5 REASONS TO WATCH BERLIN STATION

What it is about

It's a 10-part spy series which follows Daniel Miller (Richard Armitage) just arrived at the CIA foreign station in Berlin, Germany. Miller has a clandestine mission: to uncover the source of a leak who has supplied information to a now-famous whistleblower named Thomas Shaw. After  ten years spent as a CIA analyst, Daniel goes back to the rough-and-tumble world of the field agent guided by veteran Hector DeJean (Rhys Ifans).

PERIOD & MORE PERIOD - DOCTOR THORNE, TROLLOPE & FELLOWES ARE A WINNING PAIR

“Conduct! Is conduct everything? One may conduct oneself excellently, and yet break one's heart.”

I've been watching quite a bit of present-day drama series lately,  but not completely neglecting my search for good period drama. I haven't seen anything in a 19th century costume since War & Peace, actually, but being quite taken by my unmissable Wednesday nights' dates with Rev. Sidney Chambers.  I love Grantchester series 2 even more than the series 1 and, mind you, I was deeply fond of that. I have had to convert, ehm, surrender to the charms of the ginger after Outlander and Grantchester. 

We've had plenty of good series to watch, especially on Sunday nights, so you may have missed this lovely adaptation of Anthony Trollope's Doctor Thorne (book 3 in the Barsetshire Chronicles, 1858). Book 1 and 2 were adapted by BBC as The Barchester Chronicles in 1982 with a stellar cast including the late Alan Rickman.

If you were distracted by the Hiddleston/Colman vs Laurie/Hollander battle of talents in BBC One adaptation of John Le Carrè's The Night Manager and you lost Tom Hollander as the lead in Julian Fellowes's adaptation of Doctor Thorne, don't worry, you can catch up thanks to ITV online player or add the DVD to your costume drama collection. 

WAITING FOR THE OSCARS, I'VE SEEN A FEW: THE DANISH GIRL

Waiting to discover this year’s winners in a few days, I’ve been watching a few of the nominated films. What about discussing one of them a day till the Oscars Show on Saturday Night? Here's the first one. 

The Danish Girl

Synopsis

Copenhagen, 1926. Danish artist, Gerda Wegener, painted her own husband, Einar Wegener (Eddie Redmayne), as a lady in her painting. When the painting gained popularity, Einar started to change his appearance into a female appearance and named himself Lili Elbe. With his feminism passion and Gerda's support, Einar - or Elbe - attempted one of the first male-to-female sex reassignment surgery, a decision that turned into a massive change for their marriage, that Gerda realized her own husband is no longer a man or the person she married before. A childhood friend of Einar, art-dealer Hans Axgil (Matthias Schoenaerts), shows up and starts a complex love triangle with the couple (from imdb)

PERIOD & MORE PERIOD - "MR HOLMES" AND "SUFFRAGETTE"

Are you in for a couple of good recommendations? Movies this time. The latest I've seen and liked, both released in theatres in the last months of 2015: Mr Holmes starring Sir Ian McKellen, directed by Bill Condon and based on 2005 Mitch Cullin's "A Slight Trick of the Mind", and Suffragette with a stellar cast including Carey Mulligan, Anne-Marie Duff, Romola Garai, Helena Bonham-Carter, Meryl Streep, Ben Whishaw and Samuel West and directed by Sarah Gavron.

Ian McKellen as the retired Sherlock Holmes with little Milo Parker (Photograph: Allstar/BBC Films)

HOW ROMANTIC IS FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD? FROM THE BOOK TO VINTERBERG'S MOVIE (2015)

The story

Independent and spirited Bathsheba Everdene has come to Weatherbury to take up her position as a farmer on the largest estate in the area. Her bold presence draws three very different suitors: the gentleman-farmer Boldwood, soldier-seducer Sergeant Troy and the devoted shepherd Gabriel Oak. Each, in contrasting ways, unsettles her decisions and complicates her life, and tragedy ensues, threatening the stability of the whole community. The first of his works set in Wessex, Hardy's novel of swift passion and slow courtship is imbued with his evocative descriptions of rural life and landscapes, and with unflinching honesty about sexual relationships.

OUTLANDER NEWS - DVD & BLU-RAY OUT SOON

Have you been envying Outlander fans in the US who have been able to enjoy this amazing series on TV? It's time for you to stop wishing and dreaming. 
Have you,  instead,  seen it on Starz and want to rewatch it,  because you can't have enough, because add it you your Outlander book collection, you wish to own it or think of giving it as a  present to friends to share the love? 
The big news is that you can do all that right now! Outlander season 1, volume 1 will be released on Digital HD on February 9 and on DVD and Blu-ray on March 3rd. Loaded with extras (see details below!) 

You can pre-order your copy HERE. 

The second half of season 1 will be aired from April 4th. Episode  9 will be broadcast,  which includes one of the most controversial  scenes in Gabaldon's book. It will be a shocking  and shaking moment for millions of Jamie Fraser's fans. 
While eagerly expecting for the darker part of the series, here is a great surprise gift : A 2-disc set for collectors! Read on to discover more.

AT THE CINEMA - OKAY WILL BE OUR ALWAYS: THE FAULT IN OUR STARS IN ITALY (COLPA DELLE STELLE)

“The world is not a wish-granting factory.” 

I was so proud of myself because I had read all through John Green's book smiling or laughing, getting sad or moved,   but never giving way to tears.   I read The Fault in Our Stars not long ago and in a very short time,  appreciating Mr Green's talent at creating a brilliant YA romance (my review). 

Now, it is not that I'm not proud of myself anymore for what happened, but, you know, it is not easy for me to get moved to tears in public and it is always quite embarassing when the lights in the theatre are switched on and you are in a flood of tears and blowing your nose, isn't it?

In this case there were many wet eyes and noses blown here and there at the end of  The Fault in Our Stars (Colpa delle Stelle) which opened on 4th September here in Italy, so I felt a bit less foolish.

Anyway, what I especially loved in this movie is that, just like the book, it is not whining or melodramatic. What prevails is teenage lightness and bitter irony,  which becomes harsh, if not paradoxical,  sarcasm some times.

Cancer and young love, death and life, hope and desperation: tough dichotomies to deal with without ending up with sappiness or melodrama. I couldn't find traces of either in this touching story, honestly.