All programs are rated on a scale of 1-5 cans of tuna, with 5 at the top of the ratings. Numbering picks up from previous months and asterisks mark the things I haven't previously watched.
145. Selling Sunset* (2023, Netflix) – This addicting documentary soap opera about stunning California real estate agents returns for another season (11 episodes) of selling, infighting, gossip, 5-inch heels and arguments. There’s no point in providing a plot summary; just assume that someone is mad at someone else in every episode. It gets tiresome, yet I cannot resist; I binged the entire season in one day. I’m not proud, I’m just addicted. 3½ cans.
146. Sly* (2023, Netflix) – A revealing documentary about Sylvester Stallone by Sylvester Stallone explains how “Rocky” came into the American zeitgeist – primarily because Stallone could not get parts as an actor. So, he wrote the script in a couple of days and then, like the character, had to fight to get himself cast in the lead. The men in suits who were in charge wanted practically anyone else, but Stallone wisely turned down tons of money to bet on himself. He continued writing, playing and eventually producing the endless sequels, becoming very wealthy and popular as an actor. He also created the Rambo franchise. Watch the movie to better understand how almost everything he did was an outgrowth of his relationship with his father. Good stuff. 4 cans.
147. Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber* (2023, Netflix) – This ride could have ended a little sooner for me rather than stretch over 7 episodes. Joseph Gordon-Levitt puts on a show as power-hungry Uber creator Travis Kalanick. Creating the popular ride-sharing service – an idea he took from a “friend” – was not enough for TK. He only wanted to outdo all of the big tech gods and change the world. He namedrops “Steve” and “Bill,” and “Larry and Sergei” as if he is on a par with Jobs, Gates and the like. There’s lots of talk about venture capital and investments, Board seats and who really runs things (in this case, Travis flies by the seat of his pants way too often). The unhappy women in the ”bro” environment are neither valued or heard. Travis is obnoxious, driven and smart and will not take advice or no for an answer, just the kind of guy you don’t want to work for – except for the promise that someday you WILL be rich. With fewer episodes, this one may have merited 4 cans, but it dragged on. 3½ cans.
148. What Happens Later* (2023, Manville Cinema) – This movie is so forgettable that I had to look up the title just to review it. Meg Ryan gamely tries to resurrect her rep as the "Queen of Rom Coms" by writing, directing and starring in this story of two divorced people who run into each other in a small regional airport 25 years later. A giant storm has shut down the airport, which is strangely devoid of other passengers, so Bill (David Duchovny) and Willa are stuck with each other. And though decades have passed since they last met, the old stories and arguments pick right up from where they left off. There is minimal rom or com in this film. I wish Meg had been stuck in the airport with her old screen partner Tom Hanks, as in his wonderful “The Terminal.” In this case, the movie was terminal. I so wanted to like it. 2 cans.
149. JFK: One Day in America* (2023, National Geographic Channel, now on Hulu) – This year marks 60 years since the November 22, 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. For those of us alive in that memorable time (I was 13, in Miss McBath’s home ec class in 8th grade that day) it was the equivalent of September 11, 2001. This three-part documentary features interviews with the last remaining witnesses of that horrific event, including two members of the Secret Service detail assigned to protect the President and the First Lady, Jacqueline Kennedy. One, Clint Hill, can be seen scrambling onto the back of the President’s car in the motorcade in Dallas after the bullet struck his head. The poor man continues to feel guilty to this day. This show includes archival footage that I have never before seen and provides a comprehensive timeline of the assassination, the arrest of Lee Harvey Oswald, his murder by Jack Ruby right in Dallas police station and the iconic scenes from the funeral that remain etched in my mind 60 years later. If you are old enough to remember this seminal event in US history you may want to see it again from a more mature viewpoint. People born after 1963 may want to see it to better understand what happened at that time. 4½ cans.
150. Albert Brooks: Defending My Life* (2023, HBO, also Max) – This is not the movie “Defending My Life” BY comedian and actor Albert Brooks. It is the documentary ABOUT Albert Brooks by his high school friend and buddy, actor/director Rob Reiner. Brooks was never a traditional comedian. His stand-up material was unconventional and clever, not topical. In this movie, Brooks and Reiner review his life and career and provide plenty of clips of his work while they converse at a table in a restaurant. I never found Brooks laugh-out-loud funny, but I have always appreciated his off-beat sense of humor and the way he zings society. Several of his movies are among my favorites: “Lost in America,” “Mother” and “Broadcast News,” which he did not write but for which he received an Oscar nomination (who can forget the scene with the “flop sweat,” which is neatly reviewed here?). There are plenty of recognizable faces on hand to compliment Brooks and lend credence to his brilliance. 3½ cans.
151. Pain Hustlers* (2023, Netflix) – I seem to be immersed in a sub-genre of movies about dangerous pharmaceutical companies and their irresponsible and pushy reps (see “Dopesick,” “Painkillers” and a few documentaries). Liza Drake (Emily Blunt) is down on her luck, fired from her job as a pole dancer and the mother of a teenager who has been kicked out of school for arson, which she negotiates down to a suspension instead of an expulsion. So, you can see she has some smarts, and that makes her succeed when Pete Brenner (Chris Evans), a man she meets in a bar, offers her a job at his failing drug company. No degree, no experience? No problem! Liza is good at working with doctors to get them to prescribe the company’s latest drug to alleviate pain for cancer sufferers. It’s not addicting, according to one study, so why not find sneaky ways to appeal to the docs to get their patients on it? The drug turns out to be fentanyl, the company turns out to have huge success, and the patients turn out better – all for a while. The cast here is a good one and the story, which we have heard before, holds your interest. 3½ cans
152. Vanishing Act* (2023, Hulu) – Melissa Caddick was an Australian woman who sold herself as an investment genius. She got her hands on the life savings (in many cases) of her family and friends, promising to make them plenty of money. Instead, she spent plenty of money on herself, squandering $40 million and providing phony statements to make everyone think their investment was growing in her wise and safe hands. This 3-part drama is based on a true story of a high roller with a Ponzi scheme. I don’t understand why people intelligent enough to pull this stuff off don’t take the money and actually invest it. She might have hit on a few winners instead of embezzling the money given to her my family, friends, friends of friends, doctors – the list goes on. When the Australian regulatory agency that handles these bogus transactions came calling, Melissa went running. There are some interesting twists and turns, but by the end of the second part, everybody was demanding that she “show me the money.” 3½ cans.
153. The Lady Bird Diaries* (2023, Hulu) – I watched this documentary about Lady Bird Johnson, wife of President Lyndon Baines Johnson, on the day that we learned of the death of former First Lady Rosalynn Carter. Although Claudia “Lady Bird” Johnson was the wife of a career politician, she had a very fast transition to the role of First Lady when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963 and her husband took over as President. Her press secretary, Liz Carpenter, suggested Lady Bird keep a diary. Instead, she made many hours of audio recordings that serve as the narrative here along with wonderful archival footage. The President was a blustery type but he pushed for the passage of groundbreaking bills for civil rights and Lady Bird took up the cause of the environment and the beautification of America, issues we continue to face. Her work was important and should be remembered in a positive light. 3½ cans.
154. The Jagged Edge (1985, Cable TV) – Jagged-edged knives, a violent murder, a handsome suspect and a “smoking gun” combine in this courtroom drama/mystery/suspense movie starring Glenn Close and Jeff Bridges. Bridges, a wealthy and charismatic publisher, hires Close, a former prosecutor who hasn’t been in a courtroom for 4 years, to defend him against charges he murdered his wife. There are plenty of red herrings here, and plenty of predictable scenarios. If you pay close attention, you can probably figure out whodunit. 3½ cans.
155. The Intern (2015, HBO) – Robert DeNiro is in a rare comedic but subtle role as Ben, a widower who gets a position as a “senior intern” for a rising on-line clothing company. Anne Hathaway is Jules, the driven head of “About the Fit,” a company she conceived and runs. The role of top exec, creator and inspiration, combined with being a wife and mother, is overwhelming. Although she doesn’t feel she needs help, her partner does. So, enter DeNiro as Ben Whittaker, long-retired with a successful business background who is overqualified to be an intern but with the gentility to not force his opinions and will on the young executive. He graciously stands in the background and assists as needed. Before long, Jules and her family become dependent on him. Ben is old school, wearing a suit to work every day, carrying a classic briefcase and a handkerchief, and mentoring the young people in the office – including Jules. The movie overall is quite charming, but it makes Jules seem at times incapable of doing everything successfully even though she is clearly a highly capable woman (as Ben points out to her). 3½ cans.
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