Yellowstone

— [Paramount streaming.]

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[2018+. Three seasons, 29 episodes, 37-92 min./episode. Created by Taylor Sheridan and John Linson. Starring Kevin Costner, Luke Grimes, Kelly Reilly, and Wes Bentley.]
https://www.vulture.com/article/yellowstone-most-american-show-analysis.html

The Kominsky Method

— [Netflix streaming.]

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[2018+. Three seasons, 29 episodes, 37-92 min./episode. Created by Taylor Sheridan and John Linson. Starring Kevin Costner, Luke Grimes, Kelly Reilly, and Wes Bentley.]
https://www.vulture.com/article/yellowstone-most-american-show-analysis.html

The Whole Truth

— I tend to enjoy courtroom dramas and this one had enough to keep me going even though the overall tone is a little flat and without the tension one would expect. That may be due to Keanu Reeves who’s not known for his excitable acting, but even Renee Zellweger is somewhat demure. Even so, it’s a good story with a bit of Southern flair to it. I enjoyed it, but I wouldn't call it a great example of the genre. [Netflix streaming.]

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[2016. 93 min. Directed by Courtney Hunt. Starring Keanu Reeves, Renee Zellweger, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, and Gabriel Basso.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-whole-truth-2016

Friends: The Reunion

— After 17 years, there’s a generation of post-“Friends” viewers probably wondering what all the fuss is about. For oldsters, most of us remember seeing six talented, mostly unknown actors, coming together for a sitcom without a “star”, where every person’s role was fully developed and equally scripted, depicting a time in people’s lives when their friends were their family. I enjoyed the reunion and it brought back how much I really did enjoy these now famous people in their breakaway roles. I would have been happy eavesdropping on a conversation among the cast members and the parts of “The Reunion” with that format were the best parts, along with James Corden’s group interview. Sections using a game show format to elicit memories and show the closeness of the cast probably weren’t necessary, but added a little variation for those needing it. What probably wasn’t necessary was the parading of celebrity guests (Reese Witherspoon, Tom Selleck, Lady Gaga, Cindy Crawford, Justin Bieber, David Beckham, etc.), interrupting everything to focus on ratings instead of reunion. (The exception was Lady Gaga in a great, “Smelly Cat” duet with Lisa Kudrow.) In the end, it was fun to see these people again and to believe they really were best friends then and now. I could have watched more. [HBO Max streaming.]

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[2021. 104 min. Directed by Ben Winston. Featuring Jennifer Aniston, Matthew Perry, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc, Lisa Kudrow, and David Schwimmer.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/streaming/friends-the-reunion-is-there-for-fans-of-the-series

Blue Miracle

— Orphans and a washed-up fisherman competing in a tournament for a cash prize that could get their lives back on track. Think of it as “The Old Man and the Sea” meets The Hallmark Channel. Having likeable Dennis Quaid as the star doesn’t hurt either. This tugged at your heart just enough to make it a good choice when you’re in the mood for that kind of thing. [Netflix streaming.]

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[2021. 95 min. Directed by Julio Quintana. Starring Dennis Quaid and Jimmy Gonzales.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/blue-miracle-movie-review-2021

The Personal History of David Copperfield

— Dickens’ original tale is lightened up a little, given a bit of character diversity, and still follows Copperfield through good and bad times, but there is something about this telling that feels brighter and more cheery than I remember from the novel. The colors seem richer and nicely saturated which helps, and Dev Patel gives the character a hopeful air. In the end, you feel like you’ve had fun eavesdropping on Copperfield’s life and the quirky characters who inhabited it. [Amazon Prime streaming.]

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[2019. 119 min. Directed by Armando Iannucci. Starring Dev Patel, Peter Capaldo. Hugh Laurie, Tilda Swinton, and Ben Whishaw.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-personal-history-of-david-copperfield-movie-review-2020

Breach

— An alien parasite is onboard a ship traveling through space and no one seems to know how to eradicate it before it kills everyone on board. How original is that? We’ve seen plenty with similar plots and, believe me, most of them were better than this one. [Netflix streaming.]

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[2020. 92 min. Directed by John Suits. Starring Bruce Willis, Thomas Jane, Johnny Messner, and Cody Kearsley.]
https://www.thefilmagazine.com/breach-brucewillis-movie-review/

The Woman in the Window

— An agoraphobic psychologist witnesses a murder from her window, but she can’t get anyone to believe her. Between the nod to “Rear Window” and the ample talents of Amy Adams, Gary Oldman, and Julianne Moore, you’d think this would be a tense, cat-and-mouse story. Unfortunately, it isn’t anything special. [Netflix streaming.]

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[2021. 100 min. Directed by Joe Wright. Starring Amy Adams, Fred Hechinger, Gary Oldman, Julianne Moore, and Jennifer Jason Leigh.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-woman-in-the-window-movie-review-2021

Halston

— [Netflix streaming.]

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[2021. One season, 5 episodes. 44-53 min./episode. Directed by Daniel Minahan. Starring Ewan McGrego, Rebecca Dayan, David Pittu, Krysta Rodriguez, and Gian Franco Rodriguez.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/halston-tv-review-2021

Honest Thief

— [Amazon Prime streaming.]

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[2020. 99 min. Directed by Mark Williams. Starring Liam Neeson, Kate Walsh, Jai Courtney, Jeffrey Donavan, and Anthony Ramos.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/honest-thief-movie-review-2020

Those Who Wish Me Dead

— This thriller grows on you, taking its own time to focus everyone’s stories so they intersect and pick up steam, managing to pit the primary characters against both man and nature—if the gun-toting hitmen don’t get them, there’s always the raging fire headed their way from the other direction! It strikes me as the kind of film that people will claim suffers from an uneasy pace, or too little motivation and backstory, but the pacing seems appropriate to me and the flashbacks and early scenes satisfied my need for backstory. In the end it’s about coming to terms with your own past and demons and bouncing back. It’s a story of redemption. I was happy to while away part of an afternoon watching it. [HBO Max streaming.]

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[2021. 100 min. Directed by Taylor Sheridan. Starring Angelina Jolie, Nicholas Hoult, Finn Little, Jon Bernthal, and Aidan Gillen.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/those-who-wish-me-dead-movie-review-2021

Hacks

— I'm hooked by about the third episode. Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder are both great and the personal stories under the jokes are rich and carefully revealed. [HBO Max streaming.]

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[2020. One season, 10 episodes. 27-35 min./episode. Starring Jean Smart, Hannah Einbinder, Rose Abdoo, and Paul W. Downs.]
https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/tv-reviews/hacks-review-hbo-max-jean-smart-1166522/

Greenland

— [HBO Max streaming.]

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[2020. 119 min. Directed by Ric Roman Waugh. Starring Gerard Butler, Morena Baccarin, and Roger Dale Floyd.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/greenland-movie-review-2020

Jupiter’s Legacy

— “Jupiter’s Legacy” jumped back and forth between the first half of the 20th century and present day a bit more than I would have liked and the 3rd or 4th episode tried my patience, but overall it was pretty good. The past sequences are vaguely “origin” stories for current day superheroes who are getting on in years and need to turn things over to a younger generation, but the times have changed, values are different, and questions concerning what’s right, just, or fair keep surfacing as the old moral code seems to be crumbling. It's not a great series, but that didn't stop me from watching all 8 episodes. I wasn’t happy with the season’s conclusion and always prefer series that provide more answers than threads hanging. [Netflix streaming.]

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[2021. One season, 8 episodes. 35-56 min./episode. Created by Steven S. DeKnight. Starring Josh Duhamel, Ben Daniels, Leslie Bibb, Andrew Horton, Elena Kampouris, Mike Wade, and Matt Lanter.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/streaming/ambitious-jupiters-legacy-examines-changing-definition-of-heroism

Stowaway

— This was a little disappointing from a visual standpoint, probably because there have been so many memorable films in space in the past decade (First Man, The Martian, Interstellar, Gravity, Guardians of the Galaxy, Moon). What it does well, it really does do well—questioning the value of sacrifice, the relative value of one life over another, and even the value of space travel itself. It unfolds at a leisurely pace, presents the ethical dilemma that is the crux of the story, then explores all options. [Netflix streaming.]

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[2021. 116 min. Directed by Joe Penna. Starring Anna Kendrick, Daniel Dae Kim, Shamier Anderson, and Toni Collette.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/stowaway-movie-review-2021

Tenet

— Christopher Nolan is talented and can create wonderful films and complicated worlds. He definitely has a fascination with time and reality and “Tenet” fits neatly among some of his other films (“Inception,” “Insomnia,” “Momento”). While some focus on recesses of the brain, others deal with illusion and reality, and this one, along with “Momento,” with chronology and the time continuum. They all tend to hold you in their grasp, but leave you scratching your head in the end. I like espionage but I think Nolan may have been too enthralled with his own cleverness to add the human dimensions his characters need for audiences to cheer them on. “Tenet” is not one of Nolan’s better films but it’s still a very interesting concept and it’s hard not to go with it and hope it takes you someplace. Who can turn away from the creative output of a clever mind? [HBO Max streaming.]

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[2020. 150 min. Written and directed by Christopher Nolan. Starring John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, and Kenneth Branagh.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/tenet-movie-review-2020

Tom Clancy's Without Remorse

— Nothing special here, but perfectly adequate entertainment. It appears the budget went toward action sequences instead of a story better suited to Michael B. Jordan’s talents. In the end, it’s a little dull, perhaps because it’s hard not to compare it to earlier adaptations of Clancy’s novels. [Amazon Prime streaming.]

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[2021. 109 min. Directed by Stefano Sollima. Starring Michael B. Jordan, Jodie Turner-Smith, Jamie Bell, and Guy Pearce.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/tom-clancys-without-remorse-film-review-2021