Author: diana

“Fargo”: Season 2—Still Far to Go

Written by diana on December 16, 2015. Posted in Unhealed Wound. No Comments on “Fargo”: Season 2—Still Far to Go

Season 2 of the award-winning Fargo mini-series is a stunning repeat performance not only of the Coen brothers’ iconic movie by the same name but also in its succession to Season 1. The season finale of Fargo was broadcast this week. Comedy meets tragedy. Humor meets violence. Surreal meets the real with an infusion of the main theme: the loss of innocence. Hell descends, though the characters are ill-prepared, and now there is no turning back. Their unexpected dark side grows like a cancer. [And the ferocious transformation of characters is not unlike Walter White in “Breaking Bad”.] Welcome...

“Trouble with the Curve”—Catching the Unexpected

Written by diana on December 7, 2015. Posted in movie reviews. 2 Comments on “Trouble with the Curve”—Catching the Unexpected

Trouble with the Curve This 2012 film is another Clint Eastwood sports movie. That being said, “Trouble with the Curve” is not so much about sports as it is about a father-daughter relationship. It also touches on how the human element (and an “old-school” methodology) cannot be discounted in favor of technology. (Think: “Money Ball” as its opposite!) In the opening scene Gus Lobel (Clint Eastwood) is attempting to hide his macular degeneration from the execs at the Atlanta Braves, because, as one of their top scouts, he must be able to spot the next star. But crusty, aging Gus is more than...

“Mr. Holmes”—Not the Sherlock We All Know

Written by diana on December 1, 2015. Posted in movie reviews. 5 Comments on “Mr. Holmes”—Not the Sherlock We All Know

“Mr. Holmes” is an imaginary and revisionist take on Sherlock Holmes as a 93-year old dispirited and retired detective, featuring the incomparable Ian McKellen in the title role. This 2015 British-American film , based on Mitch Cullin’s 2005 novel A Slight Trick of the Mind, takes place in Sussex two years after the end of the Second World War. This interpretation, among the many Sherlock Holmes we have seen, focuses on the lonely and contemplative man struggling to remember his last case, not the analytical mind associated with the world’s most famous fictional detective. Holmes,...

“The Humans” –A Family Thanksgiving for a Fearful Middle Class

Written by diana on November 25, 2015. Posted in Theater: plays and musicals. No Comments on “The Humans” –A Family Thanksgiving for a Fearful Middle Class

It starts as just another family drama on Thanksgiving. But family Thanksgivings can be horrific, chilling celebrative occasions for some of us. “The Humans” written by the Pulitzer Prize finalist Stephen Karam is just that. The aging dad worries about money, one daughter moans about her student debt, the other is heartbroken by her breakup with her lover, the mother’s Catholic values needle both of them: the younger daughter on the benefits of marriage instead of living with her boyfriend and the older daughter’s evil lesbian life. And we can’t forget Granny — called Momo...

“Master of None”—But Loads of Fun

Written by diana on November 9, 2015. Posted in Television reviews. 1 Comment on “Master of None”—But Loads of Fun

Could there be any comedic boundaries left following Amy Schumer and Louie CK? The answer is yes! Master of None, in ten half-hour episodes (a Netflix original), we see an extraordinary depiction of New York life created by Aziz Ansari and Alan Yang (both from “Parks and Recreations”). , I’ve only seen two episodes so far (the series premiered on November 6), and I’m hooked. Dev (Ansari’s character) is a wannabe actor relegated to trying out for commercials. His friends are also grappling with jobs, love life, and trying not to be losers. In raw yet disarming dialogue, Master of None...

“Photograph 51”—Rosalind Franklin: Double Helix and Double Crossed

Written by diana on November 2, 2015. Posted in Theater: plays and musicals, Unhealed Wound. 2 Comments on “Photograph 51”—Rosalind Franklin: Double Helix and Double Crossed

Nicole Kidman The critically acclaimed play, “Photograph 51”, currently in London, and written by Anna Ziegler, exposes the obscurity of a brilliant crystallographer, Rosalind Franklin, who identified the chemical structure needed for understanding the molecular composition of DNA as well as raising the question: Are women still sidelined in the scientific world? Most people familiar with the double helix have probably associated it with Nobel Prize winners Francis Crick and James Watson. The critical scientific role Rosalind Franklin played at King’s College London is still, to...