------------------

So back to all you other decent folks who have been participating, thanks for joining in the past and here is a refresher on the two requirements for Thursday Movie Picks (TMP) participation.

1. Submit your link in the linkup widget.

2. Link back to my blog on their own TMP post.

This 2023 run of TMP is the tenth year I'm doing the series and I really contemplated either not doing it at all or just doing it on my own so that I can do sporadically rather than every single Thursday. 2023 is going to be a little busy so doing every Thursday is going to be a challenge. In the end I found a middle ground. As you may have noticed the schedule is shorter.

The 2023 TMP is going to run on the second Thursday of every month for the regular movie edition and the last Thursday of the month for the TV edition. The exception is February for the Romance Tropes Edition and October for the Halloween edition which will run every single Thursday for that month.

This is the final schedule. Any mistakes, questions or clarification needed please leave a comment. Also can someone check the dates for me as last year I made quite a number of mistakes with dates leading to extra themes.

--------------------------------

2023 Thursday Movie Picks Schedule (Final)

January 12 - 2022 Releases
January 26 - TMP Television Edition: 2022 Freshmen Series
February 2 - Romance Tropes Edition: Travel Romance
February 9 - Romance Tropes Edition: Cinderella Plot (A heroine being swept off her feet by a wealthy guy)
February 16 - Romance Tropes Edition: Forced Proximity (characters are stuck together perhaps sheltering from a storm together, or are on a long haul flight, or stuck in a lift…etc)
February 23 - Romance Tropes / TMP Television Edition: Friends To Lovers
March 9 - Companion Reads (Pair a book to a movie that makes a good companion read because they feature similar themes/subject - not necessarily the book it was based on).
March 30 - TMP Television Edition: Companion Reads (Pair a book to a TV show that makes a good companion read because they feature similar themes/subject - not necessarily the book it was based on).
April 13 - Erotic Thrillers
April 27 - TMP Television Edition: Lukewarm Second Season (Series that had a hot First Season and a not so hot Second Season)
May 11 - Period Drama
May 25 - TMP Television Edition: TV Score and/or Theme Song
June 8 - Seasons in Title
June 29 - TMP Television Edition: Revenge
July 13 - Book Adaptation
July 27 - TMP Television Edition: Con Artists
August 10 - Workplace: The Female Experience
August 31 - TMP Television Edition: Female Investigators (Private or Police)
September 14 - Non-English Language Movies
September 28 - TMP Television Edition: Book Adaptation
October 5 - Halloween Edition: Tourist Experience
October 12 - Halloween Edition: New Person (eg. new girlfriend, new stepfather, new colleague…etc)

October 19 - Halloween Edition: Workplace
October 26 - Halloween/Television Edition: Cults/Secret Societies
November 9 - A Different Perspective (a well known story told from the perspective of a different character. An example is the recent Rosaline movie which is a retelling of Romeo and Juliet from the perspective of Rosaline, you know the girl Shakespeare mentions Romeo had been infatuated with and conveniently forgot about when he met Juliet)
November 30 - TMP Television Edition: Non-English
December 14 - Day or Night in Title
December 28 - TMP Television: Sports (Scripted Series. Non-Reality)

Thursday, December 29, 2022

Thursday Movie Picks #442: TMP Television Edition - Amnesiacs

---

This week's Thursday Movie Picks is TMP Television Edition - Amnesiacs

---

I'm picking the first three series that came to mind. Also drop by my blog Sunday night, I’ll be posting the final 2023 schedule.

The Sinner (2017 - 2021)

In season one, a woman fatally stabs a man while at the beach with her family, without knowing why. This is an anthology series with each season a new crime is investigated by the main detective character. There’s a memory loss element in the first season, where the accused suffered some missing months in her early 20s causing her to have a violent physical reaction to the victim in the present day. The series presents its stories in a very eerie haunting manner though it is not always consistently good I think; I prefer only the first and fourth season.

Tabula Rasa (2017)

A woman suffering from amnesia is involuntarily committed to a mental institution when she becomes a key figure in the disappearance of a local man that she doesn't even remember she knows due to her condition. Out of my three picks today, I like this Belgian limited series the best. It’s a slow burn as it slowly reveals what actually happened and the extent of the main character’s amnesia. To me, Tabula Rasa is a little like a mash up of Shutter Island, The Orphanage and Before I Go to Sleep, so if you like them, check this out.

Surface (2022 - )

A woman suffers complete memory loss after what she is told was a failed suicide attempt by jumping off a ferry. This is a mystery, unfortunately not much of a big mystery in the end, it just went round and round but it did look pretty though. So a bit disappointing. It is a getting a second season. The first season covers the main character’s most recent past, while the second season it seems from how the last episode ended will go further back in time to when she was in London, before she emigrated to the US.

---

Participating Blogs/Bloggers

Saturday, December 24, 2022

Thursday Movie Picks #441: Winter Sports

---

This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Winter Sports

---

This is coming in late, so it’ll be a quick one. I am picking my most recent watches.

Mystery, Alaska (2006)

Ice Hockey. This is a nice little sports drama (though a little forgettable) about a small town community hockey team that gets a lot of attention I think because they play on a naturally forming ice rink…it was a frozen lake or pond.

Eddie the Eagle (2015)
Ski Jumping. I didn’t enjoy this film. I thought it was fairly boring.

I, Tonya (2017)

Ice Skating. This is the movie today that I really like and it was such a surprise. It’s a sports drama biopic with some mockumentary elements and dark humor.

---

Participating Blogs/Bloggers

Thursday, December 15, 2022

Thursday Movie Picks #440: Movies with Flowers/Plants in the Title

---

This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Movies with Flowers/Plants in the Title

---

This theme is suggested by Brittani. This is quite an easy one, there are plenty of movies I've seen. I'm picking the ones that were disappointments.

The Black Dahlia (2006)

I remember there was a lot of hype with this movie because of the cast, director and it is based off a real unsolved crime. I think it was trying to be noir-ish and also some kind erotic drama/thriller but ultimately it all fell flat and didn't get good reviews.

La Vie en Rose (2007)
Yes it won an Oscar for best actress, but I did not like it. It was so dreary and boring.

Violet & Daisy (2011)

Two flowers! I think Saoirse Ronan is a good actress and had been looking forward to this and had thought it could be a mix of Hanna and The Professional. Nope...it was boring and Alexis Bledel was too old to play a teen.

---

Participating Blogs/Bloggers