Flixmix Friday

My mom has a tendency to mangle the names of things, but often the name she comes up with is better than the original. She always calls Netflix “Flixmix” — so that’s what I’m going to call this new semi-regular feature.

Streaming services have saved my sanity during the past year and a half. I’m always on the lookout for interesting things to watch and it seems like my friends are too. I’ll be listing some of the movies and series that I’ve been watching. Be a pal — and add your recommendations in the comments.

WW2-a-palooza

I used to joke that the History Channel should be called the World War 2 channel because it seemed like everything they showed bore some relation to the war. Lately I think that PBS Masterpiece has retaken the title. Regardless of the reason, I’ve watched a lot of WW2 shows over the past year.

• Atlantic Crossing — a series which follows the Crown Prince and Princess (mostly the Princess) of Norway during the Second World War. Norway studiously tried to remain neutral but their oil reserves were just too tempting and Germany invaded in 1940. The series follows the royal family as they confront the reality that neutrality is no longer an option for Norway. First is a perilous escape from Norway; eventually the Crown Prince ends up in London, trying to maintain some sort of Norwegian monarch-in-exile thing, while the Princess stays in Washington D.C., trying to convince the US to send military aid. Some of the facts are embellished but this was a fascinating watch. Kyle MacLachlan will be how I picture FDR forever more.
• World On Fire — This series tracks several families whose lives are intertwined in various ways during the court of the war: an American journalist, a Polish family, a pacifist veteran of WWI, a gay doctor in occupied Paris. The series is said to focus on “ordinary” people and the many ways they experienced the war and its devastation. Great cast — Sean Bean, Lesley Manville, Helen Hunt, as well as really talented young folk. Once you stop wondering what the hell Helen Hunt did to her face, you get really sucked in. I hear there’s a Season 2 coming up.
• Mrs. Wilson stars Ruth Wilson who dug into her own family tree for this based-on-real-life drama. Mrs. Wilson thinks she’s a regular housewife until her husband dies. After his funeral, a woman shows up at her door, claiming to be her husband’s wife. Mrs. Wilson has to uncover all sorts of secrets from the past.
• The Queen At War is a documentary that lays out Queen Elizabeth II’s experiences as a teenager during the war. Fascinating to see how the Royals reacted (my favorite quote is when the Queen Mum tours the damage to Buckingham Place after a bomb hits it, and says she’s almost glad the palace got hit as “It makes me feel I can look the East End in the face.”). Whether you’re a Monarchist or want them all sacked, you have to hand it to the way that the family did its duty to its country at an extremely difficult time. (It’s a good adjunct to “The Crown”!)
• In honor of the anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising in August, I watched a Polish film called Warsaw 44 which follows several young Poles who participate in the revolt. The movie is bleak because the history is bleak: as the Russians pushed in from the east, approaching Warsaw, the Germans began to make arrangements to retreat. The Polish Resistance timed their operation to coincide with this, figuring that the Russians would arrive and help them finish off the Germans. Disgracefully, Russian troops stopped advancing, giving the Germans time to overcome the resistance and basically destroy Warsaw in revenge. The battle lasted over 60 days and by 1945, something like 85% of Warsaw was in ruins, with 200,000 Polish citizens killed. No happy ending here, just senseless cruelty, mass executions, and young folks giving their lives to try to reclaim their city.

Great but fraught

I finally watched all of Homeland (I’d started it and then forgot to go back while waiting for new seasons). Claire Danes is phenomenal; so is Mandy Patinkin and Damian Lewis. The first two seasons are fantastic, but there is a season or two in the middle where the series gets bogged down. I loved the way the series ended. No spoilers here. As someone with bipolar family members, I thought the portrayal of a super-smart person grappling with the disease was fascinating. That feeling when you hear a person’s voice change as they start to cross over into mania and the person’s insistence that they know what they’re doing? So freaking true. (HBO/SHO)

I also steeled myself and watched The Handmaid’s Tale on Hulu. I knew it was going to be intense but the parallels between what’s happening in our own country is frankly terrifying. Elisabeth Moss is amazing, but pretty much everyone in the series is amazing. The cinematography and costuming and sets are also fantastic. (Hulu)

Succession is slick and darkly funny and again, well-acted. The main character is a Rupert Murdoch-like owner of a media empire, with three children. His oldest son is heir apparent to the empire, but younger brother (omg Kieran McCulkin!) and sister are not going to give up that easily. I love the sharp writing and biting humor but there’s a lot of deep emotion, too. I can’t wait for season 3, which is coming later this fall. (HBO/Sho)

I read the book Elizabeth Is Missing and thought it did an amazing job of capturing not only how frustrating it is to live with someone who has memory loss, but also how terrifying it can be to be the patient. The Masterpiece adaptation is very good, if heartbreaking. The main character is an older woman (Everymum) who has some form of dementia. She’s living at her home alone, but barely managing. She has a loving daughter who cares for her and a granddaughter who keeps her company but she is tortured by the fear that her friend down the block (Elizabeth, duh) has gone missing. The viewer knows that the real Elizabeth broke her hip and is recuperating in hospital, but there’s more to the story than that. It can be hard to watch but also is very compassionate. Also, Glenda Jackson!

Mare of Easttown. Yes, I saw it. Yes, I really liked it. Yes, people in Delco really do talk like that. Chef’s kiss for the tiny details that only people from Philly would appreciate: the package of frozen food with a Giant logo, use of the phrase “smacked ass,” a bag of Herr’s potato chips, a Mannequin Pussies t-shirt… (HBO/Sho)

Feel-Good Shows

Ever watch Tiktok videos of sea shanties? Then you might like the movie Fisherman’s Friends, which focuses on a group of Cornish fishermen who are “discovered” by a record company scout. It’s not a great movie from a technical standpoint, but it’s sweet and enjoyable. Because who doesn’t want to be transported to the seven seas? (Prime)

I didn’t expect to like The Martian so much. It’s a surprisingly upbeat movie (Home Alone on Mars?), considering the plot involves an astronaut being stranded on Mars, facing what seems like certain death. I love Matt Damon and he does a great job of playing the stoically cheerful botanist who tackles difficult challenges with some duct tape and that can-do American spirit. (Prime)

Virgin River, what to say about Virgin River? Its amiable cast and gorgeous Northern California setting sucked me in, even though the romantic drama is a bit, well, cheesy. Season 3 just dropped and yowsa! Lotsa action and melodrama and cliffhangers. Unlike the earlier seasons, the non-stop plot of the third season did have me screaming at the teevee (for example, nobody just “drops in” at the fertility doctor and gets an embryo put in, like picking up a quart of milk at the Wawa). (Netflix)

What have you been watching lately that’s good?