Year: 2021

”The One”–A Perfect Match DNA-Style

Written by Diana Paul on August 22, 2021. Posted in Television reviews. 1 Comment on ”The One”–A Perfect Match DNA-Style

Can true love be analyzed and dissected by science? That is the premise of the Netflix mini-series, The One. Entrepreneur Rebecca Webb (Hannah Ware), uses her own husband Ethan (Wilf Scolding) as living proof that genetic matchmaking can produce “the one” against all odds. Her own match is purportedly the perfect soulmate identified through algorithms and DNA analysis. Her message: “You’re not going to end up alone.” As CEO of the start-up MatchDNA, Rebecca becomes unimaginably wealthy manipulating...

“The White Lotus”–White Gaze

Written by Diana Paul on August 17, 2021. Posted in movie reviews, Television reviews. 1 Comment on “The White Lotus”–White Gaze

In this HBOMax six-episode mini-series (which ended August 15), we watch two uber-wealthy families on vacation in Hawaii (at the upscale Four Seasons) make themselves miserable in a perfectly-seeming tropical paradise. Their privileged existence is the luxury not to be concerned with others. In White Lotus’s opening scene, at the airport, Shane Patton (Jake Lacy), an insufferable, narcissistic scion of a wealthy and powerful family, explains with great disdain to fellow passengers that his wife, Rachel, has died…on their honeymoon. A cardboard coffin marked “human...

“Silent Witness”-or Dead on Arrival

Written by Diana Paul on August 11, 2021. Posted in movie reviews, Television reviews. 2 Comments on “Silent Witness”-or Dead on Arrival

Silent Witness, one of the longest running BBC television series (broadcast in more than 235 countries), focuses on a team of brilliant forensic pathologists who investigate a crime every two episodes. First broadcast in 1996, there now have been twenty-three seasons, making Silent Witness the entertainment industry’s longest running crime drama. The title character is a corpse lying on a slab prepared for a post-mortem analysis–a “silent witness” providing evidence of a crime, suicide, or death by natural causes. ...

“Unforgotten” (Season 4)–And Unforgettable

Written by Diana Paul on August 3, 2021. Posted in Television reviews. 3 Comments on “Unforgotten” (Season 4)–And Unforgettable

Season 4 of Unforgotten has been breaking records with over 7.5 million viewers tuning in every week for the latest developments in the cold case drama (PBS Masterpiece Theater premier July 11, 2021). It is, in this reviewer’s opinion, the most powerful and cleverly written season of the critically acclaimed cold case crime drama. As in the past three seasons, all suspects are interconnected though not revealed in the beginning. Red herrings abound and it is very difficult to sort out motive, means, and opportunity in this...

“Navillera”—Soar Like a Butterfly

Written by Diana Paul on July 25, 2021. Posted in movie reviews, Television reviews. 2 Comments on “Navillera”—Soar Like a Butterfly

This quirky and endearing sleeper mini-series from Korea (premiered on Netflix, March 2021) is a definite winner. (Navillera in Korean means “like a butterfly.”) In the opening scene Sim Deok-chul (the renowned Park In-hwan) is celebrating his 70th birthday with his wife, three sons and their wives. Only the youngest son, considered a failure for quitting his hospital position as a doctor, is unmarried. Sim is a retired mailman who always dreamed of performing “Swan Lake” on stage and now, at his advanced age, is determined to...

“Cruella”–DeVil’s Delight?

Written by Diana Paul on July 18, 2021. Posted in movie reviews. No Comments on “Cruella”–DeVil’s Delight?

Set in London in the 1970s, Cruella focuses on the backstory of the woman who becomes Cruella DeVil, the villain in the beloved children’s story, 101 Dalmatians. This Disney film is the origin story of Cruella DeVil. Beautifully costumed, creatively re-interpreting characters from the much-loved two previous 101 Dalmatians films, we are treated to a prequel like none this reviewer ever expected. Estella Miller (the outstanding Emma Stone), is an aspiring fashion designer, orphaned and relegated to being a street grifter with two boys in a Dickensian survival-of-the-smartest. ...