This brain dump will regale you with thoughts on the Australian TV series Secret City, the documentary film Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story, and the AMC series Dietland.
Secret City
Secret City season 1 ran in Australia in 2016. I watched it (somewhat illegally) at the time but didn’t write about it because there was no way to see it in the US. Now Netflix has season 1. A second season is in progress in Australia. It will air there in October 2018. Perhaps, now that Netflix is interested in this excellent series, (finally!) it will come to the US faster than season 1 did.
Anna Torv stars as a journalist. She’s always outstanding and her part in Secret City is no exception. In season 1 the plot revolved around political conspiracies between powerful influences in Australia, China, and the US. Some of the co-stars included Jacki Weaver, Marcus Graham, Mekhi Phifer, and Sacha Horler. Exciting news for me is that Danielle Cormack will be among the actors coming on board for season 2.
Check out season 1 now on Netflix, and keep your fingers crossed along with me for a faster arrival on the streaming service for season 2.
Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story
Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story is a documentary from writer and director Alexandra Dean. It uses recordings of Hedy Lamarr from an interview, archival photographs and videos, and interviews with her friends and family to tell her story.
Hedy Lamarr was a beautiful and glamorous movie star. But she was also an inventor. A technology she invented for the navy during World War II is the basis for all modern day WiFi, bluetooth, GPS, and much more. She’s finally getting some recognition for her inventions, but she never made any money from them.
The film traces her life from her childhood in Vienna, through her career as an actress, her marriages, and her final years as a recluse.
Dietland
Created for television by Marti Noxon, based on the bestseller of the same name by Sarai Walker and with women directors including Marti Noxon, Amy York Rubin, and Helen Shaver, Dietland has all the feminist cred you’ll ever need in a TV series.
Joy Nash stars as the main character, Plum Kettle. Dietland takes on a lot: body image, health, rape culture, activism, oppression, sexism, racism, homophobia, p0rn, the beauty industry, and the diet industry. The book was brilliant. Its well-written, thoughtful, and sometimes hilarious qualities have carried over into the series.
Co-stars include Julianna Margulies, Tamara Tunie, Adam Rothenberg, Robin Weigert, Tramell Tillman, Campbell Scott, and Mya Taylor. It’s on AMC. The 1st season is almost over, but I urge you to catch up with this outstanding series.
I have seen season 1 of “Secret City.” I agree with you that it is very good.
I have seen the documentary film about Hedy Lamarr. It is very interesting, but it has a flaw: there are no subtitles, and subtitles are necessary, because there are many scenes where the speaker is mumbling.
I have not seen the third item mentioned in your post.
Hmm, I watch everything with CC on because I’m going deaf, but I didn’t notice that about the Hedy Lamarr story. I remember her so well from movies I saw as a kid.
I can only say that when I watched the story about Hedy Lamarr, no subtitles were available.
I wish they had been there to help you enjoy it.
on what platform is the Hedy Lamarr doc available? i loved her as an actress and was aware of her inventions but have never seen a film about her.
Netflix, Google Play and YouTube all have it.
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LOVED “Secret City.” found the Hedy Lamarr doc on Netflix, and it has subtitles in English (not going deaf yet but prefer to watch most everything with closed captions). “Dietland” is wonderfully subversive.
Don’t know if you saw it but I did a review of the entire season of Dietland after it ended.