Wolf Hall (2015,2024)

Almost a decade passed between the first series, covering the first two books of Hilary Mantel's trilogy and the second completing the trilogy. Perhaps most confusingly, some of the actors were switched out for new actors in season 2. But Mark Rylance and Damian Lewis are both superb, acting like no time has passed at all. Rylance plays Thomas Cromwell, a brilliant and ruthless political maneuverer, a commoner who rose up the ranks in King Henry VIII's court until his spectacular Shakespearean fall. Rylance plays him in an understated way very effectively. In contrast, Lewis plays the larger than life king, notorious for his six marriages. I perhaps didn't realize how his reign, and indeed the trajectory of British history, hinged so heavily on his consequential marriages. That's the birth of the Anglican Church and Cromwell is perhaps the biggest proponent of the English Reformation. The political intrigue is fascinating from a modern perspective and is executed really well. The music is similarly understated, kind of perfect for a period piece. The costumes and sets transport us to Tudor England. I visited Hampton Court a few years ago during a strike, which made it particularly difficult to reach the suburban neighborhood on the outskirts of London. Makes me want to read the books!

The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (2018)

Terry Gilliam's long anticipated project has finally seen the light of day. Despite getting off to a slow first act, the movie is wildly funny. It is over two hours, and that's a bit too long. It's the middle act, following Don Quixote and Sancho Panza on their misadventures. It features two raucous performances from Jonathan Pryce and Adam Driver, but it's kind of repetitive. The production value looks really expensive, and very Spanish. Reality blends with insanity in what I describe as magical realism/surrealism. It's certainly an unusual movie, but it's very entertaining and well worth a watch.

The Wife (2017)

Glenn Close is divine in a role that will finally win her an Oscar. Her quiet composure is so powerful. The story is simple yet brilliant and the execution is excellent. The narcissistic novelist Joe Castleman has won the Nobel Prize in Literature and he brings his son and wife Joan to Stockholm. Close's performance manages to capture decades of marriage in her performance. Glenn Close's daughter plays younger Joan allowing us to see how their relationship developed.  The allegation is that Joe's novels were actually written by Joan. How dramatic is that?

The Woman in Gold (2015)

This movie is dramatization of a true story of Nazi art theft and the legal nightmare that Maria Altmann went through to recover the paintings that were stolen from her family.  These five Klimts include the iconic Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, which exemplifies Klimt's golden phase.  This movie combines two things that I like: legal drama and fine art, all set against the backdrop of the Holocaust.  Not only is the story fascinating, it is devastating. The movie is driven by themes of legal right versus cultural right. Klimt has come to be representative of Austrian culture, and his artworks are national treasures. Altmann hires a family friend to be her lawyer, an inexperienced Randol Schoenberg, the grandson of the famous Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg. Altmann came from a wealthy Jewish family in Vienna that hosted the Austrian intellectuals of the day in a renowned salon.  Both characters are steeped in twentieth century Austrian culture, but their families were lain victim to the atrocities committed by Austrians complicit with the Nazis, yet the Austrian government has the audacity to suggest a cultural right to the paintings.

Helen Mirren is excellent as always as a woman torn between the rush of terrible memories Austria reminds her of and the pursuit of what is legally hers.  Tatiana Maslany convincingly plays a young Altmann, whose story is told in stylish black-and-white.  Ryan Reynolds plays the inexperienced lawyer and he comes across as kind of awkward, which is not necessarily a bad thing.