Drama, History, Science Fiction, Television
TV: The Plot Against America
David Simon is one of the truly great auteurs of modern television, but I was a little surprised to…
September 16, 2021-
-
History, Science Fiction, TelevisionTV: For All Mankind (Seasons 1 & 2)
The Apple+ series For All Mankind is absolutely first-rate science fiction with a simple but powerful premise: what if…
August 29, 2021 -
Fiction, History, Science FictionNovel: Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
If an author is to be afforded the luxury of combining two truly shopworn tropes — the Groundhog Day…
May 11, 2021 -
Drama, History, TelevisionTV: The Deuce
Nobody does television world-building like David Simon. Developed with long-time collaborator George Pelecanos, Simon’s latest extended HBO series, The…
May 4, 2021 -
Drama, History, Spies, World War IIFilm: The Catcher was a Spy
It seems I begin every biopic review by bemoaning the genre’s structural handcuff, and The Catcher was a Spy…
May 3, 2021 -
History, Spies, TelevisionTV: The Sleepers
I have a theory: that Tomas Alfredson’s 2011 adaptation of John le Carré’s Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy kicked off…
March 30, 2021 -
Film, History, Spies, World War IIFilm: Red Joan
Inspired by true events, Red Joan (2018) makes for a relatively successful biopic, even if the milieu and furniture…
February 24, 2021 -
Film, History, World War IIFilm: The Secrets We Keep
The Secrets We Keep (2020) is one of those films with a trailer that gives the game away. This…
January 18, 2021 -
Film, HistoryFilm: Never Look Away
I didn’t find Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s Never Look Away (2018) as powerful a film as his earlier The…
January 3, 2021 -
History, Spies, TelevisionTV: Deutschland 89
I imagined this final volume of the Deutschland series — concluding here after previous seasons Deutschland 83 and Deutschland…
January 3, 2021 -
Film, HistoryFilm: Mr. Jones
Knowledge of history can sometimes mitigate the eye-opening sense of discovery a good historical film can provide. I had…
December 19, 2020 -
History, TelevisionTV: The Liberator
The Liberator, a visually striking animated miniseries from Netflix, is more interesting for how it tells its story than…
November 28, 2020 -
History, TelevisionTV: Chernobyl
So, if you’ll pardon the indirect wind-up for a moment: I’ll never forget discovering Band of Brothers. It was…
June 23, 2020 -
Fiction, History, SpiesNovel: Under Occupation by Alan Furst
Early in Alan Furst’s latest World War II spy thriller Under Occupation (2019), there’s a casual, telling passage that…
May 26, 2020 -
History, TelevisionTV: Babylon Berlin (Season 3)
The first two seasons of the German series Babylon Berlin were excellent. The third, released on Netflix at the…
April 1, 2020