1) "When I'm Sixty-Four"--Prime Video--a BBC film--1 hour and 30 minutes--Jim, who takes care of his elderly father, and Ray who recently lost his wife, meet as they are both retiring--complete opposites both men are unaware they are both heading for and need the same thing--I was completely taken by surprise as this film went in directions that I never expected it to go--Alun Armstrong as Jim shows great depth as a man discovering himself and Paul Freeman meets him beat for beat and what happens between them will move you without any resistance from you--a must see unexpected movie without a false move from either the cast of actors or any of the production crew from the director on down.


2) "Our Friend"--Prime Video--American film--2 hours and 4 minutes--a wife, a mother to their 2 daughters, in her 30s, is dying of cancer--based on a true story we follow her and her relationships with her family, her friends, their different effects on her and her effects on them--and how the cancer effects all--the acting of everyone, including the children, and the story are impressive--this is a heavy drama with some 'light moments' and a few twists you won't see coming--a must see, moving film


3) "One of Us"--Netflix--documentary--1 hour and 35 minutes--it is so hard to watch documentaries like this--as one woman says she never had a choice and when she begins to understand that she can choose to leave and she is followed 24/7--just for starters--a woman has 7 children before she is 30!! Her husband has the right to bed her whenever he wants-- not that boys have it any easier--one talks about being raped and beaten up--child abuse--women being abused is never talked about--helping these men and women, children really, is an organization called Footsteps who do what they can--sometimes succeeding, mostly not--definitely hard to watch but a must watch to see how others 'live'!


4) "Parallel Mothers"--Spanish film--at the Gateway Theatre--2 hours and 3 minutes--Penelope Cruz starring in a film directed by Pedro Almodovar will always be interesting to watch as has been proven 6 times before this one--introduced as another element, adding to the story, is Milena Smit--she and Penelope are single pregnant women and while the movie is mainly about them Almodovar adds another story line which is important to Spanish history but should have a film of its own as I felt it took away from the main story and was completely unnecessary--any collaboration between Almodovar and Cruz is a must see as both bring so much to the screen individually and together.