Wonka (2023)

Rotten Tomatoes

Wonka (2023): Origin story for the chocolate maker. Songs are catchy, but Timothée Chalamet has neither the voice nor the needed madcap twinkle in his eye to carry the movie. There may be a happy ending, but before that it's all Wonka's hardships with slave masters, corrupt police, and an evil chocolate cartel. B-

Apple TV+

The Gentlemen (TV 2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

The Gentlemen (TV 2024): A Guy Ritchie production. A young English duke inherits his family estate...and the enormous weed business it harbors. He tries to extricate himself and only gets dragged deeper into the criminal world. There are no good guys here, only a lot of unlikeable characters doing unlikeable things. B-

Netflix

Unfrosted (2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

Unfrosted (2024): Origin story of Pop-Tarts by Jerry Seinfeld, filled with more comedians than "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee." What made that show interesting was the loosely scripted banter. Here, it's all scripted and rehearsed. Jokes are aimed for Baby Boomers but Barbie did it so, so much better. C-

Netflix

Baby Reindeer (TV 2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

Baby Reindeer (TV 2024): Lonely woman walks into a bar. Bartender takes pity on her, bringing a stalker into his life. Why does it take him six months to go to the police? The sexual abuse he once suffered plays a role. Like slowing down to rubberneck a car accident, I hated myself for watching. Sad. Exploitative. C+

Netflix

Argylle (2023)

Rotten Tomatoes

Argylle (2023): Spy novelist gets caught up in a real life spy operation. Why do her plots mimic real life so closely? Part mystery. Part action movie. Part silly. None done well enough to hold up the movie. The ending, instead of wrapping things up, just creates more confusion. C-

Apple TV+

3 Body Problem (TV 2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

3 Body Problem (TV 2024): Astrophysics, quantum physics, nanotechnology, SETI, along with a novel twist on the classic threat to humanity that sci-fi stories usually pose. Science is front and center, but character development isn't neglected. The whole overcomes a lot of plot flaws. It all leaves me impatient for season 2. A-

Netflix

Dune: Part Two (2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

Dune Part Two (2024): Epic. Outstanding world-building. Spellbinding cinematography. The stakes grow. The allegories get biblical. Paul is a prophesied messiah who drinks from a chalice, falls into a deathlike state, and is revived. Some plot points are still silly (e.g, with "atomics" in use, why is most fighting with swords?). A-

In theaters

The New Look (TV 2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

The New Look (TV 2024): Biopic of Christian Dior (and Coco Chanel). Don't be fooled. It's less about the "new look" of fashion than it is about navigating the dangerous politics of Paris during and after the Nazi occupation of WWII. What makes one a collaborator? Oh, and how much of the story is real? B-

Apple TV+

Wish (2023)

Rotten Tomatoes

Wish (2023): Disney homage to its own history. Animation and story feel like something from the vault. Not even the music is fresh. The moral—surrendering your dreams for security is a bad exchange—gets lost in a traditional story about an evil villain. C+

Disney+

Priscilla (2023)

Rotten Tomatoes

Priscilla (2023): Biopic of the Presleys together. She was an innocent child. He was a spoiled man-child. She loved him. He loved himself. Movie doesn't do either's reputation any good. Neither has enough depth to keep audience's interest for 90 minutes. B-

Max

Death and Other Details (TV 2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

Death and Other Details (TV 2024): Cruise ship full of rich people. Someone is murdered. A whodunnit that morphs into...what? A terrorist revenge action thriller? Mandy Patinkin and Violett Beane are good enough, but the rest play unlikable stereotypes. There are too many crimes to solve here, all tangled up in a convoluted plot. B-

Hulu

Masters of the Air (TV 2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

Masters of the Air (TV 2024): Despite the horrific death toll suffered by the bomber crews of WWII, this show is about a few survivors. Based on real people, it plays like fiction: aerial adventures of handsome, daring flyboys. We've seen this war movie before. Cramming WWII into one series makes it feel rushed. Production value is excellent. B-

#Apple TV+

Woman in Gold (2015)

Rotten Tomatoes

Woman in Gold (2015): In a true life story, Helen Mirren stars as Holocaust survivor trying to recover artwork looted by Nazis in WWIII. Austrian government doesn't want to give up its national treasure. Flashbacks save this movie from being a dry courtroom drama. B+

Netflix

#VeryTardyReview

Irma Vep (TV 2022)

Rotten Tomatoes

Irma Vep (TV 2022): A TV series that remakes a 1996 movie of the same name, itself about the remaking of a 1916 French classic. Expect a lot of inside the movie industry references. Also a mentally unstable director and wild antics on and off set. The movie borders on the surreal. C+

Max

#VeryTardyReview

Ferrari (2023)

Rotten Tomatoes

Ferrari (2023): Biopic of a point in the life of Enzo Ferrari and his wife and dead son and mistress and his son with her...it's complicated even for Italy in the 1950s. B-

In-flight

Funny Woman (TV 2023)

Rotten Tomatoes

Funny Woman (TV 2023): Dramedy about a Blackpool beauty queen in London in the 1960s, trying to succeed in a TV comedy. There are modern jokes about being gay or Black or Pakistani in London, but even those jokes seem as dated as the slapstick and jokes about sexism on a 1960s TV show. C+

Sky Max via PBS

#VeryTardyReview

Black Bird (TV 2022)

Rotten Tomatoes

Black Bird (TV 2022): Convicted drug dealer in prison accepts offer to entice a suspected serial killer to confess. Nice tight psychological study. Two questions were with me throughout: "Will they catch him?" and, "Will there be a plot twist?" B+

Apple TV+

#VeryTardyReview

Spaceman (2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

Spaceman (2024): Adam Sandler in his most restrained acting ever, plays an astronaut on a solo mission to Jupiter, going slowly crazy from loneliness and the breakup of his marriage back on Earth. Spoiler: it also has a giant alien spider...therapist? Less sci-fi than character study. B-

Netflix

Einstein and the Bomb (2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

Einstein and the Bomb (2024): Docudrama about Einstein's contribution and attitude towards the development of the atomic bomb. It gives insight into the man, not the scientist. Restricting dialog to words found in Einstein's speeches and papers weakens the drama in the dramatic re-creations. C+

Netflix

The Marvels (2023)

Rotten Tomatoes

The Marvels (2023): Don't think about wormholes and "jump points" and the Supreme Intelligence and you'll enjoy this silly romp. Reminded me of "Everything Everywhere All at Once", Bollywood, Cats, and even Star Trek ("The Trouble with Tribbles"), all while three female superheros save the universe. B-

Disney+