Orange is the New Black Season 2 by Jenji Kohan, Netflix, 2013- (TVMA)

A dozen Emmy Award nominations went to this acclaimed comedy drama series including Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Writing and Outstanding Lead Actress for star Taylor Schilling, and one won for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series: Uzo Aduba. A crime she committed in her youthful past sends Piper Chapman (Schilling) to a women's prison, where she trades her comfortable New York life for one of unexpected camaraderie and conflict in an eccentric group of fellow inmates. Shocking revelations and new arrivals shake up the lives and relationships of Litchfield's prisoners in the highly anticipated second season.



What you would think might fail season 2 (the almost absence of Alex Vause) doesn't. We were all prepared to not see her at all, from all the reviews, so her little presence was sufficient. We got instead to know more about Poussey, Crazy Eyes, and even if somehow the additional character Vee (impressive Lorraine Toussaint) gets us a little on our nerves towards the end, she is an amazing character and trouble-maker. Then the storyline of Chapman and her ex-future husband, which was turning a little boring, fades, so even better. From the book I read from Piper Kerman, there is little left to compare, the story shifted away and continues growing to a complete different plot, and that's okay. After the nominations and one win for Uzo Aduba, I hope the third season is not going to fail, the bar is now raised high.



with Kate Mulgrew, Yael Stone, Laverne Cox, Natasha Lyonne, Laura Prepon, Taylor Schilling (Argo), Uzo Aduba, Selenis Leyva, Samira Wiley, Danielle Brooks, Elizabeth Rodriguez, Taryn Manning, Dascha Polanco, Lorraine Toussaint

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read more on the 1st season of OITNB

Orange is the New Black by Jenji Kohan, Netflix, 2013- (TVMA)

with Taylor Schilling (Argo), Laura Prepon, Michael Harney, Michelle Hurst, Kate Mulgrew, Jason Biggs, Natasha Lyonne, Pablo Schreiber, Nick Sandow, Dascha Polanco, Joel Garland, Lea DeLaria, Samira Wiley, Matt McGorry, Yael Stone, Danielle Brooks, Uzo Aduba, Catherine Curtin, Selenis Leyva, Constance Shulman, Annie Golden (I Love You Phillip Morris), Vicky Jeudy, Emma Myles, Laverne Cox, Taryn Manning, Elizabeth Rodriguez, Maria Dizzia (The Other Woman, Keep the Lights On), Lolita Foster, Beth Fowler, Abigail Savage, Madeline Brewer, Jackie Cruz, Diane Guerrero, Jessica Pimentel, Adrienne C. Moore, Lauren Lapkus, Lin Tucci, Matt Peters, Michael Chernus (Jack and Diane), Lori Tan Chinn, Laura Gomez, James McDaniel...

From the creator of “Weeds” comes a heartbreaking and hilarious new series set in a women’s prison. Piper Chapman’s wild past comes back to haunt her, resulting in her arrest and detention in a federal penitentiary. To pay her debt to society, Piper trades her comfortable New York life for an orange prison jumpsuit and finds unexpected conflict and camaraderie amidst an eccentric group of inmates. The series is based on Orange Is the New Black by Piper Kerman, a memoir about her experiences in prison, and aired on Netflix (House of Cards).

OITNB by Brazilian graphic design student Renis

I am in withdrawal. Watched it too fast, finished it too fast, loved too much the characters, and now they are gone for one year. And reading the sneaks that have been spilling around didn't make me feel better. Why is Alex only in one episode? Is she? Not to offense anyone, but that is a very bad idea. I think I can speak on behalf of a lot of people, we need her in the show. If the creators are reading, this is a message, put her back in, in third season if too late for the second season. And I didn't even like her, initially. But the series is so much about humanity, any character is having a perspective to offer on their own situation, own behavior, not that everything is justifiable, but definitely, it broaden your judgement, made so easily in perhaps the first episode and broken every step of the season. Brilliant. You learn to love every one of them, perhaps the hardest to like is the main one that is leading us to get to know all the other, Piper. But in a way, the conflict you have with her are the ones you have of someone who isn't really real, someone who still have some shallowness to drop down. But the reflective effect of the prison is definitely already changing her. And it doesn't goes only for the better. I in the end have no idea how realistic the prison is, I don't wish to have an experience of it, but I really love the portrait of the women Jenji Kohan traced. It is beautiful, human, not pretty, but full of humanity. And Laura Prepon makes it have that edge that seduces you. How about making Alex a bigger character in the next season? Right, I already pleaded...

PS: I put quite a lot of the cast, which I am usually lazy about, but hey, I am a new yorker, the cast is mostly from here, they cast some people I know in it, and I think all these actresses need all to be recognized for they gave an amazing performance.

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I Love You Phillip Morris by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, 2009 (R)

with Jim Carrey, Ewan McGregor (Amelia, Haywire, The Men Who Stare At Goats, The Ghost Writer, Perfect Sense, Salmon Fishing In Yemen), Leslie Mann, Rodrigo Santoro, Antoni Corone, Brennan Brown, Michael Mandel, Annie Golden

When upstanding Texas cop Steven Russell (Jim Carrey) realizes he's gay, he changes his entire life and pulls a series of bold con jobs that lands him in jail -- where he meets his one true love, cellmate Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor). When Morris is transferred to another prison, lovesick Russell mounts a series of jailbreaks just to be with his beloved soul mate.

Craziest gay movie ever. What I cannot believe is that it is a true story. The trailer is great but the movie is pushed a little bit too much to the extreme. Sometimes, it is just no longer funny. I wonder how Ewan McGregor chose to appear in this movie, which is far away from his other movies. Jim Carrey is exuberant, very much in his own style, but it is painful. Anyway, not to recommend.

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Un Prophete by Jacques Audiard, 2009 (R)

with Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup (Elle S'appelait Sarah, L'affaire Farewell, War Horse), Adel Bencherif, Hichem Yacoubi, Reda Kateb, Jean-Philippe Ricci, Gilles Cohen, Antoine Basler, Leïla Bekhti (Paris Je T'aime, Tout Ce Qui Brille), Pierre Leccia, Foued Nassah, Jean-Emmanuel Pagni...

"Sentenced to six years in prison, young man Malik El Djebena is alone in the world and can neither read nor write. On his arrival at the prison he falls under the sway of a Corsican mafia group, led by Luciani, who enforce their rule in the prison. Malik toughens himself and wins the confidence of the Corsican group. He follows Luciani's orders to kill prisoner Reyeb. Luciani arranges 12-hour leaves for Malik, in which Luciani sends him on missions, including murder. Malik learns how to read and write, and uses all his intelligence to discreetly develop his own network. His power grows and finally he is no longer on Luciani's side." WIKI

A French movie that made me proud of my country, in term of film making. The subject is such a different reality, real, but from a system no-one really understand as such. A prison. How can people in the prison be so much in control of the exterior world? And how can a system that is allowing a certain justice can be so corrupted, even in prison. We all know politicians do their job their own way, but the journey with this kid is a revelation from the inside. Also wanted to mention that the cast is incredible.

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