September featured a limited number of movies & more. All are rated on a scale of 1-5 cans of tuna, with 5 at the top of the rankings. Numbering picks up from previous months, and movies marked with an asterisk are ones I have not seen previously.
122. Flagrant Foul* (2022, Netflix) – When you are an NBA referee, making great money, and you understand the rules prohibiting ANY KIND OF GAMBLING and you do it anyway, are you crazy? Real-life ref Tim Donaghy fell in with the wrong crowd, started gambling on sports (any sports gambling is prohibited by the league) and then gave inside info to his gambler/bookie friends, but soon progressed into betting – ON GAMES HE REFFED! Did he make calls favorable to the team he picked? Were other refs involved? There’s plenty of finger pointing, but it doesn’t matter. Donaghy went to prison and was lucky he wasn’t locked up longer. 3 cans.
123. Edie* (2017, Prime Video) – Don’t tell older people that they can’t do something. Just don’t. Edie Moore (Sheila Hancock) is 83 and for the past 30 years she has been stuck caring for a husband she doesn’t much like. When he dies, she is free to follow her dreams – to climb a mountain in the Scottish Highlands. She has some camping experience and some very antiquated equipment, so she enlists the aid of a young man (Kevin Guthrie) from the local camping store to replace her gear and train her for the climb. This is a heartwarming drama about dreams at any age and realizing that you don’t need to subscribe to the stereotypes that people place on you. 3½ cans.
124. Hell of a Cruise* (2022, Peacock) – This documentary will not be featured in the promo materials for the Carnival Cruise Line. Passengers boarding the Diamond Princess in the Far East in March of 2020 thought they were in for the trip of a lifetime – but just not this way. Those who survived certainly found their experience unforgettable as the new COVID virus boarded along with them. This film reminds us of how little was known in the beginning stages of the virus but also shows how unprepared and unresponsive cruise company officials were in dealing with a deadly illness that they confidently dismissed. By day 7, there were already 174 cases, passengers were quarantined and the ship was forbidden from docking for several weeks. It might be too soon for this reminder, but watching this movie certainly validated my fears about ever going on another cruise. 3½ cans.
125. June Again* (2022, Prime Video) – June (Noni Hazelhurst) is an elderly woman with dementia living in a nursing home, where she can barely speak or recognize friends or family. By some miracle, suddenly she is lucid again, and she breaks out of the home and tracks down her family members, her former home and even the wallpaper factory she used to run. Somehow, this turns into a buddy-like movie, where, for at least a while, June is June again. Sweet but slow. 3 cans.
126. Father Stu* (2022, Prime Video) – Mark Walhberg plays the unlikely hero of this film about a boxer who becomes a priest. Stuart Long hasn’t had an easy life. He decides to leave boxing, goes to Hollywood to be an actor, falls for a good Catholic girl and starts going to church, where his life changes completely. Wahlberg, who produced and self-funded this true story, shows that Stu is not your typical priest. Before he becomes a man of the cloth, he drinks, he swears and he brawls with everyone. If the story were not true, I wouldn’t believe it for a minute. There is plenty of heart in this movie along with sadness and a strange kind of calm. Also starring seldom-seen Malcolm McDowell and Mel Gibson (who did an excellent job but whom I abhor) and Jackie Weaver as Stu’s mother. I thought it dragged a bit, but worth seeing. 3½ cans.
127. Abbott Elementary* (2022, ABC, HBO Max, On Demand) – I don’t usually include broadcast TV series, but Abbott Elementary deserves special recognition. Conceived and created by the clever Quinta Brunson and inspired by her mother’s career as a teacher, the show uses warmth and humor to deliver this workplace comedy showing teachers coping with meager resources, a self-centered (but hilarious) principal and a host of willing students who can be unruly. The revelation here is Brunson herself, as she plays Janine Teagues, a young, dedicated teacher who brings enthusiasm and energy to her students at a Philadelphia school (you want so much for her to succeed). You can’t take your eyes off the screen for a moment, because Brunson and the cast frequently break the fourth wall, looking directly at the camera, and missing their reactions would be a big loss. Both Brunson and Rutgers alum Sheryl Lee Ralph won Emmys for the series, Brunson for writing and Ralph the Best Supporting Emmy for her role as Barbara Howard, a veteran, calm, sage of a teacher who has put up with less than she needs for so long. I finished the first season in time for the second season to debut in September, and I’ll make sure to catch the episodes much earlier this time around. 4 cans and a couple of Emmys.
128. Mr. Holmes* (2015, Pluto TV) – Aging and retired inspector Sherlock Holmes is facing the last chapter in his illustrious career with the reality that his fading memory is rendering him unable to solve an old case. Living in a private home outside London with a housekeeper (Laura Linney) and her young son Roger (Milo Parker), Holmes is not content to simply tend to his beloved bees and he tests his recollection of the details of the case. Flashbacks show him tracking down a woman whose husband has hired Holmes, but can he recall enough to solve it? Sir Ian McKellen brings a world-weary 93-year-old to life with his slow, deliberate movements as he labors on the details. This is not an action movie by any means, but there are plenty of twists and turns. 3½ cans.
129. The US and the Holocaust* (2022, PBS) – Man’s inhumanity to man is on full display in documentarian Ken Burns’ devastating look at the Holocaust, Hitler’s efforts to exterminate all European Jewish people before and during WWII and the deplorable way the US stood by and watched the tragedy unfold. I cannot bear to go through the details; I could barely summon up the strength to watch this three-part program, but it is one that must be seen, taught and retained forever. The American people in general did not want fleeing Jews to come into the US and the government set strict quotas on visas for those desperate people attempting to emigrate. If history can teach us a lesson, this is one that must be learned. 5 cans.
130. Sidney* (2022, Apple TV+) – This loving tribute to actor Sidney Poitier comes just months after his death earlier this year. From his poor background in the Bahamas, Poitier came to the US barely able to read but somehow managed to become one of the best actors in the annals of Hollywood and a cultural icon. Oprah Winfrey, an unabashed admirer of Poitier, produced this documentary, which includes plenty of interviews with Poitier, his wives, his daughters and his contemporaries. If you are a fan – or even if you are not – it is worth watching for the film clips of his many stellar performances and his role in civil rights. 3½ cans.
131. I Used to Be Famous* (2022, Netflix) – Life was great 20 years ago for Vinnie D, the bleached blonde front man for a British Boy Band. But now, the glitz is gone, and Vince is hustling around town trying to book gigs at local pubs, desperate for a job in music. When Stevie, a talented, young, autistic drummer, jams with him on a park bench, he feels a connection and they quickly form a duo despite some limitations and the hesitancy of Stevie’s mother. Can this duo open the musical doors for Vince once again? Can music restore his life and career? Tune in to find out. 3 cans and some terrific drumming.
132. Yankees-Dodgers – An Uncivil War* (2022, ESPN) – As Sophia Petrillo would say – picture it: Yankee Stadium, 1977, Reggie Jackson at the plate. Three first pitches, three screaming shots over the fence, three home runs as the Yankees humbled the Dodgers in the World Series. This documentary is a reminder of that Yankee team, which made as many headlines off the field as on it, led by fiery manager Billy Martin, gruff catcher Thurman Munson and the ever-present New York media, who reported each and every detail. Meanwhile, 3000 miles away, the too-good-to-be-true Steve Garvey led the Dodgers to the top of the National League but not without resistance from some of his teammates, who thought the camera-ready first baseman was a phony. There were plenty of outsized personalities on both teams, and if you are a fan of either team back on the 70s, you remember it well. Still, this stroll down a sometimes bumpy memory lane was fun to watch. 3½ cans.
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