If you enjoyed Julian Fellowes’ “Downton Abbey,” stream his latest mini-series, “The Gilded Age,” a period drama set in the Fifth Avenue mansions of New York City, where old money is suddenly confronted by new, threatening the aristocratic social hierarchy.
Set in the 1880s, the title refers to the economic boom between the Civil War, which ended in 1865, and the first decade of the twentieth century. Mark Twain coined the term ‘Gilded Age’ in his satirical novel, poking fun at how the crass ‘nouveau riche’ covered wood and other decorative objects with a thin layer of gold to make them look more lavish and expensive.
This saga begins as young, penniless Marion Brook (Louisa Jacobson, Meryl Steep’s youngest daughter) arrives from rural Pennsylvania to live on East 61st Street with her arrogant, snobbish aunt, Agnes Von Rhijn (Christine Baranski), son Oscar (Blake Ritson) and spinster sister Ada (Cynthia Nixon).
Across the street, the Russells move into their gaudy, newly-built Stanford White-designed mansion. George Russell (Morgan Spector) is a ruthless railroad tycoon, while his wife Bertha (Carrie Coons) is an ambitious social climber. Completing the Russell family are Harvard-educated son Larry (Harry Richardson) and eligible daughter Gladys (Taissa Farmiga, younger sister of Vera Farmiga).
Of course, these grand houses must have servants, providing continual upstairs/downstairs subplots and gossip. When Marion arrives, she introduces Peggy Scott (Denee Benton), a college-educated Black writer from Brooklyn, who becomes Agnes’ secretary.
Because COVID-19 closed many shows, Julian Fellowes was able to cast top Broadway stars like Donna Murphy (as formidable Mrs. Astor), Audra McDonald (as Peggy’s mother) and Kelli O’Hara (as socialite Aurora Fane) in pivotal roles, along with Nathan Lane, Debra Monk, Jack Gilpin, Katie Finneran, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Bill Irwin, and Michael Cerveris.
Immigrants believed “the streets are paved with gold,” because the owners of these ostentatious Fifth Avenue manors came to America with nothing and amassed great fortunes. To learn more, read Anderson Cooper’s “Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty.”
On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “The Gilded Age” is an erudite, elegant 8, streaming on HBO.
If you’re looking for a compelling Australian mystery/thriller, try “The Dry” in which Eric Bana plays Aaron Falk, a Melbourne federal agent who returns to his (fictional) hometown of Kiewarra after an absence of 20 years to attend the funeral of a childhood friend, Luke Hadler (Martin Dingle Wall), who appears to have shot and killed his wife, his son and himself – sparing only his baby daughter.
In Harry Cripps’ and director Robert Connolly’s adaptation of Jane Harper’s 2016 best-seller, a decade of drought has taken its toll on members of the rural community who are resentful of Falk’s dredging up the drowning death of 17-year-old Ellie Deacon which took place years ago. Could these two crimes be connected?
Since it’s been 324 days since the last rainfall, the air on the flatlands is ominously heavy with suspicion and distrust.
Nevertheless, Luke’s distraught parents, Barb and Gerry (Julia Blake, Bruce Spencer), beg squinty-eyed Falk to stick around to help with the ongoing investigation being conducted by young Sergeant Greg Raco (Keir O’Donnell), who is obviously a novice at this kind of police work.
Flashbacks delve into the tangled high-school relationships of teenage Aaron (Joe Klocek), his girl-friend Gretchen (Claude Scott-Mitchell), troubled Ellie (BeBe Bettencourt) and volatile Luke (Sam Corlett), along with ill-fated Ellie’s embittered father Mal (William Zappa) and cousin Grant (Matt Nable).
More than 20 years ago, Eric Bana scored in Hollywood films like “Chopper,” “Troy,” “Black Hawk Down,” “Munich,” “Hulk” and “Star Trek,” but he was determined to return to his gritty, indie roots and will be seen next in the environmental drama “Blueback” with Mia Wasikowska and Radha Mitchell.
The title evokes what was known as the Millennium Drought, which decimated much of Australia – roughly from 1996 to 2010. And in the months since its original release, “The Dry” has become the 13th highest-grossing Australian film of all time.
On the Granger Gauge, “The Dry” is a slow-burning, soulful 6, streaming on Prime Video and available on Blu-ray & DVD.
Perhaps because of its provocative title, “The Worst Person in the World,” this turgid romantic melodrama from Norway became an Oscar nominee for Best International Feature of 2021 – after Vanity Fair and The Atlantic declared it the Best Movie of the Year.
To say capricious twentysomething Julie (Renate Reinsve) is confused is an understatement. Divided into 12 tedious chapters, plus a prologue and epilogue, her story begins as she’s impetuously quitting medical school because she finds it too much like carpentry.
She then thrusts herself into studying psychology because she finds minds more interesting than bodies, only to abandon that for photography, explaining, “I go from one thing to another. I never see anything through.”
Also unable to get her love life together as her 30th birthday approaches, Julie’s whimsical affections waver between caustic comic-book artist Askel (Anders Danielsen Lie) – who’s in his mid-40s and wants a family while she doesn’t – and Eivind (Herbert Nordrum), a complacent barista with whom she flirts when she crashes a wedding reception.
Carefree duplicity comes easily to entitled Julie, who skirts around the varied, intimate parameters of cheating that comprise infidelity, which psychologically traces back to a frustrating relationship with her unreliable, indifferent father (Vidar Sandern).
Screenwriter Eskil Vogt again collaborates with director Joachim Trier (“Reprise,” “Oslo, August 31st”) and cinematographer Kasper Tuxen, utilizing several clever gimmicks, including a third-person narration, to glue the quasi-comedy together – like the fantasy of having everyone else in Oslo freeze in place while Julie runs ‘cross town to jump into the arms of her new lover.
FYI: Eventually, when the self-deprecating title phrase is used in the script, it doesn’t even refer to Julie.
Radiantly uninhibited Renate Reisve evokes memories of capricious Greta Gerwig, romping though Noah Baumbach’s “France Ha,” making the most of challenging, confrontational chapters like “Oral Sex in the Age of #MeToo.”
On the Granger Gauge, “The Worst Person in the World” is a fragmented, unfocused 5, making one wonder how it ever got nominated.
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