Cathardincu Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Borgarkeri A bit overrated, but still an amazing film

Payno I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Married Baby Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

kmatlack For starters, Grantchester isn't really a mystery. It's a 21st century soap opera dressed up as a 1950's period piece. Very little time in the very short hour of the program is actually spent on any mystery or how it's solved. The show revolves around the sordid lives of most of the characters. An alcoholic, chain-smoking, carnal Anglican priest, a cop who cheats on his wife, a wife who cheats on her husband and so on and on. I think the only honest, honorable character is Leonard, the homosexual priest, who takes his vows and commitment to the church seriously and really is a good man. Not a single social justice issue or talking point escapes the writers even though most of what they're lecturing viewers about had nothing to do with how anyone in the 50's lived. They seem to have no idea at all of history. All the characters and especially the Vicar seem to have no problem making excuses for their terrible behavior. Giving in to temptation is just fine because God wants them to be happy. What a sad, ugly, depressing little show.

mitya_ilx I very much enjoyed seasons 1 and 2 - another "cozy" mystery series, gorgeously filmed and well-acted. The mysteries themselves are self-contained from episode to episode, while character development story arcs take place in the background to tie things together. As other reviewers have noted, the writers have made hero Sidney Chambers remarkably liberal and modern in his views. Perhaps in 1953 there were small-town vicars with such attitudes, but after a while it feels unrealistic. For whatever reason, season 3 fell flat for me, to the extent I thought they might have changed writers. Perhaps it's the peaking of a couple of those story arcs in season 2, but I found that I no longer cared very much about the characters, while the mysteries began to feel secondary to the characters' stories. I'm unlikely to come back for season 4.

michaeljayallen Another generally awesome series: England in the postwar period (like about a million other British shows, set in their favorite time after they kept calm and carried on and beat down the Nazi's along with us). Murders. Super cute intellectual and troubled vicar. Nerdy gay assistant vicar. Copish working class cop detective who lets the vicar team up with him. Landladyish meddling church lady housekeeper. English village. Beer drinking in charming pubs. Only one problem: the casting of Morven Christie as the vicar's friend and one true love who marries some upper class toff because a vicar is just too common. It's just impossible (for me and friends) to see anything all that great about her. She spurned her obvious life mate because her parents demanded that she marry into the gentry, a pretty high hurdle to jump and still seem sympathetic. Christie did not manage this. She projects nothing that makes her anyone special to care about. She even looks older than Sidney. The totally adorable Sidney Chambers deserves far better. There are dozens of good British female actors in the right age range that would have made it work. But worth watching anyway.

B24 An alcoholic skirt-chasing priest, a timid gay curate, a five-foot police inspector who wears a six-foot overcoat in all kinds of weather, and a stern housekeeper with a heart of gold. Who wouldn't love it? This is the stuff of British Soaps invading Masterpiece Theater, albeit cast in the popularly retro 1950's. Or at least what a politically correct screen writer in 2014 imagines the 1950's to have been.Seriously, I enjoy flawed stereotypes as a rule, and this one takes the cake. No Father Brown sly jokes here. Just all very earnest sentimental twaddle (as my favorite lit prof used to call it). I guess it's even been renewed for a third season. Great fun! I wonder what twisted deeds will work their way into the next few episodes, making fun of fallen icons...especially those in the Church of England. And making us feel good that those bad old days are behind us.I have a good idea for a 45-minute plot: have the priest fall for a gorgeous woman who wants desperately to be a priest but can't wait for the 21st Century to make it a reality. He can switch her off with all the other women in town, agonizing as his raging hormones drive him to drink and despair. He is then saved by her eventually deciding to be a deaconess, whilst he takes his dog for a walk before going over to give his cop mate a big hug.Wait a minute! I think that will sell equally well over at Hollyoaks.