Anne of Green Gables

I first met Anne Shirley when I was around 13. I quickly fell in love with the spunky, outspoken, and imaginative orphan. When first you meet Anne, she’s waiting at the train station for her new family. She’s imagined how it will be, how they will love her, how they will accept her into their...

Jan / Feb 2021: “Family”

In this issue, we explore family dynamics, dysfunctional families, likable families, and makeshift families, born or chosen, from the March Sisters to Blue Bloods. Please join us in exploring the good, the bad, and the remarkable influences family can have on the individual. Articles go live on the assigned date. IN THIS ISSUE: Jan 2:...

The Root of All Evil: Money and Upheaval in ‘Little Dorrit’

The story of the BBC miniseries Little Dorrit is about many things, but one of its main themes is money (more specifically, how the love of money truly is the root of all evil). The two parts of the massive original novel are titled “Poverty” and “Riches.” Throughout the story, we see the harm money...

Band of Brothers

“From this day to the ending of the world, But we in it shall be remembered—We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; For he to-day that sheds his blood with me; Shall be my brother…” ­– Henry V, William Shakespeare. Almost twenty years ago, the ten-part miniseries, HBO released Band of Brothers. Following...

Uncomfortable Humanity in ‘Broken Trail’

The 2006 miniseries Broken Trail brings several unique perspectives to the traditional Western paradigm, mainly because of its exploration of what it’s like on the other end of the brothel business. When Print Ritter, his nephew, and their associate inadvertently intercept a human trafficker, they assume the guardianship of the five Asian girls he was...

From Book to Screen: The Genius of Good Omens

Ah, Good Omens. The 90s cult classic cooked up by a young Terry Pratchett and young Neil Gaiman … which became a smash TV hit some thirty years later. Pratchett and Gaiman were fairly new authors at the time. According to them, Good Omens was never supposed to be a serious project. “We were just...

Our Mutual Friend

Having watched a few Dickens adaptations over the years, the one I’ve kept going back to more than any other (and decided I needed to own after just the first watch!) is Our Mutual Friend. Showcasing the wonderful knack Dickens used in many of his works of expertly weaving divergent storylines and a complex and...

And Then There Were None

Have you ever watched something and hated it? Sat on it for two days, watched it again, and loved it? That happened to me with And Then There Were None, a recent miniseries based on Agatha Christie’s standalone novel about a string of unsolved murders on a remote island. The setting is sinister, and the...

Pleasantly Surprised by Sense and Sensibility

I’ll admit it, I was skeptical. After all, I was practically raised on the brilliant 1995 Sense and Sensibility with Emma Thompson. How could this BBC miniseries match that? Did you SEE the actor they picked to play Willoughby? But I reluctantly agreed to watch it and ate every one of my cynical thoughts. I...

Stephen King’s It

When you hear about Stephen King’s It, do you think of a scary, homicidal clown? I think most people probably do, especially with the release of the newest movies, It: Parts One and Two. In case you haven’t read the book or seen the movies, the story is about a killer clown who targets kids....