THE BLACKLIST – My rating 9.5/10

I will start by admitting I am a stanch James Spader fan.  Having said that, I must further say The Black List is an outstanding series.  Of course James Spader is what makes The Black List so special — his unique acting abilities and deliverance is simply brilliant.  The story revolves around  Raymond ‘Red’ Reddington (Spader) who is on the FBI’s 10 most wanted list.  One day he gives himself up to the FBI and then makes a bazaar offer to help them capture the 10 most notorious criminals in the world.  There’s only one catch, that he has complete freedom to move about as he sees fit and he only works through FBI agent,  Elizabeth Keen (Megan Boone).  No one knows why he picked this particular agent since she’s not as seasoned as some of her fellow agents but suspicions are flying.  This drama is well written and well thought out.  Each week Red delivers and so does the Black List.  Very interesting.  I’ve been told The Black List is the #1 show on TV.  I share in the feeling that it deserves to be there.

 

AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY (2013) – My rating 9.5/10

Why oh why didn’t this movie get a nomination for Best Picture? There are 10 slots for Best Picture. August: Osage County, “AOC” or The Butler could have filled the last slot which remains blank. I can’t say enough about this extremely well acted and well told story. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing and seeing. Before I saw “AOC” I had my sights set on a different actress for the Best Actress award. After seeing “AOC”, hands down, Meryl Streep deserves that Oscar. Over all, the movie almost resembled a play but was so well done, it just didn’t matter. I don’t think “AOC” has gotten it’s just desserts. Additionally, I don’t think it was well marketed. I was amazed at both the direction and the acting. A cast of veteran actors really makes this movie among the best for me. Contributing to the brilliant performances in “AOC” are Julia Roberts who plays Barbara Weston, Chris Cooper who plays Charlie Aiken, Juliette Lewis who plays Karen Weston and Margo Martindale who plays Mattie Fae Aiken. The film is about a highly dysfunctional family who got that way because of their highly dysfunctional parents, brilliantly played by Meryl Streep who plays Violet Weston) and Sam Shepard who plays Beverly Weston.

Drop everything and go see August: Osage County — it’s really worth your time and money. For me, this may be Meryl’s best performance, to date! Check it out.

[AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY is nominated for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress]

 

LUTHER – My Rating: 10/10

Well here we go again — another excellent series.  Only this time, it’s the BBC who has contributed this master piece of excellence.  A friend recommended Luther, which I had never heard of.  I quickly scanned my Instant Watch on Nextflix and found the series.  This is what I have to say about Luther:

Idris Elba

Idris Elba who plays DCI John Luther is a powerful actor who really does a fantastic job with Luther.  He is brilliant, bordering on genius.  The story has so many surprising twists, that I cannot predict who or how characters will be leaving the show.  Luther focuses on psychopaths and serial killers.  Same old thing you might say but wait, there’s a twist.  Luther has one of these deviants on his side and knows when to call in favors.  Is he corrupt? — absolutely not!  You really have to see for yourself.

There are only 6 episodes in the first season and 4 in the second season, so you don’t have to spend your life on the couch watching it.  Luther is mind tingling and a superbly written series that hasn’t moved me like this since “24”.  I feel I want to discuss Luther with the world — it’s that good.  I hope it’s on for a very long time and I hope you’ll decide to tune in.  Aside from Netflix, you can view full episodes of Luther at TV.COM.