Television reviews – Page 25

“Salamander”—Hiding Under a Rock

Written by diana on February 17, 2015. Posted in Television reviews. 2 Comments on “Salamander”—Hiding Under a Rock

“Salamander” the movie This Belgian drama twelve-part TV miniseries, released through Netflix and BBC in 2014, is a crime thriller in the same league as the edge-of-the-seat series Wallander, Bridge, and The Killing. A small private bank in Brussels, is robbed of 66 safe deposit boxes belonging to some of the most prominent statesmen in Belgium. A scandal is brewing since all are members of a secret society, code-named Salamander, dating back to the Second World War. A highly scrupulous police inspector Paul Gerardi (Filip Peeters) begins the investigation, unaware of the...

“Black Mirror”—Dark Reflections of the Mind

Written by diana on December 29, 2014. Posted in Television reviews. 2 Comments on “Black Mirror”—Dark Reflections of the Mind

Black Mirror I’ve just discovered the extraordinary showstopper, “Black Mirror”, a British sci-fi television series that is part “Twilight Zone” but darker and more bizarre. In six episodes in Season One we are let into a dystopian future narratively thrilling yet outrageous, because of its plausibility. The season finale, “White Christmas”, is certainly not full of holiday merriment. This bleak episode showcases the handsome and versatile Jon Hamm (the character Don Draper in “Mad Men”), as Matthew, a charming guy who does not possess any moral tentativeness or empathy for anyone. Great choice...

“Peaky Blinders”—A View of Injustice

Written by diana on December 15, 2014. Posted in Television reviews. 1 Comment on “Peaky Blinders”—A View of Injustice

Peaky Blinders This BBC television drama series starring the amazing Cillian Murphy as Tommy Shelby, the leader of the Peaky Blinders gang, is Britain’s answer to “Boardwalk Empire”. Netflix released the first six episodes comprising Season One this past September and the next six of Season Two in November. Taking place immediately after the First World War, in Birmingham, England, the story focuses on making one’s way in the world of brutal street rivalries and competition for money through bars, gambling, and horse racing. But this series is more family saga than criminal thriller, although...

“Olive Kitteridge”—Scenes from a Marriage, or A Bitter Edge

Written by diana on November 7, 2014. Posted in Television reviews. 1 Comment on “Olive Kitteridge”—Scenes from a Marriage, or A Bitter Edge

The HBO mini-series based on Elizabeth Strout’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book, “Olive Kitteridge” delivers big time! With a stellar cast led by the astounding Frances McDormand and Richard Jenkins, we see the two main characters Olive and Henry vacillate between love and despair, kindness and absence of human connection. Scenes from a marriage with a bitter edge. The main character, Olive Kitteridge, is intentionally the most puzzling and difficult to empathize with. She is more an anti-hero than a protagonist you identify with and hope for. There are glimmers of her compassion as the story winds...

“Happy Valley”-No One’s Idea of Happiness

Written by diana on September 10, 2014. Posted in Television reviews. 4 Comments on “Happy Valley”-No One’s Idea of Happiness

This compelling and addictive police drama stars Sarah Lancashire as the middle-aged Yorkshire police sergeant Catherine Cawood, who struggles daily between remembering the suicide of her teenage daughter and developing love for the young boy her daughter left behind. Divorced and estranged from her son partly because of that tragic death, Catherine is determined to capture her daughter’s lover/killer/rapist, but the search almost spirals out of control when the perpetrator, Tommy Lee Royce (played by James Norton) is released from prison. Her pursuit of Tommy Lee Royce becomes...

“The Fall” (mini-series) — “Prime Suspect” Revisited

Written by diana on July 20, 2014. Posted in Television reviews. 1 Comment on “The Fall” (mini-series) — “Prime Suspect” Revisited

In this Netflix Original production distributed by BBC Ireland, (not to be confused with the 2006 movie of the same name–see August 16, 2011 review), the story unfolds, not as a mystery to be solved, but as a contrast between two obsessive personality types. One is Detective Stella Gibson (Gillian Anderson of “X-Files” and “Bleak House” fame), called in to solve a murder. The other is the psychopath leading a double life, not unlike “Dexter”. Interestingly, it is the seeming normalcy of the psychopath, Paul Spector (Jamie Dornan, soon to be known...