Come From Away – 10
During these two months of rehab from knee surgery, I’ve enjoyed some nice movies, but none more than this one, featured on Apple+. It is the filming of a Broadway play about a town in Newfoundland and the role it was drafted into on 9/11. When Air Traffic Control grounded all air traffic, I guess I never wondered where they all went. Well 38 of them landed at a small airport in Canada. That’s quite an influx of folks for a small town to handle. Think of the pets. Think of the Diapers. Think of everything. This movie does, and it's wonderful.
No Time to Die – 9
This is the only movie that I actually left the house for since my surgery, although Dune is on the horizon.
There are plot holes you can drive a truck through. There are slow patches. There are a slew of what I call “Bond Conveniences” like “oh, look, here’s a rope I can swing from,” and “here’s a ladder close by.” There is a virtually useless villain performance by Rami Malik who must have been trying to consolidate all the previous Bond villains into one mumbling, incoherent mess, with a scarred face of course.
So, why did I enjoy this movie so much, maybe more than any Bond since Goldfinger? I often say you either buy a movie or you don’t. Well, I just bought it all. There have been 25 Bond movies now, piloted mostly by the Broccoli family, who got the rights to the Ian Fleming output and while the quality has fluctuated through numerous actors playing Bond, they’ve never failed to produce a blockbuster of some magnitude. I believe, except for the first two (I was 7 or 8) I’ve seen them all in a theater. I have no allegiance to a particular actor, although they’ve all been chasing Sean Connery.
Daniel Craig has been tremendous in his 15-year, 5-movie run. Sure, he was different from previous bonds, “why so serious?” but he certainly brought some gravity to the proceedings, and I realized that there are a lot of young people who only know this Bond, unless they have been concientious about their TBS viewing. What this movie does beautifully is finish the Daniel Craig arc. Early in the movie, he captures the old Bond in this incredible fight sequence co-starring Ana Del Armas (the next big thing, don’t ya know?). Later on, the plot gets a little heavier as he must deal with what I think is the 3rd love of his life (if you’re counting) who he has mixed feelings about but is forced to unmix them to save the world, and other significant people.
Memo to the Broccoli’s: Good luck replacing Craig, drop the crazy villain trope and just go with a sane businessman, a Tony Soprano type, and tighten these scripts already. If Tom Cruise can save the world in under 2 and a half hours, so can you.
Cry Macho – 7
Only the staunchest of Clint Eastwood fans will jump up and down over this one. While it is enjoyable, it takes all the starch out of a story that had the makings of an interesting adventure. It’s slow, but, it never bores you. It’s just not what we expect from Eastwood. But, at 90, what should we expect?
News of the World – 8
Tom Hanks is his reliable self in a western featured on Apple+. Nothing spectacular here, just a solid story.
The Way Down: God, Greed, and the Cult of Gwen Shamblin – 10
When a documentary starts with the unexpected death of its subjects, as filming was being concluded, you know it’s going to be a wild story, and it is. HBO has never been shy about Documentaries about religion, and this is another revealing one.
The Remnant Fellowship is based in Brentwood, Tennessee, and was founded on the magnetism of founder Gwen Shamblin who actually started her movement, now 150,000 strong nationwide, on a gospel built around weight loss, what she called “the weigh down.” Accused of casting aside followers who couldn’t stay trim (I’m not making this up) and for other reasons, she and her family ruled with an iron fist, on their way to great wealth. You won’t believe this. Three episodes now, more to come in a year or so after the mysterious plane crash is fully investigated.
Bitchin’: The Sound of Fury of Rick James - 8
I am totally ignorant when it comes to addiction, so I watch this kind of stuff to get an education, and there sure is one to be had here. Rick James was a mess. Talented, but a mess. I can still remember when he had a couple of songs that dominated music, but it could have gone on a lot longer but for his appetite. This is a top notch documentary on Showtime.
Another American Masters PBS documentary that is fascinating. What am I doing watching this? It stems from that one great Tom Cruise scene in a jazz club in “Collateral” where they talk about Miles Davis. What a life this guy had. I’m just starting to learn.
Count Me In. – 8
A Netflix documentary on drumming and drummers. I’ve known very few drummers in my life, but they all seemed extremely happy. I always wanted to play the drums. Seems like fun. These two impressions were fortified with this nifty little doc. Anything that tries to quantify the greatness of Keith Moon is going to be interesting, and they make the case here that he played the drums every waking hour, even when there was no drum set around.
Untold: Malice in the
Palace – 9 (Netflix)
The Ron Artest Story – 9 (Showtme)
What an oddity. Two nearly identical documentaries, which main difference seems to be the clothes the interviewed are wearing. Metta World Peace indeed.
Only Murders in the Building – 9
This Hulu comedy/murder mystery stars Steve Martin, Martin Short, and the surprisingly splendid Selena Gomez, who team up to try to solve a murder mystery in their New York City apartment building, which is also a star. The great Amy Ryan is on board as a love interest for Martin, and for star power, charisma, and chemistry, who could ask for anything more. They are trying to solve a long running mystery and of course the way you monetize that is with a podcast. The series starts a little slowly, but as they get closer to the murderer, the tension ramps up.
Ted Lasso – 9
And finally, season two of the highly acclaimed Apple series finishes it up. It seems to lurch around a bit, as it tries to give its due to each character. Including one who appears to go over to the dark side. In the end it’s Brett Goldstyn’s portrayal of hardcore Roy Kent that is the most interesting to me. Make no mistake, there’s nothing else like this show on TV. But, not for long. Look for a slew of imitators. Their Emmy haul for season 1 insured that.
Gunpowder Milkshake – 7
A female assassin who was abandoned by her mother (an assassin – go figure) must reunite with mom to protect her daughter. There is a group of female assassins who come to the rescue and it’s as ridiculous as most action movies. Not to say it doesn’t have its moments, and a great cast.
In a Lonely Place – 9
I was told this 1950 flick was one of the all-time great movies, which I thought was interesting since I’d never heard of it. It’s an oldie with Humphrey Bogart as a screenwriter under suspicion for a murder he didn’t commit, but you’d never know that by his crazy actions. A good one for sure, but great? No.
Deadwood – 10
I’m binging Deadwood, the HBO miniseries from the early 2000’s. It is often discussed as the greatest drama series of all time with The Wire and The Sopranos, so I thought I would check it out. It’s written like Shakespeare in the west, as the characters speak in a unique prose that is sometimes hard to decipher, and that’s before the profanity. Eventually, you can taste the dust of the mining town, and the disposability of life, as each person is just trying to get to the next day.
This is some of the most difficult to watch scenes, and storylines you’ll ever see on TV. If you can stomach it, you will be rewarded by things like Ian McShane as the most wicked villain of all time, Al Swearengen. He swears alright. The critics are right, this is epic television, but not for the faint of ear.
Muhammed Ali – 10 (PBS)
I’ve watched many a fine documentary on the great boxer. I could not have foreseen that Ken Burns would take on the task of wading through it all again, but he does, and his usual quality is evident. Covering Ali’s religious conversion, every wife, almost every fight, and his illness in great detail, Burns leaves nothing else to be said. Clocking in around 8 hours, it’s like that good book that you stay up all night to read. You can’t look away.
There was a time when the Heavyweight Champion of the World was the center of the sporting universe. Ali took up all that oxygen and more. Boxing peaked with him. It’s that simple. I know many that loved him and many that hated him. You couldn’t be ambivalent when it came to Ali. This documentary probably won’t change your mind, but it gives you insight into the methods to his madness.
Dave Chappelle – The Closer - 5
Chris Rock – Total Blackout:
The Tambourine extended cut - 8
Dave Chappelle sold 3 stand up specials to Netflix, and his third and last really lit the controversy bulb. Netflix employees walked out over his comments on transgender people, and I can see why. For me, its just not that funny as he rambles through his grievances. However, I will give him credit for wrapping it up in a poignant ending, so if you’re going to watch, stick with it until the end.
Chris Rock on the other hand continues to give social commentary that everyone can understand. He explains the difference between being rich and wealthy way better than any politician, and bares his soul on his divorce, and why we have to learn to deal with bullies. This is an extension of a previous special.
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