Year: 2018

Mr. Mercedes — “Bates Motel” meets “Mr. Robot”

Written by diana on September 11, 2018. Posted in Television reviews.

Mr. Mercedes, an Audience (DirecTV) mystery-thriller original series, is based on the Stephen King trilogy “Mr. Mercedes”, “Finders Keepers” and “End of Watch”. The macabre master again conjures alarming boundary-breaking drama, this time in economically depressed Bridgton, Ohio. The opening scene is...

“BlacKkKlansman”: Part of the American Fabric?

Written by diana on September 3, 2018. Posted in movie reviews. 2 Comments on “BlacKkKlansman”: Part of the American Fabric?

A Spike Lee film about white supremacy, BlacKkKlansman is based on Ron Stallworth’s 2006 memoir, which eviscerates the hideous social structures of racism in the US. In 1979 Stallworth (played by newcomer, John David Washington, son of Denzel Washington) becomes the first black detective in Colorado Springs’s police...

The Devil’s Backbone–Peter Pan meets “The Shape of Water”

Written by diana on August 26, 2018. Posted in movie reviews. 1 Comment on The Devil’s Backbone–Peter Pan meets “The Shape of Water”

The Devil’s Backbone (2001) (Spanish: El espinazo del diablo), directed and co-written by Guillermo del Toro, was independently produced by Pedro Almodóvar and foreshadows his Academy Award winning “The Shape of Water” (see my March 19, 2018 review). Set in 1939 during the final year of the Spanish Civil War, we see in the...

“20 Feet From Stardom”–Stellar Performers

Written by diana on August 19, 2018. Posted in movie reviews. 2 Comments on “20 Feet From Stardom”–Stellar Performers

In the wake of the passing of Aretha Franklin, Queen of Soul, 20 Feet from Stardom will resonate more than ever. The mainly female backup singers featured in 20 Feet From Stardom are all daughters of preachers, as was Aretha Franklin, who fine-tuned their extraordinary singing voices in the church choir while very, very young. Director Morgan...

The Tunnel–Seasons 2 and 3

Written by diana on August 14, 2018. Posted in movie reviews, Television reviews. 1 Comment on The Tunnel–Seasons 2 and 3

The Tunnel Seasons 2 and 3 continue the tension from the first season, with a British and French detective partnership (Karl Roebuck and Elise Wasserman respectively) again working to solve a heinous series of crimes. (See my August 7, 2016 review of season 1: “The Tunnel–Turf War or Building Bridges”.) Both season 2 and...

Calibre–A Bullet Through the Heart

Written by diana on August 5, 2018. Posted in movie reviews.

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...