There was much more in the "& More" section this time, as my screen time was devoted to long series and watching the Olympics. The rating scale is 1-5 cans of tuna, and more is better. Numbering picks up from previous months and programs not seen previously are marked with an asterisk.
94. Summer of Soul* (2021, Hulu) – In 1969, men were landing on the moon. Hippies were descending on Woodstock for a historic music festival. And in a park in Harlem that summer, some of the best Black musicians and performers entertained the locals with their special brand of soul. There was 19-year-old Steve Wonder, banging on the drums. The Staple Singers and other gospel groups took the onlookers to church. Gladys Knight and the Pips, The Chambers Brothers, The Fifth Dimension, David Ruffin of the Temptations and Sly and the Family Stone took everybody higher. And Nina Simone made her music stand out and stand up. In this gem of a documentary, made from film shot and saved but never shown for 50 years, musician and producer Questlove tells the story of the summer of soul. Come for the music but stay for the culture and the history that only the people who attended got to experience first-hand. It’s about time. 4 cans.
95. The Hero* (2017, Prime Video) – The film stars septuagenarian Sam Elliott and his iconic mustache as Lee, an actor best known for the cowboy movie he made 40 years ago. He busies himself with commercial voiceovers when he’s not smoking weed with his friend/dealer (Nick Offerman). When he is diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, the obstinate actor refuses to share the news with his ex-wife (played by Elliott’s real-life wife, Katharine Ross) or his estranged daughter (Krysten Ritter). Finally, he confides in Charlotte (Laura Prepon), a much-younger woman who shares the same drug dealer when she’s not performing stand-up comedy. Who knew when they started dating that Lee would become part of her act? Elliott plays this part to perfection, with minimum dialog and his trademark expression – head down, glancing sideways, looking dismissive and dubious. The relationship may have a May-December aspect, but there is mutual respect and fondness. I liked it. 3½ cans.
96. City in the Sky* (2016, PBS Documentaries Channel) – After watching this three-part series about flying, I’m not sure whether to be more confident about safety in the skies or more scared. With more than a million people in the air at any time, airplanes today are purported to be safer than cars – although the fender-benders are probably easier to survive than a plane crash. This series covers every aspect of air travel, from what happens once you check your luggage to inspecting the runways between flights for any kind of debris that could cause a catastrophic disaster. The systems devised to move that many airplanes and passengers have to be topflight, and the people interviewed here all take tremendous pride in and responsibility for their work. You can watch landings and take-offs in the coldest airport in the world, experience the twisting, narrow approach to an airport in Bhutan, and observe a huge auction for the thousands of bags that are either lost or left behind each year. 4 cans, which makes me a certified nerd.
97. Sophie: A Murder in West Cork* (2021, Netflix) – French TV producer and socialite Sophie Toscan du Plantier was staying at her home in Schull, County Cork, Ireland, in 1996 when she was beaten to death, her body found on a road near her house. With no DNA and only circumstantial evidence available, finding the killer and bringing that person to justice was a challenging task for the local police, who had not dealt with a homicide in more than 100 years. The gossip around town pointed toward a local man but getting enough evidence or a confession from the suspect proved difficult. If you like your mysteries wrapped up in a neat package with a bow on it, this three-part documentary is not for you. It captured my attention, so to speak. 3½ cans.
98. Tiny House Hunters* – (HGTV on demand) – This series (4 seasons, and I watched them all) falls under the “& More” section of this blog. Wouldn’t we all like to scale back, clean up our houses and get rid of stuff we really don’t need? This series focuses on people who are looking to live in a “tiny house,” a dwelling of less than 500 square feet. They have various reasons – economics and wanderlust are two – but not all of them have thought through this drastic move logically. I mean, if you have a large sectional sofa or three big dogs, do you think that a home of 350 square feet is a good choice? Do you want to climb a ladder to get into a sleeping loft where you can barely sit up without banging your head? When the only closet wouldn’t be big enough to store a winter coat? Some of these folks are ridiculously fussy about style: They want a rustic look or something that looks colonial. Seriously? The show takes them to see three choices, ranging from houses on wheels that can be moved (though not always easily) to things like a shipping container with very limited windows and even a 150-square-foot shed. (I yelled at the TV, “Don’t choose the shed!” but she did anyway.) The clever design of some of these “homes” allows storage under stairs, but if you are doing this because you like to go camping or skiing, where are you planning to stash your gear? Or your kids? Or your piano? If you need a separate office, you won’t find one in a tiny house that costs $10-50,000! I’d love to see the follow-up to this series, revisiting the people who moved into the shipping container or storage shed to see if they are still there and how they are managing. 3½ very small cans.
99. Nashville (2012-2018, Hulu) – No, this is not the Robert Altman movie. It is the TV show that ran for six seasons and focused on people in the country music business, centered around Nashville. Initially the story of revered, veteran country music queen Rayna James (Connie Britton) and her upstart young rival Juliette Barnes (Hayden Panettiere), this is an ensemble show, so there are plenty of roles and plots and drama as the interconnected stories and characters evolve. In addition to Rayna, there’s Deacon Claybourne (Charles Estin), the guitar-playing love of her life, who complicates and complements Rayna’s quest to stay on top of the country music biz. It is impossible to provide plot lines succinctly and without spoilers, so I’ll just say that the characters and most of the stories held my attention and that the music, all of which is performed by the actors, is terrific. When this show moved from network TV to CMT on cable, I subscribed to a package just so I could watch it (and immediately cancelled it each time the season ended). Seeing it again all the way through (about 100 episodes) was a tall order, but it was like seeing old friends. 4 cans.
100. Naomi Osaka* (2021, Netflix) – This 3-part Netflix documentary (about two hours total) is the story of women’s tennis champion Naomi Osaka, the first Asian woman ever to be the world’s number 1 player. Bursting on the scene with an upset win over Serena Williams, the reigning Queen of Tennis, Osaka captured the US Open in 2018 in a memorable match. The footage includes her subsequent defeat of up-and-comer Coco Gauff, when Osaka graciously tells the weeping teenager to take part in the post-match on-court interview. Since this movie was completed, Osaka declined to do after-match interviews (at the French Open), taking a stand for her mental health. Osaka comes across as a player not afraid to work hard to achieve her on-court victories, but she doesn’t appear to get the full measure of joy you would expect. Her wry smile or expressionless face reveals a woman who hates to lose but doesn’t fully enjoy the victories, either. Off the court, her life is an endless series of photo shoots and fashion and obligations that she doesn’t seem to enjoy, either. I’m not criticizing this young and dynamic champion because her behavior doesn’t conform to our impression of a winner. Her answers are thoughtful and measured, and they seem genuine and truthful, even as she reluctantly agrees to give them. I’m left to wonder what message she wanted to convey by participating in this documentary in the first place. 4 cans.
101. Catch & Kill* (2021, HBO) – Journalist Ronan Farrow spent more than a year investigating the claims of sexual assault against Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, coaxing reluctant victims to share their stories. When NBC refused to air his in-depth story – the implication being that the powerful Weinstein had friends in high places at NBC – he took it to The New Yorker magazine, where braver editors ran the piece. Eventually he published the well-researched story as a book, which I read. The acts of Weinstein, who has since been convicted of many of the crimes, were despicable, but equally despicable is the extent to which Weinstein and his team went to prevent the women from talking. Here, Farrow puts together filmed podcasts that include many interviews with the reluctant victims, but he goes on to make himself and his persecution by Weinstein’s secret network of spies much more central to the story. I thought the book was disturbing but extremely well written and researched, but I think that after a magazine story, a book and now this six-part documentary, Farrow should take his talents to another subject. He’s become the story instead of the reporter. 3½ cans.
102. This Changes Everything* (2021, Netflix) – This documentary is almost a companion piece to “Catch & Kill” (see above), focusing not on the sexual harassment of women in show business but on their systematic exclusion from all facets of Hollywood. Instead of relying on the anecdotal information of how few women are hired to direct TV and movies, the women in this movie collected the data, which show a gross underrepresentation of women in every category – behind and in front of the camera. To me, what changed everything (and lawsuits didn’t) was the success of Shonda Grimes, a Black woman who not only hired women, but made her “Grey’s Anatomy” series reflective of a diverse population. Success breeds success, so now there are more women in roles other than the kooky neighbor or sexy girlfriend, and there are women running shows and hiring staff. Tellingly, not one studio head agreed to be interviewed for this documentary. Hopefully, we are making strides so that talented women like Shonda Grimes and Reese Witherspoon (who formed her own production company to find and produce women-centric programming) will continue to succeed and a whole new group of talented women will get the chances they deserve. Credit to Gena Davis of “Thelma & Louise” fame for getting the conversation rolling with the statistics needed to prove the point. 3½ cans.
103. Dream Horse* (2021, rented on Apple TV+) – A man walks into a bar…Actually, that IS what happens in this heart-warming movie based on a true story of the people in a tiny Welsh town who form a syndicate to buy a racehorse. The man who walks into the bar (Damien Lewis) once owned a racehorse, so he knows it is an expensive and dicey proposition. But Jan (Toni Collette), a local housewife who works there, perks up her ears, does her research and finds a brood mare. She can’t afford to buy a horse, but the local townspeople have nothing exciting going on in their lives, so they all chip in. It’s not long before the mare gives birth to a foal they name “Dream Alliance,” the name chosen to reflect the group of owners. What’s the chance he will ever get to race, no less win? I think you can figure that one out, but it is worth watching anyway. Dream on! 3½ cans.
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