Year: 2022

Where the Crawdads Sing—In Harmony with the Book

Written by Diana Paul on December 26, 2022. Posted in movie reviews.

Any book-to-screen adaptation of a beloved best-seller has heightened risk of disappointing its audience. In the case of the blockbuster 2018 Delia Owens’ novel, Where the Crawdads Sing, Reese Witherspoon’s adaptation to film is not only a faithful adaptation but an original restructuring of the narrative without sacrificing the...

White Lotus–Season 2

Written by Diana Paul on December 19, 2022. Posted in Television reviews.

In the opening scene of The White Lotus, season 2, Daphne (Meghann Fahy), a Hollywood blonde with the highlights of the extremely pampered, is a guest at the White Lotus luxury resort in Taormina, Sicily. Gushing to the two women sitting next to her in cabana chairs under blue-and-white sunbrellas, Daphne lets them know that: ...

The Good Fight (Season 6 Finale)—No Sucker Punches

Written by Diana Paul on December 13, 2022. Posted in Television reviews.

In this thrilling sixth and final season of one of the most politically-charged television series ever broadcasted, The Good Fight tolerates no fools. In up-to-the-minute scintillating writing by Michelle and Robert King (creators of “The Good Wife”), we see the simmering civil and race wars that could be just around the...

Top Gun: Maverick–Targeting Its Audience

Written by Diana Paul on November 28, 2022. Posted in movie reviews. 1 Comment on Top Gun: Maverick–Targeting Its Audience

This aviator cinematic sequel to the 1987 classic Tom Cruise movie, “Top Gun”, sees Pete “Maverick” Mitchell still having his need for speed, Fast and Furious style. Top Gun: Maverick picks up the story thirty years later, with Maverick still addicted to ...

Extraordinary Attorney Woo—Palindromes Anyone?

Written by Diana Paul on November 21, 2022. Posted in Television reviews. 2 Comments on Extraordinary Attorney Woo—Palindromes Anyone?

In Extraordinary Attorney Woo, a newly minted attorney, Woo Young Woo (the exceptional Park Eun-bin) has just graduated from prestigious Seoul National University School of Law and is hired by one of the two top law firms in Seoul. It is somewhat unusual that the two top law firms are headed by female CEOs. But even...

Inside Man–Incarceration or Cancellation?

Written by Diana Paul on November 15, 2022. Posted in movie reviews, Television reviews, Unhealed Wound.

A dramatic four-episode mini-series by Steven Moffat (Doctor Who creator), Inside Man was released on Netflix October 31. There are two parallel plots: Former law professor Jefferson Grieff (Stanley Tucci) is on death row for strangling and beheading his wife. A brilliant Hannibal Lecter-style genius for solving cold cases, he...