Liars and Saints

 "Scoop" is an incisive, fast-paced story about power. At its center is Emily Maitlis, who regrets an ancient interview with Bill Clinton. "He was the President, and Monica was twenty-one years old. He skated off--unaltered. Her life was derailed; she endured decades of abuse. I should have asked Bill about Monica." Emily is keenly aware of details. When considering an outfit for a Prince Andrew interview, she refuses a dress, "because I don't want Randy Andy staring at my knees. Well, if it's on camera? Maybe I *do* want him staring at my knees." Emily's eventual choice--a suit with trousers--stirs up a response from Andrew. "Trousers?" he says. And he snorts. It's clear in this moment that he does not see women as human beings; if Emily can just give home some rope, he will gladly do the hard work of hanging himself. The actual interview between Emily and Andrew is masterful. It's evident that Andrew sees the interview as an...

 I am four episodes into the new season of "The Crown," and I'm finding it as wildly uneven, bewitching, sloppy, and beautiful as always (at the least).  Season Four moved from the delightful, upsetting "Fairytale" to the hackneyed, endless "Favourites," and that's just what life is like, if you're a fan of "The Crown." So far, my favorite moments involve Di, the princess-to-be, roller-skating in a palace, fighting her way through a Camilla date, and beginning to discover her own "fan appeal." That said, I'm also just as enchanted as everyone else by the bisexual, bi-continental wonder that is Gillian Anderson. Who could have seen this role coming? Maybe we *all* ought to have seen this one coming. Anderson was just twenty-four when she landed the lead in "The X-Files" (Pamela Anderson and Jennifer Beals were under consideration). GA won an Emmy; she was mistreated on-set after having announced her pregnancy. S...

(5) "Unto Us a Son Is Given." Donna Leon has written somewhere near four million murder mysteries, most (all?) featuring Guido Brunetti. I say "most" because there was a stand-alone mystery somewhere in there, but I can't recall if a murder was involved. Leon says she cares more about the why than about the who of the mystery--and that's certainly clear. She could maybe invest more time in the who. But I'm sympathetic to her point. Speaking on Agatha Christie, Leon said it's too easy for a writer to view a novel as a puzzle, and not as a deep exploration of character. I'm always happy to return to Leon's world--the food, the descriptions of Venice, the quiet heroism of Brunetti, the reliable antics of Patta, Paola, and Elettra--and I'm looking forward to Brunetti's return this March. (4) "Kiss Me, Kate." You have to hand it to Kelli O'Hara: She has had a long-term commitment to the musical theater. Perhaps she has gone...

(5) Is "The Nun" a terribly-written, very-lightly-plotted excuse for a movie--without real characters? Yes. Do you need to see it? No. And yet. And yet. A part of me loves the Catholic campiness. The graves in ancient Romania, with little bells attached, so if you were buried alive, you could pull on the string and the bell would ring, and passersby would take notice. The concept of "perpetual adoration": At least one nun is always chanting in Latin, hymns to the greatness of God, so that the Devil's wrath might be kept at bay. The scene where Taissa Farmiga has a special evil-defeating relic, with the blood of Jesus inside, but you think that the glass is broken and the blood has leaked out, but it turns out Taissa has been storing the blood in her mouth, and she spits it in the demon's face. What gay former Catholic wouldn't love this stuff? My seventeen dollars were wasted, yes--but I'll always have that memory of Taissa, with the blood of Jesus...