George will be away golfing in BC this week. This trip to Kelowna has been cancelled by Covid and forest fires for the last two years so the guys are delighted to be headed there on Monday morning. I will be having a little company come to stay with me and am looking forward to some girls’ outings in the area. Next weekend I will be celebrating the arrival of Baby Ethan with a Sip and See party for lady friends in the Thornbury area, who will get to meet Ethan and Candice while enjoying a Diapers and Donuts theme.
In the meantime, here are some viewing suggestions for you:
AMC
Better Call Saul (Season 6, 13 episodes) It’s the final season and there is only 1 episode left that show how Jimmy McGill became Saul Goodman. Watch for the return of Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul as we conclude the prequel that led to Breaking Bad. A fabulous, mesmerizing noir series.
Apple
Surface (8 episodes) A woman’s quest to rebuild her life after a suicide attempt, and her struggle to understand all the things that led up to that moment. A slow burn of a series that unveils the layers of this mystery very slowly and subtly. Strs Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Oliver Jackson-Cohen.
Loot (11 episodes) After divorcing her husband of 20 years, Molly Novak must figure out what to do with her $87 billion settlement. She decides to reengage with her charitable foundation and reconnect with the real world – finding herself along the way. Great cast includes Maya Rudolph, Olivier Martinez, Adam Scott. Kind of broad and over the top, but I’m willing to hang in for as many of the 11 episodes as I can.
Blackbird (6 episodes) Jimmy Keene is sentenced to 10 years in a minimum security prison but he cuts a deal with the FBI to befriend a suspected serial killer. Keene has to elicit a confession from Larry Hall to find the bodies of as many as eighteen women. Stars Taron Egerton, Paul Walter Hauser, Greg Kinnear and Ray Liotta. Egerton is amazing as the bulked up drug dealer. He plays American awfully well for a Brit.
CBC Gem
Alma’s Not Normal (from the BBC, 8 episodes, all watched in one sitting!) After a recent break-up, Alma tries to get her life back on track. But with no job, no qualifications, and a rebellious streak a mile wide, that won’t be easy. Meanwhile her mum, who is battling a heroin addiction, has been sectioned for arson, and her vampish Grandma Joan wants nothing to do with her. Very funny!
HBO/Crave
Parallel Mothers (in Spanish with English subtitles, 2 h 3 m) The story of two mothers who bond in unexpected ways after giving birth the same day. Directed by Pedro Almodovar and starring Penelope Cruz. Mysterious and compelling, this story takes some unexpected turns.
Streaming
Prey (1 h 39 m) The origin story of the Predator in the world of the Comanche Nation 300 years ago. Naru, a skilled warrior, fights to protect her tribe against one of the first highly-evolved Predators to land on Earth. I loved this movie! Girl power! Amber Midthunder is terrific as Naru and Dakota Beavers shines as her brother Taabe. What a refreshing take on the type of horror film that usually makes me want to cover my eyes. My son tells me that now I have to watch Predator 2 to see the links between movies. I don’t think so.
Gaslit (8 episodes) a modern take on the 1970s political Watergate scandal centring on untold stories and forgotten characters of the time. Julia Roberts, Sean Penn, Dan Stevens, Betty Gilpin, Shea Whigham star. Julia Roberts gives the performance of her career as Martha Mitchell who is cruelly mentally abused by her husband John Mitchell.
Unprecedented (Documentary, 3 episodes) A ground-breaking doc series with exclusive access to President Donald J. Trump and the First Family as he launches his 2020 re-election campaign, disputes the results of the Presidential election and shakes the foundations of American democracy. This inside look at the Trump family will astonish you.
The Last Movie Stars (Documentary, 6 episodes) Directed by Ethan Hawke, this series is a celebration of Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman’s lives. Great archival footage of their lives and wondrous film clips from their lifetime of film making. Based on transcripts of interviews with Newman, the voices are supplied by George Clooney, Laura Linney, Billy Crudup, Alessandro Nivola, Karen Allen, and many others. If you are a movie fan, you will love this.
The Orville (Season 3, 10 episodes) an exploratory ship from Earth faces interstellar challenges 400 years in the future. A delightful parody of space based science fiction like Star Trek.
Evil (37 episodes) A skeptical clinical psychologist joins a priest-in-training and a blue collar contractor as they investigate supposed abnormal events, including demonic possession, and other extraordinary occurrences to see if there’s a scientific explanation or if something truly supernatural’s at work. If you loved The Exorcist or Rosemary’s Baby, this show is for you! Also, very funny. Andrea Martin is doing a guest stint as a nun who sees demons everywhere.
Animal Kingdom (75 episodes, now in Season 6) The Cody family is still up to their necks in crime, and in flashbacks we visit Janine as a younger mother and see how badly she managed to screw up her children.
PBS
Grantchester ( Season 7, 6 Episodes) : the dishy vicar with a knack for solving crimes is back!
W
Five Bedrooms (from Australia, 24 Episodes and is back for Season 3) Now they’re running the annex room as a B&B. Still awfully silly, the disparate characters are still behaving goofily and now there’s a surly teenager in their midst as Ben’s daughter wants to move in with them. Not quite up to Offspring standards as a feel good romantic comedy series.
PrimeVideo
The Outlaws (from the BBC, Season 2, 6 episodes) Seven strangers from different walks of life forced together to complete a community payback sentence in Bristol. Stars Christopher Walken, Darren Boyd, Elinor Tomlinson, Ian McElhinney, Claes Bang and Stephen Merchant. Not quite as delightful as Season 1 but still mildly amusing.
Paper Girls (8 episodes) A few hours after 1988 Halloween night, four 12-year-old girls have to face a mission. Trapped in a complicated conflict, they will travel in time to save the world. Very much in the Stranger Things mode, we now have girl power operating.
The Duke (1 h 35 m) In 1961, Kempton Bunton, a 60-year-old taxi driver, steals Goya’s portrait of the Duke of Wellington from the National Gallery in London. Stars Jim Broadbent, James Wilby, Matthew Goode, Helen Mirren, Anna Maxwell Martin. Very sweet and charming little British film based on actual events. If you want a quintessentially English feel good comedy, then this is your film.
Special Mention
I still try to maintain my Sunday morning ritual of watching CBS Sunday Morning, the most enjoyable newsmagazine show on the air which has been airing since 1979. Now hosted by Jane Pauley, this venerable series never ceases to delight, inform and entertain with its stories about current events, celebrities, and human interest. I feel better each Sunday for having watched it. Kind of like 60 Minutes lite (which I also watch). I also regularly record and watch Stephen Colbert, Bill Maher, John Oliver and Trevor Noah to keep up to date with the news filtered through humour.
Closing Words
Looking forward to a week that features a Sunday jazz concert in our waterfront park, Golf, Yoga, Mahjong, time with ladyfriends, etc.
Here are some words of advice sent to me in an email recently. Words to live by.
Some fun stuff here!
I’m responsible for what I say, not what you understand.
Common sense is like deodorant. The people who need it the most never use it.
My tolerance for idiots is extremely low these days. I used to have some immunity built up, but obviously there’s a new strain out there.
It’s not my age that bothers me; it’s the side effects.
I’m not saying I’m old and worn out, but I make sure I’m nowhere near the curb on trash day.
As I watch this generation try and rewrite our history, I’m sure of one thing: It will be misspelled and have no punctuation.
Me, sobbing: “I can’t see you anymore. . . . I’m not going to let you hurt me again.” My Trainer: “It was one sit-up.”
As I’ve gotten older, people think I’ve become lazy. The truth is I’m just being more energy efficient.
I haven’t gotten anything done today. I’ve been in the Produce Department trying to open this stupid plastic bag.
If you find yourself feeling useless, remember it took 20 years, trillions of dollars, and four presidents to replace the Taliban with the Taliban.
Turns out that being a “senior” is mostly just googling how to do stuff.
I want to be 18 again and ruin my life differently. I have new ideas.
God promised men that good and obedient wives would be found in all corners of the world. Then he made the earth round. . and laughed and laughed and laughed.
I’m on two diets. I wasn’t getting enough food on one.
I put my scale in the bathroom corner and that’s where the little liar will stay until it apologizes.
My mind is like an internet browser. At least 19 open tabs, 3 of them are frozen, and I have no clue where the music is coming from.
Hard to believe I once had a phone attached to a wall, and when it rang, I picked it up without knowing who was calling.
Apparently RSVPing to a wedding invitation “Maybe next time” isn’t the correct response.
She says I keep pushing her buttons. If that were true, I would have found mute by now.
So you’ve been eating hot dogs and McChickens all your life, but you won’t take the vaccine because you don’t know what’s in it. Are you kidding me?
There is no such thing as a grouchy old person. The truth is that once you get old, you stop being polite and start being truthful.
What's Lorraine watching? 