Unhealed Wound – Passion for Art, Movies, and Culture

The Patient–More Restraint Needed

Written by Diana Paul on March 19, 2023. Posted in movie reviews, Television reviews. Leave a Comment

The Patient , a Hulu ten-episode mini-series, is a psychological thriller and entrapment drama that premiered in August 2022. The series stars Steve Carell, Domhnall Gleeson, and Linda Emond. Sam, a sociopathological young serial killer (Gleeson), is determined to stop his murdering obsession. He seeks a therapist, Dr. Alan Strauss (Carrell), in the hope that he will be “cured” of his anger issues, which propel him to murder. The source of his rage: a brutal and psychotic child-abusing father. Wanting around-the-clock therapy when he...

The King’s Affection–”Romeo & Juliet” Meets “As You Like It”

Written by Diana Paul on March 13, 2023. Posted in movie reviews, Television reviews. Leave a Comment

In this Korean historical romance, The King’s Affection is part Shakespeare and part soap opera. Twins are born to the royal family: a baby boy and a baby girl. Having a crown prince share his mother’s womb with a girl is culturally unacceptable for the future heir to the throne. As a result, when the Crown Princess gives birth to twins, the grandfather orders the murder of the baby girl. Unknown to him the twins’ mother has her baby girl sent away with a trusted bodyguard in a Moses Biblical fashion. No one knows of her existence except for the mother, the bodyguard...

Elvis–Rocket Man of the 60’s?

Written by Diana Paul on March 8, 2023. Posted in Unhealed Wound. Leave a Comment

In Baz Luhrmann’s Academy-award nominated 2022 biopic of Elvis Presley (an extraordinary performance by newcomer Austin Butler), we see the journey back in time to the 1940’s through 70’s with historically accurate fashions, scenes, and most of all, politics through the civil rights movement. Elvis’s life is told from the perspective of his manager Colonel Tom Parker (played solidly by Tom Hanks). Portraying the King is not an easy road to travel. The memories and hagiography of perhaps the first white rock star before the advent of the Beatles who stole much of Elvis’s...

The Pale Blue Eye–A Second Look

Written by Diana Paul on February 27, 2023. Posted in movie reviews. Leave a Comment

“The boundaries which divide life from death are at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say where the one ends and where the other begins?” Based upon Louis Bayard’s novel by the same name, The Pale Blue Eye is a murder mystery thriller that intersects with horror. Opening with renowned detective Augustus Landor (Christian Bale) being hired by West Point to investigate the hanging of a young cadet, Landor’s duties also include protecting the reputation of the newly established military academy. A reformed alcoholic who agonizes over his lost...

The Recruit–Not Your Ordinary Nube

Written by Diana Paul on February 19, 2023. Posted in movie reviews, Television reviews. Leave a Comment

Owen Hendricks (Noah Centineo of “All the Boys I Loved Before”), a newly minted lawyer hired by the CIA, is drafted into an investigation of a Russian double-agent, Max (Laura Haddock of “Downton Abbey: A New Era“). She is an invaluable asset who can air the dirty laundry of both the CIA and Russian intelligence. A brilliant survivor who has to please two masters, Max soon manipulates Owen into negotiating her release from prison, implying she will blackmail the CIA if he fails. Will Max reveal the CIA’s most heinous secrets? A subplot of The Recruit (Netflix 2022 mini-series)...

Emily the Criminal–The Making of a Criminal Mind

Written by Diana Paul on February 11, 2023. Posted in movie reviews. Leave a Comment

In this amoral thriller, anti-hero Emily (Aubrey Plaza of “White Lotus”, season 2 and “Parks and Recreations”) is interviewing for a job in a medical office. Problem is she has a felony on her record for aggravated assault. This fact will be crucial for the ongoing plot in Emily the Criminal. Angry and desperate with $70 thousand dollars in student loan debt, Emily is in a physically exhausting, mind-numbing job delivering catered lunches to businesses. Both highly motivated as an artist wanting to have a career and handicapped by her criminal record,...