It's the middle of WW 1 in the middle of England and a Merchant/Ivory movie breaks out. The town choral society is having a problem putting on the annual concert because all the boys are being taken off to war, including the Choral director. There happens to be a fabulous Choral director playing at the local town but he is also under suspicion because he has just returned from several years working in Germany. And the guy loves Germany. Not a good look in 1916 England. He also might be a little light in the loafers.

They hire Voldemort and he is just as prickly and difficult as promised and keeps making German references. They scour the town for new voices for the Choral. They find unorthodox methods of putting on the play. A returning soldier becomes the new lead. People keep getting drafted including the new accompanist. But he is going to be a Conscientious Objector.

It drags on and meanders about. There is a bit of tension when the author of the choral appears and is less than pleased with what has been done with his work.

No sword fights.

It's the origin story of the play "Hamlet". Since we know very little about the life of William Shakespeare, this story is as good as any. Dark and brooding, not a lick of levity anywhere. You can tell this is a serious picture for serious people. I did have to turn on the subtitles in the beginning because I wasn't getting a single word. But once I turned on the subtitles, I felt I could understand the spoken dialogue perfectly.

For most of the movie, Shakespeare is referred to as the tutor or the husband. I guess when they actually call him Shakespeare way down the road, it's supposed to be a big surprise. His wife is named Agnes. She is something of a witch. In these modern times, I'm guessing Agnes would have preferred the bear over meeting Shakespeare, because he was a pushy pest. They have kids, one of which is named Hamnet. This is also the time of the plague. When Hamnet's sister gets the plague, he crawls in bed with her to help protect her from the evil spirits. That turns out poorly.

Agnes is pissed that her Husband isn't showing the proper amount of grief and tells him to go back to London, where he has been living in order to find his muse. Agnes travels to London when she hears hubby has written a play called Hamlet. She goes down to chew him out about the blasphemy only to learn a valuable lesson.

The whole affair was a bit too brooding for my taste. But I did like how the circumstances of Hamnet's life gave some bigger scale to Hamlet.

It's a noir-y story following a PI in hollywood who's been hired to find a retired film exec's granddaughter. Colin Farrell as the titular Sugar is quirky, and nostalgic for golden age hollywood films. There's lots of cuts to clips from famous films. He's got something going on. Frequent ringing in his ears. Has a "Lawful-Good" streak. He's some sort of super fighting machine when he needs to be.

5 or 6 episodes in and it ended with a twist that some asshole article spoiled a little, so, while I didn't know the details, I was looking for it and thus not surprised. I won't spoil it for you.

I won't weigh in on a recommendation yet. I'm hoping the pacing evens out. Season 2 is already streaming.

--tg

It's a wacky comedy about the hottest sport in the country: Pickleball! Except they forgot the comedy.

Jake Johnson plays Dusty "The Hammer" Boyd a former child tennis prodigy who was playing the actual tennis star Andy Roddick in a teen tennis championship when tragedy struck. Years later he is still trying to get his game back at his father's tennis club. He is forced to play the lesser sport of pickleball as a means to rehab his wrist. During play he learns a valuable lesson about....blah blah blah. There is a tennis championship to add pickleball courses at the club. Andy Roddick reappears. And John McEnroe appears to do play by play. It's all very dumb The best thing about the film is McEnroe doing play by play. And McEnroe looks good because everything else is so bad. Poor Ed Harris doing an obvious paycheck job tries to bring a little life to his role, but no.

A 10 episode retro-future series that follows a conman selling lunar real estate who is also trying to connect with his estranged son.


Echos of Paper Moon and The Music Man. Good cast, story, production design.

Came out in 2023. Only one season. Kind of a sleeper. Recommended.

--tg

Samuel Jackson plays former police detective turned crime scene cleaner in this film directed by Renny Harlin. Ed Harris is the former partner. Luis Guzman is working on a case. Eva Mendez can't find her husband.

Jackson cleans up a crime scene in a mansion but forgets to return the key. When he returns the next day the owner of the house doesn't know what he is talking about. There has been no crime committed at this house. And off we go. Jackson needs to find out what is going on because he is becoming the prime suspect in the disappearance of a cop who could hold the key to  proving all the corruption in the local police force..

The film is okay but over directed. Why do a close-up when you can do a super close-up? Every scene is broken down into a million close-up shots of actions. Here is the key. Here is the key in the lock. Here is the key turning from a different angle. Let's make coffee. This is the filter. These are drips of water. It becomes intrusive after awhile.

Finally, in the entire film, Jackson never says motherfucker. Not once. His character is very subdued and passive. Not your usual Jackson fare.

I'm putting this here because Hulu is Disney...

https://www.brotherhoodofdoom.com/doomFo...3#pid76143

I had low expectations, but that was entertaining. A comedic parade of gruesome deaths caused by the cursed monkey after some twins find it in their father's belongings long after he'd abandoned the family. The number of funerals borders on Addams Family.

Not strongly recommended, but not a bad way to pass the time. 

--tg

Hansard was an Irish singer songwriter. If there was any event honoring Irish musicians in Dublin, he was a fixture. He started the Christmas busk that brought musicians together to help raise money to help runaway kids. He did the music for the Irish musicals Once, Sing Street, and the new Power Ballad. He died in a car crash at the age of 56

If I look at the man with the shackles through his earlobes one more time,I will not stop looking. His earlobes are stretched almost to his shoulders. Yes, I'm dying to take a picture.

--tg