Saturday Fiction

 Supposedly a "Tense, pounding, historical Thriller" with Gong Li  in Shanghai circa December 1941. Playing a famous actress on a secret mssion,  We wonder what her motives are, and who is to be trusted.  Filmed in B&W.  Maybe I was in the wrong mood, but  it seemed sorta meh to me.  Maybe its better in Chinese. 

Beatles Get back - Documentary

 Incredibly long documentary about The Beatles last live concert and their making of  the Abbey Road and Let it Be. Lots of singing.  Lots of "Hey, why don't we try this?" and  chit chat. Seems that the FAB 4, didn't just do drugs, they smoked a ton of cigarettes.  Shows in realtime that Paul was really the driving force behind the Band. Every group needs a leader, and Paul led the Beatles. Its no accident, he had the longest and most successful solo career.  It should be  obvious,  but this is for Beatles fans only. 

Pandas (2018) - Documentary

 42 minute documentary about "Qian Qian" who is born in captivity but destined for life in the scenic Sichuan mountains of China.  

There are nice shots of the Sichuan mountains.  And some very cute shots of the Pandas.  But the story really isn't that great, and we needed more Panda.  OK for what it is. Probably better in an IMAX theater full of people laughing at those lovable bears.  

The Northsman

Too dark. Too much Mud. Too much blood. No doubt a realistic look for Vikings back in 1000 AD or whenever, but I didn't care who became King of their muddy streets and dirty wood huts.

Sorry, I like my historical adventure films to be inspiring, unrealistic and romantic. Give me Kirk Douglas and some rousing clean-cut Vikings any day of the week. Plus, I need someone to root for.

Yellowstone TV series - Season 1

 Stars Kevin Costner and its fairly popular.  I wasn't impressed. For some reason thought it was a Western.  Y'know six-guns and horses.  A Western western.  But its not.  Its about rich ranchers in  Wyoming.  Too contempory and too soap opera for my tastes. 

White Lotus - Season 1

 Above average HBO TV comedy about a group of rich people visiting an expensive Hawaiian resort.  Place is not named, but I'd guess Maui.  It was mixture of good and bad:

The Good

Jennifer Coolidge and Murray Bartlett are the comic standouts.  Both are "Alcoholic Lunatics" but we take a while to peel back the layers on "Armond" to find that out.

The other adults are amusing but not consistently so.  Steve Lacy as "Shane" becomes more funny as his feud with Armond becomes more and more involved.  Steve Zahn and Connie Britton as "The Mossbachers" also get better, although Mark's discovery of his Father's double life was laugh out loud hilarious.

The Bad

First, in order to pad out the series, or to appeal to the "Youth Demographic", we get far too focus on the 3 teenagers.  Quinn Mossbacher is a bore, and the same is true of the daughter and her friend.  It didn't take long for me to FF through every scene with these characters, unless they were involved with the older adults.

Second,  we get the typical HBO leftwing,  NPR/Hipster degeneracy and politics. Lots of explicit sex (this time Gay ass kissing),  swearing,  and drug use.  Which we're all supposed to be tittilated or think its funny. Also, lots of talk about "Colonialism" and "White Privilage".  The rich guests are all white and WASPy (not a Jew, Asian, or Indian in sight). The staff are all put-upon  blacks, Polynesians, and Gays.  I'll give the Producers points for making crazy Tanya a BLM supporter while Mrs. Mossbacher loves Hillary Clinton. 

Summary: A mixed bag, but overall enjoyable. Compared to most USA television, this is pretty good. I look forward to Season 2.  But will have my FF in hand.