Thirteen Lives: This Ron Howard movie was released on Amazon Prime recently and it details the 2018 true life story of 12 young soccer players and their coach in Thailand who went into a cave that was flooded by early monsoon rains one fateful night. It stars Viggo Mortensen, Colin Farrell and Joel Edgerton. This story was all over the newspapers, and was something I can’t honestly recall, so I went into it not knowing the outcome. This is a good thing. Disney + apparently has a documentary on this same incident which I have not watched. I think that this is a story that is best seen without any knowledge of it as the suspense of what is happening onscreen keeps building and building.
The boys are missing from a birthday party and the families hear that they went into this cave. They can’t find them so the local police and later military divers get involved. Politics ensues to complicate and already tense situation. Things unfold.
What I can say is that I have limited scuba diving experience, but with that I do know that I would not want to be in a cave for 6 hours even once. They were navigating trecherous tight tunnels with wicked currents from water pouring in from outside. They also have air tanks to take with them. Farrell and Mortensen are two British divers regarded as some of the best in the world for this work. They arrive to assist. Note that they are not “professional divers” so to speak. They had other jobs and did this diving as a sidelight. Mortensen’s character was a fireman. So there is an inherent need for these two to help others. What I can say is that here are two men who should be knighted in their country. Not celebrities. They act without thinking about the harm that they put themselves into, and yet still do it time and again. It is remarkable. A tension-filled of a situation that was more complicated than one would initially think. Under the direction of Howard he brings the audience right into the caves with the divers. This doesn’t even mention the task of getting these shots on film. They are believable and would have had the actors in the water for long periods of time. Not an easy task. But it comes together which is compelling and shows, yet again, an example of what people can together, when they are motivated with a single goal. Things happened here that have never been done before. Definitely worth seeing.
Nikki Glaser: Good Clean Filth: I do like stand up comedy. Some better than others. Recently I have been watching comedians like Tom Segura, Jim Jeffries, Amy Schumer and Jimmy Carr. I have laughed out loud more to Carr, Segura and Jeffries than to Glaser. She is an attractive woman, despite her apparent issues both in her youth and her present. She spends significant time talking about her own womanly body parts and also performing various sex acts. This is definitely not a comedian for the kids to be watching, unless you want them to learn as much or more than they would hear on the playground. Glaser has been on F-Boy Island where her talents are wasted. She did an interesting bit talking about how male comedians can seemingly punch well about their weight in looks certainly, while female comics not so much. I do like that Netflix is investing in stand up. I enjoy a good laugh and especially during COVID we all could use a little levity! But if you haven’t seen any of Tom Segura or Jimmy Carr I would steer you there first. Amy Schumer’s latest special for me fell flat.
Mondays With Robbie 