Author: Diana Paul

“Belgravia”– Downton Abbey REDUX

Written by Diana Paul on September 7, 2020. Posted in movie reviews, Television reviews. 1 Comment on “Belgravia”– Downton Abbey REDUX

Belgravia, based on “Downton Abbey” creator Julian Fellowes’ 2016 novel of the same name, opens two days before the Battle of Waterloo at an aristocratic ball. Two London families—the Earl (Tom Wilkinson) and Countess of Brockenhurst (Harriet Walter) and the up-and-coming merchants, Anne (Tamsin...

“The Good Liar”–A Story Within a Story

Written by Diana Paul on August 31, 2020. Posted in movie reviews. 2 Comments on “The Good Liar”–A Story Within a Story

The Good Liar, a 2019 crime thriller, based on the titular novel by Nicholas Searle, is a cat-and-mouse plot featuring a septuagenarian wealthy widow, Betty McLeish (Helen Mirren) and an octogenarian con artist Roy Courtnay (Ian McKellen). They meet on a first date scheduled through a dating app for...

“High Seas”–“Death on the Nile” meets “Murder on the Orient Express”

Written by Diana Paul on August 24, 2020. Posted in movie reviews, Television reviews. 3 Comments on “High Seas”–“Death on the Nile” meets “Murder on the Orient Express”

In this Spanish melodrama (Spanish: Alta Mar) , two sisters discover some very disturbing family secrets aboard a ship sailing from Spain to Brazil just after World War II. Agatha Christie’s style of mystery plotting, overlaid with the Spanish love of melodrama and telenovela, makes High Seas an unusual series. Following the...

“The Alienist: Angel of Darkness” (Season Two)–Stranger Things Happen

Written by Diana Paul on August 11, 2020. Posted in movie reviews, Television reviews. 1 Comment on “The Alienist: Angel of Darkness” (Season Two)–Stranger Things Happen

In this relatively seamless sequel to “The Alienist”, based on Caleb Carr’s second psychological thriller, season two is a retelling of Carr’s Angel of Darkness. But this is much more than a sequel. (For my review of season one, see my April 29, 2018 review: “The...

Dark Waters–Still an Abyss

Written by Diana Paul on August 3, 2020. Posted in movie reviews. 4 Comments on Dark Waters–Still an Abyss

Dark Waters is a 2019 American legal thriller directed by Todd Haynes (“Carol” and “Far from Heaven”). The movie dramatizes the whistleblowing story of a cover-up of toxic waste. We see close up the corporate corruption involving Dupont’s manufacturing of...

“Lila & Eve”–Loss Without Justice

Written by Diana Paul on July 27, 2020. Posted in movie reviews, Unhealed Wound. 3 Comments on “Lila & Eve”–Loss Without Justice

Lila & Eve, a 2015 sleeper female vigilante thriller , stars Viola Davis (“How to Get Away With Murder”) as Lila and Jennifer Lopez (“Hustlers”) as Eve, The opening scene shows Lila’s 18-year-old son, Stephon (Aml Ameen), in a pool of blood from a drive-by shooting. A grief-fueled fragile mother is...