Category: TV Series

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.

Genre: TV Series (Two Seasons)    

Grade:  A-

Notable People: Asa Butterfield, Gillian Anderson, Emma Mackey, Created by: Laurie Nunn

Title: Sex Education

Review:     If you were a fan of the X Files, you won’t believe Anderson in this role and single mom sex therapist/educator living in remote Britain…with her confused and sexually challenged son. Northing heavy here, but great story lines, wonderful ensemble acting and a wonderful mix of laughs and tears. The supporting cast in mahvelous………it’s a keeper and has just been renewed for a third season.

Genre: TV Series (Five Seasons)     

Grade:  A+

Notable People: Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, Daniel Levy, Annie Murphy, Chris Elliot, Sarah Levy, Created by: Dan and Eugene Levy

Title: Schitt’s Creek

Review:     oh my……. what to say. For my money, SC is the funniest show ever to grace the small screen. The First Family of Canadian Comedy take over a depressing small town (and its sole motel) in the middle of nowhere after losing their Hollywood fortune. The plot is irrelevant…the family interaction is beyond priceless, their characters so flawed as to be peerless, and the supporting folks simply perfect. It is hard to even look at Dan Levy, as the wayward son, David Rose, without laughing. This is one for the ages. Very sadly, the coming season (now on POP TV-later this year on Netflix) will be the last. BIG Boo Hoo.

Genre: TV Series (Five Seasons)

Grade:  A

Notable People: Cilian Murphy, Helen McCrory, Paul Anderson, Sophie Rundle, Crated by: Steven Knight

Title: Peaky Blinders

Review:     Magnificent Netflix original/ BBC series about family gang in rough and dirty Birmingham, England in the 1920’s. You’ll grit your teeth though this one…pure intensity. Great performances……Murphy is a revelation as the head of the family. Anderson is a walking bomb-always ready to go off. The hour goes really quickly with this one. Each season (only six episodes per) has been better than the previous one. See the fires of Hell come pouring out of the factory vents in the middle of the street…quite the metaphor.

Genre: TV Series (Three Seasons) 

Grade:  A

Notable People: Claire Foy, Olivia Colman, John Lithgow, Helena Bonham-Carter…and a cast of thousands Crated by: Peter Morgan

Title: The Crown

Review:     If you have any interest in 20th century history or royalty or all things British…this is a don’t miss show. Brilliantly written, the three seasons have gone from Queen Elizabeth’s wedding in 1947 through her fathers’ (King Edward) death and her ascension to the throne, and in the third season up through 1977. That covers 25 years on the throne-which is amazingly only about a third of the time she has reigned. Fascinating character portrayal by Foy as the younger for the first two seasons and the magnificent Colman as the latter day Queen for season three, which involved a total cast changeover for the aging royal family. Lithgow does an amazing turn as the fading Winston Churchill. Attention to detail is magnificent and the extended stories on the abdicated King David, the Crown Princess Margaret and young Prince Charles…are quite compelling. This show is well worth your time…..brilliant.

Genre: TV Series (Seven Seasons)     

Grade:  A

Notable People: Lieb Schreiber , Jon Voight, Eddie Marsan, Susan Sarandon, Created by: Ann Biderman

Title: Ray Donovan

Review:     Dark, Dramatic, disturbing at times….brilliantly written show about Boston Southie tough kid, with lots of Demons, who grows up to be a Hollywood Fixer extraordinaire. Recent seasons moved to New York locale, but flavor does not change. The casting is top notch…never would have imagined Schreiber in this role, but he owns it. Voight is having a career renaissance with this part, and Marsan is in the role of lifetime. And he could not be better. Very ethnic, very gritty, very real. The plots are riveting, the dialog rapid fire (except for Ray/Lieb who is a man of very few words-but a very big bat), and the characters are amazingly complex and fascinating. Each season has gotten better despite the loss of early star Paula Malcolmson (Ray’s wife) after season five. No end in sight on this one…thank the TV Gods for that.