Dune: Part 1

A very nice prologue. 

4 stars (out of 5)

Ted Lasso (serial)

Season 2

Picks up where Season 1 left off. Richmond is battling back to the Premier league and Ted and group continue their overly dramatic life with quirky problems and the occasional effort to be more serious about mental health. Still loved it, but the novelty had definitely worn off.

5 stars (out of 5)

Baking Impossible (serial)

A combo between an engineering show and a baking show. Teams of two (one baker, one engineer) compete to bake structures. So an edible robot that can traverse an obstacle course, or an edible boat that can float down a river, etc. It is a moderately fun show, with neither the baking or the engineering really standing out. 

3 stars (out of 5)

The Good Witch (serial)

Seasons 6-7

Same as before - but the witchery gets acknowledged explicitly in these seasons, and the series wraps up nicely. 

4 stars (out of 5)

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

A solid fantasy action movie to introduce a new character. Shaun is just a regular guy living in San Francisco and Katy is his slacker friend. The two of them make a great pair of fun loving 30 somethings. But then Shaun gets exposed as a martial arts expert as a group of bad guys attack him to get a pendant that was given by his mom. Slowly revealed throughout the rest of the film is the extent of Shaun's martial arts badass-ness and his family background of mysticism and save-the-world responsibility. And dad is a bad guy who just wants to control the world. I generally like the cinematic effect of good martial arts action, and this did not disappoint, with the dragons and the forrest. Looking forward to more in this story line.

4 stars (out of 5)

Metal Shop Masters (serial)

My type of reality show. Seven master metalworker-artists compete in challenges to weld and fabricate installations like avatars, kinetic sculpture, musical instruments, etc. It is fun to watch the artists at work and it is all about the work, not about snippy relationships or interpersonal strategy. 

4 stars (out of 5)

Kate

Kate is an assassin working a series of jobs in Japan. A kid gets involved in her latest job and she begins to question her willingness to continue in the job. Woody Harrelson is her handler and convinces her to finish the current contract series and then she can get out. We all know how this will go. Nearly John Wick-ian in terms of body count and in terms of originality (i.e. lots of bodies, not much originality). 

2 stars (out of 5)