"The Queen's Gambit"
Count me among those who admired The Queen's Gambit and the lead performance by Anya Taylor-Joy, with some reservations about the tidy ending. Based on the novel by Walter Tevis, and written and directed by Scott Frank (screenwriter of Logan, Out of Sight and The Lookout), the seven-part Netflix tale is about Beth Harmon, troubled orphan whose only joy in life in the '60s comes from being phenomenal at chess. And even that joy, it turns out, has its limits. It is beautifully shot, with a dazzling fashion sense and a fine period soundtrack. Its use of Classical Gas has brought new attention to that Mason Williams gem, for example, and a recent peek at Georgie Fame's Yeh Yeh on YouTube saw at least one comment relating to its use in Queen's Gambit. Fashion, meanwhile, has had my Facebook friends envying Beth's super-fashionable wardrobe; clothes in the show are at once defining and defiant. For Beth, the expensive outfits break her free from the plain clothes of he...