Tag Archives: Netflix

Spaceman

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So this must be the weekend for science fiction.

I watched Spaceman, the third sci-fi movie of the day for me. It is also the one that I am the most conflicted about.

It is very well known that I am not a fan of Adam Sandler. However, he has had some more recent, serious movie roles that I have enjoyed, so seeing this still left me with some hope. After watching it, I am just unsure what exactly I watched.

According to Rotten Tomatoes, “Six months into a solitary research mission to the edge of the solar system, an astronaut, Jakub (Adam Sandler), realizes that the marriage he left behind might not be waiting for him when he returns to Earth. Desperate to fix things with his wife, Lenka (Carey Mulligan), he is helped by a mysterious creature from the beginning of time he finds hiding in the bowels of his ship. Hanuš (voiced by Paul Dano) works with Jakub to make sense of what went wrong before it is too late.”

This is most definitely a slow burn sci-fi movie, which I do not mind. I have always enjoyed a good slow burn character piece, and this is definitely a film that embraces the pace.

Adam Sandler does a decent job in this performance, but it does feel strange at times. I have to say, I did not realize that he was supposed to be an astronaut from the Czech Republic until midway into the film. There was not much about Adam Sandler or his performance that screamed Czech.

Then, things go really weird when the creature voiced by Paul Dano arrives and begins a deep, psychological and internal discussion about just about everything in Jakub’s life. I don’t want to spoil the creature, but your acceptance of this creature will depend if you think the film is a decent sci-fi film or a silly facade.

There are things about Paul Dano’s character that I would like to discuss, but I can not go into it without spoiling some specifics so I will not do so. Let me just state that one of the big themes of the film deals with the loneliness and isolation of Jakob and how that might affect his mental state, and I’ll leave it at that.

I went back and forth with Dano’s character, so it is the reason why I am unsure how exactly I feel about Spaceman. This is the central relationship that we focus on and I am mixed on it. I found it more interesting overall than silly, so there is that.

There was an interesting use of flashbacks to tell the story of Jakob and his life. I did enjoy the manner in which the movie displayed the flashbacks and how the story on earth maintained a different visual style than the scenes in the spaceship or from the flashbacks. I thought the direction of these scenes especially, from director Johan Renck, was solid. I am not sure that I got enough out of the scenes to understand some of the decisions made by Jakob, especially in the area of Lenka. Carey Mulligan has some good moments, but not enough of them to really matter.

I do think the film missed some opportunities to really take this into a strong character piece and deal with some heavy ideas and themes. What they did was okay, but I think there is an outline of something that could be truly good.

You should check it out on Netflix. This is one that I think you could hate, but I found enough here to be engaged by it.

3.3 stars

Code 8: Part II

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It was quite a weekend for sci-fi part two films. The biggest, of course, was Dune: Part Two in theaters, but the other is a film that arrived on Netflix called Code 8: Part II.

This was a film that I had no idea even had a Part I. Apparently, this is a sequel to a sci-fi film that came out in 2019 and on Netflix in 2020 featuring Robbie and Stephen Amell.

According to IMDB, “After witnessing the murder of her brother and subsequent cover up, a teenage girl with abnormal abilities seeks the help of an ex-con (Robbie Amell) and his former partner-in-crime (Stephen Amell). Together, they face a unit of corrupt police officers who deploy advanced robotic technology to prevent themselves from being exposed.”

The mix of super powered individuals and the science fiction robotics is very intriguing with this movie and leads to some interesting scenes with the different characters. I did like the young girl, Pavani, played by Sirena Gulamgaus. I thought she pulled off her character with some gusto.

The relationship between the characters played by the Amell brothers were shaky at times. It was unclear the relationship between them and it was inconsistent. Perhaps this is a drawback to not seeing the first Code 8 movie.

The story is okay. I wouldn’t rave about it, but it does have a good flow and the idea of technology being corrupted by human is definitely a regular one in sci-fi.

I liked this film. I have seen reviews stating that this was a step down from the original, but as that is not an issue for me, I would say I liked watching this. It may not be the best Part II of the weekend, nor the best sci-fi film of the weekend, but it was a worthy watch despite that.

3.5 stars

American Nightmare

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Unbelievable.

I have had this three episode true crime documentary on my list at Netflix for a few weeks now and I found a time to binge it tonight. What an unbelievable story. Shocking and outrageous in many ways.

Honestly, even the manner the show presented the story messed with the emotions and the comprehension of the audience. What actually happened? It laid out the story in a definite manner that was meant to have audience members draw their own conclusions… and then they flipped the script.

In 2015, Denise Huskins was the victim of a home invasion that led to her kidnapping. Her boyfriend Aaron Quinn reported the abduction the next day, claiming that he had been instructed that the kidnappers were watching him on a camera and that they would hurt Denise if he called the police.

The Vallejo Police investigated but the story of the kidnapping was so out there that they switched gears and began to believe that Aaron was responsible for Denise’s disappearance.

Then, she returned.

At this point, the police began thinking that this is a real-life case based on the Ben Affleck movie Gone Girl, and that this kidnapping was a hoax.

Except, it wasn’t.

This was amazingly compelling. The first episode focused on Aaron’s story and how the police were looking at the case. the POV of law enforcement was a major theme throughout all three episodes. I was shocked when Denise came strolling to her father’s house at the end of the first episode.

Episode two dealt with her story and the horrors that she went through. Again, her story was so wild that it was difficult to believe and it was much easier for the police to believe that a hoax was a much more likely scenario.

I really liked this doc because it had quite a bit of finality to it. A lot of these true crime docs that I have seen have an air of uncertainty to them, perhaps a mystery that is still unsolved. This may have had some unanswered questions (in particular, the kidnapper had told Denise that he had intended to kidnap Aaron’s ex instead of her), but there was a very definitive result which I truly appreciated.

It is a resounding accusation against police forces in the area that did not believe the stories of the women victims and instead, chose to relate it to a fictionalized movie. It also showed that there were police officers who took their jobs seriously and were dedicated to finding the truth, in particular Misty Carausu, a police officer with the Dublin Police Department in Dublin, California, who found the kidnapper, found goggles and a strand of long blonde hair that she eventually tied to Denise. It was the efforts of Misty Carausu that led to the arrest and conviction of the kidnapper/rapist, Matthew Muller.

This was an amazing documentary series, shocking and a powerful watch. I am very pleased that I decided to watch this compelling story.

Masters of the Universe: Revolution

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The sequel to the Masters of the Universe: Revelations from filmmaker Kevin Smith dropped on Netflix this weekend with five-episodes that ran around a half hour each. This made the series a simple binge and satisfying story with some classic characters if the 1980s.

Another fun tidbit for the series was hearing the voice talents of Mark Hamill and William Shatner working together. Having Luke and Kirk together in any manner is a Geek dream.

The story basically continues from the Revelations series as the characters were dealing with fall-out of everything that happened there when Prince Adam’s father fell ill, so badly sick that he was not long for the world.

There were some solid emotional bits in the story and some good character arcs, especially for Evil-Lynn. Her eventual redemption was one of the most satisfying of the entire series. The show also went into the origin of Skeletor, tying him to Adam in an unexpected way.

There were a lot of voices on the internet that spewed out venom and hatred over the Revelations series when it first came out on Netflix. It got so bad that it was pretty clear that Kevin Smith had been discouraged over it. You could hear the change come over him during his podcast Fatman Beyond. 

However, it seemed as if this time there are many more voices of positivity with this series. I hope Kevin takes in the well-deserved love and it makes him feel better. I really enjoyed Revelations, perhaps more so than Revolution. 

This series feels much more like a love letter to the original series than the previous one had. Revelations felt like he took the characters from the series and made them into deeper characters and put them on some arcs that may not have been popular, but were very interesting and thrilling. Here, it felt as if it were more about the story with the characters taking a bit of a back seat. With the fewer number of episodes, I think that was a wise choice.

The music/score of the animated show was sensational. Some of the music swelled with energy and passion, creating the perfect tone for most of the scenes. 

The animation was very good too. There are some truly beautiful shots of the action and the imagery of the surroundings.

The biggest drawback for me is another thing that connects it to the original series. I did not watch the He-Man show back in the 80’s and the weird, quippy dialogue/patter was cringey at times. When Lynn started to sing the K-I-S-S-I-N-G song, I could almost hear my eyes rolling into the back of my head. I understand that is the tone of the series and that it did have a place, but it was fairly annoying at times.

Otherwise, I think this was a satisfactory entry into the Master of the Universe mythos and longtime fans should find a lot here to praise instead of taking to the internet to rip down. 

A Murder at the End of the World E1, E2

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“Chapter One: Homme Fatal”

“Chapter Two: The Silver Doe”

I was looking for something new to watch. I didn’t want to dive into more from Moonlighting or The X-Files, as I have done several of both of those series this weekend. Picket Fences is done. Fargo has one more episode. I have not been too enthralled with For All Mankind as of yet. I finished Murder House. I wanted something new.

I will be doing a Twin Peaks rewatch at some point, but this did not feel like the right time. There are several other great shows I love such as Monk, Castle but those are both multiple season runs and I am only in season 2 of a bunch of the X-Files. Having something that has an end in sight is always welcome.

So I went looking for other options, and eventually I worked around to Hulu. Hulu was being kind of wonky tonight (I think because of the frigid cold we have here right now), but I still came across A Murder at the End of the World.

I had seen this before and the concept intrigued me and I am always a fan of a good murder mystery. It is also only seven episodes, which is great. It feels like one of those shoes like Echo, The Body or Fall of the House of Usher that can be a quick, palate cleanser in-between the longer commitment of the multi-season re-watches.

I started the series hoping that it would be able to catch my attention. I will say it started a little slow, but my the end of episode one, everybody had arrived at the setting and the characters were introduced and the murder was in place. At that point, I was all in.

The basic plot is something that we have seen before. A group of people are invited to an isolated location and somebody is murdered. This trope is very common, but I did like the way this series set up the trope and tied it to our main protagonist’s background. 

Emma Corrin felt very familiar to me, but I did not recognize anything on her IMDB page (that I had watched, I mean… I recognized shows. I just never watched The Crown or Pennyworth). I enjoyed her portrayal of Darby Hart, an amateur sleuth/true crime writer who had been called the Gen Z Sherlock Holmes. She wound up being invited to a retreat with some of the big brains of the world and her former friend/love Bill Farrah (Harris Dickinson) was also in attendance, as one of the world’s aforementioned artists.

At the end of the first episode, Bill dies in front of Darby. It is believed that he O.D.’d, but Darby did not believe it. She knew something more was going on, and she sneaked into the crime scene to see what she could find.

The story is told with flashbacks back to Darby’s younger years, not only during the time she and Bill were in pursuit of the Silver Dove Killer, a serial killer obsessed with silver jewelry, but also to younger years yet, when Darby was with her policeman father, including at crime scenes he was investigating. Her observations helped him with his cases.

There are some interesting characters in the show, but there has not yet been too much development of any of the other invitees to the retreat. They have been touched on, but the depth is still to come, I expect.

There was a disturbing glance at a person in a mask on the video in Bill’s room when he died. It was a scary image and it was one that I did not expect.

The first two episodes were really good and, with only five more to go, it should not take too long to find out who the guilty party is. I hope it delivers in the long run.

Blue Eye Samurai S1 E5, E6, E7, E8

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“The Tale of the Ronin and the Bride”

“All Evil Dreams and Angry Words”

“Nothing Broken”

“The Great Fire of 1657”

I finished season one of Blue Eye Samurai today with the final four episodes. This is such a great show, with amazing animation, perfectly executed fight choreography, and some of the best character work around. It is absolutely a high bar for the next season to reach.

Specifically, episode five was an amazing format, with the story being told with a narrated puppet theater. It was one of the most imaginative style choices that seemed to fit perfectly with the tone and style of the show.

Everything led to a huge confrontation between Mizu and Fowler as the city burnt down around them. I am not sure if I loved the way the cliffhanger unfurled, but I am willing to let season two play out to see what happens. I think I would have preferred for Mizu to have killed Fowler instead of trying to use him.

Plus, with Mizu and Fowler on a boat to London, does that mean that our cast of supporting characters Ringo, Taigen, and Akemi are going to be sidelined in season two?

It was a sad end for George Takei’s character Seki, shot to death retreating from the fire. His was a character that showed his true allegiances through the year… and it was to Akemi.

This was such a joy to watch and I am very glad that I took the suggestion from a couple of the YouTube content makers, saying that this was one of the best shows of 2023. It certainly was epic.

Top 30 TV Shows of 2023

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There are so many TV shows! It is impossible to watch everything.

This is my list of 30 TV shows that I have watched this year from 30 to 1.

#30. Secret Invasion (Disney +). I wasn’t going to put this on the list, but there were enough moments in the show to be enough for this list. Much of the one on one scenes were decent. The rest of the story was lacking.

#29. Bonus Action Vol. 1 (YouTube). Jay and Adam play D&D with their friends and it was great. Surprisingly great characters with development. Watched on YouTube.

#28. Percy Jackson and the Olympians (Disney +). I have only seen two episodes so far (waiting for #3 tonight). Good so far.

#27. Goosebumps (Disney +). RL Stein’s classics were reimagined for this Disney + series. Justin Long starred. This was okay, up and down.

#26. Whose Line is it Anyway (CW). I wish I could see this more, but it sneaks past me. Ihave to catch it on the app if I can. It is in its last season with the regular cast.

#25. American Horror Story: Delicate (FX). First half of the season aired near the end of 2023. Typically creepy horror show. Having to do with pregnancy.

#24. The Muppets Mayhem (Disney +). Muppet series featuring Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem. This was fun and had some great music. Loved Janis’s version of True Colors.

#23. Monarch: Legacy of Monsters (Apple TV +). Godzilla has some cameos. Follows two groups of humans, one group in 2015 and one in 1954. The 1954 group is more interesting.

#22. Bodies (Netflix). Limited series on Netflix, based on a graphic novel. Four time periods, same body. Mystery on how this is possible.

#21. Fall of the House of Usher (Netflix). Amalgam of Edgar Allan Poe’s best stories in a new series that watches a group of men and women from the same family die and the patriarch confess.

#20. Invincible (Amazon Prime). One of the top animated shows on TV. It only had 4 episodes in 2023, with the rest of the season two in 2024. Violent and dramatic.

#19. Silo (Apple TV +). Futuristic, apocalyptic drama where humanity has taken up residence inside a giant silo to protect themselves from the environment. Or is there something else going on?

#18. Schmigadoon (Apple TV +). Musical. Season two used classic musicals such as Hair, Chicago, Sweeny Todd as inspiration. Darker. Very funny. 

#17. The Mandalorian (Disney +). Season three was not as awesome as past seasons, but it still has Pedro Pascal and Grogu. 

#16. Blue Eye Samurai (Netflix). Another series that I have recent started and have yet to finish. Amazing animation and a deep character. Love this.

#15. The Rookie (ABC). The ABC drama featuring Nathan Fillion continues to be entertaining after four seasons. Fillion shouldn’t be considered a rookie any more.

#14. The Bear (FX). Fantastic show that takes place inside a restaurant. At least, the rebuilding of a restaurant. Stars Jeremy Allen White.

#13. Shrinking (Apple TV +). Jason Segal and Harrison Ford star on this drama/comedy about psychiatrists and the troubles they face in life, specifically dealing with loss.

#12. Poker Face (Peacock). Natasha Lyonne stars as Charlie Cale who has a special power… she can tell if someone is lying. Case of the week style… from Rian Johnson.

#11. Fargo (FX). Season five of the series has been kicking some butt… particularly by Dorothy “Dot” Lyon, a housewife who is more than what she seems. Jon Hamm stars too.

#10. Monday Night RAW (USA). RAW has really improved this year. There was a time not too long ago that I was thinking about not watching RAW. It is now appointing viewing with CM Punk, Seth Rollins, Cody Rhodes etc.

#9. Friday Night Smackdown (FOX). More WWE action with the show that rode the Bloodline storyline all year long. There were some moments in that storyline that could have been Emmy worthy. Acknowledge Smackdown.

#8. Ted Lasso (Apple TV +). The final (?) season of the show had its ups and downs, but usually was hilarious and it gave us a satisfying conclusion. 

#7. What If…? (Disney +). The MCU telling stories about what might have happened. The What If.. Happy Hogan Saved Christmas? and What If…Nebula Joined the Nova Corps? are two of the best episodes of the whole series, let alone season 2.

#6. Gen V (Amazon Prime). The Boys spin-off, featuring as many shocks and gory moments as its parent show. There are some wonderful characters that are less corrupt as the Boys.

#5. Only Murders in the Building (Hulu). Third season brought both Paul Rudd and Meryl Streep to the show involving a mystery centered around Oliver’s Broadway show. Some great music coming from it too.

#4. Jury Duty (Freevee). One person on a jury is a real person and the rest are actors. The court case is not real. How will things go? This is exceptionally funny and engaging. James Marsden appears on the show.

#3. The Last of Us (Max). Maybe the best video game adaptation of all time. Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey play Joel and Ellie, two people trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world. Emotionally devastating.

#2. One Piece (Netflix). Live action Manga with a group of characters that are the key to this show. The chemistry of this crew, led by Monkey D. Luffy, played by the charismatic Iñaki Godoy, is the most important part of the series. Creative, fun and thrilling.

#1. Loki (Disney +). The God of Mischief is back with more time traveling hijinks. Loki is desperately trying to save the TVA from being destroyed and, in the same way, save the multiverse. Tom Hiddleston has mastered this character after all these years of playing Loki and his chemistry with Owen Wilson’s Mobius is amazing. Their friendship takes this series to a different level. The end of episode four may be the most shocking cliffhanger ever.

Nimona

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I am trying to catch up on some of the Netflix films that have come out in 2023 now that the year is coming to an end. I have a couple of animated films to kick off today. 

Starting off, I watched Nimona, which I had heard could be one of the nominated Oscar movies this year. I can see why.

According to Rotten Tomatoes, “When Ballister Boldheart (Riz Ahmed), a knight in a futuristic medieval world, is framed for a crime he didn’t commit, the only one who can help him prove his innocence is Nimona (Chloë Grace Moretz), a mischievous teen with a taste for mayhem — who also happens to be a shapeshifting creature Ballister has been trained to destroy. But with the entire kingdom out to get him, Nimona’s the best (or technically the only) sidekick Ballister can hope for. And as the lines between heroes, villains, and monsters start to blur, the two of them set out to wreak serious havoc — for Ballister to clear his name once and for all, and for Nimona to… just wreak serious havoc.“

The relationship between Ballister and Nimona is the strength behind this movie. They have such a wonderful connection and their lives intersected beautifully.

The animation of the movie was gorgeous, creating a great visual storytelling part of the film. The design of Nimona and her shapeshifting abilities are creative and original. Then, every time you think the story was going in a specific direction, it went differently. 

Riz Ahmed and Chloë Grace Moretz do a wonderful job creating their characters and building the connection between them. It is because of the connection that they build in the first part of the movie. 

The message of the movie was fairly straightforward though there is another theme that is more subtle too.

Nimona was an excellent animated movie that is available on Netflix. It is certainly worth the time to watch.

4.4 stars

Nyad

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I don’t know why it took me this long to watch this movie.

Nyad is a biopic of Diana Nyad, the marathon swimmer who wanted to become the first person ever to swim from Cuba to Florida. She had attempted the swim when she was 28 years old, only to fail. She then tried again, starting when she was 60 years old.

Nyad was portrayed in the film by Annette Bening, who did a remarkable job in the physical role. Nyad was accompanied by her long time friend Bonnie Stoll, played here by Jodie Foster. The film was not just a film of staying the course and never giving up, but it was also one of friendship and the trials between friends.

Bening and Foster were amazing in their roles. The whole cast did a great job, but Bening and Foster were on screen all the time and brought so much energy and ferociousness to their work, you could believe that they both were fighting for that last chance to reach their dreams.

Rhys Ifans deserves recognition too for his role as John Bartlett, the chief navigator for the mission. 

The story was one of amazing dogged determination, a woman who did not want to give up and how that determination affected, often negatively, those people around her. The stretch of the film where Nyad’s crew were dropping out on her because they were afraid she was going to die doing this was exceptional. 

Bening was not afraid to show the warts of Diana Nyad and to make her look selfish and paint her in a negative way. She felt like a real person and not just the ‘force of nature’ that they described her as several times.

I am very pleased that I finally got a chance to watch this on Netflix and I would recommend anyone who likes the reaching for the stars type of sport movie watch it as well. Either way, there are two performances that should be considered come Oscar nomination time.

4.3 stars

Blue Eye Samurai S1 E1

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“Hammerscale”

I decided last night to give the first episode of Blue Eye Samurai a chance on Netflix. I have heard a lot of positive word of mouth about this series and, after watching the first episode, I have to agree. This is a spectacular animated series.

Beautifully animated. Dramatically presented. Its share of animated violence and blood. Blue Eye Samurai is a classic revenge tale engulfing our main protagonist, who has a major secret to hide.

Not only is the samurai tainted by blue eyes, Blue Eye Samurai (aka Mizu) is in truth a woman masquerading as a man.

We see a good chunk of her back story, where she learned to fight and how she constructed her sword. Plus, there was a major series of sword fights, beautifully animated and constructed.

This is an adult animation as there are blood splatters, language and plenty of nudity and sexual encounters.

There are eight episodes of this show on Netflix and I cannot wait to continue seeing this show. I have heard that Netflix has approved a second season, so I am happy that I am jumping on Blue Eye Samurai when I am.

Rebel Moon: Part One-A Child of Fire

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Zack Snyder is bad in just about the most Zack Snyder-like Star Wars wannabe movie on Netflix today. You should read that last line in slow motion to celebrate this movie because there is a TON of slo-mo in Rebel Moon.

According to IMDB, “When a peaceful settlement on the edge of a distant moon finds itself threatened by the armies of a tyrannical ruling force, Kora (Sofia Boutella), a mysterious stranger living among the villagers, becomes their best hope for survival. Tasked with finding trained fighters who will unite with her in making an impossible stand against the Mother World, Kora assembles a small band of warriors – outsiders, insurgents, peasants and orphans of war from different worlds who share a common need for redemption and revenge. As the shadow of an entire Realm bears down on the unlikeliest of moons, a battle over the fate of a galaxy is waged, and in the process, a new army of heroes is formed.“

This film was surprisingly boring for much of the run time. And then there was some slo-mo. Kora went out to recruit a band of characters to help protect the village in a very Seven Samurai inspiration. One problem? None of these new characters were very interesting or more than a one-dimensional archetype.

The dialogue was poorly written, and there was so much exposition when dealing with these characters. It makes this so much more dull than it needed to be. 

Typically A Zack Snyder movie looks great. This one looks great at times. It also looks badly. It is such a mishmash of special effects that you do not expect from such as visual of a director as Zack Snyder. 

The villains of this movie are basically Nazis in space. There is no nuance to any of these villains. 

There is some interesting world building in the film, but the execution of presenting it was really weak. 

This was not a good film. I am not sure if the next part of the movie will be better or just a lot of the same.

1 star

Leave the World Behind

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I have had this on my queue over at Netflix for several weeks now, but I had not gotten around to watch it. Leave the World Behind, the new apocalyptic film with a cast of A list celebrities, was almost two and a half hours long which tempered my anticipation.

I have also heard a couple of contradictory opinions on the film. It seemed as if the film was divisive for audience members, some unhappy with the ending, others finding it to be really good.

So with more time now that I am on winter break, I pulled up my Netflix account and gave it a try.

Amanda (Julia Roberts) and Clay (Ethan Hawke) decide one day, out of the blue, to take their two kids, Archie (Charlie Evans) and Rose (Farrah Mackenzie), on a vacation. Amanda rented a beach house and whisked her family off.

However, they are not long in the house before the owner of the house G.H. (Mahershala Ali) and his daughter Ruth (Myha’la) arrived in the night with a story about a blackout. G.H. hoped that they could stay in the house that night and figure out what to do in the morning.

Amanda was very distrusting, feeling uncomfortable with G.H. and Rose, and Rose had the same kind of snippy attitude leading to some awkwardness between the two families.

The longer they stayed together, the worse the situation seemed to become. 

The film is absolutely a slow burn as things developed at a leisurely pace, which may have been to the detriment of the film for some. A slow burn does not bother me though as I got a chance to get to know these characters. 

Admittedly, several of these characters were not very likable. Julia Roberts, in particular, played Amanda as a brutally unlikable person. Myha’la had the same level of unlikableness. There were times when the pair of them were hard to watch because of their attitudes.

However, these traits that could be considered negative by some really built the tension and the anxiety of the situation and the mystery of what exactly was going on in the world outside the beach house was compelling and filled the characters with dread. There were two scenes, played at the same time, one, involving Kevin Bacon and, the other, some animals that was just about as tense of a scene as I have seen in a movie this year.

The elephant in the room is the ending. Of course, I am not spoiling the ending, but I need to address it. The ending did not bother me at all. I did not find it to be problematic, though I do understand why some viewers may be irritated by it. It is the same type of trouble some people had with the ending of LOST. I loved the ending of LOST, so clearly that is not an issue for me.

The film is well acted, tense and slow story that keeps you in a state of confusion over what is happening, and does an exceptional job of providing suspense at the end of the build up. It is long, but I found it compelling.

3.9 stars

May December

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A major Academy Award potential film has been on Netflix for a week or so and I have just had the time to get to it. May December is an unsettling, awkward film based loosely on a true story.

According to IMDB, “Middle aged Gracie (Julianne Moore) lives a happy, well settled life with her husband [Joe (Charles Melton)]. Some years ago she was involved in an unsavory scandal but for her it is all in the past. Movie actress Elizabeth (Natalie Portman) is on a visit to this home and she is on a mission. This visit is a part of her preparation to play the role of Gracie in a movie being made. As she goes about talking to the family members Gracie wonders whether Elizabeth will uncover some secrets from her past and will some skeletons be revealed.“

Gracie, as an adult, had an affair with 13-year old Joe, and she spent years in prison for statutory rape. However, they stayed together in a relationship and had children.

There was a definite ick factor going on with this story.

Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman were both outstanding as the two main women of the film. Charles Melton was also very good as Joe, the younger man who was not sure what his relationship was.

I will say that the ending was a little questionable for me. I was not expecting the ending and it through off my entire thought process of the film. That is not a bad thing in the end.

3.6 stars

For All Mankind S1 E1, E2, E3

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Spoilers

I was watching the Geek Buddies this weekend and they did a new segment on their show called “What We are Watching.” Vogel kicked off the segment talking about Apple TV +’s show For All Mankind. He raved about the episode, saying that he rewatched the whole series over Thanksgiving. He spoke about it being one of the best shows on TV. He was very outspoken about his love of this show.

It intrigued me. I had never considered watching For All Mankind, but I have really enjoyed all of the Apple TV + series that I have watched. Ted Lasso, The Silo, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, Shrinking have set the bar high.

So I decided to start watching the series.

I watched episodes 1-3 to start. Vogel and the other Geek Buddies mentioned that the first couple of episodes of the season were a little slow, but I did not have any trouble enjoying them quite a bit.

The show felt like a giant What If…? show. This was ‘What If… the Soviet Union Beat the United States to the Moon?’. It was an interesting look at a point in history and how this minor change turned into high stress moments and a different world.

Joel Kinnaman was one of the lead actors of this ensemble and he is very compelling as Ed Baldwin, astronaut who wants to go to the moon.

Then the series added another twist and had the Soviets land a female on the moon, which sent Richard Nixon into a tizzy, wanting to have a US female astronaut as well.

They were working on building a Moonlab on the moon too which could lead to some serious issues in the future in the Cold War between the US and the USSR.

I am hooked with the series and I will be following this one along on a semi-regular basis.

Family Switch

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I regretted starting this movie on Netflix ten minutes in…maybe sooner.

It is Freaky Friday, but with a whole family.

The cast was pretty good featuring Ed Helms, Jennifer Garner, Emma Myers, Brady Noon as the family members and Rita Moreno appeared as Angelica. Sadly, the cast looked to be struggling through the material of this film.

The story was the same as any of these body swap movies. Nothing original here (with the exception of the baby and the dog switching bodies too- but that is just a few scenes).

Some of the situations were just ridiculous. How about a lactose intolerance fart joke? There are just so many instances of this that I can’t even begin to go into the stupid moments.

It is so predictable and I really wanted it to be over.

1.2 stars