Three raving reviews
Feb. 2nd, 2021 05:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakWatched in January in between working:
Ghosts (season 1):kathyh's Christmas present and a delightfully silly BBC sitcom, which gave me the impression it started as a Beetlejuice AU and went from there. Young couple, Allison and Mike, move into an old manor because Reasons; after a near death-experience, Alison can see and hear the ghosts, who start out wanting to get rid of the new arrivals and end up befriending them. Said ghosts hail from all eras, from a stone age man (who can't talk much but is presented as one of the smartest ghosts) to a sleazy politician who died in the 1970s. I wasn't surprised to discover the Colonel (who's gay) is a fan favorite. It's my kind of silly, and I'm not surprised various Horrible Histories allumni are involved, either.
Mrs. Wilson: three-part miniseries, also akathyh gift but from 2019 which for some reason I did not have the chance to watch until last month, shame on me, for it is very good. Starring Ruth Wilson playing her own grandmother, another Alison, for the miniseries is based on a bit of rl history. As the two roles I'd seen Ruth Wilson play so far - Alice in Luther and Mrs. Coulter in His Dark Materials - are both sociopaths, I was looking forward to find out how she plays a heroine, and whether or not her "dangerous" aura is something she can switch on and off, and the answer is: very well, and yes, she can. This Alison at the start of the miniseries has been married to a generation older writer Alexander "Alec" Wilson for 22 years, with two sons, when he has a heart attack (in the opening scene, so not a spoiler) and leaves her to confront not just his death, that's the least of it, but a series of increasingly awful revelations, starting when there's a woman at the door announcing herself as Mrs. Wilson, too. (There's a reason that's the title of the miniseries.) The late Alec is played in the opening scene and in flashbacks by Ian Glen; the excellent cast also includes Keeley Hawes, and Fiona Shaw as Alec's grumpy handler. Everyone feels as if they're written by Graham Greene - Alec was a fervent Catholic and a conman, every time Alison thinks she's got to the bottom of the mess that was her late husband (?)'s life, there's still another layer of deception involved, the lies of the spy trade and the lies in relationships, especially marital ones, are inextricably intertwined, and the truth Alison seeks might be forever out of her reach, but a method of coping is not. Alison Wilson is perhaps one of the best takes on the iron woobie trope I've seen, and Ruth Wilson's performance is sublime.
One night in Miami: movie up at Netflix, based on a stage play of the same name, directed by Regina King, starring Kingsley Ben-Adir as Malcolm X., Leslie Odom Jr. as Sam Cooke, Eli Goree as Muhammad Ali (then still Cassius Clay, which is a plot point), and Aldis Hodge as Jim Brown. For me as a former Fringe watcher, it was also startling to see Lance Reddick in a supporting role (as Kareem X, one of Malcolm's bodyguards, with a distinct subtext of maybe being more a threat than a guard under the right circumstances. The premise of the film is the night after Ali's/Clay's heavyweight championship victory in Miami, which the four main characters in the film spend largely in Malcolm X' hotel room; four legends who are also friends, fiercely challenging each other's views, especially when it comes to being Black in the US. Jim Brown was the only one whom I knew nothing about going in, but that wasn't a problem; acting and script provide you with all the information you need about each of the characters. (They're also all introduced not with a moment of triumph but with a moment of devastation, and the way they respond is a good shorthand of getting across their character before they meet.) While all four get plenty of screen time, I'd say the narrative is pushed forward mostly by Malcom X, on the one hand having doubts about the Nation of Islam and emotionally preparing to leave it (though not, and never, as he later insists, Islam itself), on the other convincing Cassius Clay to out himself as a Muslim, and trying to push Sam Cooke into using his star power for the cause of civil rights and Black life in the use; except as far as Sam Cooke is concerned, he's already doing that, and their disagreement on the methods is a key element of the story. As I love stories where people who on the one hand are friends on the other disagree with each other for good reasons, I was swept away. Excellent film.
Ghosts (season 1):
kathyh's Christmas present and a delightfully silly BBC sitcom, which gave me the impression it started as a Beetlejuice AU and went from there. Young couple, Allison and Mike, move into an old manor because Reasons; after a near death-experience, Alison can see and hear the ghosts, who start out wanting to get rid of the new arrivals and end up befriending them. Said ghosts hail from all eras, from a stone age man (who can't talk much but is presented as one of the smartest ghosts) to a sleazy politician who died in the 1970s. I wasn't surprised to discover the Colonel (who's gay) is a fan favorite. It's my kind of silly, and I'm not surprised various Horrible Histories allumni are involved, either. Mrs. Wilson: three-part miniseries, also a
kathyh gift but from 2019 which for some reason I did not have the chance to watch until last month, shame on me, for it is very good. Starring Ruth Wilson playing her own grandmother, another Alison, for the miniseries is based on a bit of rl history. As the two roles I'd seen Ruth Wilson play so far - Alice in Luther and Mrs. Coulter in His Dark Materials - are both sociopaths, I was looking forward to find out how she plays a heroine, and whether or not her "dangerous" aura is something she can switch on and off, and the answer is: very well, and yes, she can. This Alison at the start of the miniseries has been married to a generation older writer Alexander "Alec" Wilson for 22 years, with two sons, when he has a heart attack (in the opening scene, so not a spoiler) and leaves her to confront not just his death, that's the least of it, but a series of increasingly awful revelations, starting when there's a woman at the door announcing herself as Mrs. Wilson, too. (There's a reason that's the title of the miniseries.) The late Alec is played in the opening scene and in flashbacks by Ian Glen; the excellent cast also includes Keeley Hawes, and Fiona Shaw as Alec's grumpy handler. Everyone feels as if they're written by Graham Greene - Alec was a fervent Catholic and a conman, every time Alison thinks she's got to the bottom of the mess that was her late husband (?)'s life, there's still another layer of deception involved, the lies of the spy trade and the lies in relationships, especially marital ones, are inextricably intertwined, and the truth Alison seeks might be forever out of her reach, but a method of coping is not. Alison Wilson is perhaps one of the best takes on the iron woobie trope I've seen, and Ruth Wilson's performance is sublime. One night in Miami: movie up at Netflix, based on a stage play of the same name, directed by Regina King, starring Kingsley Ben-Adir as Malcolm X., Leslie Odom Jr. as Sam Cooke, Eli Goree as Muhammad Ali (then still Cassius Clay, which is a plot point), and Aldis Hodge as Jim Brown. For me as a former Fringe watcher, it was also startling to see Lance Reddick in a supporting role (as Kareem X, one of Malcolm's bodyguards, with a distinct subtext of maybe being more a threat than a guard under the right circumstances. The premise of the film is the night after Ali's/Clay's heavyweight championship victory in Miami, which the four main characters in the film spend largely in Malcolm X' hotel room; four legends who are also friends, fiercely challenging each other's views, especially when it comes to being Black in the US. Jim Brown was the only one whom I knew nothing about going in, but that wasn't a problem; acting and script provide you with all the information you need about each of the characters. (They're also all introduced not with a moment of triumph but with a moment of devastation, and the way they respond is a good shorthand of getting across their character before they meet.) While all four get plenty of screen time, I'd say the narrative is pushed forward mostly by Malcom X, on the one hand having doubts about the Nation of Islam and emotionally preparing to leave it (though not, and never, as he later insists, Islam itself), on the other convincing Cassius Clay to out himself as a Muslim, and trying to push Sam Cooke into using his star power for the cause of civil rights and Black life in the use; except as far as Sam Cooke is concerned, he's already doing that, and their disagreement on the methods is a key element of the story. As I love stories where people who on the one hand are friends on the other disagree with each other for good reasons, I was swept away. Excellent film.
no subject
Date: 2021-02-02 05:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-02-02 05:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-02-02 09:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-02-03 05:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-02-02 11:14 pm (UTC)I have been wanting to watch Ghosts since gifs of it started turning up on the Tumblrs of friends I read, but it kicked into high gear when I read a promo for the Christmas episode in which the actor who plays the politician talked about the novelty of being able to wear trousers for the first time all show.
the lies of the spy trade and the lies in relationships, especially marital ones, are inextricably intertwined
That's pretty le Carré on top of Greene. (I read about this show also at the time when it aired, but have not seen it. I have more access to movies than TV.)
no subject
Date: 2021-02-03 05:34 am (UTC)Presumably that means we'll get a Julian flashback predating his death. :)
That's pretty le Carré on top of Greene.
True, but both Alec's Catholicism and the eventual resolution for Alison are pure Greene, trust me.
no subject
Date: 2021-02-03 04:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-02-03 05:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-02-05 02:15 am (UTC)