Raya and the Last Dragon (2021)

Rotten Tomatoes

Raya and the Last Dragon (2021): A conventional quest movie. 5 yr-olds will like the plush friendly dragon. (Are all dragons friendly now?) 10 yr-olds will like the quick, smart dialog. Parents will like the message of inclusiveness and trust. Me? I'm not the target audience. B-

TIL: Whatever were the Founders Thinking?

Growing up, I heard a lot about what the Founders were thinking when they drafted and adopted the confusingly worded 2nd Amendment to the Constitution. The dominant argument (by NRA types) was that the Founders intended the right to bear arms as a safeguard against tyrannical government, a protection should an evil King George III ever arise again and seek to take away our precious liberties. It seemed to be a compelling argument to my young self. But it wasn't the last word on the subject.

In the Heights (2021)

Rotten Tomatoes

In the Heights (2021): Caribbean-American musical. The block is gentrifying. Neighbors are being priced out or moving to follow their dreams. Yet, the neighborhood holds together. Cast and plot are a little crowded, but the joy and message of "Paciencia y Fe" come through. A-

Review: The Ministry for the Future

From The Ministry for the Future, by Kim Stanley Robinson:

Everything was tan and beige and a brilliant, unbearable white. Ordinary town in Uttar Pradesh, 6 AM. He looked at his phone: 38 degrees. In Fahrenheit that was— he tapped— 103 degrees. Humidity about 35 percent. The combination was the thing. A few years ago it would have been among the hottest wet-bulb temperatures ever recorded. Now just a Wednesday morning.
	Amazon

This is speculative fiction from the near future, when the world can no longer ignore global warming. Lots of things touched on here, from science to economics to government to terrorism, sometimes dramatized, sometimes just straight talk.

Halston (2019)

Rotten Tomatoes

Halston (2019): Documentary about the fashion designer who was a demanding, demeaning coke addict. He is treated more favorably than in the 2021 TV series, maybe because there is no video to show of his private excesses. There's more focus on his successes than his failures. C+

#VeryTardyReview

Compare with the 2021 5-part Netflix drama.

Halston (TV 2021)

Rotten Tomatoes

Halston (TV 2021): Dramatization of life of Halston, a talented fashion designer who was an egotistical coke addict who drove away those around him until he crashed his business and his life. If there's anything below the surface to the man, this movie doesn't bring it out. C-

The Underground Railroad (TV 2021)

Rotten Tomatoes

The Underground Railroad (TV 2021): Cora's flight joins Odysseus and Gulliver's travels among fiction's all-time great journeys. She's always fleeing from horror, not running to freedom. Harsh backlit look and haunting sounds accentuate the horrors of the Black experience. A-

Read my review of the novel it is based on. This is one of the rare cases where the movie lives up to the book. Both are excellent.