THE FIRST – Review by Susan Granger

While the Writers’ and Actors’ strikes persist, streaming networks are reaching back into their archives to show various series that ran for one season and were – perhaps inexplicably – cancelled and/or not renewed for a second season. Making his initial television-series venture, Sean Penn stars in The First, playing Capt. Tom Hagerty, a former Astronaut Mission Commander who is now training the first crew for a manned mission to Mars, circa 2030s.

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THE MARTHA MITCHELL EFFECT – Review by Jennifer Merin

This June marks the 50th anniversary of the Watergate break-in and the political scandal that led to President Richard Nixon’s eventual resignation from office on August 8, 1974. It was a turning point in US history, one in which Martha Mitchell played a role, Martha was the whistleblower wife of former US Attorney General John Mitchell, a close Nixon advisor and ally who was jailed for his complicity in the Watergate case. Two films currently in release commemorate the Watergate events and era by taking another look at Martha’s perspective on Watergate, how it happened and its impact on our nation.

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