Year: 2016

The Good Wife—The Finale: A Good End?

Written by diana on May 17, 2016. Posted in Television reviews. 3 Comments on The Good Wife—The Finale: A Good End?

The Good Wife finale The Good Wife ended its seventh addicting season on Mother’s Day as a paean to Alicia Florrick , the award-winning Julianna Margulies, and the journey Florrick has taken over the course of seven long years. (See my earlier May 12, 2012 review of this series. ) She realizes her rebirth—from the ignominy of being an adulterous governor’s wife, the lawyer who gave up her career to raise her two children to adolescence, to the brilliant lawyer who becomes a powerhouse both in the courtroom and in the political arena her husband thought was his territory alone. [Spoiler...

“The Danish Girl”—There are Two

Written by diana on May 10, 2016. Posted in movie reviews. 3 Comments on “The Danish Girl”—There are Two

Based on David Ebershoff’s novel, “The Danish Girl” is a compelling portrait of transgender life in the early twentieth century. A dramatization of the diaries of Einar Wegener, one of the first trans women to undergo sex reassignment surgery, we see the transgender world: first, as Einar and then later, as Lili. “The Danish Girl” opens with Einar, a landscape artist (played by Eddie Redmayne, “The Theory of Everything”), who is married to Gerda (Alicia Verkander, “Ex Machina”), a painter of portraits. Both artists are supportive and sometimes resistant to each other’s career aspirations....

The Night Manager

Written by diana on May 3, 2016. Posted in Unhealed Wound. 5 Comments on The Night Manager

Based on John le Carré’s 1993 novel, The Night Manager, this AMC/BBC television miniseries is a spy thriller directed by Danish phenomena Susanne Bier (Of “A Better World”, see my October 7, 2014 review). Luxury hotel night manager Jonathan Pine (Tom Hiddleston), situated in Cairo during the impending Arab Spring, faces off against Richard Roper (Hugh Laurie of “House” fame), a formidable gun-runner turned financier and philanthropist living on the island of Mallorca. Roper is an international jet-setter who entertains his beautiful mistress and his entourage in the Swiss Alps, Mallorca,...

“Confirmation”—The Sexual Harassment of Anita Hill

Written by diana on April 24, 2016. Posted in movie reviews, Television reviews. 3 Comments on “Confirmation”—The Sexual Harassment of Anita Hill

Almost twenty-five years ago, Anita Hill testified in front of an all-white male congressional hearing presided over by Senator Joe Biden, accusing Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment, a legal concept that did not, as yet, resonate with the American public. In “Confirmation”, an HBO mini-series, we see the reliving of the riveting testimony: Anita Hill’s accusations and Clarence Thomas’s defense with almost exact wording from the hearing transcripts. At times the hearing seems to deal with race – particularly after Thomas’s “high tech lynching” comment,...

Jackie Robinson Day—April 15

Written by diana on April 15, 2016. Posted in Television reviews. 2 Comments on Jackie Robinson Day—April 15

In the two-part Ken Burns’ documentary, “Jackie Robinson”, broadcast this past week on PBS television, we are immediately hooked by the legendary baseball player’s opening statement: “If I had a room jammed with trophies, awards and citations, and a child of mine came into that room and asked what I had done in defense of black people and decent whites fighting for freedom, and I had to tell that child that I had kept quiet, that I had been timid, I would have to mark myself a total failure at the whole business of living.” In raw archival footage and interviews we see Jackie...

“99 Homes”—And the Other One Percent

Written by diana on April 7, 2016. Posted in movie reviews. 1 Comment on “99 Homes”—And the Other One Percent

It is no longer possible to have a serious discussion about poverty and the income gap without having a serious discussion about housing. “99 Homes” dramatizes this tragic social ill. [Last week’s publication of Evicted by Matthew Desmond, a Harvard sociologist, demonstrates through statistics how eviction feeds the cycle of poverty.] In this country the human cost and callous treatment of those evicted is not publicized until now. “99Homes” is a vivid portrayal of the humiliation, greed, and perversion of the legal system which allows eviction without recourse or appeal. Directed by...