Tag: Netflix

“Infinite Storm”—In the Eye of

Written by Diana Paul on August 29, 2022. Posted in movie reviews. 1 Comment on “Infinite Storm”—In the Eye of

Based on a true story, Infinite Storm recreates the 2010 rescue from Mt. Washington in New Hampshire. A blizzard is about to be unleashed, and Pam Bales (Naomi Watts) knows that this will be a challenging climb. But the viewer does not know her motivation for undertaking what seems like an unnecessary risk in the approaching storm. Nonetheless, she packs her backpack and emergency supplies and begins the climb, only midway finding tracks that indicate someone wearing sneakers is hiking in the vicinity. We see unimaginable physical exertion, and near-death heroics to continue the trek...

Queen—A Regal Redemption

Written by Diana Paul on August 24, 2022. Posted in movie reviews, Television reviews. 3 Comments on Queen—A Regal Redemption

In this French/Polish miniseries of four episodes, Queen is a highly unexpected feel-good story of a sought-after Parisian bespoke tailor who, in the evenings, is a celebrated drag queen known as “Loretta”. Long absent from his wife and daughter’s lives back in the small Polish village of his childhood, Silvestre Bork (Andrzej Seweryn), now living in Paris, is reluctantly preparing for retirement and the pleasure of being himself with his coterie of friends. He fits perfectly with a sophisticated life on the French Riviera. Silvestre’s closest friend, Corentin (Kova Réa),...

El Marginal—No Boundaries

Written by Diana Paul on July 26, 2022. Posted in Television reviews. 1 Comment on El Marginal—No Boundaries

A tortuous viscous and extremely violent Argentine prison drama: well-crafted and attention-getting.

“Anatomy of a Scandal”–Autopsy of Privilege

Written by Diana Paul on June 6, 2022. Posted in Television reviews. 1 Comment on “Anatomy of a Scandal”–Autopsy of Privilege

Anatomy of a Scandal, a Netflix thriller mini-series created by David E. Kelley and Melissa Gibson, is based on Sarah Vaughan’s novel by the same name. Released on April 15, 2022, Anatomy of a Scandal takes the viewer into familiar territory: the “he said, she said” of a rape trial involving an illustrious and powerful political figure. Handsome and elegant British MP James Whitehouse (Rupert Friend) is a scion of the illustrious and aristocratic Whitehouse family. “Being a Whitehouse means you never lose,” his young son...

“Four Good Days” (2021) –After Ten Bad Years

Written by Diana Paul on May 24, 2022. Posted in movie reviews. 1 Comment on “Four Good Days” (2021) –After Ten Bad Years

Inspired by a Pulitzer-Prize winning Washington Post article, Four Good Days tackles the almost insurmountable ordeal of drug withdrawal. And also confronts the parent-adult child relationship that fails repeatedly to lead to a successful outcome. Thirty-year-old Molly (Mila Kunis) is the damaged and severely addicted daughter who knocks on the door of her mother’s house after ten years of drug addiction. Deb (Glenn Close), her mother, has since remarried an extremely empathetic man, Chris (Stephen Root), yet has a deeply disturbed past. Both tormented...

“The Dressmaker”–Quirky Down-Under Drama

Written by Diana Paul on January 17, 2022. Posted in movie reviews, Unhealed Wound. 2 Comments on “The Dressmaker”–Quirky Down-Under Drama

Based upon Rosalie Ham’s novel by the same name, The Dressmaker (2015) gives us an opening scene in which 10-year-old Tilly Dunnage is being bullied by classmate Stewart Pettyman, the mayor’s son, and a group of boys in Dungatar, a town in the Australian outback. With little investigation she is sent away by police Sergeant Farrat (Hugo Weaving) for the boy’s murder. Twenty-five years later (1951) Tilly (Kate Winslet) returns to Dungatar after a highly successful career as a couturier working in Paris. Presumably returning to care for...