psymart Reviews

The King Who Never Was (2023)

Compelling

[10/10 · 4 July 2023]

I (American, 63) knew nothing of this story. In found it fascinating. It struck me, both as history and as documentary, as startling, moving, repellant, and well-made by turns. The contemporary footage-these people are rich and privileged, and they filmed their lives, it seems, regularly-is striking, as is the use the documentarians made of it. The interviews are also compelling. I like the digressions too; others may find them distracting. The music seemed pushy to me, but every minute of film and interview struck me as telling. It doesn't hurt that everyone is good-looking, tan, wealthy-and often around lovely beaches in Italy-France. And that everyone speaks three or four languages-and one hears Italian in three or four or five marked accents.

Turn of the Tide (2023– )

Amazing

[10/10 · 26 May 2023]

This is an amazing show-a tour de force of writing, acting, directing, filming, story-telling. The plotting is remarkable, in that it unfolds as it must have had to, but is surprising at every turn. It is a series fully aware of itself in the history of such movies as it mentions-Dirty Harry, Carlito's Way, even Matrix-but never derivatively. It's rammed with life, history, local and world culture. It's wicked and delightful all along, and every single performance, every line of dialogue and voiceover narration, hits home with the viewer and with the characters in the action. It's themes of poverty, the will of God, and the motives that animate the human condition suffuse every scene and shot and situation. Great too is the the use of language-Portuguese, Italian, English-and of the actors who move in and out of them as they work out their fates.

Wave Makers (2023– )

Remarkable

[21 May 2023]

I just watched the first episode of this series, and paused before watching the second to read reviews and, now, to write this. I think the show is remarkable--for the script, the acting, and the pace of action and dialogue. The naturalness of the performances, all of them, struck me, as did the surprising shifts in rhythm, as so-called "storylines" are introduced. The nitty-gritty of politics in this moment of instant communication is represented in an almost thrilling way. So too are the tactics and strategies of political calculation. As another reviewer said, people and ideas and interactions are brought on so thick and fast that it's hard to adjust to-but that's just one of the things I found admirable about the direction and photography, not to mention the script. After watching a day in life of a main character, I was exhausted when she got home!

The Good Wife: Party (2016) Season 7, Episode 20

The love stories in the series

[7/10 · 9 May 2016]

Amen to Turtle Heart! JD Morgan was best as the dead father in "Weeds." Some one or two or three green-lighters in Hollywood must think he's sexy, or cute—or sexy, cute, and manly. But Turtle Heart is right: his acting is wooden and thin. He tilts his head and holds his glasses as if he's a distinguished 75-year-old English lord. Unbearable. The show became too cute—to itself, to its creators and writers. The tone was always off, and Diane, unfortunately, set that tone (where Alicia should have). The creators of the show have a Diane-sensibility. I think one word for it is "corny." Now that I think of it, at least six of the love stories in the series were implausible, incredible: Eli's with the guest star, Diane's with G. Cole, Alicia's with J.D. Morgan, the Indian actress's with Carey and the FBI woman, the mother-in-law's and Howard's, and the son's with the woman he met in college. Did anyone find a single one of them credible? (The only one that was real was Alicia's and Will's.) Like Turtle Heart, I watched this show from the first episode. For the last two seasons at least, I've wondered why I kept doing so. I think the answer is, "courtroom drama." But even that got pretentious and gimmick-heavy.