Cyndia Shook – Google

Wonderfully acted and well paced story of a young traumatized white girl finding solace with an African American family who surround themselves with the bees and homemade honey business. She finds peace within their love and acceptance of her while witnessing the cruelty of 1940s racism and white supremacy. Those scenes of violence can be triggering so just have the remote ready like we did. I grew up in 1960s Nashville and saw my share of bigotry and KKK assemblies, never able to fully appreciate my white privilege or being spared racial epithets. I've not taken this for granted like I did as a 7 year old and this movie only solidified my feelings of frustration that racial equality and human rights are still not within our country's grasp

I rented this movie online after watching the trailer which led me to believe it would be in English without subtitles. Oops. I know many aren't bothered by subtitles but, in a movie full of lengthy courtroom scenes, it was taxing to read while following a complicated plot. The acting is stellar (and, thankfully, there are parts in English that give you a break), while the pacing is slow so it drags a bit until you realize there's a recording of a blowout argument between the victim and his wife that reveals some devastating aspects of their relationship that had been hidden until that point. It was worth the $5.99 to see Anatomy of a Fall and enjoy some plot twists without my subtitles bias getting too much in the way. Warning to sensitive viewers: there is a scene featuring a sick dog that I had to move quickly past but (not a major spoiler), he comes through the movie alive!

I still watch the original W&G on Hulu and tolerate the remake with mixed feelings. Those of us who are left leaning certainly feel a kinship to the story lines during the episodes critical of the Trump daze, but, of course, those on the right will feel differently. If you can't relate, you turn the channel like I do when the latest conspiracy theories show up on Fox but it's all about personal taste and preference. That said, W&G got me through 9/11 and personally dark days like no other show. I couldn't relate personally to Grace but she made me laugh. I was most drawn to insecure, lovable and lonely Will whose search for Mr. Right was enjoyable if not cringe worthy when he ended up with a dud dude! Time often makes a shiny new sitcom into a slightly rusty saga but Will and Grace worked for me and is one of the few shows I will watch over and over.

I took awhile to finish this series, feeling like it had a lot more hits than misses yet it steadily built to a place where these spoiled rotten elites come to love their D list town and its collection of odd ball characters. You have to love a show where you actually stop feeling shocked at Moira's get ups, Alexis's airheadedness and David's constant insecurities and realize we all know someone like them. I could totally do without the Chris Eliot character who makes me cringe every time I see him and I could handle a whole lot more of David and Patrick's sweet and real relationship. So glad I got on to this series and recommend that you do, too.

Yes, this show has it all which can be a good thing and also a bad thing. It has family love and commitment while, at the same time, characters whose predictability is maddening at times. You can count on Nora, the matriarch of the family, to meddle into everyone's business on every single occasion, usually with a negative outcome that turns positive before the credits roll at the end. However, despite some of this annoying content, there is some hilarity that I enjoy between Kevin and anybody else because he is so quick-witted and deadly spot on. What was somewhat refreshing for a show that ran first in the early to mid 2000s, is that the two political parties each have their say with different family members in each camp. However, at no time does it devolve into the kind of division we have in our country at this time. That, in and of itself, is the most refreshing part of this entertaining and worthwhile series.

Ok what am I missing? I have a wonderful sense of humor but never laughed out loud throughout the movie, mostly getting distracted by my cats who needed to be fed. Great cast for sure, so I was surprised by how bored I felt. I was much more entertained by comedies like Skin Deep with John Ritter and Crimes and Misdemeanors with Michael Caine. Noises Off just wasn't my cup of coffee with one cream.

If you like watching a hysterical American Princess connect with a cheating but charming guy, Heartburn is for you. I especially loved the guy on television narrating Rachel's heartbreaking life in the background while she whimpers in the foreground about her no-good husband and sets out to prove he's getting it on with Thelma Rice, only to create some sweet revenge by the film's end. In other words, Rachel can dish it out for sure. I disagree with those who felt the movie had no humor, it's just bittersweet at times. Streep and Nicholson have that chemistry that pulls you in to their newly developed love but then has you feeling the despair and anger when his infidelity rears its head.