Media Notes: Roundup for March 2025

 

  

 

Welcome to my somewhat random selection of the movies and series on DVD and/or online I watched during March 2025. I did not watch much this month. One movie, and I started binge watching a new to me television cooking show. Often for me, watching a series, especially something that is relatively low engagement like a cooking show, can be relaxing in terms of brain power.

Movies and films (links to IMDB.com for basic information unless noted otherwise). Some of these I watched via TubiTv.com or other online source. The DVDs come from the public library (unless noted otherwise). In addition, I will try to add other trivia notes, such as when a film is based on a book adding the information about the book (at least the WorldCat record if available).

• Brooklyn's Finest (2009. Crime. Drama. Thriller). Plot description: "Three unconnected Brooklyn cops wind up at the same deadly location after enduring vastly different career paths." We have an undercover cop (Don Cheadle) trying to get out of the undercover work to a desk job and promotion, a corrupt cop who will do pretty much anything for money (Ethan Hawke) albeit to provide for his growing family and trying to get them a better house, and the almost mandatory in cop films one cop who is a few days from retiring (Richard Gere), who has to mentor a rookie along the way. The cast also features Wesley Snipes and Vincent D'Onofrio (not for long though). This starts slow, but it builds up to when the stories come together. There are some cliches, but the three main actors put in some solid performances. The drama is strong, but it can have some slow moments here or there. Once the pace accelerates to the inevitable reckoning, it is powerful and moving. Still, if you like police dramas, emphasis on drama, this may be one to watch. These are all very flawed cops, but they have elements that viewers can relate to or at least, if they do not condone some of the actions they may come to understand them. Overall a grim yet at times very humane film. 3.5 out of 5 stars. Watched 3/2 via TubiTv.
  

Television and other series (basic show information links via Wikipedia unless noted otherwise). Some of these come in DVD from the public library. Others may be via YouTube, which, as noted before, I keep finding all sorts of other old shows in it, often full episodes:

• Master Chef (American series. 2010 to present. Reality. Cooking. Competition). Plot description: " MasterChef is an American competitive cooking reality television series that premiered on Fox on July 27, 2010.[1] Based on the British series of the same name and produced by Endemol Shine North America and One Potato Two Potato, the series features amateur and home chefs competing to win the title of 'MasterChef'." TubiTv has the series from the beginning in order, so I figured I'd take a chance and slowly binge through it. I've liked other Ramsay shows, so I am trying this one too. Tubi has up to season 13. Season 14 started back in May 2024, so I figure by time I watch the previous seasons it will be there to watch. 
• Tubi also has the British original, but they only have some episodes, so it is not complete. Still, I may give it a watch later and try it out.
• Turns out there are various other international versions. In Tubi so far I've seen an Australian, a Canadian, and a Mexican version plus a "professionals" series. Depending on how I like the one I am watching now I will decide if I want to try the others or not. 
• In the American show, as stated in the first season opener, the amateur chefs compete for $250,000 and their own cookbook. As in similar shows, there are three judges to judge the contestants and their food.  Out of 100 auditioning, 30 will be selected to start out. 
• Watched seasons 1 and 2. In season 3, they change some of the rules, tweaks. For example, an elimination is possible after one of the mystery box challenges. 
• By season 4, the rhythm of the show is settled, but it does feel they are stretching it a bit with extra side competitions to eliminate bottom competitors and some more additions for the drama. Also, the option for someone previously eliminated to get a chance to come back just feels like they are stretching the season a bit more, again for the drama. Overall, after they stretched past 20 episodes to 25, the series really started feeling seriously stretched. Did Fox just have a contract requiring more content?
  
• Contestants in this series can be seriously catty and petty in terms of trash talking each other. Also, the show producers must have some rule that you need to have at least one arrogant asshole who thinks they know better than even the host judges. It's the one person viewers will soon wish to be eliminated. 
• In season 5, they stop doing auditions as part of the show. They start with 30 competitors already selected to get started. From those 30, only 22 manage to earn an apron. The competition then goes with those 22 to get the eventual champion. A small side note: apparently Chef Elliot Graham lost some serious weight between seasons four and five; you can see a substantial difference at the opening of season 5 (turns out he did undergo weight loss surgery and began to run for exercise, according to his Wikipedia entry). Not as thrilled with this season, but overall not that much different from previous in the sense of how cattiness they encourage among the contestants.
  
• In season 6, Joe Bastianich leaves and a new judge joins them: Christina Tosi, a master pastry chef. Another small detail. In some of the mystery box challenges, one of the judge chefs cooks along the competitors. This is, allegedly, for them to learn from the chef, but in reality they can't really learn since the competitors have to do their cooking at the same time. If they really wanted them to learn, the chef would do the demo first, let them watch, then let them cook, in my humble opinion. Ramsey and the judges have mastered the art, if you can call it that, of dramatic pauses and suspense in announcing results. But there are some times when they can be outright cruel in dismissing competitors. That goes beyond just being dramatic, some moments are just outright mean.