"American Fiction"

Is this a Black film?  Yes.  And no.  And Yes.  It's complicated.  And very, very simple.  PhD literary professor and author Thelonious Ellison refuses to be defined by his race.  But he is, at every turn, defined by his race.  It is shown at very beginning, when a cabbie refuses to pick him up, and continues through to the end of the movie, when three white people override the votes of two Black people on a committee by telling them that "it's important to listen to the voices of Black people right now."  Yeah, the irony here is hip-deep.  It's a smart film, a clever film, and a sometimes uncomfortable film.  It's meant to be.  It's designed to challenge assumptions, to encourage the viewer to see that the African American experience cannot be reduced to stereotypes and caricatures.  That Ellison is Black impacts every aspect of his life is obvious.  But what we are also urged to see is that Ellison's life is simply his life.  He has family, struggles with intimacy, sibling rivalry, issues with an aging parent, you name it.  But all of this doesn't matter to the masses, to the publishers he deals with.  They only see his race.  It's reductive.  His life isn't just far more textured than peoply would assume, it's more than they want to hear about.  The people in his business want to lean into the stereotypes, thinking this is what will sell when we talk about a "Black" author.  The film is well done, funny at times, and, much like Jeffrey Wright (who I kind of adore), the story has a lot more going on than can be seen on the surface.

"The Color Purple" (2023)

Beautiful.  Powerful.  Sweet.  How this film got locked out of Oscar contention is baffling me.  It's a full hour shorter than "Killers of the Flower Moon" and much stronger, in my humble opinion.  It has a terrific cast.  Fantasia Barrino makes this role her own, which is not an easy thing to do, given, you know, Whoopi Goldberg.  Taraji P. Henson does her strong, empowering woman thing (which she is really good at).  Danielle Brooks brightens every single room she walks into, as always (she was my absolute fave on OITNB).  Chameleon Colman Domingo was terrifying and left no trace of the shy, cautious man he was in "Rustin".  H.E.R. stunned -- I spent about ten minutes going, "that can't be her.  That really can't be her." (It was, and the woman can ACT.)  It's a tale which sneaks up on you.  And yes, I was bawling by the end, needing "a moment" to collect myself as the credits rolled.  So much better than some of the other nominees.  Really, really don't get why Hollywood remains so biased against great films about the Black experience.  It's not alien.  It's "us" -- the need to be loved, to have a reason to wake up in the morning, to know that you can make a complete life for yourself, to understand that you are alive and have purpose.  These are things we can relate to.  Why can't the Oscar folks see this?

"Fargo"

Picked up on this anthology series last year, with season 4.  That took place in the 1920s.  This year's "completely true" story (they aren't true) takes place in 2019.  This season's twisted tale is about a woman trying to escape a really really really bad ex.  There is also a 500 year old man with a bizarre spin on the world and a few other mystical elements.  Part of me swears that some of the story was lifted from the original Rapunzel.  In any case, "Fargo", at least the two seasons I've seen, is quite good.  But it's problematic.  There is visceral violence throughout.  I tend to listen to the episodes more than watch them, distracting my eyes with something like online puzzles.  At least this series breaks the current trend of having a lot of characters I can't begin to care about.  The show has good guys.  And medium guys.  And really really really bad guys.  So, this is the thing.  You end up rooting for the good guys.  To bash in the heads of the really bad guys.  Is this a good thing?  That you end up, time and time again, wanting the good guys to utterly destroy the bad guys.  The show is structured that way.  To get you to hate.  To want retribution.  And it does this very well.  Very effectively.  Every once in a while there is a truly good character.  They usually end up dead.  The lesson here is clear.  To be the good guy, you have to fight back.  You have to be as bad as the people who are destroying your life.  Now I have to ask ... is there a danger in that?  "Fargo" is tight, and quirky, and occasionally very very funny.  But it touches a dark streak in humanity.  And I'm not sure if I want to keep going back to that well.

"Daisy Jones & the Six"

Plowed through this one in a day and a half.  A "fictional" rock band in the 1970s goes through what all rock bands seem to go through.  There is the sudden rise, the pressure, the drugs, the sex, the break-up.  But there is so much more here.  More subtlety, more nuances.  In this very well-produced pretend documentary there are a ton of things implied but not said.  It makes the viewer bring themselves into the picture, trying to better understand how to fill in the gaps.  The cast is terrific, and, with the exception of Sam Claflin, do a great job of aging up and down (Mr. Claflin is a terrific actor, but I'm sorry, don't buy him as a 20-something).  It's a tale where you think you know where it is going -- it is ~heavily~ influenced by Fleetwood Mac -- but in the end, there are twists you didn't see coming.  The music is terrific and well-performed by Riley Keough (yeah, she might have some genetic help with her rough yet sweet voice) but it also creates the dilemma.  Since the score of the show uses the biggest 70s hits (in delightful ways), you are hearing the actual hits with the ones written for this pretend band.  And, while the music "Daisy Jones & the Six" band plays is great, it just doesn't hold up to Led Zepplin, the Eagles, or, you know, the real Fleetwood Mac.  It is an absolutely terrific mini-series.  It just isn't perfect.

"May December"

Let's be clear -- the popularity of this film has less to do with the quality of the film and more to do with the sensational nature of the tale and the big-name actors attached to the project.  That being said, it comes off like a mash-up of "Twin Peaks" and any given Lifetime thriller.  Complete with a thundering score which imposes.  It's tension without tension.  Natalie Portman has been getting attention for her creepy performance but it left me a little cold.  Lots of lingering stares, whispy and detached conversation.  And yes, the character goes exactly where I knew she would right from the beginning.  I think the creators of the film missed the point.  The weird actor isn't the issue.  The woman who slept with a 13 year-old boy is the problem.  The emphasis is just wrong.  And the film is a ~lot~ like the Mary Kay Letourneau story ... but, as they emphasize, not the Mary Kay Letourneau story.  Which is just distracting.  I'll give props to the film style, which is good, and to Julianne Moore, who is playing the truly conflicted, damaged, complicated character.  Natalie Portman's character is simply the reflection.

"Rustin"

Terrific editing, a quick pace and upbeat jazz tunes make this different from so many of the biopics which come out at awards time each year.  There is the incomparable performance by Colman Domingo and the rest of the cast, and there is a tight, clean script which keeps the story moving.  Like haiku, the story here says exactly what it needs to, and no more.  The tale of this event is oft-told but never has it been told from this perspective.  The story of Bayard Rustin and the behind-the-scenes battles to get the March on Washington to happen can be difficult to watch at times.  We have been taught, in so many school lessons, about the love and peace and unity of the day.  But we need to know the rest of it.  How the Black community struggled to agree on methods to achieve equality.  How homosexuals and women were often left out of the equation.  How a gentle, passionate man of peace was sidelined time and time again but refused to be silenced.  This production, from Higher Ground, Barack and Michelle Obama's film company, continues to tread the path they have committed to:  letting ALL voices be heard.  It is a film of simple beauty which leaves an impact.

"Fellow Travelers"

Love Matt Bomer, agree that this is a an amazing performance from him, and a tale which can afford be told in this day and age, but ...it's challenging.  Maybe that's why Bomer liked it.  The character isn't clean.  He starts out abusive and manipulative with his lover.  The character is a survivor who will do what it takes to survive -- even if that means destroying a friend.  In other words, this is a character with layers.  But does it make you want to root for him?  It's well-done, I will give that to you.  Took a good long while but by the end I was in tears.  The entire cast is really strong.  There were a couple of things that rankled.  The sex is, initially, more performative than necessary (thanks Showtime).  The actors pull off the age transition, but the makeup doesn't.  And the actor playing Roy Cohn wears a noticeable nose prosthesis and no one has said a thing, unlike the grief Bradley Cooper has been getting for "Maestro" (ironically a film Bomer is also in).  But that's nit-picky.  It's good.  It drew me as it progressed.  And the tale ... of what gay men go through in a closed society, is a critical one for those who think they can legislate homosexuality out of existence.

"Nyad"

So, I thought the downgrading of this film during award season was like the downgrading of Nyad's actual amazing achievement.  Because no one wanted an egotistical old gay woman to create world records.  Add in Diane Nyad's penchant for tall tales and the questions ... a lot of questions ... about whether she actually swam from Cuba to Key West unassisted, and you have a film no one wants to touch.  I admit, the GPS data of the real swim does give one pause (for a few hours she was moving at 2-3 miles per hour instead of 1.5 miles per hour, which is more realistic), my bottom line is that there were 40 people, on four boats, around her.  If there was a "cheat", as many say, someone would have talked by now.  None have.  So I choose to believe what was said at the time.  That she caught, for a brief time, a strong current.  As a kayaker and swimmer, that's something I get.  In any case, this is a film, not a documentary.  The acting is great (given the leads, how could it not be?)  The production is terrific, doing some great work at showing the glory of open ocean swimming (been there, love it).  Where the film falters, a bit, is that they can't escape the inevitability of your average sports movie.  A dream, followed by determination, followed by failure, followed by despair -- wash, rinse, repeat until you get to success.  In other words, the story covers an event we are familiar with and doesn't make it particularly fresh.  Which is not to say it isn't good.  It just isn't something which holds your attention every minute.  Where it succeeded, for me, was in the message.  Never give up.  Never allow age hold you back.  With determination, you CAN do it.  And yes, if this was about a man (think "King Richard"), it would be getting a lot more attention than it is getting.

"Maestro"

Now this is an Oscar film.  Every scene, every moment, is crafted and beautiful and powerful.  I literally couldn't tear my eyes away from it.  But to backtrack -- I love Bradley Cooper.  For years I have recognized in Cooper's work something that the film community seems to be just coming to realize.  Bradley Cooper is a hyphenate genius who brings a lot, a LOT, to every project he works on.  "A Star is Born" was brilliant.  This film is even more so.  Forget the Leonard Bernstein that many of us knew from the Young People's Concerts.  This is the other Bernstein.  The one that almost none of us knew about at the time.  It is a love story but a complicated, layered one.  It is emotional and sad.  The tale is presented with gentle grace and in top-tier cast.  And, of course, there is music.  Cooper realized that Leonard Bernstein was, in many ways, an embodiment of music.  His soul was fused to it.  And so the film doesn't have a "background score" -- it has music as another character in the film.  It is loud.  It enhances but it also interrupts.  It makes a point.  And this is also an actors' film.  Cameras linger tightly on faces.  Actors take pauses -- really long pauses.  They look into the lens and think.  The camera stays on a figure from a distance, while they walk away.  Every shot is framed, every shot is a work of art.  It's brilliant.  Haven't watched the other big nominees yet, but I'm confident in saying that this one is a serious contender.  It's simply one of the best films I've seen in a long time.

"Saltburn"

And so, we arrive at awards season (delayed by the actors' strike).  Enter "Saltburn" -- a moody, veddy veddy British tale as old as time.  A welfare kid befriends a rich kid at Oxford (of course, Oxford), and the rich kid invites the welfare kid to his "summer home" -- a palacial estate filled with the kind of dysfunctional family the rich often try to cover up.  How could anything go wrong?  The direction and acting are great, of course ... however ... this isn't a new story.  I knew, from the opening title card, what was going to happen.  And it's one of those things where there is no one, absolutely not one character, to root for.  And that's not to my personal taste.  This is the conflict of these kinds of films.  I would never watch them if not for the nominations they gather.  And, if I personally dislike them -- a lot -- is that a reflection of how good or bad they are as a film?  No, generally not.  The fact that I don't gravitate towards westerns or horror movies doesn't mean that all westerns and horror movies are bad.  They just aren't my thing.  This film was very well made.  But it is totally not my thing.  And, as brilliant as Barry Keoghan is as an actor, I really didn't buy him as an 18 year old Freshman.  Sorry.

"Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates

If "How to Be an Antiracist" by Ibram X. Kendi was a gently introspective, fairly analytical approach to a seemingly unsolvable social problem, then "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates is the exact opposite.  It's not gentle, it's not about data, it's an angry, almost poetic rant on the tragedies of living a Black life in America.  This is pain, raw pain, drawn from the death of Black men in this country.  What Mr. Coates refers to, frequently, as the daily attack on the Black body.  The book is composed of three parts, separated into short chapters.  It is framed as a letter from Coates to his son, a young man who is growing up now, not in the sixties and seventies when racism was rampant but not broadcast out to social media.  The author recognizes that his son is both privileged by seeing a world beyond color and yet is easily damaged when the realities of the killings of Black people are broadcast night after night on television.  The book is raw, the style lyric.  Hemingway would be proud of the lengthy paragraphs, which take an issue and address them at infinitum until the reader is wrung out.  In some ways, reading this book was, for me, not unlike watching "12 Years a Slave."  It's brutal, it's ugly, it's sad ... and it is powerful.  I liked Kendi's book, which made me think.  A LOT.  This book is more about making the reader feel.  You just may not like the feelings which arise.

"Magic Mike's Last Dance"

Okay.  It's a weird film to watch on an airplane, with people sitting squished in all around you.  And it certainly doesn't bring much that is new to the "Magic Mike" franchise (I enjoyed the first one but gave up after the second).  Frankly, there isn't a ton of dialog (duh).  Here is what it does have:  1)  Stunning and truly impressive choreography.  I would watch the dance sequences in this film over and over and over.  They are brilliant, and excuted with true skill.  2)  Salma Hayek.  Playing ... a very complicated woman.  This is no cookie-cutter hot mama, but a fully realized woman with some real faults.  One who literally struggles with her mental health.  It's great to see a woman on screen presented as faceted, flawed and strong.  She's terrific.  So, here we are.  If you find yourself on a nine hour plane ride and could use something which is nicely engaging, give it a go.  It ain't Shakespeare but two hours will pass very smoothly.

"Chevalier"

Lost in the shuffle between the summer blockbusters and the SAG strike, this worthy film takes the story of a real person and depicts a struggle which many today would identify with.  Born to an enslaved woman in the Caribbean, Chevalier's British father brings him to England and, recognizing his talent with a violin, enrolls him in school, embuing him with title but not with family.  Chevalier becomes a brilliant musician and can be found in the best of high society at the time.  But there is always that thing -- being good, better perhaps, than some of his contemporaries, but never good enough -- for a Black man in 18th century London.  He believes in himself, that he can rise to any heights, but when he hits the wall of what he can be -- as a BLACK man -- his buried rage emerges.  This could have been a tale of the French Revolution.  It could have been a heavy-handed film.  It is not.  The film stays small, focused on Chevalier, and Chevalier only.  His layers and complexities are revealed by the talented Kelvin Harrison, who has a longer resume than you might think.  Mr. Harrison has played many small roles in many big films but this is his first turn as a lead and he carries it well -- with gravitas and talent.  It is a short film which will worm it's way into you, leaving you to ask ... what a waste of a gifted man.

"Elemental"

This beautifully illustrated Pixar/Disney film got the short shrift due to various factors of the moment, but it shouldn't have.  An "issues" film about immigration and bias, it creates a story with a fair amount of sensitivity and depth.  It has, as is typical for Pixar/Disney, fun songs to hum along with and a nice humorous character ... except that in this case the humorous character is one of the leads.  The messages are there ... acceptance, taking time to see the full picture before reacting, understanding that there is more than one way to look at what we think we know, the power of love, etc., but none of them beats you over the head.  The whole tale is tender and sweet.  I enjoyed it and could see this as being a film I would return to and rewatch.

"The Spencer Sisters"

NBC, whose entire schedule of new shows are Canadian imports, apparently passed on this production, which reads not unlike a Hallmark murder mystery series.  Each week there is a nice, fairly bloodless crime and lots of spats between the mother (the mystery writer past her prime) and the daughter (a moody ex-cop who hates her mother but is saddled with her).  Everything is nicely tied up in a bow at the end of each episode and we return to the quaint cafe in the nameless little upscale town where many of the episodes begin.  It would be as forgettable as any Hallmark Holiday film if not for the energy, verve and charm of Lea Thompson, who brings it in every scene.  The actress Stacey Farber, who plays the daughter, also seems to have chops, although the writers are not helping her much -- turning her into a naggy *itch who just needs to take a chill pill.  They could also give her more in terms of romance, as the engaged ex has potential but not a lot of charisma.  Just saying, if you are going to echo Hallmark, you should go all the way.  That being said, this is a terrific show to watch if you need something light before bed.  It won't make you think too much.  

"Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret"

Again, the SAG strike knocked this one down.  A shame, because it is perfect.  This was the book that changed my whole world.  This film version, decades in the making, hits just the right notes.  It's not "Hollywood" -- no skinny unrealistically pretty people.  The known stars in the film commit entirely and you see the characters, not the actors.  The lead, Abby Fortsun, is not a 20 year-old playing a 12 year-old.  It's a clean and direct film, marking that magic and too short moment in time when girls stop being girls and start being women.  Abby is kind of a hot mess, but the kind you love to love.  Her mother is neither absent nor out-of-touch, something we see all too much in films of the current day.  And the girl's life isn't bad, isn't good, it just ... is.  Not only did the book touch me deeply as a pre-teen, but the film shows why.  It's real.  It is the life I lived, the life so many kids my age lived.  These kids, all of us, are just searching for belonging and a sense of who they are.  Very rarely since has any book or movie gotten this right ... it is a simple story we can totally relate to.

"The Irrational"

This isn't fresh, or new, in terms of plot.  You have a quirky guy with a tragic past who solves crimes in an untraditional manner.  But it's not bad, mostly due to the fact that the quirky guy is played by Jesse L. Martin.  He is an actor I would watch read a phonebook.  He can do a million things with a look or a word, and injects thoughtfulness and humor into much of his work.  Moving away from the detective who just notices all the little details all the time, the crimes here are often solved with some behaviorist theory.  It makes it kind of fun to "learn" something about human behavior each week, although it can also make the show a little stilted or predictable.  The overused "troubled past" motif is also a bit tired, and not being handled particularly well in the writing.  Another criticism is that Mr. Martin is kind of a huge talent -- the supporting cast doesn't feel wholly up to meeting him at his level.  That's okay, it's kind of his show.  All that being said, this is actually my favorite of the whole three new shows which have actually debuted in the past two months, so I'll take what I can get.  And yes, like everything else NBC is putting out there these days, it is filmed in Canada (and not in DC, where it supposedly takes place).

"Found"

Last fall there was a showdown.  FOX premiered a new show called "Alert:  Missing Persons Unit" about some troubled and unique people who spend their lives finding the missing.  NBC was supposed to premiere a new show called "Found", about some troubled and unique people who spend their lives finding the missing.  FOX won round one and NBC pulled their premiere.  In the wake of the SAG strike, NBC has been taking shows off the shelf and finally premiered "Found".  As indicated, there are a lot of similarities between the two shows but also differences.  The FOX show covers a supposed goverment unit while the "Found" group is a private company.  Which means the characters on the NBC show break the rules.  A lot.  That's one of the themes.  Another theme is that the focus of "Found" is to go after the missing who don't get looked for by traditional law enforcement.  People of color, the undocumented, the indigenous, the unhoused, etc.  And there is a twist.  A "big twist".  One I don't particularly care for.  Between the heavily "issue focused" storylines and the twist, the plots are sometimes a bit strained in order to cover the moral lesson the producers want, rather than honor the truth of a given story.  I don't buy, for instance, that an adult man would kidnap a teenage girl and keep her for more than a year without physically or sexually abusing her.  That unrealistic idea is there to support the "big twist".  The plots are fairly predictable.  I can usually figure out the "who done it" in the first ten minutes or so, but these super-smart, hardworking folk can't, because, again, they need the "big twist" character to help solve the crime.  It's a bit irritating, and undermines the power of the leads.  I also really don't care for the fact that they make a big deal about this being in DC, but clearly have never been in DC.  The series is filmed in Canada, and while the leads are on point a number of the weekly guest actors have been ... iffy.  And ... have I mentioned? I really really really hate it when DC is used as a background for a film, TV show or book and the creators do absolutely no research and everything they say about the region is wrong.  (Yes, I'm talking to you, "NCIS", who once famously had a character refer to it as the "tri-state" area.  Dude.  DC is NOT a state.  And no, no one on NCIS pronounces Norfolk correctly.)  Anyway, a recent episode had a character who lived in the district indicate that she had been "avoiding going to Virginia."  Given the geography of the city, "avoiding Virginia" would be near to impossible.  The story also focused, heavily, on a big Indian Reservation in the Virginia, which was "at least" three hours south of DC.  Except, there aren't any Federal Indian reservations here, with "tribal land, tribal police, and a no man's land of forest separating it from the non-tribal land."  There are two small plots of land set aside which are not federal reservations and are fairly unpopulated ... more like state parks than anything else.  They are less than a two hour drive down a major highway. So, I have issues with "Found".  Frankly, I have issues with "Alert:  Missing Persons Unit" too, which could lean into melodrama.  Neither show deeply engages me.  They are about entertainment.  They both try to be thought-provoking but they both fail, because, again, they are too detached from reality.  They have decent casts and are a way to spend an hour, but that's about it.

"Asteroid City"

Just.  So.  Weird.  I mean, it was fun.  It was interesting.  I'm not sure there was a major plot there.  Maybe an event.  One which could be described in a paragraph.  But the characters, the strangeness.  It had me intrigued while I watched it but I couldn't tell you too much about it afterwards.  More like -- images -- impressions -- paintings which come to life.  Dialog which would make Jack Webb proud.  A lot of big names.  Huge names, on this project.  Forward motion by the characters?  Not so much.  Development of events?  Ummm.  It's visual.  It's strange.  And if you are up late one night and maybe a little stoned or drunk or punchy, this might just be the film for you.  Even if you sit there afterwards and go, "What the He** was that?"

"Cagney & Lacey"

That's right.  I'm watching a 40 year-old TV series.  "Rewatching" is a better term.  Loved the series when it was on originally.  After purchasing the DVD set I launched in and found, as I often have with these old beloved shows, that I am a little surprised.  Yes, it's dated, but not in the way I expected.  I was struck by the constant presence of air pollution in NYC, and how the river was always brown.  I had forgotten, amidst the cries about climate change, that it used to be worse.  A lot worse.  There are also the faults of '80s television.  The underscoring is bad, really bad, and with occasional hackneyed scripts the whole thing takes on the tone of melodrama now and then.  But all that being said, a few episodes in, I was hooked.  Again.  Like "Barney Miller" this isn't flashy police work.  It's paperwork and boring stakeouts and sitting in an office making phone calls.  Which means it feels more substantive.  This is compounded by storylines which are messy and events which aren't brought to a nice little conclusion at the end of each episode.  The characters are messy too.  They are complex and don't know what they want or need and are often at loose ends.  And the acting.  Oh, the acting.  The whole cast is great, of course, but the delivery by Tyne Daly and Sharon Gless had me watching the show.  Really watching.  This was real feminism and remains, in this age, hugely impactful and unique.  There is literally nothing on TV today like this.  These two characters navigate the difficult landscape of the times.  And many of the battles they fought are still present today.  The difference in the decades isn't the walls they faced, but the attitude of those around them regarding those walls.  In a gut-wrenching episode where Cagney is sexual harrassed by a superior her own partner questions whether Cagney sent mixed messages to the man.  They fight, of course.  That's another thing -- these women don't always get along.  From different worlds and with different perspectives, they clash.  A lot.  And in doing so we learn that the "liberated woman" of the 1980s didn't just have to forge a path, she often had to struggle with the perceptions of other women, even her own perceptions of herself, to move forward.  And sometimes she failed.  This is what draws me in.  This series is so much more ... real ... than most of today's offerings.  These characters are more layered than almost any show I've ever seen with two women as leads.  They are a human kaleidoscope of behavior.  I dare anyone watching the show to dismiss these two women as being in any kind of a box.  You can't sum up their "type" neatly, and that's the point.  These characters weren't two dimensional archetypes.  They were complex and layered.  The characters navigated their lives as best as they could and often fell short.  And they weren't, and aren't, size zero.  The characters didn't wear inappropriate body-hugging clothing at work like every female detective on television today does.  The actors playing Cagney and Lacey had pedigrees, they knew the craft.  Brava, ladies.  You had the heavy responsibility of speaking for all of us.  You did it with amazing gravitas.  (PS, the "Complete DVD series" is anything but.  The promo film and first season, sans Sharon Gless, were listed as "the last episodes," when, in fact, they were the beginning.  I had to buy the four TV movies, complete with excellent inteviews, separately.)

"I Am Jazz"

A combination of the SAG/WGA strikes and the horrible situations LGBTQIA+ folks in the United States are facing right now led me to binge all eight seasons of this "reality" show.  Please note -- I don't usually go for this kind of fare, but this particular show is a bit different.  Yes, there is false intimacy.  I never forget that in the quietest moments there is a producer, one or two camera-people, maybe a sound person, in the room, as well as microphones which are being worn by those being filmed ... Heisenberg Principle!  And in many of these kinds of productions, situations and conflicts are manipulated to create drama.  All that being said, this isn't one of those "look at me and how effed up my family is" reality shows.  It's kind of the opposite.  Jazz is an extraordinary woman in a number of ways, but the bottom line here is the utter normalcy of her family.  Yes, they fight.  Yes, they have hidden resentments.  Yes, they mess up.  But they are kind of ... regular folk.  Amidst incredibly frank and detailed discussions of Jazz's life as a transgender woman are a lot of very day-to-day interactions.  The kids are loud and messy and often act without thinking.  Mom worries, dad feels left out.  The grandparents are a complete hoot.  And that's kind of the point.  To show a plain old American family not all that different from any other American family.  Jazz felt compelled, from a young age, to speak up for her people.  To be loud and proud and out.  What she has accomplished, with her civic engagement, this show and two books is impressive.  And there has been a cost ... she struggles.  Having lost a bit of her childhood and having to take a fair amount of pharmaceuticals, she deals with depression and an eating disorder.  When the time comes for her to grow up and move on to adult life, she is somewhat innocent and her mother doesn't want to let go.  But she emphasizes, again and again, often in the face of pure hate, that she is a woman, and that being transgender is not the root of her problems.  Watching this whole series lets you, the viewer, see all the flaws, but also the triumphs.  It's easy to watch this so-called "reality" TV and sit back and judge but I think Jazz and her family should be applauded for putting it all out there.  They lifted the curtain on this topic and let us see it all, whether or not it is flattering.  And that ain't nothing.  Here's praying that Jazz and her trans brothers and sisters are finally given their full rights as American citizens, and the peace to pursue the lives they want.  Brava.

"Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed"

I like a good documentary.  I didn't care for this one.  The creators made a point of saying that this was about the man's career, not the end of his life.  And, at the beginning, that seemed to be the case.  Basic biographical information was provided, as well as clips of his early work, leading to his first break, his big break, etc.  But all along the way there is an emphasis that despite everything, Rock Hudson was a gay man living a huge lie.  Lovers are interviewed (a ... LOT ... of lovers).  They all say nice things, funny things, and in one case some fairly ... detailed ... things.  And we see more and more clips.  Along the way the clips become a way to clap back at the struggles the man faced.  With every "he was living in the closet" comment there is an accompanying clip to show the irony of his life, or to try and bolster the dead man into understanding that he was seen for who he was, despite it all.  It's heavy-handed and too opinionated for a good documentary.  And we don't see all the speakers.  Most of the actors, including Linda Evans, are heard but not shown.  Even the voice of Mr. Hudson is added in as a voiceover, with rare moments when we actually see him talking.  This adds to the artifice, the idea that the world circled around Rock Hudson and Rock Hudson alone.  Honestly, I've seen better retrospectives on CBS Sunday Morning.  And that's what this is.  Not so much a documentary.  It doesn't reveal anything new or make you think.  It's just a sad retrospective on a man who had it all but didn't.  Kind of like the montage you might see at a funeral.  It's a love letter by those close to him but it's a letter we aren't truly allowed to see.  Just a fuzzy outline of a time past without giving the viewers a real connection.

"Red, White & Royal Blue"

In the first five minutes the viewer knows what these characters do not.  That they are hopelessly in love.  But this isn't Hallmark.  The script is better.  The direction is better.  The cinematography is hugely better.  The lead actors are strong, and carry the tale through a few bumps.  The bumps are obvious.  Namely, Uma Thuman, who is unconvincing across the board -- as a President, a mother, a wife, a Texan.  Then there is Sarah Shahi, who I generally love.  In this case she seemed miscast.  Instead of bringing that little bubble of humanity, joy and energy, she comes off as an overcaffeinated control freak.  It was grating.  There was a minor question as to why the President of the US doesn't use her Mexican-American husband's surname, but all of that was background nonsense, and I have to admit, I haven't read the book which might have put a number of issues in better context.  It matters not.  This is the tale of two people and that's all you really end up caring about.  All that being said, this isn't just a rom-com.  It's a drama, too.  It shows how being "out" in this day and age is still an impossibility for some.  The film layers sexual identity with politics and privilege, not to mention culture and history.  It's smart.  And that's saying something for a film of this kind.  There are memorable lines, with the struggle by the British protagonist gaining serious traction as the story progresses.  While it is, of course, predictable given the genre; it's not predictable as to the characters' reactions and their inner life.  I was touched.  More than I usually am when I watch these types of things.  And, lest I say it again, this is not Hallmark.  There are graphic (and beautiful) love scenes, with Ms. Shahi ripping off the F-word at one point just to let the audience know that this is NOT cable.  Worth a Saturday afternoon.  Engaging and transported me just enough.

"Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol 3"

Not sure why there is a hate-fest for this film.  I enjoyed it.  I do see some downsides.  After endangering, and saving, the universe on one or two occasions, it becomes difficult to top that with "something greater".  This film doesn't bother.  It simply goes in a different direction.  We have the back stories of every character.  Except for Rocket.  And this is, truly, Rocket's story.  It's sad and brutal to watch at times.  There are predictable losses (he's a pretty cantankerous character and now I get why).  It was so heavy that, yes, I reached for a tissue now and then.  And I know that's not what people want in a superhero film.  And so there are battles and fisticuffs and the like.  Enough to make this a regular old Marvel film.  But it's got a darker side.  Not a "Deadpool" darker side, but a touch-your-soul-just-a-bit dark side.  And maybe that's just too much feeling for your average action fan.  There is also the issue of the music.  The first film has, in my humble opinion, one of the best scores I've ever seen in a movie.  The second film has "good" music.  The music here ... with exception ... is "okay".  Yes, there is Heart and Florence + The Machine but overall, the music choices leave me with the belief that the tunes of my youth far outweigh contemporary music.  The 70s stuff ... it has stuck around for 50 years.  It is music which speaks to you.  Which can bring a memory in with force.  You can sing along with it.  Not so much the stuff that followed.  In the first film the music is like a character.  Take it away and the movie is lessened.  By the time we get to the third film, we are supposed to wax poetical about Beastie Boys?  I think not.  All that aside, the two and a half hour movie entertains and uses hordes (and hordes and hordes) of baddies to create real risk for our leads.  But it's just not as big.  Chukwudi Iwuji brings a Shakespearean gravitas to his role and there are real themes about true religion vs false prophets.  But it's not world-in-peril stuff (ironic, because there is a world in peril).  That becomes an almost secondary plot.  The bigger question is how our personal challenges, and loss, shape us.  Do we become bitter or rise above?  It's a lot of thinking for a Marvel film, but in this case, that was something I didn't dislike.  Critics be darned.  Give it a chance.

"Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls: Essays, Etc" by David Sedaris

Recent travel gave me time to explore this older collection of Sedaris works.  Funny, profane, reflective and enjoyable, I could hear the author's voice coming through loud and clear.  It was interesting, and worth thinking about, how his childhood both formed and damaged him.  His overseas adventures figure prominently here and are a good example of how world travel for both him, and me, has a tendency to change you.  The one confusing note, initially, was the inclusion of fictionalized mini-stories with the personal essays.  Once I was oriented to them, I was fine but there were some "huh, what is happening?" moments.  These stories are a Jonathan Swift homage, with various characters engaging in extreme reactions to the day-to-day.  Like Swift, Sedaris is making a point by pushing the boundries.  It is funny, if you like bitchy and sardonic.  Which I do.  The perfect companion on a long flight.

"Unstable"

Rob Lowe is pretty much Rob Lowe in this Netflix miniseries.  Which is to say he's liberal, quirky, quietly funny and trying to connect with his adult son despite the lack of mom's presence.  Obsessed with aesthetics and personal fitness, his character in "Unstable" looks a lot like his character in "9-1-1: Lone Star" (and not unlike the character in "West Wing").  Which is not to say the show it bad.  It's not.  Lightning fast dialog with a good deal of pithy dry humor makes for a very watchable series.  The fact that Lowe's real son is playing his son helps with the layered, challenging relationships.  (Lowe has been performing with family lately -- his brother Chad Lowe had a terrific turn in "9-1-1: Lone Star").  The supporting cast all rises to the high bar.  There's Sian Clifford, playing an icy CFO of the mythical tech company.  She embraces all of the emotions ... frustration, dedication, determination.  Rachel Marsh and Emma Ferreira are hysterical as geeky science types.  Aaron Branch is perfect as the too-soft manager and Fred Armisen does a cute turn as a psychiatrist who clearly doesn't know his business.  The result is a few life lessons delivered with a lot of smiles.  Worth it.

"Appropriate Behavior"

This 2014 film was listed as one of those small films you may have missed.  I certainly did.  It's the tale of Shirin, a young woman in NYC who does pretty much everything twhich ~isn't~ appropriate.  She is struggling with a breakup and the short film wanders back and forth between her miserable present and her falling-in-love past.  She's funny, in a dry wit sort of way.  Sometimes it lands with the other characters.  Often it doesn't.  She tries too hard, she's lost in her own stuff.  As a viewer, I found it endearing and not cringy.  The movie is very slice of life with minimal musical scoring and a fair amount of sex (which seems appetizing but ends up disappointing for the hapless Shirin).  What I like about her is that she is just out there, being sex positive and unashamed.  She is who she is, warts and all.  And there is something powerful in that.

"Eternals"

Judging Marvel movies these days is a little like comparing Twinkies to HoHos.  The films are like fluffy cotton candy which doesn't leave much of an impression.  They all tend to be too long, too short and/or have too much or too little action.  Every once in a while the whole thing comes together and you get a really great superhero film, but mostly it is entertaining pablum to watch when you don't want to think too much.  Not for nothing, Marvel films are great choices for long flights.  

All that being said, "Eternals" has possibilities.  Which are mostly squandered.  But before I slam it, let's talk about what works.  It's got a terrific cast and many of the "underwritten" roles work because the actors make them work.  There are themes which, if expanded upon, could be intriguing.  Quick mentions of war and peace, natural selection vs. saving those in need, and those nice grey zones where you aren't sure who the good guys and the bad guys are.

(SPOILERS)  The challenges begin with how much they try to stuff into less than two hours.  There is an entirely new foundation which has to be built, a culture to create, ten characters to introduce and an amorphous big bad.  The flashbacks to give context are both helpful and superfluous.  There are inconsistencies.  They need a spaceship to get to earth but apparently can breathe in space (and some can fly there).  In the final battle, characters take sides -- but one is conspicuously absent and nothing is said when he reunites with the crew at the end.  There is an unstoppable monster who gets stopped ... fairly easily.  Character development is extremely limited.  Good actors like Gemma Chan, Salma Hayek and Ma Dong-Seok seem to be oddly restrained.  Powerful female characters are beset by insecurity and self-doubt.  Angelina Jolie's character has more mood swings than "The Three Faces of Eve".  "The most powerful of them all" is killed in seconds, leaving the viewer to wonder if they were truly strong.  Lauren Ridloff is also a favorite actor, but it seems like the producers didn't know what to do with a deaf actor so she is literally relegated to Flash-like running and living in an abandoned spaceship eating junk food and watching DVDs.  Kumail Nanjiani manages to be truly funny, bringing needed warmth.  Lead Richard Madden is stoic and dour.  Actor Barry Keoghan is equally dour but not stoic.  The one bright star is young Lia McHugh, who is given a lot of dialog and makes the most of it.  Brian Tyree Henry is also good, when he is given a chance, being the voice of the superhero struggling to balance a home life.  And those scenes were the ones I liked the most.  When superheroes try to fit into the normal world.  If they had more of that, which is amusing and grounded, it would be more interesting to me than battling a big stone-like head in the sky.  

"Quantumania"

Paul Rudd is funny and sweet, Michelle Pfeiffer is luminous, Michael Douglas does curmudgeon well, Katy O'Brian makes a lot out of little, Evangeline Lilly fades into the background and Kathryn Newton steals the show.  And I miss Michael Pena.  There are little wink-winks to other works, such as Star Wars, Star Trek, and a host of classics.  All-in-all, not the best Marvel entry but by no means the worst.  It's fast paced, heavy on action and effects, and has some twists which you only kind-of see coming.  I liked it.  But there isn't anything new here.  And, like all Marvel films these days, it mostly exists to set up the next two sequels.  And the problem with that is Jonathan Majors.  He's the big heavy in this film, and, presumably in the next two.  But he goes on trial for sexual assault in August.  And women are coming out of the woodwork to accuse him of being violent with them.  So now what?  I guess they recast.  It is, after all, a make-believe multiverse.   

"Alex Rider"

If you are looking for a faithful rendition of the books, you are out of luck.  There are dramatic changes from the novels.  Like most "book-to-TV" transitions the lead character is older, the story is much darker, and, because this is visual, the violence more visceral, the losses more emotional.  Beyond that there are substantive changes to the book narrative.  Events are rearranged and characters are heavily re-written if not utterly new.  There are contemporary comments ("Social Media allows people to take your rights and have you thank them for it") as well as AI and cellphones integrated into the tale (which didn't exist when the first books were written).  All that being said, this series is good.  Really good.  I blasted through the first two seasons in three days.  Action is well-paced and engrossing.  Storylines have nice twists and the cast is, like all British productions, outstanding.  Unfortunately it's on "Freevee" which means that commercials (ones you can't speed through), interrupt the storyline.  But it's good enough that even though my attention tends to wander with the breaks, I focused right back in after each.  The only other complaint, which is minor, is that the entire cast is British -- with some actors playing Americans, but unable to really nail the accent.  It's okay.  American actors have been butchering British accents for years.  Turnabout is fair play.  A special shout-out to Otto Farrant, who encapsulates the heart of a lost 16 year-old even though he is more than ten years older than the character.  He and the rest of the crew get snaps for VERY physical committment to the show.  It's clear Mr. Farrant is doing most of his own stunts and they are impressive.  Can't wait for season three.

"Raya and the Last Dragon"

This little animated gem was one of many missed films during Covid.  It's a shame.  Had it premiered in the "before-times" it probably would have been a hit.  The story is a completely made-up South Asian legend which feels very authentic.  Female forward and with a pacifist message, there are a good number of fisticuffs but a fair amount of fodder for the Disney-haters.  I can't help thinking, however, that a message about learning to trust each other, to love your enemy -- it's not just biblical, it's kind of what we need in this day and age.  I also appreciate that the characters aren't lily white and don't break out into song periodically.  That being said, it's not perfect.  The aforementioned dragons are a little too "My Little Pony" for my taste (although Awkwafina's boundless energy and humor bleeds through in every scene, making the movie extremely watchable) and the inevitable hard sacrifices take on less meaning when Disney goes for the picture perfect ending.  Nonetheless, I did have a tear in my eye.  This film is good.  Quite good.  I didn't get the least bit ancy and hesitated to hit the pause button when I needed to step away for a moment.  Brava.  If you are looking for newish fare over a slow summer, go for it.  

"Pelosi in the House"

This documentary has been dismissed as a puff piece.  It's not.  I mean, it is biased.  Of course.  Nancy Pelosi's daughter made the thing.  And it is, if nothing, an homage to her mom.  There are plenty of shots of Alexandra's children, playing in offices as she films her mother working.  But the story she is telling has layers.  Watch closely and you will see what it takes for a woman to succeed in a man's world.  You will see the dedication, and effort, that Nancy Pelosi put in to do a job which can be impossible.  Watching the "sausage get made" you realize that government is all about time.  The time Pelosi puts into every piece of legislation, every phonecall.  And yes, for most of this film, she is often on the phone.  And wearing makeup.  And in heels.  Clearly, she is a driving force.  What couldn't have been foreseen was January 6th.  Alexandra was filming that day.  It was a big day.  After four years of crazy, there was light on the horizon.  But it wasn't to be.  Re-watching this attack on our country was hard.  Brutally hard.  According to the documentary, Pelosi was cool as a cucumber.  As always.  But was she?  Her eyes, behind the Covid mask, flickered, just a bit.  Her hands shook.  But only for an instant.  An instant we were allowed to see.  Yes, the documentary was good.  It was interesting, informative and engaging.  I couldn't help but wonder, however, what we might have seen if we had been allowed to.  Nancy Pelosi was and is an icon.  Her strength and determination will live on.  But the human being inside?  That will remain forever private.

"Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets"

I never watched any of the Duggar family series or specials.  But I did watch this three part mini-series.  It is part of an ongoing quest of mine to understand these extreme Christian faiths and the people who are involved in them.  Watching it was far more of a roller coaster of emotions than I expected, and the content was far more ranging than just the Duggar family.  I began with a sense of bemusement -- how could anyone buy into what the IBLP was selling?  But, like all cults, there was an appeal.  Safety in a scary world.  Security that you are surrounded by people who support you and love you (so long as you tow the line).  The promise of a reward, albeit after death, for the suffering we experience.  Okay.  As the series went on, it became both interesting and more personal.  The breakdown of the IBLP was fascinating.  I liked how the producers made it clear that the structure of the organization almost invited abuse (and agree with that premise).  It was interesting to hear from the spectrum -- those who had left the organization ranged from sad Christian to very angry atheist.  In the end, I connected more than I realized.  In my dysfunctional childhood there was a veneer of propriety.  I don't think there were many people outside of my family unit who knew what was going on behind closed doors.  This documentary is kind of an indictment of the "Father Knows Best" and "Leave it to Beaver" idealization which is still hailed by conservatives.  They glorify a lie which they see as truth.  And maybe that's the core of these kinds of religions.  Believing what you are told instead of what you actually experience.  Which is ... not a happy place.

"If These Walls Could Talk"

This 1996 film is now living on HBO Max and I have to say, watching it on a streaming service is probably better than doing so in a theatre.  It is a film about abortion, complete with really difficult, cringey scenes.  I had assumed it was pro-choice but after viewing it, I'm not sure.  I mean, yes, the folks who created it are pro-choice but they do a pretty good job of showing all sides of the issue.  And not for nothing, the most violent parts are those where abortions occur.  I would say you will take away what you bring to it.  If you are pro-choice, you will see those arguments, if you are pro-life you will see the opposite.  Taking place in the same house in three different time periods, 1952, 1974 and 1996, it shows the struggles of three women wrestling with unexpected pregnancies.  And it is the thoughtful reflections of these women which is the point.  The real point.  Abortion is not a simple subject and is the case nowadays it has been reduced to hashtags and platitudes.  The reality is much messier.  The brilliance of this film, if it has brilliance, is found in the subtle, amazing performances by a seasoned and well-known cast.  The weaknesses have to do with poor cinematography and an over-the-top ending which isn't unrealistic but ends up being too much.  That being said, this had more substance than I expected.  It isn't clean-cut.  And for this subject, it never is.  

"Kiss Today Goodbye, the Sweetness and the Sorrow ..."

It's that time of year.  The time to say goodbye.  To shows I watched but was so-so on -- like "Andor".  To shows I stopped watching a good while back, including "The Blacklist" and "The Flash".  To shows I liked but which came to an expected end, like "New Amsterdam" and "The Umbrella Academy".  There was also, of course, "A Million Little Things".  This kleenex show went out as came in ... with grace, gravitas, and a few laughs.  I saw it coming with some shows I liked, such as "Call Me Kat" and "Fantasy Island".  I didn't see it coming with other shows I liked, such as "Kung Fu".  Or shows I loved, like "The Company You Keep".  Or shows I was just getting to like, such as "East New York".  

Oddly, the show I'm having the hardest time bidding adieu to is "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel".  Beyond really liking the amazing cast, the smart and fast-paced dialog, the incredible clothes; I really liked the messages.  About women and power.  It's also ... weird.  The series began in 2017.  When I look at how my life has changed since 2017 I am a little dumbstruck.  It is as if I watched season one in another life and I have been completely reborn since.  It's as if the person watching season five is a completely different person.  It's almost dystopian.  But not.  In any case, as they say, it's not over until it's over.  Finales for "The Crown", "Stranger Things", and "The Handmaid's Tale" are coming.  But thanks to the WGA strike, and possibly the SAG strike, it could be a while.  Probably have another year before having to mourn yet again.

"How to be an Antiracist" by Ibram X. Kendi

Loved, loved, loved this book.  Tore through it.  Mr. Kendi does a wonderful and hugely personal job of explaining the Black experience and drawing conclusions from it.  In addition to better understanding life from the point of view of a Black person in America, it brings true humanity to the stories told.  Unlike "White Fragility" it is a book which mostly avoids the blame-and-shame tactics and drills down into facts, drawing ideas and thoughts from the facts, and weaving them into solutions.  In other words, it's not a book about complaints, it is a book which encourages readers to do more than think.  It pushes readers to act.  The book is thoughtful, powerful, gentle.  I could read it over and over.  The main premise, one I have espoused for a long time but never articulated as well as Mr. Kendi, is that "we" are a "we".  Not "us" and "them", but simply humans.  People, who are as unique and special as any individuals.  The challenge of the book is to step away from ever referring to Blacks as a monolithic group.  To see each person as a human being who has their own stories, their own backgrounds.  We are challenged to stop assigning any kind of attributes to a person based on race and culture.  Which can be difficult, even for the most enlightened.  Even for Mr. Kendi himself.  This is also a book which pushes the idea of intersectionality.  We have more in common than we are different.  Paradoxically, Mr. Kendi also brings up the essential inequities of those who are Black, explaining structural racism.  He explains it very well and uses data (my favorite thing in the whole world) to support his statements.  It's a simple, clear book.  You read it (and then read passages over and over again, as I did) and see so much.  It's like Haiku.  Every word, every phrase is understandable, but together they provide something which is so much "more".  Yes.  Read it.  Re-read it.  And reflect on it, as I did.  What is it really saying?  And why does it scare people so much?

"Strange World"

It's a good film, and very Disney.  After all the controversy, I had to see it for myself.  It's typical fare.  The kid (and dog) are smarter than the adults.  There are plenty of laughs for the kids and snickers for the adults.  There is a terrific score and great animation.  There are more than a few "nods" to other works:  Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Horton Hears a Who, ET, even Hieronymus Bosch.  It pushes peace and cooperation, even in the midst of family drama and daddy issues.  And, of course, there is a lot for conservatives to hate.  The kids reject their parents.  Forcefully.  The core family is interracial.  The teen is gay (this has been fixated on but it such a minor plot point it takes up little screen time and has no impact on the story outcome).  A shop-keeper and the ubiquitous dog are differently abled.  Women of color are in charge.  And the "kill everything" mantra of the pseudo Yukon Cornelius character is soundly trounced by an eco-message.  "Just because we can take from the planet, maybe we shouldn't".  This is quickly followed by "Maybe we should understand how to live in concert with other life forms" (yeah, this is actually stated).  It's all very nice and upbeat and ends happily.  Two characters bond over a brewsky (no one has complained about this, BTW).  And they all lived happily ever after.  Unless you are a teacher in Florida who dared to show the film to students.

"American Born Chinese"

Almost unrecognizable from the award-winning graphic novel, this is still an impressive and timely take on the tale.  In the book, Jin Wang, the titular "American Born Chinese" is a middle schooler who deals with an unending barrage of racist behaviors and comments.  He is filled with self-loathing and experiences dissociation regarding his role among his peers.  This results in three stories being told which interweave.  There is Jin's thread, the thread of the Monkey King (drawing heavily on Chinese mythology) and a hyper-stereotype, drawn as a 1940s movie character.  The Disney miniseries updates Jin to a 10th grader (in order to cast a 23 year-old actor) and plays with the racism in a more subtle way which is both powerful and layered.  The character of Jin isn't clear about his feelings, or even who he is.  Well-performed by actor Ben Wang, Jin is a mountain of confusion, frustration and struggle.  I think he would be very identifiable to most teens, particularly those of color.  Newcomer Jimmy Liu creates an equally dimensional foil for the Jin character and a certain amount of chaos insues.  The three threads are overlap well, with the mystical element fitting in better, I think, in this live action production.  The stereotype tale is smaller, due to major plot changes, but provides Ke Huy Quan a lovely moment or two.  It also gives the Jin character an opportunity for a lot of reflection, which isn't scripted (and doesn't need to be).  This is not a series for little kids.  There are real parental issues, alcoholism, some intense fight scenes and a lot of Chinese subtitled sections, including most of episode #4.  It is, however, a great series for reflecting on how Asians are viewed and treated in our world.  In any case, I liked it a ~lot~ and watched the whole thing in one afternoon.  And yes, a second season is coming.  This is Disney, after all.

"Unorthodox"

Based ~very~ loosely on a autobiographical novel, this is the tale of Esty, a 19 year-old NYC Hasidic girl who tries to serve in the role she is born into but is consistently called to independence.  Things don't go well.  In a drastic move, she tries to escape and find herself.  This choice she makes, also, is filled with challenges.  But she perseveres.  It's a powerful four-part miniseries.  The performance of Shira Haas, a wisp of a young woman, makes it brilliant.  Through her eyes we see the struggle, the unknowing, and the overwhelming world in front of her when she makes the leap.  It's touching, engaging and worth binging in a single day.  Is it reality?  Not exactly.  But it's real enough, and the ambiguous ending leaves you with the understanding that Esty's place will always be a little tenuous.  That's okay.  By the finale, you see the strength she carries which so many others miss.

"American Factory"

You probably missed this Academy Award-winning documentary, and first offering from the new production company set up by Barack and Michelle Obama.  I did.  It came along just before Covid and there we were in our sweatpants watching "Tiger King".  A thoughtful documentary wasn't really on the menu.  That being said, this film is extremely well-done and is provocative in a nice, quiet way.  Set in the GM plant near Daytona, OH, which closed in 2008, the documentary shows how a Chinese businessman re-opened the plant as an auto glass factory, Fuyao American.  Billed as a look at the cultural challenges of American workers working alongside Chinese workers, it is actually more of a story of the changing nature of blue collar work in our increasingly disparate economy, and the struggle of workers to negotiate proper workplace conditions.  There is cultural clash, but this is more about the workers on the floor vs the men in power.  It's an old tale, and no (spoiler alert), it doesn't end well.  That being said, there is a lot here to learn about.  And a lot to unpack.  The very rich corporate owners can easily be dismissed as the bad guys.  But one, once he is ousted, recognizes that the workers need support.  Another lives in luxury but muses, however briefly, that his work helps to destroy the environment.  Every featured person has shadings and angles.  The documentary makers did a great job of stepping back and just filming.  They don't paint the picture for the viewer, they just show it all to you.  As someone who watched it, I could tell that much of what you get out of it will depend on what you bring to it.  My life experiences and politics definitely colored how I viewed the events of the film, and I did think about it a good long while after viewing it.  In the end, the hardest thing for the Americans to get their head around?  The Chinese belief that the purpose of life is work, not joy or affirmation.  While I recognize the difference (thanks to a month-long trip in China), I have to say ... it makes me sad.