Call My Agent (French title Dix pour cent; in French: “Ten Percent”) in French with subtitles. For everyone in show biz and those who love to watch it satirized, this eminently credible, entertaining series centers on the Paris talent agency ASK, the private and personal lives of its competitive employees, vicissitudes of deal making, and the often colorful actors it represents. Each chapter features at least one well known French film or theater star. A light touch keeps it humming. On Netflix.
Brideshead Revisited (1981 VERSION) from the Evelyn Waugh novel. We follow middle class gentleman Charles Ryder (America’s introduction to Jeremy Irons), his deep, Oxford-born friendship with hedonist patrician, Sebastian Flyte (Anthony Andrews) and adoption by the colorful Flyte family from the 1920s through the 1940s. Like taking a long, warm bath through the era. Gorgeous to look at, rich characterization, rife with pathos. Marvelous cast including, in part, Diana Quick, Claire Bloom, Simon Jones. Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud, Stephane Audran.
Penny Dreadful A British American horror drama for those who appreciate cinematic artistry.Wealthy explorer Malcolm Murray (Timothy Dalton) tries to save his daughter from possession by pure evil with the help of her friend, Vanessa Ives (Eva Green) whose unwitting connection to Hell becomes increasingly apparent.
In a single Victorian series, writers conceived the interaction of young Dr. Victor Frankenstein, his sympathetic creature and a beautiful wife created for the monster; Dorian Grey, a wolfman, vampires, demons…Satan. If you revel in the eternal battle against/attraction to evil, this one’s for you. Research is historical and theological. Billie Piper, Josh Hartnett, Rory Kinnear, Reve Carney, Harry Treadaway, Simon Russell Beale, Helen McCrory
Penny Dreadfuls were a genre of 19th-century British fiction publications with lurid, sensational subject matter.
Modern Love is based on the weekly column published by The New York Times. Eight short episodes unsuccessfully try to connect in the last, but stand well on their own. One about a paternal doorman is the all on favorite. Familial, romantic, sexual, and platonic love are presented by Christin Milioti and Brandon Victor Dixon, Anne Hathaway and Gary Carr, Catherine Keener and Dev Patel, Tina Fey and John Slattery, Sofia Boutella and John Gallagher Jr., Andrew Scott and Olivia Cooke, Julia Garner and Shea Whigham, Jane Alexander and James Saito. With some stories better than others, the collection is warm, sometimes charming, and occasionally very satisfying.
Top photo of “Call My Agent” courtesy of Netflix.
