Life & Beth, Pieces of Her and Upload

    My Top Three This Week

Greetings to all my semi-constant readers. It has been a minute since I last posted but I have been looking for some good content out there and it has been hard to find. The new season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is losing a little ground and as much as I love the characters and their journey I want a better story line next season but they pulled out all the stops for the finale so I will be back. I have a few things I am really liking right now though.

1) Life & Beth, a Hulu Original is a brilliant vehicle for Amy Schumer which is why she wrote it and created it for herself. Schumer is Beth- a sales rep for a mid level wine distributor who has let herself fade into the background of her life. She settles for a narcissistic boyfriend who proposes to her during her mother's memorial service. Her life was on track to be a series of small disappointments when something creates a change and she wakes up and wants something different. She moves back to her mother's house in Long Island and reconnects with some of her old friends and starts working with a family winery. She meets a farmer who farms the crops on the winery whose simple life seems richer than her own. That farmer is played by Michael Cera and he brings out something in her that no else could. Through a series of flashbacks to her childhood we see the events that shaped her life with an alcoholic father with great casting of Michael Rapaport. Her relationship with her younger sister Ann ( the very talented Susannah Flood) and her best friend Maya (hilarious Yamaneika Saunders) and just the likability of Schumer in this role made it one of my favs.

2) Pieces of Her streaming on Netflix is a wild unpredictable rollercoaster and a highly addictive binge watch for me. Personally I will watch anything with Toni Collette in it and this was no exception. A young Andy (Bella Heathcote) is witness to a horrific mall killing and her mother Laura (Collette) savagely kills the young man who committed the murder. When the media hails her as a reluctant hero, Laura tries to keep her daughter and herself out of the spotlight. Someone from her past comes on and Laura sends Andy on the run with a suitcase full of money and new identities for Laura. Andy soon discovers she is in a dangerous cat and mouse game and nothing and no one in her life can be trusted.

3) Upload season two streaming on Prime is just as hilarious as season one. This is probably the funniest series on television right now. The plot line set in the future where a young Nathan Brown ( Robbie Amell) dies mysteriously and his conscious uploaded in a virtual afterlife where money can get you everything including a guardian angel Nora (Andy Allo) working for the evil money grabbing Horizon. There is a resistance to the inequality in the world and Nora and Nathan join the forces against the machine. This may not sound like a comedy and this series created by Greg Daniels (Parks and Recreation and The Office) but it is witty, smart and funny as anything I have seen lately. Some great performances by Allegra Edwards, Kevin Bigley and Owen Daniels.

Inventing Anna, Kimi and Wolf Like Me

   My Top Three This Week

Greetings to all my semi-constant readers.. I'm spending a lot of times these days watching Oscar nominated films. I highly recommend Nightmare Alley, Power of the Dog and Spencer. This could be Kristen Stewart's year and lets not forget about Encanto and the great soundtrack. If you want to watch something really fun watch Marry Me Lots of new content and some series endings (Claws) but here are some of my favorites right now.

1) Inventing Anna streaming on Netflix  is based on a true story about Anna Delvey who conned socialites and artists alike around 2013-2017 pretending to be a wealthy German heiress.  Another Shonda Rimes hit! Played to perfection by Julia Garner (Ozark) . The cat and mouse game of what is real and what isn't is well played by Anna now in a jail cell and reporter Vivian Kent ( Anna Chlumsky) who wants to uncover the real story. Is it a love story between Anna and Chase (Saamer Usmani) who is charming all the rich benefactors or is it a big con? Watch the series and find out!

2) Kimi a movie streaming on HBO Max directed by Steven Soderbergh is one of the best tech thrillers around. Starring Zoë Kravitz  as Angela Childs who lives in Seattle working in tech for an A.I. called Kimi an Alexa like platform helping the tool  learn by deciphering questions from users. She uncovers what she believes is a crime during a sound bite and reports  the incident only to find herself under attack. An Agoraphobic not leaving her apartment, she finds herself on the run. Great casting and fantastic co-stars like Rita Wilson, and Jaime Camil. This is one of my favorite thrillers in some time.

3) Wolf Like Me a Peacock Original series now streaming is great genre twist starring Josh Gad and Isla Fisher as an unlikely love story with a twist. This charming story introduces us to Gary (Gad) a lonely widower with a clever daughter Emma (amazing Ariel Donoghue) who gets into a wreck with  Mary (Fisher) who is an emotional wreck herself. Gary and Mary keep being put together through the series and they begin dating. Things don't go so well once Gary finds Mary's dark secret but the humor and heart keep us rooting for this little family. I enjoyed this quirky comedy.

Somebody Somewhere, The Gilded Age and Single Drunk Female

  My Top Three This Week

Greetings to all my semi-constant readers. It has been awhile since i put new content and I have some great things to share. I have finished the latest installment of Ozark- (this is Ruth's year for awards) the new season of Euphoria and starting some new series that have promise-Pivoting that I recommend.

1) Somebody Somewhere -streaming on HBO Max is a poignant , compelling story of finding your tribe later in life. Bridgett Everett  brilliant is Sam who lived a life never fitting in and comes back to her Kansas hometown to grieve the death of her favorite sister. Battling her living sister Tricia and trying to make peace with a father dealing with the alcoholism of his wife and loss of his daughter is leading to increasing depression. A dead end job grading papers leads to connecting with an old classmate Joel (the amazingly talented Jeff Hiller) who introduces her to "Choir Practice". She meets a band of outsiders who have come together to drink, sing and support each other. The friendship between Sam and Joel is the heart of the story with a perfectly cast of supporting characters and I cannot wait to see where this goes.

2) The Gilded Age is yet another HBO Max hit. Brought to you by Julian Fellowes (Downton Abbey) , this series takes place in Old New York during the 1880s as a newly rich railroad tycoon and his wife try to enter into old society money. Rich cinematography , wardrobes and great acting make this the perfect binge watch. Carrie Coon, Cynthia Nixon, Louisa Jacobson(another Streep daughter), Taissa Farmiga, Christine Baranski, Debra Monk and Audra McDonald round out this great cast of women.

3) Single Drunk Female streaming on Hulu is a Dramedy with a young Sam Fink struggling to stay sober after losing her job and moving back home with her mother ( a fantastic Ally Sheedy). She has more people rooting for her than she deserves as she takes her few loyal loved ones down with her. With the love and support of her best friend Felicia (Lily Mae Harington) , a hilarious Parole Officer Gail and a great sponsor Olivia (Rebecca Henderson) she navigates what it takes to stay sober.

A Clüsterfünke Christmas, A Boy Called Christmas, A Castle for Christmas and 8_Bit Christmas

   My Top Three This Week: CHRISTMAS EDITION

Season's Greetings to all my semi-constant readers. Another year is closing and we are slowly moving to more holiday gatherings with friends and family. Snuggling up with a favorite series or  holiday movie never changes. We have annual favorites like " A Diva's Christmas Carol" and  "A Charlie Brown Christmas" but new ones pop up every year.

1)  A Clüsterfünke Christmas streaming on Comedy Central is the perfect send up of Hallmark Shmaltz holiday movies. Featuring Rachel Dratch and Ana Gasteyer (who wrote this comedy) and Cheyenne Jackson and Vella Lovel (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) as Holly. The story centers around Holly  who comes to the Clüsterfünke Inn to purchase it as a resort for her boss. She falls in love and discovers the meaning of Christmas (of course). A hilarious Christmas romp with some great comedians make for a very funny film.

2) A Boy Called Christmas, a Netflix Original from the folks who brought us The Christmas Chronicles is beautifully filmed fantasy with elves, a talking mouse and Christmas magic. And a quest by a small human boy to find "Hope" for his king in the only place he knows to go- Elfhelm. A great cast including Kristen Wiig and Michael Huisman (La Brea) Jim Broadbent ,Henry Lawfull as Nikolas (pefectly cast) and the legend Maggie Smith as the narrater/storyteller Aunt Ruth. This will be another Christmas classic with a perfect ending. A must watch!

3) A Castle for Christmas-a Netflix Original is what I call "Christmas Porn" which means every available space in every scene is completely decorated for folks like me who watch as much for the story as for the snow, wreaths and magnificently decorated trees. This one is a fully decorated castle. A charming story of a disgraced author Sophie (Brooke Sheilds) who flies to a small town in Scotland to get away from her angry fans (Spoiler Alert: she killed off a major beloved character). She finds a charming inn and a charming  rundown castle Dun Dunbar Castle inhabited by a crotchety young Duke Myles ( Cary Elwes). She falls in love with the castle and the Duke eventually , but there is a snag. She buys the castle from him and there in starts  the war between them. Shields and Elwes have plenty of chemistry and the townsfolk have plenty Scottish wisdom and friendship to win her over.

Bonus :  8-Bit Christmas  streaming on HBO Max is a modern (80's) version of A Christmas Story. The plot revolves around a young Jake Doyle trying his hardest to get a Nintendo gaming system for Christmas. Selling wreaths door to door to win the system until he realizes he is competing with every boy in school. He makes a pact with his little sister in exchange for his pushing for a Cabbage Patch doll for her. There are plenty of 80's callouts and characters galore. Winslow Fegley is great as young Jake and Bellaluna Resnick as Lizzy his wise-cracking sister. June Diane Raphael and Steve Zahn round out the cast as his parents and Neil Patrick Harris is the adult Jake. Good fun!