April seemed to fly by, but I managed to find a baker's dozen movies to watch. Those marked with an asterisk were new to me, and everything is rated on a scale of 1-5 cans of tuna fish. Numbering picks up from previous months.
32. Sports Heaven: The Birth of ESPN* (2026, ESPN) – Imagine a man whose vision exceeded the availability of technology, who could imagine broadcasting all kinds of sports, major and minor. Bill Rasmussen was that man, and his creation of ESPN, with the help of engineers, broadcasters and outside investment, exceeded even his own imagination. As a sports junkie, I loved this look back on how tiny Bristol, Connecticut, became the sports center of the universe. Not for everyone, but I loved it. 3½ cans.
33. The Madison* (2026, Paramount +) – Stacy and Preston Clyborne (Michelle Pfeiffer and Kurt Russell) are a happily married couple rich enough to live in affluence in New York and maintain a rugged property in Montana, where he goes with his brother to fish. When a devastating tragedy leads Stacy to travel to the cabin in Montana along with her spoiled adult daughters, it is more than a change of pace for the grieving family. Pfeiffer, still gorgeous at 67, and Russell don’t have scenes together in the present, but there is plenty about the past that helps her understand his fascination with the rural life. This is a six-part series and has been renewed for season two. The settings are as beautiful as the cast. 4 cans.
34. The Pitt, Season 2* (2026, HBO Max) – Season 2 was just as dramatic and compelling as season 1 of this series that takes place over the course of a single shift during a jam-packed day in the Emergency Department of a Pittsburgh hospital. The cast and department are headed by Noah Wyle as Robby Robinovich, who commandeers an eclectic group of established doctors, young doctors, medical students and one bad-ass nurse without whom the place would fall apart (Dana, played with gusto by Katherine LaNasa, an actress so good in her role that I was shocked I didn’t recognize her from previous work). Robby is supposed to be wrapping things up in the ED so he can start on a much-needed sabbatical, but throughout the day (July 4th) we have our doubts whether he will actually go – or come back in one piece or otherwise if he does. The filming here seems to be incredibly accurate, at least to a layman. There are interesting, complicated and crazy characters waiting to see the docs or die trying. I cannot sum up the entire series, so I highly encourage you to find it, watch it, and relish it. And if this review had sound, we’d throw in a “Baby Jane Doe” for you! 4½ cans.
35. The Logo: Jerry West* (2026, Prime Video) – Once upon a time there was a basketball prodigy from a tiny town in West Virginia who became an Olympian, a college star, an elite pro player, a coach and an executive, a man who affected the game so much that the NBA created its logo based on a picture of him. Starting in the 1960s, Jerry West was a phenomenal shooter, a prolific scorer and the executive responsible for “Showtime,” the story of the Los Angeles Lakers of Magic and Kobe and Shaq. As an executive with the Lakers, he spotted Kobe as a high school player and brought him to LA, where he became a superstar. This documentary traces West from his meager and sad roots to the top of his career, never neglecting to show how his competitive fire almost crushed him when the Lakers failed to defeat the champion Boston Celtics so many times in a row. There are excellent interviews here with his contemporaries and the teams he led. The man was a winner. 4 cans.
36. A Little Prayer* (2023, Prime Video) – This movie is a low key, almost laconic story of the fractures – large and small – in a family. Bill (David Strathairn) is the patriarch, living with his wife (Celia Weston), his adult son David (Will Pullen) and his wife Tammy (Jane Levy) in a modest little house. The son works with him in his company and Dad can’t help but notice his roving eye. Bill and his wife adore their quiet daughter-in-law Tammy and it hurts Bill to see David put his marriage in jeopardy. This is not an action movie, but a quiet look at the kinds of things that pull families apart. 3½ cans.
37. Crazy Stupid Love (2011, HBO) – I have seen this movie so many times, but it had been a while, so I decided to make my day better and brighter with yet another viewing. Start with the stunning Ryan Gosling who plays man about town Jacob, who dazzles the ladies with his looks and charm, his perfectly tailored clothes and his sculpted body. He takes pity on Cal (Steve Carell), a plain, middle-aged guy whose wife (Julianne Moore) has just dumped him. Cal has no game, wears clothes too big and generally looks like any suburban dad. Jacob makes Cal go shopping, ditching his New Balance sneakers and cheap haircut to make him over so he can get back in the game. I will refrain from providing any additional details but instead will urge you to see this movie if you haven’t already and to see it again if you have. 4½ cans.
38. Love With the Proper Stranger (1963, Prime Video) – A young Natalie Wood and Steve McQueen play two strangers who have a one-night stand that apparently will lead nowhere. A musician, McQueen’s Rocky has no allegiance to anyone, while Woods’ Angie is a proper Italian girl whose over-protective brothers constantly interfere in her life. They want her to settle down with a nice guy, like Anthony (Tom Bosley), but Angie yearns for the feeling of bells and banjoes, some kind of romantic magic. When she finds herself pregnant, she tracks down Rocky to help her through the predicament and the two stop sparring long enough to learn more about each other and think that just maybe they could end up together. Last scene is worth the whole movie. 4 cans.
39. Just Between Friends (1986, Prime Video) – I remember this made-for-TV movie when it first aired. The terrific cast (Mary Tyler Moore, Christine Lahti, Ted Danson and Sam Waterston) and a key plot twist elevate it above the more typical TV genre. Moore is Holly, married to Danson’s Chip, a seismologist who studies earthquakes. Lahti is Sandy, a single TV news reporter who strikes up a friendship with Holly in an exercise class. Holly and Chip have an idyllic life and a good marriage. A tragedy leads Holly to discover secrets about her husband and her new best friend that change everything. 3½ cans.
40. Murphy’s Romance (1986, Hulu) – The charming James Garner stars as a druggist in a small western town that becomes the new home of a much younger Sally Field. The spunky divorcee and mother of a young son is a down-on-her-luck would-be horse trainer, saddled with a deadbeat ex-husband who shows up in time to interrupt the growing May-December romance between Field & Garner. Garner can do everything from ride horses to make ice cream sodas to sew, and he spouts aphorisms that warm the heart of the plucky Field (who looks startlingly like Kristy MacNichol). Best line in the movie: “How do you like your eggs?” Directed by Martin Ritt, who guided Field to an Oscar in “Norma Rae,” playing an even pluckier and more prickly character. I like her, I really, really like her. 4 cans.
41. The Devil Wears Prada (2006, Hulu) – In light of the release of the sequel to this movie, I thought I’d take a refresher course to study the indomitable Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep), her assistants Andy (Anne Hathaway) and Emily (Emily Blunt) and her general factotum, Stanley Tucci. Miranda is the haughty boss lady of the fashion magazine “Runway,” throwing out rapid-fire orders and demanding immediate response. Andy wants to be a journalist, but she needs a job, fits amazingly into the sample clothes that change her from frumpy to fashionable, and somehow begins to live the life she thought she would hate. Streep, as always, is terrific and Hathaway goes from beleaguered beginner to survivor. Definitely worth seeing again as a prerequisite for the new version, which I will report on next month. 4 cans.
42. Rabbit Hole* (2020, Prime Video) – This is an extremely sad movie about a couple (Nicole Kidman and Aaron Echhart) whose 4-year-old son died in a traffic accident. Counseling isn’t really helping them, nor are the good intentions of family and friends. He is unable to move forward, clinging to every family picture and stuffed animal, but she cannot bear the constant reminders of the lost child and wants to get rid of the toys and more. Their different coping mechanisms are putting a strain on their once-solid marriage and are not helped when she befriends the teenager (Miles Teller) who was driving the car that hit and killed the little boy. 3 cans.
43. #Skyking* (2026, Hulu) – This is not the Saturday morning TV show about a rancher with an airplane that I watched in the 1950s. It is a documentary about Beebo Russell, a ground service employee at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport who, in 2018, hijacked an empty plane and went for what may have started out as a joy ride and ends up as anything but. The story is told through the actual recordings of the conversations between the inexperienced pilot and the air traffic folks who try to save him from himself, patiently explaining what steps he can take to safely land the plane despite having no flying experience. Interviews with his family, friends and airport colleagues help to flesh out his character and why he would take such extreme measures to create a potentially disastrous situation. It held my interest. 3½ cans.
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