Trici Venola

Watching with huge delight this film recreation of that epic of magical realism, One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I fell in love with the book when I read it in 1978 and it has only improved on subsequent readings. The series does it justice: lushly evocative of the jungle setting and the violent, tender, implacable personalities there. Mystical things happen as matter-of-fact manner, with no fuss and no special music, but a deal of humor. Solid writing keeps all the characters distinct and the threads of the story clear.The casting is perfect and nobody seems to be acting. What a breath of air, perfumed with floating flowers.

From the first glance I was riveted. The direction, photography and production design are so stunning, intelligent and compelling that they might distract us from the story if it wasn't so well acted and told. Much much grittier, darker and colder than the 1999 movie The Talented Mr Ripley. This guy is a complete sociopath, but his initial plight is so bleak, and the place he goes to is so sublime, that I can't blame him for trying with all his might to become part of a world he had not even suspected. Ah, but the way he did it...I may have to watch this again, and soon.

Loved The Time Traveler's Wife. Sorry it's been cancelled. But HBO also cancelled Rome, for which we also never forgave them. The reviewer that said there was no spark between James and Leslie wasn't watching the same show I was. The writing is wonderful: unpredictable, cliche-free and there's no gratuitous woke casting. Everyone is very very good at acting, meaning they seem not to be acting at all. The characters are likable and engaging, I care what happens to them. The plot is of course intriguing and thought-provoking. So HBO does not realize this is the kind of show that picks up steam and audience as it goes along. I used to think HBO the best network, but they're short-sighted. I really feel I've been left hanging. Reading the book won't help on this one.

Gripping from the first snippet shown on Netflix. Without even recognizing Mel Gibson, who is submerged in his character, I was caught up in the story. Production values excellent down to the smallest detail of this gaslight era- the copperplate handwriting, the flashbacks to the American Civil War, the severe upholstered look of the women's clothes, all of it. Not many actors could carry off a part like Dr Minor but Sean Penn manages the dignity of the absolutely mad. Of course, I love to read, I love words, I love escapist reading, so this piece really speaks to me. I'm sending it to all my compulsive reader relatives.