Grey Gardens (HBO)

Grey Gardens is an HBO film about Big Edie and Little Edie Bouvier Beale, an aunt and cousin of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.  The Beales came into notoriety in the 1972 documentary by the Maysles brothers.  This fictionalized account of the Beales, with Jessica Lange playing the mother and Drew Barrymore as the daughter, dances back and forth in time from 1936 to 1972, and it is wonderful.  The Beales were high society, and both mother and daughter loved to sing and dance.  Both were eccentric and didn’t quite fit in to the society that surrounded them.  They end up living by themselves in their huge mansion in East Hampton and letting it go to ruin.  I have always been fascinated by them and enjoyed the documentary by the Maysles brothers.  In this film, which uses the framework of the documentary being made, we are drawn deeply into their characters.  As acted with incredible authenticity by Lange and Barrymore, the Beales are unique and tender and tragic and funny.  The chemistry between Lange and Barrymore is very strong and their push and pull relationship as mother and daughter is very believable.  I found myself wanting them to find happiness in whatever form it took.

Bones

With the writers’ strike lasting so long, there is not too much on television.  But I am addicted to reruns of Bones, a mystery series inspired by the  life of anthropologist Kathy Reichs.   Dr. Temperance Brennan, nicknamed “Bones,” (Emily Deschanel), is a forensic anthropologist (and mystery author on the side) working at the Jeffersonian Institute in Wasthington, DC.  With her team of scientists (“squints”),  she and her partner, FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz) solve murders when almost all that is left are bones.  Brennan’s best friend is Angela Montenegro (Michaela Conlin), an earthy and sensitive artist who specializes in reconstructing facial features and crime scenes.  She can create reconstructions of people’s faces in a completely fascinating holographic process.  The rest of the cast and characters are equally well developed and smart.  I am intrigued both by the cases and how they can solve them (who knew what you could see in a bone?), and by the backgrounds and relationships among the characters.  The writing is intelligent, with a delightful sense of humor, and a depth that makes me care about the characters.  I am feeling lucky that I didn’t catch on to this show when it first aired because I keep finding new ones.  It is on Fox TV but there are also reruns on TNT.

The Complete Jane Austen

Masterpiece (formerly Masterpiece Theatre) is currently presenting The Complete Jane Austen, a series on KQED, and it is wonderful.  It consists of 6 remakes of Jane Austen novels–each one is 90 minutes–and one show that is a dramatization of Jane Austen’s life.  I love Jane Austen and have seen every film ever made from her novels.  These remakes are very British and more authentic than some of the more Hollywood versions–people look and act less glamorous and more real–I recognize amost none of the excellent British cast. The effect is to make you feel that you are really back in that time.  The emotional essence of the story–always that delicious combination of restraint and romance–comes through without distraction.  I have seen three so far–Persuasion, Northanger Abbey, and Mansfield Park (which is on this week–KQED plays them several times).  I am looking forward to enjoying the rest.  They are a breath of light on television during this long writer’s strike. 

Weeds(Season 1 & 2 on DVD)

Weeds is a Showtime series. It is an interesting concept– Nancy Botwin, a suburban mother (Mary Louise Parker) whose husband has died from a heart attack, sells pot to support her family. She lives in a wealthy suburb with her two sons, her on-the-edge but loveable brother-in-law (Justin Kirk), and her hispanic housekeeper. Supporting cast also includes Elizabeth Perkins as a brittle but complicated friend and neighbor, Kevin Nealon as a mostly stoned councilman, Romany Malco as the appealing, intelligent and complex Conrad, Nancy’s partner in the business, and Tonye Patano as the grandmotherly pot dealer who is Nancy’s original source. The cast on this show is just terrific and the writing is smart, funny, and original. I really enjoyed Season 1, but Season 2 was even funnier and sharper–I rented the dvd and watched straight through all the episodes because I couldn’t stop. As Nancy develops her business, and it expands and grows, she is dealing with all the issues that come up being a single mother with two adolescent sons, as she tries to support her family and have some time for her own relationships and needs. From the beginning scene, accompanied by the song “Little Boxes” by Malvina Reynolds, to the last credits, Weeds is really entertaining and fun. Season 3 starts next week–makes me wish I had Showtime so I didn’t have to wait for the dvd.

Summer TV for Grown-Ups

Something interesting is happening on cable tv, not HBO, but lesser known cable stations that come with the basic package–AMC, TNT, FX–you have to look up to see what number they are. But this summer there are four new shows, three with wonderful parts for seasoned actresses, that are worth checking out. There has been a trend before now to have over-40 actresses in some really juicy cable roles. Kyra Sedgewick is enjoying her third season as “The Closer.” Minnie Driver was nominated for an Emmy for her role as a just-released-from-prison mother, wife, and drug addict on “The Riches.”
Here are the four shows that just started last week: To me, the most interesting one is “Mad Men.” Written by a producer and writer of “The Sopranos,” it tells the story of people working at an advertising agency on Madison Avenue in 1960. It is unsparing in showing the period–ie, a gynecologist does a pelvic exam with a cigarette in his hand–and it has compelling characters and interesting plot. In “Damages,” Glen Close, looking fabulous, plays a high powered lawyer manipulating a young woman lawyer (Rose Byrne) and everyone else around her. “Amazing Grace” has Holly Hunter playing a gritty, alcoholic poice officer who has a spiritual experience that shakes up her life. And “State of Mind” (the weakest of the four) has Lily Taylor playing a psychologist who catches her husband with another woman. I find it very exciting to see actresses with the skill of Glen Close and Holly Hunter in a format where you can see them every week. There has been a lot written about the lack of parts for women over 40. Traditionally successful film actresses did not do tv. If this is a new trend, I hope that it continues.

Big Love

Big Love, an HBO series about a modern day polygamous family that lives in the suburbs in Utah, is one of my favorite shows.  Bill (Bill Paxton), the father in the family,  is a flawed character.  And not just because he has three wives and seems to think that he is getting the message to marry and to do business deals from a Divine source.  Bill gets involved with revenge on those who exposed his family, with buying a video poker company, and with his attraction to a lovely waitress, even as he tries hard to be there for each of his wives. Bill’s wives and how they interact with him, their 7 children (especially Barb’s children, who struggle with issues like secrecy ans sexuality), and each other as sister-wives are the compelling part of this series.  The creators of this show explore these relationships from every angle.  The women are very different from each other–sensible Barb (Jean Trippletorn) who married Bill never considering polygamy as an option; sly Nikki (Chloe Sevigny) who grew up on the same polygamous compound as Bill and believes in the “principle;” and adorable Margene (Ginnifer Goodwin), who is coming into her own this season as a strong woman.  Big Love explores different aspects of what love and family mean, and gives the viewer the opportunity to take a look into an unfamiliar world, where in the end many of the people don’t seem that unfamiliar at all.

*If you are new to this show, I recommend starting with Season 1 (on DVD) and then going to Season 2 (which is currently playing)  The first episodes of both seasons are not that good but keeping with it is well worth it.