Month: July 2016

The Question of “Was it Love?”: Homeland Pilot

As I’ve written before, I didn’t know who Damian Lewis was until Jennifer Lawrence went full-on fangirl over him on camera. Until then, I’d heard of Homeland only thru my Twitter timeline, taken over by live tweeters every Sunday night. And what you learn from following timelines for a show is 1) a lot of people you like to keep up with on Twitter watch a show, and 2) a lot of those people, when they are watching said show, are often reduced to exclamations of “OMG #Homeland”, “WTF #Homeland”, “Wow, didn’t see that coming #Homeland”, and the very informative “Can’t wait till next week #Homeland”.

So, JLaw’s unscripted display of awesome awe at seeing Brody on a red carpet combined with the wealth of information from my timeline drove me to pursue the show. I got the basic premise and players and knew it came from the folks who made 24, but, foolishly, before deciding to shell out the Showtime subscription, I started with trying to find clips on YouTube. All I found were music videos, and the kiss in the parking lot was immediately spoiled.

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Life With Charlie Crews: Episode 11

I love a happy ending. It’s the reason I love Return of the Jedi instead of The Empire Strikes Back. It’s the reason I am not so sad that Disney took some rather horrifying stories and remade them into something…a little brighter! And it’s why, I think, I love the season finale of Life, season one.

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Going into it the very first time, I wasn’t so sure it was going to be a happy ending. Charlie finds the name of the man who committed the crimes for which he did the time, and he knows just who can help him find this man. He starts the episode by walking into the prison he was unjustly confined in. He looks nervous, edgy. Is it the prison that has him out of sorts, or is it the path that he’s on? Either way, Charlie is much less Zen. Calling in a favor, he taps an inmate named Mark Rawls, someone who owes him a favor. In episode one, Cruise help put the murder of Rawls’ son, John, away. Charlie tasks him with putting out the word-he’s looking for Kyle Hollis. Continue reading “Life With Charlie Crews: Episode 11”

Most Romantic Damian Lewis character? I Vote for Norman Harris in Brides

“Niki, my darling, I thought about you all last night. That’s more or less how a love letter begins. Isn’t it, Niki? ” – Norman Harris

source: screencap
source: Screencap from movie

UPDATE 07/16/2016: I have been living in the US for the last 20 years but I come back to my native Turkey every summer to visit my family. I am currently in Izmir, my hometown, enjoying my family, the food, the sun, and the blue waters of my beloved Aegean sea! And I can’t help think of a Damian Lewis movie that, in fact, starts in my hometown! So, this re-post is just inevitable today…

I am so in the mood for writing about something romantic! So I have been thinking about all Damian Lewis characters to choose one that would fit the bill. And… Voila!  Norman Harris is the winner, for me, as the most romantic character Damian brought to us so far.

Have you seen Brides (Nyfes) yet?

Brides (Nyfes) is a 2004 movie directed by celebrated Greek Director Pantelis Voulgaris and starring Damian Lewis and Victoria Haralabidou in the lead roles. The movie premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2004, and won the Best Film Award at the Greek State Film Awards, a part of the Thessaloniki International Film Festival in 2004. The movie is available for purchase on Amazon.

Brides is a subtle, sad and beautiful story of impossible love between Norman Harris, an American photographer, and Niki Douka, a Greek seamstress. It is also a moving tale of women that need to put tradition, duty and sacrifice before love. The central love story as well as the subplots resonate strongly with me; however, I choose to focus on Norman and Niki’s love story in this post.  Continue reading “Most Romantic Damian Lewis character? I Vote for Norman Harris in Brides”

Our Kind of Traitor is My Kind of Movie

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The long wait is finally over! Our Kind of Traitor finally hit US theaters in limited release on July 1 and I was able to catch one of the first screenings in NY. It was an exciting experience to see Damian Lewis for the first time on big screen and I am happy to report I LOVED the movie. But again I love my movies slow-cooking and artsy with flawed characters that come across as puzzles. I love spending two hours in a movie theater figuring out the puzzles as the story unfolds on screen.

Adaptations of le Carré books on big and small screen, as far as my experience goes, are my kind of movies. They are not typical action/fantasy movies with lots of stunts and special effects. They give you intricate story lines, clever conversations, fishy agendas and gray areas instead. If you have seen The Constant Gardener, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy or The Night Manager you know what I am talking about. And if you have not seen any le Carré earlier, Our Kind of Traitor is a good place to start! Continue reading “Our Kind of Traitor is My Kind of Movie”

Billions on Sky Atlantic, Episode 10: Quality of Life

A very dark episode revolving around a funeral with the most wonderfully perfect comic scene expertly inserted just where you’d want it and need it to be. That one scene, the fake fight between Axe and Dollar Bill, was something straight out of the golden age of slapstick comedy. Absolutely Laurel and Hardy, Three Stooges, Chaplin, and Buster Keaton territory. And no one goes there any more! Hm, an idea for a future post perhaps? Slapstick Reborn via Billions. *making a note*

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