Posts

“Slow Horses." Season 5.

-
Image
“Slow Horses” (AppleTV+) Season 5, British spy thriller , based on the Slough House series of novels by Mick Herron . Slough House is an administrative purgatory for MI5 service rejects who have bungled their job but have not been sacked. Those consigned there are known as "slow horses," a pun on "Slough House.”        I don't mind if this very enjoyable series goes to Season 20. And I'd like the current cast, led by Gary Oldman, to stay. As Jackson Lamb, the boss of this whacked team of MI5 rejects, his charming obnoxiousness (!) is the life of the show. The misfits are brilliantly orchestrated and shrewdly distributed per need, drama, comedy, and thrill. My most favorites are Aimee-Ffion Edwards as the jumpy and constantly pissed Shirley Dander, and oh yeah, Christopher Chung as the arrogant tech weirdo Roddy Ho. Ho indeed is the upper fix of Season 5.        Season 5 plot: The team investigates a series of terrori...
Post a Comment
Read more

POLITICAL THRILLERS. “Down Cemetery Road.” / “The Last Frontier.”

-
Image
“Down Cemetery Road” (Apple TV+) British television thriller series based on the novel of the same name by Mick Herron . A woman hires an investigator after an explosion and a girl goes missing on the same night in a quiet suburban neighborhood.         “Down Cemetery Road” is from the poem by Philip Larkin, “Toads Revisited.” The line: “Give me your hand, old toad; / Help me down Cemetery Road.” But nope, I still don't get its significance to the entire thriller drama. No matter, never mind.         Emma Thompson as bored private investigator Zoë Boehm, with spiky hair, and Ruth Wilson as “an inquisitive Nancy Drew wannabe by personal circumstance” Sarah Trafford, with her perennial nerdy/clueless look--are the life and spice of this series. Although the other characters are not in the stereotypical mode, kinda darky/funny actually in the nature of Mick Herron's creations. “Slough House” or TV's “Slow Horses,”...
Post a Comment
Read more

BASED on REAL PEOPLE: “Murdaugh: Death in the Family.” / “The Lowdown.”

-
Image
“Murdaugh: Death in the Family” (Hulu) true crime drama , based on the “ Murdaugh Murders Podcast ” by Mandy Matney , who investigated and blogged about the unfolding case and was often the first to reveal new information.         This series, although the intermittent dim lighting distracted me, is an interesting watch. The case was a popular headline drama in 2021. A prominent South Carolina lawyer was the prime suspect in the murder of his wife and son.         Insistent questions crowd my head about the guy's perplexing behavior or how the media coverage (including Ms Matney's) reported the murders and how the police investigation unfolded. Maybe those are not brainers? Anyhow, this series navigated those plot points but I am still wanting, of course.        Never mind though. The life of this show is Jason Clarke's crafty performance.      ...
Post a Comment
Read more

SPANISH LANGUAGE DRAMA: “One Hundred Years of Solitude.” / “The Dead Girls.”

-
Image
“One Hundred Years of Solitude” (Netflix) Season 1 or the. first 8 episodes. Colombian historical drama series based on Gabriel García Márquez 's 1967 novel of the same name . Tells the story of seven generations of the Buendía family in the town of Macondo .         It'd be hard or impossible to replicate Mr Garcia Marquez's monumental literary epic as a cinematic project. But this series, directed by Alex Garcia Lopez and Laura Mora from a team of scriptwriters, did an exemplary job of visualizing what we imagined as we immersed in Gabriel's entrancing narrative, punctuated by his genius use of magical realism.        I give special kudos to production designers Barbara Enriquez and Eugenio Caballero. Their craft is so intimately detailed and grandiosely picturesque, adding dramatic urgency to the story's panoramic reach. Indeed, magical!        And yes the outstanding perform...
Post a Comment
Read more

"The Diplomat," Season 3.

-
Image
“The Diplomat” (Netflix) political thriller . Season 3. Set in an alternate reality, it stars Keri Russell as a veteran U.S. diplomat who is unexpectedly appointed as the ambassador to the United Kingdom amid an emerging international crisis.        As “diplomat” Kate Wyler, Ms Russell was nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards , two Screen Actors Guild Awards , and two Golden Globe Awards for her performance here. I don't disagree with the brisk pacing and ensemble performance (esp. Allison Janney, Ali Ahn and Rory Kinnear) but I find the entire situation implausible.        Katie's supposedly deteriorating (confusing!) marriage. Lover 1 to lover 2. Ambassador to “Second Lady” with a powerful access to the POTUS and UK Prime Minister. The weird twists of the geopolitical crisis from Season 2 to Season 3. Etc etcetera.        But then, never mind, right? There's thrill and suspens...
Post a Comment
Read more

BRITISH CRIME THRILLER: “Dept. Q.” / “Red Eye.”

-
Image
“Dept. Q” (Netflix) British crime thriller . A former top-rated detective tackles a cold case while turning an Edinburgh (Scotland) basement office space into a well-oiled machine full of misfit officers dedicated to cracking whatever seemingly impossible cases come across their desks. This series is based on the book series “ Department Q .” by Danish writer Jussi Adler-Olsen .         The plot: Detective Chief Inspector Carl Morck is tasked with leading a new cold-case unit after being injured in a shooting. Alongside a team of unlikely colleagues, Carl investigates the mysterious disappearance of Prosecutor Merritt Lingard, uncovering a traumatic past involving the kidnapping and confinement of Ms Merritt in a hyperbaric chamber by Lyle and Ailsa Jennings , who blamed Merritt for the death of Lyle's brother, Harry.          What's interesting about this series is--it poses a different criminal case f...
Post a Comment
Read more

DRAMA based on historical facts. “Dope Girls.” / “Serangoon Road.”

-
Image
“Dope Girls” (Hulu) British historical drama , based on the 1993 nonfiction book “Dope Girls: The Birth of the British Drug Underground” by Marek Kohn, about early 20th-century S oho's brothel mamas and drug syndicates in those years. Some of the main characters are based on real-life Kate Meyrick, Billie Carleton, and Edgar Manning.        On the feminism or female-centric quotient, this series-anchored on Julianne Nicholson (don't mind the fake accent) and Eliza Scanlen's earnest performance--is a sure winner. Even Geraldine James’ villainous take as crime queen Isabella Salucci, during those years of manly dominance, is a victory. All the men here are weakling blokes salivating in their perceived power.         Production design is exemplary as well. But the scripting is predictably, unapologetically implausible although I go with the project's advocacy objective. 🎥💻📽 “Serangoon Road” (Amazon Prime) Austral...
Post a Comment
Read more