"If they come for us, we'll cut them a smile each."
While the first post featured a savvy entrepreneur who developed family within a department store, intelligent and independent ladies taking down the worst of the worst, and infamous espionage writers, this post will introduce you to the world of the Irish gangster family, a family defined by brotherhood and two people at opposite ends of personality and characteristics, breaking the uncomfortable boundary of sex.
Three things you need to know about Peaky Blinders: 1) Cillian Murphy is in it with ridiculously long lashes and paper slicing bone structure, 2) Irish gangsters being seriously badass gangsters, 3) Family above everything--literally. Honestly, I had no idea what Peaky Blinders was about except that Cillian Murphy was in it. I didn't even know it was about Irish gangsters until someone told me about it when I was craving my Irish fixation after Ripper Street finished its second series. Thank God, I did come around to watching the show because it's so incredibly brilliant from the use of modern music as the backdrop of a period setting. Just listening to Nick Cave & The Bad Seed's "Red Right Hand" as the theme music sends me to this space of both fantasy and reality. It feels so surreal, yet so contemporary. All the characters were so rich with complexity, but all driven by the same thing in the end. It's common to see the motif of family being emphasized in gangster films and shows, but Peaky Blinders just made it more...believable. The family has maintained themselves by sticking together and though we see these ties thin out throughout the show, it comes back stronger than ever by the end. I'm so excited for the second series, which just started filming. Tom Hardy will be making his debut in the show and I can't wait to see Murphy and Hardy reunited, since Inception and The Dark Knight Rises. These two will definitely be a force to reckon with. Also, honorable mentions that motivate me even more to live for the comeback, Sophie Rundle, as the fierce Ada Shelby (she's also my favorite character in The Bletchley Circle), Iggo Goldberg as our beloved Bolshevik, Freddie Thorne, and the fabulous Helen McCrory as Aunt Polly. Catch up on this show if you haven't. You certainly will not regret it one bit. Ratings: ★★★★☆ |
"Did you ever think we'd abandoned you? Never."
I never had a strong interest in the stories of the Musketeers. And I didn't have a strong pull to watch the new
BBC adapted show either until I learned Peter Capaldi was going to be in it. Anything with Peter is like gold to
me. So, I was pleasantly surprised to see another favorite actor, Santiago Cabrera of Merlin fame, grace the
screen. The series is currently 5 episodes in and it's not fantastic but it's not bad either. It's on the higher
end of the entertainment spectrum though. I enjoy how Porthos, the show's token PoC, is actually developed and
essential to the developments of the other characters and to the community that the show presents. He's not just
a plot device--looking at you, The Vampire Diaries. Though, I would enjoy perhaps conflicts or problems that would
span over several epsidodes, and not dropping critical drives for other characters and only to be used when the
writers remember it, the show itself has a good footing so far. I hope these problems can and will be resolved
when the show returns for its second run.
Ratings: ★★★☆☆ |
"Men are such idiots, even the smart ones."
I wouldn’t know what to say encouraged me to start watching Masters of Sex. I just knew I wanted to watch something in a more modernesque end of the period range and I vaguely remembered Masters of Sex was something I noticed while spending my time on Tumblr again. So, I gave it a go and I’m glad I didn’t have such a high expectation or standard because it would’ve been very disappointing. The main characters played by Lizzy Caplan and Michael Sheen felt stiff and despite their attempts at trying to make a deep emotional connection, it felt incredibly forced. For some reason, despite the numerous episodes, the characters felt incredibly flat though there was a guise of rounded-ness. The writers tried to emphasize on the opposite polarities of real life figures, William Masters and Virginia Johnson, but it felt too exaggerated. The only redeeming factor of the show was Caitlin FitzGerald and her portrayal of Libby Masters. I found there was much greater depth and perhaps thought in her character than anyone else or maybe the acting made me more compelled to be in tune with her character than any of the others. I’ll watch the second series, simply because I want to learn and see more of Libby’s arc, but other than that, I don’t have much attachment to what the show tried to sell, despite its risqué topic of sex and sexuality.
Ratings:★★☆☆☆ |
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