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Set in early 19th Century England, this beautifully made thriller captivated me with its complicated plot, fine acting and stand out production design. The plot in a nutshell is as follows: Tom Hardy stars as Delaney, a man who has returned to England after a decade away in Africa to claim his inheritance of his father's shipping company and land. However, The East India Company and various other shadowy figures have other plans for his father's legacy which you can read about here. With Ridley Scott as the executive producer, it really goes the extra mile with spot on atmospheric set design and cinematography. The excellent ensemble cast are outstanding with Jonathan Pryce being particularly enjoyable to watch as the lead villain in his role as Sir Stuart Strange, the cunning CEO of the East India Company. I am thoroughly looking forward to season two. Here is the trailer.
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Another exciting 19th Century thriller, but this time set at the end of the Century and in New York. This is the story of a psychologist working out how to catch a serial killer with what we now call profiling, i.e. the possible personality and social standing of a perpetrator based on the crimes committed, and by studying forensic evidence such as finger prints, blood splatters etc. Again, like "Taboo", late Victorian New York is expertly rendered through a combination of thoughtful production design and cinematography. The three lead characters are very engaging with Dakota Fanning's portrayal of secretary Sarah Howard to New York City's police commissioner Teddy Roosevelt being my favourite. The costume design department also deserves a special mention as the dresses Dakota Fanning wears are beautiful 21st Century versions of high-end turn of the century Victorian fashions that I wouldn't mind wearing myself.
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This psychological thriller was a curious mix of something quite unlike anything I had ever seen before, particularly in regards to the look and 'feel' of the cinematography and plot, but also something very, very familiar with obvious nods to well known classics like Hitchcock's "Vertigo". This mix of new and old kept me fully on my toes for every minute of its 10 half hour episodes. Julia Roberts is very good as social worker Heidi Bergman, ostensibly employed to assist returned soldiers in their re-integration into civilian life. Being a psychological thriller though, all is not what it appears to be and as the story unfolds and flips from past to present we (and Heidi) find out the true purpose of the facility she was employed by. The big appeal of this series for me was its unusual and totally unfamiliar construction from the way the story played out to the way the ordinary and even unattractive sets and settings were somehow made beautiful in a way I am still yet to work out. Here is the trailer.
Image from here.
Earlier this year, I immersed myself in two series of this sci-fi space epic which is part thriller, part horror, and part detective. It is a very complicated story with many narratives that include the political struggles between the peoples of Mars, an asteroid belt and planet earth (just to name a few), and a detective searching for the lost daughter of a wealthy tycoon. All the plots converge, however, in the emergence of a particularly ghastly substance/thing called the proto-molecule. That tiny synopsis doesn't even begin to cover the greatness of this series! So many interesting concepts and ideas about how space colonies, the relationships between worlds and the logistics of how it all works (or doesn't) makes this series continuously captivating. I am on point for the Australian release for season three!
Image from here.
I actually haven't fully finished watching this doco, but based on the first six episodes, I can totally include it in my favourite telly of 2018. It was conceived as a 21st Century update of Sir Kenneth Clarks' classic ground breaker "Civilisation" which looks at art and how it reflects and shapes cultures and empires. Unlike Clarke's Civilisation, there are three presenters/ writers: Simon Schama, Mary Beard and David Olusoga. Simon Schama and Mary Beard for me, in past documentaries, always present a highly entertaining, lively and thought provoking interpretation of the past and they do not disappoint here. The new to me historian David Olusoga also has plenty of interesting things to say and he fits in well with Schama and Beard. It is always a treat to be introduced to new art and art history from around the world as it is to re-visit oft seen old favourites in a new light. It will be a series I will definitely be re-watching due to the visual beauty and information rich descriptions/ interpretations of all the art it covers.
Honourable mentions:
Red Oaks - how nice it was and how relaxing it was to watch these three series back to back in early Summer. Sort of a comedy drama set in the 1980s, it follows the adventures of a set of characters brought together through their association, either as patrons, owners or employees of the Red Oaks country club.
Westworld (Season Two) - Gosh! Very good! A lot of cowboy shootouts, as there was in the first series, but also a lot of great plot and a fantastic ending that leaves the story wide open to an endless array of possibilities for season three. Absolutely cannot wait for that!
Bite Club - a local detective series set in Sydney that was extremely entertaining for me! I liked the familiar locations and I liked the slightly silly plot and I especially liked the earnest characters and their dedication to solving the spate of local murders.
Exposed: the case of Keli Lane - this is about an investigative journalist looking into a famous Sydney criminal case that involved the disappearance of a two day old baby and the eventual conviction of the mother for murder. It's such an extraordinary story! And very well told and pieced together by journalist Caro Meldrum-Hanna.
Toast of London - Surreal and spectacularly silly. The characters: Clem Fandango, Ray Purchase, Jane and don't forget David Hockney. If you haven't watched it, there's not much point in writing about it because its just so odd and hilarious. I also found the intro to be a bit of a toe tapper.
Star Trek Discovery - Featuring an entirely new crew, this 2017 series was a fine bit of sci-fi. I especially liked the idea of the fungal network and astromycology and how it could assist with warp drive. I also really enjoyed the newly designed Klingons who had a suitably intriguing and terrible cultural back story that intertwined with the USS Discovery narrative.
