Ken's Blog

"Suits" is a TV series available on Amazon Prime. The first season aired in 2011 and seven seasons are available. An eighth season has been announced though with some cast changes. The series involves a fictitious New York law firm that hires only Harvard Law School graduates. Each episode concerns a new case (particularly in the first season), though some plots carry over from episode to episode. The series is well done and well acted. One of the noteworthy aspects is that one of the stars is Meghan Markle (blue dress in the picture), who will become a member of the British Royal Family upon her marriage to Prince Harry in May 2018. The cases are interesting and well acted. Much of the drama concerns the relationship between the very skilled senior partner (played by Gabriel Macht) and his junior associate (played by Patrick Adams). If you like to see lawyers maneuvering and outsmarting each other, you may enjoy the show. I enjoyed some of the legal battles and some office...

"Big Little Lies" is an HBO TV series that first aired in 2017. It's available on Amazon now as well. I would say it is primarily a women focused series. The first season has 7 episodes and the cast includes some mega stars: Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon and Shailene Woodley. It also includes Laura Dern, who I remembered best from "Jurassic Park". A second season is in the works that will include Meryl Streep. The series has won 8 Emmy awards. The story is set in Monterey California and focuses on the lives of the three leading women and their relationships with their children, neighbors, and the men in their lives. The series is a bit rough in parts with plenty of foul language and some troubling scenes of abuse. The story begins with the police called to the scene of an open air party where someone has been killed. The rest of the show consists of flashbacks to everything that happened prior to then, interspersed with brief police interviews of neighbor...

"Injustice" is 2011 five part British TV series about a criminal defense attorney (barrister) who struggles with legal justice versus true justice. The story moves between London and Ipswich and combines a current murder investigation with ramifications of a prior one. James Purefoy plays the barrister William Travers, who suffered a nervous breakdown after successfully defending a car bomb suspect he later learns was actually guilty. He returns to practice to defend a college chum of his accused of murdering a secretary in a hotel room. He makes a point of saying he needs to believe in his client's innocence to defend them. There's a pretty rotten and crooked police inspector involved as well. The show was well done and held my interest. You can see it on Amazon or for free on Vudu (with commercials). You can read more about it at  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Injustice_(TV_series)

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" is a 2017 drama starring Frances McDormand as Mildred Hayes. I think McDormand is most famous for her starring role in the movie "Fargo". Woody Harrelson and Sam Rockwell are key supporting actors.The film is quite powerful, and doesn't provide the easy answers to life's problems that many Hollywood films like to serve up. The story begins 6 months or so after Mildred's daughter was raped and murdered. Unhappy with the progress of the local police investigation, Mildred rents three billboards on a road outside the town and chides police chief Willoughby (played by Woody Harrelson) for inaction. There are some pretty powerful emotions at play in this film, including strong feelings of guilt and sorrow. Many residents are sympathetic to Chief Willoughby, as they know he is dying of pancreatic cancer. But Mildred is a no nonsense individual on a mission, and is not a...