Television reviews – Page 27

“Orange is the New Black”–Life Behind Bars

Written by diana on August 7, 2013. Posted in Television reviews. 2 Comments on “Orange is the New Black”–Life Behind Bars

This is a caged beast financed and produced by Netflix: thirteen episodes available on Instant Queue for binge viewing if you are so inclined. “Orange is the New Black” (filmed on location in a women’s prison in Chino, California) is loosely based on the 2010 memoir by Piper Kerman (now an advocate for women prison reform.) Piper Chapman (phenomenal newcomer Taylor Schilling) is a privileged Smith College graduate sentenced to 14 months in prison for the crime of smuggling drugs ten years earlier. Her former lover from that time, fellow drug smuggler Alex Vaus (the pitch-perfect...

“Endeavour”–A Prequel to the Inspector Morse Series

Written by diana on July 10, 2013. Posted in Television reviews. 3 Comments on “Endeavour”–A Prequel to the Inspector Morse Series

“Endeavour” is the much-anticipated mystery series currently on Sunday evenings on PBS’s Masterpiece Mystery. A testament to the beloved long-running Inspector Morse series (1987-2000), this series is the back story for young DC Morse before he became the curmudgeonly middle-aged Chief Inspector Morse. Set in Oxford in 1965 Endeavour Morse (Shaun Evans) is a rookie in his late twenties, a Detective Constable (DC) freshly minted from Oxford to assist Inspector Fred Thursday (the awesome stage actor Roger Allam), a rational, insightful policeman who sees Morse’s potential...

“The Big C”– Memento Mori or “Remember You Shall Die”

Written by diana on June 12, 2013. Posted in Television reviews. No Comments on “The Big C”– Memento Mori or “Remember You Shall Die”

The last stages in the cycle of life and death have finally attracted film and movie producers. I am talking about the formerly taboo twin topics of aging and death. Perhaps as we baby boomers and our children, the “echo boomers”, see that the inevitability of death needs to be part of our cultural conscience, movies that sympathetically but unflinchingly portray aging and death have been increasingly gaining mainstream audiences and awards. To name a few: “Departures”, “Away From Her”, “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” “Hope Springs”,...

“Orphan Black”–Adopting a New Model

Written by diana on May 8, 2013. Posted in Television reviews, Unhealed Wound. No Comments on “Orphan Black”–Adopting a New Model

This new BBC America television series premiered on March 30, 2013. In the opening scene the camera zooms in on Sarah (played by Tatiana Maslany, a Canadian newcomer to television), a grifter desperate to escape her drug dealer boyfriend. Seizing an opportunity to escape her past, Sarah watches as her doppelganger jumps in front of a subway to her death. Stealing the identity of the suicide victim (“Beth”) who looks exactly like her, Sarah assumes that the dead woman’s identity will be an improvement over her own, but she is proved wrong. Proud of her independence, even with...

“Top of the Lake”–A Top Notch Thriller

Written by diana on April 29, 2013. Posted in Television reviews, Unhealed Wound. No Comments on “Top of the Lake”–A Top Notch Thriller

While some cable and television distributors fund their own productions (note the excellence of “House of Cards”, the final season of “Damages”, and the forthcoming “Arrested Development”), Sundance is in the enviable position of previewing thousands of entries for their annual Sundance Festival. “Top of the Lake“is an exciting option from the Sundance Channel, created by Gerard Lee and Jane Campion (who produced and directed the Academy Award winner “The Piano”). The first episode opens with the disappearance of a 12-year old pregnant...

“The Following” Redux–Not Going There Again

Written by diana on March 18, 2013. Posted in Television reviews, Unhealed Wound. 1 Comment on “The Following” Redux–Not Going There Again

In February I reviewed and recommended “The Following”, a Fox television drama series starring Kevin Bacon and James Purefoy. There have been a total of nine episodes so far, but this past week’s episode has made me recant my earlier review. How disappointed I am in this series! The story is focused on two main characters: an FBI agent, Ryan Hardy (Kevin Bacon) and a brutal serial killer Joe Carroll (James Purefoy) who has a cult following of wannabe killers, mostly young outliers trying to find a place to belong. But the last episode has overstepped the boundaries for...