Category: Stu’s Reviews

Genre: TV Series    

Grade: A

Notable People: Bob Odenkirk, Rhea Seahorn, Jonathan Banks, Michael Mando, Giancarlo Esposito, Michael McKean, Created by: Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould

Title: Better Call Saul

Review:    The extraordinary prequel to Breaking Bad features the very excellent Odenkirk conjuring the subtle change from nice guy lawyer, Jimmy McGill to shyster of the century, Saul Goodman. This is brilliant television; it was recently named on several lists the best show on TV, and it’s a fair argument. The cast is top notch, especially Banks as his menacing self and McKean as the bat shit crazy older brother/lawyer mentor. And Esposito……Whoa…. he is quiet evil in its most potent incarnation. The development of the characters who later came to populate Breaking Bad is so tasteful as to be shocking. Each season has topped the one before, though I suspect the next will be the last, as the timeline is running out to catch up to the birth of Walter White. Not necessary to have liked or even watched BB to appreciate this one.

Genre: TV Series 

Grade: A-

Notable People: William H. Macy, Jeremy Allen white, Cameron Monahan, Emma Kenney, Ethan Cutkowsky, Emmy Rossum Created by: Paul Abbott

Title: Shameless

Review:    Unlikely you are not aware of this after ten seasons, but this is cultural icon television, with the amazing WH Macy reinventing himself as an all-time scumbag. The ensemble cast is beyond compare, the writing really witty and the south side Chicago setting a formula for misadventure. The show has been inconsistent in later seasons, especially challenged by the luminous Rossum leaving fate season nine, though they did a startlingly good job of going on without her most principle character. Full of star-power cameo guest appearances- seems like everybody would like to be on Shameless. Great time to hunker down for The Plaque with ten seasons worth of sardonic humor.

Genre: TV Series 

Grade: A-

Notable People: Alvaro Morte, Veronica Sanchez, Irene Arcos, Marta Milans –  Created by: Esther Martinez Lobato, Alex Pina

Title: The Pier (El Embarcadero)

Review:    Wonderful Spanish language (sub-titled) series in Valencia, Spain and environs about a man living a double life with two wives. His mysterious death brings the two woman together and the resulting portrayal of both woman’s’ quest to understand what was going on with this guy is amazingly portrayed. Hot, steamy, complex with amazing performances. This one is hard to figure out as it unfolds, with a lot of startling turns. I doubt there is room for third season given the ending, and thought it went one episode too long and dragged a bit at the second seasons end…but very high quality television. Loved every minute of it.

Genre: TV Series 

Grade: A

Notable People: Takehiro Hira, Sophia Brown, Charlie Creed-Miles, Kelly MacDonald –  Created by: Joe Barton

Title: Giri Haji

Review:    Wow….Wow…. Great Corona TV watching. Brought to my attention by my high-brow TV critic at-large, Feel……a riveting drama of a Japanese family that rolls between Tokyo and London…. convoluted, complex with everything you would want in a series…. duty, same, lust, philosophy, gangsters, heroic woman fighting all odds, love-hate brother shit, dancing on the roof, traditions……this is one not to be missed. Ostensibly a detective theme…but hardly…the symbolism is all over the plot…acting is magnificent…the flow is great, has some Tarantino flavors at times along with the great Japanese film masters… bummed this was over…does not seem like second season is very likely…half in sub-titles……will not disappoint…

Genre: TV Series      

Grade: A-

Notable People: Liv Lisa Fries, Volker Bruch-  Created by: Tom Tykwer

Title: Babylon Berlin

Review:    Very edgy Film Noir like portrayal of Berlin on the cusp of the Nazi takeover, but still under the wild chaos of the Weimar Republic. Focal point is a very troubled, honest cop in very dishonest time and place. Very dark, very dramatic, very foreboding of what is to come. Acting is top notch. Hard to keep up with at times with a lot of stories weaving in and out…but great portrayal of the time and place. Sub-titles.

Genre: Film          

Grade: A-

Notable People: Everyone who is anyone in Country Music. Directed by: Ken Burns, Narrated by: Pete Coyote

Title: Country Music” by Ken Burns

Review:    Need a binge watch in the time of The Plague? Eight episodes and 24 hours’ worth. Free on PBS if you are a member or can pay on Amazon. You don’t have to be a big Country fan to watch and enjoy this, though it probably helps to have some interest. Extraordinary portrayal of the history of the music starting with The Carter family and Jimmie Rodgers, though Hank and Patsy, Bill Monroe, Earl and Lester, then the Man in Black and George and Tammy, and Loretta. All told in a way only Ken Burns, Americas’ master storyteller, can tell it. Interviews with surviving legends like Loretta Lynn, Jeannie Sealy, Bill Anderson, Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard are priceless. The stock footage is amazing…the music extraordinary. This is the best of Americana. Take a ride to The Opry on the Wabash Cannonball…..