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Following “The Following”
A Fox television drama series starring Kevin Bacon and James Purefoy (the British actor who brilliantly played Marc Antony in the “Rome” series), “The Following” premiered two weeks ago (January 21)....
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“House of Cards”— A Bulimic Buffet for Couch Potatoes?
Why wait a week to watch another episode when an entire buffet is available? A lot has been written recently about “binge-watching” the practice of sitting on the couch or in bed to gorge on an...
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“Parade’s End”–An Historian’s Downton Abbey?”
The five-part BBC/HBO miniseries “Parade’s End” premiered on HBO last week (February 26) and is also available on video-on-demand. The playwright Tom Stoppard has adapted Ford Madox Ford’s...
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“The Following” Redux–Not Going There Again
In February I reviewed and recommended “The Following”, a Fox television drama series starring Kevin Bacon and James Purefoy. There have been a total of nine episodes so far, but this past week’s...
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“Top of the Lake”–A Top Notch Thriller
While some cable and television distributors fund their own productions (note the excellence of “House of Cards”, the final season of “Damages”, and the forthcoming “Arrested Development”), Sundance...
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“Orphan Black”–Adopting a New Model
This new BBC America television series premiered on March 30, 2013. In the opening scene the camera zooms in on Sarah (played by Tatiana Maslany, a Canadian newcomer to television), a grifter desperate...
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“The Big C”– Memento Mori or “Remember You Shall Die”
The last stages in the cycle of life and death have finally attracted film and movie producers. I am talking about the formerly taboo twin topics of aging and death. Perhaps as we baby boomers and our...
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“Endeavour”–A Prequel to the Inspector Morse Series
“Endeavour” is the much-anticipated mystery series currently on Sunday evenings on PBS’s Masterpiece Mystery. A testament to the beloved long-running Inspector Morse series (1987-2000), this series...
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“Orange is the New Black”–Life Behind Bars
This is a caged beast financed and produced by Netflix: thirteen episodes available on Instant Queue for binge viewing if you are so inclined. “Orange is the New Black” (filmed on location in a women’s...
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The Backstory behind “Orange is the New Black”
With all the buzz about “Orange is the New Black”, I had fun chasing down facts about the memoir of that name by Piper Kerman after binge viewing the huge hit, “Orange is the New Black” on Netflix....
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Engrenages (“Spiral”)–A Vortex of Thrills
Internet streaming and cable/satellite TV have opened the door to some superb international films and television series formerly nearly unknown to the average American viewer. Think “Borgen”. It’s...
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“Time of Death”—Not for the Faint-Hearted
Not since Elisabeth Kubler-Ross’s “On Death and Dying” with its study of the five stages of grief or Ernest Becker’s “The Denial of Death”, has there been such a tour-de-force depiction of the process...
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“House of Cards”–Season 2: The Main Course
House of Cards–season 2 I just binged on the second season of the Emmy-award winning “House of Cards,” the Netflix-produced political saga starring Kevin Spacey as Frank Underwood and Robin Wright as...
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Netflix Instant Queue–My List
My last blog on the pleasure of curling up to watch past episodes of favorite TV programs or programs and movies you missed while they were being released for the first time was on February 6, 2012...
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“The Escape Artist”–Thrilling Escapism
In this two-part mini-series aired on PBS’ Masterpiece Mystery Theater over the past two weeks, Will Burton (David Tennant of “Broadchurch”, “Dr. Who”, and “Harry Potter” fame) is London’s...
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“The Fall” (mini-series) —“Prime Suspect” Revisited
In this Netflix Original production distributed by BBC Ireland, (not to be confused with the 2006 movie of the same name–see August 16, 2011 review), the story unfolds, not as a mystery to be solved,...
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“Happy Valley”-No One’s Idea of Happiness
This compelling and addictive police drama stars Sarah Lancashire as the middle-aged Yorkshire police sergeant Catherine Cawood, who struggles daily between remembering the suicide of her teenage...
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“Olive Kitteridge”—Scenes from a Marriage, or A Bitter Edge
The HBO mini-series based on Elizabeth Strout’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book, “Olive Kitteridge” delivers big time! With a stellar cast led by the astounding Frances McDormand and Richard Jenkins, we...
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“Peaky Blinders”—A View of Injustice
Peaky Blinders This BBC television drama series starring the amazing Cillian Murphy as Tommy Shelby, the leader of the Peaky Blinders gang, is Britain’s answer to “Boardwalk Empire”. Netflix released...
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“Black Mirror”—Dark Reflections of the Mind
Black Mirror I’ve just discovered the extraordinary showstopper, “Black Mirror”, a British sci-fi television series that is part “Twilight Zone” but darker and more bizarre. In six episodes in Season...
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