Heart of the Hunter

Zuko is a regular guy, trying to be a good father to his girlfriend's son. But his past catches up with him. He was a black ops, special forces guy for the South African democracy movement during the transition out of the apartheid system. And now a presidential candidate is running who has deep roots in corruption and siphoning off resources for his own gain. Only Zuko can do the right thing for the country. In doing so he must navigate both sides of humanity - ultra violence and tender care for those he loves. It's a movie, so eventually everything works out, but Zuko will always be questioning the benefit/cost balance. 

4 stars (out of 5)

Gran Turismo

Historical fiction story of the Nissan sponsored contest to find e-sports drivers who could make the jump to real-world racing. All the tropes show up, but it is still a fun watch. 

3 stars (out of 5)

Halo (serial)

Season 2

Following up the first season, Master Chief and his group of spartans is trying to stay one step ahead of the Covenant. This season is more about exploring the humanity of John-117, and uncovering the connection he has with the Halo. We get the humanity, and the spartan mystique wears thin. But we end with just as much mystery at the end -- which makes a good serial. Thoroughly enjoyed this

4 stars (out of 5)

Damsel

A young women is betrothed to a foreign prince. It is a political match, a necessary sacrifice for the good of her people during a time when famine is widespread. What she finds out later is that it really is intended as a sacrifice -- the foreign politics require "donation" of royal blood to a dragon as part of an ancient pact. What the dragon does not expect is that Millie Bobbie Brown (as Elodie) wants no part of sacrifice. Classic fantasy tale.

3 stars (out of 5)

Blown Away (serial)

Season 4

Another season in the Blown Away series. The challenges are tougher and everything is bigger. The artists continue to be astounding. This season every artist is a potential winner and it simply depends on performance on any given episode. 

4 stars (out of 5)

The Furies (serial)

The Paris world of organized crime is run by 6 godfathers, each with their own domain of crime. They are pretty much restricted to stay in their area of expertise and not start a war with other godfathers because they have a Fury. This person is charged with keeping the peace, and is brutal in her implementation of "peacekeeping" measures. This is the story of the Fury, and her heir who was in hiding, didn't know she was the heir and is really very good at Fury-ing. Very engaging crime thriller and is perfect in terms of timing and pacing. Well done.

4 stars (out of 5)

Out of Sight

Late 1990's release: George Clooney is a serial bank robber who does all his work with charm and charisma. Of course, having robbed over 200 banks, it is inevitable that that you spend some time in prison. But that is not the life for George so he breaks out and heads straight to his next score. Unfortunately (or fortunately), during the escape he encounters US Marshal Jennifer Lopez and the chemistry is immediate. The rest of the movie is her chasing him and him chasing her. A nice little dance. Can't believe I haven't seen this before.

4 stars (out of 5)

Coin Heist

Set at an upper crust private high school, the headmaster is arrested for embezzling money from the schools endowment. To overcome the family shame, his son and a mismatched cohort devise a plan to steal from the U.S. Mint and replenish the endowment. It's the only way to keep the school open ... right? While being both improbably and unrealistic and overly simplistic, this plays as a poor cousin to The Breakfast Club in terms of teen ensemble movies. 

3 stars (out of 5)

My All-American

Historical fiction story of Freddy Steinmark, an undersized underdog who played safety for a couple years for Texas in the late 60's. He was the heart and soul of a national championship team and played through tremendous physical adversity. Classic feel-good sports bio. 

4 stars (out of 5)

Quizlady

Awkwafina remains one of my favorite actresses. Here she is paired with Sandra Oh. The two sisters are put in a position where they need to come up with a bunch of money to bail their mom out from some gambling debt. But this premise is really secondary to the relationship building that adult siblings do. Awkwafina is the awkward, people fearing, trivia savant who needs her sister to push her into doing something that she loves and is good at. Will Ferrell brings a nice, subtle supporting role as the quiz show host. 

4 stars (out of 5)

Percy Jackson and the Olympians (serial)

A nice short series following modern day Percy as he discovers his demi-god self, makes some friends, and goes on a quest to find Zeus' "master bolt" and prevent all out war between the gods. A good mixture of modernization and fantasy, kid character development and questioning the status quo. Lightweight and straight forward, but also no real flaws. What I was hoping for with The Kid who would be King and a retelling of Arthur's knights. 

4 stars (out of 5)

The Coroner (serial)

2 seasons

In a small Aussie town, the Coroner works with her police seargent friend to investigate and solve murders. In the same vein as New Tricks and Murder in Paradise, this is a feel good, low tension murder investigation series. 

4 stars (out of 5)

Bank of Dave

An car salesman in rural England (meaning non-London) has been making small private loans to those in his community, functioning as a micro-lender/micro-bank. In order to be legal, he applies to the banking regulators to be approved as a small bank. They don't want it (it could break capitalism) but his Ted Lasso level of optimism pushes forward. Every character is charming (except the bankers of course) and we get a big concert fundraiser at the end. 

3 stars (out of 5)

The Last Repair Shop

Documentary short featuring four vignettes of workers in the LA Unified School District instrument repair shop. The district provides band instruments to its students, resulting in frequent damage. But this is really more about the workers, their passion and how they got to the shop. only about an hour - feel good biography

4 stars (out of 5)

The Hill

For a feel good, underdog sports story, this was one of the most slow developing plots I have seen in awhile. And even so, not a surprise was in sight. Ricky Hill has always dreamed of being in the majors, but his degenerative bone disease was an obvious impediment. We get to follow his fight to the top, overcoming all the sports naysayers as well as his own southern, itinerate pastor father. Guess what, in the end he makes it. So surprises, and pretty OK.

3 stars (out of 5)

The Underdoggs

Snoop Dogg is the retired NFL franchise player with an ego the size of Texas. In his attempt to stay in the limelight after his career, he makes a few bad choices and ends up with community service back in his hometown of Long Beach. Which leads him to coach the local Pop Warner football team. All the stereotypical fish-out-of-water interactions take place, and the F-bomb count rivals a John Wick body count. But somehow appropriate for a Snoop Dogg vehicle. At its roots, this is a classic underdog sports film and I am a sucker for them. 

3 stars (out of 5)

The Man from Toronto

Kevin Hart is a hapless entrepreneur who never gets it right. He gets mistaken for a master assassin (the titular Woody Harrelson) and then entwined in the plot to kill and simultaneously a sting operation by the feds. His bumbling self makes him unwittingly remarkably good at both. And the net effect is a remarkably mediocre action comedy.

3 stars (out of 5)

Astrid (serial)

Season 3

Astrid is well ensconced in the Crime Squad and becomes essential to their every case. The only way she can continue to work with them is to attend the police academy courses for forensic analysis. So that thread wanders the entire season. Otherwise, it is the same genius show that the prior seasons showed. 

5 stars (out of 5)

Reacher (serial)

Season 2

Similar to the books, this installment is completely detached from Season 1 with only small connective threads. This season we get lots of backstory as the plot pulls the old Special Investigators team from the 110th together. This is fun to see Reacher history. I will be curious how future seasons continue to follow the books and whether they are able to capture the solitary nature of Reacher. This season was definitely an ensemble piece (and unusual for it). 

3 stars (out of 5)

Echo (serial)

A new short series in the Marvel Universe, shortly after Hawkeye. In this case, Maya Lopez is the protégé of Kingpin, only to feel betrayed by him and bring a war home to her Choctaw Nation lands in Oklahoma. I like the character of Echo (new to me), but I am not really sure what Marvel is doing here. Clearly she is the protagonist, but I like my superheroes to have cleaner intent. By that I mean I want to know whether I am rooting for a tortured bad guy or a tortured good guy. Here, I am never sure which way she will go. I suppose that is part of the "plot drama", but I don't really watch Marvel for plot drama, so...

3 stars (out of 5)

Lift

Kevin Hart is the brains and glue that holds together a team of international thieves. We open with a high stakes auction theft stealing an NFT (I know...). When they are sort of caught, they are pulled into an Interpol scheme to steal 500 million worth of gold from a really bad guy to prevent terrorism. A pretty solid effort, if you accept ridiculous technology and after the fact explanations that completely change the heist shown. 

3 stars (out of 5)

Role Play

Kaley Cuoco plays a mom/wife in her public life, but is secretly a top notch assassin for hire. Her family finds out, they are in danger, she wants out. 

I recently saw a commentary about the slew of these types of movies coming out and they were referred to as "stereotypical B-movies". I hadn't thought of that, but ... yes. So, with the B-movie lens on, this gets

3 stars (out of 5) 

Greater

The story of Brandon Burlsworth, a walk-on turned all american for Arkansas football. Told in real-time at his funeral alternating with flashbacks of his razorback career. Heartfelt. Inspirational. Heartbreaking. 

4 stars (out of 5)

The Equalizer 3

Denzel Washington reprises his role helping out those who can't help themselves. This time its in Sicily where chasing down a drug ring mixes him up with the Mafia. Exactly what you expect. 

3 stars (out of 5)