mark_l_nicholson Reviews

The Hijacking of Flight 601 (2024)

Surprisingly enjoyable

[8/10 · 13 May 2024]

I really enjoyed watching this series. On the one hand it's a drama but it also has moments of comedy and lots of humanity as well. And the story it's based on is fascinating as well. There are multiple stories about the different characters entwined and the characters are mostly likeable and relatable. The acting is pretty good. I watch a lot of Spanish movies and series to practice my Spanish and this is one that I really enjoyed. I think the script writers did a good job of taking the original story and turning it into a series that kept your attention until the end. I recommend it but your mileage may vary.

La caza. Monteperdido (2019–2023)

Intriguing Spanish drama, great characters

[8/10 · 21 March 2024]

I watch a lot of Spanish shows to work on my Spanish and this is a good one. The characters in all 3 seasons (which are different stories but with the same main characters, the detectives) are excellent and interesting. The stories are complicated and keep you occupied until the end. The scenery and filming is excellent. I'll miss this series when I finish the third season. I can't compare this show to ones from the US because I don't watch much USA television. The first season is set near the Pyrenees, the second on the beautiful island of Mallorca and the third in southern Spain along the border with Portugal.

You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment (2024)

Interesting and important information

[9/10 · 9 January 2024]

I enjoyed watching this series and learned several things from it. People, in their reviews, are complaining about "bait and switch" because the series goes into other things than just the twins study but I found most of that information interesting and very important for society. For example, that there are 1.7 billion cows on the earth now being raised for food and that their combined mass outweighs every mammal, bird, reptile, and amphibian living on land by more than a factor of ten. And that the burps and farts of cows produce more greenhouse gases (in the form of methane) than all of the global transportation sector. I didn't know that.

I thought the experiment was interesting and fairly balanced. They gave both sets of twins what would be considered a healthy diet and let the results speak for themselves.

I thought that most of the presenters and special guests they had on the show were interesting and added value. I especially liked seeing Cory Booker and. Eric Adams, mayor of New York. His story was fascinating.

Daughter from Another Mother (2021–2022)

My favorite series from Mexico

[8/10 · 15 February 2022]

I watch a lot of series in Spanish to practice but I haven't liked many from Mexico. This is the best I've seen though with good actors, interesting characters and story and some good human values. Season two gets a little choppy as far as the story goes but the strong characters keep it interesting. One of the more worth watching Spanish series on Netflix.

Vientos de agua (2006)

Even better the second time

[10/10 · 9 March 2021]

I'm watching this for the second time because I enjoyed it so much the first and I'm liking it even better because I understand more of the dialogue and it's easier to follow knowing the plot already. But on the second viewing I can see even more the brilliant story writing and the weaving of the two tales. I would rank it in my top ten list of TV series. My only criticism is I've never seen such unattractive goofy guys get so many beautiful women!

Bolívar: Una lucha admirable (2019)

Entertaining and solid series

[8/10 · 21 September 2019]

As a Spanish learner I am always looking for series in Spanish to watch. If that fits you, then this is a good series to watch. The actors are good, the scenery nice, the story well developed. It's a good quality telenovela along the lines of another great Colombian telenovela - La Niña. And 60 episodes give me lots of practice with my Spanish!

Nora's Will (2008)

Slow moving but very satisfying cinema

[8/10 · 6 September 2018]

I really liked this movie because of the story, the acting and because I like movies about Jewish people! It's a slow moving movie - not for action movie fans - a movie to me that feels like real cinema. The main character, Jose, is entertaining and interesting - and very well acted. And the other actors also do a wonderful job building this slow moving movie to a satisfying conclusion. I have watched it several times which speaks for what I think of it.

El final del camino (2017)

Worth watching Spanish history series

[7/10 · 16 July 2017]

We're always looking for Spanish series to watch to work on our Spanish and this is a pretty good one. It has quite a few different plots woven together that makes the story interesting. It's also got some good actors including Mateo from Velvet as one of the three brothers. You can watch this and a lot of other Spanish series on Spain's public TV website, rtve dot es but you won't have access to English subtitles there. If you like historical series like Isabel then you should enjoy this.

La niña (2016– )

Great, exciting show for improving your Spanish

[9/10 · 10 March 2017]

We mostly watch Spanish language programming because we are trying to improve our Spanish and normally we watch shows from Spain because they are of higher quality than the shows from Latin America BUT this one is great. I love the actors and actresses and especially the actresses who play Belky and Doctor Tatiana. They exude the warmth and passion of latinas and make me want to move to Colombia. There are many other very good actors in this as well, the acting is first rate.

The story is exciting and compelling. It's great how they weave Belky's past into the present and vice versa. I can't believe there are 86 episodes in one season but I look forward to watching them all.

7 Years (2016)

Tight, engaging movie

[8/10 · 28 October 2016]

Since no one has written a review of this yet, I will write one. We are learning Spanish and so we watch mostly Spanish movies and TV which is why we watched this. It's a well scripted, well acted movie that kept us interested from start to finish. It's about four business partners who have been ripping off the government and who are on the point of being caught. The only solution they can come up with is for one of them to take the fall (and go to prison for 7 years) so the other three can go free and so the business can survive. So they bring in a mediator who helps them with the process. There is so much on the line that they get real honest with each other and lots of stuff gets drudged up. The characters seemed believable, the casting was great, the pace was good. I would be happy if most of the movies I watch were half as good as this one.