WIDOWS directed by Steve McQueen (UK,USA 2018)
There are many reasons why the best TV series are more rewarding and creative than most current movies and Steve McQueen’s latest feature film illustrates why.
There’s something deeply unsatisfying and frustrating about seeing a complex, multi-layered plot condensed into just over two hours. A story divided into one hour episodes can take its time building nuanced characters and the twists, when they come, they don’t feel forced or rushed.
‘Widows’ is based on Lynda La Plante’s ITV series broadcast in the UK in the early 1980s. La Plante had previously written the peerless ‘Prime Suspect’ starring Helen Mirren which proved that ball-breaking women make compelling protagonists. Continue reading
Charlie Brooker knows, and even loves, what technology has to offer but this does not mean that he cannot also see its negative consequences. The second of the Black Mirror dramas on Channel 4, 15 Million Merits, shows the point at which brash TV ‘entertainment’, faddish gadgets and addictive video games cease to be harmless distractions and start to corrode the soul. 
