TO PONDER OR NOT……………….. “KILLING EVE” (MULTIPLE VIEWING SITES)

 In its third season, falls into the “not” category; first season was creatively twisted to the point of guaranteeing a second scenario, but sunk precipitously into idiocy, and season three is worthy of assassination: “Eve” (Sandra Oh, Golden Globe Winner) a bored MI5 agent, and “Villanelle” kooky, inventive serial killer (Jodie Comer, Emmy Winner), are matched as pungently powerful protagonists with an added titillating attraction between the two; at first exposure theirs was an intense, thrilling, unpredictable game of cat and mouse, where Villanelle had the edge; in the second season, Eve, flounders, stumbles into robotic lassitude, never recovering; the “nail in the coffin” cannot come soon enough.

TWO STARS!!

“MY BRILLIANT FRIEND” (ITALIAN: ENGLISH SUBTITLES) REVIEW 3/25 (HBO)

Author Elena Ferrante’s novel grows exponentially as a template of prime filmmaking, acting, directing and cinematography; an investigation of feminine friendship from childhood, adolescence and beyond; actors Elisa del Genio/Margherita Mazzucco (“Elena”) and Ludovica Nasti/ Gaia Girace (“Raffaella”) pour unfathomable emotion, depth and power into their characterizations; highly intelligent, viewers perpetually questioning as to who is the “brilliant friend”.

FOUR & ½ STARS!!!!

“VIENNA BLOOD” (REVIEWED 4/9)  DESERVES REDUNDANCY         AMAZON PRIME

Delicious devilry delivered in this psychological thriller taking place in the early 1900’s Vienna; Freudian devotee “Dr. Max Liebermann” (outrageously handsome Matthew Beard) pairs with detective “Oskar Maurer” (rugged Juergen Maurer) solving “Ripper” type carnage in Vienna, the hotbed of intellectual, cultural elitism. If Austria and its history are intriguing, do yourself a remarkable, unforgettable favor read “The World of Yesterday” by Stefan Zweig, one of life’s enrichments. 

FOUR STARS!!!!

“HOSTAGES” (HEBREW: ENGLISH SUBTITLES)                 NETFLIX

Being a major binger of Israeli television/film (reviewed April 6, 2020) “Hostages” sterling start quickly morphed into a world of discombobulated implausibility; a doctor’s (“Dr. Yale Danon”) family is held captive until she operates on and kills the Prime Minister; actors Ayelet Zuer (Yale) and Jonah Lotan (“Adam Rubin”, chief kidnapper) cannot salvage the storyline; subplots and circuitous challenges easily trigger positional vertigo; after the first season of 10 episodes, did not visit the second one. It captured enough attention that India and the U.S. have cloned the premise. “Ours not to reason why…..”

TWO STARS!!

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