Big Little Lies 2.1: Grandma on a Mission

Big Little Lies was back on HBO last night, with Meryl Streep as Perry's mother Mary, staying with Celeste and the twins, and understandably determined to find out what happened to her son.  You couldn't ask for a better actress than Meryl Streep to convey the suspicion that Mary has that Perry's death was not as everyone is telling her, and it will fun to see those suspicions develop to the point of certainty, which will no doubt lead to Mary plotting some kind of retribution.

Now, in case you didn't see the first season and its stunning ending, we know what happened to Perry.  Bonnie accidentally killed him, deliberately pushing him down the stairs, as she sees Madeline, Jane, and Renata unable to pull him off Celeste.   Every one of those women are justifiably glad to see him dead.  The last thing they'll do is even tell police that Bonnie didn't intend to kill him.  So this sets up the new season with five powerful women lying to the police, and resisting Mary's attempt to learn the truth.

Did Mary know her son was a rapist?  Probably not.  Did she know that he was physically abusive to women, including his wife.  Probably.  Will Mary learning the truth about her son's treatment of women affect her determination to find out what happened to him?  Probably not.  And that has the makings of a pretty good story.

Of the two, I'd give Mary has better odds of finding out the truth than the police.   But Detective Quinlan, also a woman, is no slouch.   Chances are Mary and Quinlan, working for the same thing - to find out what happened to Perry - won't get too much in each other's way.  But once Mary begins planning her retribution, well ... all bets are off.

Big Little Lies in its first season was a unique detective story.  It promises to be the same in its second season, with a much different story featuring almost the very same people.

See also Big Little Lies: Big Good, Truly ... Big Little Lies 1.5: Multivalent Whudunnit ... Big Little Lies: Elvis and Answers

 

The Post: More Timely Than Ever

Just saw The Post again on HBO, and figured it was long since time to post a brief review.  Since the movie first came out at end of 2017, the need for a brave press to stand up to an autocratic, paranoid President has become even more acute.  The story of how Katherine Graham, Ben Bradlee, and Ben Bagdikian defied legal counsel, an at first badly misguided Federal Judge in New York (Murray Gurfein, who issued a restraining order on The New York Times for one day, then refused to grant the government's demand for a permanent injunction), and lots of strong advice from the Post's inner circle, could not be more timely today.

And the acting, especially for those three heroes of the press and democracy, couldn't have been more vivid.  Meryl Streep portrays Graham with just the right mixture of concern about the consequences and devotion to a free press.   Tom Hanks' Bradlee led the punch for publication, smiling but tough as steel, and also felt compelled to warn Graham that they both could be held in contempt of court and sent to prison.  Bob Odenkirk's Bagdikian made a commitment to Daniel Ellsberg to publish, and was just right as one-hundred-and-ten-percent advocate of publication.

In some ways, the America we live in today is in even more dire straits regarding freedom of the press than it was with Nixon in office.   Trump and his minions daily denounce the press as fake new news.  CNN reporter Jim Acousta had his White House press credentials invoked (they were shortly after reinstated).   The one advantage we have in 2019 over 1971 is that we have so many sources of news, on cable and the Internet, as well as printed papers and network television, that it's harder to suppress the truth.

But The Post provides a jolting reminder of how close Nixon came to muzzling the Washington Post and The New York Times.   With Trump still in the White House, how much further have we really come since then?

Mamma Mia: Cure for The Dark Knight Blues

The Dark Knight was a masterpiece. But it was dark indeed. Mamma Mia, the movie of the Broadway play set to ABBA's songs, is a perfect cure.

My wife and I were talked by our daughter and son into seeing it. Actually, I didn't require too much talking, since I've been a big ABBA fan since the 1970s. In fact, our family used to play ABBA on cassettes as we drove up to Cape Cod in the 1980s and 90s. The group had a winning sincerity in an age that was post Beatles, Stones, and Dylan (though we have never gone too far if at all beyond them). ABBA's songs were innocent, authentic, and unbelievably infectious. I don't think "Dancing Queen" has ever been too far out of my head since I first started hearing it in 1976, and how can anyone resist "Take a Chance on Me" (1978) and, for that matter, just about all of their other songs. Apparently, few people did - ABBA has sold more than 400 million records.

All of the great ABBA songs are in Mamma Mia, in which Sophie, raised by her single mother, invites three men most likely to be her father to her wedding, in order to find out which one is her father. Amanda Seyfried of Big Love plays Sophie, and does it with a wonderful mix of sweetness, comic exaggeration, and serious talent. This movie will put her on the map.

Meryl Streep is the Mamma, and is better than ever, which is saying a lot, since she has been brilliant in every movie she's ever brought to life. Here, it's a pleasure to see a 59-year actress who still has it, shaking it, and singing with the best of them. (Her rendition of ABBA's "The Winner Takes It All" - 1980 - will be a classic.)

Pierce Brosnan plays one of the three possible fathers, and how funny and cool is it seeing James Bond singing ABBA's "SOS" (one of their 1975 hits). Brosnan is no great singer, but he carries a tolerable tune, which is just right for this part.

"Dancing Queen," always my favorite, was performed twice, with Benny Andersson - one of the B's in ABBA - playing piano one of those times. His piano and enthusiasm haven't aged a day.

Benny and the other ABBA "B" - Björn Ulvaeus - are among the movie's executive producers. Bjorne and Benny also appear as Greek gods (the movie takes place on a Grecian isle) under the closing credits. ABBA attended Mamma Mia's world premier in Sweden on July 4, 2008. According to Wikipedia, the group "re-emphasized that they intended never to officially reunite ... They wanted to be remembered for who they were in their prime."

Mamma Mia certainly captures that rare spirit, and more.




clip of Dancing Queen from Mamma Mia - with Benny on piano


ABBA performing "Dancing Queen" in the 1970s

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and another story that concerns Grecian isles ...



The Plot to Save Socrates

"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly

"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News

"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book