Slumdog Millionaire (2008) (Greatest Movie of All-Time Podcast) - Currently on HBOGo
-Listen to the podcast on Anchor, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Breaker, Overcast, Pocketcasts, and RadioPublic
Swing Time (1936) - Currently on TCM
- A classic of old Hollywood with the best dancers of their time, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. This movie is renown for its dancing, music, and choreography. It's story is wanting after this many years and the dance numbers are way too long in spots, but it would be a good quarantine watch for anyone who likes classic movies and Hollywood. Just ignore the one weird scene of forced black-face.
Casablanca (1942) - Currently on TCM
- This was a great movie before I developed my current movie watching lens, but Holy Crap is it amazing once you actually know what you're looking at. The feeling, the writing, the tone, the music, the cinematography; everything is exquisite, and you need to watch this movie. (Full Stop) Go do it!
Shazam! (2019) - Currently on HBO
- I originally watched this in theaters like I do almost all superhero movies and especially DC, but I forgot how fun this movie is as well as getting the tone of Billy Batson right. This movie should have been DC's version of Ant-Man had they not screwed up their "universe" several years ago, but it is still a great movie that I love and am excitedly waiting for the sequel for.
Aquaman (2018) - Currently on HBO
- This is still DC's biggest movie to date (despite the Dark Knight and Wonder Woman being so much better). Currently, the sequel is still in development, and could be further pushed back given the state of the industry at the moment. I still don't buy Jason Mamoa as Aquaman from the comics and TV version I grew up on, and I don't think I ever will. He's ok, and thus why I'm not as sold on this movie as most people are. However, James Wan did an incredible job bringing this whole vision to life, and the scenes exploring Atlantis and the rest of the ocean are breathtaking effects for modern cinema. I will enjoy what new worlds we are likely to explore in the sequel, and the already teeming rivalry between Black Manta and Aquaman should be fun to watch.
The Hustler (1961) - Currently on TCM
- One of the great Paul Newman starring roles. He plays a con-artist small time pool playing Hustler that travels to Ames, IA to take on the best in the world. There is a better version of this movie with a better editor, and a few cuts to take the run time down about a half an hour. However, the last forty-five minutes is where this movie really shines. It's not going to be as high a recommend as many other movies for me, but this is definitely one to watch if you find it on somewhere because the action is still great, the score is outstanding, and Paul Newman was as born to be a movie star as almost anyone else.
Killing Eve (Eps. 1.4-2.3)
-This has been a fun show, but it does seem to lose steam over the course of the second half of season one and really loses its direction in season two. This unfortunately suffers from the same thing that Game of Thrones did when it ran out of the book material that the show was based on.
My Weekly Shows:
Westworld (Ep. 3.6-3.7) HBO
-We've really started to move into the final stages of the season. As with all of the episodes this season, we really only get to further a few more storylines here: Charlotte, Maeve, and William (thank god he's still going). While the story did a lot to really humanize Serac last week while also giving us the biggest plotlines for the major characters, this week seemed more like a bridge episodes to move all of the more minor characters into position for the final two episodes. Not that this wasn't a good episode. It's just hard to come off of last week's and not feel a bit of a dip.
- We also got a lot of reveals in the penultimate episode. I won't spoil them here, but, while these reveals were rewarding, I certainly don't know where the show wants to take things at this point or what they are driving at. It seems like we reached a great high point in 3.5 only to start coming down off the highs because they show has no great direction.
Superstore (Ep. 5.21) NBC
-Amy is leaving? Only after what will become the final episode of season five did I even realize that America Ferrera was leaving the show. Now, due to the lack of a send off, she will be coming back for one episode at the beginning of six to finish her arch. However, the show lost steam some time ago, and that's why this season's finale was so bittersweet. I thought they were really trying to finally answer some of the show's original questions with Jonah and Amy, and it now seems that they only did because those characters are leaving. Ultimately, the show without those two leading will be like the stunted last two seasons of the Office without Steve Carrell. I don't honestly know what will be left of this show after that episode, and they're going to need to really bring it to keep me watching.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Ep. 7.13) NBC
-We simultaneously got a great storyline with city-wide blackout (although one generator going out wouldn't cause that large of a blackout), and the arrival of Mac. This show has been hitting on all cylinders all season giving us possibly its best season yet, and it looks like it is hitting its stride just now. Who knew.
RUN (Ep. 1.2-1.3) HBO
-We really moved the ball quickly here. Wow! In true Phoebe Waller-Bridge fashion, this show isn't pulling punches, and the ending of this episode drops like a hammer. Most of the episode is playing with the tension that is building between Billy and Ruby as to what they have done, and the consequences of their actions. Yet, like a water-heater with a blocked valve, it explodes with a thud that won't easily be dealt with by the end. The stakes are just starting from this daring show, and I love it already.
-Last week focused on more of the backstory for Ruby while this week really took some time to delve in to Billy's world. We finally meet the mysterious Fiona, and we get, at least some, of the reason for Billy's escape. Next week seems to be the second kick of this series that will really start the next set of action that will ramp things up to the seasonal climax.
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver - HBO