Palmer, The Little Things, The Stand and WandaVision

    My Top Three This Week

Greetings to all my semi-constant readers. Be sure to check out the exciting debut novella on Amazon "Convent Down the Lane" by Tim Delaney. After taking a short hiatus I am back to share my new favorites. Good news- Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist and Servant are back for new seasons as well as Search Party. That alone is worth getting out of bed for, but wait there's more....

1) Palmer now streaming on Apple TV + is probably one of the best films Justin Timberlake has ever made.  Palmer, a  young ex-con has returned to live with his grandmother ( the fabulous June Squibb) and is struggling to find work and rebuild a life he had thrown away. He connects with a young neighbor Sam ( Ryder Allen) who lives next door and is having his own trouble fitting in. Sam, is a free spirit who loves playing with dolls and doing cheers, is completely unprepared for the hostile world he is living in. Palmer (Timberlake) becomes very attached to young Sam and takes him under his wing and they quickly form a family of two after Sam's mother Shelly ( Juno Temple) abandons him.  Alisha Wainwright  plays Maggie a school teacher who forms a bond with both Palmer and Sam. Ryder and Timberlake are so excellent together you will root with them all the way to the end of this tearjerker. A high recommend ...

2) The Little Things with the dynamic cast is now streaming on HBO Max. Billed as a thriller- it feels moody and thoughtful and almost a character study of  the way a heinous crime can eat away at a good detective. Rami Malek, Jared Leto and Denzel Washington form an unlikely trio in this well written thriller. I wont spoil the plot by revealing who is who as there is some ambiguity even up to the very end. The film starts with a possible murder and links to some previous grisly crimes. Denzel does what he does best playing flawed characters that you root for. Rami Malek is vert convincing as a savvy detective and Jared Leto is perfectly creepy in a role that he inhabits with a Manson like glee.

3) The Stand streaming on CBS All Access is hitting it's stride. Like most of us loyal fans of the book I was skeptical of the first episode and the non-linear story telling. But the cast is great and as many of us know telling a story about a pandemic in the middle of a pandemic is quite a brave move. The Stand at its core is a story of the final battle of good and evil when mankind is missing most of its humanity. Introduction to the large cast with flashbacks worked most of the time as the episodes got richer and further into the current world of Boulder City and Las Vegas. Some great casting choices like of course Whoopi as Mother Abigail and Alexander Skarsgård as Randall Flagg at his menacing best. James Marsden as Stu and Odessa Young as Frannie have definite chemistry and  Greg Kinnear is perfect as Glen Bateman.  Henry Zaga  as Nick is woefully miscast in what could have been a standout role. But two of my favorites are Owen Teague as the creepy Harold and Brad William Henke as Tom Cullen (M-O-O-N). All and all , this feels satisfying to me as a fan.

Bonus : WandaVision on Disney+ is fun for everyone even if you don't know the backstory (like me). From the Marvelverse comes Wanda the Scarlet Witch and Vision the android. An unlikely couple who are living in the black and white town of Westview in the 1950s. The town seems perfect and is probably harboring a big secret not unlike Wanda and Vision who are pretending to be the perfect couple. Each episode seems to be modeled after classic TV shows like Dick Van Dyke and Bewitched. Even with a laugh track I am intrigued with the wardrobe and set pieces as well as the storyline. Paul Bettany and Elizabeth Olsen are perfect as the couple and they have a great supporting cast like Deborah Jo Rupp, Kathryn Hahn and Randall Park .