james_norvell

I wanted to go to the movies to have a laugh, so I decided to break my pledge to never, ever go see a Will Farrell movie. Bad, bad, bad mistake. There were more laughs in Kramer v Kramer. This was very possibly the worst movie I have ever seen. Gratuitous, nonstop foul language in what had to a parody of bad comedy, no one could make this crap on purpose. I would have left after 20 minutes, but my wife was getting a nice snooze. When she woke up at the credit roll and asked what she had missed, I said "Absolutely nothing." My new pledge is to never, under threat of assisted suicide, go to a Will Farrell OR Amy Poehler movie.

This peek behind the Buckingham Palace fence, gets beyond the pomp and majesty to reveal human beings. I am a sucker for all things historical presented with high production values and measured, professional acting. The Queen has blown me away. I recall my great aunt and uncle sending food to distant relatives in England in the late 40's and early 50's for their survival. Even as a child, I tried to imagine what kind of life they were leading that contrasted with our surplus (and we were poor). When Elizabeth was crowned, it was one of the first years that we had a television and I watched the entire ritual. I took a picture of screen with my cheap Brownie camera during the procession. I marveled at the majesty of the ceremony. I wanted to be there. This series has fired those memories and, as I recall, accurately. I have now been to England maybe ten times and have each time walked through Hyde or Green Park to Buckingham Palace. I have watched the beautiful changing of the guard, I have walked the stones of Westminster Abbey. I have toured Churchill's wartime offices. I have tried to feel the history these storied places witnessed. When Netflix notified me of The Queen's release, it became must try TV. Now, after four episodes, it has become do not miss TV. The portrayals are so well crafted that I found myself thinking, "So that's what they were really like." Knowing that they may not have been, but brilliant actors have rendered them as human beings with all of our glorious flaws. The production is so well staged that soot gets in your nostrils. You can smell the gunpowder when George goes hunting. You feel the weight descending on the young Queen. You are chilled by the judgmental eyes of George's mother -- keeper of the illusion, guardian of power. You feel Phillip's growing anguish over losing his wife to her subjects and the role of Queen. You finally understand the isolation of the Duke of Windsor for his abdication of the thrown for his love of Wallis Simpson. This is not just a TV series, not merely history writ and truths exposed, it is a tapestry that when looked at closely reveals flaws but, at a distance is majestic.