brooklygirl Reviews

Love to Love You, Donna Summer (2023)

Had the potential to be better.

[4 September 2023]

I watched this documentary for the purpose of seeing a glimpse of Donna Summer's off-stage private life. I would have been age 9 when Love to Love You, the song, was released worldwide. As a young person growing up in the 70s and 80s I did not follow the lives of entertainers and still do not as a woman in her mid-50s, so learning about Donna's life peaked my interest because I have an appreciation for her as a performance artist.

Giving the fact that I knew nothing about Ms. Summer's personal life, I can say I did learn some things. Unlike some others who have written reviews, I did not mind all the home footage. Her personal life off stage is why I was drawn to watch the documentary.

What I do have an issue with is the absolutely poor audio/sound mixing. There are segments where a caption will appear that states, "Voice of... (a person's name and their relationship to Donna)," but then nothing is heard. Early on in the film when this first happened, I turned the volume up to a really high level and barely heard the person speaking. This happens throughout the film. I subsequently stopped turning up the volume to hear because then the following audio would come in blasting. There are also instances where the narrator/daughter asks someone a question, but then their answer is not heard. Did no one view the film for possible issues before it was released on HBO Max?

All Rise: Fire and Rain (2022) Season 3, Episode 10

This episode is so bad.

[6 October 2022]

I comprehend the whole Storming the Capitol reference, but this episode is overly dramatized and very poorly written. I was preoccupied in August when this season finale aired and forgot about it until now, October 6th. I would have never forgotten to watch an episode during seasons one and two, which says a lot about season three. Episode 10 is so poorly written that I was talking out loud to my monitor, expressing how stupid certain scenes were, and how predictable others were. I found myself clicking the skip forward button several times to get past the foolishness. Smh! 2-stars instead of 1 because I actually made it to the end of the episode.

All Rise (2019–2023)

This once excellent series has been ruined by OWN. Smh!

[6 October 2022]

I loved, loved, loved the first two seasons of All Rise. Sigh! I was truly disappointed when it was canceled then elated when the series was picked up by OWN. Some of the episodes are now poorly written with, relationship drama overload, unrealistic exchanges between characters, predictability, outright silliness, some straight-up stupidness, and some stories are overly dramatized (specifically episode 10). I was preoccupied in August when the season finale, episode 10, aired, and forgot about it until now, October 6th. I would have never forgotten to watch an episode during seasons one and two, which says a lot about season three. Episode 10 is so poorly written that I was talking out loud to my monitor, expressing how stupid certain scenes were, and how predictable others were. I found myself clicking the skip forward button several times to get past the foolishness. Smh! During the Summer, I could not bring myself to watch episode 8. The storyline was so silly, and not in a humorous way. Auntie O, what have you done to this once excellent series!!!

Outlander: The World Turned Upside Down (2022) Season 6, Episode 6

This episode is bad, Really Bad.

[28 April 2022]

I love, love, love the Outlander series, but this 6th episode of the 6th season is so bad. I have not read any of the books therefore, my opinion of the episode is not based on the book. If this episode is true to the book, then the book must not be good reading, at least not this chapter(s). Jamie being falsely accused was so predictable and also unbelievable. I saw it coming from a hundred miles away. The scene where the false accusation happened is so bad that I fast-forwarded past most of it. Claire's reaction was even more unbelievable, so I also fast-forwarded past most of that scene. The ending of the episode is horrible.

I agree with the reviewer @happysmileyface; there are so many recycled storylines. This episode has me NOT looking forward to the remaining episodes. Just all around bad!

Fantasy Island (2021–2023)

Bad, bad, bad, Oh my!

[12 August 2021]

I watched episode 1 after my brother informed me of the new TV series. We are both in our 50s and remember the original series with Ricardo Montalbán. I did not have any expectations. Oh my, the writing is absolutely bad. I watched the entire episode to give it a real chance. I kept repeating out loud to myself, this is so bad. The performances from everyone in episode 1 is mediocre; acting that looked, sounded and felt like acting.

The sound mixing is also not done well. Each time a scene features music, the music is too loud which caused me to continually adjust the volume. Once I lowered the volume I then could not hear the dialogue well after the music ceased so I would then need to increase the volume. Bad writing, bad acting, poor sound mixing, and oh so boring. Oh, my!