Didn’t work for me.
Most everyone else liked it.
But I’ll still probably continue with season 6.
Category: TV
The Morning Show on Apple TV+
It’s good.
61% on Rotten Tomatoes sounds too low to me.
On paper this must have looked one of the greatest TV projects all-time.
Three likeable, bankable stars: Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, and Steve Carell.
The theme contemporary – celebrity MeToo sexual misconduct.
Apple TV+ has money for the best people, the best music soundtrack.
Billy Crudup as Cory Ellison is excellent.
Ultimately I expected more. A better ending, as well.
There will be no season 2.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Fair Warning by Michael Connelly
Fair Warning is the 2020 book from the author of all those excellent Harry Bosch stories.
But Bosch does not appear in this one.
It’s his 3rd novel featuring exclusively reporter Jack McEvoy,
Undetected by law enforcement, a vicious killer has been hunting women, using genetic data shared by the victims themselves to select and stalk his targets.
After reading this book you certainly will want to avoid getting your genetics checked by sites like 23andMe. There’s very little regulation. In the book women are tracked down by the killer by their genetics data.
His next book will feature Lincoln Lawyer Mickey Haller. Bosch will return after that.
He’s also currently working on #7 and last of the Bosch TV series.
Author’s Note:
This book is a work of fiction, but FairWarning is a real news site offering tough watchdog reporting on consumer issues. It is a nonprofit founded and edited by Myron Levin. Michael Connelly is a member of FairWarning’s board of directors. Go to FairWarning.org for further information and to consider making a donation to support its important work.
Line of Duty – season 4
My binge watching continues.
Season 4 was again excellent and dramatic.
Highlight is the performance of Thandie Newton. She has gravitas.
For the role of “Roz” Huntley she was nominated for a BATA Best Actress award.
Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough
This is the first Sarah Pinborough book I’ve read.
I’m super impressed with Behind Her Eyes (2017).
Great plot. Very good writing.
A single mother Louise, sleeps with a man she meets in the Bar. It turns out to be her new boss David
Louise develops an unlikely and secret friendship with his wife Adele.
What starts as an unconventional love triangle soon becomes a dark, psychological tale of suspense and twisted revelations, as Louise finds herself caught in a dangerous web of secrets where nothing and no-one is what they seem.
A British psychological thriller web television miniseries was filmed 2019. I’m looking forward to seeing that.
Line of Duty – season 3 (2016)
Easily the best season, so far.
100% on Rotten Tomatoes.
A surprising and intense finale.
The series follows Superintendent Ted Hastings (Adrian Dunbar), D.S. Steve Arnott (Martin Compston) and D.C. Kate Fleming (Vicky McClure) as they lead an investigation into the corrupt actions of Sergeant Danny Waldron (Daniel Mays).
This series’ supporting cast includes Craig Parkinson as D.I. Matthew “Dot” Cottan and Polly Walker as Gill Biggeloe. Keeley Hawes reprises her role as D.I. Lindsay Denton.
Every actor is great. Hawes was nominated for the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress award for this role.
Line of Duty – season 2 (2014)
Line of Duty is a super popular British TV series.
Keeley Hawes received a Leading Actress nomination for her role as D.I. Lindsay Denton, a tough role.
I’ll certainly continue with Line of Duty.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Space Force (TV series)
I had high hopes for Space Force. After all, it was created by Greg Daniels and Steve Carell.
An easy hit. Making fun of Trump’s egomaniacal Space Force.
But 40% on Rotten Tomatoes sounds about right. It’s lightweight. Fluff, not parody. And not funny enough to call a comedy.
I blame the writers.
Cast is excellent. Comedic acting good.
John Malkovich makes the show worth watching. He got me through the 10 episodes.
Malkovich, like Bill Murray, can do no wrong in my book. I can’t not not watch those two on screen.
The late, great Fred Willard plays Steve Carell’s father. Hilarious, as always.
Certainly there are some excellent moments. But too few.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Harry Bosch books #3 & #4
That’s it.
#4 Last Coyote
I’ve now read all 22 Harry Bosch books through 2019. And watched all 6 seasons of the Bosch TV show.
… Or did I miss Trunk Music?
Michael Connelly, my age, is certainly a favourite author. He was a crime reporter at the Los Angeles Times before becoming a writer.
In the books Harry consistently and persuasively argues that the police need MORE freedom to keep the peace. Fewer rules and restrictions on how they protect and serve.
Yet not even Michael Connelly can support the police during the June 2020 police violence protests.
I highly recommend you get hooked on Harry Bosch.
The Secret Commonwealth (2019) by Philip Pullman
Tolkien and C.S. Lewis were great friends—both Oxford writers and scholars. Both important to this day.
Philip Pullman is another Oxford man, one who believes he should be ranked with those great writers.
I wouldn’t go that far.
Certainly Lyra in The Golden Compass (also known as Northern Lights) is one of the great children characters in fiction.
Certainly Pullman’s invention of the daemon is one of the great fantasy inventions.
A film adaptation of Northern Lights, titled The Golden Compass, was released in December 2007 by New Line Cinema, starring Dakota Blue Richards as Lyra, along with Daniel Craig, Nicole Kidman, Eva Green, Sam Elliott and Ian McKellen. Though it was a financial failure, I personally like the film.
That all said, the plot of this other world is simply too scattered. Seems he started without knowing how it would end.
Secret Commonwealth is 5th in the series, and weakest so far.
Super fan Rine Karr posted the best review I’ve read. She was disappointed. The book is too preachy:
Racism, xenophobia, and the refugee crisis. Sexism, violence, and rape. Propaganda, the suppression of free speech, and religious fundamentalism.
Recall Pullman’s His Dark Materials series:
His The Book of Dust series is a prequel and sequels:
- La Belle Sauvage (2017)
- The Secret Commonwealth (2019)
- … TBD
The Secret Commonwealth follows Lyra Silvertongue and Dr Malcolm Polstead, both at Oxford; she as an undergraduate at St Sophia’s college and he at Durham College.
It takes place twenty years after the first volume, La Belle Sauvage and seven years after the conclusion of His Dark Materials.
The setting is a world dominated by the Magisterium (commonly called “the Church”), an international theocracy which actively suppresses heresy. …
The relationship between Lyra and her dæmon, Pantalaimon, has been severely strained …
This is my least favourite of the 5 books, so far. Too confusing. Too random. I certainly hope book 6 wraps up Lyra’s endless and seemingly pointless journey in some satisfying way.
