Living Unabridged

What we've been watching over the past few months (after the younger children are in bed).

1. Chernobyl. HBO series. (We borrowed this from the library.)

This is one of the best limited series I have ever seen in my life. It's five hours of riveting storytelling.

I was initially leery of watching this because I thought HBO would add gratuitous nudity or intimate scenes that had nothing to do with the story. But, though there are graphic parts to this story (acute radiation poisoning is horrific, for starters), there is nothing salacious here. (Content warnings for cursing, brief non-sexual nudity, and violence.)

The acting is pitch perfect (Jared Harris and Stellan Skarsgard deserved ALL THE AWARDS, and the supporting cast is excellent too. There's this one scene with a supporting actor on the roof after the disaster and his eyes alone just break your heart...) the script is incredible, the story telling choices are brilliant. Highly recommend. I will be thinking about this for a long time.

Book tie in: Midnight in Chernobyl by Adam Higginbotham. I read this back in 2020 so I'm not sure exactly how it meshes with the movie but the book was brilliant as well and I remember being deeply moved by the stories of the firefighters and plant workers who fought desperately against the disaster.

2. Dopesick. Hulu.

I thought this might be one of the bleakest things I'd ever watch. (We watched this before Chernobyl.) And it is bleak at times and infuriating and heartbreaking. But it's also compelling. Michael Keaton is excellent, Peter Sarsgaard and John Hoogenakker are also great. Their lines were sometimes the only thing relieving the tension in the story. Also, the story telling is non-linear so it can occasionally be hard to follow.

And parts are pretty hard to watch, honestly. (Content warnings: LGBTQ+, graphic depictions of drugs and violence, extrememly raw language - somehow cursing doesn't seem a strong enough word - and generally not nice to watch stuff.) There were a few storylines that I liked less than the others, but as a whole, it was good storytelling.

Book tie-in: this was based on the book Dopesick by Beth Macy, which I haven't read.

3. Mare of Eastown. HBOMax (picked up the DVD set for $1 at a thrift store)

Another bleak but compelling tale. And yes, HBO did their thing and put plenty of stuff in here that wasn't, strictly speaking, necessary to the story. (Let the viewer beware. This is not something you'd watch with the family. "one finger on the fast-forward" is a good rule to follow watching these series. Content warnings abound.)

Kate Winslet continues to be great. Jean Smart surprised me. And, in general, we felt like we knew some of these people and situations because southwest Ohio is not Eastown, PA but it has some of the same problems and challenges. They managed to make Eastown seem like a real place populated by real people and that's, I think, pretty hard to do.

This is another one with a few storylines I could have done without but your mileage may vary, obviously.

Book tie-in: I couldn't really think of one but there is plenty of dreary modern, "realistic" fiction out there if you're in the mood for that.

4. Reacher. Prime.

This was a huge NO from me. My husband enjoyed it but it is one of the most violent (and otherwise graphic) things I've ever seen in my life. (And by "seen", I mean, "I was mostly reading on my kindle while he watched this with me in the room" and even then the sound effects grossed me out.)

The acting is OK but not great, with Malcolm Goodwin's character being the best part for me. I found his part the most compelling and moving over all.

And did I mention the violence? Because I feel like I can't stress that enough. Also the swearing is just...like I said: it's a no from me.

Book tie in: this is based The Killing Floor from a series of books about Jack Reacher by Lee Child, none of which I've read. Not my cup of tea, for reading or watching.

5. Death on the Nile. (Hulu)

Kenneth Branagh can be a great actor and director, but he's not Poirot. Poirot as portrayed by Branagh is OCD and tortured instead of finicky and brilliant.

So, this is gorgeous and stylishly filmed but it doesn't really feel like Agatha Christie to me. It's a decent ensemble cast of mostly unlikeable characters but there is a lot of scenery being chewed. It seriously feels like every character was directed to "HAM IT UP."

It's funny to me because the other night when Philip had something else to do I watched a 1940s adaptation of And Then There Were None and it was so much better than the recent adaptation. I think modern filmmakers somehow miss the spirit and the subtleness that earlier adaptations captured. (And of course modern adapations almost always want to sex it up in some way.)

Book tie-in: Death on the Nile, of course. It's a good yarn although it's not my most favorite Poirot or Christie title.

Bonus: All Creatures Great and Small, series 2. (PBS, watched in January)

Something completely different from most of the shows on this list: the best, most comforting show being made today. James, Tristan, Siegfried, Mrs. Hall and Helen are always welcome in my home.

This IS my cup of tea, any day of the week. We didn't watch it with the kids but there's no reason why they couldn't see it.

Book tie-in: All Things Bright and Beautiful. The books and the TV series don't line up exactly (because the stories in the books aren't told in stictly chronological order) but this is book #2 in the series.

So, watched any good shows or movies lately?