Eighth Grade (2018)

Rotten Tomatoes

Eighth Grade (2018): I'm not a 13 yr old girl. Not even 13, but if memory serves, this movie is spot on with early teen life today. Story arc is flat. Don't expect blossoming or downfall. All the best scenes are in the trailer. Acting is excellent, especially Elsie Fisher. C+

Set It Up (2018)

Rotten Tomatoes

Set It Up (2018): Two executive assistants with overbearing bosses play matchmaker for them and end up falling for each other. Because of course they do. Plays like a 90 minute pilot for a rejected TV sit-com. Stereotypical. Formulaic. Cast is OK, script is not. C-

Review: Warlight: A Novel

Amazon

From Warlight: A Novel, by Michael Ondaatje:

In 1945 our parents went away and left us in the care of two men who may have been criminals."

Great novels have great opening lines. They draw the reader in from the very first sentence. Warlight by Michael Ondaatje is no exception.

Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018)

Rotten Tomatoes

Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018): Much better stunts than script. The mission is to recover stolen plutonium. The "plan" constantly goes wrong and needs improvisation: car chases, fist fights, shootouts and everybody changing sides. Tom Cruise shows his age. C-

Repeat Tweets: Collins Won't Back Court Pick...

Repeat tweets from July, 2018:

• Jul 1 2018: Headline: "Collins Won’t Back Court Pick Who Overturns Roe v. Wade."
  This would only preclude a nominee who is on the public record calling for overturning Roe. So, we'll get a nominee who refuses to say definitively but is all but certain to overturn. And Collins will vote to confirm.
• Jul 1 2018: Goliath: Season 2 (TV): Plot is a mess. Villain is absurd. Why some people are killed and not others makes no sense. But the characters, especially Billy and Patty, are strong and unforgettable. Patty's speech to her FBI agent date is series' highlight. I'd watch a Season 3. B-
• Jul 2 2018: "Unfortunately civility was forcibly rebranded as "political correctness" and then taken out to the pasture and shot." -- Paul Michael Hodgson
• Jul 2 2018: Headline: "Plano's $3 billion Legacy West is getting its own CVS store."
  When you can't decide if it's Steve Brown in "The Dallas Morning News" or "The Onion", bet on Steve Brown.
• Jul 2 2018: Besides @marklamster's nit about the Maverick's logo ("when was the last time you saw a horse in downtown Dallas?") there's the nit that a Maverick isn't a horse in the first place.

After the jump, more repeat tweets.

POTD: Cabo's Playa del Amor

From 2018 01 31 Cabo San Lucas

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. It shows Playa del Amor, a beach accessible from both sides of the Land's End peninsula at the very tippy tip of Baja California via a narrow gap in the rocks.

Bonus photos after the jump.

The Americans (TV)

Rotten Tomatoes

The Americans (TV): The series that asks if US audiences can empathize with Russian spies. Answer: yes. Spoilers from finale: Philip and Elizabeth can't run from emotional consequences. Everyone ends up in a bad place. No one's happy, except maybe McDonalds. A-

Hannah Gadsby: Nanette (2018)

Rotten Tomatoes

Hannah Gadsby: Nanette (2018): Netflix standup special in which this Australian explains how comedy works (tension and release) and why that doesn't work for her anymore (her life story is one of unreleased tension). Raw, powerful, and yes, very funny. Straight dudes beware! A-

An Extremely Detailed Map of the 2016 Election

The New York Times has published an extremely detailed map of the 2016 presidential election that will keep mapping nerds and political junkies happily clicking away for hours. So go ahead. Click away. When you come back, I'll offer my own quick observations, some confirming my priors, some surprising me.

POTD: Masterpiece, Framed

From 2018 01 31 Cabo San Lucas

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018)

Rotten Tomatoes

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018): Round two of fun and romance in the Greek Isles. Over the top from the first song and dance number, with over the top costumes to match. Full of energy and joy and unabashed respect for all the old ABBA hits, it never lets up. A-

Three Identical Strangers (2018)

Rotten Tomatoes

Three Identical Strangers (2018): Documentary of triplets separated at birth. When they discover each other at age 19, they compare looks, likes, personalities, etc. But when they try to understand why they were separated at birth, that's when the real story begins. A-

The Delphi Method Bogeyman, Again

The City of Richardson or the Richardson ISD periodically seek public input on an issue. Often it's by means of a public hearing on a proposal already on the table. You know the routine, an open mic where individuals give their opinions, pro and con. But sometimes, usually early in the process, other types of meetings are arranged, where organized group discussions take place, maybe some kind of voting happens, and a sense of the community is determined, or not. Sometimes the community is split and these meetings reveal there is no consensus. That's good to know as well. In any case, different formats for public input are useful at different times. Or at least you'd think. Not everyone agrees.

Sister Act at RCT

Repertory Company Theatre

Sister Act (RCT): If you liked the Whoopi Goldberg movie, you won't be disappointed. And if you haven't seen the movie, what are you waiting for? Infectious fun from the lead to the chorus(es) -- nuns and crooks. Support local theatre in Richardson.

Review: Alexander Hamilton

Amazon

From Alexander Hamilton, by Ron Chernow:

He was the messenger from a future that we now inhabit. We have left behind the rosy agrarian rhetoric and slaveholding reality of Jeffersonian democracy and reside in the bustling world of trade, industry, stock markets, and banks that Hamilton envisioned."

You want to see the Broadway hit hip-hop musical. First, read the bestselling 2004 biography that inspired it. Alexander Hamilton was the most fascinating of our nation's Founding Fathers, having risen from humble beginnings in the West Indies to somehow be at the center of every significant event from the Revolutionary War to the Constitutional Convention to laying the shaky young nation's economic foundation as first Treasury Secretary. And, he also fought duels.

POTD: Of Vacation Homes and Yachts

From 2018 01 31 Cabo San Lucas

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, where the vacation homes hang precariously on the hillside and the yachts rock gently in the harbor. It all has kind of an artificial feel to it, a manufactured paradise. Or maybe the ennui is just that I know this is the last port of call on a long, great cruise.

Bonus photo after the jump.