Category: Stu’s Reviews

Stu’s Reviews- #710- TV Series – “Kim’s Convenience”- Netflix -5 Seasons

Genre: TV Series   

Grade: A

Notable People: Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, Jean Yoon, Andrea Band, Simu Liu, Created by Ins Choi and Kevin White

Title: The Outlaws

Review: I’m not sure what to say about this show, except it may be the funniest show ever on TV; a cult favorite in Canada that depicts a Korean family that run a convenience store in Toronto. Lee and Yoon are cult legends in Canada and Liu has become a rising star off his turn in this show. If you are mostly a drama fan and need an occasional half hour break- don’t miss this. Lee, as the father (Appa) is a modernized, Korean, Canadian take on Archie bunker, but in a good way. One of long line of shows created by Kevin White (Trailer Park Boys, Reservation Dogs) it is brilliantly written and acted. We loved this show so much we watched it over a 2-year period and stopped when we got to the last episode, since we did not want it to end. Six months later, we went back to watch the finale and still couldn’t do it- so just started over from the beginning. Brilliant.  

Stu’s Reviews- #709- TV Series – “Women at War”- Amazon Prime -1 Season (French- with sub-titles)

Genre: TV Series   

Grade: A-

Notable People: Audrey Fleurot, Julie de Bona, Camille Lou, Sofia Essaidi. Created by Cecile Lorne

Title: Women at War

Review: Wonderfully conceived and executed story of four complex and flawed, but extraordinarily courageous woman in France, in 1914, at the start of WWI. The weaving of the four stories and the ultimate linkage between the characters is exceedingly well done, and dramatically set gains the back drop of invasion and chaos, standing out all the more for their astonishing achievements. Fleurot (The French Villages) stands out in her role as tortured prostitute/conflicted mother- and de Bona is a find as the mother superior torn between God, love and war. A one shot miniseries unlikely to return, well worth the watch.  

Stu’s Reviews- #708- Book – “The Face Changers”- Thomas Perry

Genre: Book

Grade: A-

Notable People: Thomas Perry

Title: The Face Changers

Review: Number four in Perry’s acclaimed Jane Whitefield series, and each one gets better. Perry is a master of the suspense genre and Jane is a character you can hardly believe someone could make up.: an unobtrusive lifelong resident of the Seneca nation around the Buffalo area, who had led a secret life for two decades, as a magician at helping deserving fugitives permanently disappear (in a good way, not into the cement). The books’ complex narratives on the incredible detail minutia involved in this extraordinary undertaking, while still providing wonderful character studies and great locales. This one is a mad chase by both the good guys and the bad guys back and forth across the country. Really hoping Perry (who is a fabulous writer of other genres, as well) will stay with this series forever. Titillating and Rapturous.

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Stu’s Reviews- #707- TV Series – “The Outlaws”- Amazon Prime -2 Seasons

Genre: TV Series

Grade: A-/B+

Notable People: Stephen Merchant, Rhianne Barreto, Darren Boyd, Gamba Cole, Jessica Gunning, Claire Perkins, Eleanor Tomlinson, Charles Babaloa, Christopher Walken Created by Merchant

Title: The Outlaws

Review: Wow- this seemingly throwaway show from the BBC is sneakily good. The ensemble cast, playing a bunch of small time losers, sentenced by the Court to community service in London, is really good together. The writing and dialog and are really crisp and really funny. Tomlinson is brilliant as a celebrity blogger diva, with a real person lurking just below the surface. Social messages underlay the humor and support characters are wonderful. And then…. there is Christopher Walken…what is there to say, the man is subtle comic genius. Anything with CW is worth watching …… (did he invent droll?)…..but his ow is a real sleeper. Uncertain about a third season as seemed to wrap-up at the end of second season.

Stu’s Reviews- #706- Album – “Comfort Eagle “”- Cake

Genre: Album    

Grade: B+

Notable People: Cake Produced by: Cake

Title: Comfort Eagle

Review: Very interesting and strange band I discovered from listening to Bakersfield Beat station on Sirius XM. I originally thought they were a 60’s era cosmic country- psychedelia band, but found they are a 90’s cult group that plays an eclectic mix of styles with unusual instrumentation (check out the cello), strangely semi-melodic vocals and an elusive categorization. Picked this particular album at random to check out, and liked it a lot, though not as country-ish as what I had previously hard on radio. John McRae is the founding member of the group which originated in the early 90s and is still going. This is 200 release of their seen studio album catalog. I’m going to pursue some more before my final assessment, but they are intriguing.

Stu’s Reviews- #705- Film – “The Pale Blue Eye”

Genre: Film    

Grade: B+

Notable People: Christian Bale, Harry Melling, Gillian Anderson, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Robert Duvall, Directed by: Scoot Cooper

Title:  The Pale Blue Eye

Review: a thriller on Netflix (after a short theatrical release last year) adapted from a novel by Louis Bayard. The plot follows retired detective Augustus Landor at West Point in 1830 West Point, as he investigates a series of murders at the Academy- with the surprising aid of a young military cadet, named Edgar Allan Poe. Quite few plot twist and turns, thug a bit slow moving, but t hatching foe the usual eccentric performance from Bales and a short but rewarding role for the 92-year-old Consigliere (Duvall). Was not as predictable as it might seem.

Stu’s Reviews- #704- Book – “Little Green”- Walter Mosley

Genre: Book   

Grade: A-

Notable People: Walter Mosley

Title: Little Green

Review: In 2007’s Blonde Faith, set in 1967, Easy Rawlins drove drunkenly off a cliff in what Mosley indicated was likely his last appearance. Now, after two months of sliding in and out of consciousness, Easy is reborn, beginning the long journey back to the living, in Mosley’s superb 12th mystery featuring his iconic sleuth. Mosley fans were pining for the resurrection of Rawlins.  Their dreams have come true…. Mosley returns here to doing what he does best: an intriguing set of mysteries set in the historical context and struggle of race in America; in Mosley/ Rawlins case, that being post WWII LA, and, in the case of this masterful book-late in the Summer of Love. Mosley gives us strong correlations between the counter culture and the movement for civil rights, and, as always, spins a compelling yarn. The 12th of this series, originating in 1990, and still going strong, with three additions since then. My only confusion is how old is Easy Rawlins, the WWII vet now? Explosive writing, extraordinary characters (Ray “Mouse “Alexander …one for the ages) and an incredible ability to make African -American experience more accessible to us all. Great, great stuff. Mosley is a legend.

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Stu’s Reviews- #703- Book – “The Ink Black Heart”- Robert Galbraith

Genre: Book  

Grade: B+

Notable People: Robert Galbraith

Title: The Ink Black Heart

Review: Galbreath (JK Rowland) is a superb writer and the characters are so engaging and the stories so complex that it is hard to not be totally impressed with this series; of which this is the fifth entry. Now detective partners, Strike and Robin, follow the dark streets of London in pursuit of the solving of case even Scotland Yard can’t keep up with. The books are full of world detailed info and underlying social commentary with wicked sly humor at times. Now the down sides for me: this book is over a 1000 ages, as they all are; it’s now to the point where you just want to see the two main characters get over it and finally do the nasty, instead of obsessing about it for thousands of pages; and this book is the deepest dive into the dark web, the world of cult adult cartoons and associated video games, as any I have read. There are whole chapters that are only twitter dialog boxes- all of which does not hold the most interest for a non- social media user like me, though I know the focus on social media and its pitfalls is inherently timely. On balance, these are really fine books, though this one did not enthrall me as the first four had.

Stu’s Reviews- #702- Book – “The Old Man”- Thomas Perry

Genre: Book  

Grade: A

Notable People: Thomas Perry

Title:  The Old Man

Review: Picked this book up at a library sale because I like Perry’s work on the Jane Whitefield series (see numerous previous reviews). Several moths later I took it with me on a trip to San Diego and opened it to realize it as the origin book for the Hulu TV series with Jeff Bridges that I reviewed several months ago. The series was really good, the book is much more convoluted, and great. Perry is a top notch writer and storyteller, and this story of a rogue US Intelligence operative is a beauty. Same character as the book, but a much more complex story, that still involves “the old man” who has been living in obscurity for 35 years and has been rediscovered by a vengeful CIA and its ilk and being hunted relentlessly. The character portraits are outstanding, and the whirlwind treks across the Us and the Middle East are breathtaking. Hard book to put down. Highly recommended.

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Stu’s Reviews- #701- Film – “The Menu”

Genre: Film

Grade: A-

Notable People: Ralph Fiennes, Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicholas Hoult, Hong Chau, Janet McTeer, Rob Yang, John Leguizamo, Paul Dano, Directed by: Marc Mylod

Title:  The Menu

Review: Wonderfully bizarre black comedy and social commentary simultaneously released in theaters and on HBO Max, features the brilliant Fiennes in a mad role, as the chef-proprietor of an internationally renowned dining experience on a remote island. The invitees gather for a once in a lifetime extravagant dinner with infamously theatrical, dramatic presentation, only to be confronted with the mad-wrath of the Chef, and his minions’, anger and desire for social revenge. Extremely well done with an excellent ensemble cast of many familiar faces, the viewer keeps waiting for the whole thing to be a joke. Elements of horror, slapstick and total satire abound. Very quirky film well worth the stream.