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Real nuggets of drama

My Nikkel’s Worth column

So I had a good week off, and while I didn’t get everything done around the house I had hoped to, it was a nice relaxing time.

The problem is, I think I’ve mined the nuggets on Netflix and Disney+ fairly thoroughly, and there were some really good movies and series that were definitely worth watching.

I wanted to mention one really good but unusual limited series, called “The Queen’s Gambit” on Netflix.

If I told you they created a series based on a girl who’s incredibly sharp and a chess prodigy, would that sound like an exciting show?

Aside from chess fans, probably not. But it was really, really good, and it was due to the storytelling about the young girl, following her story into adulthood, as she pursued her singular talents in chess to the world level.

As an occasional chess player, I could follow some of it (and there were lots of references to very particular chess strategies and moves that I’m sure a chess expert would find interesting), but the story about her as a person carried the story for the most part.

There were times that she acted in a bizarre manner, and times when her vices and habits got the best of her, but then her friends and supporters came through and helped her, and wouldn’t give up on her, recognizing the unique talents that she had.

There were also two movies that are worth mentioning for anyone who enjoys a good drama. One was a remake of “Rebecca”, which was originally an Alfred Hitchcock movie.

Normally I would avoid this, as films by the master are too good to be redone. In this category, I would place his classics like “Rear Window”, “Vertigo” and “North by Northwest”, among others. These are all perfectly-crafted could not ever be remade to do the originals justice.

In the case of Rebecca, however, I would say this is a very nice, beautifully-shot and well-acted movie of this story, and is well worth checking out. The other movie that was really good is one from 2017 called “Marshall”.

This is a story about Thurgood Marshall as a lawyer for the NAACP, who went on to become a justice for the U.S. Supreme Court. In this story, he appears in a case of a black man accused of raping a white woman, and the challenges he faced as a black lawyer (such as the judge refusing to allow him to represent the accused). In light of recent racial tensions in the U.S., this is an excellent movie to see.