JoeC345

I was a little worried this show was going to be nothing but rehashing The Office and luckily it's not. The one reference to Michael I noticed was well placed and a nice callback. Domhall Gleason is a great actor in my opinion and I have enjoyed most of his work. His role as a rather naive new editor of a local paper is a pleasure to watch. Other standouts would be Chelsea Frei and Ramona Young (who was also outstanding in Santa Clarita Diet). The only carry over character from The Office is Oscar and he also fits in well within the group.

Admittedly this show needs some work. The humor was rather hit or miss at times and there were some long lags where it did get a little boring. I would recommend this show for a relaxing afternoon. It's fun most of the time and quite enjoyable.

However one thing I could not get past was the character Esmeralda. I found her so grating and insufferable. If I watch this show again I will mute or fast forward her scenes. She's such an annoying person who I find impossible to root for. If there's a season two they need to lose that character.

I would like to start by saying that I understand the critical reviews of this movie, I really do. There are many flaws in this movie and some of the performances, with the exception of the superb Charles Dance as the master vampire, are lacking.

However, in spite of it's flaws "Dracula Untold" is a entertaining movie from start to finish. This is the sort of film that critics try to take too seriously and focus too strongly on it's flaws and historical inaccuracies. For instance Mehmet never personally led an attack against his brother even though they were foes for many years. Here's my retort to that, WHO CARES! this is a story about Dracula, not the actual Vlad Tepes. Ironically my favorite depiction of Vlad comes from the "DaVinci's Demons" episode "The Devil".

The story of Dracula is an old one, but this film does credit to it's predecessors by introducing a plausible back story along with some bloody good battles and impalement's.

If your looking for a good monster story with some pretty sweet effects "Dracula Untold" is a solid choice.

If you want to watch some inane shoot em up show about terrorism where America can do no wrong and always kills the enemy, there are plenty of those available. However if you want a more in depth look at the causalities of terrorist attacks and the people that devote their lives to preventing them, then Homeland is a show for you.

One thing that has bothered me for years in shows like 24 is the stereotypical views that they promote about the non-traditional Americans such as Muslims. Every single Islamic member that is shown in shows like 24 ends up having some ties to terrorism and is inherently evil. It doesn't stop there though, any deviation of what is thought to be the ideal American lifestyle leads to trouble in such single minded simplistic shows, but I digress.

This is a review about Homeland which is a surprisingly good entertainment. It starts with Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes in an astonishing performance) learning that an American POW has been turned and is now working for a terrorist organization. Later when an American POW, Gunnery Sergeant Nicolas Brody (Damian Lewis), is rescued she starts to think that he may have been the one she was warned about.

WIthout any proof or any real probable cause, she opens an investigation and begins tracking his movements to see if anything raises suspicions. Another bothersome thing about many other shows is the way the lead characters of those shows someone has the audacity and ability to flout both federal and state laws without any repercussions. Homeland does not let any of it's characters get off so easy. If any character is in the wrong in any way they are appropriately chastised for it. In addition to Claire Danes and Damian Lewis awards worthy performances, Mandy Patinkin's performance as upper level CIA officer and Carrie Mathison's mentor is phenomenal.

Not wanting to give away to much of this amazing plot I will end this review here. However I will say that even though the first few episodes of season one are a little slow, it is to be expected since automatically leading into the action is a good way to turn an astute brilliantly crafted show into another asinine action filled debacle.