May 11, 2013

Saturday Matinee | no. 8


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A while back, my friend Maria asked me what I thought of Heartland.  Here's your answer, Maria:)

Heartland {TV series} | Amy Fleming loses her mother in a car accident when they rescue an abused horse, and her entire life is turned upside-down.   Set in beautiful Alberta, Canada, join the family as Amy adjusts to life without her mother, meets the dad who was never there for her, falls in love, and makes a name for herself as a horse trainer.

I've not read the books the TV series is based on, so I'm not going to do a book vs. movie comparison.  Apparently the books are set in Virginia??  But I'm not going to argue with the setting - Alberta, Canada is breathtakingly beautiful!

I really enjoy this show, mainly because of the horses, but also because of the characters and the rustic country feel.  Amy's grandpa Jack is fantastic!  Love him. :)  My friend Glenda recommended this show to me, and as her husband says, "It's a western soap opera."  This is true.  There's a lot of drama, lots of teen romance (which makes me gag), lots of hype.  But, I love it anyway.  Looking at the gorgeous scenery, country roads, enjoying all of the farm trucks (I love a good farm truck:), and the beautiful horses...yes, I really do enjoy this show.

I know that a show like this is considered a "family show" these days, but like I said, there is a lot of teen romance which I don't feel is appropriate for younger kids.  There's also some drinking (including teen drinking), some rather wild parties, a bit of mild language (mostly d**n and h*ll, b**ch once or twice), and some innuendo.  I would recommend this show for age 16 and older and give it a TV-PG.

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And that's it for today!  I haven't been watching many movies these days (aside from a few episodes of Monk each evening;) because I've been spending almost all day every day outside.  It's so beautiful and there's so much to do now that the weather has warmed up!  I have a lot of farm happenings to share, which I will hopefully get around to this week.

Have a wonderful and blessed weekend, y'all!

Question: What's your favorite present day (modern setting) TV show/series?  Or do you not enjoy a modern setting?  I want to know!




11 comments:

  1. I don't normally watch modern tv shows. Sherlock was awesome. But other than that if I was going to watch a tv show it would be the older ones. Like The Andy Griffith Show, Wanted: Dead or Alive, or The Hardy Boys :).

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  2. Well, back to the former topic. :-) One Upon A Time In The West has Henry Fonda, but not Jimmy Stewart. Charles Bronson, Jason Robarts, Henry Fonda in an atypical role, Claudia Cardinale. It's definitely mature material (violence and language and stuff), but when you get over that, it is - for me and many other people - one of the best films ever made. I always cry at the end... Because it's a sad story about the end of the old West and some very bad people, and a very hopeful story about a new beginning and the good in people at the same time. And it has such beautiful, beautiful music in it...

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  3. P.S. Modern day TV series? I enjoyed the first season of Sherlock, yes... Not so much the second.
    Overall, I'm not that much into TV series that deal predominantly with the character's relationships, so not much there . (It always gets convoluted after a while in my eyes.)
    In a bit of a "guilty pleasure", I enjoy the German series Alarm für Cobra 11 - it's a long-running series about highway cops, with lots of outlandish car chases and explosions and outrageous stories, but also with a lot of friendly banter between the protagonists, and it is capable of making fun of itself, and many of the stories deal with friendship, which I all enjoy.

    Oh, and I watched parts of ITV's Northanger Abbey, because I've always liked their Mr Tilney. He felt familiar suddenly, so I looked him up and it's the same actor who played Montgomery Falsworth in Captain America. Which explains why Falsworth felt familiar, too... Now my mind is getting fandom-mixed, thinking that maybe James Montgomery Falsworth is a descendant of Mr Tilney and Catherine's... :D

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  4. I read several of the Heartland books in my teenage years. Me and my friend both enjoyed them. We were both horse crazy, so it satisfied our craving for horse related stories. I think I read the first 4 in the series. There wasn't any cussing, or drinking, or anything like that, that I can remember. The books were aimed at young girls, so they seemed to be clean.


    Modern day TV shows? Hmmm. My whole family loves Doc Martin. I love Pauline's character, and her outfits.

    Kimberly

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  5. There aren't to many present day shows that I watch, since I mostly watch older shows, but my absolutely favorite is Monk. In fact, it's my #1 favorite television show. Our family just finished season 5 which I think is my favorite so far. They just keep getting better and better! I love all the characters and the writing is superb. There is just to much to love about it! You haven't seen it before, correct? If so I'd love to hear what you think! Oh, and I though seasons 2 and 3 overall weren't as good, at least compared to future seasons, but they're still worth watching.

    Other than that, I don't watch to many other modern shows other than ones like 19 Kids and Counting and The Amazing Race. No Ordinary Family was a show from a few years ago that only made one season, but we really enjoyed it and were sad it was canceled. It was about this family who suddenly got super powers and learning to live with them and fighting bad guys, etc. It's kinda hard to explain, but was enjoyable to watch.

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  6. My favorite modern setting TV show is Psych. Unless you count Once Upon a Time (which is technically set in “modern” times, but it's really fantasy, so... yeah), or Sherlock (again, it is a modern show, but it just doesn't feel like one to me). :D I also saw a few episodes of Duck Dynasty the other day, and even though it'll never replace any of my favorite shows, I actually enjoyed it a lot. It could have been the silly mood I was in, but those rednecks were cracking me up. Anyway... :D

    I think Psych is hilarious. And I love that it isn't gory like other crime/detective shows... I can't handle to much nastiness. From what I've heard, Monk is pretty similar. I'll have to try it sometime.

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  7. I read a couple of books from this series when I was younger, but don't remember too much about them (I read *a lot* of horse-related stories :).

    I almost always prefer old TV shows (I Love Lucy, The Andy Griffith Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show) or shows that don't have a modern setting (BBC mini-series or shows like Lark Rise to Candleford). But I do like some "modern" shows: Doctor Who, Full House, Boy Meets World, Once Upon a Time, etc. :)

    ~Kristin

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  8. Thanks for the review Natasha!

    Well, I don't think I will watch them. It sounds as if they took some pretty good books and turned them into something completely different. There was a little bit of what I would call "hints of romance" in the books but they definitely were not "western soap opera books". Amy working with horses was definitely the main subject of the books.

    Teen romance/soap opera...? Yeah, not exactly my thing (kinda makes me gag too:)

    To answer your question I don't watch any TV series' set in modern day. Occasionally our family will watch older TV shows like The Andy Griffith Show etc.

    Have a blessed rest of the day!
    Maria:)

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  9. Well, I love Sherlock(obviously), and Doctor Who(obviously:).
    I do also enjoy Psych, but there have been a few episodes we've had to skip due to inappropriate content.
    I love the intelligent dialog in Sherlock and Doctor Who. . .what can I say? Awesomeness personified:)

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  10. My favorite TV shows are Castle, Merlin, Call the midwife, Emergency, I love Lucy, Andy Griffith show, and rode to avonlea.

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  11. my favorite tv shows are call the midwife,wind at my back,bbc robin hood (i don't watch that much tv so i dont have many favorites)

    God
    Bless

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