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Reviews
The Poet (2007)
Fell in Love the Second Time Around
I admit, when I first viewed this movie (Under the American title "Hearts of War")I didn't think much of it. While I love forbidden romances and find the happenings of WWII fascinating, I thought the plot moved too quickly for my liking. For instance, I would've liked for Oskar and Rachel's relationship to blossom a bit; it just all felt very rushed. But I recently watched it again and came to appreciate it and even classify it as one of my favorites. The wilds of Ontario is convincing as Polish countryside and I appreciate that the actors use real accents as opposed to American/Canadian ones (see "Valkyrie"). That bugs me; the films always lose something without the proper accents. All in all, Oskar and Rachel's love set against the backdrop of the Nazi invasion of Poland kept me riveted. I was surprise the baby was killed; children usually survive movies like this. The only real complaint I have is the ending. What happened?! Did they get out? And how?
The L.A. Complex (2012)
Blurgh
The only review I agree with was BrettUK's. This show is awful, and this is coming from a person who LOVES the trashy-soap-set-in-LA genre (90210, both versions, are my current favorites). But the L.A. Complex does nothing but bore me. I don't even connect with any of the characters. Alicia, I suppose, is all right, but all the others are a waste of film, IMO. Abby rubs me the wrong way (something about her naive good girl from Toronto-ness is aggravating, especially since she's obviously not THAT good since she hooked up on a roof with some guy she barely knew when she already had a boyfriend back home), as well as the actress who plays her. It feels as if the production company behind Degrassi and the LA Complex are trying to "make" her happen.
Nick's social awkwardness is less endearing than it is annoying. Connor is billed as the show's token hottie and he isn't that hot. Tariq and Kaldrick are totally unconvincing as a gay couple to the point where I cringe whenever they appear. Straight actors CAN definitely pull off a gay character and vice versa but those actors are so obviously straight their non-chemistry is painful to watch. And Raquel...ugh. I know her character is SUPPOSED to be a bitch with a soft side but...all I see is a bitch. You're 30. Accept it and move on and stop stepping all over everyone trying to prove you're the next Meryl Streep. I find myself rooting against her. What kind of person pitches a script at a freaking AA convention?! I don't recommend this show. I rarely give scathing reviews even when the show calls for it but The LA Complex deeply disappointed me. A strike against Canadian TV.