Netflix Series Review: The Queen's Gambit

 

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"The Queen's Gambit" is an original Netflix series and based on a novel of the same name written by Walter Tevis.

The story talks about Beth Harmon, an orphaned chess prodigy on her rise to the top of the chess world while struggling with drug and alcohol dependency. It's set between the 1950s and 1960s.

I really devoured this series, a little slow at the beginning, but fast and fast on going on.
I liked the protagonist character, enigmatic and sophisticated, and, in my opinion, the actress they chose was perfect for the role.

Chess' world is fascinating. It's a war art played into the mind of players before that in the chessboard. I've played lots of time against my sister and boyfriend, but it's a board game that's not for me. It needs too much focus and when I play something I completely turn off my brain, haha.

Have you seen the series? What do you think about it? Have you ever played chess? Do you like it? If you were a chess prodigy, what would you do? Let me know in the comments.

Night blesses you all

Emily

Tv Series Review: Alias Grace

 

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"Alias Grace" is a miniseries that you can find on Netflix and it's based on the novel written by Margaret Atwood ("The handmaid tails"). 

Grace is an immigrant who arrived in Canada with her family from Ireland. She became the made of a rich family where she met her best friend. Some years later, Grace was hired in another family where she murdered the proprietor and his lover. She was sentenced to death at the beginning, but a doctor wanted to help her to change it into a life sentence. 

I love the setting of the series: the 19th century is a fascinating period. The simplicity of that period's people is something we couldn't imagine in our contemporary years.
I think the protagonist actress, Sarah Gadon (Grace), is perfect for these enigmatic roles. I saw her for the first time in "The Queen's Gambit" and I really loved her and her character. 
I found the series relaxing. Not so much engaging, maybe a little touching for those who are more sensitive.

Have you seen "Alias Grace"? What do you think about it? Who could you have been in the 19th century based on your actual family and work conditions? Let me know in the comments.

Night blesses you.

Emily

Amazon Series Review: The Boys 2

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Here we are with the review of the second season of "The Boys", don't forget to read that of the first one here.

In the second season arrives a new female superhero. She's very charismatic with the crowds and tries to convince the leader of the superheroes to use the same marketing method. Meanwhile, the ex-agent of the FBI finds his wife and plans a way to bring her back home with her son. The protagonist tries to work on his relationship with one of the superheroines.

I think the second season is as good as the first one. Except for the existence of superheroes, I find its topics very contemporary: the appearance we need to show to other people is more important than what and who, we really are. 

If you would have the power of immortality, how would you live your eternity? Let me know in the comments.

Night bless you all!

Emily

Netflix Series Review - Dark

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"Dark" is a German Netflix original series that talks about time travel. It's divided into 3 seasons and it's currently closed.

2019. In the small city of Winden disappear two children. The following researches reveal mysteries and secrets about four families: the Kahnwald, the Nielsen, the Doppler, and the Tiedemann. Moreover, during the researches happen some strange events like the falling of copious birds and strong and strange electric pulses that blow the electricity all over the city. Most of the older inhabitants remember that the same events also happened 33 years before when disappeared another child of the Nielsen family.

The first season is articulated on three timelines, each one distant 33 years: 2019, 1986, 1953. I found it slower than the others, but the reason is simple: there is a high quantity of information. 

The second season space out between the year 1921 and the year 2052. It's slow, but like the first, it's still full of information that finally seems to lead somewhere.

At last, the third season comes back in time until the year 1888. Into the second to last episode were included a tracking shot of other years that let us set the last pieces of the story. I found this last season very quick and sometimes a bit overwhelming, but still great!

The end is beautiful, surprising, and that I've never imagined because, like the protagonists, I thought that all the events would start from a point but they started before instead.

The entire series is based on the auto-consistency principle that says, essentially, that the past is immutable and so anyone would come back to change it, will be led to get it done again (see "Novikov self-consistency principle").

Have you seen the series? What do you think about it? Would you like time-traveling? Let me know in the comments.

See you soon

Emily

Amazon Series Review - The Boys

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It took a year, but finally, my boyfriend convinced me to watch the first TV series of "The Boys". As it came out I judged it badly, thinking of it as an absurd parody of superheroes, but I had to change my mind instead.

The series starts with the homicide of the protagonist's girlfriend, by a superhero. While the protagonist has to decide if he has to accept or not the offer of the superheroes, an ex-agent of the FBI contacts him offering him help to obtain justice.

They plan to put a bug in the meeting room of the superheroes, to find out if it was really an accident, but they're found out by one of the heroes, that block and try to kill them. They succeed in knocking out, capturing, and hiding him. Unfortunately, the hero saw their face and don't want to free him because he could continue hunting them, or worse, he could tell everything to the leader of the heroes.

After the hero exploded, they discover that the hero who killed the protagonist's girlfriend is involved in superhero drug trafficking, so they want to catch him. Meanwhile, they find out also that superheroes weren't born like superheroes, but they were created in a laboratory, thank the same substance that they use like drugs and that the drug traffics, ends in the hands of some terrorists who are trying to create an army of super-terrorists.

I wasn't completely convinced about the seriousness of the story, so I started to watch it taking it lightly, but since the first episode, I've put away the thought that it was absurd. This first series is interesting, especially because it doesn't show classical good superheroes, devoted only to charity, but it shows how humans would really react if they keep superpowers in this age of social media: they would think more to impress and receive "likes" than seriously save people.

Have you seen the series? What do you think about it? Ant what do you think about a similar vision of the superheroes? Do you agree? If you awake one morning with Superman's powers, how would you use them? Let me know in the comments.

See ya soon!

Emily

Netflix series review: The Alienist

Hello readers! I'm here again with a new review.

I saw "The Alienist" during the quarantine. I found it quite soft, but really interesting.

It tells about a psychologist, one of the first during the last ten years of 1800. He would study better the mind of people and he wants to help children who have some psychological problems. There's also his best friend, that is a very good photographer. The two works secretly to a police murder case to find out who is really guilty. The corpse is found on a small bridge, mutilated. After the first corpse, others are found all around the little Neighborhood. The psychologist and the photographer find a very valid help from the only one woman who's working in the police station.

The atmosphere of the series is quite dark and there are also some good plot twists. I found it a good series to watch during quarantine because it talks about innovation. The psychologist is trying to convince other people that the brain is the most complicated organ of our body and that the methods used until that moment to heal mad people are completely wrong. The female presence in the police station is a very rare case for those years, in fact, her presence isn't well seen from most of the policemen.

A few days ago came out the 2nd series here in Italy, so...I know what I can watch this weekend.

What do you think about the 1st series? Did you like it? Let me know in the comments!

Have a nice day!

Emily