Kleo
An 8-part series on Netflix
Approx. 1 hour per episode
First episode: Aug. 19, 2022
I reviewed the first episode of this series in the Oct. 25, 2022 issue. I stopped watching it soon after that. Not because it wasn’t good. It was very good. I simply got distracted. I’m recommending it again because… I’m watching it again.
Like Netflix’s Decameron, this is very smart and funny. Also like that Netflix series, it is a social satire. A political satire, too. I found it particularly interesting because it takes place during the late 1980s, when Gorbachev was opening up (and breaking apart) the USSR and after the Berlin wall had come down. My knowledge of that important period of history is limited to what I read in the newspapers back then. Kleo is a chance to understand it from a different perspective. I feel like I’m learning as I’m laughing.
Also worth mentioning:
* The characters are wonderfully invented and developed.
* The directing is perfect for the type of comedy it is.
* The acting is universally excellent, providing a new and thoroughly enjoyable take on the buddy-comedy genre.
I give it a 4.5 out of 5, but I know that not everyone who reads this recommendation will like it as much as I do.
You can watch the trailer here.
Playing with FIRE: The Documentary
An 8-part series on Netflix
Approx. 1 hour per episode
First episode: Aug. 19, 2022
I reviewed the first episode of this series in the Oct. 25, 2022 issue. I stopped watching it soon after that. Not because it wasn’t good. It was very good. I simply got distracted. I’m recommending it again because… I’m watching it again.
Like Netflix’s Decameron, this is very smart and funny. Also like that Netflix series, it is a social satire. A political satire, too. I found it particularly interesting because it takes place during the late 1980s, when Gorbachev was opening up (and breaking apart) the USSR and after the Berlin wall had come down. My knowledge of that important period of history is limited to what I read in the newspapers back then. Kleo is a chance to understand it from a different perspective. I feel like I’m learning as I’m laughing.
Also worth mentioning:
* The characters are wonderfully invented and developed.
* The directing is perfect for the type of comedy it is.
* The acting is universally excellent, providing a new and thoroughly enjoyable take on the buddy-comedy genre.
I give it a 4.5 out of 5, but I know that not everyone who reads this recommendation will like it as much as I do.
You can watch the trailer here.
No Hard Feelings
Cowritten (with John Phillips) and directed by Gene Stupnitsky
Starring Jennifer Lawrence, Andrew Barth Feldman, Laura Benanti, Natalie Morales, Matthew Broderick, and Marc Provissiero
Released: June 23, 2023
Watch Time: About 100 min.
Had I known the plot of No Hard Feelings before I clicked on it, I would not have chosen it. A comedy starring Jennifer Lawrence as a hapless bartender who is hired by a wealthy couple to romance their romantically and sexually inexperienced son.
It sounds like a cheap thrill, and there’s no question that it trades on one. But because of a solid script and immensely good performances by Lawrence and Provissiero, I found myself willing to suspend disbelief and enjoy it. Even the sentimentally predictable ending was satisfying.
This is not The Graduate, but it’s worth watching.
Oh… I almost forgot. You do get a glimpse of Lawrence running naked on the beach.
My rating: 3.8 out of 5
You can watch the trailer here.
