Passengers

This has been on my list for a long time and never came available on any of my services. A colony ship is in transit to a remote planet. This planet is far away (100 years travel, ship already traveling at 50% speed of light {don't get me started}). All the passengers and crew are in bio-hibernation for the duration of the trip, with the ship itself auto-piloting, auto-repairing, etc. Traveling through an asteroid field at some point overloads the shields, causes a failure and wakes up one passenger, Chris Pratt. After over a year of living alone and nearly ending his life, he wakes up another passenger Jennifer Lawrence, having fell in love with her bio. They live happily ever after... actually, the psychological impact of effectively being sentences to a living death by the only other person in your universe is sort of address. But then bigger problems come around and the entire ship needs to be saved. I don't think this film knew what it wanted to be. A dark psychological trauma/relationship film, or a space action film. It tries to do both, so does neither excellently. But to be fair, does both adequately.

3 stars (out of 5)

The InHumans (serial)

A human-like, yet genetically unique species lives in their city on the moon. It is protected by a shield that keeps atmosphere in and the humans from discovering the city. These InHumans also get special powers as part of a genetic modification program that they undergo at a coming of age ceremony. With this background, the royal family is ejected to the earth as part of a coup and they must fight the usurper while discovering all that is good about humans while on earth. A moderately good comic story that probably did everything it needed to in its one season.

3 stars (out of 5)

The Mandalorian (serial)

Season 3

Din Djarin and Grogu spend this season helping the diaspora Mandalorians retake Mandalor. This season is a better full season single story. Every episode had purpose. Djarin is no longer trying to get rid of the kid, but training him. Didn't really care for the Jack Black/Lizzo episode (gave me Jar Jar vibes). Otherwise, great episodic space opera.

5 stars (out of 5)

Doogie Kamealoha MD (serial)

Season 1 & Season 2

Disney TV at its best. A reboot of Doogie Houser with a 16 year old doctor Lahela Kamealoha in Hawaii. She is growing up teenager, finding love, being a genius and living the island life with a doctor mom and a shave ice truck owning dad. Low stakes, low expectations, low key. 

3 stars (out of 5)

Fire of Love

A documentary following the relationship and work of volcanologist couple Katia and Maurice Krafft. This film has astounding footage of both red volcanoes (with lava) and grey volcanoes (explosive ash) and teaches us along the way both about volcanoes and about life work, love and how to live with passion instead of fear. 

4 stars (out of 5)

Lady Driver

A 16-year old with her newly earned drivers license is fed up with her "sad teenage life" and runs off to live with her uncle. She learns about her dad (who was killed and she never knew) and learns to love dirt track car racing. She is instantly good, wins over everyone and becomes a massive success. Not even any drama or story arc here. 

2 stars (out of 5)

Into the Beat

Apparently I am now the target audience for transformational dance movies. Into the Beat is the german version of Battle. Here Katya is a ballerina (from a family of ballet dancers) who is coming up on an audition for the NY Ballet Academy. But Katya is not feeling the passion for ballet and is pressed into it by her family legacy. Instead, she discovers hip hop at a local club, finds a boyfriend to teach her, and enters a hip hop competition where she can demonstrate her passion for dance. I will say that the actual hip hop dance here is less angry or aggressive (it felt more like modern interpretive) and therefore less fun. But still pretty good.

3 stars (out of 5)

The Way Back

Ben Affleck is a former HS Basketball all everything player, but he hasn't touched a ball since then. As a 40-something construction worker clearly struggling with some serious life issues, he gets a call from his alma mater to become a coach mid-season. Oh, and the team is awful. Affleck is rough but somehow turns a 1-9 team into a playoff contender overnight. But he can't deal with his life issues and things go off the rails of sorts. Classic, second-tier sports film. 

3 stars (out of 5)

Battle

Turns out this is the origin story for Battle: Freestyle. Actually, Freestyle was the sequel, but I watched them out of order. This story begins with rich and entitled Amalie as a modern dance student on the verge of making it big. But her dad goes bankrupt and loses everything. They move into public housing on the other side of town and Amalie has to hide her change is status from her friends and spend a lot of time on the train across town. She goes to the local community center to find a place to train and meets the local HipHop Dance crew. Has she found a new love? What happens when worlds collide? Well, in this movie, dance heals all wounds.

3 stars (out of 5)

Battle: Freestyle

A Norwegian film following a hip-hop dance crew as they qualify for a Paris competition. The story centers around Amalie. She is a former modern dance student who has been working with this crew for a couple years, getting closer with her boyfriend also a member of the crew, and conflicted about her mother (a bigwig ballet professor) who she meets up with in Paris. Where are her loyalties and what are her true loves? Well, I love watching dance competition movies, so this was a fun addition, even if predicable in plot. 

4 stars (out of 5)

Call Me Chihiro

This Japanese drama tells the story of a former sex-worker who has changed jobs and is looking to not be defined by her former career. Chihiro works in a small bento shop as the counter clerk and becomes a local favorite because she actually pays attention to people. She befriends an old homeless guy, a couple of school girls, a latch-key kid, the old woman/wife of the shop owner. In each case, she makes a friend and helps each to discover more about themselves as they explore next phases of life, while she herself struggles with many of the same questions. It is basically a 'slice-of-life' film, with the slice encompassing a middle fraction of Chihiro's transformation. There is a lot we don't know about her history, and we don't get the end of the story either. But still I felt resolution. And the pacing of this film is perfect. It is slow, with plenty of time both for subtitles and for breathing between scenes. In fact, I can't imagine this film working in english. Well worth the watch and one I will likely return to.

5 stars (our of 5)

Fable: The Killer Who Doesn't Kill

The sequel to The Fable, Sato is still in his one-year "no-killing" sabbatical. It is something like a few months after the original. Sato encounters a girl he once saved and a criminal that escaped his attention from a job 4 years earlier. With the same self-discovery and care for those close to him as exhibited in the original, Sato simultaneously navigates "normal life" and discovers what "normal life". Oh, and takes down another bad guy.

4 stars (out of 5)

The Fable

Akira Sato is the most feared and most mythical assassin in Japan. He is so good at what he does, that most believe him a myth because his skills are fantastical. His boss, recognizing the need for Sato to be human, assigns him to a one year sabbatical, forbidding him from killing anyone. He is given a place to live, a job, a "sister" as part of his cover. He is to live a "normal life". Absolutely fantastic storytelling and development of a likable character in Sato. He is highly protective of people close to him and it turns out his skills are actually as advertised... so much so that he can defeat entire yakuza armies without killing anyone. This is a fun assassin/action movie that avoids the dark revenge trope in favor of personal discovery.

4 stars (out of 5)

Kill Boksoon

A Korean assassin movie. Here the "top knife" is Gil Boksoon, middle aged single mother juggling drama at work and a teenage daughter. At work, the assassin guild operates by rules that her boss created in "normalizing" the business. Boksoon breaks a rule and is now navigating the consequences. All while trying to be open and honest with her daughter but not telling her anything. Yes, you can predict how well that is going to work. What John Wick does with guns, Boksoon does with knives. But this I enjoyed more. 

4 stars (out of 5)

John Wick: Chapter 4

Following Chapter 3, Wick is now a pariah, seeking his freedom from The Table, and revenge for ... actually I forget what... but revenge. The Table has given carte blanche to the Marquis to hunt down and kill Wick. To accomplish this, the Marquis destroys anything and anyone who has sympathy for Wick. In the end, it comes down to a personal matchup between Wick and the Marquis.

There is nothing subtle about this movie. It is pure choreographed action that follows in its predecessors footsteps as being fantastical. So much so that the fight scenes are no longer fights. I mean, kevlar suits that block bullets without being torn or even flutter when a bullet hits, only letting off a few sparks? It's just silly, allowing the actors to fire their blanks at will and only occasionally lifting a kevlar cuff to "ward off" a barrage of gunfire. And the number of body-car collisions that result in only minor limping??? What was perhaps most noticeable throughout was Reeves age as Wick. He no longer runs like a svelte martial artist, but lumbers around, knees not working like they used to, the James Garner/Jim Rockford of our time.

2 stars (out of 5) 

The Violence Action

A Japanese action/assassin movie where the protagonist is a school girl who happens to be the most feared assassin around. She works for a group who serves the Yakuza, and gets involved with a succession battle and embezzlement/revenge scheme. Sort of a coming of age story coupled with brutal violence and Lolita undertones.

3 stars (out of 5)