Stu’s Reviews- #655- Book – “Vanishing Act “- Thomas Perry

Genre: Book

Grade: B+

Notable People: Thomas Perry

Title: Vanishing Act

Review: The first in Perry’s Jane Whitefield, published in 1995. Jane is a Native American guide who leads people out of the wilderness–not the tree-filled variety but the kind created by enemies who want you dead. She is in the one-woman business of helping the desperate disappear. She is a member of the Wolf Clan of the Seneca tribe in the northern Adirondacks and grown up to be trained to fool any pursuer or cover any trail, and is an expert at providing her clients with new identities, complete with authentic paperwork. This is an unusual series both in its cultural setting and very unique heroine, both of which I liked a lot and found fresh and new. The story itself started out like gangbusters, grabbing my attention, but waned a bit in the latter part of the book, though the twists, turns, and curves kept me interested. Perry is a good writer, who drifts into extend verbiage at times, but I am eager to try a few more editions in this unusual series.

Stu’s Reviews- #654- Album – “What’s It Gonna Take?””- Van Morrison

Genre: Album

Grade: A-

Notable People: Van the Man and his Cracker Jack Band, Produced by: Himself

Title: What’s It Gonna Take?

Review: For my recent BIG Birthday, I got this new Van issue-along with tix to see him in Connecticut labor day weekend, on a rare US tour. Though I have very mixed feelings about his politics and his persona, I have no such reservations about Van the Man’s music. His 43rd (Holy Buckets!) studio album, features 14 new compositions that collectively reflect his indefatigable drive to record and perform live in front of audiences. The album was produced by Morrison and is preceded by the single “Pretending,” a gorgeous, restless, soul song. Somewhat of a departure from his most recent releases that were focused more on Jazzy numbers, this one is master lesson on blue-eyed soul and R&B. Van takes up the guitar mostly in lieu of his beloved sax and surrounds himself with a very talented groove-laden backup band and heavenly voices. If you’ve ever been a fan or just like Brown Eyed Girl, this is a good one.

Stu’s Reviews- #653- TV Series – “Derry Girls”- Netflix- 2 Seasons

Genre: TV Series  

Grade: A-/ B+

Notable People: Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Louisa Harland, Tara Lynne O’Neill, Kathy Kiera Clarke, Dylan Llewellyn      Created by: Lisa McGee

Title: Derry Girls

Review: We inexplicably really liked this show. The five Derry girls are a hoot; the supporting cast is beyond eccentric and it is often sadly very funny- a large extended family of mismatched parts in contrast to the intensity of living in ravaged Northern Ireland during the 1990s. There is an underlay of cultural frame of reference here that I’m guessing you have to be from a very Irish family to fully appreciate, but after a while, you kind of get it. This is a great half hour antidote to intense serial dramas you may watch. No indication of a third season as of yet.

Stu’s Reviews- #652- TV Series – “Bosch: Legacy”- Freevee -1 Season

Genre: TV Series

Grade: A-/ B+

Notable People: Titus Welliver, Mimi Rodgers, Madison Lintz, Stephen A. Chang Created by: Eric Overmyer, Tom Connelly

Title: Bosch: Legacy

Review: Welliver returns to the wonderful role of LA detective Hieronymus Bosch- based on the Connelly novels of the same name and building on a slew of seasons on Amazon. The Amazon series ended with a disgruntled Busch retiring from the PD and more or less rising off into the sunset- and his series picks up several years later with a much more grizzled Bosch as a private dick. Rodgers and Lintz reprise their roles as the brilliant lawyer, Honey Chandler and as Bosch’s daughter, Maddie, now grown and a rookie LAPD beat cop. The show’s transition seems pretty seamless and the addition of Chang as a techno-sidekick to Bosch is good. The drama and storytelling remain strong and Welliver and friends are great. The show misses some of the regular characters that did not come back for the revival, but a few of them make regular cameos which is a nice touch. The show now airs on Freevee, an Amazon derivative that used to be IMBD TV. Clear expectations for a second season.

Stu’s Reviews- #651- TV Series – “The Great”- Hulu -2 Seasons

Genre: TV Series  

Grade: A-

Notable People: Elle Fanning, Nicholas Hoult, Phoebe Fox, Created by: Tony McNamara

Title: The Great

Review: The Great is a historical black comedy about the rise of Catherine the Great from outsider, imported from Germany as a bride, to become the longest reigning female ruler in Russia’s history. The series is quite fictionalized and portrays Catherine in her youth and marriage to Emperor Peter III of Russia (the son of Peter the Great), focusing on the plot to kill her depraved and dangerous husband, and her desire to create “a better Russia”. All that said, any historical accuracy is quite loose in this gender-bending dramedy, which is a good thing. The plots and dialog are hilarious and the rapport between Fanning as Catherine, and the crazed Hoult as Peter, is mesmerizing. This is a “Court” you will never forget. Absolutely delightful and Hazzah, for the decision to have a third season.  

Stu’s Reviews- #650- TV Series – “The Girl From Oslo”- Netflix – 1 Season

Genre: TV Series   

Grade: A-/B+

Notable People: Anneke Von der Lippe, Amos Tamam, Andrea Berntzen, Daniel Littman, Created by: Kyrree Johannessen and Ronit Berkowitz

Title: The Girl from Oslo

Review: Very intense Norwegian/Israeli drama that takes place in Gaza and involves a terrorist kidnapping of a Norwegian girl from Israel. It’s a harrowing portrait of life in a constant war zone and the extraordinary craziness and enmity between ISIS, The Israelis and Hamas. Not a particularly pleasant show, but well done, well-acted and gripping. Living here in America, this is a reminder of what life is like in many places. Somewhat brutal experience, this show. Half sub-titled- half in English. Surprisingly, seemed to leave the door open for a second season.

Stu’s Reviews- #649- Book – “Death at La Fenice “- Donna Leon

Genre: Book  

Grade: A-

Notable People: Donna Leon

Title: Death at La Fenice

Review: The fist in this wonderful series. Begun, in the early 90s, featuring Commissario Guido Brunetti of the Venice police. Recommended to me by my all-time book guru (and Freshman English Instructor at Ohio State in 1970!!!, Neil Berms. …..which makes it a given that it is going to be good. There are a lot of these books and I am eager to dive further into the streets and canals of this magical city as the Commissario, who is a bit like Martin Walkers’ Bruno of Southern France, fights the forces of evil with a twinkle in his eye and a shrug of his very, very Italianate soldiers. Great mystery story as an aside featuring the death of a famed Maestro at the Venice opera house. A definite keeper.

Stu’s Reviews- #648- TV Series – “Annika”- PBS – 1 Season

Genre: TV Series   

Grade: B+

Notable People: Nicola Walker, Jamie Sives, Katie Lunge, Ukweli Roach Created by: Sarah Solemani

Title: Annika

Review: Based on the popular Scottish, Annika Strandhed novels, this PBS Masterpiece entry stars the wonderful Walker (Unforgotten, Last Tango in Halifax) as the very in-over-her head newly minted leader of the Glasgow Marine Homicide Unit. Walker is alternately imbecilic, brilliant and hilarious with her mismatched team of investigators. Another in a long line of BBC DI- somethings, it’s worth the watch and promises a second season.  

Stu’s Reviews- #647- TV Series – “We Own This City”- HBO – 1 Season

Genre: TV Series    

Grade: A-

Notable People: Jon Bernthal, Josh Charles, Jamey Hector, Dagmara Dominczyk, Wunmi Mosaku Created by: David Simon

Title: We Own This City

Review: A six-episode mini-series based on the book by Baltimore Sun reporter Justin Fenton, this is the less titillating and more factual follow up to Simon’s “The Wire”. Hector switches sides from his Gangsta turn in The Wire to play a troubled homicide cop here. Bernthal is the clear star as the wacked out and dirty-as –can –be detective who never saw a pound of powder or a roll of bails found in a bust that he did not think was rightfully his. The show, set in the aftermath of the Freddie Gray scandal, walks a line between drama and documentary so lacks the character development and nuance of The Wire, and frankly, is not all that pleasant but it will make your head explode in thinking about the state of policing in America and on the regression in race equity that we are facing. This is filthy, filthy shit.

Stu’s Reviews- #646- TV Series – “Ridley Road”- PBS – 1 Season

Genre: TV Series     

Grade: A+

Notable People: Agnes O’Casey, Rory Kinnear, Eddie Marsan, Tom Varey Created by: Sarah Solemani

Title: Ridley Road

Review: another wonderful book adaptation from PBS Masterpiece- this is a four-part miniseries focused on the post-was Fascist movement in England in the early 60s. O’Casey makes her striking debut as a sheltered British girl from Manchester, who sneaks to London for her adolescent fantasy lover and winds up deep in with her splendid Nazi-fighting Jewish uncle masquerading as a tailor (the always magnificent Marsan). It’s a frightening look at the staying power of the Nazi movement in Europe juxtaposed with the emergence of the swinging sixties in its London birthplace. Mini-skirts meets madmen. A four-part one-time series well worth a watch.