Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

A solid fantasy action movie to introduce a new character. Shaun is just a regular guy living in San Francisco and Katy is his slacker friend. The two of them make a great pair of fun loving 30 somethings. But then Shaun gets exposed as a martial arts expert as a group of bad guys attack him to get a pendant that was given by his mom. Slowly revealed throughout the rest of the film is the extent of Shaun's martial arts badass-ness and his family background of mysticism and save-the-world responsibility. And dad is a bad guy who just wants to control the world. I generally like the cinematic effect of good martial arts action, and this did not disappoint, with the dragons and the forrest. Looking forward to more in this story line.

4 stars (out of 5)

Metal Shop Masters (serial)

My type of reality show. Seven master metalworker-artists compete in challenges to weld and fabricate installations like avatars, kinetic sculpture, musical instruments, etc. It is fun to watch the artists at work and it is all about the work, not about snippy relationships or interpersonal strategy. 

4 stars (out of 5)

Kate

Kate is an assassin working a series of jobs in Japan. A kid gets involved in her latest job and she begins to question her willingness to continue in the job. Woody Harrelson is her handler and convinces her to finish the current contract series and then she can get out. We all know how this will go. Nearly John Wick-ian in terms of body count and in terms of originality (i.e. lots of bodies, not much originality). 

2 stars (out of 5)

Home Ground (serial)

A Norwegian 2-season series following Varg - a newly promoted premier league football club who has recently lost their coach. The general manager goes out on a limb and hires Helena, a proven coach with the women's national teams. She is the first woman to coach at this level, and she is all football, all the time, and definitely has the necessary talent to lead the team. But she has a lot to learn about the local team, the local players, the team culture, and herself and her family. I really liked this series. In many ways a classic sports show with the underdogs and winning and losing, but also serious plot elements built around the humans who participate in the sports. And it has bit of Norwegian dark edge to it as well. Great series.

5 stars (out of 5)

Astrid et Raphaëlle (serial)

Season 1

French odd-couple / buddy-cop procedural. Raphaëlle is a police commander in the crime squad and Astrid works in the Criminal Records division as an archivist. Raph is brash, a rule breaker and messy (stereotypical TV detective). Astrid is autistic, loves puzzles and organization. When Astrid is discovered (by Raph) to be a brilliant criminologist by way of her attention to detail and vast collection of historical crimes remembered from her scanning of documents, the two are increasingly interacting on high profile homicides. The cases are interesting, and the development of the relationship and growth in each of them in understanding the other is well worth watching. 

4 stars (out of 5)

Summer of Soul

Documentary with newly found footage of the Harlem Cultural Festival in 1969. This was a weekend outdoor music festival (8 consecutive weekends that summer) in Mt. Morris park in Harlem. I had never heard of it, nor I am sure have many people. A veritable hit parade of artists, including musicians (Stevie Wonder, Gladys Night, etc.), preachers (Jesse Jackson, etc.), and comics (Moms Mabley, etc.) to explicitly celebrate black culture. Director Questlove does a great job of allowing full songs to play-out with original footage of the festival and voiceover interviews of both attendees and performers reflecting on the impact of the festival on them some 50 years later. Really good. 

4 stars (out of 5)

SAS: Red Notice

Action thriller set in England where a black ops private contractor is abandoned by their government sponsor when a job they were hired to do (clear a village of protestors so an oil pipeline can go through) goes viral for the wrong reasons. To 'clean up' the problem, the contractor is being eliminated, having had a Crimes Against Humanity red notice applied to them by the Hague. Ruby Rose is the protagonist (antagonist?) contractor who forces the truth into the open with a hijacking and Sam Heugan the antagonist (protagonist?) who is chasing her down. There really isn't anyone to root for here, which makes this possibly the most realistic war/conflict film in awhile. 

3 stars (out of 5)