Unhealed Wound – Page 38 – Passion for Art, Movies, and Culture

Luce—A Beam of Light?

Written by diana on December 16, 2019. Posted in movie reviews, Unhealed Wound. No Comments on Luce—A Beam of Light?

Luce the movie The title character, Luce (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) is an all-star athlete and model straight-A student who is expected to achieve greatness in college. Luce’s liberal adoptive parents—physician Amy (Naomi Watts) and financier Peter (Tim Roth) adopted Luce when he was a little boy in Eritrea, a boy-soldier who experienced unimaginable horror. A volatile and incendiary essay he has written for an English teacher, Harriet Wilson (Octavia Spencer), is brought to the attention of Luce’s parents. The essay inflames the liberal-minded community and most...

Booksmart—Today’s “Breakfast Club”?

Written by diana on December 10, 2019. Posted in movie reviews. No Comments on Booksmart—Today’s “Breakfast Club”?

Booksmart follows two academic superstars and high school best friends who, the night before graduation, suddenly realize that they should have worked less and played more. Major late-blooming FOMO!

Late Night–Women Do It Right

Written by diana on November 25, 2019. Posted in movie reviews. 2 Comments on Late Night–Women Do It Right

Late Night movie In Late Night we see a notoriously, male-dominated world of late-night network TV in which a woman–Katherine Newbury (Emma Thompson)– is the host of her own talk show. (Think “The Devil Wears Prada” and Meryl Streep as the “bitch-boss from hell”). The world of late-night television is even more turned upside down when Katherine hires her first and only female staff writer, Molly Patel (Mindy Kaling) to tamp down criticism of the show’s lack of diversity– a “two-fer”:...

Tricky Dick–His Own Fantasy World

Written by diana on October 30, 2019. Posted in Unhealed Wound. 1 Comment on Tricky Dick–His Own Fantasy World

Narrated by Anderson Cooper, Tricky Dick is a four-part CNN documentary that presents the lesser-known story of Richard Nixon’s life and times. The rise, fall and almost unbelievable comeback and final self-sabotage of his political career are adroitly deconstructed. Through access to archival footage never before seen by the public, the backstory of Richard Nixon’s complex view of opportunity and ambition unfolds. The story of Nixon’s aggressive strategy for political success, together with his resentment of the elite and his animus towards the press, minorities,...

Queen of the South (La Reina del Sur)–Reigning Supreme

Written by diana on October 20, 2019. Posted in Television reviews. No Comments on Queen of the South (La Reina del Sur)–Reigning Supreme

Based on the global best-selling novel “La Reina Del Sur,” by internationally-acclaimed author Arturo Pérez-Reverte, Queen of the South, a bilingual telenovela crime drama, has become one of the most popular series of all time for USA and its sister network, Telemundo. Queen of the South, now in its fifth season, is a winner. Thank you, USA, for continuing to add gritty, noir-ish series to your program roster! A “Narcos” or “El Chapo”-style drama about the rise of drug lord Teresa Mendoza (played by the exceptional Alice...

Joker–No Laughing Matter

Written by diana on October 7, 2019. Posted in movie reviews, Unhealed Wound. 3 Comments on Joker–No Laughing Matter

Joker is a devastating portrait of a rapid descent into mental illness. This Joker, nemesis to the comic book masked superhero Batman, takes center stage with only a tangential reference to Batman and for good reason. Now we see the masked Joker as few could have imagined. And it is no small feat to have a performance which overshadows the also remarkable previous Jokers played by Jack Nicholson, Danny DeVito and Heath Ledger. In Joker a marginally employed and aspiring stand-up comedian, Arthur Fleck (played by the astonishing Joaquin Phoenix), has a series...