Category: Stu’s Reviews

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…..

Genre: TV Series (Three Seasons)    

Grade:  A-/B+

Notable People: Henrik Mestad, Ane Dahl, Eldar Skar, Created by: Karianne Lund

Title: Occupied

Review:     Intense, dark and frightening Norwegian series (sub-titles) about that country’s occupation by Russia over energy resources. Paints a dismal picture of the world on multi-national intrigue and the underbelly of international politics. The portrait of the Russia is beyond bleak. I thought the first two season were quite dynamic but he third (and seemed like, last) season, felt chaotic to me and without clear direction. The end was appalling…we can only hope this kind of stuff is more fantasy than reality.

Genre: TV Series (Two Seasons)   

Grade:  A-

Notable People: Jessica Biel, Bill Pullman, Created by: Derek Simonds

Title: The Sinner

Review:     I don’t usually review individual seasons of a serial show, but each of three seasons of this drama is a completely different story line with new cast members, so here goes with Season One. This was a recommendation from my high art critic-at-large, Feel, and very, very good one. Leonard Cohen would say…” You want it darker?” ….and this is it. Normal seeming, girl- next- door type, married woman goes to beach in upstate New York, hears strange music, goes berserk, and slashes a strange guy to death…and then…it really begins. I had no idea Biel could really act, thought she was just eye candy (good biceps though) …and Pullman is magnificent as the brooding, obsessed detective. The story is intense and unfolds slowly with lots of flashback…………very complex. well shot, well-acted, well written…. Well Done.