movies

  • dumb money (2023) - watched this on the plane. if you remember this time, it was bonkers and kind of beautiful at the same time. (4/5)
  • the gentlemen (2019) - watched this in the plane too. guy ritchie has a style. fun, solid cast, a couple of novel twists. (3.5/5)
  • please don’t destroy: the treasure of foggy mountain (2023) - i watched this on peacock. i fell asleep through a chunk of it. i honestly couldn’t tell you the plot. i’m mostly just noting it here so i don’t subject myself to this again.
  • jules (2023) - is this a movie about an alien or getting old? kind of thin, kind of amusing. i’m not sure it was worth the $5.99 we paid to rent it.
  • 3000 years of longing (2022) - i’m a bit of a tilda swinton fan. this was clever, fun, and didn’t leave you waiting for it to pick up at any time. definitely recommended.
  • freelance (2023) - when you’ve seen pretty much everything in the delta lineup that you can stomach already, well, you’ll watch this. it was an amusing john cena, allison brie vehicle.
  • master gardener (2022) - ok, i guess? it was a lot more compelling in the trailer.
  • american fiction (2023) - 🤷‍♂️
  • argyle (2024) - that’s a couple of hours i won’t get back in my life. amusing at some level, irritating at the rest of them.
  • unfrosted (2024) - this was a lot of fun. worth the hype.
  • the leisure seeker (2017) - watched this on the plane to KEF and it’s a tear jerker. if you’re feeling your mortality and in a long term relationship it’s a sobering end.
  • woman at war (2018) - there should have been a lot more attention on this one. solid story, interesting interactions socially.
  • hit man (2024) - someone explain to me why there was so much press around this movie? it was kind of(?) an amusing plot but ultimately boring and painfully contrived.
  • poor things (2023) - yeah, that was every bit as quirky and good as everyone said it was. i’m not sure why we didn’t see this earlier.
  • the instigators (2024) - more fun than i was expecting. an appropriately amusing affleck vehicle and one of the better car chases i’ve seen in the past couple of years.
  • burning (2018) - this was a slow, uhhh … burn. almost bailed an hour and a half into this; wondering if it was going to go somewhere. fundamentally, it delivered at the end.
  • navalny - riveting. the stones on this guy. that said, it sounds like russian politics are a totally different kettle of fish. while this guy calls out putin’s corruption, to the delight of many in the west, it shouldn’t necessarily be interpreted that he holds the same liberal democratic values that have been historically reflected in the west. the wikipedia entry here is very interesting.
  • civil war - wow, this was bad and unsatisfying. the plot was thin at best. the explosions were pretty solid though. you really had to lean into this one to pull away anything meaningful. would recommend a pass. we watched this on max for free and i feel a little robbed.
  • the ministry of ungentlemanly warfare - amusing. rent. don’t buy. solid explosions and nazi killing. will likely require trigger warnings for the current GOP.
  • woman of the hour (netflix) - much better than i was expecting. i knew next to nothing about it going in and i was totally sucked in. full of 1970s sexist cringe.
  • a real pain (theater) - caught this between thanksgivings, much better than i was really expecting going in. first rate performances and a solid storyline.

tv

or whatever we’re calling episodic streaming these days. likely with misc. other stuff thrown in.

  • ricky gervais, armageddon (netflix) - meh. there were a few nuggets in there. clearly he’s riffing on the whole woke thing here. some of this was pretty half-baked and one has to assume that he’s sanded things down before he get out there on tour with this content.
  • monarch: legacy of monsters (apple tv+) - started solid, i’m honestly curious to see where this goes. update: not far.
  • slow horses: season 3 (apple tv+) it’s pretty rare for a series to get better as it goes along. this was a lot of fun.
  • true detective: season 4 (max)
    • 2 episodes in, totally hooked. update - i savored this one week-by-week. i thought it had a rather satisfying conclusion. i don’t care what the ny times says, i had fun.
  • wednesday (netflix) - amusing and well written.
  • mr. and mrs smith (amazon prime) - a fun twist on the whole spy/assassin thang. totally engrossing. well worth watching.
  • house of the dragon (max) i started this coming back from NANOG90 on the plane. i’ll probably keep at it on future flights. can’t say i’m sucked in. but it’s pretty solid entertainment. certainly not game of thrones good though.
  • northern exposure (the 1990s) this is a reset. i never got to really watch this in the 1990s, i’m seeing it with fresh eyes. 1990s TV is slow TV by today’s standards. i have to admit, i’m kind of sucked in. the acting’s not that great, the premise is kind of insulting. all that said, they hired actors who looked like they were legitimately from alaska.
  • fisk (netflix) - 20 minute chunks of probate wry. this was better than expected. oddly fun. we burned thru the available seasons.
  • the gentlemen (netflix) - that movie i saw on a plane … i guess it got turned into a TV series. more guy ritchie, getting a little cliche, but still lots of fun and an amusting way to turn your brain off when you’re tired.
  • 3 body problem (netflix) - loved the books, couldn’t quite hunker down for the tencent version. i’m really hoping this one delivers. (update: it did. please keep rolling with the rest of the books.)
  • sweet tooth (netflix) - a couple of episodes in. i’m bored. bailed.
  • constellation (apple tv+) - noomi rapace, space drama … we forgot we started this. didn’t finish.
  • fallout (amazon) - lots of fun. interesting and surprisingly complete world building. i’m really hoping that this gets picked up for another season.
  • bodkin (netflix) - watched this when on holiday in the faroe islands, entertaining without bogging you down.
  • laurie kilmartin: cis woke grief sl*t (amazon) - apparently, she pissed off the “right” with an abortion joke, this comedy special was pretty solid. i leaned into it.
  • electric dreams (amazon) - a collection of philip k. dick b-grade scifi shorts with a surprisingly solid cast of folks in various roles. you’re free to draw your own parallels with the current state of society and politics.
  • presumed innocent (apple tv+) - about 70% of the way through this you’re really hoping that jake gyllenhal’s character is guilty and you get to see him fry. after you make your peace with the fact that the writers aren’t going to let that happen, you just want to know who did it. then when they’re wrapping it up in the last episode (notably in the last 10 minutes) you find yourself wondering how the writers ever thought you were supposed to accept that he’s some sort of evil genius who figured out all that shit on the fly. 🙄.
  • adam sandler: love you (netflix) - surprisingly amusing and fun. not for the sensitive.
  • the decameron (netflix) - we must be reaching the end of netflix. amusing, but not what i’d call engrossing. fine for when you want to turn your mind off. this is loosely based on some writings which sound more interesting than the netflix adaptation.
  • slow horses: season 4 (apple tv+) - currently savoring this.
  • hasan minhaj: off with his head (netflix) - very funny. highly recommended in these times.
  • yellowjackets: season 1 (netflix) - ok, i guess i see why folks were totally into this show during the pandemic. preposterous on some fronts, but amusing with solid plot development. will likely follow this into the next available seasons.
  • bad sisters: season 1,2 (apple tv+) - the first episode didn’t really suck me in from a character perspective, but the twists really did a solid job hooking for the series. lots of interesting twists, first rate writing. definitely recommended.
  • love and death

podcasts

  • the daily (nyt) - bite sized coverage of whatever’s going on. chances are if you’re reasonably plugged into the scene, you’re going to be ahead of them, but there’s usually a solid take on things.
  • arms control wonk - honestly, jeffrey lewis is kind of tedious, but the research and the coverage of missile tests, nuclear weapons issues, and the coverage on iran is first rate. it’s a peek into a world that requires incredible wonkiness to really grok and kind of looms over all of us.
  • burn the boats - it’s not that i don’t agree with this guy. it’s just that the saw was getting a bit dull and repetitive.
  • the ezra kline show - consistently one of the best researched and developed podcasts that i’ve ever listened too.
  • wedge live: the best minneapolis local politics coverage. full stop.
  • RIPE labs podcast - topical and ahead of the US on a number of fronts.
  • rational security - if i’m looking for the wonky legal take on something in the news, these folks have the goods.
  • matter of opinion - ross douthat apologia vehicle, with a supporting cast that never seems to stick the landing. often, i wonder why i bother.
  • blister yeah, i get it, you’re great at skiing. i couldn’t take this after a while.
  • gear:30 - yeah, it’s more buying stuff, but i kind of like their take on outdoor gear and sometimes they have guests on that are way more interesting than they are.
  • marginal gains it turns out that yes, there is such a thing as too much cycling minutae.
  • the drive: peter attia, md - dense and pretentious, but stimulating discussion re: health and longevity. i get about 30% of these.
  • BHA podcast and blast with hal herring - don’t let hal herring’s country voice throw you off (and it will) the dude’s incredibly sharp, well read and has great guests on his show. one of, if not the, best conservation podcasts i’ve heard. (and i’ve heard a couple)
  • adventure journal - a couple of middle-aged dudes grappling with the fact that they’d like to be living more adventurous lives. gear talk, etc. oh and they have a magazine that’s pretty solid.