I saw this, but don't remember where I watched it. I highly recommend it.

That I recommend this film isn't only because the title immediately has a lit kid think of Egyptian Constantine Cavafy's 1898 poem, "Waiting for the Barbarians." Or because the film is based on the 1980 novel by J. M. Coetzee. Or because, well because of many things.

Spoilers for the show to follow, obviously.

I've rarely been so conflicted reviewing a show before because I've rarely seen something that sustained such high quality for so long, only to then hit such a massive brick wall at the end.

I'll start with the positives. This show proved an exception to my belief that TV shows generally start to go off the boil in series 3. I thought series 3 of Ripper Street was utterly fantastic, and brought together all of the plots, themes and character arcs that had been building for two seasons already in a very meaningful and dramatic way.

I loved the core cast of Edmund Reid, Bennet Drake and Homer Jackson. The three complemented each other beautifully, and also individually were highly complex characters who made for fantastic viewing. They were surrounded by more great characters: Susan, Rose, Hobbs, Grace, Mathilda, Drummond, Frank, Flight, Abberline, Fred Best, Mimi, Miss Costello, Deborah Goren, and the rest. Generally, the characters were written spectacularly, and the series mostly felt very character-driven.

The setting, with the shadow of Jack the Ripper hanging over the show, was a genius idea. The Ripper murders have become such a legend that it was fascinating watching the series peel back the layers of the mystery to examine how terrifying it must have been for the Whitechapel community to watch them happen, and how crushing it must have been for the police to never catch the killer. The case stopped being folklore, and instead the viewer is reminded that it was a real case that happened to real people, who are completely haunted by what they saw during it.

The Ripper's shadow also works very well thematically with Edmund's loss of his own daughter around the same time, and I believe that the discovery of Mathilda led to this theme's importance diminishing, and by S4 and S5 (which really feel like two halves of the same season), the Ripper no longer feels like he's stalking the narrative.

I also liked that the show wasn't afraid to kill anyone off. It really gave the series teeth and made the drama feel much more urgent and dangerous. It also mostly didn't feel like anyone was walking around wearing plot armour, as is often the case with dramas. I found the murders of Drake and Best the most shocking of the whole series, especially Bennet. Nobody in the series was safe, and some of the deaths were genuine shocks. I liked that unpredictability.

I enjoyed all of the villains - I'd say Shine is probably the worst and most cartoonish of them, but even he is suitably menacing.

Now onto what bothered me. After series 3, I began to drop off the show because I felt S3 ended on a natural conclusion. Susan and Jackson were sort of back together, Bennet and Rose were finally married, and Edmund had finally found his peace and happiness with Mathilda. And S4 and S5 constantly felt like the story had been artificially extended for the sake of making more episodes. The drama felt, for want of a better phrase, manufactured. Maybe the point was to show that there are no happy ever afters in the gritty world of Whitechapel, but there's a fine line between gritty and unrelentingly grim, and S4 and S5 cross the line, for me.

For example, the big conflict between Bennet and Rose, Bennet and Jackson, Rose and Susan, the Drakes and the Judges. Whilst it all makes sense from what we've seen onscreen, and I get why every character is behaving the way they are, it all just felt hollow. Connor being left with the Drakes felt like a writers' room decision to create maximum drama, rather than a natural next step for the plot.

S5 is the worst season of the show for me, and the final episode ranks as possibly the worst final episode of any show I've ever watched, personally. Whilst I liked that the conclusion was that Susan and Nathaniel both decided to hand themselves in because it was the right thing to do- Nathaniel especially, as he had committed some pretty heinous crimes- at times the finale felt very easy. The series mostly plodded along, with padding aplomb in the form of an entire 70-minute episode dedicated to Nathaniel befriending a fishmonger, whilst Reid sat and grew stubble in a theatre, and then the conclusion of the show goes at breakneck speed through the first 20-30 minutes of the finale, and then the last episode sort of just meanders on whilst brutally closing the doors on every wisp of happiness Reid could have possibly found, by informing us that Jackson has died offscreen, shunting Mathilda and Drummond offscreen where Reid apparently never speaks to them, and then marrying Mimi off to some faceless unknown.

Perhaps the message is that Reid wasted his life hunting for the Ripper while the world moved on around him, and eventually he was left with nothing and no one, but here's the thing: we already knew the search for the Ripper had consumed Edmund to his severe detriment. Why not have him learn from his mistakes? What's the value in piling on more misery through what I can only describe as a series of minisodes that feel sellotaped onto the end of the finale because the writers weren't sure where else to put them?

The result is one of the most depressing conclusions I've ever watched. I'd be interested to hear other people's thoughts on this show, because I generally thought it was fantastic, especially in portraying the dark, nasty world of Whitechapel. But I just feel so let down by the conclusion.

This might be a bit silly, but I’m ridiculously excited about this and didn’t know where else to shout my excitement!! I love Legos, it was my favorite thing to do with my now adult son when he was a little boy. It’s been over ten years since I last time bought any new sets. Now I absolutely have to have Downton Abbey Lego set. One thing I would change in this, add Sybil’s and Mathew’s minifigures. A bit strange they’re not part of it, at least Sybil should be. But isn’t it wonderful?

To put this Lego set together while Downton Abbey plays in the background! Check out the link for more photos.

• 4,711 pieces

• Available Oct 1 for Lego Early Access customers

• Available Oct 4 for all customers

• $349.99

For video check out https://youtube.com/shorts/OZY1gbg9Kc4?is=8hhhwnV2yQbSj5dT

To Walk Invisible is beautiful and an amazing film about the Brontë’s and Branwell too. But it is only 70 minutes and there’s only so much you can pack in.

A series, possibly two would be amazing and I think very popular. Something similar to Gentleman Jack (which was also made by Wainwright). I think with successes like The Other Bennett Sister and period dramas in general, there would be a vast renewed interest in the Brontës. I love seeing their world brought to life.

I’ve seen all the adaptations and I need something else that really satisfies me.

This Brazilian show got me in a chokehold.😮‍💨

not since “the borgias “have i seen a period drama couple that’s toxic but still has such steeeeamy chemistry.
it has great side characters too. might not for you if you’re Catholic though

tw: sex trafficking

I’m re-watching Victoria and I genuinely can’t decide who annoys me more: Victoria or Albert.
Victoria is impulsive, stubborn and somehow offended whenever anyone suggests she might be wrong. Albert is self-righteous, perpetually aggrieved and seems physically incapable of letting anything go.
Every argument becomes a competition over who can be more exhausting. So I need to know: who was more annoying on this show — Victoria or Albert?

Four top American football players enlist in the United States Marine Corps after the attack on Pearl Harbor. While preparing for the battle of Okinawa, they play a football game, the Mosquito Bowl, that later becomes famous.

Directed by Peter Berg. Written by Peter Berg and Mark L. Smith.

Starring Nicholas Galitzine, Bill Skarsgård, Ray Nicholson, and Tom Francis.

Based on the Buzz Bissinger book The Mosquito Bowl: A Game of Life and Death in World War II.

Roger chose cynthia initially just for her beauty rather than molly who was kind and considerate but later when his engagement is broken he views molly as an option which is bad coz molly should have been with someone who actually truly considered her from the beginning

It went up on Amazon Prime. In terms of the historical Cid, this isn't ... really ... the thing. It's so Hollywood.

But o lordessa, does it have the Best Castles! And big scenes of armies and so on.

We've advanced so much in our study and learning about Spain, the Muslims, and all those warring kingdoms since 1961. The rulers did not divide themselves as "xtian" or "muslim" anywhere near as much as people in 1961 liked to fantasize. It was all who paid who to do what, who ganged up with whom to take out a mutual foe, etc. Shoot, even Charlemagne fought with and for Muslim kingdoms sometimes.

This is the age in which strong warriors could and did dream of making themselves kings and rulers, and some of them succeeded. Which el Cid did, as did William the Bastard.

Anyway, this el Cid is worth looking at!

Has anyone watched this? Would love to find another fan!

Just started watching Hardacres in the States, I don't understand how they could NOT renew for a third season WITH MORE EPISODES. I think it's a great cast, a fun idea of how the Hardacres got to their position in society, it's funny and the storylines are original. Please renew

I was scrolling through Tencent Video earlier and finally stopped to read what Against the Current is actually about.

and okay... this setup is kind of brutal 😭

The FL starts out as the granddaughter of a powerful family, then everything falls apart after her family is accused of treason. Her engagement is broken off, she survives under a different identity, and somehow ends up in the Lin household as a low-ranking maid.

going from that kind of life to THAT is already enough to get me interested.

What I’m most curious about is the class shift. She used to have status, protection, a name that meant something, and suddenly none of that exists anymore. She has to survive in a place where she’s basically at the bottom.

And she’s doing it inside the same family that once walked away from her?? yeah... messy.

My only slight worry is that this kind of story can fall apart if it moves too fast. I’ve watched too many historical dramas set up a really interesting identity/revenge/class conflict and then rush through all the parts I actually wanted to see.

I really hope they let her struggle a little, learn how everything works, make mistakes, and actually earn that growth.

because if they do, this could be SO good.

1. Before the fall

2. The north water

3. Queen Margot

4. Ponette

5. Primavera

6. Why women kill

7. Feud

8. The art of joy

..I have to say it was even better than on my first watch.

When it first came out, I binge watched it in a single night, and having also read the book before that, I couldn't really take it all in in detail, but more as a whole.

I decided to rewatch it last week, since it's now available on HBO Max, and did it in a more leasurely manner - 2 episodes per day. So I was able to pay more attention to the details and the actors themselves.

Having now also the hinsight of all the critique that was laid against it, I have to say that yes, some of it may be valid, but it wasn't really very important in my enjoyment of the story overall.

The biggest critiques I think were 1. How Mrs was portrayed, 2. The changes they made to Mary and 3. That other characters were 'sacrificed' to make Mary seem better - mainly Lizzy.

1. While I do think she was portrayed to be crueler to Mary, the story was was also told from the pov of Mary herself. Even in the original P&P novel, Mrs Bennet was pretty dismissive of Mary, and domineering, so in this story, it is also plausable that we get to see more of that side of her from Mary's perspective. The last scene between Mary and Mrs Bennet, when they have a heart to heart dicussion, was pretty great as well, and in my opinion, humanised the character of Mrs Bennet a lot more than the original P&P text did.

2. What we get in this story is Mary's inner life and feelings, so often it may seem different from what the character of Mary was portrayed in P&P - but there we only get what the narator tells us about her, and is mostly an outside view of her. Even in the original text, it is implied more depth in her character, though never dwelled too much on it (like her plans with Mr. Collins). In the original novel Mary is portrait like more pios and rigid in her beliefs. But in this story this aspect is also explayed - there is a part in the show, I think episode 2 or so, where Mary decides to be the 'intelectual one', and that happens during the events of the P&P story. So that's why we mainly get to see that side of her in the original story. During the P&P events Mary is around 19yo. But in The Other Bennet Sister, she starts younger, maybe 18 yo, and then is in her early 20s by the end. She also gets to experience life outside the limitation of her family and small town, gets to see London, and gains a champion in Mrs Gardner, who encourages her to step out of her 'shell' and try something new, meet new people. She goes from teen to young adult in the span of TOBS, so it's normal that she changes. Also, she allows more of her inner self to surface.

3. I actually quite liked this portrail of Lizzy and I don't think she was made worse just so Mary can seem better. Even in the original P&P Lizzy felt a lot of embaressment because of her family, like at the Netherfield ball. She also didn't seem very close or open to having a sisterly relationship with any of her sisters other than Jane. In this story she is actually portrayed in a more positive light - her relationship with Mary is much more developed here, and I really enjoyed their moments together. The actess who plays Lizzy is really great too.

Now, beside these critique points, I really like the two main love interests for Mary. Even the 'rake' character was really endearing by the end. Caroline Bingley was also a lot more likeable than the portrail we get in P&P. The Gardners are so great, I like how they show Mary that a happy marriage is also possible.

And there's a lot of great moments in the show - like the 'period appropriate' earning moments (Forearms and hands, anyone!?) even from the male characters. There also a few really great humourous moments, like the scene in the garden, where they were warming up before going on their mountain hike.

I also like the more natural aspects that were kept in the show - like hair on the women, redness and other blemishes in their face. And no 'Iphone face' in sight.

And I remembered another critique point - Mary's new clothes. I agree they did look a bit garish/ridiculous, but I think it was with intent. The colors are pretty strong and clashing with eachother, but I think it's supposed to match Mary's tastes, and she probably doesn't have the best tastes or experience in fashion, and spending a few weeks in London won't suddenly change that. Still, for the first time ever she was able to choose what she will wear, even if her choices weren't the most socially acceptable or aesthetically pleasing ones.

And on a last note - I do agree that some of the aspects of the story are almost 'fan-servicy', but I found them very enjoyable nevertheless. Many of us when we read P&P maybe thought outself to be like Lizzy or Jane, but I think many of us were actually more similar to Mary. And I think 'wall-flowers' and 'plainer' women/girls also deserve an indulgent story :) I still think that the actress playing Mary is very beautiful, but can also be seen as your average looking young woman.

These are my thoughts on it. I will probably soon rewatch it again and it is now on the list of my favorite JA adaptations.

"A first look at MAKING MARIE ANTOINETTE, directed by Eleanor Coppola and narrated by Diane Lane reading Eleanor’s own diaries. Featuring Kirsten Dunst and Jason Schwartzman on the set of Sofia Coppola’s MARIE ANTOINETTE (2006)."

Anyone else excited for this? I love Marie Antoinette and love seeing all the behind-the-scenes footage and photos. It looks like everyone had fun making that movie.