Television reviews – Page 12

“Navillera”—Soar Like a Butterfly

Written by Diana Paul on July 25, 2021. Posted in movie reviews, Television reviews. 2 Comments on “Navillera”—Soar Like a Butterfly

This quirky and endearing sleeper mini-series from Korea (premiered on Netflix, March 2021) is a definite winner. (Navillera in Korean means “like a butterfly.”) In the opening scene Sim Deok-chul (the renowned Park In-hwan) is celebrating his 70th birthday with his wife, three sons and their wives. Only the youngest son, considered a failure for quitting his hospital position as a doctor, is unmarried. Sim is a retired mailman who always dreamed of performing “Swan Lake” on stage and now, at his advanced age, is determined to...

“Mare of Easttown”–Living with the Unacceptable

Written by Diana Paul on July 12, 2021. Posted in movie reviews, Television reviews. 5 Comments on “Mare of Easttown”–Living with the Unacceptable

Mare of Easttown, a seven-episode HBOMax mini-series, we watch a mother, Mare Sheehan (the remarkable Kate Winslet) attempting to come to terms with her unexpressed and unresolved grief over the death of her young adult son, Kevin. She is also a detective living in Easttown, a working-class suburb of Philadelphia, who is investigating the murder of an adolescent single mother, Erin McMenamin. Mare is a local hero, a high-school basketball champion dating back 25 years. She now has multiple setbacks and tragedies to deal with: an unsolved missing case of a young girl,...

“Underground Railroad”–Tracking US History

Written by Diana Paul on July 5, 2021. Posted in movie reviews, Television reviews. 1 Comment on “Underground Railroad”–Tracking US History

Based upon the Pulitzer-winning novel by Colson Whitehead, Underground Railroad, is produced and directed by Barry Jenkins (“Moonlighting”). This gripping portrayal is an allegorical account of slavery and the role it has played in American history from colonial times. The Underground Railroad, in the mid-1800s, was actually a network of safe houses and routes from the southern US up into Canada– with other routes to Mexico (which had abolished slavery decades earlier). The book and film re-imagine these escape routes and safe havens as an actual train...

“Tell Me Your Secrets”–Tell Me Your Lies

Written by Diana Paul on June 27, 2021. Posted in movie reviews, Television reviews. 1 Comment on “Tell Me Your Secrets”–Tell Me Your Lies

In this Amazon Prime mini-series of ten episodes, Tell Me Your Secrets has three plots: 1) The main plot involves a woman named Karen Miller (Lily Rabe), who was arrested seven years ago as a presumed accomplice to her boyfriend, Kit (Xavier Samuel) for the brutal murders of nine women. She claims not to remember anything, due to trauma. 2) Mary Barlow (Amy Brenneman), a wealthy woman who has established a foundation to help find missing children, believes her own daughter, Theresa, was kidnapped by Karen Miller and Kit and is still alive. 3) John...

“Behind Her Eyes”–For All To See

Written by Diana Paul on April 25, 2021. Posted in movie reviews, Television reviews, Unhealed Wound. No Comments on “Behind Her Eyes”–For All To See

Behind Her Eyes, based on Sarah Pinborough’s best-selling novel of the same name, tells the story of Adele and her husband David, a renowned psychiatrist specializing in drug addiction. The couple live an ostensibly perfect life in an exclusive London suburb. The beautiful Adele Ferguson (Eve Hewson) was recently a patient in a mental institution where her husband was the presiding psychiatrist. Upon release she marries the handsome doctor. While a patient, Adele becomes best friends with a gay working-class Glasgow junkie, Rob (Robert Aramayo) who seems...

“Your Honor”–Judge Me Not

Written by Diana Paul on March 22, 2021. Posted in movie reviews, Television reviews. 1 Comment on “Your Honor”–Judge Me Not

Unconditional love–are there limits? In Your Honor, a ShowTime mini-series, a highly respected recently widowed New Orleans judge, Michael Desiato (Bryan Cranston of “Breaking Bad”) is known for his fair and impartial sentencing of young criminals. But the judge gets personal to protect his teenage son, Adam (newcomer Hunter Doohan) from the consequences of his reckless actions. At first, the judge advises his son to turn himself in to the police, and explain how he panicked after hitting another teen. But then he discovers...