Tag: Netflix original

Fall of the House of Usher–Poe on Steroids

Written by Diana Paul on November 7, 2023. Posted in Television reviews. 3 Comments on Fall of the House of Usher–Poe on Steroids

This Halloween-esque Netflix eight-episode mini-series (released in time for Trick or Treat on October 12) is a not-so-loyal but brilliant riff on Edgar Allan Poe’s 1840 collection of short stories, “The Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque”. Embroidered with many literary references to some of these tales, each episode in Fall of the House of Usher is named after one of Poe’s works. For example, Episode 1: “The Masque of the Red Death”. Literary allusions to even more short story titles throughout this mini-series are playful and witty. (For example,...

Mudbound–Mired in the Mississippi Delta

Written by diana on November 27, 2017. Posted in movie reviews, Unhealed Wound. 1 Comment on Mudbound–Mired in the Mississippi Delta

Set in the Deep South in1939 and then fast-forwarding to World War II, Mudbound is an epic of two families–one white (McAllan) and one black (Jackson)–who are severely constrained by the Jim Crow laws and customs in Alabama. The two McAllan brothers, Henry and Jamie, epitomize Cain and Abel. The Jacksons are sharecroppers bravely facing the disconnect between their dreams and the dangerous obstacles set before them. Mudbound‘s main plot focuses on Jamie McAllan (Garrett Hedland) and Ronsel Jackson (Jason Mitchell), decorated war heroes who, upon returning, are misfits...

The Siege at Jadotville–The Luck of the Irish

Written by diana on August 20, 2017. Posted in movie reviews. 1 Comment on The Siege at Jadotville–The Luck of the Irish

Based on true events, The Siege at Jadotville (a Netflix original) is a shocking reenactment of a heroic battle that was meticulously covered up for over 40 years

“The Fall” (mini-series) — “Prime Suspect” Revisited

Written by diana on July 20, 2014. Posted in Television reviews. 1 Comment on “The Fall” (mini-series) — “Prime Suspect” Revisited

In this Netflix Original production distributed by BBC Ireland, (not to be confused with the 2006 movie of the same name–see August 16, 2011 review), the story unfolds, not as a mystery to be solved, but as a contrast between two obsessive personality types. One is Detective Stella Gibson (Gillian Anderson of “X-Files” and “Bleak House” fame), called in to solve a murder. The other is the psychopath leading a double life, not unlike “Dexter”. Interestingly, it is the seeming normalcy of the psychopath, Paul Spector (Jamie Dornan, soon to be known...

Tag: Netflix original

Fall of the House of Usher–Poe on Steroids

Mudbound–Mired in the Mississippi Delta

The Siege at Jadotville–The Luck of the Irish

“The Fall” (mini-series) — “Prime Suspect” Revisited

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