Wasted Star Power
Posted : 5 years, 10 months ago on 3 June 2018 11:34 (A review of The Last Witch Hunter)0 comments, Reply to this entry
Quit Giving Firefighters A Bad Name!
Posted : 6 years ago on 20 April 2018 05:34 (A review of Station 19)But I digress...where do I start explaining the flaws in this show? The cancer-ridden captain (and father) having the sole authority to pass station command off to his daughter when he becomes too ill to continue? No, wait, let's have her compete with her boyfriend for the promotion while the Battalion Chief referees? The "afternoon delight" between firefighters? The never-ending female empowerment themes ("Can you believe I'm a grrrll and driving this big-ass ladder truck? Yee-ea-ah!!")? The ubiquitous/mandatory gay character (not that there's anything wrong with that,...)?
I could type up a whole dissertation on the differences between East Coast and West Coast firefighting, but I've already done that for my degree and instructional certifications.
Bottom line?
- parents almost NEVER have direct command over their children in a major fire department
- promotions ALWAYS go through the civil service process
- I'm truly surprised the City of Seattle and the Seattle FD are approving the use of their name for this mess (copyright or brand approval denotes tacit support)
- For partial disclosure (I can't disclose my department location, per City and union rules), we DO have female firefighters (both career and volunteer) in our department and one of my lieutenants (and friend, trusted aide, and fellow instructor) is openly gay.
Thank God I'm retiring in 2 years!
1 comments, Reply to this entry
Rehash Trash
Posted : 6 years ago on 6 April 2018 04:48 (A review of Bubble Trouble)0 comments, Reply to this entry
The Vampire and the Ballerina review
Posted : 6 years, 2 months ago on 11 February 2018 12:39 (A review of The Vampire and the Ballerina)0 comments, Reply to this entry
A Study in Stark Contrasts
Posted : 6 years, 2 months ago on 31 January 2018 03:16 (A review of The Girlfriend Experience)In season 1, the show highlighted Riley Keough's Christine, playing a classic trope: the law school student who's dalliance in high-end prostitution is funding her education. But Christine is a temperamental, tightly-wound, high-strung young woman who's failing to live up to her family's expectations. As an intern at a well-to-do law firm, she's caught up in a conspiracy simultaneously involving her boss-slash-john. That plot alone would have made great fodder for a law firm drama but, like Christine's failings, it was undone by her inability to control her own temper. Eventually, Christine's two worlds collide and she comes crashing down to Earth. In the end, she makes a choice to live only one lifestyle and it leaves her soul as empty as her surroundings.
In season 2, the show ran two separate plot lines back-to-back each week. First was Anna Friel's Erica, a functionary working for a political action committee during an important election campaign and lesbian on the rebound from a recent break-up. The second was Carmen Ejogo's Bria, a gangster's moll in the witness protection program. Anna Friel was brittle, dowdy and drab in her role, evoking little sympathy for her character Erica, while Carmen Ejogo, as Bria, brought some life to an otherwise poorly-written season. Bria, now working a dull assembly line in Albuquerque, New Mexico, eventually falls back into GFE mode to not only break up the monotony of her life, but save up enough money to escape from under the Draconian thumb of her Federal Marshal handler. Neither plot had a clean ending, especially Bria's "is this a fantasy or not?" finality.
I don't know if the show was renewed for third season, but I'm hopeful for a return to the first season.
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Quick and Easy
Posted : 6 years, 4 months ago on 3 December 2017 09:01 (A review of Cacio e pepe)Tutti al tavolo e mangiare!
1 comments, Reply to this entry
A Distaff Limitless
Posted : 6 years, 8 months ago on 18 August 2017 03:29 (A review of Lucy)At least the end of "Limitless" left the story line open for more (hint, hint, CBS,...you could have handled the series better, but I digress). Lucy ended a whimper, or the beep of an incoming text message.
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Pizza Rustica review
Posted : 6 years, 8 months ago on 17 August 2017 04:04 (A review of Pizza Rustica)1 comments, Reply to this entry
Siren review
Posted : 6 years, 8 months ago on 6 August 2017 03:18 (A review of Siren)0 comments, Reply to this entry
A More "Realistic" Sci-Fi Series
Posted : 6 years, 10 months ago on 16 June 2017 12:46 (A review of The Expanse)1 comments, Reply to this entry