Favorite Screen Entertainment
Let us begin with television, primarily streaming prescription series such as Netflix and ilk (in my case almost exclusively apart from the occasional PBS series). Netflix is enough for moi for now. By 'ilk' I mean other people's sources, such as HBO, Amazon Prime, and Hulu. The latter of which offered one of my all-time faves, Ally McBeal. May she rest in peace, since she got none during her series.
Netflix, in the meantime, is keeping me as busy as I care to be, television-wise. Not to be a wise guy. I've been particularly fond of some Irish and UK-originating series such as Jack Taylor, out of Ireland; the brilliant Broadchurch; and nearly as good Hinterland, all three involving disenchanted Dublin and London police detectives (called DI's, for Deputy Inspector) who've moved to a small distant city: Galway, in the case of Jack Taylor. Broadchurch is a coastal town in Devonshire, and in Hinterland, the cop is stationed in a coastal city called Aberystwyth, Wales, and the countryside and mountains to the south and inland. Into the hinterlands. All three offer great characters and performances, substantial in-depth male/female interaction, and great plot lines. You become enamored with the Welsh dialect (and unique vocal and written language) in particular, which is prominently used in this series.
My primary grievance with Hinterland is a technical one: I applaud those producers utilizing, I am certain, local talent and skills sets for the most part (and equipment). However, the interior lighting was less than excellent, and sometimes the cinematographer (who should have been calling the literal shots better) seemed to struggle with these scenes, especially when the exterior light is low as well.
Then there is an excellent BBC period series set in East London's notorious Whitechapel district, beginning six months after the last killing by Jack the Ripper in the same neighborhood, called Ripper Street. Because those were the streets the Ripper stalked. This series stars Matthew Macfadyen (the pronunciation of whose name leaves me mystified).
I've also enjoyed foreign-produced original Netflix series in the local languages (with subtitles in your choice of languages) such as Call My Agent, in French set in Paris (and, honestly, the French do have a near-monopoly in terms of cultural taste and style, and both the French language and the Paris setting of this series are respective things of beauty). It's about a high-level advertising agency and is far better than Mad Men, i.m.h.o.
One of my favorite foreign series on Netflix is Ultraviolet, a startlingly contemporary thriller series set in Lodz, featuring an amateur team of internet sleuths led by an attractive young woman, whose team is all too often outsmarting and out-performing the local police. Who are more than slightly irritated by this. Until romance happens, of course.
Another is an Australian series set in the capital, Canberra: Secret City, about an investigative reporter (female) who is digging a tad too close to a cabal of corruption in the capital. Sound familiar?
I must confess that perhaps my favorite sub-genre of television streaming available on Netflix is/was the many, all excellent Star Trek series, originated and created by the legendary Gene Roddenberry. Apart from Leonard Nimoy of the original series I liked subsequent series better, beginning with The Next Generation; then Voyager, Deep Space Nine; and the more recent prequel Enterprise (each with a very different and interesting crew). I'm not always a sci-fi fan, and of course I liked the Star Wars series, for the most part.
They also stream reruns top network television series (commercial free, of course) such as The West Wing (starring Martin Sheen), Madam Secretary, starring Tia Leone and Tim Daly, and more recently Designated Survivor, starring Kiefer Sutherland, all set in a fictional White House, but with contemporary issues by the bundle.
Netflix has, in recent years, not only produced movies themselves, but were early carriers of films such as The Irishman and The Two Popes, both major motion pictures in their own right (it took Martin Scorcese many years to get The Irishman made).
Nuff for now!
E.C.
Netflix, in the meantime, is keeping me as busy as I care to be, television-wise. Not to be a wise guy. I've been particularly fond of some Irish and UK-originating series such as Jack Taylor, out of Ireland; the brilliant Broadchurch; and nearly as good Hinterland, all three involving disenchanted Dublin and London police detectives (called DI's, for Deputy Inspector) who've moved to a small distant city: Galway, in the case of Jack Taylor. Broadchurch is a coastal town in Devonshire, and in Hinterland, the cop is stationed in a coastal city called Aberystwyth, Wales, and the countryside and mountains to the south and inland. Into the hinterlands. All three offer great characters and performances, substantial in-depth male/female interaction, and great plot lines. You become enamored with the Welsh dialect (and unique vocal and written language) in particular, which is prominently used in this series.
My primary grievance with Hinterland is a technical one: I applaud those producers utilizing, I am certain, local talent and skills sets for the most part (and equipment). However, the interior lighting was less than excellent, and sometimes the cinematographer (who should have been calling the literal shots better) seemed to struggle with these scenes, especially when the exterior light is low as well.
Then there is an excellent BBC period series set in East London's notorious Whitechapel district, beginning six months after the last killing by Jack the Ripper in the same neighborhood, called Ripper Street. Because those were the streets the Ripper stalked. This series stars Matthew Macfadyen (the pronunciation of whose name leaves me mystified).
I've also enjoyed foreign-produced original Netflix series in the local languages (with subtitles in your choice of languages) such as Call My Agent, in French set in Paris (and, honestly, the French do have a near-monopoly in terms of cultural taste and style, and both the French language and the Paris setting of this series are respective things of beauty). It's about a high-level advertising agency and is far better than Mad Men, i.m.h.o.
One of my favorite foreign series on Netflix is Ultraviolet, a startlingly contemporary thriller series set in Lodz, featuring an amateur team of internet sleuths led by an attractive young woman, whose team is all too often outsmarting and out-performing the local police. Who are more than slightly irritated by this. Until romance happens, of course.
Another is an Australian series set in the capital, Canberra: Secret City, about an investigative reporter (female) who is digging a tad too close to a cabal of corruption in the capital. Sound familiar?
I must confess that perhaps my favorite sub-genre of television streaming available on Netflix is/was the many, all excellent Star Trek series, originated and created by the legendary Gene Roddenberry. Apart from Leonard Nimoy of the original series I liked subsequent series better, beginning with The Next Generation; then Voyager, Deep Space Nine; and the more recent prequel Enterprise (each with a very different and interesting crew). I'm not always a sci-fi fan, and of course I liked the Star Wars series, for the most part.
They also stream reruns top network television series (commercial free, of course) such as The West Wing (starring Martin Sheen), Madam Secretary, starring Tia Leone and Tim Daly, and more recently Designated Survivor, starring Kiefer Sutherland, all set in a fictional White House, but with contemporary issues by the bundle.
Netflix has, in recent years, not only produced movies themselves, but were early carriers of films such as The Irishman and The Two Popes, both major motion pictures in their own right (it took Martin Scorcese many years to get The Irishman made).
Nuff for now!
E.C.
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