As two of my highly anticipated movies (see my list here) coming out in the fall will be on Netflix: Maestro and NYAD, I just can’t resist anymore. Three days ago I decided to subscribe to Netflix. While waiting for these two movies to show up, I’ve got plenty of others to watch. These past few days, I’ve finished a few. Yes… daily life has been a bit diverted. My capsule reviews in the following. All three TV series are worth watching and the doc on Joan Didion, a must-see.
BEEF –– A road rage incident pushes two lives down the abyss of rage and revenge which ultimately torpedoes into an explosive meltdown. The fight between Amy Lau (Ali Wong), an entrepreneur, wife and mother living in an upper middle class neighborhood and her adversary Danny Cho (Steven Yeun), a handyman striving to make ends meet as a dutiful son and watchful older brother is not only a satire of the disparity between the rich and the poor, but a realistic depiction of the existential angsts shared by all regardless of social and economic status, or, as the series has effectively shown, racial background. Highly addictive, cleverly written and first-rate acting. 13 Primetime Emmy Awards nominations.
The Diplomat –– Kate Wyler (Keri Russell) is appointed by the POTUS (Michael McKean) as the new ambassador to the United Kingdom, a post she reluctantly takes up. With her previous experience in war-torn countries and Afghanistan which she expects to return, her new post in London is a major cultural clash, hence resulting in some mismatched decorum and humorous moments. Adding to her maladjustment and complicating matters when dealing with volatile, international crises is her husband Hal (Rufus Sewell), himself the former ambassador to the UK. The once political influencer now has to take up the role as a diplomat’s wife in a precarious marriage. Interesting play on gender politics, marital/power relationships, on top of intense, political chess play. Russell is nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in the upcoming Emmy Awards, deservedly. Interesting to note some of the language used here is quite similar to the rage-filled one in BEEF.
The Lincoln Lawyer –– I pick up from the current Season 3. While I like Michael Connelly’s character, former LAPD detective Harry Bosch, more than his Mickey Haller, a lawyer who works out of a Lincoln dealing with seedy clients, I’ve enjoyed the TV adaptation. Haller, aptly played by Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, is a pleasing yet complex character, resourceful, smart, an upholder of the law but has his blind spots. As a recovering addict, vulnerability coexists with his assets. Other characters are also well cast, jumping out of Connelly’s novels to become well fleshed-out and likable human beings (we just might be using this term more now to distinguish between the real and the fake), making up a lively supporting cast. Interesting to note that in the 10 episodes of S3, despite dealing with crimes and criminals, the language used is relatively free of foul play.
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Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold
Directed by Griffin Dunne, actor/director and Joan Didion’s nephew, this brief, biographical documentary of Didion follows her career and life during some of America’s tumultuous decades. Dunne’s interviews with her aunt elicit some intimate conversation and poignant memories from Didion, by now frail and with apparent impediment. An astute observer of society, Didion had given us some monumental commentaries of her times with her writings. Listening to the narration in the documentary and seeing the iconic photos and footage of significant turns of history, Didion’s analyses just as well could have applied to our world today, just as she has quoted in her Slouching Towards Bethlehem the line in Yeats’s poem: “Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold.”
The latter part of the documentary is about Didion’s own personal tragedy, chronicling the sudden death of her husband John Gregory Dunne and just months later, her daughter Quintana, her grief poured out in The Year of Magical Thinking and Blue Nights. English playwright David Hare had been her anchor in transforming mourning and loss into artistic expression on stage, giving her some sort of a closure. Hare directs the Broadway play adaptation of The Year of Magical Thinking with Vanessa Redgrave as the sole performer. Redgrave shared a similar experience as her daughter Natasha Richardson died suddenly after a ski accident. The documentary has kept a short clip from the play and presented personal recollections from Hare and those close to her life, friends and colleagues. A poignant and moving feature.
~ ~ ~ 1/2 Ripples
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