Tag: Netflix Originals

“Ozark” (Season 3): Narcos in Missouri

Written by Diana Paul on April 6, 2020. Posted in movie reviews, Television reviews. 1 Comment on “Ozark” (Season 3): Narcos in Missouri

Ozark has set itself apart as one of Netflix’s most popular original series, and this season, in my humble opinion, is the best. (See my reviews of Season 1 -September 2017) and Season 2-October 2018) In this third season, Ozark has book-ended the journey that began with Marty Byrde (Jason Bateman) inventing a plan to launder the Navarro cartel’s drug money in the Ozarks and evolves into the journey of Wendy Byrde (Laura Linney) inventing a plan to create legitimate businesses. The Byrdes have finally broken bad. In Season One Wendy Byrde is primarily...

“Ozark” (Season 2): “Dexter” Meets “Breaking Bad”

Written by diana on October 16, 2018. Posted in Television reviews. No Comments on “Ozark” (Season 2): “Dexter” Meets “Breaking Bad”

Marty Byrde (played by Jason Bateman), his wife Wendy (Laura Linney), teenage daughter Charlotte and son Jacob continue as criminal minds laundering money for a Mexican drug cartel with roots in Chicago. The introduction of Helen Pierce ( the stunning Janet McTeer) as the attorney for the drug cartel ratchets up the ruthless and cunning subplots that made Season 1 of “Ozark” (see September 20, 2017 review) so addictive to watch. The Byrdes are finally settling in to the Ozarks, compartmentalizing their illegal activities which they excel at with their determination...

Calibre–A Bullet Through the Heart

Written by diana on August 5, 2018. Posted in movie reviews. No Comments on Calibre–A Bullet Through the Heart

This bloodpressure-raising thriller opens with two best buddies, Vaughn Carter (Jack Lowden) and Marcus Trenton (Martin McCann), deciding to go on a guys’ weekend hunting trip to a remote village in the Scottish Highlands. Nothing could prepare them…or us… for what happens. Calibre tests the friends’ relationship and their moral character as Vaughan has to deal with his future as a father (with his expectant wife almost due to deliver) and his drug-addled best friend Marcus. In its best moments, Calibre is part “Deliverance” and part “Dogville”....

Babylon Berlin–The Fragility of Democracy

Written by diana on July 16, 2018. Posted in Television reviews. 2 Comments on Babylon Berlin–The Fragility of Democracy

Adapted from the best-selling detective novels by the German author Volker Kutscher, the highly praised Babylon Berlin begins less than ten years after the Treaty of Versailles. Germany is in turmoil. (Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party would come to power in 1933.) Set in the golden ’20s (1926-1929), Berlin is not so golden for everyone. The Nazi takeover is still a couple of years in the future, but the general turmoil is already evident. Babylon Berlin is part period drama, part police procedural, and part mystery thriller, but there is always an undercurrent of intense foreboding, drawing...

Seven Seconds–Black Lives Matter?

Written by diana on April 20, 2018. Posted in movie reviews, Television reviews. 2 Comments on Seven Seconds–Black Lives Matter?

The Netflix Original series Seven Seconds (premiered February 23) is about race, corrupt police and unequal justice. In the opening scene a hit-and-run of an African-American teenager by a white Jersey City rookie cop (Beau Knapp) is covered up by three other members of the police force. The story is harrowing and complicated, with several subplots that are not resolved. But the seminal theme is clear: does a hit-and-run crime against a young black fifteen-year-old go unpunished, no matter what the evidence or the commitment of the prosecutor? In ten episodes, Seven Seconds gives us...

Ozark–A Stark, Dark Thriller

Written by diana on September 20, 2017. Posted in movie reviews, Television reviews. 2 Comments on Ozark–A Stark, Dark Thriller

Ozark is so good it approaches the standard set by "Breaking Bad".