This is my new feature for the summer! I have sooo many great
sounding TV shows that I want to watch but because of all my reading, I
haven't had time to catch up with any of them! So this summer I'm doing a
Chuckles TV catch up where I hope to get a look at some TV, decide what
I like and don't like and tell you all my thoughts on everything. Now,
my TV watching is very much mood related so I can't predict what I'll
want to watch...
It's
been a while since I tore myself away from the books long enough to
watch some TV but this weekend was a TV only zone at The Book Cave!
This week: Dracula starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Jessica De Gouw, Victoria Smurfit, Oliver Jackson-Cohen
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2296682/?ref_=nv_sr_3
Filmography links and data courtesy of IMDb.
There was a lot to like about this series and a few things that were not so good so I can understand the mixed reviews it got. Dracula is resurrected by Van Helsing so they can team up to get revenge on the cult that murdered their loved ones. I liked the idea of that, giving a twist to the usual story. There are good gory scenes of vampire attacks, the odd good fight scene, excellent acting especially from JRM and his Renfield played by Nonso Anozie...so why am I not raving about it?
Well, I found the plot very slow in places as we plough through the boring relationship of Harker and Mina, the Van Helsing plot to slowly financially ruin the cult members and the detail of the industrial age companies and society events they all take part in. I found I was rooting for Dracula because I disliked the hunters characters, so I was bored by Dracula having sex with one of them in every episode. This had potential but was too slow to appeal to me personally. I watched the first three episodes before deciding it wasn't my thing.
Nothing ever stands
still in Sue Barton's household. Just when Sue thinks that she has
everything under control, with Tabitha at school, the twins and baby Sue
in good health, bang comes the discovery that Dr. Bill, her husband, is
in trouble. He is ordered off to a sanatorium for six
months. Sue
applies for and quickly receives a job as staff nurse at the Springdale
Hospital, where she had once been Director of Nurses. Sue enjoys working directly
with patients far better than executive work, and it isn't long before
she is involved in staff personalities and problems. Sue Barton's
talent for getting into and out of a tangle of human relations propels
her through her personal and professional ups and downs in this final
tale of the enchanting red-headed nurse from New Hampshire.
My Review:
Sue's life is turned upside down when Bill is taken ill on a fishing
trip and has to go into a sanatorium. Trying to juggle looking after
four kids and finding a job to pay the bills while Bill is gone keeps
her busy and she is quickly employed as a staff nurse by Kit. Sue is
determined to be seen as a nurse and not just Bill's wife, helping both
patients and staff.
It was nice in this last book to see Sue back
to being a nurse who deals with patients. I felt the series lost its
way a bit when she became an executive at the hospital but this was back
to Sue as we first met her. I liked all the stories from the ward, the
way Sue tried to help the nurses with their personal problems, and had
to deal with a very unsettled home life as a lot of working mothers do.
With
Bill recovering from illness, there were none of the dumb petty fights
that annoyed me in previous books, so that was a good thing! We only got
a few pages of the annoying Marianna, and we see plenty of Kit who now
has the job that her skills are suited for. I liked the plot and some of
the patients were quite entertaining. I don't want to give away too
much of it in case I spoil things for other readers.
This book
had a mixture of humour and drama on the wards, dealing with personal
issues and the ups and downs of relationships. It was the perfect book
to finish off Sue's story as she finally finds a place in nursing where
she is suited and comfortable. This series may be outdated in some ways,
having been written in the 1930s, but I still found it to be a good
series to read again.
Sue Barton left her
position as Superintendent of Nurses at the Springdale, New Hampshire
Hospital in order to raise a family. Now she and Dr. Bill have three
children: six-year-old Tabitha and the four-year-old twins, Johnny and
Jerry. Sue is happy in her job as wife and mother until she goes to a
reunion of her class in nursing school where the accomplishments of
others make her feel as if she is stagnating. Yet Sue finds herself
using her talents in countless ways as she nurses the neighborhood. She
finds work for a disabled farmer; she pinch-hits for the visiting nurse;
she helps bring the famous artist, Mona Stuart and her teenage daughter
Cal together. And always something is happening at home for Sue and
Bill and their faithful Veazie Ann to cope with - Jerry's strange
tantrums, Johnny's disappearance in the woods with his little friend
Anne, Tabitha's attempt to run away. Are Sue's training and abilities
wasted on all these daily and personal small problems? Her customary
humor and warm good sense help her decide.
My Review:
Kit and Sue go to visit the hospital they trained in and Sue starts to
wonder if being a stay at home mum is a waste of her nursing skills. She
finds herself caught up in the drama of her famous artist neighbour and
her neglected daughter, while her own children bring their own unique
problems.
This one was interesting because Sue is raising her
kids and is not working, but her medical and social skills are required
to solve a few problems. Cal likes to hang around at the Barry house and
spend time with Sue and the kids, and Sue is determined to help the
girl repair her fractured relationship with her mother and find her a
few new friends. Of course Sue's interfering, however well intentioned,
is not an instant success! You could see things from the sides of Cal
and Mona.
Sue's kids are little devils! Tabitha sulking and
running away to invade Mona's house, Jerry's tantrums and strange
behaviour and Johnny's determination not to be sererated from his new
friend Anne. The scene where Sue is trying to show a rich neighbour the
importance of stable parenting is so funny as her kids decide to create
utter anarchy during the visit. I was in stitches laughing!
My
favourite part of the story was Johnny and Anne's adventures. It was
quite sweet to see how the pair adored each other in that innocent way
that kids have before hormones wreck things. The story shows different
sides to Sue and Bill, and helps to bring Cal and Mona closer together.
There may not be much action but it was really well written. This was a
good addition to the series.
This is my new feature for the summer! I have sooo many great
sounding TV shows that I want to watch but because of all my reading, I
haven't had time to catch up with any of them! So this summer I'm doing a
Chuckles TV catch up where I hope to get a look at some TV, decide what
I like and don't like and tell you all my thoughts on everything. Now,
my TV watching is very much mood related so I can't predict what I'll
want to watch...
It's
been a while since I tore myself away from the books long enough to
watch some TV but this weekend was a TV only zone at The Book Cave!
This Week: Veep starring Julia Louis Dreyfuss, Anna Chlumsky, Tony Hale, Reid Scott
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1759761/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
Filmography links and data courtesy of IMDb.
I
like political dramas and things but I only watched one episode of this
before I switched off. I didn't like the characters, there was a ton of
very annoying f bombs for no darn reason instead of the witty dialogue I
was expecting, which left me rolling my eyes. It wasn't clever or
amusing to me, just dull and kind of childish. If I want f bombs
everywhere I can open my window and hear it on the street! No thanks!
This week: Alpha House starring John Goodman, Clark Johnson, Matt Malloy, Mark Consuelos
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3012160/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2
Filmography links and data courtesy of IMDb.
I
decided to watch it for the same reason as Veep and I disliked it for
the same reasons. Every second word seemed to be an f bomb and that just
bores me. I like my dialogue to be witty, entertaining and amusing but
having characters constantly swearing and being obnoxious morons didn't
amuse in any way. I didn't like any of the characters, the story or
anything about it. Stopped watching halfway through the second episode.
This week: Dracula starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Jessica De Gouw, Victoria Smurfit, Oliver Jackson-Cohen
