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)