Author: Diana Paul

Three Pines–A Forest of Clues

Written by Diana Paul on January 15, 2023. Posted in Television reviews. No Comments on Three Pines–A Forest of Clues

Beloved Chief Inspector Armand Gamache (played perfectly by Alfred Molina), the star of the Louise Penny series of mysteries, investigates murders in Three Pines, outside Montreal. In this eight-episode first season which debuted in December on Amazon Prime, five homicides occur. As in the novels, Gamache has a unique mindset for looking where others do not. Three Pines relishes in the whodunit tradition: it is not what you have seen but what you think you have seen. And Gamache sees it all: the light behind the darkness, the secrets and ghosts in a labyrinth shifting from moment...

Magpie Murders–A Bird in the Hand?

Written by Diana Paul on January 9, 2023. Posted in Television reviews. No Comments on Magpie Murders–A Bird in the Hand?

Magpie Murders, based on the 2016 mystery by Anthony Horowitz, is the first in the Susan Ryeland series. The story focuses on the murder of bestselling author Alan Conway (Conleth Hill), whose Atticus Pund mysteries have long been readers’ favorites. Using a mystery-within-a-mystery structure, Magpie Murders, has Atticus Pund (Tim McMullan), the fictional character in Conway’s latest mystery titled “Magpie Murders”, solve several murders while Susan Ryeland (the always worth-watching Lesley Manville), identifies clues for us to connect. And the question she also raises: Was...

My Top 15 Movies and TV Series for 2022

Written by Diana Paul on January 2, 2023. Posted in movie reviews. No Comments on My Top 15 Movies and TV Series for 2022

Happy New Year 2023!! While we are all going into our third year of lockdown, many of us craved new content to watch, and feel like we are either running out of choices or there are too many to choose from. Some are less well-known and under-the-radar. Well, this year I have fifteen to recommend. Here are the reviews I wrote this past year with the criteria that they were available online since movie theaters were either shut down or offered very limited screenings. Of the 52 reviews I posted this year, here are my favorites. Yet another difficult year to make...

Where the Crawdads Sing—In Harmony with the Book

Written by Diana Paul on December 26, 2022. Posted in movie reviews. No Comments on Where the Crawdads Sing—In Harmony with the Book

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 character arcs or the plots. Starring Daisy Edgar-Jones (from “Normal People”) as Kya, the abandoned little girl who survives in the North Carolina swamp as the “Marsh Girl”. She is taunted by the surrounding community. Part coming-of-age story and...

White Lotus–Season 2

Written by Diana Paul on December 19, 2022. Posted in Television reviews. No Comments on White Lotus–Season 2

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: “You’re gonna die…They’re going to have to drag you out of here”, because the resort is paradise. Sauntering into the Ionian Sea after spraying sunscreen on her exquisitely toned legs, Daphne breast-strokes into the waters reserved exclusively for the...

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

Written by Diana Paul on December 13, 2022. Posted in Television reviews. No Comments on The Good Fight (Season 6 Finale)—No Sucker Punches

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 corner in a post-Trump, post-coup era. Echoing President Biden’s warning in September that MAGA Republicans are a grave threat to the nation’s future, the writers consider how current political views represent more than a given government ideology...