A story of several friends who are mom's of different varieties. Jennifer Anniston leads the group as a single mom, who finds her husband marries a much younger woman, and has to come to terms for the kids sake. The friends are all dealing with some other "culturally sensitive relationship". High message movie that plays as a rom-com. So ... meh...
2 stars (out of 5)
JLo is the CEO of the airline that her father (still on the board) founded. Roy Kent is the new company lawyer. She doesn't need any help, especially from men. He just wants to do his job and be near his incarcerated sister. Company crisis + trip to caribbean island + trope + trope + chemistry. Can you guess if they fall in love? In actuality, not bad chemistry and I love Roy Kent :)
3 stars (out of 5)
So it has come to this. What a disappointing, missed opportunity this was. To highlight the pervasive misogyny and patriarchy in business, the CEO of an ad agency hits his head and is transported to a world that is exactly the same, but with male-female roles switched. The women are misogynistic and patriarchal. So he learns his lesson, but barely, and then returns to his world a better person. Why do we not have a chance to see what a non-misogynistic world looks like? Why can't living in a world that is run by women, or co-run with women, be an effective tool to show the dumb CEO the errors of his ways? Instead of beating him with his own stick. My version has the benefit of showing such a world to every viewer, not just changing the life of one sad-sack character. Disappointing.
2 stars (out of 5)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
A Knives Out Mystery - starring Benoit Blanc
Third in the series of Daniel Craig detective vehicles. Set in upstate New York, but definitely an English Village vibe, and new priest is assigned to the small parish. He finds a ultra-controlling, cult-like figure running the church. When he is murdered in a closed room (the impossible crime), Blanc comes in to clear everything up. A fun clashing of Blanc's ultra-rationalism with religious fervor and miracles. As is typical, every key character has motive to be a killer, and sorting out what is known in flashback after setting the scene is the storytelling mechanism. A really good entry into the series. Well done.
4 stars (out of 5)
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)
Daniel Craig is Benoit Blanc, famed detective. Sort of a cross between Holmes and Columbo. He is hired by an anonymous source to solve the suicide (murder?) of super wealthy author Harlan Thrombey. When Thrombey's will is read, and the entire estate left to his nurse/caregiver - the family is agast. And now Blanc needs to solve the case to show she didn't do it to get the money. A fun murder-mystery that is fully aware of how pretentious it is.
4 stars (out of 5)
Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnen, and Ben Kingsley are all living in the same senior living residence and have joined together to form the titular Thursday Murder Club. They are working on solving a cold case of one of their friends (recently ill) as a last gift to her before she passes. Turns out the cold case is more relevant to their current living situation that they suspected, and that the three also have fascinating (and highly relevant) pasts lives and skillsets. The local constable is a great supporting role and the caricatures of the other residents plays on tried and true tropes quite effectively. Overall, this feels more like a BBC miniseries than a feature film, but these days, who can tell the difference.
3 stars (out of 5)
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)
8 seasons
Allison Janey headlines this sitcom about recovery and relationship. She is the alcoholic mom with an alcoholic daughter, along with a group of alcoholic friends who are all simultaneously antagonistic to each other, self-absorbed and deeply caring and supportive. Over the course of the series, we see a progression of increasing wellness. Probably a full 1/3 of the setting is in AA meetings, and many times the jokes are "inside", and seem inappropriate for me as an outsider, or maybe just appropriation at best. But aside from that, there is something real about the struggle and healing that we are seeing.
4 stars (out of 5)
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)
A re-watch of the Robert DeNiro film from a decade ago. That man can fully act with just his face.
3 stars (out of 5)
Ted Danson is the lead in this amateur detective comedy. He has recently lost his wife, is retired and is looking for a new thing. He connects with a PI who needs an undercover senior in a retirement home to uncover a chain of burglaries. While this plot provides a through story, the real joy in this series is the "coming of age" for Danson's character Charles. The friends and relationships he develops and re-energizes even with his family are touching and meaningful and fun to watch. It surprised me, but really worth watching.
4 stars (out of 5)
