Sniffer (Serial)

Season 2

Same cast as Season 1, but better in that there is a season long story arc that was missing in the first. Maybe even to a fault, resulting in some episodes being nearly completely connective. But again, our protagonist is arrogant, independent and brilliant. This gets him into trouble and saves the day. I like this character and the Russian Sherlock persona he plays.
4 stars (out of 5)

The Hitman's Bodyguard

Gotta say, I like Ryan Reynolds. Or at least, I like the characters he has been portraying and the tone of the films he has been starring in. But I tend to think that probably reflects a bit on him as a person as well. In this movie, he is a super compulsive former CIA operative who runs a protection agency. After a setback, he gets a call from his ex-girlfriend (interpol agent) to help with transporting an incarcerated hitman (Samuel L Jackson) across Europe to the Hague to be a witness at an international war crimes tribunal. In many ways, this is a classic buddy-cop film, with the two characters maintaining opposite personalities and continually grating on each other, but ultimately respecting their partner. Only the specific details that they are not partners or cops is dropped. The action sequences are fun, exciting and add new elements (a chase on boat, motorcycle and SUV through Amsterdam). It seemed strange at first, but it was right in line with irreverent Reynolds, that every so often, the action pauses for a heartfelt moment with an appropriately chosen 80's glam rock background song being played. In the end, this pacing made the difference between a frenetic action flick and an enjoyable action-comedy.
4 stars (out of 5)

Logan Lucky

Channing Tatum and Adam Driver play the Logan brothers, a couple of boys from West Virginia struggling along. They are not dumb, but not really bright either... and they are battling the Logan Family Curse of bad luck (Tatum has a bum leg and can't keep a job, Driver lost a hand in Iraq, various parents, uncles, cousins suffered similar fates of bad luck). Tatum has the idea (when he is fired from his job for said bum leg) to break into the cash safe at the Charlotte Motor Speedway and solve all their problems with a quick score. What follows is partially brilliant heist movie, partially hillbilly caricature dumb luck, sprinkled with enough missing details to allow the heist to actually happen. This is not the most precise presentation of a good heist, but it is fun, relying on a cast of odd characters that are completely over the top as individuals but somehow fit into the ensemble as normal. Quite fun.
4 stars (out of 5)

Legends (Serial)

Season 2

With Sean Bean playing Martin Odom, and MI-6 operative who can succsessfully pull off any legend (undercover assignment) so that he really has trouble knowing who the true Martin is. In this season, Martin is recovering from the trauma of the assassination of the director of the FBI (of which he is accused) and has amnesia from the trauma. So the entire season is about Martin working to discover who he is. Of course, this has to happen within the context of a major international crisis. And to tell the story, we get flashbacks to operations in Prague in 2001 which set the stage and directly affect the current operation in Prague. This is a good spy-thriller, with plenty of drama and intrigue and double agents and inter-agency "cooperation". And Bean does a good job of playing the super-spy as a regular, troubled guy.
4 stars (out of 5)

New in Town

Renee Zellweger and Harry Connick Jr. are the hate each other - love each other pair in this cheesy romcom. Zellweger is the Miami based corporate bigwig sent to Connick's Minnesota town to downsize/close his food processing plant. It's cold in Minnesota. They talk funny (caricature funny in this case) and have weird traditions. But it all grows on the Miami corporate bigwig and she becomes one of the crew. Oh gosh.
2 stars (out of 5)

Sandcastle

The story of an army infantry unit stationed in Iraq during the occupation. The protagonist Private Ocre, only signed up for the reserves in June 2001 as a way to pay for college. Then he found himself in Iraq, and not a fighter. But with his unit, he is sent into a remote village to help distribute water and fix a pumping station after US forces accidentally destroyed it. This portrays well the struggle that Ocre goes through as a soldier, and as a human. It displays the brutality and the ugly reality of war on both the aggressor and the occupied people. I suppose the moral of the story is, there are no winners in war.
4 stars (out of 5)

The Glass Castle

Based on a book of the same name, which is based on the true story of this family. The prime characters in the family are daughter Jeanette (Brie Larson) and father Rex (Woody Harrelson), who are kindred souls in this family. Rex is philosophically opposed to the stifling order and rules of society and raises his family to avoid such. This means that they move often, go without food more than should be, are "homeschooled", etc. Rex often copes with these stresses by getting drunk and spending any money the family does have on alcohol. But Jeanette always believes in him and in what he aspires to. But as each of the 4 kids gets older, they each leave to go to school and "abandon" Rex. The story is told in alternating current/flashback mode, with current being in New York where Jeanette lives, is a gossip column writer for the newspaper, and is about to get married. Her parents are squatting in a vacant building on the lower east side and she continues to have interactions with them, as she is recalling her upbringing. It really is a fascinating story, and thought provoking critique of how to educate children to be creative, free thinkers. This is clearly a case bordering on neglect (often on the other side of the border), but are there elements of this lifestyle that could be integrated into every childhood: the dreaming, education by reading, exploration of wilderness, etc. Well made, and great to watch.
4 stars (out of 5)