Rambling Film

Official Synopsis:  When a mysterious European ship is found marooned in a nearby fishing village, Lord Yoshii Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada)  discovers secrets that could tip the scales of power and devastate his enemies. Some series don't fit the binging model and are best enjoyed week by week. This series is one of those. Each episode ended with just enough intrigue for the next, but not enough to make me lose my mind that I would have to wait.  Lord Toranaga looms large over the series, but it's really his English captive John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis) and his translator Mariko (Anna Sawai) who are our main characters. They form a strong bond together, even though they are at times at odds. I really hope we see Anna Sawai's name as an Emmy nominee this year because she's tremendous in this. Mariko is easily the most interesting character and when she's not on screen, the show is just a little less good.  There's some pretty intense death scenes here, I don'

Official synopsis:  A journey across a dystopian future America, following a team of military-embedded journalists, Lee (Kirsten Dunst) Joel, (Wagner Moura) Sammy, (Stephen McKinley Henderson) and tag along Jessie (Cailee Spaeny) as they race against time to reach DC before rebel factions descend upon the White House .  As soon as I heard "Western forces of Texas and California" in the trailer, I knew this movie was going to be apolitical. The "why" of this war isn't even vaguely addressed. You can read between the lines a bit here and there, but really this is a film about war photographers, not the civil war named in the title. When you go into it with that in mind, it will make for a much better watch.  Lee is tired. She's seen too much, she's practically on auto pilot throughout this entire film and she's trying to provide just enough advice to young Jessie while also keeping her at arms length. It's their relationship that's the crux of

Official Synopsis:  When people in Littlehampton, including conservative local Edith (Olivia Colman) begin to receive letters full of hilarious profanities, rowdy Irish migrant Rose (Jessie Buckley) is charged with the crime. Suspecting that something is amiss, the town's women investigate. I open this review with a question. Have you seen ANY marketing for this film? Any ads at all? Because I have not. When I saw my local indie theater was getting it, I of course hit "play" on the trailer based on Colman and Buckley's names alone. This was my first time seeing anything about this film. Which is a shame, because it should be advertised everywhere. What a delightful little comedy this was. Full of amazing performances from the largely female cast, and brilliantly directed by Thea Sharrock. Yes, there's bursts of creative profanity, but it's well placed for maximum laughs. Comedies in my opinion are always best enjoyed in groups so the laughter can be contagious

No, this is not a documentary on the wrestler Cody Rhodes. Just a poorly named 3-part series about a truly harrowing crime. In 2015 Denise Huskins and Aaron Quinn were fast asleep when men broke into their home, drugged them and took Denise. Aaron of course went to the police, and found himself the prime suspect after what he described seemed stranger than fiction. Denise re-appears in 2 days, completely traumatized and the police now accuse them of doing this all for attention. It shouldn't take you long to guess who's in the wrong here. At least once a year I watch a true crime documentary that is so insane, I can't believe I didn't know about it before hitting play. American Nightmare is that for me. Was this all over the news? Maybe just locally, because I have no memory of it. What Denise and Aaron went through is awful, and the fact that they are able to calmly talk about it now is a miracle itself.  At a brisk three 45 minute episodes, this makes for an easy sho

Official synopsis:  An anonymous young man (Dev Patel) unleashes a campaign of vengeance against the corrupt leaders who murdered his mother and continue to systemically victimize the poor and powerless. Dev Patel said it's not enough to grace us with his presence in front of the camera, he wants to give it a shot behind the camera too. And so we get his Jordan Peele produced first time feature, Monkey Man . A film that's bound to bring comparisons to the John Wick series. This film has a lot to say about the rich and the powerful, especially the ones who use religion to push their agenda and harm those they deem beneath them. That's what makes Monkey Man stand out from your every day "Dude goes on a killing rampage" film. Patel's not reinventing the wheel here, but by giving us this story with an Indian man front and center, the Western world is at least getting something new.  And he's good as a director! Definitely a bit green. There's far too muc

Back in 2022, I kept getting Youtube ads for a TV show on HBO called Tokyo Vice. It was the only place I saw ads for this show, and I didn't see anyone talking about it on my Twitter timeline. Normally, a show with Ansel Elgort, card carrying member of the Very Punchable Face Club ™ wouldn't sway me, but something about it did.  Now here we are in 2024, and the finale of season 2 just aired last night. It's safe to say that Tokyo Vice has become one of my favorite new shows of recent memory. If you love journalism stories, this might be for you too. A quick run down of who's who and what actors are involved.- Jake (Elgort) is an American journalist living in Tokyo. He becomes the first foreign reporter at The Meicho. He's our lead. Then there's Detective Katagiri (Ken Wantanabe) who Jake begins to work with on a story. Other main players include Samantha (Rachel Keller) another American living in Tokyo working at a club. Her Yakuza love interest Sato, ( Shô Kasa