The Man in Orange Shirt

https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/amzn1.dv.gti.5c42c3b6-57c0-48f6-9f6a-70345aa5c7aa?ref=imdb_web&autoplay=1&ref_=imdbref_tt_sims_tp_fdv&tag=imdbtag_tt_sims_tp_fdv-20

One of the Best Mini TV Series I have Enjoyed Recently- Fellow Travelers

Paramount+'s Fellow Travelers series is a dramatic and romantic story that follows the relationship of two men, Hawkins Fuller and Timothy Laughlin, over several decades of political and social change in America. The series starts in the 1950s in Washington, D.C., during the McCarthy era, where a persecution of communists and LGBTQ+ people is unleashed. The plot extends back to the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, covering significant events such as the protests against the Vietnam War in the '60s and disco-era hedonism in the '70s.

The series is based on the novel of the same name by Thomas Mallon and was created by Oscar-nominated Ron Nyswaner. Actors Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey play the leading characters, Hawkins Fuller and Timothy Laughlin, respectively. The series premiered on October 28, 2023 and has eight episodes.

The review has highlighted the chemistry between Bomer and Bailey, as well as the depth they bring to their characters and plot. It's a series that not only tells a love story, but also explores the challenges and evolution of American society over several critical decades.

"A complex, intimate, captivating and visually stunning portrait of anguish and desire, “Fellow Travelers” is an expansive tale set primarily at the height of the U.S. government’s war on communists, “subversives” and “sexual deviants” and ending amid the HIV/AIDS crisis in the 1980s." — Variety

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fellow_Travelers_(miniseries)

https://www.facebook.com/groups/111197258753232

Excerpts from My Autobiography for the Herald (THD)-Updated 8/4/23

https://chateaudumer.blogspot.com/2023/08/excerpts-from-my-autobiography-updated.html

Binging on the Seven Seasons of the Award Winning TV Series-Mad Men

Mad Men was listed as one of the Top Ten TV series of all Time, I agree!

The last couple of weeks I have binging on a couple of old award winning TV series. The latest series I am currently watching is Mad Men. In case you are not familiar or has not seen this TV series, here's a summary from Wikipedia.

Mad Men received widespread critical acclaim for its writing, acting, directing, visual style and historical authenticity; it won many awards, including 16 Emmys and five Golden Globes. The show was also the first basic cable series to receive the Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series, winning the award each year of its first four seasons (2008–2011). It is widely regarded as one of the greatest television series of all time and as part of the early 21st century Golden Age of Television.

Mad Men is an American period drama television series created by Matthew Weiner and produced by Lionsgate Television. It ran on the cable network AMC from July 19, 2007, to May 17, 2015, lasting for seven seasons and 92 episodes. Its fictional time frame runs from March 1960 to November 1970.

Mad Men begins at the fictional Sterling Cooper advertising agency on Madison Avenue in Manhattan, New York City, and continues at the new firm of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce (later named Sterling Cooper & Partners) near the Time-Life Building at 1271 Sixth Avenue. According to the pilot episode, the phrase "Mad men" was a slang term coined in the 1950s by advertisers working on Madison Avenue to refer to themselves, "Mad" being short for "Madison" (in reality, the only documented use of the phrase from that time may have been in the late-1950s writings of James Kelly, an advertising executive and writer).

The series's main character is the charismatic advertising executive Don Draper (played by Jon Hamm), who is initially the talented creative director at Sterling Cooper. He is erratic and mysterious but is widely regarded throughout the advertising world as a genius; some of the most famous advertisement campaigns in history are shown to be his creations. Later, Don becomes a founding partner at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce but begins a struggle as his highly calculated identity falls into a period of decline. The plot of the show tracks the people in his personal and professional lives. As the series progresses, it depicts the changing moods and social mores of the United States throughout the 1960s and early 1970s. 

Personal Note: There were numerous memorable and iconic scenes in the epic novela depicting true historical events and social mores of the 60 and 70's. Two of the scenes depicted in the last 15 minutes of the Season 7 and the final episode that still lingers in my mind was the Esalen Experience and the TV coca cola commercial. The Esalen scenes and depiction reminds me of a closed and beloved relative. 

Here is the list of 10 other TV series similar to Mad Men. I have seen all of them except Fargo, The Wire and Peaky Blinder.

 https://www.cbr.com/best-shows-if-you-miss-mad-men/#fargo

 

 

Enjoyed the Movie-TAR- Golden Glove Award for Best Actress

 

Cate Blanchett won the Golden Glove Award for Best Actress in the movie Tar. I rented it last week (Amazon Prime Video). The first 15-20 minutes was boring, but I continued watching since I already paid $5.99  to watch it. As the movie progressed it become more interesting and provocative. The ending was a surprised to me as it was filmed in the Philippines with scenes of Manila and Tagalog conversations. I enjoyed the movie very much and it was worth the $5.99 rental fee I paid. Here's the last 10 minutes of the film that was a surprise to me.

"Lydia finds work conducting in the Philippines. Seeking a massage to ease her jet lag, she asks the hotel concierge for a recommendation. She is sent to a high-end brothel, where she is directed to select an escort from the "fishbowl," where numerous young women are seated in a chamber orchestra-like arrangement. One woman (#5) looks up into Lydia's eyes, her position the same as Olga's, and Lydia rushes outside to vomit. With her new orchestra, Lydia conducts the score for the video game series Monster Hunter in front of an audience of cosplayers".

Here's a summary from Wikipedia. For details visit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C3%A1r#Plot

Tár is a 2022 psychological drama film written and directed by Todd Field and starring Cate Blanchett. The film charts the downfall of fictional composer and conductor Lydia Tár. The supporting cast includes Nina Hoss, Noémie Merlant, Sophie Kauer, Julian Glover, Allan Corduner, and Mark Strong.

Tár premiered at the 79th Venice International Film Festival in September 2022, where Blanchett won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress. The film had a limited theatrical release in the United States on October 7, 2022, before a wide release on October 28, by Focus Features.

The film received acclaim from critics, who lauded Blanchett's performance, Field's direction and screenplay, and its cinematography, editing, and sound design. Tár is listed by many critics as one of the best films of 2022. The American Film Institute named it one of the top 10 films of the year, and it was named best film by the New York Film Critics Circle, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, and the National Society of Film Critics, becoming the seventh film in history to win top honors from the critics' trifecta. At the 80th Golden Globe Awards in 2023, Blanchett won Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama, while the film was nominated for Best Motion Picture – Drama and Best Screenplay. The film flopped at the box office, by January 2023 grossing $6.3 million against a combined production and marketing budget of $35 million. Here are two reviews that I agree 100%.

 

Tár is considered by many critics to be one of the best films of 2022. It was listed on the American Film Institute's top 10 films of the year, and was named best film by the New York Film Critics Circle, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, and the National Society of Film Critics, becoming the seventh film in history to win top honors from the critics' trifecta. Tár was also named the best film of 2022 by Vanity Fair, The Atlantic, Variety, Entertainment Weekly, and IndieWire's annual poll of 165 critics worldwide.

I recommend this movie to all Movie Lovers of the World.  Tár is expected to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture at the 95th Academy Awards, and Blanchett is considered a favorite for the Academy Award for Best Actress.