Julesecosse

Tis a classic story of forbidden love told throughout the ages from ancient Greece up to the present day.

I enjoyed it as much as it goes, with excellent performances from the cast. I would have liked to have seen more of the young theatre talent Shannon Tarbet, who plays the initial girlfriend of the protagonist.

I thought that to update it for the modern audience an odd plot twist would have been good, especially for the men who might find this story somewhat ponderous.

A must for those who like Jane Austen, male viewers may fall asleep!

The Red Tent is a TV mini-series about Dinah the daughter of Jacob and half-sister to Joseph (he of the technicoloured dreamcoat fame). Told from a woman's point of view (unusual for TV/movie biblical stories) it revisits Old Testament family goings-on.

I enjoyed it at three hours, any longer would have been pushing my attention span. It was pretty realistic, as far as I know - my knowledge of this era/area being somewhat limited. The acting was fairly good, bar one or two exceptions (perhaps some rushing through the production at times caused this?).

All in all: a good thing for the family to watch during a festive season such as Easter or Christmas; but perhaps a little bit mature for the truly wee ones.

I thought that it was a brave role for the lead Lyndsy Fonseca, who from outward appearances at least, seems to have delicate sensibilities. In my opinion she doesn't really pull it off and doesn't convince me that she could be a prostitute, high class escort or not.

I have seen her in the Kick Ass franchise and believe that she would be more suited to the rom-com genre.

As to the rest of the cast, I liked the character of her father, who was a regular in Hercules the legendary Journeys and Xena. He is a versatile actor whose talents haven't been exploited to the full in my opinion.

I also liked the rest of the characters but was not totally enamoured with the film as a whole. It seemed to tread a well worn path and didn't elicit any emotion from me, bar the final scene, which I had hoped would end differently.