Month: May 2022

“Operation Mincemeat” (2022)–Chopped and Diced

Written by Diana Paul on May 30, 2022. Posted in Unhealed Wound. No Comments on “Operation Mincemeat” (2022)–Chopped and Diced

Operation Mincemeat (2021) is based on the true story of a successful British subterfuge against Nazi Germany during the Second World War. Released by Netflix on May 11 in time for Memorial Day, Operation Mincemeat retells the unfamiliar story of a pivotal operation by British intelligence to disguise the 1943 Allied invasion of Sicily and dupe Hitler into thinking the target battle zone is Greece instead. Thousands of Allied lives could be saved if their mission was accomplished. Ewen Montagu (Colin Firth), a Naval intelligence officer, is in charge of masterminding...

“Four Good Days” (2021) –After Ten Bad Years

Written by Diana Paul on May 24, 2022. Posted in movie reviews. 1 Comment on “Four Good Days” (2021) –After Ten Bad Years

Inspired by a Pulitzer-Prize winning Washington Post article, Four Good Days tackles the almost insurmountable ordeal of drug withdrawal. And also confronts the parent-adult child relationship that fails repeatedly to lead to a successful outcome. Thirty-year-old Molly (Mila Kunis) is the damaged and severely addicted daughter who knocks on the door of her mother’s house after ten years of drug addiction. Deb (Glenn Close), her mother, has since remarried an extremely empathetic man, Chris (Stephen Root), yet has a deeply disturbed past. Both tormented...

“Dead To Me”: A Balancing Act

Written by Diana Paul on May 15, 2022. Posted in Television reviews, Unhealed Wound. 1 Comment on “Dead To Me”: A Balancing Act

Guest reviewer: David A. Kennedy, horticulturalist and author of the thriller, RICOCHET Mortality, deceit, redemption – these are bread-and-butter themes for the storyteller. Add a little meat to them bones, and you might have something special. Netflix’s Dead To Me (two seasons with the third coming this fall.) attempts that balancing act, and as a comedy-drama, no less. And, for the most part, it succeeds quite well. In the pilot episode, Jen (Christine Applegate) meets Judy (Linda Cardellini) at a group bereavement meeting. Jen recently lost husband Ted in a hit-and-run...

“Roar”–Hear My Voice

Written by Diana Paul on May 10, 2022. Posted in Unhealed Wound. 1 Comment on “Roar”–Hear My Voice

Roar is a new Apple mini-series, a show-and-tell of eight feminist vignettes based upon Cecelia Ahern’s 2018 short story anthology. Highlighting the unexpected onslaught of devastating events from family, friends, corporations, and community, Roar attempts to address what women are trying to express about themselves. The opening graphic–a feminist scream of a vulva-suggesting mouth stretching wide inside of a rose–perhaps says it best. Hear my voice! Each of the self-contained episodes begins with the title “The Woman Who…”...

Ozark (Finale)–No Exit

Written by Diana Paul on May 4, 2022. Posted in Unhealed Wound. 3 Comments on Ozark (Finale)–No Exit

This masterful series, breathtaking in all four seasons, has now come to an end. Season 4 Part 2 of Ozark debuted April 29, delivering the conclusion to the Byrde family saga. Ozark is exhausting, brimming with betrayal, murder, money-laundering, and more murder, and brutal family dynamics. What’s the meaning of it all? The viewer sees character arcs over time that always hint that the two parents, Marty (Jason Bateman) and Wendy Byrde (Laura Linney), and their children will redeem themselves. After all, they have committed unspeakable...