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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

Glass Onion

A Knives Out Mystery - starring Benoit Blanc

Daniel Craig reprises his role of Blanc, this time invited to a murder-mystery play on a private island by a billionaire tech bro.  Only it turns out there is a real murder and Blanc needs to solve it. Only it turns out ... well, without spoiling, let's say that 80% of the plot plays out, and then is shown again in flashback to reveal backstory, and then the 20% finale wraps up. Effective as a mystery plot device, but I think a bit of editing to speed up the pace would make a stronger film. The plot is remarkably similar to Murder Mystery 2 (which I saw first), but was released later. So in my watching, this felt derivative, but it was definitely better. A nice combo of Holmsian insight, Colombo-like bumbling, and Austin Powers excess. 

4 stars (out of 5)

The Wrath of Becky

A revenge-action thriller that gives Kick-ass and Deadpool vibes, if they were mashups with K-dramas (Kill Boksoon) or Kleo. Becky is a kid who aged out of the foster system and has taken on her own training - with an ultimate goal of seeking revenge on her fathers killer. She works at a local diner and encounters a plot to assassinate a visiting senator. Spoiler Alert -- she wins. 

3 stars (out of 5)

A Working Man

Can Jason Statham be any more typecast? And could I not even care if he is? In this version, Statham is a construction supervisor who left his British Special Forces life behind. When the daughter of his boss is kidnapped to be sold into the sex trade, he goes full metal. Along the way, his brash attacks on "The Brotherhood" end up causing him more trouble that had he been more thoughtful, but thoughtful is not what makes revenge action thrillers appealing. So now you know.

4 stars (out of 5)

Thunderbolts*

A spinoff of late stage Avengers. I've been out of the MCU universe for awhile, but I loved Florence Pugh as Yelena in both Hawkeye and Black Widow. Here she is working as a mercenary and comes to find out that her patron (CIA special director Julia Louis-Dreyfus) has sent all the mercenaries on staff to kill each other in an attempt to clean up evidence of bad stuff. So it is a bunch of misfits that self identify as "not fitting in" who accidentally awaken the god of all misfits, only to find that the bipolar nature of his mental health makes everything really bad. "Can't have the good without the bad". So maybe it is an attempt to explore the space of workplace stress, mental health and the importance of a good community. Or maybe it is all that as a means to make another superhero movie. Felt like the latter, with the important character and story pieces filling a second priority. But in this age of watching tent-pole films at midnight on my couch, this is not bad.

3 stars (out of 5)

The Pickup

Eddie Murphy is the grizzled vet of the armored car world, always following the rules, never having trouble. Pete Davidson is the upstart screwup. They are paired together for a run, are held up, held captive, and develop a reluctant relationship of trust along the way. Classic buddy cop.

3 stars (out of 5)

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)

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)

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)