Movie and TV Reviews - February 2023

Short reviews of TV shows and movies we watched in January. (Don't expect Pauline Kael. I do these posts mostly to keep track of what we've been watching). 

Movies

• Hunter Killer: A standard action flick in the Top Gunn mold but with submarines instead of jets. It's not as good as The Hunt for Red October but well made and watchable, if implausible. (Netflix)
• Downton Abbey: A New Era. It's the end of the 1920s and big changes are happening at Downton Abbey. We enjoyed this though the sentimentality did get a bit cloying at times. (Crave_

TV Shows

• Shetland (season 7): This has become one of our favourite shows, both for the quality of the acting and the complexity of the plots. The stark setting doesn't hurt either. I'm glad to see there will be a season 8, though with changes. (.BritBox)
• Vera (season 12). We get a new pathologist but otherwise not much has changed in Newcastle. The plots are as gripping and twisty as usual. (BritBox)
• Nova: London's Super Tunnel. Some of the engineering problems that had to be overcome in building London's $25 billion Elizabeth fast rail line. I hope to ride that line if I ever make it back to London. (PBS)
• Death in Paradise (season 12): Basically Midsomer Murders in the Carribean. (BritBox)
• Treason: A very implausible spy thriller set in London, but with an American plot and style. We watched the first two episodes but gave up on it after that. This will be the last Netflix show we watch for a while as we have cancelled our subscription. (Netflix)
• Picard (season 3): It moves along quickly enough and it's nice to see some of the old Enterprise crew back, but I'd still rather have had season 7 of The Expanse. (Crave)
• Nova: Ancient Builders of the Amazon. I had NO idea that there was any city-building civilization in the Amazon, though given recent discoveries in Honduras and Costa Rica, I shouldn't have been surprised. This was one of the most interesting Nova episodes in a long time. (PBS)
• Magpie Murders: This one has an unusual structure with a murder story that is part of a novel being critical to solving an actual murder. It's twisty and not too heavy. I did have trouble following the interlinked plots but still enjoyed it. (PBS)
• Nova: New Eyes on the Universe. Nova looks at some of the findings from the first year of operating the James Webb space telescope. Awe inpirting and exciting. (PBS)
• Carnival Row (season 2): This may be the best of all the recent fantasy series. It certainly has the best setting and special effects and complex characters. (Amazon Prime)
• A Spy Among Friends: A dramatization of the 1960s Kim Philby spy scandal. This one is a throwback to the classic spy thriller. It's complex, well-acted (especially Guy Pearce), and well-made. You do have to watch it carefully though as there are constant temporal and point-of-view changes. (Amazon Prime)