September 18, 2023

Barbie: I have finally had the opportunity to see this summer hit. What I can say is that these male based podcasters who have been offended, annoyed and amazed at the negativity towards men from this parady is quite surprising. First things first, this is a parody. It is not reality, but it reveals a great deal about our own current real world. It shows an artifical Barbie World, that runs parallel to the current world as we know it. Margot Robbie plays Barbie. Ryan Gosling plays Ken. All the male in Barbieland are named Ken. The Barbies similarly are all named Barbie, and for those who played with Barbie they will recognize some familiar characters. I did not, and so I was surprised at some of them like a Barbie in a Wheelchair (actually named “Share a Smile Becky”) and Alan, and then a “curvy” Barbie back in 2016.

So, the basic plot is less important than the commentary it makes on our current world. In short, Barbie has some very real world questions for herself, and feeling real world emotions like sadness and wondering about death. In Barbieland, this poses some challenges where every day is excellent, and is filled with women-empowered moments. Ken is an after-thought. An accessory. Ken only has a great day if Barbie looks at him. Ken has ongoing battles with other Kens. So Barbie ends up going into the real world to find her human connection. It’s hard to explain, but just go with it. Other characters get involved from the real world. Ken accompanies Barbie unexpectedly to the real world and sees how men are treated differently than in Barbieland. He returns with a new purpose. Things happen. Things change and have to be addressed by Barbie and other characters.

There are some laughs. I laughed out loud more than a couple of times, mostly at the silliness but the truth in some of the observations. Kate MacKinnon was very funny as Weird Barbie. Ryan Gosling has some really good comedic moments. It is an over-the-top performance. His laugh reminded me of Jeff Spicolli. With some affirmation from a visit to the real world, which we all know focuses on men, it brings about some new ideas for him. As the “enlightened man” among the other Kens he takes charge. I found the middle of the film losing some momentum, as there were more musical numbers than expected. The point had been made, at the time, and didn’t need to be repeated. There is some preaching as it ends with an ending that certainly leaves open the possibility for more. The reference to other films were at times really funny. Given the success at the box office, I would expect a sequel. I shudder to think where they would go with it. On its own, I had some laughs and enjoyed this. It is a good parady making some really poignant observations about our society. Worth watching.

Farming for Love: This is a CTV series (remarkable that since so few things from “regular” cable these days). In truth this series came to my attention from speaking with colleagues at work. Set in BC, there are five farmers (two women and three men) in ages ranging from mid 20s until early 30s. Each of these farmers seeks to find love, and are given the opportunity the date a number of eligible future partners.

Each of the farmers brings their own situations, both good and bad as them embark upon meeting and dating others. After a preliminary meet and greet, a number of the daters are brought back to their respective farms and put to work. The farming runs from dairy farm, winery, sheep, and a public facing strawberry farm. Very different. It is five separate Bachelor and Bachelorette seasons going simultaneously. The people are engaging generally, and as a reality dating show they cover off all the basis. There is intrigue and surprises. Twists and turns. Some are more satisfying that others. This is obviously sponsored by Can-Am ATVs, with t-shirts and other products on display. In the end it held by attention as a guilty pleasure. If you like this sort of thing then you won’t be disappointed.

September 11, 2023

Well talk about a milestone day that will live forever. September 11th on a crystal clear, blue sky day back in 2001 (twenty two years ago) the Twin Towers in NYC were destroyed along with an attack on the pentagon, in the most brash terrorist attack on US soil ever. For someone my age, I can remember it, in detail, like it was a month ago. I was working downtown Toronto in the tallest office building in the country (First Canadian Place). I was sent home early. I say this in passing because this day doesn’t always happen on a Monday. For those interested in movies on the topic, there are plenty like

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny: So Disney in their October 2012 $4.05B purchase of LucasFilm the biggest news story was the gaining of the Star Wars films. Less important was the Indiana Jones franchise, which had a lacklustre release back in 2008 with Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. After all, the main star Harrison Ford was 66yo at the time of this release, where they brought back Karen Allen as Marion Ravenwood as the love interest, and she has a son Mutt who is a bit of a rock n roll adventurer himself. As a sidenote, Sean Connery played Henry Jones, Indy’s Dad, in 1989 at the age of 59yo for The Last Crusade. Filming for this latest installment has Harrison Ford as 80yo! So how adventurous do you get with an aging Indiana, along with all of his friends from previous iterations like Sallah, at 79yo looks older than Ford himself?

Add to the complexity the fall from grace of Shia LaBoeuf as a potential successor to Indiana. As a producer, the challenges become greater. So Disney chooses to do a couple of interesting things. First of all, they have to create a new item to seek, but go back in time of the Nazis in WWII in order to set the stage. Remember that Jones was an adult during the time of the Nazis. So adding time puts him into the early 1970s. That aside, the challenge is the item itself, which is a decently produced Jones-like chase in the opening sequence. In short the item is claimed to when fully functional have the ability to go back in time. Jones and a colleague of his Basil Shaw is looking for this item. In many ways, the Shaw character was similar to Henry Jones and his obsession about the Holy Grail. Shaw has a daughter, Helena, who is Jone’s goddaughter. Helena is seen as a young girl and then as an adult. The adult Helena is a Han Solo-like mercenary who seems very focused on money and less concerned about the morality of her actions, and how her artifact may be used by the purchaser. Jones is coming back into her life and trying to assist with this item which has ressurected itself. Helena has some anger issues to sort through.

The rest of the story continues with CGI at places that is almost laughable. Like many stories involving time, there are aspects that the viewer must just simply accept. In the later parts of the story, the level of disbelief borders on being broken, if not shattered already depending on the viewer. Much has been written about casting (or miscasting) of Phoebe Waller-Bridge as Helena. She seems better suited to a Fleabag, where she is fun, and quirky with good comedic timing. Those skills are lost here. She as Helena has duel purposes here, one is to discount Jones and his perceived contribution to the downfall of her father and the other a need to establish herself. Neither is very successful. Certainly she doesn’t come across as a compelling next Jones. This was not disappointing because I had heard all the negative press and reviews and had no expectations. Zero. So there wasn’t much lower to go. But was this necessary? Beyond money, was this a story that Ford felt compelled to tell for his character? I have heard Harrison Ford mentioned that he liked playing Indiana Jones far more than Han Solo. Jones was more fully formed, intelligent and an array of stories that could be told. Solo he wanted to kill off earlier in the Star Wars triolgy. This one is not worth your time. A hard pass, and a disappointing swan song for a revered Ford character.

Better Call Saul – Season 4: I completed watching Season 4 of Better Call Saul. I found it slow to get going as we are introduced to early days with Saul, named Jimmy McGill. But like Breaking Bad, the drama builds and builds as the seasons move forward. We also have the additional tie-ins to the main storyline from Breaking Bad. The two main stories in this season are with Mike, dealing with having the lab constructed for Gus Fring, and his challenges in getting this done. The second story is with the disbarred Jimmy, who is dealing with keeping himself busy for a year while he is under suspension.

Jimmy like the characters that Vince Gilligan creates are flawed, as most people are. They have skills but also challenges in their life. Jimmy has this undercurrent of being the guy who battles uphill, with odds against him. He has an older brother, who was the Mr Perfect Lawyer, but not much of a human being, in a holier-than-thou way. They have a strained relationship with older brother always seeming to battle against the not-so-subtle Favourite Child syndrome with his mother. The other compelling character is the ever hard-working Kim Wexler, played excellently by Rhea Seehorn, who has a relationship with Jimmy, but can struggle with his morals and choices. There is some really good writing here as the parties interact. I will continue to watch and enjoy. I have already heard that the finale is different, for some disappointing for others the right tone. We will see.

September 4th, 2023 Labour Day

Asteroid City: One thing that can be said for Wes Anderson, is that he through his reputation and the quality of his film library, he encourages the best talent to work with him. This movie is no exception with a cast that includes, in no particular order, Tom Hanks, Jason Schwartzman, Margot Robbie, Scarlett Johannsen, Adrien Brody, Maya Hawke, Matt Dillon, Edward Norton, Bryan Cranston, Steve Carrell, Jeff Goldblum and Willem Dafoe among others. Many of these actors are used in multiple of his films. Often for me the Wes Anderson films are simply weird and hard to understand. There can be elements of humour, and the best of his films are quite funny. Moonrise Kingdom comes to mind as a success. Less on the mark for me included Grand Budapest Hotel, Royal Tennenbaums, and Isle of Dogs.

So generally, his films are quirky and weird and don’t connect with me. This movie was no exception. For me, I experience these films as something to just watch. Of course the answer is “well yes that what movies are meant to be”. But other movies I feel like I am more a part of it. I can connect to the character or characters and I can sometimes feel their emotions, or have my own as I watch them. The Anderson movies I don’t relate to the characters. This was a movie where I scratched my head at the end and wondered what I had watched. It didn’t make much sense, to which Alison replied “weird shit happens, you chuckle and you go home”. True that. In this instance, I cannot recommend it. Could this be a companion film as a double feature for Oppenheimer? Not for me. I don’t need to see this again, and I had actually forgotten about it for the week in which I had seen it for these reviews.

Untold: Swamp Kings: Netflix has put together a number of documentaries regarding sports. I havre reviewed a couple already. This short series addressed the football program at the University of Florida during the early 1990s, with the hiring of Urban Meyer. He came in, and began a highly structured, almost military training program with an aggressive recruiting program. New recruits like Tim Tebow joined as well as other quality defensive players.

What strikes me as a Canadian, is the level of intensity when it comes to college football. I have of course seen Texas high school football, which is just crazy, but NCAA football and more specifically SEC football is another level of intense. I could go on and on about how NCAA professionalizes players, all the while not paying them what they are worth. The Untold story about Johnny Football at Texas A&M speaks to the same issues. Players are generating enormous income from TV revenue, along with ticket sales, and then the associated souvenirs and jerseys for all those who cram the stadiums week after week. I also think that the same college programs being at the top, because of recruiting, is a league with imbalance. It is a stacked deck, with the same 5-8 teams at the top each year. A league with true balance, and a draft where the worst team selects the best players, allows for a changing of the guard. I also don’t understand why coaches get paid more than anyone on campus. Players don’t get paid but the coach does. Yes, the program pays for the entire athletic undertaking for both men, women and recreation offers, but perhaps pay those who are generating the dollars. If they are in fact student athletes, then ensure that the get an education, and a real degree. But the recent court decision and allowing the players to be paid for the likeness, like with video games, is a very good step forward.

Florida had a tremendous program. So successful. This series was intense, by the coaches and players. They won two National Championships in three years. Meyer was a very big success. Yet you can see the strain emotionally and mentally to the coach as he lives in that community that just doesn’t accept losing. This was a good insight into a college program and the work done outside what the public sees on a game day. College football is big business, with plenty at stake. But for those who won’t see the NFL, or those who have injuries who prevent the ability to make money, the flow of funds to the players would make sense. This is worth checking out.

The Ultimatum Season 2: Those who have read my blog over the years realizes that a guilty pleasure for me can be these relationship reality train wrecks. This latest installment has the premise once again with five couples and one person in the couple demands that the other party either propose or walk away. The artificiality of it comes when each of the couples has to undertake a “trial wedding” with another member in the cast. What?!

In this season there were five couples but one of these couples leave the show early after a particularly awkward night. It was obvious that someone didn’t really buy into the concept in watching their partner just speak to others. For the other four young couples left over, they proceed through the rest of the stages. They are artificial, especially the aspect in the trial marriage where they meet the parents of the new partner. How are they supposed to react? You have just met this person, on a TV show, and you will meet the parents in a week that is mostly artificial exercise, if you aren’t focused on anyone else than your partner. In this season, one of the female partners clearly has issues with her partner, and you would be certain that she would walk away. I won’t spoil the ending but I can suggest that you to the recently dropped last episode and save yourself a bunch of time. None of these couples is compelling and look so very young. So this one would be a pass for me.

August 28th, 2023

Armageddon Time: There are times when after a movie is done, I am unclear about what I had just finished watching. Some of it can be wondering what happened to what on first glance appears to be a stellar cast. In this instance, you have Anne Hathaway, Anthony Hopkins, Jessica Chastain, and Jeremy Strong to name a few. But all of it can be derailed, from my viewing, from a 14 year old Banks Repeta. The story is a family drama, revolving around husband and wife, Strong and Hathaway and their children and the grandpa (played by Hopkins).

As a parent, seeing how the parents interact with the kids is just a surprise. Young Banks is in high school and has been challenging to his teachers and for his parents. He is making some choices of friends who aren’t very commited to their studies. The one friend is a young black man who doesn’t feel supported at home or at school and pushes the envelope. Banks admires, and supports him, even when he is doing things which are questionable. Strong as the Dad, has his head in the sand, not seeing what happens with those around him. Hathaway is trying to play strong Mom with little help from Dad, who can fly off the handle at times, and she isn’t having much impact. The young Banks does have a connection with his Grandfather. Grandfather supports him and has little secrets with the grandson. But really to what end? Part of me wants to just discipline this young, disrespectful brat.

Did i like this? No. I didn’t like at all. I found the writing to be lacking. Nothing really happens, and the things that do happen in the grand scheme of things felt so irrelevant. None of the performances were memorable. In the end, with a predictable scene or two, the credits roll and I was surprised at how so very little was resolved. So in the end, I scratched my head and reached out to Alison and she confirmed my thoughts of this just being terrible. So this is a hard pass and I would encorage you to avoid it.

Eat The Rich: The GameStop Saga: One of the things that happened during the pandemic was an unexpected story in the stock of the “meme stocks” as they were later called. This is a three-part series which outlines the history of how a stock and company that was viewed as history became the focal point of a stock market phenomenon. The details are more complex, but the crux of it was that in the stock market, you can buy the right to a stock at a fixed price and then make or lose money based upon the spread of increase or decrease in the stock since the option was purchased. A key is that there is no cap on what could be lost if the stock does what you didn’t expect. The stock in question was the bricks and mortar store that sells video games, GameStop. The number crunchers see it was in trouble. So hedge funds would buy up options expecting that the stock would go down. They are betting against them, and openly cheering for them to fail. Enter the little individual investor.

These individuals often are using the trading platform Robin Hood. For no dollars, the individual could buy and sell stock. Robin Hood would then put the buy/sell request through a “market creator”. So that is the background. There are a few individuals who do some research and are cheering for the underdog. They buy up some GameStop stock. Some going online and touting the stock, through Reddit and other places online, and they gain some momentum. It becomes a little guy versus Wall Street. By driving up the price, for a stock with no fundamentals, the pressure was put on those hedge fund managers. The documentary explores the details of it, where one of the hedge funds eventually had to pay out billions for their position in this one stock. The stock had gone from $16 a share in short order to over $500.

For me, it was the aftermath of the rise and fall of this stock where Congress and the regulators got involved and wanted to investigate. For me, I scratched my head and wondered about “home of the free” and adults being able to make their own choices. How does an online guy who speaks about what he is personally investing in, in any way different from a Warren Buffet or a Jim Cramer on CNN? The difference would be the losses of all these Wall Street hedge fund managers! In the 2009 financial meltdown, those same Wall Street folks sought and obtained a bailoout from Congress. The little investor who lost their home, or were foreclosed weren’r compensated. Some of those involved with GameStop saw their parents or relations get impacted by those 2009 events. If you haven’t watched The Big Short, check it out for details of it. Or watch Wall Street years ago with Michael Douglas as Gordon Gecko. In the end, as a small investor myself, I am intrigued by this story. One because I wish I had caught a GameStop early (because every one wishes to win a lottery ticket) but also because I am sympathethic to the person who picks stocks, does research and hopes for the best, when the big players are the waves that can have you rise or fall with little thought of your personal situation. Sure some of the individual small investors were quirky and unusual. But isn’t that what the stock market wants? More participation? Or do they just want more chum for the sharks who swim around and decide which companies they are going to support or dump? Check it out and decide for yourself. It’s worth your time.

August 21, 2023

Painkiller: Recently released on Netflix, this 6 part series is meant to shock you. Outlining in the series a number of parallel stories, we the viewer are able to see the early days until today what the “opiod crisis” has done. Specifically, we are shown the Sackler family, the company Purdue and their opiod creation Oxycotin. A powerful drug with even more powerful marketing and business model, which turned the Sacklers and Purdue in a multi-billion dollar company. We see the effects on individual families, including introductions by real people showing real victims to drug addiction before each episode begins.

The series starts off pretty slowly. As someone of my generation, it is hard to think of Ferris Bueller (actor Matthew Broderick) as a bad guy. He plays Richard Sackler. We are introduced to Edie Flowers who from all appearances seems jaded to being brought into a law office to discuss new efforts to “go after” the Sackler family. Then we look backward in time. Edie has her own issues with Purdue and she is formerly with the Attorney General’s office. She decided earlier in her career to pursue a case against Purdue. Elsewhere we see the Purdue team ratcheting up the marketing effort by hiring new attractive female recent university grads to sell to the mostly male doctor clients. Purdue is looking to incent sales people to sell more, by also incenting the doctors to prescribe higher dosage of the new drug, which incidentally is basically prescribed heroin. Some doctors understand this, but many others prescribe because they are making money from the drugs. One of the more intriguing aspects of the show was looking to get the FDA to approve the drug and the particularly diligent agent at the FDA handling the case. Talk about Purdue making a full court press with this individual. By the end, with the lives of many falling apart at the seams, something has to give. But one wonders “I think I remember a big settlement in the news for billions by Sackler” and you would remember correctly. Sadly that isn’t the full story and those who have watched enough series like this will not be overly shocked of the outcome. Yes, the producers and director wanted you to be, but it seems like there can be different layers to “justice”. This was decent. I don’t consider the performances particularly noteable, although Edit probably stands out among them. This series is all the more reason to be avoiding precribed drugs, and especially drugs for pain.

SpiderMan: Across the Spiderverse: So what do you say about a Spiderman cartoon when you aren’t really much of a Marvel superhero? It’s a challenge. I had seen the prior cartoon incarnation Into the Spiderverse from 2018. This is a sequal and builds upon it. It should be said that you should likely watch the original to better understand this one and the characters. You are introduced to Miles Morales who is bitten by a radioactive spider. Pretty standard Spidey stuff.

I spoil nothing if you have any familiarity with this series that there are multiple existing spider-errr people. This is the Spiderman series that someone who loves time and existential plains would write, so someone like a Christopher Nolan and his brother. In short, there are multiple Spideys (like Peter Parker) but he is not the only one. Others can be fighting the good fight. Miles like all new Spiderman has to better learn the skills and keep his existence under wraps and away from his police dad. In the first episode he made some friends, but he still keeps mainly to himself. He is smart in school but struggles with balancing his roles. In this episode his parents are a bit worried about his studies and what is happening with him.

In the end, this is another installment and there is more to come. It was a smash hit earlier in the theatres with mostly positive reviews. I find it hard to keep track of all the plains and who is in that plain. Further it is a challenge with opening up windows of existence (think Doctor Strange if that means anything to you) and moving around that way which animation handles adeptly better than a real version ever could. There is a guy who looks oddly like Roschach/Walter Kovacs. There is an explanation given for this characters skills, but it is beyond my comprehension as my eyes were glazing over. He is pretty important but still. In the end, this was quality animation, with really good use of colours and cool visuals. It was a complex, if not a little confusing story for me, but your viewing and understanding of the material could be a LOT better than mine. So I was somewhat entertained. I still don’t see what all the fuss is about, but everyone has their own thing. So it was decent for someone who was not a big fan of these multiple Spidermans and actors who play them.

August 14, 2023

Heart of Stone: Netflix recently released this, to much fanfare and a cast that is decent. Principally starring Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman). This movie tries REALLY hard to be Mission Impossible, James Bond and Jason Bourne rebooted with Gadot as the lead character. Sadly for all it’s best intentions, I can hear the pitch meeting in my head, it doesn’t deliver. You are better off on Netflix to rewatch the earlier and more recent Mission Impossible movies. The story is all too familiar with a device with more power than one should ever have put into one person’s hands and the various spy agencies doing their best to get a hold of it. A quality actress like Glenn Close is woefully under-utilized, even though she tried to channel Meryl Streep’s look in The Devil Wears Prada in this.

Jamie Dornan (from the Fifty Shades of Grey series and also The Fall) is in the cast, and Alia Bhatt, and Jing Lusi who looks eerily like Olivia Munn in the opening sequence of this film. I like the set pieces in Lisbon and also Iceland which are familiar friends, but there is so much that is very silly. The stunts aren’t at the same level as Cruise in MI. A good example is the parachuting scene. But you could also add the motorcycle scene as well. We have seen it all before, and done better. The whole agent acts-as-a-double-agent falls flat, and I cannot believe that the technology for following around and viewing remotely the actions of the spies is in any way plausible. Is that true of other stunts and other movies in this genre? Of course! But as the audience viewing it, I don’t want to feel as though it’s a fake as it looks at times in this. The writing and the story are not the same calibre and overall it simply doesn’t capture my attention, or keep it. To its credit, it isn’t three hours long, but that really isn’t a high bar to hold it up to.

Gal Gadot does her best and can do physical stunts very well. Jing Lusi cannot hold a candle to Ana De Armas in Bond. Overall it feels like a the B-Team on virtually all fronts with writing, stunts, CGI, villian in comparing to the others. So for that, I would suggest that this isn’t the movie to watch. If you really like Gal Gadot, then perhaps watching Wonder Woman again.

65: It was a tough week. Crave recently released the prehistoric themed movie that doesn’t involve genetic manipulation, like Jurassic Park, 65 with Adam Driver, with the 65 referencing 65 million years ago. Driver with a wife and young daughter, has decided to take “one last job” to assist in getting money for some needed expensive medical assistance for his daughter. Query whether a father would head off on some mission with a sick daughter. I doubt I could do it. But that doesn’t make much of a movie. On the mission there is a catastrophic ship failure because he has never listened to C-3PO in Star Wars in that you don’t ever go INTO an asteroid field. The odds of surviving are astronomical, and Adam Driver isn’t Han Solo. His ship crashes down onto an unknown planet, but thankfully it has breathable atmosphere. Phew! Another really short movie if it doesn’t. But wait, also on his ship, and someone else who survives the crash is a young passenger. She is looking to reunite with her family.

Cue the references to The Last of Us. In fact, much of this feels like the successful HBO series, which incidentally is far better than this is. One challenge for me that is simply annoying is Driver’s inability to communicate with the young girl. Of course, different worlds, different planets, different countries one can expect different languages. But we have dinosaurs running around, could we suspend the realism of a language barrier and allow them to talk to one another? Please?! As for the dinosaurs, time and again things happen right at the last moment that is very convenient. All this to say that overall this movie for me was a mess. I found it silly and disjointed. I didn’t care for the characters despite the attempts to make this feel more like Interstellar and connect with the Matthew McConoughay character leaving Murphy. So I cannot recommend and would actively encourage readers not to view this if available to you.

August 7th, 2023

Dances With Wolves: I had noted that I had referenced Dances with Wolves four separate times in my posts. This epic Kevin Costner film was released to great acclaim and brought him seven Oscars including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Sound and Best Original Score. The score, like many films adds so much to the experience. John Barry wrote the score and it enhances so many of the scenes. Released in 1990, I saw at a theatre in Windsor when I was in law school. It holds very well 33 years later. It was one if the first movies that I can recall which had native Indians, indiginous people speaking their own language with subtitles. This was Kevin Costner’s directorial debut and what a first attempt. The film ran over budget, and Costner ended up paying the $3M difference out of his own pocket.

At its heart, the story involves a Union soldier in the mid 1800s, named John Dunbar, who after a dramatic battle in which he was unwittingly a turning point, he decides to go station himself in the frontier “before it disappears”. Dunbar can see the shifting winds and the ever expanding world of white influence. Out to the frontier at a remote outpost, which hasn’t seen people in a long while, Dunbar sets up shop. What he doesn’t expect is some visitors, in the form of a wolf and later some Sioux indians. The story moves forward, and he begins a relationship with his neighbours. There is a language barrier and it is a slow process. He is able to begin to make a positive impression with the Holy Man, named Kicking Bird, played by Graham Greene. Not everyone in the Sioux village is as enthusiastic with his presence, including fierce warrior Wind In His Hair. There is also a white woman among the villagers and she is introduced to Dunbar through unusual circumstances. Her name is Stands With A Fist and for good reason. Dunbar finds ways, some planned and others not, to try to ingratitate himself to the village, and the leaders. Time moves on, and the buffalo become the focal point as they do their annual hunt. Dunbar continues to make an impression as he integrates further into the tribe.

The turning point in the relationship is when Kicking Bird asks Stands With A Fist to become his translator. They are able to communicate better. She has her own backstory and was once part of a white settling family before they were attacked by another tribe of natives and she ran free. The performances across the board in this epic are all solid. Costner is the centre point, but there are quality supporting roles from Greene, and Mary McDonnell as Stands with a Fist. Add in the young people add some good scenes. There is some good humour, along with some more dramatic moments. You learn how the Sioux are worried about the white man, and whether this is a change that will last. The Sioux leader Ten Bears is not convinced that another foreign invader will last. What sets this apart from western from before is the recognition that previous portrayals of the indiginous people were wrong. In this movie, it is the white soldier who is adapting and realizing that his way of life, and outlook on the world is very different than those around him. He is shown time and again how the white man takes without asking, and has no harmony with nature. This is an emotional journey on multiple fronts. It is a story of friendship, of understanding, oppression, cooperation and love of family. These are all timeless, and this is why this is a movie to be remembered fondly. Good stories last. Kevin Costner when approached about this story by his writer friend Michael Blake from acting school, Costner had told him that he needed to write a novel. Only once in the novel form could he look to invest and want to explore making it. The result of all this is one of best films in the 1990s. Well worth the time with the three hour running time, which also is reminiscent of the latest three hour epic Oppenheimer, and also worth your time.

Better Call Saul, Season 3: I am a big fan of Breaking Bad. I really like the character of Saul Goodman from the original, as I think he delivered some of the funniest lines. One memorable line was Saul addressing Jesse and Walter after a crazy event he said “now I know what to call my polyps”. I was eagerly anticipating this show but it got off to a slow start. Seasons 1 and 2 focused on his relationship with his older brother. Both parties contributed to the strained relationship, even though Saul (original name Jimmy McGill) stayed with his brother to help him through his challenges. This season 3 brings those challenges to a head with an excellent episode 5 in the hearing held by the New Mexico Bar on whether Jimmy should keep his law license. Jimmy with his collegaue and personal partner Kim Wexler, look to find a way to cross examine older brother. It’s clever, and memorable while at the same time unfortunate that the result of course is the end of that connection between the brothers.

At the same time there are ongoing parallel stories with Mike, the enforcer and former cop in Breaking Bad as well as Giancarlo Esposito playing Gus Fring who runs his drug operation through the memorable chicken franchise Los Polos Hermanos. This past week Mark Margolis passed away at the age of 83. He played Hector Salamanca who is a driving force in both franchises. He is a mob boss, drug dealer who is working hard to keep his empire which he struggles to do. This season made me realize that the previous hype that I had heard was warranted. I really like the Kim Wexler character. This is another series well worth your time.

July 31, 2023

Oppenheimer (IMAX): If you listen to the hype and the social media buzz, this is the movie that was going to “save Hollywood”. Well this and Barbie! Christopher Nolan creates memorable movies, many of which I thoroughly enjoy, he is one of the directors that I seek out, like many other audience members. For me, I think that he is a clever writer and writes quality scripts. I really like that he is a proponent for using film and IMAX cameras rather than digital (like a James Cameron). This was a highly anticipated release starring a who’s who of Hollywood, notably Cillian Murphy (a Nolan staple taking the lead role), Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr, Florence Pugh, Kenneth Branaugh, Jason Clarke and others. Some cast members will be surprises, like those I haven’t seen in a long time like Josh Hartnett, Matthew Modine (even though Stranger Things brought him back to the screen) or David Krumholtz, who played an Elf in the Santa Claus back in 1994.

The key performance is taken on and embraced by Murphy, who has shown his ability to carry a project in his work in Peaky Blinders. His piercing blue eyes and expressive face show much of what he is thinking without the need for dialog. This is a complicated man, who has lead a life that many can’t imagine. Intellectually he was brilliant, as he knew or was friends with giants in his field at the time like Einstein. He was more than just the Manhattan Project, which was the development by the US of the atomic bomb, in a race with the Germans during WWII.

For me, I am not sure whether it was the hype, or the expectations but for me I didn’t leave this three-hour epic feeling all pumped about it. I enjoyed it. Nolan likes to jump around in time, here using the technique of having black and white footage, in addition to regular colour and then used hair colour and styling for Oppenheimer to keep the viewer mostly on track of where they are in time. Murphy sports curlier and longer hair early on as opposed to shorter greyer hair later. Without disclosing too much, there was more political intrigue in this movie than I was expecting. Then again, I didn’t know the history of Oppenheimer himself, but was more than aware of McCarthyism during the 1950s which remains a black mark on the US treatment of its own citizens. I was reminded of Imitation Game and Sully and other such movies in how people who are by all rights heroes are treated once that time has passed. One would like to think that their actions speak for their loyalties speak to their true allegiances. Emily Blunt has an impressive scene where she gets an opportunity to voice her true feelings in how her husband was being treated.

Still, I was aware of the fact that much of this movie is a drama, and that the IMAX technology is wasted for most of it. Sure, there were some sweeping aerial shots but generally you don’t need this technology for testimony at a hearing. Does it take away from it? Not at all. But for me it means that a movie like Mission Impossible should be seen more in IMAX than this one. Apparently Tom Cruise was lobbying theatres hard to have them keep the IMAX theatres for his film, but Nolan had already secured the times for this one. Nolan won out.

In the end, I turned to Alison (we went together with two of her friends) and we all agreed that we enjoyed it. It is well told, well acted with a quality script. I had expected from earlier reports of those seeing early screenings on how “powerful” it was (“like a horror” it was described) to see more footage from Nagasaki and Hiroshima. In truth, for Oppenheimer once he delivered his weapons of mass destruction, he only heard about their use on the radio. It was a turning point in human civilization; the beginning of the nuclear age. Despite later conflicts, like Vietnam or even now Ukraine there has been no use of nuclear weapons. Oppenheimer himself was not convinced that this was a good thing, but it was a necessary thing. He provided the weapon, it was politicians who decided if and how those should be used. The advancement made in science to get to this point is remarkable. Oppenheimer was a master project manager, and managed time after time to get the most out of his people. Interestingly the German attitude towards Jewish people impacted their ability to win this nuclear race, because many of the top minds, like Oppenheimer, were Jewish. This is one of the movie events of the year. I would encourage everyone to watch. It’s not a movie for 17yos. or those who have no interest in history. But it is another quality edition to the catalog of films from Christopher Nolan.

John Wick 4: If you have watched the previous three chapters of this unexpected hit series, then you know exactly what you are going to get with this latest edition. Bearded Keanu Reeves will be utilizing many of the skills that he acquired in creating Neo in The Matrix, in (how do you describe it) ploughing through an endless stream of assassins intent on killing him, with him wearing nothing more than a dark suit. Yes, that suit has magical bullet proof capabilities, even though it is astounding to me that despite all the bullets and swords directed towards John Wick that none hit his hands or ankles. But I shouldn’t ask those questions. John yet again takes a beating. There are endless head shots made against the bad guys, some of whom where similatr suits to John.

Does it really matter what the plot is in this instance? Suffice it to say that John is put in a position where there is a “winner take all” proposition. In order to get there, John must overcome sizeable odds. That is an understatement in the extreme. I won’t delve too deeply into some characters, however I do have to mention one blind character who uses a cane as a weapon. But he is much more than that. But how?? If you know that he is blind, and Wick was very aware of it, isn’t it relatively easy to take him out at a distance? Apparently not.

In the end, this delivers predictably on what is expected. It was decent. I cringed at the thought of seeing yet another shooting blood bath and rampant destruction. There were a couple of twists and turns. I have to admit that I really enjoyed the scenes in Paris. Such a treat to see familiar territory. So if you’ve never seen John Wick before, this is not the place to start. For those who wish to see more, then by all means take this in and see where it goes.

July 24, 2023

Extraction: I had a couple of positive views about the 2020 Chris Hemsworth in my circle and decided to see this on Netflix. I note that there is akready Extraction 2 out as well. I will further note that I haven’t watched a lot of Chris Hemsworth movies. I certainly haven’t sought him out in the Marvel series of movies as Thor.

In this film, he plays a single ex-military mercenary who needs money and seeks out dangerous jobs in order to make a living. He carries with him some baggage which the viewer better understands as the movie carries on. The life of Tyler Rake (Hemsworth) is complex, but his motives are simple enough. Do a job, if he is sober enough, and move on. This job involves finding the son of an East Indian imprisoned drug lord, who has gone missing. The drug lord has threatened his own right hand man that if his son isn’t found straight away, that the guy’s own son would be at risk.

Rack is part of a team that is charged with obtaining the young man. Let the fun begin with all of these armed folks trying to deal with this young man. Interestingly the same men who are very careful not to be killing children, don’t seem to have any issue with killing the father of many children. In many ways this is similar to a John Wick film with the carnage of those involved. Like John Wick, Rack can seem to take a beating and still continue on. One wonders about all this effort and all these lives impacted for the sake of one child. Of course there is a tie in with Rack and his own story. Family is a big part of the underlying theme. There are plenty of action sequences, lots of shooting, chases, helicopters and the whole ball of wax. Is this worth watching? For me it was okay. Alison told me that she couldn’t stay with it and I can understand why. I cannot recommend in the same way that it was brought to my attention. I feel no need to seek out the sequel. The emotional hook that I read about wasn’t really there for me in the motivation and ultimate choices of Rack. So, as a viewer, one gets to make their own choices.

The Secretary: James Spader before his career on TV as Red Reddington in The Blacklist was known for more quirky roles. Among them included the 1989 Sex Lies Videotape with Andie McDowell. He had some less than mainstream sexual appetites, but he was a troubled soul. Other roles like Bad Influence or White Palace, have similar stories for him. So he is familiar with the territory with 2002 film on Netflix. His co-star in this movie is Maggie Gyllenhaal, who plays a young woman looking for a job. Spader plays Mr Grey who is a sole practioner lawyer. Maggie plays Lee, who lives with her mother and just wants to have some independence.

Mr Grey (no relation to Shades of Grey) is a man who seems to go through secretaries with regularity and he is looking to bring on someone new. But he is a lonely guy. He develops an attachment with his secretary, and she for him. Things unfold.

This smaller independent film shows that people, in whatever desires that they have, can find one another. They don’t have to conform with societal norms. Spader shows his own vulnerability while Gyllenhall is able to channel the woman able to better asset herself and recognize who she is and where she belongs. Lee turns that assertiveness into better understanding herself and her value. She becomes more confident, and it shows in many aspects of her life. This movie isn’t for everyone. It can be a bit slow. Not a lot happens, but then again life for most people doesn’t have car chases and gun fights. It is filled with routine, work, weekends, and everyday interactions. We meet people, I think, under the saying for “a season, a reason or a lifetime”. Certainly this can be true in romantic relationships. Sometimes it takes some time to figure just which one that someone may be for you.

July 17, 2023

Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part 1: Well Tom Cruise has done it one more time. Last summer it was post-pandemic sequel Top Gun Maverick. Adding to his string of watchable, exciting, blockbusters he adds for summer 2023 the seventh installment in the MI Series. It all started, remarkably, back in 1996. The core cast has been there from the beginning include Simon Pegg (as Benji), Ving Rhimes (as Luther) with other pieces that are added from one episode to the next. These are important pieces with various upper levels of the intelligence agency, like Alec Baldwin, or Jeremy Renner, and Henry Czerny who plays Kittridge. Notably for me this series regained some energy with the addition of Rebecca Ferguson as Ilsa Faust. She joined in 2015 for episode 5 Rogue Nation. She played a British agent who was in a precarious position of playing both sides between The Syndicate (bad guys) and the UK and US powers that be, including the the clandestine Mission Impossible team.

In more episodes new pieces like Vanessa Kirby (as power broker Alanna) and for this one Hayley Atwell (called Grace in this movie) are added. Each play key roles and add tremendously to the watchability of the story. But let’s be real, this series is about the stunts, the settings, the car chases and technology. This episode has it all, jumping from one heart-pumping scene to another with ease. Of course many of the scenes and the timing will have a viewer role their eyes, but that is the point. This episode also adds some unexpected twists and turns when you are dealing with Artificial Intelligence. This doesn’t give away very much. The rest I won’t detail any further because this is a movie best seen without too many expectations, nor knowledge into where it is going.

After watching, I decided to re-watch the Rogue Nation episode and was surprised to see how closely the two mirrored each other in structure. But of course the basic principles do remain the same. I have to admit that from the beginning I do find the reliance of the face-peeling masks which is ultimately just silly throughout the series more than a bit far fetched. Alison tells me this was a common practice in the original TV series that was not watched by me. But all this to say, find the largest screen you can (I saw in IMAX in a packed theatre) on Tuesday and cannot recommend more highly for 2.5 hours of entertainment. Go see it. Strap in. Have some popcorn if that is your thing. I tip my cap to you Mr Cruise (at 61yo!!!) for what I am sure will line your pockets in ways that are no longer necessary given your previous success! Dead Reckoning Part 2 will be released June 28th, 2024.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3: Moving from one very successful series that adds a memorable, watchable installment we go to a series that, for me, could have stopped after a single episode. Those who read my movie reviews know that I am generally not a superhero movie fan and less a Marvel fan than I am for DC Comics. Query whether the Guardians are really superheroes to begin with? They aren’t really in a strict definition of it, but then again I am not prepared to debate the point. The original movie from 2014 was a surprise hit because it was campy, had new fresh characters and had a really good catchy soundtrack.

Of note, there is a tie in between this movie and Mission Impossible in the cast. Pom Klementieff, who plays Mantis in Guardians (pictured on the far left above) plays Paris in MI7. Also of note I saw that Karen Gillan who plays Nebula (far right pictured above) is not wearing the form fitting clothes from earlier, and earlier films like Jumanji. The online speculation is that she is in real life pregnant. The movie producers have seemed to accommodate her, to their credit.

As for the plot of this movie, we have a lot of backstory to the Bradley Cooper voiced raccoon named Rocket. It’s far more backstory for a talking raccoon that I ever needed to see. But like Rogue Nation where Benji was taken and in trouble, the Guardians stick together and try to help out their own. In some movies it is just done better than others in how it is done. For me I didn’t need to know this and I was overly engaged in it. In short, I don’t care enough about these characters. I cannot recommend seeing this, and for me it was forgotten almost as sokn as the closing credits (including the stay-to-the-end vignette with Chris Pratt addressing a question that I didn’t even consider). So while this movie seemed to come and go in the theatres without much fanfare, it has still grossed $842M worldwide and $358M domestically. Domestically this is third for the year. Behind Super Mario Bros (!!) and Spider Man cartoon. Clearly I am not the targeted audience for movies these days. Apparently, according to the ad I just saw on TV today, that this movie was certified 96% FRESH on Rotten Tomatoes. Certainly I would be part of the 4%, and I cannot imagine (nor need to) are more positive about this movie.

Next on my list of films to see in the theatre will be Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer.

Ted Lasso: I finally had access to Apple TV and have been able to see some series that I have been meaning to watch. First on the list was the popular Ted Lasso that many feel is a must see. I finished Season 1 and have the following comments. Did I like this? Sure. It is a feel-good type of series with the very likeable Jason Sudekis playing a gosh-gee-willikers southern american football coach that was hired by a British soccer team. Of course he knows nothing about British football, nor does he know anything about British customs or vernacular. He brings with him an assistant coach. He inherits a team of players, and some other employess within the organization.

Most importantly he has a female owner who is newly and most public divorced from the former owner, and she obtained the team as part of the divorce settlement. He is a cad throughout this first season, showing himself time and again in places which serve to antagonize the new owener, who Ted calls “Boss”. Early in episode one Boss admits that she brought Ted on board to fail. Her aim, like many divorced and recently hurt ex-spouses, is to hurt her former partner by destroying something that he cared about. The dynamics between the owner, the coach, the assistants and the players are what the series is about. It is done well. But is this must-see TV?

For me, this is a series that follows in a long line of movies and series like this. The TV series Coach comes immediately to mind with Craig T Nelson as the basketball coach. He had an assistant coach in much the same vein (played by Jerry Van Dyke). Other movies and series would include The Natural, Bad News Bears, The White Shadow, Hoosiers, Black Sunday etc. In each the coach has to mold a team, deal with the characters involved and the season at hand. There are challenges and plenty of sports cliches are used. The one difference with Ted the coach is that he is about team building, honesty, friendship and sportsmanship. He isn’t a win-at-all-cost kind of guy. He remains consistent despite the challenges he and his people endure. This is reflected on a personal level for him as well. I enjoy this. There are some characters that you care about, and hope that they do well. I will look forward to seeing more as Season 2 gets streamed. So far, this has been good.