His Dark Materials (serial)

Season 1

Based on the trilogy by Philip Pullman which amazingly, I haven't read. So now I suppose I must. Lyra lives in Oxford. Well, an Oxford. In her Oxford, all people have Daemons, their animal spirit creatures that are with them all the time. She becomes embroiled in a child kidnapping ring and encounters both of her long lost parents as she does everything she can to save her friends. This is a fantastic world created with armored bears and dirigibles and ... well just watch it. Well done.

4 stars (out of 5)

The Professionals (serial)

 Season 1

The 2020 version of the A-team. A group of professional mercenaries get hired on by a billionaire to track down who sabotaged his rocket launch. And the writing and dramatic content is about equal to the A-team as well. Cheesy, but low key fun. 

3 stars (out of 5)

Wonder Woman 1984

I must say that I was underwhelmed. I don't know if it is the times, or if 80's flashback movies are past their prime, or if it was just not a good story. The story is set in 1984, so we get all the typical 80's paraphernalia (neon spandex, leg warmers, malls, and cold war tension). We get Diana encountering a god-made stone that grants wishes (at a cost of course) and then she needs to put the cat back in the bag. If this had released in 1984, or even 1994 it would have been amazing. But now, just Meh. Perhaps I expect more social commentary by my heroes. I expect them to speak to the greater good. Instead, we get Wonder Woman pining over a man, and nearly willing to sacrifice humanity for said man. And it's 2020, which means that pining over a man is not anywhere close to the message that anyone wants to hear. And even so, we know she won't really sacrifice humanity so there isn't even any real tension from this core motivational driver. But she did finally get her invisible plane...

2 stars (out of 5)

Army of One

 Somewhere in the backwoods of Appalacia (we presume) a local gang encounters a couple of campers and kills them for seeing their operation. Well, kills him. She turns out to be a former Ranger who survives and goes Rambo. I would say definitely B-level. But I would also guess that if I actually watched Rambo now, it would be on par. 

2 stars (out of 5)

The Honest Thief

Really, this is Liam Neeson playing the character of Liam Neeson. A bank robber trying to confess finds that corrupt FBI are threatening the love of his life. Time to take matters into your own hands.

2 stars (out of 5)

Superintelligence

 Melissa McCarthy is an "ordinary woman" (who happens to be a former dot com founder and is currently "moving on to the next thing"). She is chosen by an AI, that has been released into the wild, as a representative sample of humanity to determine if humanity is worthy of existence. Kinda fun, with James Corden as the voice of the AI. Mostly predictable.

3 stars (out of 5)

The Assassin

A 2015 released Chinese film that follows the story of a young assassin. She was sent to a monastery as a child and trained to be one of the best assassins. But while her skills and technique are unrivaled, her mentor questions her resolve. While I have not seen any Terrence Malick films, my preconceived notion about what his films look and feel like were manifested here. The film is set in 9th century China during a transition from the strength of an imperial dynasty to provincial independence. Our assassin has an assignment. While the story is strong, the presentation is lots of extended pans from a tree, across a lake, to another tree. It felt like B-roll of scenery. Or an actor close-up, a line delivered, and a 20 second silent pull out. It elevated the landscape and characters to a position above the story/plot. So beautiful, arty, slow. But the gravitas of the characters dilemma did not require this much time for the viewer to contemplate or struggle. 

2 stars (out of 5)

Beyond the Edge

A con-artist and high end gambler is just wrapping up a job that he has been setting up for 3 months. He is about to walk out of a game with 5 million euro. And his cards change before his eyes? And now he is discovered, his "earnings" walk out the door with another man, and he has 1 week to pay back the bill. To do so, he joins forces with some supernatural talent, who also happen to be individuals needing social guidance. The team is set. We get to follow this team through training, the development of the next con, implementation and failure and ... no spoilers here. Really this is a pretty fun con film with a plot device (the supernatural thing) that doesn't really get in the way or become the focus of the entertainment. It is a tool that is used to achieve an end. 

3 stars (out of 5)

The Adventurers

A wizard of the high end heist has just been released from jail and is immediately planning his next job. Mostly he is working to steal all three pieces of GAIA, a series of jewels that when put together form a priceless neckless set. In parallel, he is working to find out who double-crossed him and sent him to jail in the first place. And finally, he is pursued by a french detective who has been on his tail for years. In my viewing, this is a near perfect heist film. We see the planning and the execution of several jobs. We have the team chemistry factor that adds an element of unknown and humor into the story. We have the police, who are competent, but always just "not quite". And then the overriding plot that requires a few twists. Well done.

4 stars (out of 5) 

Kareem: Minority of One

Documentary on Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Tells the story of his development as a basketball player and becoming the NBA all-time leading scorer. Since Kareem was involved, we get interviews with him and his perspective now that are juxtaposed with his on-camera persona throughout his career. It is a fascinating and interesting telling of the story of his basketball life. I wish that we could have delved into his life as an activist and writer post-basketball, but maybe that is needing its own 90 minutes.

4 stars (out of 5)

Pieces of April

Some films just need to be watched over and over, and they are good every time. This is one of those for me this decade (see original review).

5 stars (out of 5)

The Life Ahead

A Spanish film that follows Rosa, an aging former-prostitute, as she takes in kids of current prostitutes to help keep them off the street. The kid of interest is Momo, a Senegalese orphan who just needs something to care about and someone to care about him. Rosa and Momo both grow to need each other and find themselves saving each other. Even though formulaic and time-forced (not enough time passed to develop the depth of relationship we see), this is still a worthwhile watch. Reminded me in look and feel to Monsieur Ibrahim, which I vaguely remember to be better.

4 stars (out of 5)

Hard Kill

Full disclosure: I only saw the first 20 minutes. This is supposed to be an action thriller. My expectation for a 2nd tier action thriller is that is relies on the action. This spent the first 20 minutes "setting the story" with back story and character motivation and plot development. All with horribly pedestrian dialogue. I just couldn't even stick with it to get to any action.

1 star (out of 5)

The Queen's Gambit (serial)

A pretty fabulous limited series following a young chess prodigy in the late 1960's. Beth is an orphan who, while she learns chess from the janitor, is quite mentally disposed to solving the problems and seeing the logic of the game. As she grows into the game, she also learns to lean on a crutch of drugs to "loosen her mind" and escape fully into the game. The story pushes us to again see the struggles of being a woman in the 60's, of fighting for identity as a teen, of battling addiction, and of the long road of self-discovery. At times dark, but always good.

5 stars (out of 5)

The Courier

 A courier is a former special ops, got out of the business type of girl who discovers that something she is courier-ing is actually a bomb. She helps the intended target escape and draws the unwanted attention of a crazy crime-lord. This is not a good movie. It plays as a combination of The Transporter with the evil crime-lord opponent on a level of the Washington Generals. Just not good enough.

2 stars (out of 5)

Momentum

Olga Kurylenko is a member of a heist team that steals some diamonds from a super high tech bank. During the heist, her face is shown to some witnesses and she needs to get out of Dodge. On the way out, she and her team discover that the diamonds they stole came with a device that has implications for world peace, and the owner (a U.S. Senator) wants it back. With this premise, the storyline is really about Kurylenko being a badass operative who is always one step ahead. While you may not be exactly sure what she is planning, I appreciate that we know she will succeed, and that her plans are not fantastical, but are just clever enough to be realistic and fun.

3 stars (out of 5)

Mile 22

Mark Wahlberg is a special operator in the Overwatch program (that doesn't exist of course). He is the best at what he does, and is a product of personal trauma at a young age, so everyone is worried if he will go over the edge. His current assignment is to deliver a defector from a South American country to an extraction plane while every hired gun in the country is trying to stop him. Sometimes filmmakers drop hints throughout a storyline so that afterwards you say "wow, I should have seen that coming but I didn't... cool". Other times, they openly foreshadow so that you can see what is coming and enjoy the development, as an insider for the reveal to the characters. The problem in this case is that we aren't sure which it is. The story plays out, and the big surprise at the end is revealed, as if it should be a big surprise. But it isn't, and it isn't slowly revealed intentionally for me to gain the satisfaction of knowing more than the character. 

2 stars (out of 5)

The Good Witch (serial)

 5 seasons

A Hallmark TV series set in the small town of Middleton. In many ways this is classic, feel-good TV. Cassie Nightingale is the key figure who "has feelings" about things, with the unofficial nod being that she is magical. Sort of a Gilmore Girls meets Once Upon a Time. What is kind of fun is that the magic is never explicit throughout the entire series. Just a feeling here, and a suggestion there to make everything alright for those around her. Charming and pleasant. Only by the end does the knowing smile, or the friendly head tilt get wearing. And the cheesy acting is balanced by just enough quirky town characters to make this an easy diversion. 

4 stars (out of 5)

Holidate

OMG, this is awful. Two single people meet by chance, agree to be each others date for holiday events that need a plus one. They meet up for 10 or so different events, with the movie trying to show a natural chemistry develop, so that they can realize that they are perfect for each other. I couldn't...

1 star (out of 5)

Colombiana

Zoe Saldana is a traumatized young woman who, as a child, watched her Colombian drug cartel participating parents get killed. From that minute, she set her path to become a killer and rain death and vengeance on the cartel boss. She becomes a fabulous assassin with training from her Chicago based uncle and works her way through a series of low level cartel members to attract the attention of the boss, drawing him out from his protective status as a CIA informant. She is subtle, precise and focused in her work which (unfortunately, because she is an assassin) makes it fun to watch. She suffers great loss again and again, and in the end (as we all know) probably does not find satisfaction, even having gained what she sought.

3 stars (out of 5)

Underworld: Blood Wars

 In this final entry, Selene's daughter is hidden way - inaccessible with her fabulous blood. Marius is a new and powerful Lycan seeking the blood (since he has had a taste of it from Michael) and his plan is to destroy all vampires to get it. Which moves the story to the arctic north and a battle with the pacifist vampires who have retreated there. Um...

2 stars (out of 5)

Underworld: Awakening

Set 12 years in the future, we open to Selene being awaken from a frozen prison in some sort of high tech lab. She escapes (of course) and finds that she has some strange connection with another escaped prisoner. Her daughter (she didn't know she had). Right at the last minute, before departing the lab she sees yet another frozen specimen and triggers that persons escape. The hint is that it might be Michael. Turns out that Selene's daughter has special blood like Michael and is therefore in high demand. In addition, humans now know about vampires and Lycans, so add the humans-want-to-kill-us storyline. This seems a little bit like a reboot - using the bare structure of the Underworld world.

3 stars (out of 5)

Underworld: Rise of the Lycans

Episode 3 is an origin story of the Lycan/Vampire feud. No Kate Bekinsale/Selene here, but marginally interesting as a backstory film. Reveals some of the history to justify the actions in the first two movies, but does nothing to motivate (as we will see later) the future of the storyline. 

2 stars (out of 5)

Underworld: Evolution

Episode 2 of The Underworld series, Selene has chosen her human lover over her vampire family. They are pursued by Markus (last remaining vampire elder). Human lover Michael turns out to be the last blood line descendent of the father of the vampire/werewolf origin, hence containing blood that could be valuable to both. So pursuit, battle, treachery, death... lots of death... The storyline is progressed, but we see (as we usually do with movie franchises) that the movie is not part of a grand plan, but the plan/plot is being made up in service to the movie.

3 stars (out of 5)

Underworld

Kate Beckinsale is Selene, a vampire warrior who is a trained "death dealer" tasked with hunting and killing the Lycans (werewolves). This is the first in what turns out to be a 5 film series playing out over more than a decade. The vampires have 3 elders that rotate through leadership, and when not on rotation, are hibernating. Selene encounters a couple of difficulties - she falls in love with a human, the human is sought after by the Lycans, and her trusted mentor is not so trustworthy. A nice fantasy world is created that has some possibilities for story telling.

3 stars (out of 5)

The Doorman

 Ruby Rose is a decorated marine on leave after a traumatic experience on a protection detail. She gets a temp job as a doorman at a New York building only to find that her brother-in-law and niece/nephew live there, and they happen to live in the apartment that contains the secret target of a violent art thief. So she gets to protect her family and redeem her abilities at protection all in one go. Predictable in the genre.

2 stars (out of 5)

Ava

 Female assassin struggling with identity and purpose. Badass femme fatale a la Old Guard, Hanna, or Anna. She is good at her job, wants to get out, wants to stay in, wants a normal relationship with her family, and knows she can't have what she wants.

3 stars (out of 5)

Mulan

 Live action story of a young Chinese girl who has all the makings of a warrior. But women aren't warriors, and she is told to suppress her gift. Until she sneaks into the Imperial army and ends up saving the dynasty. I kinda appreciated the story, the pacing, the scenery, the chemistry between the characters. It didn't try to do too much. It just did enough.

4 stars (out of 5)

Kapp to Cape

A documentary following a couple of friends who ride their bikes from the northern tip of Norway to Cape Town. They are trying to do it in world record time (something like 100 days). Maybe what makes this enjoyable is the fact that they don't dwell on the trauma of riding so many miles. Instead, they are meeting people, enjoying scenery and encountering the difficulties of bike travel in general. The visuals were striking, particularly Ethiopia and Northern Iran, before either got into desert. Very different scenery than my mental stereotypes expected.

3 stars (out of 5)

Endeavor (serial)

Season 1-6

Based on the characters in BBC Inspector Morse, this follows Endeavor Morse during his first few years with the Oxford city police. He is to smart by half for his colleagues, but they all recognize his effectiveness at putting together cases. The plot pattern is to have 3 or 4 seemingly independent crimes or events happening that ultimately (over the course of 4 episodes) connect together, and only Morse sees the strings. What is particularly fun is the intro to each episode that shows several people/scenes that are clearly foreshadowing the storyline. 

4 stars (out of 5) 

Young Wallander (serial)

Based on the Swedish cop character made famous in the English version by Kenneth Branagh, this version is set in the current time, but follows Wallander in his rookie year as a cop. He lives in a bad part of town, and is drawn into a nationally important homicide. Still Swedish in its feel, but sometimes it feels put on (how can I be dark and brooding, etc.). Nice short season that wraps everything up, but not necessarily with a bow on. 

3 stars (out of 5)

Enola Holmes

 Did you know that Sherlock and Mycroft had a little sister? Well now you do. She is just as much the detective as the famous older brother, and when her eccentric mom goes missing, Enola is on the hunt. She stays one step ahead of the law and her family to uncover a political conspiracy that very well might end up saving England. Oh my.

3 stars (out of 5)

In the Heat of the Night

1967 and Sidney Poitier is a Philadelphia homicide detective passing through a small town in the deep south. Of course there is a murder, he is accused, and then reluctantly ends up sticking around to solve the case and show everyone that they really do have the wrong idea about race. A classic for a good reason.

4 stars (out of 5)

Freaks - You're One of Us

German superhero movie where the regular people discover they have powers and learn to live in a world where they do. Some are good, others let the power go to their heads. And of course there is the overlord organization that want to control those with the power. Kinda fun in a low-budget live action comic sort of way. But not super memorable.

2 stars (out of 5)

Safety to Nome

 This documentary follows the athletes who embark on a 1000 mile cross Alaskan trek (from Safety, Alaska to Nome). They can choose to either walk, ski or bike. This doc follows the bikers and, like the EcoChallenge, there are no rest areas etc. Each racer can choose to go 24 hours straight if they like. It is brutal and grand all at the same time. At just under 90 minutes, it is also the perfect length to get to know and understand the racers and journey, without getting bored by a 6 episode series. Fascinating what these extreme athletes will do.

4 stars (out of 5)

Gotham Garage (serial)

A two season series following the Gotham garage crew in Temecula CA. They do super custom work with a signature style. Their business model is to try to string together 4-5 jobs that are all trades. Do a $20,000 car that they can trade to someone for a shell that could be flipped for $60k and trade that for another shell that could get six-figures. It is kinda fun to watch that process in the background as the car customization is going on. I accidentally watched the 2nd season prior to the 1st, but that was kind a fun too. Felt like a whole season of backstory.

4 stars (out of 5)

Blown Away (serial)

Reality competition series for glass blowers. I have always been fascinated by the artistry of glass blowing, so this was a fun series. The pacing was right, not dwelling too much on the detail, or even the personalities, but showing just enough of the failure and the brilliant successes. 

4 stars (out of 5)

Towies (serial)

 Having just finished Rust Bros, I jumped to the Australian towing company who work a busy highway, but also pull boats and graders out of places they shouldn't. Good for a bit, but definitely didn't need more than one season.

3 stars (out of 5)

Bill and Ted Face the Music

Set in current time, the pair each have a family (english royalty wife and a daughter) but have never settled down as they pursue their destiny of finding the song that unites the world. Turns out they need another all star band and some help from the daughters. This was cheesy fun for someone like me who first experienced the excellence in college, although I don't see how it would be anything but lame for a new viewer. Possibly rated higher than it deserves for nostalgic reasons.

3 stars (out of 5)

Rust Valley Restorers (serial)

 Reality TV, set in Canada (Tappen British Colombia) and originally airing on History Channel Canada. The Rust Bros. take old junk heaps and restore them for big money payoff. At least, that is the idea. But it seems Mike is always too attached to his junk, or too generous with his help to actually make any money. Fun characters and easy watching.

4 stars (out of 5)

Agent Carter (serial)

 Set at the beginning of the SSR and after WWII with Peggy Carter coming off her high action involvement during the war, she is disappointed to be relegated to secretary in the old boys network. Howard Stark helps out by pulling her into his intrigue. Nice couple of seasons. Feels like a crossover between Perry Mason and Avengers.

4 stars (out of 5)

Santana

 The description of this movie sounds like it comes straight out of a summer action flick like Sicario, set at the U.S. southern border. A narcotics officer and his brother (a general in the military) get intel on the drug kingpin who murdered their parents, leading them on a mission for revenge. But this South African made film is set in Angola and has a distinctly African flavor (like the Queen Sono series I watched earlier in the year). While if follows much of the action formula for a police/revenge thriller, the fact that black magic is a legitimate tool of the bad guys and treated as a serious threat shows how culturally important and different this is than a typical western film. My only storytelling complaint is the last 5 minutes. A potentially great (i.e. dark, dramatic, atypical) ending was softened, likely as a setup for a sequel. But I understand the need for a franchise...

3 stars (out of 5) 

The Sleepover

A family friendly spy thriller where the parents get kidnapped "by ninjas" and the kids have to rally to rescue them. Everything you would expect in this kind of movie. An OK story, with cute yet awkward kids and one of the parents is high performing and the other is a doofus. All together we move through a series of improbably events which don't really need solid motivation and can be forgotten as soon as they happen, we move on to the next. Charming.

3 stars (out of 5)

Break Free: 2 People, 2 Years, 1 Goal

 This documentary is really an extended vlog of a german couple who, starting in Morocco, plan to travel down the west coast of Africa to South Africa. The woman has some prior connection to western Africa that is never really clarified, and her boyfriend is along for the ride. This is particularly interesting as the travel through these countries are not the typical "tourist Africa" destinations. The couple is really interested in immersion into culture and meeting and learning about people, not just putting on miles. So as they travel, they spend 6 weeks or 8 weeks "pausing" in different locations as the situation warrants. They communicate a lot of the difficulty of approaching a trip like this with a western mentality, exposing it for the limitations it brings. It is an different insight into cultures and people than I have seen before. Well done.

4 stars (out of 5)

World's Toughest Race

 A reality series based on the Eco-challenge 2017 race in Fiji. This is a nearly 700 km adventure race where teams of 4 paddle, hike, bike, climb, sail, swim, etc. across Fiji. For the elite teams, the race is continuous with racing happening nearly 24 hours continuously, finishing the entire race in 6 days. For the other teams, the narrative is that these are "regular people", but 2/3 of the teams finish in less than the limit of 11 days and they are not "regular people". This is an extreme race and it is fun to watch. 

3 stars (out of 5)

Perry Mason (serial)

The HBO series that chronicles the origin story of Perry Mason. Set in 1932 Los Angeles, Perry starts out as an investigator for down on his luck lawyer EB Jonathan when he gets the case of a lifetime. A child who was kidnapped is returned after the ransom is paid, but the child had been murdered. A classic Perry Mason whodunit. This is really good writing and acting. But what I love about this series is the portrayal of LA environment and culture in the 30's, and the introduction of all the Perry Mason characters (Street, Drake, Burger, etc.). Feels like a retro Bosch with its own personality. Love it. 

5 stars (out of 5)

Rogue Warfare

I watched this because I saw somewhere that the sequel Rogue Warfare: The Hunt was moving up some popularity chart somewhere and thought I should watch 1 before 2. Well let me say that there is so much wrong with this movie. It is not even B-movie quality. The storyline is that a special operations team is created with membership from the 5 permanent members of the UN Security Council (but 3 members from the US so there can be some early expendables without ruining the premise). This team is tasked with tracking down the "Black Mask" organization in the mid-east. The movie is full of pontificating and long speeches, factual errors, and just awful staging and action decisions. Skip this. Skip it with more enthusiasm than you have skipped anything in the past six month. And don't think that it is a so-bad-it-will-be-a-cult-classic. No.

1 star (out of 5)

Work It

 I like myself a good dance competition movie (Step Up series) or music groups (Pitch Perfect series). Work It is exactly following the formula. Existing high performing dance team, non-dancer encounters situation where she *needs* to dance but the team won't have her (and laughs at her attempt), non-dancer starts her own dance group with a group of unknowns to compete in the big competition. There is nothing novel here, and it is still pretty fun in a completely predictable and moderately presented dance numbers sort of way. 

3 stars (out of 5)

The Umbrella Academy (serial)

Season 1

On a particular day, around the world a strange phenomena took place in which women became pregnant and delivered a baby all in one day. Of the 70 or so occurrences of this phenomena, 7 children where "acquired" by an eccentric billionaire and adopted. They discovered that they had "powers" and became the crime fighting family in the Umbrella Academy. The seventh child (Ellen Page as Juno) is ordinary and basically ostracized by the others. This season picks up with all the kids returning home (in all their adult dysfunction) to attend the funeral of their father. At which point Number Five returns from his time-traveling to tell them the world is ending in a few days and only they can stop it. What is both fun and cringeworthy in this series is that as an observer, some of the decisions that are made are so clearly going to cause exactly the effect they are intended to stop... over and over. One wonders just when these superheroes are going to figure things out. But that is the fun part too, since the family and personal dysfunction is what really makes these characters worth watching. 

3 stars (out of 5)

Agent Carter (serial)

Season 1

Season 2

Set in the 1940's, after Captain America plunged to his "death". Peggy Carter is working in the New York field office of the Strategic Scientific Reserve (SSR), the organization that created Steve Rogers in the first place. So she is probably the most experienced agent, but also the only woman. Other characters of note are Howard Stark and his butler Edwin Jarvis. The story basically follows Carter and Jarvis as they work both in the SSR and outside of it to preserve national security. Season 1's villian is Leviathon, a deadly weapon that Stark created which has been stolen and is planned to be used on New York. Season 2 moves to LA and the two work to keep Zero Matter out of our universe. The real fun in this series is the chemistry between Carter and Jarvis, and the other characters that cheekily pop in to stir that chemistry from time to time. It is fun, and while set in the Marvel universe, it is basically regular people interacting and dealing with regular (albeit caricatured) 1940's problems. I will say that Hayley Atwell (as Carter) at times has a strikingly similar speaking pattern to that of Michelle Dockery (as Lady Mary Crowley). Especially with phrases such as "I'm quite sure that is destined to fail" or "How exactly do you expect me to ..." which are generic, but caused me to double take every time.

4 stars (out of 5)

The Final Countdown

A 1980 action thriller with Kirk Douglas and Martin Sheen. The only thing missing is the thrilling action. The setup is the USS Nimitz Aircraft Carrier in operation in the Pacific encounters a freak storm, thrusting it back in time to a few hours before the Japanese attack of Pearl Harbor in 1941. Spend some time figuring out what is going on, spend some time deciding whether to interfere in the timeline, ... , spend some time debriefing what happens after returning (another freak storm) to 1980. I mean, this is only a bit after Jaws, and Star Wars, and not too much before Top Gun. But this was no action, no excitement, no purpose. But I did watch the whole thing...

2 stars (out of 5)

Radioactive

A biopic of Marie Curie and her path to achieving respect as a scientist. This is basically a straight forward historical telling of Curie's path from meeting Pierre and agreeing to collaborate in the lab to her work in developing mobile x-ray machines for WWI soldiers. The common theme throughout was the lack of acceptance in the local scientific community of her expertise and brilliance. Every single idea, and subsequent request for resources, was an uphill battle. She was never able to leverage her status as a preeminent scientist to take the next step without fighting for it. The culmination of this mentality was her basically needing to pawn her two Nobel gold medals to pursue the mobile x-ray project. Since it was a pretty well worn story, the filmmaker interspersed "flash-forwards" that were pseudo-documentary segments of future applications of Curie's research. Overall, I found myself kinda bored, with the flash-forward concept not enough to keep me engaged.

2 stars (out of 5)

Aeon Flux

Charlize Theron is Aeon, a rebel assassin in a city of 5 million in the year 2415. This city happens to be the last remaining instance of humanity after a global virus 400 years ago, and this city was saved by the founders (the Goodrich family). But something in wrong and she is out to set things right. I first saw this when released in the early 2000's, and in my mind this was one of the classic dystopian action films. Seeing it again, it is a bit cartoonish, but still quality. It did not know how to walk the line of reality/cyborg the way Alita did more recently. I would guess originally it was a 4 star, but now only 

3 stars (out of 5)

Magic & Bird: A courtship of rivals

The HBO Sports documentary tracing the relationship between these two legends from highschool through the Olympics in Barcelona. An outstanding inside look that really illuminates the personalities and playing styles of each man, and gives two very different approaches to competition. Both protagonists participated in extensive interviews, filling out the details of a story that was part of my introduction to fandom. 

5 stars (out of 5)

Women of Troy

An HBO Sports documentary about the early 80's USC Trojan women's basketball team centered on Cheryl Miller. And more broadly, this tells the story of the development of the women's game referencing the earliest transition to full court and first dynasty (The Mighty Macs) to the development of the WNBA. This doc argues that it was Cheryl Miller and her athleticism and competitive fire that began to turn the tide for the sport. 

4 stars (out of 5)

Midway

I suppose I am on a mini WWII air battle movie kick (The Red Tails - The Tuskegee Airmen) this weekend. This story follows a group of carrier based pilots in the Pacific and the task set to them after the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor. Taking place over the course of about six months, we lead up to the Midway battle, where 4 Japanese aircraft carriers are in place to deal a devastating blow to U.S. forces. The Navy sets up its own ambush and all 4 carriers are destroyed. The writing here feels like it is trying to cover 6 months worth of facts, details and intrigue in a 2 hour film. So we jump all around with IMO unnecessary details. Yes, the motivation for Japanese action at Midway was based on the recent bombing of Tokyo. But that could have a been a line, not a 10 minute segment. Overall, the film was jilted and covered so much that it never really let me in. I was also surprised by/interested in some of the technical details. The planes rear gunner was shooting over his own tail, so what was the lockout mechanism? The fighters carried only one bomb and the torpedoes never worked. The bombing tactics effectively worked out to line up all your planes to dive at a carrier and hope some get through. It felt like WWI trench warfare or Civil War lines soldiers shooting at each other across a field. But in the air. So I suppose I learned some facts. I guess I wanted more.

3 stars (out of 5)

The Tuskegee Airmen

The 1995 historical fiction offering telling the story of the Tuskegee flight training school the U.S. Air Corp set up as an experiment to see if Black pilots could be successful in combat. This film portrays snapshots of interactions that were most likely typical, from racist verbal abuse, self doubt, self confidence, fear, pride, etc. The graduating class in this film (the 99th air group) is sent to North Africa and given effectively non-combat flying duty. Then they are transferred to Italy, join with other wings of the Tuskegee flyers, and form the 332nd. This group is given escort duty for bombers, win them over with their skill (no bombers lost) and become accepted. Not quite as glossy (or glossed over) as the Disney version (see The Red Tails), but important as the first Hollywood telling of this story. What is particularly disturbing to me is the fact that we are measuring time in decades and seeing very little change in core cultural norms.

4 stars (out of 5)

The Red Tails

A very Disney 2012 historical fiction telling part of the story of the 332nd U.S. Air Corp, aka the Tuskegee Airmen. Very Disney meaning that this is the story of racism and the brutality of war, and the total number of physical altercations is 1 and deaths is 2. I feel like I saw the words of the story, but not the emotion or even the facts. The words of this story follow a few airmen as they are stationed in Italy, and the missions they are given to fly are shooting down trains and trucks, but kept out of air battle. When they are given the opportunity fly fighter support for a bombing run, they are extremely successful and welcomed into the club. This narrative reinforces the idea of meritocracy, your value is based on your work and performance, which is a particularly insidious fallacy in this country. Overall, this was exactly what was expected and significantly lacking at the same time. Further disappointing in that it was released 16 years after another version The Tuskegee Airmen without adding anything.

3 stars (out of 5)

Final Girl

A young girl is trained to be an assassin for the seemingly sole purpose of killing a group of 4 teen boys who take girls into the woods to hunt them. So many things wrong with this film. It is basically a slasher film trying to crossover as arthouse grindhouse. It does none of them well. Even though my ratings say if I watch an entire movie it gets a minimum 2, this gets

1 star (out of 5)

Guns Akimbo

A graphic novel feeling grindhouse movie starring Danielle Radcliff as a half-decent code jockey who gets his entertainment trolling fans of #Skizm. The problem is, #Skizm is a real life gladiator game where contestants are chose to fight to the death and the online world watches in. A real modern day Running Man. Since he has pissed off the #Skizm bosses, they kidnap him, physically bolt guns to his hands, and put him in the game. Nix (his opponent) is maybe a better version of a Harley Quinn backstory, but that doesn't make it worthwhile. Summer late night diversion quality only.

2 stars (out of 5)

The Tunnel: Vengeance (serial)

In this third season (see season 1 and season 2), Elise and Karl are working on a case they are calling the Pied Piper case. The case itself really turned me off. It was creepy and occult-ish (which of course some people love) but it seemed unnecessary as a plot mechanism to give me more of what I want to see, which is the two protagonists working together, strangely complementing each others style and personality. We get that eventually, but really only in episode 4 and 5. We also get season 3 familiarity, which reveals the angst that comes with knowing someone so well that personal dysfunction becomes mutual dysfunction. This exploration of the partnership is what makes the series excellent. Overlay the creepy Pied Piper with a second case of Elise exploring her own vulnerability based on a blown case from years ago coming back to her present, and not knowing how to deal with that emotion. Consistently great character portrayal. Love this series, even though this one is a notch lower in story than the previous.

4 stars (out of 5)

The Deuce (serial)

The Deuce is a 3-season drama starring Maggie Gyllenhaal and James Franco and full disclosure, I will watch Gyllenhaal in anything. This series follows the residents of Times Square (The Deuce) in New York from the late 70's through the 80's. This is the time of the mafia and corrupt police protection rackets, prostitution and the development of pornography. Gyllenhaal is a prostitute who becomes a film-maker over the course of the series. Franco is outstanding as he plays a set of twin brothers (Vincent and Frankie). Franco is outstanding in both roles, never played as "a good portrayal of twins", but instead as actual twins, with independent personalities and lives. As a 3-season show, it is also a 3-act drama. 

Season 1 is grit and desperation. We are introduced to the prostitution and pimp relationship, the desperation of the girls and both the psychological trauma and dependence on their man. We see the transition of Gyllenhaal from trying to work the street independently to starting to work in film. Vincent is a bar owner who pays regularly to his mafia financier and is so reliable that he starts several new ventures for them. Frankie is a screw up who is always gambling or drinking away his money and basically is living on the edge. This season shows New York pre-glitz, and how it became a magnet for desperate and downtrodden, and was effective in keeping the downtrodden down.

Season 2 is 5 years later. This is the roaring success of the group. Gyllenhaal is now directing films, and working on ground breaking art/porn films. Vincent is running a bar, a club, a massage parlor and starts another club and theater with former bartender Paul, all earning well for his mafia guy. Everybody is making money, the film business is booming, the girls relationships with their pimps is evolving and basically portrayed as good. Everybody is making money and life is good.

Season 3 is reality sinks in. Here we see the long term effects of pornography and prostitution on the women. The realization that this is basically PTSD showing up before PTSD was a diagnosis. The trauma is real and deep and has fingers into all aspects of life in The Deuce. It is painful.

There are lots of other themes floating around the seasons (police corruption, gentrification, AIDS, advocacy, etc.) and every story is well told and meaningful. The story is of New York as a city and how the people make the city what it is. I am glad I watched all seasons together. Don't stop after season 2, remembering only the heyday. You must watch the pain and ugly to even start to understand. 

5 stars (out of 5)

Palm Springs

Andy Samberg (Nyles) is caught up in your typical infinite time loop sort of thing. He is the boyfriend of the maid of honor at a wedding and wakes up each day the morning of the wedding. It is not actually clear how long he has been in the loop, but it seems like years. He is remarkably happy to not care. Enter Cristin Milioti (Sarah) the sister of the bride. When she gets pulled into the time loop, suddenly Nyles has a partner in crime and the two tear up the town. As they begin to truly fall for each other, the I-don't-care-attitude becomes less viable and the two need to actually work at redeveloping their character. Much of this is formulaic, but sometimes the formula is fun.

3 stars (out of 5)

The Whistlers

A Romanian police thriller that checks all the boxes. Christi is a police officer that has gotten involved with some mafia types and is looking for a payday. Those mafia types include Gilda (the beautiful love interest), Zolst (the guy who knows where the money is) and Paco (the brutal boss). Also in the mix is Magda, the maybe/maybe not corrupt police boss. Zolst got pinched, but the money is not to be found. Paco needs Gilda and Christi to break him out. To do so, they teach Christi a whistle language. The rest you have to watch to find out. I love the idea and the writing is done well enough that there are always multiple options for who to trust and who to double cross throughout. And each decision by the characters seems like the right one at the time. I also love the idea of the whistle language, but while central to the story, it turns out that it was not actually central. I can imagine 10 different ways that would be easier to communicate what was needed. But that doesn't make this any less fun.

4 stars (out of 5)

Moana

Moana is the chief-to-be of a (presumably) pacific island people. But she is also a restless explorer who can't wait to go beyond the safety of her island reef to explore the world. She is chosen by the sea to be the catalyst for an environmental rescue of the world. Her task - find the demi-god Maui who stole the heart of the creator Te Fiti and convince him to return it, reversing the environmental degradation of the oceans. In the process, she develops her confidence and leadership skills while rediscovering the historical story of her people. Definitely a message movie, but a good message and a good movie makes it a good watch. 

4 stars (out of 5)

The Twilight Saga

Including

Twilight

New Moon

Eclipse

Breaking Dawn 1

Breaking Dawn 2

I finally dove in, only a decade later. I really had no knowledge of the details of this story. Of course, it is a vampire, a werewolf and a human in a teen love triangle. But beyond that, I stayed remarkably ignorant of the story when it was launched, both in book and film versions. So with nothing but time, I jumped in. I will say, that like any multi-episode story, there are ups and downs, and I was sad to see the traditional mid-story weakening (book 2 of a trilogy is almost always "just a transition"). The first two are sort of brilliant in keeping the story fresh. First Twilight offers a full focus on the girl and the vampire. Then in New Moon, the vampire is basically relegated and we get a full focus on the girl and the werewolf. So everything still seems fresh. Then 3 and 4 are clearly interstitial, transition to lead up to the finish. Yes, some important facts are introduced, but not full movie (and I would guess not full book) importance. Then in the finale, we end strong. Bringing in the diversity of vampires was great and the expected battle and resolution using a dream sequence plot mechanism which, while reliable and maybe rote, was in this case also very effective. So well done. If I were to rank each individual episode, it would be 3, 3, 2, 2, and 3 stars. Overall:

3 stars (out of 5)

The Old Guard

Charlize Theron is the best action-star on screen right now. And her work here shows why. She is quick, strong and completely the character. Here she is Andy, the boss of a small group of mercenary special forces who take jobs that make things better (rescuing hostages, saving lives, etc.). Turns out, she is the boss because she is the oldest of the group, by a few hundred years. This group of mercenaries is actually a group of immortals and somehow, contrary to every other immortal mercenary band in cinema history, this group has maintained its moral center and not succumbed to the corruption of power. Andy (Theron) is the reason for this moral center and one of the strengths of the movie is the portrayal of how she does this through mentoring newcomer Nile. The action is crisp, the story is purposeful, pacing is perfect and entertainment is happening throughout.

5 stars (out of 5)

The Mandalorian (serial)

An 8 episode series in the Star Wars universe following a foundling Mandalorian as he moves through the bounty hunting guild to earn money and prestige. What strikes me as superb with this series are two things: the soundtrack, a la Sergio Leone, sets the tone and expectations for the series and that this is perhaps most similar in character to the original Star Wars trilogy as anything since the original trilogy. Great story telling, and characters and intrigue. And while this is titled The Mandalorian it is really the story of The Child ("Baby Yoda"). What strikes me as average is, with this set 5 years after Return of the Jedi, and the fallen Empire being a key plot thread, there seems to be a distinct lack of knowledge of the Jedi, the Force, and Yoda. This is either a key failure of the writing, or perhaps an indication of how disconnected "regular people" are from the movers and shakers of galactic war. On the other hand, a decorated Rebel warrior would at least know of the lore that led the army she served in. So my guess is that is is an attempt to show the grand scale, but is in fact a failure in writing. What I find disappointing is that it is over.

5 stars (out of 5)

The Tunnel: Sabotage (serial)

Season Two of this BBC series (see The Tunnel here) provides another opportunity for Elise and Carl to join up and solve a joint British/French crime. In this season, a plane is brought down and there are implications for terrorism, sex trafficking, arms deals and genocide. You know, just a little investigation. Once again, the pair are outstanding in their portrayals of everything involved with being a police officer, having relationships, and self discovery. I loved the first season and the introduction and this second holds up, and is an astonishingly good police drama.

5 stars (out of 5) 

Hanna (serial)

Season 2

Hanna picks up where she left of in Season 1. Hanna is surviving in the Romanian forrest, along with her new friend (and fellow escapee) Klara. Klara (such a newbie) makes a mistake, is taken back to the training facility, where Hanna works to free her. Several sub-plots going on here, but when I said after last season that the "series is Jason Bourne crossed with Dollhouse crossed with Nikita", I stand by that assessment. Really good action and I love that it is a basically all female show.

4 stars (out of 5)

Rachel Getting Married

I had seen this a long time ago and like it a lot. This time around, not quite as much. I had no recollection of the film, so was effectively watching it for the first time. Found on a list of movies recommended as treating depression with some fidelity, I can say that it seems to do that well. Anne Hathaway plays the sister getting out of drug rehab on a weekend pass in order to attend her sister Rachel's wedding. She struggles with not being the center of attention on this weekend and not receiving the validation she needs, and so acts out in order to get it. Everyone knows who she is, so it is not surprising, but is wearing. I did once again notice the music here, but instead of feeling clever and fresh, I found the character of music to be a bit annoying. All said, well acted and it really was a quality portrayal of family dynamic dysfunction.

3 stars (out of 5)

The Warrior Nun (serial)

A fantasy series based on a comic book of the same name. Set in Spain (although no one speaks Spanish), an orphan quadriplegic girl (Ava) wakes up in the morgue having been given a device of great power (and hence new life). Turns out that this is her initiation into the Order of the Cruciform Sword, a secret order of nuns who battle demons on a regular basis. Ava is, however, a bit of a skeptic and so tries to use logic and science to rationalize her new station in life. At the same time, she is working to find new friends and enjoy her second chance, and fight demons. The series is a strange mix of comic fantasy and church history/reverence. And it definitely dabbles in the world of conspiracy and occult that we have seen from the likes of Dan Brown with DaVinci Code or J.J. Abrams in Alias. And while it could have tipped into several different tropes (and become very bad), it didn't. I suppose this should not be a surprise coming from Simon Barry, who also produced Continuum, which is a really good SciFi serial from a few years ago. 

4 stars (out of 5)

Tyler Perry's Acrimony

This film stars Taraji P Henson as a young woman who falls in love with a man and marries him and supports him throughout his developing career. But he never makes anything of himself, until he does. But in that time between never and until, Henson bails. Whose fault is it, what is the role of family, and what is right and wrong in this relationship? All good questions in this thriller. Unfortunately, something was missing in my engagement so that my interest was lost. Henson is great, but maybe the others are flat? I am not sure...

2 stars (out of 5)

My Spy

Dave Bautista is a big, bruising former special forces soldier working his way into the intelligence service. But his big and bruising keep getting in the way. His current assignment to surveil and mom and her daughter (related to an arms trafficker), is a parking place for the agency to keep him out of trouble. But he gets uncovered by the girl and takes her under his wing (her she takes him) and it becomes a classic, improbably buddy-spy-action film. Cute - but not novel.

3 stars (out of 5)

Hobbs and Shaw

Set in the Fast and Furious universe, The Rock and Jason Statham get paired up as a team needing to take down genetic super-soldier Idris Elba. They do because Statham's sister has injected a virus into herself in order to keep it from Elba (as part of her MI-6 job), but she has a limited time before it kills her. To defeat said genetic super-soldier, the three warriors go to Johnson's home island in order to take advantage of back home muscle and car mechanic skills. If all of this sounds ridiculous, it is on screen as well. What did you expect?

3 stars (out of 5)

Seventh Son

Jeff Bridges is a witch hunter and he had imprisoned a witch queen many years ago. She (Julianne Moore) escapes and is calling her evil hoards to her to exert her dominance over humans and the earth. Bridges, after losing an apprentice while trying to recapture her, finds a new one (the 7th son of a 7th son) and the two go to battle. The witch queen's witch niece kinda falls for the new apprentice, who happens to have a witch mom, [sarcasm on] so the relational intrigue is thick [sarcasm off]. Super ordinary.

2 stars (out of 5)

Eragon

The movie version of the first book of the Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini. The book series was a pretty good fantasy/dragon story following a young boy who becomes one of the last dragon riders when he finds a dragon egg that hatches for him (the dragon has chosen him). This film is only moderately good, and leaves so much out that watching becomes confusing. It was launched shortly after the Lord of the Rings phenomena, but did not stand up to that excellence. Read the books.

2 stars (out of 5)

Crazy Rich Asians

Finally got around to seeing this, which was really the rage a couple years ago. Constance Wu (as Rachel Chu) agrees to travel to Singapore with her New York boyfriend Nick Young (Henry Golding). She is nervous because she is Chinese American and her culture is truly American, while Nick's family has deep Chinese roots. What she doesn't know (he has kept from her) is that Nick is ultra-wealthy and heir to a family business and fortune. She is just a "working class" university economics professor with a PhD. The story follows all the introductions and faux pas's and self doubt and back stabbing that one would expect. What makes this film better (and what always makes a film better) is the presence of Awkwafina. As the old college friend/social media influencer, she keeps it fresh and fun. 

4 stars (out of 5)

Yesterday

Some sort of alternate reality is entered and the Beatles don't exist. Fortunately, Jack Malik, a wannabe singer-songwriter, is a huge Beatles fan and he remembers all the lyrics. So he writes and performs all the songs in this alternate reality, claiming them as his own, and becomes a big hit. Good, only because the music is good. 

2 stars (out of 5)

This Means War

Reese Witherspoon is the oblivious civilian looking for love and Tom Hardy and Chris Pine are partner spies who inadvertently both fall for her. They use the full force of their office to "win the prize" and you should be able to see that this is slapstick at best. Clever fun, but not novel or unique. Similar in tone to the movie versions of 21 Jump Street. 

3 stars (out of 5)

Just Go With It

Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston are on a trip to Hawaii together. Sandler is the plastic surgeon boss, Aniston his assistant who agreed to go along as the fake ex-wife to further ensnare the girlfriend. Aniston brings the kids, of course. Sort of a romantic keystone cops feel with lots of moving pieces and each "mistake" leading to a more involved lie. It is clear that the real relationship is between Sandler and Aniston so even from the opening scene, we wait expectantly for how that will ultimately play out. 

3 stars (out of 5)

Six Days Seven Nights

Harrison Ford is a drunk pilot hired to take. Anne Heche (on their vacation with beau David Schwimmer in the South Pacific) to a neighboring island for a work event. Storms and crashing on an uninhabited island leads to the two entering survival mode, bickering constantly with the inevitable hook-up. Then we get pirates. Woo hoo! Only moderately entertaining, and clearly 1990's in its feel.

2 stars (out of 5)

School of Rock

Jack Black is an aspiring rocker in this now classic film. He really wants to win the Battle of the Bands, but his band has just axed him. Needing money, he gets a job as a sub at a school, recruits the kids into a rock band (a special project) and then goes on to perform at the Battle. All good fun, Black at his best, and everybody gets a little bit wiser from their exploits. 

4 stars (out of 5)

Bohemian Rhapsody

Sometime you just need a little Queen. 

Still 5 stars (out of 5)

Line Walker

Set in Hong Kong, a special police task force is working to disrupt the criminal activity of the triads. When the commander is killed, his list of undercover agents is also lost, leaving the new task force boss unable to utilize these people. The agents are also left without handlers or instructions. This twisty mystery navigates the unfolding of identities and criminal intents when trust is the one thing that is no longer reliable. Interesting, entertaining, and had me guessing and thinking throughout. Nice.

3 stars (out of 5)

Prime Suspect (Serial)

Helen Mirren is fabulous as Jane Tennison, an inspector and then superintendent in the British police. Over the course of 7 seasons, she moves around (London, Manchester) and moves up the ranks. But what doesn't change is her command of the case (she dominates any room she is in) and her personal struggles with relationships, alcohol, family, etc. Mirren does not play this as a person who is fabulous at work and then struggles at home. She is fabulous and struggles simultaneously throughout. Bravo.

4 stars (out of 5)

The Italian Job

The 1969 version where a bunch of gold is stolen out from under the noses of Italian police and mafia bosses who know it is going to be stolen. Moderately good heist planning, quite good chase scenes with the mini's and obviously 1960's pacing.

3 stars (out of 5)

The Mighty Macs

The based on a true story of the first year that collegiate women were allowed to play 5 on 5 basketball. Cathy Rush (new wife of famous NBA ref Ed Rush) takes a job at a small catholic college as the basketball coach. In classic sports film fantasy, she cobbles together a group of players, some reluctant and with families that don't support them, into a team that plays together beyond their skill level. The school eventually gets behind them and they become a local sensation. Threaded throughout the film are the gender bias/discrimination struggles that were par for the course in the early 70's. While sports films can't really be any more formulaic than this, there is a reason that the formula works. This was predictably entertaining.

3 stars (out of 5)

The Last Days of American Crime

Sometime in the future, the government is finally defunding the police. However, the catch is that they have invented a brain disruptor that can be broadcast and remotely demobilize anyone who is doing a crime. So the police aren't needed and the tyrannical system will go into effect soon. Our protagonists work out a plot to do a last minute heist of the federal reserve, and then bolt to Canada with their newfound wealth, slipping under the wire of the end of crime. Of course it doesn't go smoothly, but I enjoyed watching the world created. Action and drama and just enough of reality to give the characters depth. Granted, it is action movie depth, but it is depth none-the-less.

3 stars (out of 5)

New Tricks (Serial)

I suppose it says something about the amount of entertainment being consumed these days that I am now reviewing a Series (not a season or episode). This British cop drama/comedy delivers 12 seasons of fun. And although over the course of the series the individual characters move on, it is not until the last season that it feels like something is missing in the chemistry. The premise is set on a special unit of the metropolitan police being set up to investigate cold cases. The squad includes one DCI and several retired police who are now civilians. They are cheap, but experienced. This plays out as a British version of a cross between The Streets of San Francisco and Monk. Eccentric personalities all held together by the DCI, who begrudgingly and ultimately with affection, guides her  charges to solve every case they pick up. This is not a binge-fest, but instead something comfortable that I came back to regularly over the past 6 months. Well worth adding to your library.

4 stars (out of 5)

The Trip to Greece

Fourth in The Trip series with Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan (The Trip, to Italy and to Spain). They are traveling this time to Greece, again as a publisher paid trip to document their buddy trip and review restaurants along the way. Finally this franchise feels tired. While it was fun to see the progression of their careers and lives and relationships over the past decade, this episode does not offer anything new or interesting. I laughed a couple times where I was supposed to, but mostly there was no drama left to unfold in these lives. Which is maybe an OK statement of what mid-life is and should be, but not worthy of entertainment.

2 stars (out of 5)

The World is Yours

This french film follows a minor drug dealer who wants to become a bigger drug dealer. He wants to be the boss (and is actually probably the brains in the operation anyway). But is his mother a bigger criminal than he is? At least she doesn't screw things up too much and is aware of the imminent double cross. Moderately fun crime thriller.

3 stars (out of 5) 

Prime Suspect 1973 (serial)

An origin story series (6 episodes) for Jane Tennison, the BBC character played by Helen Mirren in the Prime Suspect series. Tennison is a probationary constable in her first assignment and the team she is working with gets a murder case that is somehow intertwined with a bank robbery. Even though she is new, Tennison is already singularly focused on closing the case. Well played. Now to rewatch the Helen Mirren versions.

4 stars (out of 5)

Roman Holiday

Still one of my favorites and worth watching every few years. Princess Ann is traveling across Europe, and when she is in Rome is fed up with her royal obligations. She sneaks out and sees the town.
5 stars (out of 5)

Hotel Artemis

Jodie Foster is the Nurse, Dave Bautista the Orderly, and Sterling K Brown is the patient (Waikiki) in Hotel Artemis, an "underground", members only hospital for the criminal world. The story follows the interactions of 4 or 5 clients after they checked in during a riot. A steampunk version of LA with classic steampunk characters. Dave Bautista is perfect in this understated role and for me, holds the whole thing together.
3 stars (out of 5)

Den of Thieves

LA Sheriff's department major crimes squad vs. military precision bank robbers. It has the violent, vigilante justice feel of Sicario based mostly on Gerard Butler in the lead role as sheriff detective "Big Nick" who runs his team loose and fierce. He and his team are pursuing his criminal nemesis Merriman, and everyone knows that a crime will be committed. And to up the ante, there is taunting and subterfuge. Everyone knows... but what do they really know? A well planned heist with a few turns to keep you on your toes.

4 stars (out of 5)

The Nomads

Based on a true story. When the public school system in Philadelphia is short of funds, they close campuses and relocate students. A couple of teachers new to a tough school join forces to start a rugby program as a potential outlet for students. Predictable, and still heartwarming.
3 stars (out of 5)

Sergio

A historical fiction biopic focused on Sergio De Mello, the Brazilian UN diplomat who led the mission in East Timor and negotiated their independence from Indonesia, and then was charged with leading the UN mission to Iraq in 2003 as the US invaded. The story of these two events is told simultaneously in real-time/flashback as a way to tell the story of Sergio's life and evolution as a person. Very well done.
4 stars (out of 5)

The Hustle

Anne Hathaway is a sophisticated con artist working the wealthy men in the south of France. Rebel Wilson is a brash, loud, competitor working in on her territory. The two team up for a big score. Some of the scenes are clever, but overall this is what I would call a tired comedy. Amusing, but not actually funny.
2 stars (out of 5)

MLE

My Little Eye
An aspiring actress moves to London for a role, which is cut in the first 5 minutes of the film. Needing money, she takes a job where she needs to spy on the daughter of her employer. Not sure where it went after that because I quit...
1 star (out of 5)

Friday Night Lights (serial)

Five seasons of teen romance drama based on high school football in Texas. Season 1 is perhaps one of the greatest TV seasons of sports drama I have seen, containing all the appropriate pieces. Seasons 2-5 are tolerable, moving at times too far into the teen drama and forgetting that the football is the reason for existence. And only once in awhile do we see a glimpse of an actual teenage action or emotion, with most of the plot asking the 15 year old kids to function as 25 year old adults. The problem is that after a stellar season 1, you are hooked enough on the characters to watch all the way through. As a show, it'll get 3 stars, with Season 1 better and the others less so.
3 stars (out of 5)

Cashback

We open with our protagonist Ben breaking up with his girlfriend. This is a traumatic experience and, it turns out, life changing. After this, Ben becomes an insomniac and decides to take advantage of the extra 8 hours per day that he has gained by not sleeping. He gets a job at a local supermarket night shift at which point this becomes a pretty traditional (if still quirky) romantic comedy. The other night shift workers are typically eccentric English, but everything works together quite well. I rather enjoyed it.

3 stars (out of 5)

Fauda (serial)

Season 3
Continuing where Season 2 leaves off, Doran and his team have infiltrated the home of a West Bank family, with Doran as the boxing coach for the son. Eventually the story leads the team into Gaza in pursuit of a pair of kidnapped Israeli teens. The story line is simultaneously outrageous and believable. This is outstanding drama, and horrifically tragic historical fiction exposing the reality of war and oppression and occupation. More than the first seasons, I felt the hopelessness and feelings of being defeated by all characters. We see how the idea of defeating terrorism by removing terrorists is a fallacious path. Instead, "removing" people pushes others first to defeatism and then they become cornered in anger and hatred. There are no winners in this show, that much is clear.

5 stars (out of 5)

The Extraction

You get exactly what you expect from this film - nothing more and nothing less. Chris Hemsworth is a former special ops soldier working as a mercenary. He is hired to extract the son of an Indian cartel boss who has been kidnapped and is held in Dhaka. He blasts in, encounters difficulty, pushes through adversity (more blasting), makes an emotional connection with the kid, continues blasting until the big blast finale. Probably this would have been a big event at the theater. Instead, it was just another film in a long list of military action thrillers available to stream that doesn't do anything to distinguish itself.

2 stars (out of 5)

Agent X (serial)

A secret article in the constitutional authorizes the Vice President to set up the blackest of black ops to protect the nation against all enemies. Only the VP and the chief justice of the supreme court know about this program. And the VP has full authority to do whatever they deem necessary. Fortunately, Sharon Stone is the VP and she is honorable. And it really is lucky that this program exists since there is a cabal trying to overthrow the US government from within, that apparently includes heads of FBI, CIA, Congress, and name any other organization that you can (except the office of the VP of course).  This is a fun action thriller that jumps the shark almost immediately. It is similar to Alias or 24 in wacky scenario's that are presented and overcome. And it makes sense that it is only one season... well, I thought that about 24 too and it went on for 8 seasons so...
3 stars (out of 5)

Code 8

We are introduced to a world where some people are Powered. They can be extra strong or read minds or control electricity or melt things or ... you get the picture. In what is possibly the most effective opening credit scene ever, a complete story is told of how Powereds were discovered and beloved, how they built buildings and stopped wars, how people became afraid and finally they became ostracized and regulated. This story is a 3 minute montage and sets the stage for the movie without the extra 30 minutes of poorly edited backstory. Nice job. The protagonist is a Powered with a sick mom who just needs some money to pay for her care. He gets in with the wrong crowd to achieve said goal and has to reevaluate his own integrity as a person. Overall, the movie reminds me of Bright, panned by critics, but actually pretty entertaining.
3 stars (out of 5)

Spectral

I found this on a list of under-rated SciFi films to watch. I would say it was probably appropriately rated. In a proxy war zone in eastern Europe, US special forces encounter an enemy they can't see. They bring in DARPA tech wizard to help understand this new enemy, and find a way to defeat it. Spoiler Alert: He does. The science here is definitely fiction, and not the tweak-one-thing-and-see-where-it-takes-you variety. Instead, it is the throw lots of science-y words around so you can have a semblance of a plot. Maybe because of the MacGyver'd plasma projectors, this really is closer to Ghost Busters meets Platoon than anything else. Shouldn't be on anyone's top-10 list, but a good mid-level diversion.

3 stars (out of 5)

Terminal

What do you get when you cross Moulin Rouge, Brazil, and a wrote assassin plot? Well, maybe this... or something similar. Add in Margot Robbie in the lead as a sociopathic assassin choreographing the entire score. Maybe she is being typecast, but I would put this as a much better movie than Birds of Prey. More engaging anyway. Robbie is looking to move in as the primary contractor for Mr. Franklin. But to do so, she needs to eliminate some competition and prove her expertise in the field. So while if this was filmed in the cold blue of a Bourne film, it would not rate. But it isn't. The artistic coloring and staging gave it a different flavor, making it unique in this crowded field.
4 stars (out of 5)

The Farewell

Awkwafina is one of those actresses who I forget about for awhile, and then fall in love with all over again every time I see her act. Here she plays Billi, an 30-something Chinese American in New York pursuing a writing "career" (my quotes). She talks on the phone with her grandmother frequently so when she finds out that grandmother has cancer and only a few months to live, she is distraught. The family has planned for a cousin to get married so that everyone can travel to China one last time to visit. But grandmother only knows of the wedding, not her own diagnosis, and the family won't tell her. Billi is exceptional as she navigates her western sensibility with her eastern history. An American individualist approach to death is very different than the Chinese familial approach. Alternately funny, awkward and heartbreaking this is a fascinating dive into one families journey.
4 stars (out of 5)

Giri Haji (serial)

Duty and Shame. Kenzo is a Tokyo detective. His brother Yuto is a Yakuza soldier. These brothers are exploring the interplay between identity, integrity, and family. When a London murder turns out to be a sword through the back of a Yakuza boss' nephew, Kenzo is put on the case. Which makes sense because his brother was the last one to be in possession of said sword. So Kenzo goes to London to unofficially bring his brother home for punishment by the bosses. If he fails, the Tokyo gangs will be at war.

Throw into this mix Kenzo's daughter Taki, as she runs away from home Tokyo to join her father in London. Add in Sarah, London cop who finds she has a soft spot for Kenzo. And Yuto's son and unwed mother back in Tokyo. The family dynamic that comes to the front reveals part of Japanese culture and is perhaps a character in itself. Each episode moves the story along, but paces well to allow me to feel like I am knowing the characters And each convincingly foreshadows such that at each step it is clear that a massive trainwreck of decisions is imminent and inevitable. But of course a trainwreck can't happen every episode... can it. Subtle, tragic, fantastic. Duty and Shame.
5 stars (out of 5)

Mostly Martha

You know how there are some movies that are good every time you watch them? You know when you will laugh, when you will cringe, when you can run to the kitchen for a snack and exactly how much time you have to get back. Mostly Martha is that movie for me. I love this story. There are two or three scenes that are absolutely fantastic, feel good, relational comedy made out of the tragedy of life. Every time I watch this, it will get 5 stars.

5 stars (out of 5)

Bombshell

The story of Roger Ailes, head of Fox News and his atrocious behavior as a man. Set during the election cycle of 2016 when Megyn Kelly was a massively popular anchor and Gretchen Carlson was suing Ailes personally (her Fox contract had an arbitration only clause). Carlson's entire case was predicated on additional women coming forward to corroborate her claim of sexual harassment. Here, the Carlson story, while driving the plot, is secondary to Kelly. Really we are watching Kelly struggle with the awful choice between career and personal integrity. Her struggle is with the Ailes scenario as well as her very public interactions with Trump on the election circuit. This is cringe inducing drama. No new ideas here - but really puts power and sexuality and fear right in your face.
4 stars (out of 5)

I Am Not Okay with This (serial)

Sydney is a out of sorts teen growing up in Pittsburgh. When her only real friend gets a boyfriend, Sydney starts hanging out with the neighbor kid. But she doesn't really fit in anywhere and when she gets angry or anxious or tries to repress any extreme emotion, she can "do things" with her mind. This series is an exploration of Sydney struggling with her "powers" and with her social life, and with her developing understanding of who she is as a human being. In many ways, typical teen coming-of-age stuff. But Sofia Lillis is absolutely fantastic as Sydney, which makes this atypical as a drama. And the 30 minute episode length is brilliant in that there are no filler sequences. Everything matters. Love it.

5 stars (out of 5)

Queen Sono (serial)

A South African series, our protagonist is Queen, daughter of beloved revolutionary and martyr Safiya Sono. Queen witnessed as a child her mothers murder and has carried the anger of that for her entire life. She is now one of the top operators in the South African police black ops unit and her team is charged with protecting the democracy of South Africa and weeding out corruption in the government. Queen is James Bond/Jason Bourne skill level and takes her investigation all across the southern part of the continent following revolutionaries and terrorists. Meanwhile, she continues to struggle with her life outside of work, still squashed by PTSD from her mothers assassination 20 years ago. I loved this series, and Queen (Pearl Thusi) is seriously badass.

5 stars (out of 5)

Spenser Confidential

Mark Wahlberg is a good Boston cop, who got sent to prison for (I don't remember what - but he was doing the right thing) and has now been released. His plan -- go to truck driving school and drive the country. Before he can leave town, he is pulled back into a corruption circle and he just has to put things right. He has the help of his old boxing coach Alan Arkin (love him) and Arkin's new protege, an angry, vegan, MMA fighter who only gets into the mix because somewhere along the way, a cat was killed. This last little piece gives you a flavor of the mixture of action/slapstick that you are about to watch. Goofy, in the best sense of the word for an action film.
3 stars (out of 5)

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Tom Hanks plays Fred Rogers in a biopic that seems to want to give a bit more insight into the man in the neighborhood. There is not a lot new here, but this is told from the perspective of the journalist writing a puff piece on Rogers. It is a bit of a punishment for the journalist (ahem... investigative reporter) to be given this assignment and he sets out to find the "real" Mr. Rogers. The public persona just can't be real. But of course, it turns into a conversion story, with true and deep friendships being formed quicker than you can say Daniel Striped Tiger. If you want to feel good, this just might do it for you.

4 stars (out of 5)

 

Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn

The story of Harley Quinn post Suicide Squad, post Joker. We start quickly with the "joker is not in this film" and move on to Quinn (Margot Robbie) setting herself up to be an independent operator. She gets some enemies, she stumbles on some friends. In hindsight, the movie was necessary for the DC Universe and the explaining included. However, the story was predictable and really unnecessary for Quinn herself. This entire film could have been a 5 minute intro to a story that actually needed to be told. And as I just wrote that, I wonder -- what comic story exists that *needs* to be told???
2 stars (out of 5)

The Irishman

Oh boy. I don't want to say plodding, but the storytelling here is definitely ... deliberate. Going in I knew only the basic premise, that I would be seeing another portrayal of a mob family. Robert DeNiro plays Frank, a right hand man to east coast mob families (Philadelphia, Chicago, Miami) and ultimately enters the Jimmy Hoffa circle. He is the humanized face of a contract killer, an absentee dad, a trusted confidant. And this is all good and well written and acted. I enjoyed it. And then I hit pause and saw that I had been engaged for a little over an hour... and was only 1/3 of the way through. Edit, Edit, Edit or follow in the European model and make a 3 episode limited series.
3 stars (out of 5)

Ragnarok (Serial)

This is a 6-episode Norwegian TV series on Netflix. And it is fabulous. Set in a small, one industry town directly experiencing the effects of industrial pollution and climate change, local loner high school student Magne has his eyes opened to a new role he must play. He is thrown into an ancient conflict between Gods and Giants that is part of the long history documented in Norse mythology. I love the slow discovery that Magne traverses while he endures classic teenage angst and uncertainty, both in high school and his family. And while it is gods and giants, it also feels very human scaled, serving up a sort of fantasy realism that is not seen often enough. 

5 stars (out of 5)

The Gentlemen

Matthew McConaughey is the king of weed production in all of England, Charlie Hunnam his right hand man and Hugh Grant a sleazy reporter looking for a payday. The story is told as a conversation between Hunnam and Grant, laying out the development of events. Initially this mechanism annoyed me as I felt like I couldn't piece together a consistent timeline. But over the course of the movie, it became a pretty effective way to transmit information, stitching together details from several interconnected character lines. The story itself is a variation of classic criminal as protagonist. McConaughey is looking to sell the business and when a series of events threatens the sale and his position as King, he acts and reacts to fix the situation. Overall, a pretty fun little romp through the English drug world.
4 stars (out of 5)

Bad Boys - For Life

Will Smith and Martin Lawrence reunite as Miami cops, 25 years older from their youthful introduction the first time around. Smith is the "bulletproof" daredevil nemesis of criminals everywhere, while Lawrence is contemplating retirement and the family life. Insert into this the return of the Mexican crime family who has a personal connection to Smith which unfolds over the course of the movie, and erupts in Miami. While this is action, and cheeky fun, it wasn't astounding and was clearly building on the memory of the originals. In fact, this felt like 2/3 backstory/plot setup, 1/6 movie, 1/6 setup for the future. I found myself generally underwhelmed.
3 stars (out of 5)

What Men Want

Taraji P Henson is a sports agent, working at the ultimate boys club. She is in line for partnership, but never gets the call... she's a woman. When she sees a psychic, drinks some weird tea, and hits her head, she gains the ability to hear men's thoughts. Comedic hilarity. Except it is pretty formulaic. The only real comedy is perhaps in Tracy Morgan and the fact that his thoughts are always nonsensical. but otherwise, nothing new or really worth seeing here. Disappointing.
2 stars (out of 5)

The King

Timothee Chalamet plays young King Henry V. He is a reluctant leader who despises his father, disagreeing with most of his policies. But when his father dies, he takes on the throne and is drawn into a war with the French. It is an interesting look at life in 1400 England, what battle looks like, what politics looks like. I found this engaging and interesting, if not novel.
3 stars (out of 5)

Speed

Another family favorite from the 90's, Keanu Reeves (LA Police bomb squad) and Sandra Bullock (regular girl next door) are thrown together as a bus she is on has a bomb on it that he needs to defuse. The two have a good chemistry together and we get to take a tour of 90's LA, when transportation was being built (unfinished 105-110 interchange, unfinished redline extension to Hollywood), and transportation physics was suspended (city bus successfully jumps a 50 foot gap with no ramp, metro rail car has enough energy to collide through 200 meters of steel i-beams and up a slope, but not enough to damage the carriage). Worth watching once a decade if only to remember the good old days.
4 stars (out of 5)

Always Be My Maybe

A rom-com, coming of age for two asian american kids who grew up in San Francisco and grew apart after high school. Now as 30-somethings, she is a successful celebrity chef and he is working at his fathers HVAC company and playing in his band which is famous in a 1 block area of SF. They connect again as she is back in town to open a new restaurant, jumping straight to antagonism to cover the fact that they each love the other. Guess what -- it works out in the end. An over the top appearance by Keanu Reeves, playing an over the top version of himself, which he clearly had fun doing.
2 stars (out of 5)