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True Detective Season Four: Night Country  I haven’t watched Jody Foster in a movie or series since perhaps Safe Room and certainly before that in Silence of the Lambs.As part of the True Detective series, this time the story is set in a remote part of Alaska where it’s dark for an entire month during winter. It’s also in a small coastal town where many of the townsfolk represent First Peoples. When mystery and mayhem visit a group of researchers who sequester themselves in a nearby compound, Foster plays local law enforcement, and compares notes on the case with a native American woman, a state trooper.At first, this  one reminded me strongly of Dark Winds, a series I reviewed that took place on reservation  land

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I haven’t seen all of the nominated films–there are too many (ten) nominated films this year anyway. But I can talk about what I have seen. The Holdovers This one could also have been titled “The Throwback” in the sense that it’s an old-fashioned dramatic film: no CGI, no crazy special effects, no aliens, ghosts, monsters or supernatural beings, etc. It’s simply about a handful of people who encounter one another more acutely because they’re tossed together almost randomly like “leftovers “ that result in a surprisingly good goulash.  Like most good films, it’s unpredictable but credible. As a teacher, I was a little more engaged, perhaps, because the setting is the holiday break at a New England boarding school where the main character (Paul

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CHRISTMAS REALLY DOES come early at times: I am already into the fifth season and the third season respectively of two of the best recent series I can think of: Fargo and Slow Horses.  Fargo has gone retro and evoked the original film. At first, the Minnesota-speak was a little heavy, though as with some seasonings, you have to err in the direction of a tad too much rather than too little.  In the second episode on FX, I got a glimpse of Jon Hamm’s character and enjoyed the transformation he underwent: Fargo characters are always very nuanced and must be 99.9% original with respect to non-Cohen Brothers characters.  I might mention that Jennifer Jason Leigh creates a compelling new character in this. I reviewed Slow

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I WENT TO A THEATER to see the latest Ridley Scott “masterpiece,” Napoleon, on the big screen. I am a very big fan of Scott’s because he did Bladerunner and so many other great films. And as an enormous fan of Joaquin Phoenix who played the lead, it was hard not to have the greatest expectations going in. After two hours, I only stayed because I wanted to “see” the history and the ending. I still didn’t make it all the way. Even great directors meet their Waterloo as Napoleon did. Scott made an epic film that transported viewers more than two centuries back in time. The quality of the backdrop was excellent as expected. There were two major flaws, however, that spoiled it for

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MERLIN I saw this series on Amazon and had to give it a chance; a few years back I read the classic fantasy The Once and Future King and its finale’ The Book of Merlyn by T.H. White. It is a lighter version of the saga of King Arthur loosely based on the much older (poem?) Le Morte d’Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory. Because the lore surrounding King Arthur is varied to begin with, many characters’ names were familiar, but the circumstances of their role were changed. I have to believe that, in addition the many historical versions of the story, the producers took additional license with it to fit the appetite for magic and fantasy and to fill several seasons with content. The acting

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  AS A WES ANDERSON devotee, I was going to watch this film with no regard for reviews or hubbub about it aforehand. As with The French Dispatch, his most recent full feature, this movie will require another viewing; there’s too much detail to consume and it goes by too quickly.  The cast is replete with stars and familiar faces for Anderson’s film.  Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johannson, Liev Schreiber, and Bryan Cranston are all new (I think). Jason Schwartzman and Edward Norton are among the veterans. My initial reaction was that Anderson had become too stylized and too cute. He felt the need to frame the film as a movie about a play. For me, his movies will always survive a viewing because they are

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  ABOUT TWENTY YEARS ago, while living in Arizona, I read a good number of the mystery novels by Tony Hillerman.  They centered on the exploits of a Navajo detective who used his senses of harmony and balance to solve crimes on the enormous reservation that covers parts of  Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado.  It includes Hopi and other tribal sections.  Robert Redford bought the rights to some of the material and co-produced this with George R. R. Martin and others. One of the benefits of the “whodunnits” here is the look into the Navajo culture. It’s matriarchal and mystical, holistic and animist; it’s beautiful, noble and vulnerable. [There’s currently a Ken Burns’ documentary on the American Bison and the effect is the same:

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THERE ARE THREE FILMS either just out or opening soon that I am very anxious to see.   Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny I have come to appreciate Harrison Ford more and more through his role in the Star Wars franchise but more so because of his starring role in Bladerunner and its sequel. I expect the quality of the production to be top-notch and the plot to be compelling. Cast includes Antonio Banderas, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and Mads Mikkelsen.   Asteroid City I would probably watch anything Wes Anderson makes. I never watched the Darjeeling Limited, but he has made several incredible and artful films, like Moonrise Kingdom, The Royal Tannenbaums, Grand Budapest Hotel, etc. One testament to the success of his work

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THIS FILM CONTAINS A NUMBER OF INGREDIENTS that make a film work for me. I can’t promise they will work for you with this movie, but here goes: It has a director with a solid track record It’s British–I tend to think the Brits often make great films because the director has more artistic license; the arts get some public funding so you don’t get movies managed largely for profit or by “a committee” There are members of the cast I enjoy: one or two good performances can save or make a movie The plot and the cinematography are compelling enough to enjoy without having to suspend disbelief unreasonably much or often Guy Ritchie has made some very good films in this genre–which is usually

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  THIS SERIES HAS A GOOD CAST (though the best performances might not come from the ones you expect) and offers new and sometimes sordidly funny insights into the events leading up to the Nixon re-election campaign, the Watergate break-in(s), and the onset of scandal. The two best performances came from Justin Theroux as Gordon Liddy, and Lena Headey as Dorothy Hunt. I have enjoyed Woody Harrelson in many past efforts, but in this role as Howard Hunt,  I quickly tired of his habit of thrusting his jaw forward to indicate some inner conflict. Theroux as Liddy was superb and may get nominated for it. Lena Headey was fantastic as the spouse of Howard Hunt. The cast contained other familiar faces amid solid performances. I 

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