Television reviews – Page 16

“I’ll Be Gone In the Dark”–Don’t Watch This Alone at Night

Written by Diana Paul on July 22, 2020. Posted in movie reviews, Television reviews. 1 Comment on “I’ll Be Gone In the Dark”–Don’t Watch This Alone at Night

I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, a six-part HBO documentary series based on Michelle McNamara’s book, explores the author and her obsessive investigation into the dark world of the “The Golden State Killer” who terrorized California in the 1970s and 80s. It is mostly due to McNamara’s investigative reporting that this cold case was kept alive and solved. Incredibly, that didn’t happen until late 2018 when the perpetrator was identified, charged and convicted of 50 rapes and 12 murders out of more than 100 known...

“Mrs. America”–A Closet Feminist?

Written by Diana Paul on June 23, 2020. Posted in movie reviews, Television reviews. 1 Comment on “Mrs. America”–A Closet Feminist?

Mrs. America is the history-packed and binge-worthy nine-episode Hulu series created by Dahvi Waller (of “Mad Men”). We see a dazzling sweep of history from the early 1970s to 1982 as the fight against ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment unfolds. Still unpassed, the ERA would create a constitutional ban on discrimination against women. Its failure to win approval was due in large measure to the brilliant political strategist Phyllis Schlafly. Cate Blanchett embodies captivating contradictions as Schlafly, the antiheroine in Mrs. America. The...

“Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich”–Obscene Power

Written by Diana Paul on June 8, 2020. Posted in movie reviews, Television reviews, Unhealed Wound. 1 Comment on “Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich”–Obscene Power

Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich is an explosive and deeply disturbing four-part Netflix Original documentary, that spotlights a dark international web of underage sex trafficking. Billionaire playboy and financier Jeffrey Epstein operated his sick obsession in plain sight. In Filthy Rich we watch this wealthy predator cultivate links to extraordinarily powerful people including current and former presidents and a British prince. In 2019 Epstein was finally convicted of sex trafficking and associated crimes after similar charges ended in a widely-criticized plea deal. Released...

“The English Game”–From Provincial to International

Written by Diana Paul on May 26, 2020. Posted in movie reviews, Television reviews. No Comments on “The English Game”–From Provincial to International

The English Game, Netflix Original The English Game, created by Julian Fellowes (of “Downton Abbey”), is a Netflix Original period drama based upon a true story. Set in 1880’s England, The English Game is a notable example of class divisions exhibited in the early evolution of football aka soccer. Rising from a provincial game that was socially stratified for the “Old Etonians” of noble birth, we see the evolution of football to a world-class game, perhaps the most popular in the world. Soccer’s first governing body was...

“Hillary”–Unmasked

Written by Diana Paul on May 19, 2020. Posted in movie reviews, Television reviews. 2 Comments on “Hillary”–Unmasked

Hillary, an intimate and candid four-part series about former First Lady and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton– one of the most admired and vilified women in the world–features never-before-seen footage of her life from birth in a close-knit family in Chicago, Illinois. The mission of this documentary is not only to interview Hillary Clinton (for a total of thirty-five hours) and several dozen colleagues and personal friends but also to try to analyze why people found Clinton so compelling—and so polarizing. Yet Hillary is so much more than a biopic....

“Baptiste”–After The Missing

Written by Diana Paul on May 11, 2020. Posted in movie reviews, Television reviews. 1 Comment on “Baptiste”–After The Missing

In this spinoff of the BBC popular series “The Missing”, detective Baptiste is now retired and recovering from brain surgery. The six-part crime procedural, Baptiste, is an intense crime thriller. Baptiste (Tchéky Karyo) is called in by Amsterdam’s Chief of Police and former lover to investigate the disappearance of Natalie, a young sex worker. He meets her uncle Edward (Tom Hollander of “The Night Manager”) and soon Baptiste and Edward become involved in taking down a Romanian crime organization. The Romanians are in the business...