IF

A 12 year old (going on 20) is our heroine, as she is dealing with her dad (John Krasinski) going for heart surgery. Especially traumatic since she lost her mom to cancer a few years ago. Staying with her grandmother during the surgery, she is taken back to her childhood as she can see IFs (Imaginary Friends) and gets pulled into a operation with the guy upstairs (Ryan Reynolds) to match IFs with their "kids" who have forgotten them and can no longer see them. In the process, she is reintroduced to her own "12-year-old-ness" and how important it is to be imaginative and have fun. A pretty well executed, if on-the-nose, message movie for teens and adults alike. 

4 stars (out of 5)

Crime 101

An L.A. based heist film starring Chris Hemsworth as an expert planner and executor of high end heists. He becomes known as the 101 thief since all of his hits are along the 101 freeway. His MO is that he never hurts anyone, so when his next target is "too dangerous" and he pulls out and his handler gives the job to someone else - who botches it. Enter Mark Ruffalo, grizzled cop and Halle Berry, disillusioned insurance broker. Plan the "walk away" job and find a way to deal with everything that goes wrong. Kinda standard, but it has been awhile since a good heist has come across my eyes, so well worth it. 

4 stars (out of 5)

Work It

Rewatched Work It from a few years ago. Nothing wrong with a little dance pick me up.

3 stars (out of 5)

The Intern (serial)

Seasons 1-5

A French television drama following Constance Meyer, a middle aged, second career trainee judge. In the French system, the judges are the investigators who stand between the police and the prosecutors. So basically this is a detective show. Meyer is insightful, uses her life experience to bring a different lens to her investigations, and pushes the boundaries just a bit. She also fills that mother role with her colleagues, who all seem to need it. It is a fun series, not super dark like the British or Scandinavian murder-mysteries tend to be. More like Munch or New Tricks.

4 stars (out of 5)

Project Hail Mary

Outstanding offering based on Andy Weir's book by the same name. A mysterious alien "infection" is plaguing the sun and siphoning energy away. Which means that within <50 years, catastrophic environmental system collapse change life on earth. In a remarkable (and likely utopian view of the goodness of humanity) all countries on earth collaborate to find a solution. Yes, there are some science fiction stretches in this story, but "global collaboration" is the most unbelievable part of the entire thing. What ends up happening is a massive effort to use the "alien infection" as a fuel source for an interstellar investigative flight to a system that is also infected but for some reason has reached homeostasis. There are a lot of surprises and fun moments along the way, which you should see or read (or both). For me, the most fun in this entire tale comes with the 'cynical realism' of a stereotypical scientist/engineer. The background dialogue give Murderbot vibes, which I also love. 

5 stars (out of 5)

Nonnas

A historical fiction telling of a middle aged Italian American New Yorker (Vince Vaughn) who is grieving the passing of his mother. With the passing, he is realizing how much of his life centered around the food prepared by mom and Nonna for the family. So he goes to Staten Island and opens a restaurant - with local Nonnas as his chefs. It is a cute film, with the predictable barriers (money, city inspectors, fighting/grouchy Nonnas) and a predictable last minute success at the end. If it wasn't historical fiction, it would be too sappy to be considered watchable. But the characters are all well played and the script doesn't dwell on one aspect too long so that the movie is good as a whole. 

3 stars (out of 5)

Nr 24

Set during the Nazi occupation of Norway, this is the story of Gunnar Sønsteby, a Norwegian resistance fighter/leader. The plot mechanism is Gunnar as an old man giving a lecture / telling his history to a room full of school children. As he tells his story, 80% of the film is flashback to the events of the 1940's. With the telling, most of it is straight forward resistance warfare (sabotage, who do you trust, etc.). But what makes this film outstanding is the interactions in the present, as Gunnar reflects on his history, what he is willing to talk about, and the questions that the students ask. When is it appropriate to be violent? What is different about "war time"? Did you ever consider nonviolent resistance, like Ghandi? Gunnar's response that Ghandi never faced the Nazis is not sufficient for one particularly interested kid. When the kid says something to the effect of  "it seems like nonviolent resistance is more important in that situation", the filmmakers give us time to think. Wait, is it? Or is that just naiveté? It also struck me how daily and personal that threat was for Norwegians, and a that a real resistance grew in opposition. Gunnar telling his story to modern kids (2 or 3 generations removed) is an important part of a society struggling with threat, violence, resistance and freedom. Collectively in the US we haven't experienced a daily and personal threat since the 1800's, too many generations removed to have a connection to the moral dilemmas and trauma, to be able to have an experience informed discussion of what resistance really requires. 

5 stars (out of 5)

Burlesque

Christina Aquilera, Cher, Stanley Tucci - are you watching yet? Aquilera is an Iowa girl who moved to LA to sing when she comes across the Burlesque Lounge. Cher is the matriarch and owner, but the club is struggling. Along the way, we find out that Aquilera can sing, and the club begins to turn around. What makes this film good is that... Aquilera can sing. Definitely a vanity project for her, but she is totally worth it. The others round out the cast with solid characters that they can carry without everything seeming 1D. 

4 stars (out of 5)

Mantis

Set in the legendary Gil Boksoon world, there is a shakeup in the assassin world heirarchy and young upstart Mantis makes his move. That is all I got, I didn't finish it. Which is surprising since I liked Kill Boksoon so much. But since it fell flat, I have to give it...

1 star (out of 5)

The Royal We

An actual Hallmark movie - and all the stereotypes held true. Two fictional European countries are feuding over a parcel of land on their border. The feud seems to have originated with some royal spat a couple generations ago. The current royals are giving a go at reconciliation in the most out-of-date royal way possible -- have the heirs wed. Heir #1 refuses and elopes for love, leaving heir #2 to pick up the slack. Turns out she is living a life of privacy in Boston running her own foundation. Cue the meetcute, hijinks, accidental fall in love -- problem solved. Not sure it is cool to say this, but don't we all just need a Hallmark romcom from time to time?

3 stars (out of 5)

War Machine

Alan Ritchson is an Army vet who joins Ranger School at an advanced (for the Rangers) age. He is singularly focused on fulfilling a promise to his brother, at the cost of developing team camaraderie or trust. On the last 24 hour trial, it turns out that aliens are invading and he and his training team are thrown into the middle of it. Pretty good. 

3 stars (out of 5)

The Closer (serial)

Seasons 1-7

Kyra Sedgwick stars as LAPD Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson, head of the Priority Homicide division (later Major Crimes). She is hired by J.K. Simmons and their past relationships (in D.C. and Atlanta) are a running plot device, as is her relationship with her FBI beau and eventually husband, and Atlanta native mom and dad. Johnson's unique ability is to get confessions from criminals, which makes prosecuting crimes that much easier. She is also a bit of Dr. House of law enforcement, and a little bit of Law & Order vibe with the LAPD headlines and federal oversight after Rampart playing their own role. What makes this series particularly welcome is that the cast is largely intact throughout 7 seasons, so there is not any necessary false drama to write major characters out of the script. Great series. 

4 stars (out of 5)

The Princess Bride

Does this get better with age? Or is nostalgia that much stronger with age? In this rewatching (my first in a decade), I am amazed at how many quotable one-liners that are part of my lexicon originate with this film. "You've mocked me once, never do it again".  Every generation needs a signature cult film... this is mine.

5 stars (out of 5)

Franklin & Bash (serial)

Season 1-4

Two upstart LA lawyers are making their name with their unconventional style as they win every case. They look out for the little guy and never give up. They get hired into a big firm to "fight the zombie culture" and find themselves a new mentor/guru.  And they keep winning cases. The tone is "wacky-fun", reminds me a bit of the old serial Ed. It's definitely dated, with a frat-culture vibe and really 1D characterization of women. So mostly I might recommend this as background noise if you need a law show running in the background in the middle of the night. 

3 stars (out of 5)

Lincoln Lawyer (serial)

Season 4

Picking up where #3 left off, the Lincoln Lawyer (because he used to practice out of his Lincoln) is on trial for murder. Micky Haller and his crew have to prove his innocence, outsmart the criminal underworld, outsmart the DA, outsmart the FBI, outsmart... well, you get it. Somehow, even though this is predictable and largely stereotypical, it is fun to watch. Great ensemble working together to tell stories. 

4 stars (out of 5)

Munch (serial)

Season 1-4

A French law-drama where the central character is a defense attorney (Munch) who skirts rules to defend her (always innocent) clients. She is persistent, annoying, etc., but also heartfelt in her belief in her clients. She is mentoring the up and coming (a trust fund kid turned lawyer, her investigator, her receptionist) and working out her family relationships as well. Turns out to be the Paris equivalent of Lincoln Lawyer. Quite fun. 

4 stars (out of 5)

Good Cop/Bad Cop (serial)

Season 1

A buddy cop comedy-drama set in small town eastern Washington. The twist here is that the buddies are siblings -- she the intuitive "spirit of the law" cop, he the by-the-book oddball -- with police chief dad running the show. Entertaining, if not original. Gives Resident Alien or Monk vibes. 

3 stars (out of 5) 

Blanca (series)

This Italian series (one season - 10 episodes) features Blanca, a 20-something blind woman staring an internship at the Genoa police department. She has to deal with all the dismissiveness and stereotyping you would expect, but she makes herself useful on cases, to the point that her detective supervisor begins to trust her. In parallel, Blanca is drawn into an investigation of her own history and who killed her older sister (an event that caused Blanca's blindness). Is there such a thing as a Rom-Thrill? This is it. 

4 stars (out of 5)

Astrid (serial)

Season 5

In this season, the running theme is centered around a series of Astrid's epileptic seizures. They seem to be triggered by something and so she begins to investigate her own history / memory.  Tetsu loses his funding (and therefore visa), a childhood aquaintance comes back into her life, and Raphaelle is pregnant. All traumatic events that could contribute. This season thread is woven through the individual cases of each episode and we are even treated to young Astrid in flashback. Great storylines and I love the 8-10 episode seasons that is the new norm for seasons. Not so long that I lose interest -- good addictive encouragement, keep them wanting more :)

5 stars (out of 5)

Undercover Grandpa

A Spy Kids genre movie where James Caan plays senile grandpa who is always telling crazy stories about how he invented dark chocolate or single-handedly stopped the Russians from taking Berlin after WWII. When his grandkid's wannabe girlfriend (crush?) is kidnapped by an escaped South American warlord (see how silly this is already), Caan re-activiates his old unit of now geriatric special forces. The 4 of them, plus the two teenagers, take on and take out a cadre of mercenaries with more guns than the entire force of Mr. Smith in the Matrix. 

3 stars (out of 5)

Blacklist (serial)

Season 1-8

Blacklist centers on James Spader (Raymond Reddington), the FBI's most wanted criminal. He is basically an information broker who trades amongst the criminal underworld and always gets his cut. In this series, he becomes a confidential informant for the FBI under the condition that his handler be young agent / profiler Elizabeth Keen. It is this Reddington/Keen relationship that becomes the central tension of the series. Each episode consists of Reddington serving up an FBI wanted criminal and along the way getting something for himself. And each episode purports to reveal a bit more of the "truth" about Keen's past. However [spoiler] in the first 8 seasons, all revealed truths are themselves only partial or are outright lies. Overall, a good FBI/Crime series, but after 8 seasons, I need to take a break. I sense a shark-jump ahead...

3 stars (out of 5)