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Category: Viewer’s Discretion

Posted on November 29, 2019November 29, 2019

Viewer's Discretion: 'Night Cries: A Rural Tragedy,' 'Nice Coloured Girls,' and 'The Victim'

‘NIGHT CRIES: A RURAL TRAGEDY’ AND ‘NICE COLOURED GIRLS’ (OVIDTV) Australian artist Tracy Moffatt is best known for her photography that relates to her own…

Continue reading → Viewer's Discretion: 'Night Cries: A Rural Tragedy,' 'Nice Coloured Girls,' and 'The Victim'

Posted on November 1, 2019

Viewer’s Discretion: ‘Latest News from the Cosmos’ and ‘Black Work’

‘LATEST NEWS FROM THE COSMOS’ (OVIDTV) French poet Babouillec isn’t well known outside her home country — I don’t see that her works have ever been translated…

Continue reading → Viewer’s Discretion: ‘Latest News from the Cosmos’ and ‘Black Work’

Posted on October 25, 2019October 27, 2019

Viewer’s Discretion: ‘The Biggest Little Farm’ and ‘Island’

‘THE BIGGEST LITTLE FARM’ (AMAZON, APPLE, GOOGLE PLAY, VUDU, YOUTUBE) The most recent, as of this writing, in an apparently endless string of breakout documentaries,…

Continue reading → Viewer’s Discretion: ‘The Biggest Little Farm’ and ‘Island’

Posted on October 11, 2019October 20, 2019

Viewer’s Discretion: ‘Herrens Veje’ and ‘First Reformed’

‘HERRENS VEJE’ (‘RIDE UPON THE STORM’) (NETFLIX) Series creator Adam Price previously gave the world the infectious and intelligent show “Borgen,” which portrayed the fictional…

Continue reading → Viewer’s Discretion: ‘Herrens Veje’ and ‘First Reformed’

Posted on October 4, 2019November 8, 2019

Viewer’s Discretion: ‘Deutschland 83,’ ‘Deutschland 86,’ and ‘Skyggenes Dal’

‘DEUTSCHLAND 83,’ ‘DEUTSCHLAND 86’ (SUNDANCE) The final years of East Germany — or, more properly, the German Democratic Republic — have proven fertile ground for German television, partially, it…

Continue reading → Viewer’s Discretion: ‘Deutschland 83,’ ‘Deutschland 86,’ and ‘Skyggenes Dal’

Posted on September 27, 2019October 28, 2019

Viewer’s Discretion: ‘After Life’ and ‘Bathtubs Over Broadway’

‘AFTER LIFE’ (NETFLIX) Appreciating the work of Ricky Gervais has always hinged on your taste, and even then, some of his efforts over the years…

Continue reading → Viewer’s Discretion: ‘After Life’ and ‘Bathtubs Over Broadway’

Posted on September 20, 2019October 28, 2019

Viewer’s Discretion: ‘The Devil and Daniel Johnston’

“THE DEVIL AND DANIEL JOHNSTON” (AMAZON, APPLE, IMDBTV, GOOGLE PLAY, VUDU, YOUTUBE) Given the death last week of Austin, Texas-based singer-songwriter Daniel Johnston at the…

Continue reading → Viewer’s Discretion: ‘The Devil and Daniel Johnston’

Posted on September 13, 2019October 28, 2019

Viewer’s Discretion: ‘Alena’ and ‘Jonestown: Terror in the Jungle’

‘ALENA’ (AMAZON, OVIDTV, SHUDDER) Things aren’t right in a private boarding school for girls, but when are they ever? In this Swedish film, a disadvantaged…

Continue reading → Viewer’s Discretion: ‘Alena’ and ‘Jonestown: Terror in the Jungle’

Posted on September 6, 2019October 20, 2019

Viewer’s Discretion: ‘A Very Secret Service’ and ‘Now He’s Out in Public’

‘A VERY SECRET SERVICE’ (NETFLIX) The words “spy comedy” evoke something very specific, but this French period comedy delivers something deliciously outside of those restrictions.…

Continue reading → Viewer’s Discretion: ‘A Very Secret Service’ and ‘Now He’s Out in Public’

Posted on August 30, 2019November 8, 2019

Viewer’s Discretion: ‘Gentleman Jack’ and ‘Victor’s History’

‘Gentleman Jack’ (HBO) One of the reasons masculinity has done so well hanging on so long beyond any point of positive usability is that we…

Continue reading → Viewer’s Discretion: ‘Gentleman Jack’ and ‘Victor’s History’

Posted on August 9, 2019November 8, 2019

Viewer’s Discretion: ‘Hail Satan?’

“ Hail Satan?” (Amazon, Apple, Vudu, YouTube, Google Play) Regardless of where you fall on the spiritual or political spectrum, it’s probable that you will…

Continue reading → Viewer’s Discretion: ‘Hail Satan?’

Posted on August 2, 2019November 8, 2019

Viewer’s Discretion: ‘Chernobyl’ and ‘Braguino’

CHERNOBYL’ (HBO) It might be surprising that a mini-series dramatizing a devastating nuclear power plant accident in the Soviet Union in 1986 has met success,…

Continue reading → Viewer’s Discretion: ‘Chernobyl’ and ‘Braguino’

Posted on July 26, 2019November 8, 2019

Viewer’s Discretion: ‘Ministry of Evil’ and ‘The Nightmare’

‘MINISTRY OF EVIL: THE TWISTED CULT OF TONY ALAMO’ (SUNDANCE) We live in a golden age of documentaries about cults and one of the unavoidable…

Continue reading → Viewer’s Discretion: ‘Ministry of Evil’ and ‘The Nightmare’

Posted on July 19, 2019November 8, 2019

Viewer’s Discretion: ‘Leila’ and ‘Sarah Plays a Werewolf’

‘LEILA’ (NETFLIX) This dystopian series from India has been compared to “The Handmaid’s Tale” and though on first glance that seems fair, a closer look…

Continue reading → Viewer’s Discretion: ‘Leila’ and ‘Sarah Plays a Werewolf’

Posted on July 12, 2019November 8, 2019

Viewer’s Discretion: ‘The Restaurant’ and ‘Elvis: Strung Out’

The Restaurant (Sundance) This new addition to the pantheon of dysfunctional Scandinavian family nightmares, “The Restaurant” (“Var tid ar nu, also known as “Our Time…

Continue reading → Viewer’s Discretion: ‘The Restaurant’ and ‘Elvis: Strung Out’

Posted on June 28, 2019October 19, 2019

Viewer’s Discretion: ‘The Act’ and ‘Granny’s Dancing on the Table’

‘THE ACT’ (HULU) Based on a 2015 homicide case in Missouri that saw a woman murdered by her daughter, reported as stricken with leukemia and…

Continue reading → Viewer’s Discretion: ‘The Act’ and ‘Granny’s Dancing on the Table’

Posted on June 21, 2019October 19, 2019

Viewer’s Discretion: ‘Woman At War’ and ‘Black Lake’

‘WOMAN AT WAR’ (APPLE, GOOGLE PLAY, YOUTUBE) Talk about unexpected achievements, “Woman At War” manages the near-impossible by offering up a feel-good movie about climate…

Continue reading → Viewer’s Discretion: ‘Woman At War’ and ‘Black Lake’

Posted on June 14, 2019October 19, 2019

Viewer’s Discretion: ‘I Am Another You’ and ‘Rellik

‘I AM ANOTHER YOU’ (AMAZON, APPLE, GOOGLE PLAY, VUDU, YOUTUBE) In this haunting documentary, Chinese filmmaker Nanfu Wang heads down to Florida after moving to…

Continue reading → Viewer’s Discretion: ‘I Am Another You’ and ‘Rellik

Posted on June 7, 2019October 20, 2019

Viewer’s Discretion: “Quicksand” and “Rillington Place”

‘QUICKSAND’ (NETFLIX) School mass shootings aren’t quite a daily occurrence here in the U.S., but it’s sadly gotten to a point where you could imagine…

Continue reading → Viewer’s Discretion: “Quicksand” and “Rillington Place”

Posted on May 31, 2019October 19, 2019

Viewer’s Discretion: ‘Akta Manniskor’ and ‘A Harlot’s Progress’

‘Akta Manniskor (Real Humans)’ (Hulu) Mainly known as the inspiration for the series “Humans” rather than for any details of its own, Swedish writer Lars Lundstr…

Continue reading → Viewer’s Discretion: ‘Akta Manniskor’ and ‘A Harlot’s Progress’

Posted on May 24, 2019October 19, 2019

Viewer’s Discretion: ‘51 Birch Street’ and ‘Making A Murderer’

’51 BIRCH STREET’ (APPLE, SUNDANCE) Thank goodness for people who like to work out their problems in public, because they have single-handedly enlivened the dysfunctional…

Continue reading → Viewer’s Discretion: ‘51 Birch Street’ and ‘Making A Murderer’

Posted on May 18, 2019October 19, 2019

Viewer’s Discretion: ‘Mole Man’

‘MOLE MAN’ (AMAZON, SUNDANCE) Focusing on autistic 66-year-old Ron Heist, “Mole Man” presents a manifestation of compulsive creativity on a grand scale seldom witnessed. Heist…

Continue reading → Viewer’s Discretion: ‘Mole Man’

Posted on May 10, 2019October 19, 2019

Viewer’s Discretion: ‘Bodyguard’ and ‘Nico 1988’

‘BODYGUARD’ (NETFLIX) If you want tense, exciting, hard-to-predict crime conspiracy stories that keep you on the edge of your seat, British television writer Jed Mercurio…

Continue reading → Viewer’s Discretion: ‘Bodyguard’ and ‘Nico 1988’

Posted on May 3, 2019October 20, 2019

Viewer’s Discretion: ‘At Eternity’s Gate’ and ‘Requiem’

‘AT ETERNITY’S GATE’ (AMAZON, APPLE, GOOGLE PLAY, VUDU, YOUTUBE) It seems obvious from the moment he appears on the screen that Willem Dafoe was meant…

Continue reading → Viewer’s Discretion: ‘At Eternity’s Gate’ and ‘Requiem’

Posted on April 26, 2019October 19, 2019

Viewer’s Discretion: ‘Love and Terror on the Howling Plains of Nowhere’ and ‘Trust Me’

‘LOVE & TERROR ON THE HOWLING PLAINS OF NOWHERE’ (AMAZON, APPLE, GOOGLE PLAY, SUNDANCE, VUDU, YOUTUBE) In the winter of 2006, a college professor in…

Continue reading → Viewer’s Discretion: ‘Love and Terror on the Howling Plains of Nowhere’ and ‘Trust Me’

Posted on April 19, 2019October 19, 2019

Viewer’s Discretion: ‘This is England ‘86’

  THIS IS ENGLAND ’86 (AMAZON) Imagine living in a dystopian society. If you lived in England in the 1980s, and you weren’t of a…

Continue reading → Viewer’s Discretion: ‘This is England ‘86’

Posted on April 12, 2019October 19, 2019

Viewer’s Discretion: ‘Transferts’ and ‘Vox Lux’

TRANSFERTS (NETFLIX) There are two behaviors in science fiction that humans will never disappoint with. One is that if there is an advance in technology…

Continue reading → Viewer’s Discretion: ‘Transferts’ and ‘Vox Lux’

Posted on April 5, 2019October 19, 2019

Viewer’s Discretion: ’54 Hours’ and ‘The Weissensee Saga’

‘54 HOURS’ (SUNDANCE) This tense four-episode German series recounts the events of the Gladbeck Hostage Crisis, which unfolded in 1988 when two bank robbers fled…

Continue reading → Viewer’s Discretion: ’54 Hours’ and ‘The Weissensee Saga’

Posted on March 22, 2019October 20, 2019

Viewer’s Discretion: ‘Border’ and ‘Watership Down’

‘BORDER’ (AMAZON, APPLE, GOOGLE PLAY, VUDU, YOUTUBE) There’s something about “Border” that made me think of the current DNA craze, the impulse by people to…

Continue reading → Viewer’s Discretion: ‘Border’ and ‘Watership Down’

Posted on March 15, 2019October 19, 2019

Viewer’s Discretion: ‘Abducted in Plain Sight’ and ‘The Cry’

‘ABDUCTED IN PLAIN SIGHT’ (NETFLIX) Much has been made of this true-crime documentary in regards to the victim and her parents, with the idea that…

Continue reading → Viewer’s Discretion: ‘Abducted in Plain Sight’ and ‘The Cry’

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RSS John Seven @ The Comics Beat

  • INDIE VIEW: ‘The Downed Deer’ is the campfire story of your personal nightmares December 11, 2019
  • INDIE VIEW: ‘The Lonesome Era’ features funny animals in real predicaments December 9, 2019
  • INDIE VIEW: ‘The Scarfolk Annual’ is not fiction and other government-sanctioned praise December 6, 2019
  • INDIE VIEW: ‘The Master and Margarita’ dismisses the ulitmate power of systems December 4, 2019
  • INDIE VIEW: ‘Two Dead’ is exciting noir built on depressing social commentary December 2, 2019
  • INDIE VIEW: ‘After the Spring: A Story of Tunisian Youth’ focuses on the human story that happens while history unfolds November 29, 2019
  • Howard Cruse, a personal remembrance November 27, 2019
  • INDIE VIEW: ‘Revenger’ is all heart and all blood, too November 27, 2019
  • INDIE VIEW: ‘La Voz de M.A.Y.O: Tata Rambo’ uncovers a compelling corner of Latinx history November 25, 2019
  • INDIE VIEW: ‘The House’ presents grieving as a story-building process November 22, 2019

Musical Thingarium 11.07.19: The Spoken Thingarium

https://johndamnseven.files.wordpress.com/2019/11/musical-thingarium-11.07.19.mp3

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