Genre: TV Series             

Grade: A

Notable People: Ken Burns; narrated by David McCullough  

Title:  The Civil War

Review I’ve said before that Burns is the greatest documentarian in film history, and watching this epic (latest for me, old hat for him) does nothing to alter that. I sometimes think we should chuck the one-sided garbage we teach kids in school history classes and just have them watch all of Burns’ films. An absolute master if the craft, who his able to provide a rapturous experience, even for a time period, that prevents any actual any action footage. You can feel the schism that rocked this country viscerally as the story unfolds, and the characters come to life through anecdotes and historical narrative. It takes about 25 hours to watch this thing, which we do in short increments, but well, well worth the time. Brilliance.  

Stu’s Reviews      

Genre: TV Series           

Grade: A

Notable People: Amalie Dollerup, Lars Ranthe, Anne Louise Hassing, Annette Steffelbaek, Jens Jacob Tythsen, Created by: Hanna Lundblad, Stig Thorsboe  

Title: Seaside Hotel

Review: Update: I stand by my original review (below)of the first eight seasons from 2022. This is a superb show that only got better with time. The final season was a complex wrap up of character themes from a 12-year run often amusing always relevant. The last two seasons picked up after the war years and pointed out the tenuous nature of Danish (occupied)- German (occupier) relations. Extraordinary ensemble cast-masters of Danish theater and television. This is a sleeper-not to be dismissed.

This compelling combined drama and subtle comedy “Badehotellet” in remote, NW Denmark opens for its wealthy guests each summer. We follow the guests and staff at the hotel from 1928 and into the 1940s. What starts out as a lighthearted comedy turns darker with each year as Demark is overtaken by the Depression and then Fascism and the Nazis. The show becomes overly political out of seemingly nowhere- a fascinating turn of events. The ensemble cast has many of Denmark’s’ top actors and is wonderful. This is a place we’d all like to spend our summers.

Genre: TV Series             

Grade: A-

Notable People: Ben Miller, Emma Naomi, Barney White, Sarah Woodward, Frances de la Tour, Created by: Matt Baker

Title: Professor T

Review: the brilliant Ben Miller (Death in Paradise) plays Professor Jasper Tempest, a genius criminologist at Cambridge who has major OCD (wears gloves at all times) and an overbearing mother. He reluctantly (and often hilariously) assists the police in solving bizarre crimes. It is an adaptation from a Belgian TV series of the same name – but the original is not nearly as good without the eccentric Miller. Season 3 went even deeper on defining the origins of our hero’s over-the-moon angst, and Miller just gets quirkier and quirkier. This season also feature a greater role for his possibly even more eccentric mother, played most appropriately over-the-top by de la Tour.  A fourth season is already in the works. Miller makes it worth watching.

Genre: TV Series     

Grade: B+

Notable People: Matt Smith, Eve Best, Paddy Considine, Olivia Cooke…and cast of thousands Created by: George RR Martin, Ryan Condal

Title: House of the Dragon

Review: well, I don’t think the breathlessly awaited second season managed to hold on to the standard set by Thrones or from its own Season 1. I struggled at times with keeping up  with the plot swings and myriad of scheming characters; many of whom look and sound alike (is that prejudicial to say?) Not aa crisp as season one, but still…..What’s not to like? Dragons, deceit, drama, cuckoldry, heads falling left and right, mystical medicine men, bloodletting, children with big swords……set 200 years before Game of Thrones, the show is the origin story for all the families and the history of the coveted Iron Throne that we became acquainted with the groundbreaking GOT show. The cinematography is magnificent, the sets and costumes beyond compare and the acting almost Shakespearian. The hour is over before you know it. Feeling certain there is a next version to come in this veritable goldmine for HBO. And, man, how about them dragons?

Genre: TV Series                     

Grade: B+/B

Notable People: Hoa Xuande, Robert Downey Jr., Fred Nguyen Kahn, Created by: Jez Scharf

Title: The Sympathizer

Grade: an historical black comedy drama miniseries based on the 2015 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Viet Thanh Nguye. The series is based on the story of the Captain, a North Vietnam spy in the South Vietnam army. He is forced to flee to the United States with his general near the end of the Vietnam War. While living within a community of South Vietnamese refugees, he continues to secretly spy on the community and report back to the Viet Cong, struggling between his original loyalties and his new life. I really liked the book, but the series is pretty hard to follow and bizarre, to say the least. Black comedy does not quite fully describe this. The era described, and the portrayal of Vietnamese refugees to America, it interesting and its alternating sunny 70s LA and the jungles of Vietnam is compelling. The acting is good. Downy is thoroughly out of control, playing four distinctly different, and equally crazy- person roles.

Genre: TV Series       

Grade: B+

Notable People: Will Forte, Siobhan Cullen, Robyn Cara, David Wilmot, Chris Walley, Created by: Jez Scharf

Title: Bodkin

Grade: Gilbert Power, an American podcaster, travels to Bodkin, an Irish coastal town, to investigate a cold case involving the disappearance of three people during a Samhaim celebration several decades prior. He is joined by Dublin-born “Dove” Maloney, an investigative journalist in London who is sent on assignment after the death of her source, a government whistleblower and Emmy, an aspiring journalist. This show started out clearly as a very back comedy, but morphed into something else that I had trouble following. On the other hand, JB seemed to really like it…might be our age difference and associated cognitive capabilities. We watched the seven episodes over quite a long period of time (as watching a dozen at a time) and this one might be better served to more or less binging-to keep up with the characters and plot twists. Very nice ensemble cast. One and done.

Genre: TV Series                            

Grade: A

Notable People: Jeremy Renner, Dianne Wiest, Hugh Dillon, Tobi Bamtefa, Taylor Handley, Emma Laird, Alden Gillen, Created by: Taylor Sheridan and Hugh Dillon

Title: The Mayor of Kingstown

Grade: Double WOW- the third season somehow topped the first two for intensity and darkness. Role of a lifetime for Jeremy Renner (his walk alone is worth the price of admission) and it just got better as the season went on. You can’t get grittier than this. Lots of violence and stuff to make you wonder about our shared morality -so not for everyone. But, extremely well done. The writers on this show (including the ubiquitous Taylor Sheridan) are outstanding and the ensemble cast around The Mayor, magnificent. Shockingly, three seems to be a season 4 in the works. Great television!!!