The Veil (TV 2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

The Veil (TV 2024): Elisabeth Moss is an MI6 agent tasked with bringing a woman from a Syrian refugee camp to Paris and learning her secret before a terrorist attack she's behind can happen. Plot is far-fetched but that's not the real story here. It's the relationship between the two women and their back stories that matter. B-

Hulu

La Maison (TV 2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

La Maison (TV 2024): French. Fashion design house faces existential threats: scandal, succession, and a takeover attempt by a rival. Competition is less on the runway and more in the boardroom and the bedroom. It's soap opera, not prestige drama. C+

AppleTV+

Wicked (2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

Wicked (2024): Didn't live up to expectations. Last 45 minutes of action, music, and storytelling were great, but first 90 minutes (Shiz University) was more "where is this going?" I buy Elphaba's back story of being discriminated against because she's green, but Glinda as a sheltered and privileged airhead? No way. B-

In theaters

The Penguin (TV 2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

The Penguin (TV 2024): Backstory for the villain who rises from small time mobster to kingpin of organized crime in Gotham City. Lots of action and violence, sure, but what makes this series great is the psychological study of a criminal. Like 2019's Joker. A-

Max

Gladiator II (2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

Gladiator II (2024): Ignore history and forget that you've seen this movie before. If you go just for an epic account about reclaiming liberty, filled with action and gore and some silliness (e.g., sharks in the Colosseum), you won't be disappointed. B+

In theaters

My Old Ass (2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

My Old Ass (2024): A teen celebrates her 18th birthday with a mushroom trip and meets her 39 year-old self, who offers her a problematic warning about her future. A light-hearted drama that packs a wallop, a lesson not only for the teen, but for her older self as well. B-

Prime

Emilia Pérez (2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

Emilia Pérez (2024): Spanish. Head of a Mexican drug cartel wants to transition into a woman. The existence of a wife and children pose a problem. If that premise isn't implausible enough, the movie is a musical. But somehow Jacques Audiard pulls it off. A-

Netflix

Family Pack (2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

Family Pack (2024): French. Family game night causes a whole family to be transported back to the Middle Ages where they have to slay four werewolves in order to return to the 21st century. A comedy/adventure/fantasy that is mediocre at all of them. Maybe for kids. C-

Netflix

It's What's Inside (2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

It's What's Inside (2024): Group of friends play a game of mind/body swapping with a sci-fi device. It's all fun and games until it isn't. Too many characters to keep straight, and keeping them straight is critical to following the consequences of the body swaps. The directorial style is novel, but doesn't quite work. C+

Netflix

Agatha All Along (TV 2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

Agatha All Along (TV 2024): A spinoff to WandaVision. The Marvel Universe is now so cluttered that only dedicated enthusiasts can keep all the characters straight. This one is about a coven of witches who follow a road, where Agatha is seeking to regain all her lost powers. For a movie about witches, it lacks any suspense. C+

Disney+

The Fall Guy (2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

The Fall Guy (2024): Love story. Crime story. Mostly a star vehicle for Ryan Gosling with a plot full of stunts and blowing things up. It's not very good at any of these things. Emily Blunt gets short-changed. C+

Prime

Nobody Wants This (TV 2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

Nobody Wants This (TV 2024): Sitcom about a sex podcaster and a rabbi...and their families who meddle in their unlikely relationship. Stereotypes abound. The chemistry is winning. The dialog is witty. And it has something serious to say about mixed-religion relationships. B+

Netflix

The Pale Blue Eye (2022)

Rotten Tomatoes

The Pale Blue Eye (2022): Macabre murder mystery set in the cold, gray winter at West Point in 1830. A cadet is found dead, with his heart removed. Christian Bale is the detective who recruits a cadet named Edgar Allan Poe (yes, that one) to assist him. Everyone is quirky, creepy, and suspicious. B-

Netflix

#VeryTardyReview

Conclave (2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

Conclave (2024): The cardinal running the conclave picking the next pope uncovers one deep secret after another. An intelligent plot that sheds light on the ancient practice of Vatican polit ics. Informative if maybe implausible at times. It keeps you guessing who it's going to be. A-

In theaters

Presumed Innocent (TV 2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

Presumed Innocent (TV 2024): Excellent whodunit. The plot is an intricate clockwork, full of suspects and red herrings. Based on 1987 novel. Public prosecutor is charged with murdering another prosecutor, one he has been having an affair with. Did he or didn't he? Even his wife and kids are torn. A-

AppleTV+

Feud: Capote vs. The Swans (TV 2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

Feud: Capote vs. The Swans (TV 2024): The backstory behind Truman Capote's unfinished novel about New York's elite society women. No one comes out looking good, Capote worst of all. He's a drunk, manipulative whiner. The Swans are entitled and self-absorbed. The series is more exhausting than revealing. C+

Hulu

Kaos (TV 2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

Kaos (TV 2024): Retelling of Greek mythology set in the modern day. Like the Greek myths, there are too many gods, too many stories. Only Euridice (Aurora Perrineau) stands out. Focus on Zeus's fear of a prophecy foretelling the downfall of his reign on Olympus and in the end it will all come together. B-

Netflix

Bodkin (TV 2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

Bodkin (TV 2024): Three podcasters go to a small town in Ireland to investigate a 20-year-old cold case, only to find the case isn't cold at all. Everyone in town seems involved in an ongoing coverup. Too many characters. Too many subplots. Too many crimes. None I ended up caring about. C+

Netflix

His Three Daughters (2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

His Three Daughters (2024): Three sisters gather for a vigil at their dying father's apartment. More like a stage play, with much more dialog than action. The sisters talk out their lifetime of sibling rivalries until, maybe more through exhaustion than consensus, they reach an accord. B+

Netflix

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024): Generations later, apes rule and humans have lost their ability to speak (but not the humans in this movie for some reason). The ape world is split and our hero sets out on a quest to restore his clan's freedom from a rising dictator. Only in the last few minutes does the key question get asked, Can humans and apes ever get along? C-

Hulu