January 2024 Movies & More

Another year, another list of movies, TV shows and other entertainment options. Asterisks indicate programs I had not seen previously. Everything is rated on a scale from 1-5 cans of tuna fish (don't ask), with 5 the top score.
1. On Golden Pond (1981, Cable TV) – Henry Fonda plays octogenarian Norman Thayer Jr. in this classic about a fractured relationship between a father and daughter, starring with his real-life daughter, Jane Fonda, playing Chelsea. And if that isn’t enough acting firepower, Katharine Hepburn is Ethel, his devoted and loving wife who is always trying to broker peace between the two people she loves most. Chelsea brings her dentist boyfriend to the family’s summer place on Golden Pond, where Norman likes to fish and Ethel listens to the loons. When Chelsea and her boyfriend Bill leave for vacation, his 13-year-old smart-ass son Billy (Doug McKeon) is left for a month with the old folks. Miraculously, he and Normal develop the kind of relationship the old poop should have had with his daughter for these many years. I love this movie, and when Fonda hugs Fonda in the end, there isn’t a dry eye in my house. 4½ cans.
2. The Boys In the Boat* (2023, Manville Cinema) – The rowing team from the University of Washington was a novice group with good training and plenty of heart, and with enough skill and perseverance to win qualifying races and go to the 1936 Olympics in Germany.  You would think this could not happen, except that the movie is based on a true story.  A little slow in the beginning as it builds to the climax. 3½ cans.
3. The Color Purple* (2023, Manville Cinema) – I may have just watched the Best Movie of the Year, and it is only January 2! This new version of the stage musical based on Alice Walker’s novel packs a punch – in more ways than one – with exceptional performances by Fantasia Barino as the main character, Celie, and the supporting cast of Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks, H.E.R., Hallie Berry and Ciara, all bringing Walker’s characters to brilliant life. I had seen the 1985 Steven Spielberg version of this story, starring Whoopie Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey, but, after 40 years, I did not recall all of the plot, so seeing this and hearing the music was almost an entirely new experience for me. I haven’t shed that many tears at the movies in a long time. 5 cans.
4. The Curious Case of Natalia Grace* (2023, ID Network or MAX) – This 2-season, 12-episode docuseries traces the life of Ukrainian orphan Natalia Grace, who was adopted by an American family at around age six. Or was she? This series casts doubt – rightfully so – on her age, her adoptive family’s treatment of her, her alleged threats to their safety and other stuff that you absolutely cannot make up. She is a little person who deals with spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia, a rare bone disorder, making it difficult for her to walk. Did she really stand at the foot of her parents’ bed holding a knife? Why did the family “re-age” her and place her in an apartment alone? This is one of the most bizarre real stories I have ever seen, but it did inspire me to change my own age. For the record, I’m now 59 again! 4 cans of absolute shock and strangeness!
5. Good Grief* (2023, Netflix) – Daniel Levy has arrived. After amusing us for six years in the Shitt’s Creek ensemble, here he takes the reins as the writer, director and star of the sad and warm story of Marc, a man whose husband dies in a traffic accident, leaving him to process the grief and try to get on with his life. Surrounded by close friends who each have their own messy lives to contend with, he slowly comes to terms with secrets he did not know about his marriage. Through it all, he changes from the idealization of his marriage to the realities of choices made and yet to be made. I admired Levy’s performance and the bond his character has with his friends, who are his chosen family. You can see his pain as new revelations hit him and change his perspective. Good Grief is GOOD. 3½ cans.
6. American Nightmare* (2024, Netflix) – Imagine being kidnapped, tossed in the trunk of a car, held captive, raped – and the police don’t believe a word of your story. In 2015, that’s what happened to Denise Huskins. This three-part documentary series shows the actual police footage of her boyfriend, Aaron Quinn, being interrogated by the police, who immediately doubt his story. They don’t know where Denise was taken and the incident, which seemed so similar to the new movie “Gone Girl,” is breathlessly reported by the media. The young couple are treated as liars by the police in Vallejo, California and are excoriated by the police, who say they are guilty of perpetrating an elaborate hoax. This series grabbed my attention from the beginning and I couldn’t go to bed until I finished it. 4 cans.
7. From the Terrace (1960, Cable TV) – Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward star in this melodramatic adaptation of the John O’Hara novel about a wealthy but unhappily married couple. He is the scion of a modestly wealthy family whose father much preferred the brother who died as a child.  She is from a much richer family and is spoiled and content to run with the society crowd. He loves his work at an investment bank on Wall Street, a job he “fell into” by rescuing the partner’s grandson. They become fabulously wealthy and yet are miserable together. He is always tied up with work, desperate to gain independent wealth. She lusts after him (seriously, who wouldn’t?) but settles for her willing old boyfriend instead.  He doesn’t even understand how unhappy he is until he meets and falls for a much less complicated, pretty woman (Ina Balin) and her life. Will he give up everything for the chance of finally achieving happiness? This movie and “The Young Philadelphians” are two of my favorite Newman movies. 4 cans.
8. One All the Way* (2021, PBS) – This short documentary (about 20 minutes) follows three older men in search of the perfect hot Texas Weiner in and around their hometown, Paterson, NJ. Once a thriving small city, Paterson’s industry has left town and so have many of its residents as the town falls into disrepair. It pains the friends here who remember its glory days and the places they frequented, including the place where one of them proposed to his wife. Some of their favorite hotdog joints are gone, too, but that doesn’t stop them from their quest to eat three with everything each time they go on one of their hotdogs crawls. I only wish my late brother-in-law, who once ran a hotdog truck, could have seen this movie or hung out with the guys. They would have become fast friends. Take 20 minutes and watch this little gem. 3½ cans.
9. Beef* (2023, Netflix) – This 10-part series starts out with a road rage incident between Amy and Danny (Ali Wong and Steven Juen), who race through their California streets looking for revenge against each other. So how does this incident become a series, I asked myself. Each episode provides another layer of their increasingly intertwined lives. His brother, her husband, his sketchy cousin just out of prison, her mother-in-law, his involvement with the church, her high-income job and boss. The series reminded me of a traffic accident that everyone has to stop and see. Once you get started with this series, you’re hooked. It is bizarre, violent, creepy, and amoral. It won a boatload of Emmys, including Best Actor and Actress for Juen and Wong, who were outstanding. Now that it’s over, I hope there is no Season 2. 3½ cans.
10. The Secret Life of the Hospital* (2018, Prime Video) – This documentary gives viewers an in-depth view of operating a hospital in England, from the people who wheel the patients to get their CAT scans done to the people who repair the equipment to be sure it works. So much of what goes on in the hospital takes place behind the scenes, checking blood samples, ordering scans and making sure the chemotherapy drugs are perfect. I was so impressed with the staff, their exacting standards and the dignity with which patients were treated. I found it fascinating. 4 cans.
11. Queer Eye, Season 8* (2024, Netflix) – The Fab Five are back in town – New Orleans this time around – to transform people’s lives. Antoni, Karamo, Tan, Jonathan and Bobby (in his last season) this time out work with a man who is content to cook and eat raccoons, a former nun interested in dating, and a deaf football coach who is taking on more responsibilities at the school for the deaf where he works. In small and seemingly subtle ways, these men change a wardrobe, a house, and a life with love, kindness, caring, and wonderful listening skills. The only bad part of this series is that I binged all 8 episodes in one day and now I have to wait a year for the next season. But it is worth waiting for! 4 cans.
12. 999: Critical Condition* (2018, Prime Video) – If you don’t mind real life blood and guts, surgeons sawing through bones and exposing the brain, then this 4-part documentary series is for you. Like “The Secret Life of the Hospital,” above, it shows what really happens, in this case, in the ER of a British hospital. The care and measures taken by the entire medical team are truly remarkable, as they fight to save the lives of accident victims, people with tumors, stroke victims and more. You only hope that if you have to go to the hospital, that you will be treated with such care and concern. 4 cans.
13. The Greatest Night in Pop* (2024, Netflix) – On a January night in 1985, nearly every important singer and pop star gathered in a Hollywood recording studio to create the magic that was “We Are the World.” It started with Harry Belafonte, renowned musician, actor and activist, who wanted to do something for the starving people in Africa, following a UK effort that produced “Band Aid.” He teamed with Quincy Jones, who brought on Lionel Ritchie, Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder to craft a song that would inspire and move people to action. And if they had proceeded just with that quartet, it probably would have been a smash hit. But no, as this engaging documentary reveals, one after another star was asked and agreed. From Bruce Springsteen to Diana Ross, Billy Joel to Dionne Warwick, from Bob Dylan (who looks a little out of place and uncomfortable) to a nervous Huey Lewis, about 70 people converged in the studio after the American Music Awards and worked all night long until they turned out a memorable record that has raised $63 million – more that $130 million in today’s dollars to aid Africa. This movie is a warm look at who showed up, who didn’t (Prince), who came and went (Waylon Jennings) and it shows how the individual styles and talents of these singers were melded together. It was like watching a good family reunion. My only question was: Why was Dan Ackroyd there? 4 cans.