Unhealed Wound – Passion for Art, Movies, and Culture

Women Talking–In the Name of Religion

Written by Diana Paul on September 25, 2023. Posted in movie reviews. Leave a Comment

Directed by Sarah Polley, based on the titular novel by Miriam Toews, Women Talking is inspired by a true story of horrific mass rapes in a small Mennonite community. Intentionally ambiguous with regard to time and place, the religious colony in Women Talking is cut off from the modern world: any place in America full of barns, overalls and horse-drawn-carts will do. Women Talking explores the wide-ranging challenges and obstacles faced by women when their bodies and dignity have been ravaged. Co-produced by Frances McDormand (“Macbeth”....

Death on the Nile–No Lifesaver Needed

Written by Diana Paul on September 18, 2023. Posted in movie reviews. Leave a Comment

Death on the Nile, a 2022 remake of Agatha Christie’s 1937 classic novel, is directed by and stars Kenneth Branagh. Cinematic adaptations from books, especially from beloved authors like Agatha Christie are only for the intrepid. And Branagh is on a path to making a series of Christie screen adaptations, starting with his first film, “Murder on the Orient Express (2017).” In the opening scene the young Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot, devises a brilliant strategy to defeat the German forces in the trenches of World War One. Seriously wounded, his face scarred, his fiancée...

The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart– Planting Seeds of Power

Written by Diana Paul on September 10, 2023. Posted in Television reviews. 1 Comment

This seven-episode mini-series, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, is based upon Holly Ringland’s novel of the same name.ittle Alice Hart (Alyla Brown), a nine-year old girl, suffers a very violent set of family circumstances living in the outback of Australia. Her father is abusive , especially when Alice wants to feel somewhat safe around him. Always guarded, the mother she adores is almost an angel for the child’s living hell. When her parents die in a horrific fire, Alice finds her life changing dramatically when she is sent to live with her grandmother, June Hart (Sigourney...

Full Circle–Around and Around

Written by Diana Paul on August 28, 2023. Posted in Television reviews. Leave a Comment

The title, Full Circle, represents a belief in Guyana ritual and magic to break a family curse. Savitri Mahabir (CCH Pounder), a Guyana racketeer, has had a curse placed on her family, resulting in the murder of her beloved brother-in-law. Intent on breaking the curse, Mahabir creates a circle of vengeance–what comes around, goes around. Literally, she orders a retaliatory murder in Washington Square Park, in New York City. To break the curse Guyana traditions must be followed, requiring a circle for the crime to be drawn...

Paradise–Time is Money?

Written by Diana Paul on August 21, 2023. Posted in Television reviews. Leave a Comment

In Paradise, a German dystopian sci-fi thriller, Aeon has become a multi-billion dollar big-pharma conglomerate, founded by Olivia Theissen (Iris Berben) and her team of scientists. The biotech corporation has developed a revolutionary genetic tool that can reverse the aging process and presumably delay death. Donors of DNA, who are compatible with wealthy recipients, exchange years of their lives for money–lots of it. Time is the currency. And only the very rich can benefit from this age-defying technology. In...

Hijack–Unfriendly Skies?

Written by Diana Paul on August 11, 2023. Posted in Television reviews. Leave a Comment

In this seven-episode miniseries, released June 29, we see Sam Nelson (Idris Elba), a professional business consultant and expert negotiator, attempt to persuade four terrorists to peacefully land a Dubai-London flight. Each one-hour episode simulates an hour of the seven-hour flight. The panicky passengers, mostly from Dubai and Great Britain, are ill-suited for the required teamwork and unified strategy to overcome the terrorists. Sam, walking a tightrope between the passengers and hijackers, must convince the hijackers that passengers only want to see their families...