Lately I've been watching....

Lots of star ratings and recommendations (or not, in a couple of cases!) of films and TV series I've been watching over the past couple of months, all with trailers.  Most are on Netflix or Amazon Prime, with one or two cinema/network TV iplayer/hulu.  Enjoy!


Film: Vice

Christian Bale stars as Dick Cheney - a film about his life.  Amy Adams plays his wife.  Uncovers oodles of political murk, and will probably confirm much that you might have suspected about the reasons behind the war in Iraq, and the choice of George W Bush for president.  Brilliant, don't miss it; so good I wanted to watch it again the minute it had finished.

5 stars plus ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Film: The Mule

Clint Eastwood stars as an grumpy old florist, squeezed out of business by the internet, who is persuaded to work for the Mexican cartel as a drug mule.  Really enjoyed this, and Clint has still totally got it; he's really funny, and it's a great plot.

5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Series: Dirty John

Stars Connie Britton (Nashville), Eric Bana, Juno Temple (Vinyl) and Julia Garner (Ozark) - based on a true story, about a middle-aged interior designer who meets a psycho via internet dating.  Excellent stuff, I was engrossed!  And there's a documentary, about the real people.

5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Film: The Inventor

I was keen to watch this after seeing Elizabeth Holmes talked about in a programme about the narcissistic personality - it's a documentary about a start-up that was based on ludicrous optimism, catchy phrases and fraud.  Holmes tricked the medical and journalistic world and many generous investors into believing she had made massive steps in revolutionising the early detection of illness, based on quick and easy blood testing.  Eventually, her falsehoods were uncovered by two whistleblowers.  Riveting!

5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Series: The Act

I just had to watch this after seeing a documentary about Dee Dee Blanchard and her daughter Gypsy, and the worst case of Munchausen's Syndrome by Proxy that I have ever heard of.  Patricia Arquette plays the deranged Dee Dee, so well.  At the moment I've only seen 3 episodes of the 5 that have been on (I believe there are 8 or 10), but it's completely gripping, as Gypsy begins to realise that she is not as ill as her mother has made out - and so does one doctor.

5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ so far!

Series: Vanity Fair

Really enjoyed this!  William Makepeace Thackeray's classic, set in the time of the Napoleonic Wars, about the life of the 'lively' Becky Sharp, a woman born before her time, and society's conventions.  Stars Olivia Cooke, Frances de la Tour, Martin Clunes, Tom Bateman, with Michael Palin as Thackeray.  Oddly, it uses modern music for the titles and credits, and it totally works; I usually hate that sort of thing.  My only complaint is that it sometimes felt a little rushed; I spoke to someone who has read it, who said that so much was hardly touched on.  It perhaps needed 10 episodes rather than 8.  But it's very good, and made me feel ashamed of myself for never having read it.  This will soon be remedied.

4.5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Series:True Detective

3rd season in the show, starring Marshalala Ali and Stephen Dorff, with a three-time zone plot, about a missing child.  Compelling, unpredictable, but really sad; less for the family than the two detectives, whose lives the case changed.  Not quite as brilliant as the first season of this series, but better than the second.  Ali's character path is heartbreaking.

5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Film: The House that Jack Built

Serial killer film starring Matt Dillon.  Very good, but exceptionally brutal.  If you don't mind a high level of violence, you'll love it.

4.5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Series: Tin Star

Second season of this; Tim Roth is terrific as a former undercover cop still involved with some seriously dangerous people, but without him it would have been a bit forgettable.  Much of it set in an Ammonite community, with which his daughter becomes involved.  Also stars Christina Hendricks (Mad Men), of whom I am a fan.  Definitely worth watching, though not as good as Season 1.

4 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Series: Hanna

Joel Kinnaman and Mireille Enos (both The Killing) star, with newcomer Esme Creed-Miles as Hanna, a girl who was given over to a weird eugenics project at birth.  Joel Kinnaman saves her, and the chase is on.  Very good, a tiny bit too unfeasible at times, but hey.  I still really enjoyed it, and it's nicely set up for Season 2 while having a satisfactory though sad ending.

4.5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Series: Project Blue Book

Set in the 1950s, about Dr Allen Hynek, played by the always-fab Aiden Gillen, about the real life studies into UFOs - Project Blue Book.  It was good, and very interesting indeed, particularly the way in which information was given to the public.  I'll watch the next season, but I didn't find it terrifically memorable.  I liked it, but that's all.

4 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Film: The Dirt

Biopic of Mötley Crüe, taken from their collaborative autobiography.  Fun, and highly entertaining, but far too schmaltzy; watching this, knowing nothing about them, one might get the impression that, for instance, Tommy Lee was an unlucky in love, lovable goofball who adored his parents, and that's all.  A more realistic look at the history of the band might have been better.  The actors were great, though.

4 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Film: Knowing

Stars Nicholas Cage.  Starts in the late 1950s, in which some schoolchildren make a time capsule to be opened in the present day.  One child leaves a series of prophecies that, as Cage discovers, have been coming true ever since.  Supernatural, horror, suspense - I liked it a lot.

4.5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Film: Her Smell

Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men, Top of the Lake), who I love, stars as the broken down star of a once huge but fading 3-girl rock/punk band.  She is excellent, as ever, and the first half of the film, in which her breakdown is illustrated so brilliantly, was brilliant and cringe-makingly believeable, but I was less impressed by the second half (recovery, coming back to life) - I thought it ended in a bit too much of an HEA sort of way, and wasn't as edgy as the first half.

4 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Series: Love

In its third season, it's a romantic comedy set in LA, totally not my usual thing, but I've been enjoying it.  It's very current and witty, if you can get past the two main characters being really irritating (the female, Mickey, is horrible) and saying 'cool' every five minutes.  That sounds as if I should hate it, but it's surprisingly good.  I like watching a couple of episodes before I go to sleep at night, or if I can't be bothered with anything heavy.

4 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Film: Aquaman

4 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Ludicrous fantasy about a man who is half human, half Atlantean - but great fun and very watchable.  Aside from anything else, it's worth watching for the glory that is Jason Momoa!

Film: The Highwaymen

Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson star as two old timer cops on the hunt for Bonnie and Clyde.  The scenery and authenticity of life in Depression-hit America kept me watching, but the film didn't really grab me as I expected it to.  I actually fell asleep during the last 20 minutes.  It was just okay; I wouldn't not recommend it but I found it a bit repetitive and it kind of missed the mark for me.

3 stars ⭐⭐⭐

Series: The Widow

Kate Beckinsale stars as a woman whose husband was supposedly killed in a plane crash over the Congo jungle.  Then she sees him in a video, years later...
The plot is interesting, but this wasn't for me.  Beckinsale is incredibly wooden and the dialogue is flat and unrealistic.  A show that should have been great, but we abandoned it during episode 3.

2 stars ⭐⭐