Television reviews – Page 9

“The Last Kingdom”—The Final Battle?

Written by Diana Paul on March 15, 2022. Posted in Television reviews. 1 Comment on “The Last Kingdom”—The Final Battle?

This Netlix-distributed series (see my December 27, 2021 review of the first four seasons), ends with the fifth and final season, just released on March 9, 2022. The series is based on Bernard Cornwell’s first ten novels of the thirteen novels in the Saxon Stories series , There is no question of its popularity. The Last Kingdom almost crashed the servers streaming the fifth season. The last season finds Uhtred prepared to retake his homeland fortress and lands, Bebbanburg, Uhtred has dedicated twenty years of his life to leading...

“Yellowjackets”– “Lord of the Flies” meets Girls Club Soccer

Written by Diana Paul on February 13, 2022. Posted in movie reviews, Television reviews. 1 Comment on “Yellowjackets”– “Lord of the Flies” meets Girls Club Soccer

Guest reviewer: Karinne Gordon, writer and creative writing teacher Yellowjackets is a complex and fascinating peek into the future, following a group of teen girls who are survivors, flashing back and forth into their adult lives some 25 years later. The basic premise of Yellowjackets is that an elite girls soccer team, along with their handsome young coach and young assistants, is stranded in the Ontario woods, after their plane crashes on the way to a tournament. The series progresses with cuts between the past and the survivors’ present lives 25 years later....

“The Last Kingdom”–“Game of Thrones” meets “Vikings”

Written by Diana Paul on December 27, 2021. Posted in Television reviews. 1 Comment on “The Last Kingdom”–“Game of Thrones” meets “Vikings”

Based on The Saxon Stories novels by Bernard Cornwell, The Last Kingdom first premiered on BBC Two from 2015 to 2017, and on Netflix in 2018. Four seasons (with a fifth in production) cover four of the twelve Cornwell books in the series, loosely based upon the history of tribal and internecine warfare between various factions of Saxons and Danes (=Vikings). In the year 866 we see the protagonist–a Saxon aristocratic boy named Osbert –taken after his father and older brother are slain by Danes. Only his ruthless uncle survives and robs...

“Dopesick” (2021)–Lies Upon Lies

Written by Diana Paul on December 13, 2021. Posted in movie reviews, Television reviews, Unhealed Wound. 2 Comments on “Dopesick” (2021)–Lies Upon Lies

Based on journalist Beth Macy’s book Dopesick, this Hulu eight-episode miniseries focuses on the early epicenter of the US’s struggle with the opioid addiction. Purdue Pharma, the Sackler mega-company that manufactured the deadly painkiller OxyContin, is the catalyst for an epic tragedy involving the duplicitous collusion with drug distributors, doctors, university researchers, and government agencies (Department of Justice, DEA, and FDA). Dopesick involves a series of characters impacted by OxyContin:. Finnix (Michael Keaton) a family physician in a small coal-mining...

“Chestnut Man”–A Nut Case

Written by Diana Paul on December 6, 2021. Posted in Television reviews. 2 Comments on “Chestnut Man”–A Nut Case

Chestnut Man, based on Søren Sveistrup’s 2018 novel, belongs to the many excellent Nordic Noir crime thrillers we can currently stream. The iconic formula is all there: violent and gruesome serial murders, a workaholic female detective, an initially ineffectual male partner, and a dark and ominous landscape. This is a story concerned with mangled corpses, haunting blood pools, and a weaponization of a childhood arts and crafts project. In the opening scene in 1987, a local sheriff walks into a barn in response to a call that some of the farmer’s cows have escaped. ...

Impeachment: American Crime Story

Written by Diana Paul on November 29, 2021. Posted in movie reviews, Television reviews. 2 Comments on Impeachment: American Crime Story

We revisit former President Bill Clinton’s impeachment from the point of view of Monica Lewinsky (Beanie Feldstein of Booksmart). This Hulu mini-series begins with a naive twenty-two years old intern’s infatuation with a charismatic president. There are more than several awful and illegal actions taken against Monica: interrogation in a hotel room by the FBI without legal counsel present; threats by Bill Clinton’s staff; media “slut-shaming” for her testimony–all make Impeachment a compelling narrative presenting facts and corrupt behavior not...