There are plenty of mini-series on this month's list, which is almost all new programs to me. Movies are rated on a scale of 1-5 cans of tuna, with 5 being at the top. Movies marked with an asterisk are things I had not seen previously. Numbering picks up from previous months.
108. As We See It* (2022, Prime Video) – This mini-series is a revelation, a look at the lives, loves, accomplishments and disappointments of three 25-year-olds on the autism spectrum sharing an apartment. Sosie Bacon (daughter of Kevin and Kyra Sedgwick) is their aide, helping them accomplish modest goals and steering them into better decisions than they might make on their own by giving them genuine care and love. The three leads are actually on the autism spectrum, and each delivers a stellar performance in portraying the ways their lives are affected. Bacon tries to care for them while making big life decisions of her own, selflessly putting their well-bring first. The series was created and developed by Jason Katims, who worked on two of my favorite series, “Friday Night Lights” and “Parenthood.” Give this one a chance. 4 cans.
109. The Last Movie Stars* (2022, HBO Max) – Actor Ethan Hawke put together this loving tribute to actors Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward with a comprehensive look at their lives and work. Newman was widely credited as the bigger star, while Woodward was recognized as the better actor. To create this homage, Hawke took transcripts from audio tapes Newman had recorded with his friend Stanley Stern (which he later, inexplicably, destroyed) and had a variety of actors read them. They reveal two imperfect people: He admittedly drank too much and, although she adored her children, she admitted that having them was detrimental to her career. There is much respect paid here to the craft of acting, but I’m in it for the clips. I think I need to fill in the Woodward collection because God knows I’ve seen almost everything that Newman ever did – minus “The Silver Chalice.” A bit disjointed and sometimes too adoring, this 6-part documentary includes plenty of interviews with their friends and children to round out the picture of the couple as people. 4 cans.
110. Shania Twain: Not Just a Girl* (2022, Netflix) – Shania Twain exploded on the country music scene in 1995. Soon she was acclaimed as the first true crossover artist as she built a huge following with her pop and rock songs, touring internationally and becoming a global superstar. This Netflix documentary delivers the goods – her many #1 hits, her spectacular live performances, her signature videos. There is just the slightest mention of her divorce from her husband and producer, Mutt Lange, and a look at how she nearly lost her voice because of Lyme disease. Of course, she’s not just a girl. Man, she feels like a woman! 3½ cans.
111. Broadchurch (2013, PBS) – I can’t believe it has been 9 years since I first got hooked on this British murder mystery series. Danny Lattimer is an 11-year-old boy whose dead body is found on a beach early one morning in the British town of Broadchurch. His family is devastated, the town is shocked at the crime and there are plenty of suspects. David Tennant plays the lead detective, assisted by Olivia Colman, an actress I had never seen before this series. She turns in a flawless performance as a detective and a mother. I’m not going to spoil this whodunit, but I absolutely recommend that you watch it if you can. 4 cans.
112. All the President’s Men (1976, On Demand) – It has been 50 years since five men hired and bankrolled by a sitting president and his henchmen broke into the Democratic National Headquarters of the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C. Looking at that crime through the lens of January 6, 2021, you can’t help seeing frightening comparisons. I think you know whodunit in this one. But have we learned NOTHING since 1972? Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely; and people who support a martinet and refuse to stop him from abusing that power will eventually pay the price. At least we hope so. Redford, Hoffman, Robards – Outstanding movie. 4½ cans.
113. 13 Lives* (2022, Apple TV) – Director Ron Howard puts together the agonizing account of the daring rescue of 12 boys and their soccer coach who were trapped in a cave in Thailand during an unexpected monsoon. The ingenuity and bravery of the rescuers and the young boys makes this a suspenseful film, even if you remember the actual incident. My only gripes are that you have to depend on subtitles since much of the dialog is in Thai language and it was hard to tell who was whom since the divers/rescuers all wore masks and wetsuits. Not Howard’s finest work but still suspenseful. 3 cans.
114. D.B. Cooper, Where Are You?* (2022, Netflix) – That’s the question the authorities, private investigators and followers of this strange incident have been asking since 1972, when an ordinary looking man boarded a plane headed from Portland to Seattle. He slipped the flight attendant a note demanding $200,000 and four parachutes and, upon landing, took off on another flight, where he simply opened the door and jumped out, never to be seen again. Did he crash to earth and die? Or is he one of several possible men who have been tracked and trailed for years. D.B. Cooper has become a cottage industry, with “Cooper Con” gatherings attended by “Cooperites” who are fascinated with the story and relish doing some amateur sleuthing of their own. Despite the authorities focusing on one or two candidates, the real D.B. Cooper has never been found. And so the story continues. 3½ cans.
115. The Captain* (2022, ESPN) – Derek Jeter was born to be the shortstop of the New York Yankees, a position he played for his entire major league career. In this 7-part look at his life, there are numerous interviews with players, members of the media, his family and friends – all of which tell you little more than you already knew, and Derek likes it that way. Like the series on basketball legend Michael Jordan, this documentary shows a proud, accomplished man filled with competitive fire who remembers every slight and negative comment anyone made about him. Jeter bristles in the spotlight, freely admitting that he did not want to be the center of attention. He is inherently humble and loyal but spent his career guarded in his approach to the media. Here he is much more candid and forthcoming than he was in interviews with reporters, but here he controls the narrative since he and his agent produced the series. We get to see him in his latest chapter, as a husband and devoted “girl dad.” Not as addictive as Jordan’s “The Last Dance,” still, it is “number 2, Derek Jeter, number 2” (imagine Bob Sheppard’s voice here). 3½ cans.
116. The Princess* (2022, HBO) – This documentary takes a different approach in recounting the life and death of Princess Diana by using no narration, no host, no script. Instead, the entire program relies on montages of news footage in tracing the woman who-would-be-Queen from a shy 19-year-old to a forlorn 36-year-old, divorced from Prince Charles and her fairytale life – which wasn’t much of a fairytale anyway. There are copious clips of the courtship, the engagement, the marriage and the eclipse of Charles as the popular Princess emerges as a true force and asset for the Royal Family. There are coy shots of Charles’ real love, Camilla Parker-Bowles, slipped in throughout the footage. Included as well are snippets from the graphic tapes of conversations between Charles and Camilla, Princess Di’s interview where she says there were three people in her marriage, and her admission of her own infidelity. Ironically, so much of the footage shows the paparazzi following her every move, including chasing down the car that crashed and killed her 25 years ago in Paris. The outpouring of affection for her following her tragic death was truly heart-warming. She was “the People’s Princess.” 3½ cans.
117. Citizen Ashe* (2022, HBO Max) – When I started watching this bio of the late Arthur Ashe, I momentarily forgot about him as a tennis player. Hard to believe, since he was iconic as one of the first Black male tennis players to gain prominence and the first to win at Wimbledon. I was thinking of all the things he did outside of tennis with his modest social activism (he certainly wasn’t strident), his community work and how he dealt with AIDS. At 36, Ashe had a heart attack; a subsequent related procedure that required a blood transfusion led to his AIDS. He wasn’t aways an activist because he felt that if he were too aggressive, he and all other Black players would suffer the consequences. This documentary portrays him as he evolved. He and his tennis contemporary, Billie Jean King, became probably the most admired and influential champions of their sport and their impact and reputations continue today. 3½ tennis balls.
118. The Girlfriend Who Didn’t Exist* (2022, Netflix) – Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o was a force in college football in 2012, a punishing player, a leader, and a candidate for the Heisman Trophy. He led his team to an undefeated season before losing to Alabama in the National Championship game. But Te’o lost more than a game when it was reported that his grandmother and his girlfriend, Lennay Keuka, died on the same day. He was all over the news with reporters clamoring for the sad story. Only Lennay didn’t exist. Huh? Te’o had established an online relationship with what he thought was a beautiful young woman in California. They exchanged text messages and often talked on the phone, just not via Facetime because she always had an excuse. Sure she did, because she was the invention of Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, a young man who set up one of the greatest “catfishing” schemes ever. Te’o was warm and loving. He and his family got to know Lennay and her “family,” all created by the catfisher. Once he got started, he didn’t know how to stop, so he killed her off. The initial sympathy for the young athlete turned derisive once the news was leaked that she never actually existed. How could he be so badly duped? Was he in on it? What did he know and when did he know it. Tuiasosopo, who now identifies as transgender, tries to evoke sympathy for herself but instead comes across as a manipulative, immature sociopath. Teo’s football career and his life were adversely affected by this charade, where he was a victim. You can’t make this stuff up – except Tuiasosopo did just that. 3½ cans.
119. Selling the OC* (2022, Netflix) – Ever since one of the “Real Housewives” flipped over that table, so-called “reality” TV has been finding ways to create drama among cast members. The sister show to “Selling Sunset” about a real estate agency selling high end homes, this new version moves to beautiful Orange County, California, where homes as high as $106 million are pitched by the realtors for their size, amenities and magnificent views. The agents are good to look at, too, if you like hard-bodied young men and botoxed, plasticized women. The drama here is self-inflicted; who is flirting with whom and who called whom a “bitch” are standard scenarios. Every now and then someone actually sells a house, too. This 8-part limited series has too many cast members – oops, I mean “agents” – to try to keep track of the alliances. But with “Selling Sunset” between seasons, this one had to take up the gap. 2½ cans. But the houses and the views are sensational!
120. Loot* (2022, Apple TV+) – I don’t watch much on this streaming service, but this erstwhile comedy starring Maya Rudolph sounded like a winner. Rudolph is Molly, who catches her cheating billionaire husband and divorces him, leaving her with a Melinda Gates-sized settlement. Molly discovers that she also gets to run a philanthropic organization that funds promising projects to help the needy around Los Angeles, but she manages to nearly destroy it with her lack of experience or finesse. I won’t bother to give you more details. I should have cashed out of “Loot” way before the 10th and final (one can only hope) episode. I felt short-changed. 2 cans.
121. My Life as a Rolling Stone* (2022, EPIX) – This 4-part series uses plenty of interviews and years of footage to introduce viewers to the four mainstays of the ultimate rock & roll band, The Rolling Stones. Mick, Keith, Ronnie Wood and Charlie Watts each brought something special to the band. Watching these “biographies” reminded me of their immense contribution to music. If you’re a fan – or even if the Rolling Stones are NOT your favorite band (that would be me, but with massive respect) – you may find their stories as fascinating as I did. 4 cans – one for each Rolling Stone profiled.
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