Year: 2020

“The Hunting Ground” (2015)–Preying on Our Daughters and Sons

Written by Diana Paul on June 1, 2020. Posted in Unhealed Wound. 1 Comment on “The Hunting Ground” (2015)–Preying on Our Daughters and Sons

Many college students who have been raped on campus face retaliation and harassment as they fight for justice. In The Hunting Ground, the students (mostly female but some male) give a painful, absorbing account of not only their sexual assault but also the systemic indifference of the college administrations to whom the victims seek redress. This callousness is as devastating and traumatic as the rampant sexual assaults themselves. In this 103-minute documentary, college rape is seen from the point of view of the raped student as well as the faculty and administrators...

“The English Game”–From Provincial to International

Written by Diana Paul on May 26, 2020. Posted in movie reviews, Television reviews. No Comments on “The English Game”–From Provincial to International

The English Game, Netflix Original The English Game, created by Julian Fellowes (of “Downton Abbey”), is a Netflix Original period drama based upon a true story. Set in 1880’s England, The English Game is a notable example of class divisions exhibited in the early evolution of football aka soccer. Rising from a provincial game that was socially stratified for the “Old Etonians” of noble birth, we see the evolution of football to a world-class game, perhaps the most popular in the world. Soccer’s first governing body was...

“Hillary”–Unmasked

Written by Diana Paul on May 19, 2020. Posted in movie reviews, Television reviews. 2 Comments on “Hillary”–Unmasked

Hillary, an intimate and candid four-part series about former First Lady and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton– one of the most admired and vilified women in the world–features never-before-seen footage of her life from birth in a close-knit family in Chicago, Illinois. The mission of this documentary is not only to interview Hillary Clinton (for a total of thirty-five hours) and several dozen colleagues and personal friends but also to try to analyze why people found Clinton so compelling—and so polarizing. Yet Hillary is so much more than a biopic....

“Baptiste”–After The Missing

Written by Diana Paul on May 11, 2020. Posted in movie reviews, Television reviews. 1 Comment on “Baptiste”–After The Missing

In this spinoff of the BBC popular series “The Missing”, detective Baptiste is now retired and recovering from brain surgery. The six-part crime procedural, Baptiste, is an intense crime thriller. Baptiste (Tchéky Karyo) is called in by Amsterdam’s Chief of Police and former lover to investigate the disappearance of Natalie, a young sex worker. He meets her uncle Edward (Tom Hollander of “The Night Manager”) and soon Baptiste and Edward become involved in taking down a Romanian crime organization. The Romanians are in the business...

“Contagion”–Infects Us All

Written by Diana Paul on May 4, 2020. Posted in movie reviews. 1 Comment on “Contagion”–Infects Us All

Contagion With the tagline: “Don’t talk to anyone. Don’t touch anyone”, this B-rated movie “Contagion” (2011), directed by Stephen Soderbergh, is eerily prescient nine years later. A pandemic–“a novel virus”– is about to create havoc, beginning with the opening scene where Beth Emhoff (Gwyneth Paltrow) is at the Hong Kong airport, waiting to catch a plane back to Chicago. Her husband Mitch (Matt Damon) will soon discover that his wife is patient zero–the original carrier of the deadly virus which begins to get...

“Little Fires Everywhere”–Incendiary at Its Best

Written by Diana Paul on April 27, 2020. Posted in movie reviews, Television reviews. 3 Comments on “Little Fires Everywhere”–Incendiary at Its Best

Set in Shaker Heights, Ohio during the late 1990s, Little Fires Everywhere is based on Celeste Ng’s best-selling novel by the same name. Reese Witherspoon (Elena)and Kerry Washington (Mia) steal the show as mothers from vastly different socioeconomic backgrounds. This is a suburban saga with a painfully close lens focused on the income gap, class, and racial divide we know only so well. In the opening scene a house in Shaker Heights is engulfed in an inferno. Is it the target of arson? We will find out. The year is 1997. Shaker...