So, when I signed up for Amazon PRIME it was purportedly so I could have my shipping costs covered for books and such. I did not know that there was an opportunity to watch Prime Movies and TV as part of the deal.
Now, I'm not a big movie buff. Quite a while back we opted out of the most common movie feed-- I just didn't feel like it was necessary to watch three or four movies a month. I like to read. The movies got in the way of my concentration with my expanding my reading to include new novels and new Canadian literature, in general. This is the part of my life where I want to be catch up on the reading I missed when I was immersed in other endeavors in the years before. So, goodbye Netflix and GEM and whatever other movie purveyors I was involved with. And I didn't miss them.
However, when I found out that signing up with PRIME meant that I got to watch some of the TV movies and shows that looked like upgrades to some of the old movies of the past (i.e., Goodbye Girl, Love Story, Four Seasons, and that ilk) I was suddenly attracted. First I spent a few days watching "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisell" that seemed like something my mother would have enjoyed, bless her soul. When I caught up to the gap between the last and the next season, I took a break and got back into my reading.
Then, lo and behold, I stumbled across "Modern Love," this sweet and charming 8-part series of little movies-- movie-lettes?-- of 30 minutes of diverse experiences of love in New York City. I loved the first couple of shows and then forced myself to wait a few days, finish a book I was reading, and watch the rest.
I surveyed what others have said in their reviews and see that my take is very likely naive and superficial because phrases like "fail" and "don't live up to" and similar words meaning "disappointing" are descriptors of many of the reviewers I saw. Maybe because I have not been satiated with online movies I find something entertaining where others clearly do not? Perhaps the scripts were written for women in their late sixties and there are few women reviewers in their 60s and 70s who share my appreciation for those Old New York romances and stage-y dialogue?
In any case, if you are my age range (I'm 68), I can promise you the sort of uneven emotional exchanges of 'real life' along side the slightly schmaltzy romance, heartbreak, awkwardness, urban anonymity and alienation, and a refreshing (I think) step back from all kinds of over-the-top sexual acting out, or if it does occur, it is commented on in an old-fashioned 'judgey' way that seems somewhat reassuring (although I know that that might make this sound like it is self-righteous twaddle, which it is not.) I guess what I see throughout the various vignettes is a sweet kindness thread-- characters don't engage in meaningless adultery, or not without awkward but sincere confessions. Not every relationship glitch leads to the end of the relationship. And isn't it nice to see that? People doing "the hard work" or the realistic stuff of recognizing that they can make their way through life with an okay marriage vs. launching out into the Big Unknown to 'find' themselves. Not always necessary, right?
There is a lot of kindness and quite a heavy dose of familial love to balance the romantic carousing.
It is the kind of peace and love we people in our 60s and 70s preached about in our youth and have finally come to practice and appreciate in our sundown years. If you are there, I think you will enjoy this series.
You can sign up for a free trial for a month of viewing and decide if PRIME is really worth the cost.
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