Last Christmas

A 20-something is wandering aimlessly through life, unsure of her purpose in her post-heart transplant world. With a crazy family, no passion for her former passion and a truly deadend job, Kate is lost. Until she meets Tom, who is relentless in his pursuit of her and fundamentally changes her world view. A real romantic comedy that is more about coming of age and realizing what is important in life. 

3 stars (out of 5)

The Life List

When her mom passes, Alex finds at the reading of the will that she is left only a year long, life purpose scavenger hunt based on a bucket list written by her 13-year-old self. Over the course of the year, anger, grief and listlessness turns into adventure and love of life. Formulaic, but when the formula works, use it. 

3 stars (out of 5)

Somebody Somewhere (serial)

Season 1, 2 & 3

A comedy-drama series set in Manhattan Kansas. Sam is the show protagonist and she is 30 something, working a dead end job, still grieving the loss of a sister to cancer, and dealing with a dysfunctional family. She connects with Joel, who she finds out was also in choir in high school, and the two become best of friends. The next 3 seasons follow this growing friendship and both the drama and the banality of daily life. And in spite of the sadness or difficulty surrounding them, Joel and Sam are the most hilarious pair you will find, able to laugh and love and support each other throughout the years. Hands down one of the best series I have seen. Loved it. 

5 stars (out of 5)

The Lincoln Lawyer (serial)

Season 1 - 3

I largely avoided this for the past couple of years, not knowing anything about it but presuming it was a mid-west lawyer show (I was thinking Lincoln, NE). But in fact, it is an LA based lawyer show, which as an LA resident, is quite fun. Mickey Haller is the protagonist defense lawyer. He has a couple of ex-wives (one prosecutor and one who works with him) and a daughter, and he is a recovering addict. And an outstandingly creative lawyer. The Lincoln comes from Haller's proclivity to work out of his car (a Lincoln). The show has one big case per season, and then a few smaller cases that somehow seem to tie in. These small cases kept each episode fresh and the season moving. I really liked this show. Reminds me a lot of Bosch, but from the law point of view instead of police. 

4 stars (out of 5)

Canary Black

A spy thriller. Graves is the CIA's best black ops agent. When she is blackmailed into stealing a top secret document, the entire agency comes down on her. She is on her own to actually find the secret document, get out from under the blackmailer, and clear her name. All while shooting thousands of rounds of ammo but never getting hit. Pretty predictable, and yet as an action flick, entertaining. 

3 stars (out of 5)