September 2023 Movies & More

All programs are rated on a scale of 1-5 cans of tuna, with 5 the highest. Asterisks mark movies I had not seen previously and numbering picks up from previous months. 

115.  Virgin River, Season 5* (2023, Netflix) – Watching this series is like visiting with old friends. The new season has 10 episodes filled with drama and warmth, a few new characters and even more heroics from Jack (who knew he could fly a plane?), who spends less and less time at his bar. His relationship with Mel (Amanda Breckinridge) grows deeper, and the usual cast of folks in the picturesque California town face new crises. I love the characters and the sense of community the show conveys even as I have to admit that it is only a few steps up from a Hallmark movie. I won’t spoil the plot, but you can see this season is set up for more VR. There was even a sneak preview of two more episodes of the season coming up in November. 3½ cans.
116.  Selling the OC, Season 2* (2023, Netflix) – The six-inch heels, revealing dresses, zillion-dollar houses and tenuous friendships are on full display as this 8-part series about the gorgeous real estate agents at the Gossipheimer Group – I mean Oppenheimer Group – returns for a new season with the same old infighting. The theme song of this series should be Bonnie Raitt’s “Let’s Give Them Something to Talk About,” as the ladies of the office (the few men actually get along but promote the bad behavior) hash and rehash what they said or didn’t say about each other. I don’t know how they have time to show and sell properties with all of the confrontations and accusations. There is a party about every 10 minutes – unlike any office YOU have ever worked in – and that’s always a good place to pick a fight. So many of the women are named Alexandra that they have to go by last names – Jarvis, Rose, Hall – so it is no surprise when Miss Tennessee, who goes by Ali – shows up and gets offered a job despite having no real estate license, no experience and no contacts in the Orange County selling area. Makes sense, right? If this is so bad, why do I keep watching? I’ll let you know if I ever figure that out. 3½ cans of guilty pleasure.
117.  Sitting in Bars With Cake* (2023, Prime Video) – Think “Beaches” with cake. And Bette Midler. Jane and Corinne (Yara Shahidi and Odessa A’zion) are besties but opposites. Jane is introverted, detail-oriented and organized. Corinne is a messy roommate who would be fun but tough to live with. Jane, studying to get into law school, bakes cakes for relaxation. The girls and their friends decide to take one of Jane’s delicious cakes to a different bar around LA each week in hopes of meeting guys. And then the “Beaches” part kicks in. Bette Midler, who starred in “Beaches,” has a small part as a formidable boss running the agency where both young women work. Bring tissues. 3½ cans.
118.  Call Me Kate* (2022, Netflix) – Katharine Hepburn wasn’t always the biggest star in the movie. She started in Broadway shows, bombed out in a few movies, and ultimately became a force in Hollywood. She wasn’t a traditional female star, gowned and coiffed. She mostly wore pants, smoked and did what she wanted to do, including producing (with a credit or not) many of her most important movies. It isn’t a revelation to hear that Spencer Tracy was the love of her life, although he remained married throughout their 30-year relationship. What I like about Hepburn is her tenacity and drive, her unwillingness to follow the norms of the time but rather take charge, bossing around men and using a few, like Howard Hughes, who was rich enough to bankroll some of her projects. She was a force of nature. 3½ cans.
119.  Mark Cavendish* (2023, Netflix) – The only reference I have to professional cycling is watching Lance Armstrong go from the apex of the sport to a crash landing after FINALLY admitting his extensive use of performance enhancing drugs. This documentary about cyclist Mark Cavendish never mentions illicit substances but follows the traditional sports story trajectory – on top, successful, then something happens and he has to fight his way back. He went from breaking records to breaking bones and had to overcome chronic fatigue, depression and Guillain Barr Syndrome. Unless you are a cycling fan, don’t bother to watch. I commend Cavendish for his skill and dedication, but this is a story I could have skipped. 2½ cans.
120.  Come Away Home* (2005, Prime Video) – Twelve-year-old city-girl Annie (Jordan-Claire Greene) is justifiably angry with her parents when they decide she will have to leave her friends in New York City and spend the summer in South Carolina, where she is forced to stay with the grandfather she barely knows (Paul Dooley) in his old and messy house. She’s miserable and wants to find a way to go home, but, as these heartwarming movies usually go, things have a way of working out for the best. You just know she will make friends and bond with grandpa. One note that interested me is that Director Doug McKeon played the grandson in one of my favorite movies, “On Golden Pond,” where his character had a bumpy time with his grandpa, played by Henry Fonda, until they became besties. This film isn’t anywhere near that good, but it is a relaxing way to pass the time. 2½ cans.
121.  Kelce* (2023, Prime Video) – Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce must be prescient. Before the 2022 NFL season, he agreed to allow production of this documentary about this life and career as a football player. The Eagles started the season by winning 8 straight games and ended it by losing in the Super Bowl, where Jason’s team played his brother Travis’ Kansas City Chiefs. This fascinating look at the life of a football player shows Jason reading to his young daughters, taking out the trash and showing X-rays of all the bones he’s broken. Soon after the Super Bowl loss, his lovely wife Kylie has another baby girl and Jason must decide whether he wants to give it a go for one more year as an older pro player. Watch it yourself to see how it ends. 4 cans.
122.  A Million Miles Away* (2023, Prime Video) – If you are a young child picking vegetables in the fields of California before going to school in the morning, space must seem like a million miles away. But for Jose Hernandez, a Mexican-American, the odds of becoming an astronaut were, well, astronomical. The young boy helped his close-knit family, who encouraged him to dream big. An engineering degree, a graduate degree and success in his field aside, his application to become an astronaut was rejected many times. Michael Pena plays Jose, the first Mexican-American and, no doubt, the first migrant worker to be launched into space. I would call this movie an uplifting story. 3½ cans.
123.  Little Richard: I Am Everything* (2023, Hulu) – Richard Penniman: Gospel singer, man of God, rock & roll pioneer – Little Richard WAS everything. The Rolling Stones, the Beatles and other superstars acknowledged his profound influence on their music and performances. I picture him pounding the keyboards, wearing either a smartly tailored suit or a bright and garish outfit that reflected the stage lights. From “Good Golly Miss Molly” to “Lucille,” that man could set the stage on fire. In addition to being a creative musician, he was a queer icon, wearing makeup, high pompadour hair and flamboyant costumes. He was proud, loud and happy about the person he really was. Like many pioneering artists, he never really got either his due or his earned share of the profits and royalties from his work, which lives on for the rest of us to enjoy. 3½ cans.
124.  Reggie* (2023, Prime Video) – He was the “straw that stirs the drink.” He was the man who walloped three first-pitch home runs against the Dodgers in the 1977 World Series and earned his name “Mr. October.” However you remember Reggie Jackson – before and after his brief but incendiary Yankee career – you have to respect the man and his legacy as a baseball player extraordinaire, a vocal leader and an iconic Black player. Reggie, Thurman Munson and Billy Martin may have been an explosive baseball cocktail, but Reggie went about his business, spoke with candor to the press and succeeded in a storied career as a player and executive that spanned from Hank Aaron to Aaron Judge. This documentary tells you everything you need to know – and more – about the superstar. 3½ cans.
125.  Unfinished Business* (2022, Prime Video) – If you are a women’s basketball fan (ahem), and especially a fan of the WNBA’s New York Liberty, check out this enthusiastic and informative documentary about the formation of the league in 1997. One of the original franchises, the Liberty have yet to win a WNBA Championship (maybe this is their year), but they have provided plenty of thrills to NYL fans. This film shows the dynamics and difficulties of playing in the league, highlighting accomplished players and leaders. I especially like the references to former Rutgers great Betnijah Laney, about whom one teammate said (I’m paraphrasing): When she walked into the locker room, we knew immediately that she was the leader of this club. The documentary also focuses on the league’s legends, like Sue Wicks (another former Rutgers star) and Teresa Weatherspoon (T-Spoon), a player and leader still beloved. Some of this was new ground for me and it was inspiring. Let’s go Libs! 3½ basketballs.
126.  Tom Hanks: The Nomad* (2023, Prime Video) – Who doesn’t love Tom Hanks? He played “Forrest Gump,” romanced Meg Ryan in “Sleepless in Seattle,” survived a plane crash in both “Cast Away” and “Sully” and an almost space crash in “Apollo 11,” voiced Woody in “Toy Story,” and has a treasure trove of awards honoring his work. He helped us explore space and World War II. So how the makers of this documentary could screw it up so badly is beyond me. Some of the things covered, such as his divorce from his first wife and her subsequent death years later, are immaterial to the story of his life and achievements. The script is dismal and the narration worse. I wondered if both were the products of Artificial Intelligence that wasn’t so smart. And more than once the screen shots did not match the narrative (there was a shot of Buzz Lightyear from “Toy Story” when the script mentioned Hanks’ work as Woody). Did anyone look at this thing when it was ready for release? It is a shame because the quality of the documentary doesn’t come close to the outstanding work of its subject. Even the title is irrelevant and seems based on the fact that Hanks and his family moved around a lot when he was a schoolkid. IF you can get by the shortcomings of the production, a dive into Hanks’ work is worth it. 3 cans.
127.  The Miracle Season* (2018, Prime Video) – Any movie with a title like “The Miracle Season” is bound to be a sports story where things go terribly wrong and then get righted. Inspired by a true story, the film is about a high school volleyball team in Iowa which rises above tragedy to win for one of their own. The corny script wastes the acting chops of Oscar winners William Hurt and Helen Hunt, who play their parts well but deserve better material. 2 cans.
128.  Love at First Sight* (2023, Netflix) – There sure don’t make rom-coms like “When Harry Met Sally” anymore. This meet-cute movie starts when Hadley (Haley Lu Richardson) misses her fight to London by 4 minutes. She meets Oliver (Ben Hardy) and borrows his charger and they flirt and converse while they wait for their flight together. Lots of other stuff happens, much of it contrived but cute (as are the principals) and when they part, they somehow keep finding each other again. It’s no “Sleepless in Seattle,” but there are plenty of twists of fate. How come I only run into nose breathers and obnoxious folks when I fly? 3 cans
129.  Flora and Son* (2023, Apple TV+) – Flora (Eve Hewson) is the single mom of a sullen teenaged boy. They don’t relate well to each other and the son, Max, keeps getting himself into trouble at school and elsewhere. Flora is poor and aimless. Then, she finds a beat-up old guitar in the trash, has it patched up and finds peace in music as she takes remote guitar lessons from a musician in Los Angeles, far from her Dublin home. Her son is interested in music, too, and the spell it casts brings them together. Sweet and lovely but not earthshaking. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is the guitar teacher. 3 cans.
130.  Untold Stories: Hoop Schemes* (2021, Netflix) – This is another episode in the fascinating Netflix documentary series on sports. In 1994, Arizona State Men’s Basketball had an outstanding team, led by hopeful NBA draft pick Stevin “Hedake” Smith, a talented point guard. In the age way before NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) deals started making college athletes rich, Hedake was looking for some income. He paired up with another student who was working his way through ASU by gambling. That led to another young, rich trader from Chicago who figured out a way to bet on games and win, even if ASU lost, because they beat the spread. There is more info on point shaving here than I could ever need to know, but the story just keeps getting better. You can bet that it won’t end well for anyone. 3½ cans.