What are you watching? Readers recommend 'Madam Secretary,' 'You Can't Take It With You'

Monitor TV and movie fans share what they've been watching lately.

|
Sarah Shatz/CBS
'Madam Secretary'

You should watch the new season of Madam Secretary, which airs on CBS. The show is a fascinating look inside a “normal” government department and what it takes to be part of a world in flux.

– Susan J. Beatie, Atascadero, Calif.

I recently started to watch The Cry, which airs on BBC One in Britain. It stars Jenna Coleman, who has previously appeared on the shows “Victoria” and “Doctor Who.” There are real twists and turns, and the show is well acted.

– Jan Finlayson, Edinburgh, Scotland

With the approaching Marine Corps birthday (its 243rd) on Nov. 10 and Veterans Day on Nov. 11, I’ll be watching two films about the Marine Corps during World War II. Sands of Iwo Jima stars John Wayne (who else) at his gung-ho best, while Battle Cry stars Van Heflin and Aldo Ray. Semper Fi.

– George Krusz, Lacey, Wash.

As an old movie buff, some of my favorites include You Can’t Take It With You, which stars Lionel Barrymore, Jean Arthur, and James Stewart; Harvey (a James Stewart classic); and of course Grease, which stars Eve Arden and Sid Caesar, among others.

– Ann Perrizo, Fargo, N.D.

Doctor Zhivago is the kind of great and grand movie that is no longer made. It is almost every bit as fabulous as the book by Boris Pasternak. I remember a winter when I was ill and decided that to entertain myself, I would read up on people who were feeling more miserable than me. I read a great deal of Russian history while I recovered and began to understand the historical backdrop of “Doctor Zhivago.” Of course, the inspiration that the doctor receives from his love interest, Lara, is beautiful, and I believe she represents Russia – both the beauty and the ugliness, the tragedy of unwinnable conflict, the winners who readily change sides but still fail in the end, the love of one brother for another.

– Esther de Ipolyi, Sugar Land, Texas

Recently I watched a show called Rake – not the American show that aired in 2014 on Fox. I couldn’t get into that one. I watched the Australian version, which aired in Australia on ABC1 and is available in the United States on Audience Network. It was hilarious.

– Tara Doe, Clifton Park, N.Y.

What are you watching? Write and tell us at whatareyouwatching@csmonitor.com.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to What are you watching? Readers recommend 'Madam Secretary,' 'You Can't Take It With You'
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/TV/2018/1109/What-are-you-watching-Readers-recommend-Madam-Secretary-You-Can-t-Take-It-With-You
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe