The Amatuer

Rami Malek is an ultra-introverted CIA analyst working in codebreaking and intelligence analysis. He works 5 floors deep in the basement, so is the exact opposite of a field operative. When his wife is killed by terrorists during a trip to London, he is able to quickly gather the intel to identify the killers. But the CIA wants to be patient and "play the long game". Malek wants them to train him to be a field agent so he can personally track down and kill the enemy. Suffice it to say, he is better that the agency thinks at field work, and does all the tracking down while also uncovering corruption at the agency. Sort of an Accountant meets Bourne. But really, better than both. Malek has an appropriate level of humility and clumsiness in his efforts. 

4 stars (out of 5)

Wildcards (serial)

Season 1 & 2

A grifter (Max) is arrested (by Ellis) and as part of her parole/community service, she has to work with the police to solve crimes. So this is a classic buddy cop movie, with the cop/criminal pairing. Very much the local version of Whitecollar. Max and Ellis are a great team and (of course) sparks fly. The cases they solve are cheeky (a murder on the real housewives set, ghosts, etc.) so this is a lightweight as it gets, true CW fare. 

4 stars (out of 5)

The Art Detectives (serial)

British series following the Heritage Crimes Unit. Actually, to start the unit is one person DI Mick Palmer. In episode one, he picks up an assistant in DC Shazia Malik, and the two of them solve any type of crime involving Art. They get called to any type of crime, but there always seems to be a murder. Whether it is paintings, music, antiquities, etc. Palmer and Malik navigate their newfound partnership and complementary skills to solve the case. Not a super-dark, serial-killer type of police drama that often comes out of Britain. I quite enjoyed this. 

4 stars (out of 5)

17 Again

Zac Efron was a high school all star who gave up his college athletics to father his child. Matthew Perry is the 30-something dad version who regrets his choices. He is given the chance to go back and do it all again, waking up as his 17-year-old self (but in the present day). So Zac goes to school, befriends his son, helps out his daughter, and reconnects with his wife in a new way. All so that he can realize how good he has it and can return to his real-time life. Classic time-travel-coming-of-age tale. Not bad. 

3 stars (out of 5)

Murderbot (serial)

Season 1

An outstanding interpretation of the Murderbot books by Martha Wells. This season is based on her first entry in the series, All Systems Red. The titular protagonist is SecUnit, a cyber/organic creation with a governor chip that has been hacked (meaning the SecUnit is independent of human control). He is trying to stay under the radar (since independence is illegal), but his current assignment as Security Unit for the survey team of "The Preservationist Society" makes it hard. They recognize the sentience of robots, and are consensus decision making, anti-violence, world explorers that are quirky enough to see through his non-traditional behavior. The shining piece of this portrayal is that the irreverence and cynicism of the SecUnit are spot on with the tone created by Wells. I am all in on the book series and more seasons. Can't get enough. 

5 stars (out of 5)

Long Way Home (serial)

The fourth installment of the Long Way series with Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman taking extended motorcycle trips. This time they start and end in the U.K. with a 17 country European loop in between. This was a better season than the prior, with the focus here being the locations and people (vs the focus on the electric bikes last time). This earth we live on really is a massively diverse place, both environment and people. I particularly enjoyed the trip north, through Scandinavia and the Baltics. 

4 stars (out of 5)

Sherlock & Daughter (serial)

This series plays like late 1990s, BBC spinoff of the Sherlock Holmes genre. And I say that in the best sense with the look and feel appropriately British and early century time frame. In this version, a young woman travels to London from California after her mother is murdered, following a clue that Sherlock Holmes is her father. She becomes entwined in a series of cases with him, effectively replacing the Watson character, honing her investigative skills with a brash, American sensibility. It's new, without feeling like a reboot. Well done. 

4 stars (out of 5)

The Old Guard 2

What a massive disappointment. While the first film was excellent, this has no purpose. It is clearly an "episode 2 of 3" film, and on its own is purely interstitial. Yes, it reveals some backstory. Yes, it sets the stage for a grand conflict. But this is not serial TV. This is film. this 90 minutes needs to stand on its own and be worthwhile. It is not. 

If you want plot, Andy and her gang of immortals continues to do good, even though Andy is now mortal. We find out why, we find an immortal who is not good, and we have personal conflict. The plot is a mess and even the action scenes are deflating. 

2 stars (out of 5)