Female Film Critics 24/375
A murder mystery really works when you have no idea whodunit until the final episode…and that’s how Netflix’s The Perfect Couple remains compelling. Opening with the entire cast dancing to Meghan Trainor’s Criminals, the surreal story quickly focuses on extravagant preparations for an extravagant wedding at a magnificent $40 million oceanfront estate on picturesque Nantucket Island.
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Director Roland Emmerich recruited Anthony Hopkins to head the cast and created a cutting-edge virtual production to replicate ancient Rome for his first television series Those About to Die, streaming on the Peacock network. This brutal, bloody sword-and-sandal epic explores despicable trickery and feverish gambling in the world of Circus Maximus chariot racing and, although it’s derivative, disjointed, repetitive and somewhat incoherent, it should whet your appetite for Ridley Scott’s upcoming Gladiator 2, scheduled for release later this year.
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Pachinko, the award-winning and globally acclaimed sweeping drama series by creator and executive producer Soo Hugh, is coming soon to Apple TV+. Hailing from Media Res, and told in three languages – Korean, Japanese, and English – the eight-episode second season of Pachinko will premiere globally Aug. 23 with one episode, followed by one new episode weekly every Friday through Oct. 11. The first season received 11 international awards including a Peabody Award, an American Film Institute Award, a Critics Choice Award and a Gotham Independent Film Award. Produced for Apple TV+ by the studio Media Res, Pachinko is created and written by Hugh, who serves as executive producer.
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Dark Winds tells Diné stories from their perspective. Set on the Navajo Nation, based on author Tony Hillerman’s novel series Leaphorn and Chee, Dark Winds foregrounds investigations into murders and mayhem by Tribal Policeman, Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn, his deputy Jim Chee, and Sergeant Bernadette Manuelito. The two seasons, six episodes each, immerse viewers in the reservation near Monument Valley with events straddling forensic and spiritual realms.
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With 16 Emmy nominations, The Morning Show has finally become a major contender in the 2024 Drama Series race as showrunner Charlotte Stoudt catapulted it into the modern-day media crisis era with its 10-episode third season. New York City-based anchorwomen Alex Levy (Jennifer Aniston) and Bradley Jackson (Reese Witherspoon) are now on very different paths. What will become of compelling former UBA CEO Cory Ellison (Billy Crudup) who over-leveraged the company but was fired because of his questionable romantic relationship with Bradley? And will there be a place for Bradley’s now-ex, NBN anchor Laura Peterson (Julianna Margulies)?
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The New Look delves into Coco Chanel’s and Christian Dior’s history. Some individuals enjoy name recognition even though biographical details may not be well known. This occurred to me as I watched the series The New Look which informatively and compellingly chronicles haute couture icons Christian Dior and Coco Chanel during and briefly after the WWII Nazi occupation of Paris. Poetic license is taken, but confirmed biographical details are, nevertheless, significant.
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