THE Hundred-FOOT JOURNEY (2014) – My rating: 8/10

This is a feel good movie.  Helen Mirren is amazing as a French restaurant owner (Madame Mallory) in France.  After years of enjoying no immediate surrounding competition, an East Indian family headed by Papa (Om Puri) with an extraordinary gifted chef, Hassan (Manish Dayal), takes ownership of an old defunct restaurant 100 feet across from her.  Sparks start flying as soon as she discovers that the new restaurant was going to be real competition.  Anyone who follows Helen Mirren’s career knows she is an outstanding actress and can and does get the very best of her acting abilities from every movie she’s a part of.  She comes across exactly as she should in The Hundred- Foot Journey; stubborn, heart felt and classy.

100′ across the walkway is the new family that had to flee their home in India because of dangerous uprisings that wiped out their entire livelihood, including Mama (Juhi Chawla) wife and mother and teacher of the fine culinary art of Indian cooking.  The gifted chef is their son, Hassan who becomes smitten with Madame Mallory’s Su-Chef, Marguerite (Charlotte LeBon).  It is magic watching these 2 families struggle to make their circumstances work in a world where competition is fierce and winning is everything.  I really enjoyed this movie and think is sends life lessons that everyone can benefit from, especially at a time when WW3 seems to be lurking around the corner.  It’s definitely worth taking the time out to see.

MISTRESSES – My rating: 6/10

I feel somewhat reluctant critiquing Mistresses because I’m not certain it’s going to be renewed.  I understand the British version is a big hit, but that’s in England.  In the US it’s considered just okay.  In my opinion the plot is a little ridiculous.  Mistresses is a drama about the scandalous lives of four girlfriends.

 Savi (Alyssa Milano), a successful lawyer is married to Harry (Brett Tucker), a restaurant owner and chef.  They want to start a family (he more than she). Savi ends up having a one night stand with Dominic, a lawyer on her job, played by Jason George .  She becomes pregnant to her husband’s delight but has to come clean since the father in unknown and the baby could be black.

Season 2:  Savi’s baby problem is resolved since she was in a horrific car accident in last season’s finale, causing a miscarriage.  She divorces her husband anyway, in favor of her baby daddy. For the record, Savi seems very uncomfortable in this relationship — the chemistry is just not there.

 Josselyn (Jes Macallan), Savi’s younger sister is a savvy real estate agent and a single, serial dater who strikes up a love relationship with a female client. Josselyn ends up sleeping with her French boss, causing her current gay relationship to come to an end. Additionally, Josselyn is wild and loves to party.

Season 2:  Josselyn is no longer a real estate agent.  She along with her sister’s x-husband, Harry, are party planners, complete with catering.  For the record, this is an unlikely pairing since Harry will be constantly running into his X, plus he’s a professional.

 April (Rochelle Aytes), an entrepreneurial, store owner is a  recent widow with a young daughter.  April seems to be the only normal one in the group until her dead husband reappears, complete with a mistress and child, clamming blackmail as the reason he faked his death.  April is currently dating and now has to figure out what to do going forward.

Season 2:  April has met someone new and is throwing her prudish ways out the window to enjoy lots of sex with her new hunk.  For the record, no mention of her resurfaced, dead husband.  Life goes on as usual.  I think they replaced the person playing her daughter.

Karen (Yunjin Kim), a successful therapist with her own practice, has an affair with her dying, married client, Thomas Grey (John Schneider).  After many complications, Karen ends up sleeping with Sam Grey, Thomas’s son.  If matters weren’t bad enough, Thomas’s wife fines out and has Karen arrested for aiding in her husbands death, which she did not do.

Season 2:  Karen no longer has a private practice since Sam got killed and his mother was arrested for the murder.  For the record, this story is pretty gray since there was a struggle at the end of last season, between Sam and Karen and Sam’s mother when the gun went off.  It seems odd that anyone was arrested for this accident/incident.  There was no motive for killing Sam.

Mistresses aired for 13 weeks in June of 2013.  I just learned Mistresses has been picked up for a second season and will air June of 2014.  I don’t know how they will resolve Sevi’s potential baby daddy, Jason George, since he also plays Dr. Bailey’s husband on Grey’s Anatomy.  He was away for a while but has returned.  It’s unrealistic to think 4 friends have this kind of life or maybe I’m the one that’s out of touch.  Mistresses airs on ABC.

Season 2:  Still unrealistic and has started off rushed with most of the characters emotionally detached. For the record, I will be surprised if Mistresses makes it a 3rd season.  Only time will tell.