Reviews
Dead to Me (2019)
The best female leads I've ever seen
I've just finished re-watching the entire Dead To Me series and it was even better than the first time, including the much-maligned season 3. In fact, the series got better with every season, and the finale of season 3 is both extremely moving and satisfying - another death, this time of Judy herself, and another new beginning for Jen with Ben and her new baby.
I must say that Christina Applegate and especially Linda Cardellini play the most attractive, charismatic, and (eccentric as especially Judy may be) believable two characters I've ever seen on screen. They are mesmerizing and carry the entire show together, with an amazing natural chemistry that makes you somehow think they are real.
Judy is the star and center of season 3. All of the goodness and kindness in her character comes out even more here, despite being the victim of cancer she manages to make her death as bearable as possible for her friend Jen, who has the emotionally harder time of the two in coming to terms with it.
Moreover she persuades Jen to come clean to Ben about Steve's death, even though that is left to just beyond the very end.
Just like learning the truth about each other's secrets solidified and perpetuated their friendship, we know that the last thing Jen has left undone will be done, inspired by Judy's belief that It's always better to tell the truth in the end.
The superb scriptwriting with its balance between comedy, tragedy and suspense, as well as the chemistry between Jen and Judy, is what makes this series watchable and relatable for everybody, even though superficially it may seem more suited to a female audience. Actually, the whole thing about Judy's death makes you empathize since it can happen to anyone, and carries a message for any middle aged or elderly viewer, certainly a 60+ male like me.
Oorlogswinter (2008)
not really for adult audiences
As another poster remarked, this film has a strong 'storybook' feel to it, and it's no coincidence that it's based on a novel for (older) children. It's not a bad story and the settings do look authentic and some of the characters look believable. But ultimately this is just a boyhood story; the war and the whole plot only serve as backdrop for what the main character supposedly goes through. The problem is that what he 'goes through' is hard to empathize with because of the sloppy editing and acting. Oorlogswinter is mainly enjoyable for íts small town feel and settings, but there is just not enough realism in this film and it doesn't really grip the viewer like Zwartboek does - any comparison with that film is just ridiculous.