Frankenstein (2025)
Overall, I quite enjoyed it. It didn't blow me away, but it was classic Guillermo del Toro doing what he does. Also, I restrained myself to only shouting out "It's Franken-steen!" once while watching.
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Zero Day (2025) - 4 of 5 Hackers
A painfully on the nose mini-series of a the current political era mystery/thriller. I didn't love it all, but I found it entertaining. And I liked the ending.
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The Residence (2025) - 5 of 5 Purple Grackle
Quite enjoyed the show, it was sold to me as 'Knives Out' at the Whitehouse. And it's definitely in the same branch of the tree, but it's not the same show. I would definitely like to see a few more seasons of Detective Cupp.
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A Man on the Inside (2024) - 2.5 / 5 Bridges
The wife and I just finished bingeing the new series, and as I expected - Ted Danson is charming as all heck still. But if you're coming for the mystery, I don't recommend it. The central conceit is weak and more annoying than the surface plot.
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Nobody Wants This (2024) - 4 out of 5 l'chaims
Just finished the first season of this show. It's a cute romantic comedy that is smartly written and, while predictable, I enjoyed it start to finish. Looking forward to the second season.
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Kaos canceled after first season on Netflix
I've come to expect no-less from Netflix. I'm still sad as it was an enjoyable watch, and as I tweeted, there has never been a role more suited to Jeff Goldblum, than as Zeus.
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Rebel Ridge (2024) - 2 out of 5 Stars
Rebel Ridge was everything I expected and that is deeply disappointing. The plot was paper thin and convoluted, the action was predictable, and the pay off was weak as hell.
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One Piece (2023) - 5/5 Dreams
The live-action remake of the One Piece manga/anime was a lot of fun. I slept on it after the disappointment of the Cowboy Bebop live remake, but I'm glad I finally checked it out. Unlike Cowboy Bebop, I didn't go into it familiar with the source material except the scant details, and now I'm curious to check it out.
The show is fun and silly. I watched some of it with my mother-in-law in town, she patiently sat and watched an episode with me. Later that day she was describing 'that pirate show' to my wife and she said, "I enjoy much of what you all watch, but that pirate show is one I don't get." I am not overly surprised by this, it's far outside her standard sort of thing she'd watch, but I found her overall befuddlement somewhat amusing.
Anyway, I highly recommend you all watch it if you haven't already.
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Rustin (2023) - 5 of 5 Dreams
I quite enjoyed the movie. As I told my wife, this is the sort of movie that leaves me emotionally drained. I'm sad that Bayard Rustin isn't a name I recalled hearing earlier in my life. I will definitely be looking up a biography or another historical book about him and his story.
This film reminds me how I want a series of documentaries, working title, "Just off Screen" - which highlights people like Rustin, who are important players in notable historic movements or moments, but who tend to fall just out of the focus of history's cameras.
I enjoyed this article about the film by Tanisha Ford, a professor at CUNY. It lauds the highlighting of Rustin and also notes some of the overlooked aspects in service to the narrative. Here are that article's two closing paragraphs:
Rustin does not offer any altogether new revelations about the significance of the March on Washington. In fact, it reifies the widely accepted narrative of the march as a triumphant moment for the movement and a transformative moment in US history. It does not zoom out beyond the groups assembled in its two rooms to show the degree to which the march was hotly contested by the more radical, grassroots arm of the movement. For example, Malcolm X referred to the march as the "Farce on Washington." He was critical of the White House's heavy involvement in the planning of the march and the big dollar donations that "Big Six" civil rights leaders such as Wilkins, King, and Whitney Young received from philanthropic foundations to underwrite it.
But the film is triumphant in that it proves that centering the most marginalized, like Bayard Rustin, brings other underappreciated, undercelebrated activists into the national conversation. In the film's closing scene, Bayard Rustin is collecting trash from the National Mall lawn. King has given his now classic "I have a Dream" speech, to rousing applause. Wilkins and the Big Six have brokered an Oval Office meeting with President Kennedy to make him commit to civil rights legislation. And yet Rustin—somewhat by his own choice—does not enter that room. As this scene conveys, his work is, literally, at the grassroots. Thus, by focusing on grassroots organizers, Rustin pays tribute to people such as Anna Arnold Hedgeman, Ella Baker, Joyce and Dorie Ladner, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Cortland Cox, Rachelle Horowitz—many of whom are still alive to receive their flowers.
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Blue Eyed Samurai renewed for Season 2
I loved Season 1. I'm not sure it needs a second season, honestly. Also, given Netflix, I'm not holding my breath until the second season comes out.
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Props to Lambda Chi and Queer Eye
(Season 7, Episode 2 on Netflix)
I wasn't sure how the episode was going to go when they revealed they were going to go to a fraternity. But it delivered. Even just the Karamo session where he led the group in a session of just... emotional vulnerability and sharing and opening up was powerful stuff. I was wishing I had had someone to give the same sort of talk when I was younger.
I'm a fairly emotionally open person, but hearing an older man have that sort of talk would have been powerful as hell for me.
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Wednesday (2023) - 4 Things out of Five
Overall, I enjoyed the show's first season. It has some fantastic casting and that really carried some middling narrative. But, if you enjoy the Addams Family, you should enjoy this show.
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Microsoft reportedly interested in buying Netflix
I can't say I love the idea as we continue to see bigger and bigger monolithic corporations.
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The Gray Man (3.5 out of 5 shades of gray)
I wouldn't call it great. It's a good first step for a new action franchise. It sets up the myserious "Six" and dumps him into action against his handlers. They've already greenlit a sequel and I'm not mad about it. Am I clamoring for it? Not really. But I'm a sucker for action movies.
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