I REVIEWED THE FIRST season quite a few years ago. They brought it back! Many of the same rugged characters in a good cast. While the new season imagines a sequel that allows for lost time, they fiddled with fidelity to the book as I remember it. Violent, globe skipping, and full of the same ruthlessness, the early episodes of Season Two (perhaps because they more closely mirror present conflicts) take us back to Latin America and arms trading, power-seeking, and traitorous elements in MI6. Tom Hiddleston returns as the former hotelier-turned-spy, identities swapped-out like suits and ties.  Olivia Coleman is still around as “Jonathon’s former hander.  It’s early and, in keeping with most of the content for streaming these days, demands that you suspend

This got my attention when I saw that Christian Bale played the lead: a former soldier and respected expert who is called in to investigate a lurid death at what was a nascent US military Academy. What’s more, the series is based on a fiction book of the same title, in which a young Edgar Allan Poe, while at the Academy (he actually did briefly attend), is drawn to center stage amid the turmoil. The portrayal of Poe is engaging, and as you can imagine, the language is elevated. Christian Bale is always fun to watch, but a strong cast did well to support the production. One well-known actress appeared whom I didn’t recognize under her costume and speech pattern. Keep an eye out for

THIS WAS REFRESHING on a couple of levels. First, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck have done action films galore, but when they have appeared in the same film, they usually had a personal connection. Here, they are on the same raw, gritty, Miami narco team, but the team has a trust problem: a member of their team discovered a huge cartel money stash, but died a violent death in the process. The title word  “RIP” refers to confiscating illegal drug money, but it also stands for keeping or stealing some or all of it. The other level of interest is very edgy content and dialogue thick with insider lingo and tough cop to cop confrontations, as well as interplay between several levels of enforcement who

I THOROUGHLY ENJOYED this; you get some acting heavies like Glen Close, Daniel Craig, Josh Brolin, Jeremy Renner, and Andrew Scott (not necessarily ranked in order for their performances). An impressive newcomer for me is Josh O’Connor as the young new Catholic priest assigned to a small-town church to help the Monseigneur (the other Josh). But why would the Bishop send another priest to the Monseigneur who wouldn’t need much help in a small town?? Fun to see new characters evolve from actors/actresses who may have established their prowess along different lines. WRH

This is another gem: an Agatha Christie work, and I was thrilled to see that Martin Freeman (The Hobbit, Sherlock Holmes) and Helena Bonham Carter (Harry Potter, The Theory of Flight) played key roles. Set in what must have been early 20th century England, a newcomer for me, Mia McKenna-Bruce, plays young Lady Eileen (less formally “Bundle”), who is drawn up into substantial intrigue surrounding the death of a friend and suitor who was presumed to have committed suicide— right after arranging a meeting where he would propose marriage to her. It is a coming of age(nt) tale of sorts–for a persistent young woman with courage and a quick head. The acting is wonderful and the period costumes, vehicles, etc. only add to it all. WRH 

  THIS GEM just showed up on Netflix. Ray Fiennes and Carey Mulligan star in a story based on real events. Set in 1939 Sussex, England at the very onset of World War II, Carey Mulligan plays a landed widow who has what appear to be burial mounds on her land. She learns of a private  “excavator” (played by Fiennes) and engages him about digging into one or more of these mounds to see what lies below. Fiennes transforms himself into this rustic character whose wonderful accent renders him almost unintelligible to the  American ear  (subtitles not a bad idea if they’re available). Mulligan‘s character is less dynamic, though she sees it through with due credibility.  Unless I miss my guess, you will “dig” it as much