Marching on to more entertainment! Everything here is rated on a scale of 1-5 cans of tuna, with 5 at the top. Things I have not seen before are marked with an asterisk. Numbering picks up from previous months.
27. The White Shadow (1978-1981, Me TV Too) – If I had to pick my favorite fictional coach, Ken Reeves (Ken Howard) would be at the top of the list. In this series, Reeves, a former pro basketball player for the Chicago Bulls, takes a job as the basketball coach of Carver High in Los Angeles. His squad is diverse and talented, but what they need is a good coach and role model. Reeves never pretends to have all the answers, as he and his team bond over some pretty good on-screen basketball and are forced to deal with the issues of the day – racial discrimination and targeting, drugs, mental health issues, sexual abuse, homosexuality, guns in schools – all of the issues still prevalent today. I love this show. Howard is excellent, as are co-stars Joan Pringle and Ed Bernard as the school administrators. And then there is that cast of loveable players, several of whom became noted directors (Tim Van Patten of the Sopranos, Kevin Hooks and Thomas Carter) and all of whom could actually hoop. Me TV Too doesn’t show all of the episodes, but I have seen everything aired and fell in love once again with this heart-warming series. 4 hoops.
28. Chris Rock: Selective Outrage* (2023, Netflix) – In case you were wondering about comedian Chris Rock’s reaction to being slapped by Will Smith at last year’s Oscars, he’s only too happy to share his cleverly worded outrage. This raucous hour sees him slinging mud at dating women his own age, his spoiled kids, the Kardashians, Meghan Markle and a host of others, with a special emphasis on Will Smith and his wife, Jada Pinkett. Lots of swearing and use of the N word, but always clever and on point. 3½ cans.
29. Glitch: The Rise & Fall of HQ Trivia* (2023, CNN) – I’m amazed and appalled that I had never heard of the cell phone app HQ Trivia, which was apparently all the rage – until it wasn’t – until I saw this documentary on CNN. After all, I play “Wordle” every day and have shared “Words with Friends.” But this app, developed by two young entrepreneurs whose first tech venture was the short video app Vines, offered players a daily quiz, hosted by a stand-up comedian who became a star for as long as it lasted, and the app built a following of almost 4 million daily viewers. Tech bubbles burst, as we know, and the bad behavior, mismanagement and lack of a viable long-term future brought this one crashing down. Like the doomed Frye Festival, this doc is a study in what goes up must come down. 3 cans.
30. Living* (2023, Montgomery Cinema) – Living is boring – the movie, that is. Maybe I’m just not approaching this film from an intellectual standpoint, where I might understand the deeper meaning of a very ordinary man who changes his ways once he finds out that he is dying. Or maybe I just think that the story wasn’t compelling enough to make me care. All I know is that when I fell asleep I must have missed the best part of the movie because what I did see was boring – without an intellectual analysis of the story. I can’t imagine what the pitch meeting for this one was like. Bill Nighy does a good job portraying the boring lead character. 2½ cans.
31. A Futile and Stupid Gesture*(2018, Netflix) – The comic and somewhat demented mind of bad boy funnyman Douglas Kinney is recounted in this biopic about the founder of The National Lampoon. Kinney (played by Will Forte, with the elder version played by Martin Mull) was surrounded by clever and funny classmates at the Harvard Lampoon. But when he graduated, Kinney only had eyes for creating a national magazine with his steadier friend Henry Beard. Once the magazine achieved critical mass, books and movies weren’t far behind. Kinney ran The National Lampoon Lemmings, a sketch show with previously unknown talents like John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Bill Murray and Gilda Radner, all of whom morphed into a non-Kinney vehicle, Saturday Night Live. So Kinney made memorable, hilarious movies, like “Animal House” and “Caddyshack,” to keep his comic chops alive. You may not know Kinney’s name, but I’m pretty sure he made you laugh. 3 cans.
32. Ordinary Love* (2019, Hulu) – Liam Neeson has stepped away from the plane/train/automobile action genre to play this ordinary husband of a woman (Lesley Mann) who is diagnosed with breast cancer. They have been together for decades in a loving relationship that is occasionally punctuated with a bit of mostly good-natured harping from each of them. When Joan first feels a lump in her breast, the whole litany of tests and waiting for results that every cancer patient must endure begins. This poignant drama is not for people currently going through this situation, which is entirely too familiar to many people. The couple are the parents of a daughter who died suddenly (no circumstances are provided) and they are still coping with that terrible loss. They are forced to tackle this new challenge together, each giving and drawing strength from the other. Not exactly a pick-me-up, but the reality of how cancer effects the patient and the family is well told here. 3½ cans.
33. Jared from Subway: Catching a Monster* (2023, ID Channel) – Remember Jared? He was the nerdy guy who lost 200 pounds by eating sandwiches from the Subway chain every day and who became a spokesman for the brand. He seemed like a normal, likeable guy who was dedicated to helping other people. But this docuseries digs deeper, revealing a man addicted to child porn and acting on his impulses with children. This is a disturbing story, with warnings about material being offensive at every commercial break. Journalist Rochelle Herman is the hero, taking cues from her early encounters with Jared as signs of his more prurient interests and building a long relationship with him so that she could gather enough evidence (through recording their phone calls) to have him charged. It took years. Jared’s not eating Subway sandwiches anymore; he’s in prison and will be there for a very long time. 3½ sandwiches.
34. The Boston Strangler* (2023, Hulu) – Kiera Knightly is reporter Loretta, who is determined to bring down the Boston Strangler in this new look at the famous case. Relegated to the lifestyle pages of her newspaper, Loretta is the first person to note similarities in the unsolved deaths of women in Boston, and she pitches the story to her editor. Working with experienced investigative reporter Jean Cole (Carrie Koons), Loretta tracks down every lead and keeps asking the cops for information on the case. The movie is a little creepy (consider the subject matter) as it seems no one is safe in the area with the murderer on the loose. I won’t reveal what happens, but Knightly does an excellent job portraying the dogged journalist. 3½ cans.
35. Alone Together* (2023, Hulu) – We all remember what it was like in the beginning of the pandemic in 2020. You couldn’t go anywhere, buy anything or appear in public without fear of catching Covid, even as people were dying in staggering numbers. So when June (Katie Holmes, who also produced, wrote and directed the movie) winds up at an upstate New York rental for which her boyfriend arranged, she is shocked to see the property is already occupied by Charlie (Jim Sturgiss). With nowhere to go and no way to get there, she sticks around and begins to fall for Charlie despite her relationship with another man. This rom-com feels current because of the pandemic, which is in the forefront (they make masks together and you can hear the dire warnings of then-New York Governor Cuomo playing in the background) of an otherwise pretty predictable movie. I kept wondering about the practical things, like getting toilet paper, food and haircuts, that we all had to deal with, especially in the first six months of uncertainty. If I had landed at that house, I would not have been greeted by a handsome stranger. With my luck, he would have been the Boston strangler. 3 cans.
36. Dear Edward* (2023, Apple TV+) – Whenever a story is adapted from a book, the filmmakers have an opportunity to expand on the original, even to introduce new characters and plotlines. That’s what the producers did with this interesting book – and not entirely successfully. The story is about Edward (Colin O’Brien), a 12-year old boy who is traveling with his parents and older brother to California when their plane crashes. Edward is the sole survivor. After a stint in the hospital to recover physically, Edward goes to live with his aunt (Taylor Schilling) and has to deal with the trauma and guilt of why he is the one person to make it out alive. This mini-series introduces new characters – too many characters who were not in the book (although Connie Britton is a welcome addition to almost any story) – and I found their plots meandering. There is a grief group for families of those killed where people reveal their own stories while trying to understand the tragedy that has linked them all. Unlike the book, the title “Dear Edward” doesn’t come into play until the next-to-last episode. But at the conclusion of the 10-part series it was clear that another season will follow. I’m not sure I’ll be along for the ride. 3½ cans.
37. Starting Over (1979, Cable TV) – Burt Reynolds escapes from his “Smokey & the Bandit” wise guy persona in this charming rom-com. His Phil Potter is devastated when he and his would-be musician wife (Candice Bergen) break up. He tries to find his footing by moving to Boston and joining a group of equally depressed but supportive divorced men and then meets Marilyn (Jill Clayburgh), a school teacher with whom he tentatively starts a relationship. But nothing is easy, and the ex-Mrs. Potter shows up again in a barely there blouse to entice Phil to return? To sleep with her? To restart their marriage? Candice Bergen is an icy princess in this part, and she excels. When she tries to seduce Phil by singing him her outrageously bad rendition of her song, “Better Than Ever,” you can’t help but wonder how she can do it with a straight face. Reynolds’ face goes between wondering the same thing and surviving the torture of listening to her sing. Look for the scene in Bloomingdales with a paper bag and Valium for a memorable laugh. 3½ cans.
38. Emergency NYC* (2023, Netflix) – This absolutely engrossing 8-part docuseries focuses on the heroic emergency staff, ambulance drivers and helicopter pilots specially trained for emergencies. There are nurses, surgeons and other doctors who do their best to care for severely ill or injured patients in NYC, shuttling them by helicopter and ambulance to Lenox Hill Hospital or to Cohen Children’s Hospital on Long Island. We meet people waiting for transplants, people with brain and eye tumors, young gunshot victims, and several staff people giving birth. If guts and gore don’t bother you, you will appreciate and fresh, healthy liver and a newly received heart, cutting through the skull and removing various tumors. Not everyone survives, but that just makes the reality hit home. The medical problems and techniques are fascinating, but so are the people, including the dedicated Chief Neurosurgeon who barely survives a skiing accident. I’ve seen series like this before and I would watch another one tomorrow. Well done! 4½ cans.
No comments:
Post a Comment