Family Pack

French version of Jumanji, but set in a medieval village instead of the wild. A "normal" family gets pulled into a game that is basically a real-life version of werewolf. Cute, just clever enough. 

3 stars (out of 5)

Inside Out

Pixar animation about the emotions that are inside all of us. In this case, the emotions Joy, Anger, Disgust, Fear, Sadness are all characters in the life of a 12 year old girl who moves with her family across the country. The moral of the story, Joy can't always win in order to be a complete person. Well written and for its target audience, an important (probably revelatory in some cases) message about how to think about and manage emotions. Even so, for me it was pretty message heavy and once I got the message, the impact wore off, meaning it was an "on in the background" kind of watch. 

3 stars (out of 5)

Brooklyn Nine Nine (serial)

Four Seasons

Andy Samberg is the lead in this Brooklyn cop comedy with one of my all time favorite actors Andre Braugher in support. So over the top, but every episode was entertaining and novel in some way. I am sure they had a blast filming it and that oozes through to make if fun to watch. Every character was spot on fun. And the series ended in a way that I am sure no series has ever ended, for better or worse. 

4 stars (out of 5)

Maine Cabin Masters (serial)

Nine Seasons + Italian Family Season

A reality show featuring a group friends who rebuild cabins in Maine. Partly this is fun because of the creativity in design and construction that Chase Morrel shows. Partly it is fun to see Maine. Partly it is fun because it really is just a bunch of craftsmen that love hanging out with each other. Not an arrogant soul or "heel" character in sight. So overall, just fun. 

4 stars (out of 5)

Ted Lasso (serial)

Season 3

Finally got around to watching it and boy, it still doesn't disappoint. Every episode was emotional and meaningful. I particularly enjoyed the Amsterdam episode and the team and individual connections that were portrayed. Just good comedy and likely irreproducible (although I know they'll try -- over and over...)

5 stars (out of 5)

Harry Potter

All 7 (8) films

So clearly a binge, but once I started, I didn't stop. I suppose the early films were novel at the time and the books were such a part of the zeitgeist that anything on screen would have been amazing. Now, the first few are remarkably stilted in terms of dialogue and plot. Clearly they were following the recipe of the book and working with young actors. The final episodes (The Deathly Hallows) were a clear LOTR vibe and felt like a different series. Again, probably not noticeable over the decade of actual release, but within a weekend, obvi. That leaves my favorite of the series (this time) -- Order of the Phoenix. Most clearly captures the camraderie of the young crew, the mysticism of magic, coming of age. Maybe I'll do this again in another decade. 

4 stars (out of 5)

Signora Volpe (serial)

Season 2 & 3

A great, low key detective series with a british spy ex-pat in Italy. More relation building in these seasons compared to season 1. I do wonder how realistic the travel is because it did seem like there were a couple of 1-hour driving trips from one coast to the other, or day trips to Rome and back. Maybe that is realistic? Or maybe that is like a movie version of driving to a lunch meeting from Pasadena to San Francisco...

3 stars (out of 5)