Tag: HBOMax

Civil War–Battleground States

Written by Diana Paul on October 21, 2024. Posted in movie reviews, Unhealed Wound. 2 Comments on Civil War–Battleground States

In the 2024 film Civil War a van of war correspondents travels undercover from New York City to Washington DC to bear witness to the civil war between a dictator/president (Nick Offerman of “Parks and Recreations” fame) and violent secessionists. There is no explanation of why there is a civil war, who is fighting whom, or what the expected outcome or mission is. The protagonist is Lee Smith (Kirsten Dunst), a renowned war photojournalist, who seems immune to the horrors of wars she was assigned to photograph in the past. Her mentor and...

The Sympathizer–Displaced Sympathies

Written by Diana Paul on July 22, 2024. Posted in Television reviews. No Comments on The Sympathizer–Displaced Sympathies

Based upon the 2016 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name by Viet Thanh Nguyen, The Sympathizer opens in April 1975, during the fall of Saigon. This American War– or Vietnam War, depending upon perspective,– unflinchingly depicts the ignominious and callous withdrawal of American troops and their Vietnamese aids on helicopters and ships crammed with desperate people fleeing the country, often in the middle of the night. Straddling both countries on different sides of the Pacific, The Sympathizer flashes back and forth rapidly, in sharp cinematic cuts, from 1975...

“The Staircase”—Entryway into Murder?

Written by Diana Paul on July 11, 2022. Posted in Television reviews. No Comments on “The Staircase”—Entryway into Murder?

The Staircase (HBO Max released May 2022), loosely based on the 2004 French documentary by the same name, (see my October 2017 review of the Netflix documentary mini-series) dramatizes the death of wife Kathleen Peterson (Toni Collette), and the subsequent indictment and conviction for her murder by her husband, the novelist Michael Peterson (Colin Firth). All the features of a murder mystery are here: deflection, denial, confession, and motive. Viewers who are fans of the true-crime genre will find this “inspired by a true story” mini-series to be...

“The Batman” (2022)–Another Dark Knight

Written by Diana Paul on April 26, 2022. Posted in movie reviews. No Comments on “The Batman” (2022)–Another Dark Knight

In this newest movie in the Batman series, simply called The Batman, we see a completely different Batman from the classic Christopher Nolan trilogy starring Christian Bale. In “The Batman,” director Matt Reeves has redefined Batman and his alterego Bruce Wayne. In this newest of interpretations, a very young newb, Bruce Wayne (Robert Pattinson of “The Twilight Saga”), is just in his second year of training under the tutelage of Alfred (Andy Serkis of “Golub” fame in “The Lord of the Rings”), simultaneously...

The Eyes of Tammy Faye–A New Perspective

Written by Diana Paul on April 12, 2022. Posted in movie reviews.

In the biopic The Eyes of Tammy Faye, we see Tammy Faye (Jessica Chastain in her Academy Award winning role) and her husband Jim Bakker (Andrew Garfield) as pioneers of televangelism,”sermons on the screen”. Opening in the 1950’s with two young, fervent small-town Christians believing in the mission of spreading the gospel, Tammy Faye and her soon-to-be-husband become traveling preachers. They gain a following with their appeal both to children and their parents by entertaining through stories and music. Tammy Faye is pivotal in...

“The Gilded Age”—Greed and Betrayal

Written by Diana Paul on March 29, 2022. Posted in Television reviews. 1 Comment on “The Gilded Age”—Greed and Betrayal

The Gilded Age (2022), created and produced by Julian Fellowes (of Downton Abbey fame) opens in 1882 in a small town in Pennsylvania. The penniless but “pedigreed” young Marian Brook (newcomer Louisa Jacobson has little recourse but to move to New York to live with her wealthy Aunt Agnes van Rhijn (Christine Baranski) and her Aunt Ada (Cynthia Nixon). A young aspiring Black writer, Peggy Scott (Denée Benton), lends money to Marian for a train ticket to New York and their unlikely friendship begins. Across the street lives a spectacularly wealthier...