BROADCHURCH

My sister lives in a different country but we stay in touch fairly consistently via email and this useful phone program called WhatsApp.  Anyway, we were texting briefly and she mentioned something about a show called Broadchurch, a mini-series (at least, that was what I thought, although it might have more seasons?) that she had seen which she very much enjoyed.

Her:  ERMAGERD it has DAVID TENNANT!!!

Me:  Who?

She rarely steers me wrong though, so I decided to give it a shot.  Standing at eight episodes, I didn't feel like it would be much of a commitment, unlike embarking on something such as Dr. Who.  Ain't nobody got time for dat.

Quickly I realised that David Tennant was Barty Crouch Jr.--not exactly an endearing character...

(SIDE NOTE:  I found some mildly disturbing home-made wallpapers worshipping Barty Crouch Jr., tagline:  I'll show you mine if you show me yours.  Eek.)

Apparently Tennant also acted as Dr. Who.  I wouldn't know.  Like I said...no time for that. Am I getting way off topic here?  I feel like I am.  TO THE SUBJECT AT HAND:  I started watching Broadchurch and was immediately sucked in.  

The premise is this:  there is a murder of a child (Danny Latimer) in a small town and the head detectice Alec Hardy (Tennant) is forced to delve deep into the lives of community members in an attempt to uncover the truth.  There is also some side stuff happening that jumbles in with the main murder plot, including Hardy's previous case which was bungled by one of his sergeants.   As well, he has who appears to be an estranged daughter, although that is never really explored.

First off, I think the strongest part of this show was the acting.  I cannot praise it enough.  The moment when the mother discovers her son is dead astounded me.  I have never been able to truly comprehend those moments on shows or movies because I have never had a child, but the acting was so incredible I came to this...place...where I sat on the couch and thought, 'dear God, the pain she must be feeling'.   I was so impressed that she was able to convey a mother's loss so strongly.

As the town slowly unravels, there are more sad characters that are introduced with back stories that make you weep.  No, literally, I wept.  In at least two, probably three, episodes I couldn't stop the tears leaking out.

The music is unlike any tv show I have seen.  It was very moody with a lot of cellos and dark overtones.  I mean, look at the heavy subject matter... They did a fantastic job of incorporating it into the script and the plot.  I would say that many of the of the highly emotional moments were carried along in tone by the music.  I hope they release some type of OST.  (Nerdgasm.)

So the acting was good, especially from supporting characters.  There was one side plot in particular (not going to say what happens, only this one name:  JACK MARSHALL) that was sooo tragic, it made me want to watch comedy movies for the next few months.  

In the first part of the series I didn't much care for Tennant's acting and the character he was building.  Alec Hardy is this out-of-town detective who is leading the investigation, working primarily with Ellie Miller, who is also a close family friend of the Latimers (murdered child family).  He takes over the case and everyone in the police department has to get used to his odd-duck ways.  Tennant grew on me though;  I especially was amused by his many dramatic faces.

The deep sighing...

The disgusted face...

The heavy lidded eye roll...

The eventual unavoidable emotional breakdown...

The threatening...

The actors/actresses of the Latimer family perform solidly together as broken yet persistent family unit.  Beth, mother, carries the weight of Danny's death the most heavily and the series strongly focuses on the effect her child's death has on her life.  We have all seen news clips when children have been murdered, but what does a parent suffer through?  How far will they go to find the killer?  And what will they do if they manage to find them?  How do you carry on and have a meaningful life when you have lost someone forever?

While the Latimer family grapples with this death, the rest of the town goes into shock as well, and then commence to immediately begin hiding secrets, any and all secrets no matter how relevant or unimportant they are, much to the frustration of Hardy.  In a murder case, who cares about an unrelated sordid love affair?  As Hardy and Miller fight to see through all this confusion, they also seek to bring peace and trust back into the small community any way that they can.  

But the whole time as a viewer you are nervous and wondering...who did kill Danny Latimer?  Who can we trust in this story?  Alibis are questioned and I felt jumpy as I tried not to get attached to certain people.  The writing is very clever in this series and the dialogue is NEVER stilted.  Broadchurch poses this question:  in our day and age, who can we rely on?  Are our neighbours safe?  Are we really looking out for each other?  

Some of the criticisms I read on IMDb were that Ellie Miller should not have been allowed on the case if she had known the family members.  However, realistically speaking, in a small town there isn't much that can be done in such a situation as you work with what you have. 

Here was another criticism I repeatedly saw:  why was it is so easy to guess who murdered Danny?  I guessed right away.  The motive was stupid.  This is poor writing.  I hate this show!!!111!!!

Okay, first off, it's not poor writing if the motive chosen doesn't line up with your best interests.  Secondly, and pay attention because this is important, the focus of the show is not the murder.  Even though it is what the season hinges on, the greater second half of it is about how the family is affected by their loss and what the town is doing to help (or hinder) the investigation.  

This is much deeper than a stand-alone NCIS or Criminal Minds episode.  You have to look at the season as giant arc of emotions, turmoil, change, growth, regression, sadness, relationships, etc, etc.  There isn't a quick solving of murder and that's it.  What happens goes past the murder into the lives of the people who are one way or another affected by Danny's death.

I give Broadchurch a 9/10 and say, GO WATCH IT.  You will be moved.  The ending will make you a bit uncomfortable and it may be months before you feel the urge to watch it again, but it is worth watching. The acting alone is superb. 

A warning:  sometimes, okay a lot of the time, I was unable to understand what the characters were saying because of their English accents and speed of speech.  Prepare thyself for this.  Not everyone drawls. 

This is one of the best shows I have seen for a long time.  Do take the time to watch it and you will not regret it!

P.S.  I wrote my sister back and said, "OMG Broadchurch was SOO GOOD! Thanks for the recommendation!!!", to which she replied, "Erm, I only watched the first episode".  *facepalm*

On the Island ~ Tracey Garvis-Graves

On the Island by Tracey Garvis-Graves
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This book was chosen as Book-of-the-Month in a Goodreads group I am part of; the likelihood of my picking up and reading this book on my own was extremely low. Despite that, because I have been feeling guilty about not keeping up with the monthly pick, I decided to make a concerted effort to read it.

Before I read the book, I took a quick peek at the non-spoilery reviews and saw that most were 4 or 5 stars. 'This is good sign,' I thought.

Wow.
After finishing the novel, my first thought was, How in the world are people giving this 4 or 5 stars???

For lack of better terms, I would say plainly that this novel is exactly what it appears to be. There is nothing surprising or deep in it. What you see is precisely what you get.

WARNING! SPOILERS AHEAD!

The two main characters are Anna and T.J. Anna is a 30-year-old private tutor who has committed her summer to helping T.J., a 17-year-old boy, catch up with his school work. T.J. has just recovered from leukemia.

They catch a plane to some tropical location where the rest of T.J.'s family is waiting for them. After switching to a small seaplane, they begin the final stage of the journey. However, as misfortune would have it, their pilot suffers from a massive heart attack and crashes the plane into the sea.

(This is one example of poor character and plot development. They're sitting in this tiny plane when Anna notices that their heavily obese pilot is sweating and having chest pain. Her father had suffered through a large heart attack so she knew how to recognize the first signs of an M.I. My first instinct would be to use the radio to get a hold of someone ASAP or ask the pilot to scooch over and let me take a crack at flying.)

Their plane crashes and the two main characters eventually wash up onto a small uninhabited island. They begin what will be three and a half long years stranded from civilization and creature comforts.

The strength of the human spirit becomes obvious as they build shelter, collect wood for their ever-burning fire, fish and gather fruit... They find a skeleton in a cave and spend a small amount of time exploring.

There are extremely ludicrous and laughable parts to their sojourn, but the worst is probably the Shark Situation.

At one point a nine foot shark begins to terrorize the lagoon that they bathe and swim in. T.J. makes a plan to hook the shark on a line and pull him onto land, effectively killing him. (I'm not sure why these two smart people would think they could reel in a nine foot shark, considering the sheer weight of those beasts, but that's what makes it so ludicrous.)

They go out into the lagoon, bait the shark with a wild chicken they have found running around on the island, and when it begins hooked onto their flimsy line, they quickly realize that it was a bad idea and attempt to swim out of the lagoon, away from the shark.

Just when it seems like they are about to be eaten, a family of dolphins that T.J. and Anna occasionally swim with come to the rescue and coral the shark toward the shallows, beaching him and causing death.

Yes, it really is as ridiculous as it sounds. It was unbearable to read.

And the taboo romance. Anna is T.J.'s intended teacher and there is a 13 year age gap between them...but of course, because they are alone and need comfort, eventually there is a consummation of their relationship and they fall in love. It's all quite tepid.

Finally, after years spent on the island, a tsunami sweeps through the area of the ocean and rescue helicopters doing routine searches find the two of them. They are saved. What a relief.

Reality quickly sets in though. On the island the two of them had a strong relationship, mainly because there was nothing to influence it. Once the media gets wind of the story, they portray Anna in negative light, attempting to create a sordid story out of their relationship. She is pictured as preying upon her young student, when they both insist that he was 19 when they first became physical.

Oh no! Their relationship can't handle the heat and both turn to go their separate ways. Because it's a predictable novel, they each dabble in finding themselves before ultimately reuniting. The end.

In summation:

The novel has an interesting premise. The exploration into a potentially taboo relationship is probably what has drawn so many women into reading this novel. It's also a very easy and quick read--I finished it in a couple hours.

The time spent on the island passes quickly as you read the book. It certainly doesn't feel like three and a half years.

Unfortunately, even though the plot was decent, the characters remained sadly underdeveloped. I also cannot emphasize enough how horrible the dialogue between the characters was; it was like reading Sweet Valley High or Goosebumps.

There is a rumour that the book may be developed into a movie. Hopefully whoever is chosen to write the script does a better job than the author with regards to the conversations between the characters.

The character beings undeveloped was probably the biggest obstacle for me. Neither seem to possess any deep emotions or thoughts, and when they DO choose to express themselves it comes as very cliched. More time should have been spent building up their relationship and having them become intimate emotionally.

I gave this book two stars because it was OKAY. It wasn't wonderful, I learned nothing new from it, my emotions weren't touch and I definitely didn't SOB over it as other women have stated they did while reading it.

If you're looking for a fluffy summer read that lacks quality, this may be exactly what you're looking for.



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New Girl

Can I talk about how much I love this show?

First, I wasn't sold on it.  I'm not a huge rabid fan of Zooey Deschanel as everyone else appears--in fact, that was probably one of the main reasons I didn't watch it from season one.


Then I came to a sad acceptance of the fact that The Office (one of my favourite shows) is coming to an end this season and what else can fill the void???

At first I was mad at the idea of having to find a NEW comedy show.

So mad...Andy mad...

Now I'm over it.  Sorta.  Durrr.

Anyway, of course I already watch How I Met Your Mother but that show seems...dead.  The only amusing episode from this current season was "P.S. I Love You", which focused on Robin's...Canadianity?  Candian-ness?  Canadianish!

She kinda...changes--for the episode.

Back on topic:

The Office is ending, How I Met Your Mother has barely any high points anymore...my only solace left was Parks & Recreation.

Not gonna lie...that show is pretty amazing as well. I'm not going to say anything else about it.  The following pictures speak for themselves.

I really hope you find those as amusing as I do.  Otherwise our relationship may be doomed.

BACK ON TRACK.

NEW GIRL.
I was looking for another comedy to watch but I wanted something different than the norm.  Then I was at my hair stylists one day.  She and I share very similar tastes in movies and books and she recommended the show to me and popped it on her tv.  I think we watched the first three or four episodes and I was hooked.

Where to begin.

First off, the character a pretty endearing and fantastic.  Zooey isn't as over the top or annoying as I thought she was be.  She possesses a certain quirkiness that keeps her from becoming grating. Plus, she's effing gorgeous.

Plus there's her hot best friend Cece.

Clearly the show should have a large male following. 

So Zoeey acts the main character as Jess who enters the stage brokenhearted, having inadvertently discovered her boyfriend cheating on her.  She's in a bad place.

Forced to move out of her home shared with her ex, she moves into an apartment with three other guys.

And of course, for the ladies' benefit, they're all hunka-hunkas.

Nick

Winston

and my personal favourite, Schmidt.

So of course, that is a beautiful set up for a sitcom!  All four of them (Cece is a more secondary character) get up to some wonderful shenanigans together. I don't want to say much more because I don't want to spoil it for any potential viewers, BUT I will say...

GO WATCH IT!

You will love New Girl! It's a quirky, funny, sweet and soulful show! It will steal your heart (and possibly your soul).

Go enjoy!!!

~Marcia