La Dolce Villa

Father (Eric) is a restaurant consultant so wrapped up in his work he doesn't have time for his daughter (Olivia), who is off in Europe finding herself. Both are still grieving the loss of mom. When Olivia plans to buy a 1Euro house in Italy, Eric makes the trip to stop the craziness. Of course, they find the perfect place in the perfect town with a nice, single, cute mayor and buy the house. Completely predictable romantic comedy with completely contrived plot tension... and yet enjoyable. Very "hallmark hall of fame - saturday afternoon TV" vibe. 

3 stars (out of 5)

Shakespeare and Hathaway (serial)

4 Seasons

British comedy/drama built around a private detective pair. Hathaway is former police and guy with the experience in detecting. He has friends in the force, but his credibility is variable. Shakespeare is one of his first cases and her natural talent for observation and detecting leads to a partnership. The series is light hearted and British cheesy. Reminds me in tone of Death in Paradise. The titular reference plays out throughout the series with a wannabe actor as an office admin regularly providing references to the Bard. This has been a great series to watch over the past year - episodes on occasion when something light was needed. 

4 stars (out of 5)

High Potential (serial)

Season 1

A super high IQ single mom who is barely holding it together with her 3 kids is perpetually broke. She helps LAPD detectives solve a murder case after seeing the evidence photos at her night job cleaning the office. Then she becomes an indispenible consultant. The modern Monk.

3 stars (out of 5)

Girl Haunts Boy

Cole moves to a new house only to find his room is haunted. This is added to the reality of his existing experience of being haunted by the memory of his recently passed dad. Fortunately, the newest haunting is a good looking girl from 1920s New York who he is able to befriend and work out some of his angst. Oh, and he gets to try to figure out how to release her from ghost-dom. Lightweight, feel good rom-com that at least doesn't fall for the 'Girl gets boy in the end' trope.

3 stars (out of 5)

Almost Pregnant

I primarily watched this because of the starring role of a former student of mine. First, it is a good romantic comedy. Amy Schumer makes one, little, bad decision to try on a pregnancy bump and suddenly it is a lie she can't take back. The resulting interactions and relationships are really good and she doesn't want to lose them. Alas, she must. The humor and interactions are not brilliant or hilarious, but instead this is a sweet comedy. And as such, must end up 'happily ever after'. Second, I will comment on watching someone you know (or once knew) acting in film like this is strange. I still see the kid sitting in the back row of my Physics class laughing with her friends. So it was hard to see the character for the actor. But by the end, I bought it, which  I will attribute more to good acting than my own ability to see deeply into characterization. Well done Bri. 

4 stars (out of 5)

XO Kitty (serial)

Season 1 & Season 2

Based on the character Kitty in All the Boys I've Loved Before, and set 8ish years later. Kitty is accepted to go to school abroad to the same school her late mother attended in Korea. She goes to learn as much as she can about her family history. She gains friends, and makes dramatic discoveries. She basically manifests everything that she hoped to happen into being - although the outcomes were not always exactly how she envisioned them. Clearly a YA teen drama (of which I am of course the target audience), but really a pretty well done story telling and sustained freshness. Season 2 could have easily dropped into trite derivative drivel, but instead the storyline was massaged to take you just a bit deeper in exploring and thinking about your own family history. Some of the secondary characters were too stereotypically 2-dimensional, but I suppose someone had to be flat in order for others to feel bright. 

4 stars (out of 5)

Shotgun Wedding

JLo and Josh Duhamel are getting married. Madly in love, but an unlikely pairing based on family history, they choose to initiate a destination wedding in the Philippines (it is cheaper than Bali). Pirates invade the wedding and demand ransom from JLo's rich father. I guess what follows could be considered slapstick action. No real action skills or choreography is exhibited, but the wedding party is successfully taking out armed pirates. A couple of twists (well foreshadowed, so maybe just slight bends in the plot line) help things out a bit. Late night fun

3 stars (out of 5)

You're Cordially Invited

Vehicle for Will Ferrell and Reese Witherspoon. Ferrell's daughter is getting married and Witherspoons sister. They get double booked at a wedding venue big enough for only one wedding. But they try to make it work. Cue all the expected conflicts and wedding gags. Meanwhile, each family has their own historical grievances and they all get worked out in the end. And finally, the main plot driving feud between the two stars is resolved. I know, you might claim this is a spoiler, but if you couldn't have written this review without seeing the film, you are not paying attention. The comedy bits were entirely predictable and somewhat stale, but so well delivered that I smiled from time to time. 

3 stars (out of 5)

Saturday Night

A historical reenactment of sorts of the first night that SNL went live. Basically the behind the scenes leadup to "Live... from NY... it's Saturday Night". Lorne Michaels is the star of this telling as he works to put all the pieces together for something that no-one thought could happen and was improbable at best. Great characterizations of Belushi, Chase, Crystal, and a bunch of comics I should know but don't. This was fun and funny. 

4 stars (out of 5)

The Last Woodsmen (serial)

A 9 episode reality series following a Vancouver BC logging outfit over the course of a logging season. The team has a "float camp", which is a large dorm-barge that operates as their base of operations in highly remote work areas. I love seeing the variety of things that go on with a big operation like this (the fallers, the mechanics, river tug operators, etc.). I get tired of the every episode discussion of money that seems to be used to remind us of the tension. It is not necessary as the rest of the story is sufficient to keep everyone interested. 

4 stars (out of 5)

Back in Action

Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx team up for a spy, action, drama. The two are former black ops CIA spies who have left the business and raised a "normal family" for 15 years. But they are discovered and pulled back into the life as Foxx had stolen a "magic key" back when they were faking their death. So a pretty typical plot line that, I believe, is supposed to be novel based on the witty banter and chemistry between the stars. But it is mostly just a typical offerings. 

3 stars (out of 5)

Astrid (serial)

Season 4

This French PBS series follows Astrid Nielson, an autistic police officer who works in the documents archive. Astrid continues to navigate social integration and the novelty of relationship with new boyfriend Tetsu and Stepbrother Niels. Astrid continues to be the driving force in all investigative break throughs with the team. So entirely predictable. And entirely enjoyable. One of my favorite police procedurals of recent years. 

5 stars (out of 5)

Golden Kamuy

A Japanese period drama which plays out as a treasure hunt / action thriller. A former soldier who seems to have acquired some sort of invincibility in battle joins up with an indigenous girl in the hunt for a treasure stash of gold that was stolen from locals in the prior generation. They are seeking the map (tattoo'd on the skin of a bunch of escaped convicts) and run into both a rogue military unit and a criminal mob seeking the same map. I thought is was going to be a standalone movie, but apparently it is a part one since the gold was not found :)

3 stars (out of 5)

Skeleton Crew (serial)

Set in the star wars universe, four kids accidentally find a space ship and launch it into hyper space. Turns out they have become the owners of a pirate ship, and have no idea how to get back to their home planet of At Attin, since it is largely an galactic myth - rumored to hold endless wealth. The kids have to grow up quickly, learn to trust each other and find a way home. Quite fun. 

4 stars (out of 5)