The Movie and TV Thread

Fairyland is a movie based on the memoir of a women's gay father, who was an appreciated poet, and her life with him in 70's and 80's San Francisco.  He raises her as a single father after his wife dies in a car crash.  He makes a lot of poor choices along the way that affected his daughter.  As a teen and adult she has to unpack her shame of having a gay father and her own desires to escape San Francisco.  

The acting and the script are top notch.  It was produced by acclaimed producer Sophia Coppola.  It has an extremely impressive 98% score on Rotten Tomatoes.  I liked it much better than my friend that watched it with me who said it was good when I said it was excellent.

https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/fairyland-scoot-mcnairy-movie-review-2025

I know I've been on a run of queer entertainment lately because I'm gay, but I promise that's not all I like.  LOL

Anyway Boots is a Netflix 8 part series based on a memoir called The Pink Marine.  It's about an 18 year that joins the marines with his best friend in the days before "Don't Ask Don't Tell" and it was illegal to homosexual in the military.  

It has an interesting cast of characters, has a lot of heart and has a mostly feel good conclusion as the series takes you through his boot camp experience.  

It was the last project of legendary producer Normal Lear before his death.  It got some free publicity when he claimed "Netflix whose leadership consistently produces and feeds woke garbage to their audience and children."  The series then went on to double it's viewership climbing to #2 on the Top Ten list.

There's no plans currently for a 2nd season but it looks promising that it might happen.

I did an eye roll when I saw yet another version of Frankenstein, one of the most widely recreated stories on film.  But I needed something to watch at the gym and realized that I'd never seen any Frankenstein movie before.   

Anyway, this remake is very well done, obviously with a decent budget and by accomplished film maker Guillermo del Toro.  Well acted and very well written.  It's interesting in that it presents in two parts, the first from the creator and the other from the monster.  

A good choice when your out of ideas.

Train Dreams is a Netflix movie that is most likely going to get an Oscar nomination for best picture as it's already scored a couple of major precursors such as the Golden Globe and Critics choice.  The lead actor Joel Edgerton is also up for Best Actor in both those awards.  

The movie is set in the early 1900's and revolves around a loner logger who contemplates his life's changes and his losses.  It's very well done, the acting by Edgerton is top notch and the cinematography is gorgeous.  

https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/train-dreams-film-review-2025#Google_vignette

Wake Up Dead Man:  A Knives Out Mystery is a Netflix video with a stellar ensemble cast revolving around the murder of a charismatic priest.  

While it's billed as a comedy it seems a bit more serious than the previous installments in the "Knives Out" series.  It has some underlying themes like forgiveness and redemption.  It has the usual twists and turns.  I liked it a lot.

https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/knives-out-3-wake-up-dead-man-movie-review-2025

Jay Kelly is a Netflix movie staring A Listers George Clooney and Adam Sandler in a supporting role.  George Clooney scored a Golden Globe nomination for acting and Sandler scored some major nominations for supporting actor in the Critics Choice and Golden Globes giving him some Oscar buzz (for a nomination, not a win).  

It's about a an aging movie star that had a stellar career but along the way he contemplates his regrets, in particular his neglect of his children while they were growing up and he how chose fame and fortune over them. 
It's very well done, has a good script and good acting.

The Left Handed Girl was recommended to me by my Netflix algorithm.  It enjoys a whopping 99% on Rotten Tomatoes, which usually means I too will like a movie.

It just made the short list for Best International Feature Academy Award.  (Not likely to win or even get a nomination but impressive nonetheless.)

It centers around a single mother and her two daughters.  All three of them have their issues and secrets.  It's not a movie filled with a lot of drama and action but a lot of undertones which makes for a good movie.  It's in Mandarin but Netflix has it dubbed in English and is set in Taiwan.

Hedda is a movie on Amazon Prime and is set in the early 1900's and revolves around a manipulative woman who ultimately sets out to destroy one of her ex lovers who is competing with her husband for a job he desperately needs financially.  It has a beautiful set and take place for the course of an elaborate party that ends in a shooting.

The lead actress Tessa Thomson is up for a Sprit Award (the awards given to indie movies) for her performance.  Even better is supporting actress who is up for a Spirit Award as well, Nina Hoss who gives a top notch performance.

It has it's flaws but over all I really liked the movie based on the strength of the characters and the acting.

https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/hedda-tessa-thompson-tiff-film-review-2025

Down Cemetery Road is a limited series British action that's an action thriller on Apple TV.  I found the story line compelling and the acting really good.  It has some violence and tense moments that kept me watching.

https://www.rogerebert.com/streaming/down-cemetery-road-apple-tv-emma-thompson-review-2025#Google_vignette

The Last Samuri standing is a Japanese Netflix series that was a global hit and enjoys a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes.

You can watch it dubbed in English like I did, or in Japanese with subtitles.  

It's set in Japan at the end of the Samuri era when guns became the weapon of choice instead of the sword.  There are a couple of story lines one of which involves a mysterious contest with a huge cash prize but at the end you have to collect tokens from people that you kill along the way.  It has a lot of blood and violence, but the sword fighting scenes are epic and very well choreographed.

Usually this kind of genre is not my thing but it got such good buzz I watched the first episode and stayed with it.  The acting is top notch as well.

It started out with six episodes with clearly another season in mind, and it indeed has been renewed with new shows coming out in July.

https://www.rogerebert.com/streaming/last-samurai-standing-netflix-tv-review-2025

The Last Frontier is an action adventure movie set in Alaska on Apple TV.  It has a lot of twists and turns and surprises.  I enjoyed it.  It was canceled after one season but had a satisfactory ending.