1) "10 Years"--STARZ--2011 Movie--1 hour & 40 minutes--Synopsis: a high school reunion--filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico but could have happened anywhere--an ensemble piece making it pretty hard to follow 10 people especially since only two could be called 'interesting' and one a 'surprise'--I have never been to a reunion of any kind and after this I am glad!


2) "Dog"--Prime Amazon--2021 Movie--1 hour & 41 minutes--Channing Tatum starred in "10 Years" in 2011 and stars in this, coincidentally, 10 years later--Synopsis: 2 hard charging former rangers paired against their will race down the pacific coast in hopes of making it to a fellow soldier's funeral on time funeral--one of the rangers is a dog (no, not Channing!)--though she doesn't have to strip, that is the dog, Lulu is as attractive as Tatum is all the times he takes his shirt (and in one scene more) off--a dog and a man based on a true story? You know how it ends and the two make a good pair and both will touch your heart and give you a laugh or two.


3) "Father Stu"--Netflix--movie another based on a true story--2 hours & 4 minutes--Synopsis: after a failed boxing career and a near fatal accident a man decides to become a priest--with Mel Gibson and Jacki Weaver Mark Wahlberg has a hard time holding his own but he does--Malcolm McDowell is a standout in a minor role--the cast lifts this movie up above 'just another man redeems himself' movie--ironically Gibson plays an atheist.


4) "A Jazzman's Blues"--Netflix--movie--2 hours & 8 minutes--Synopsis: In this sweeping coming of age drama a young couple navigates a forbidden romance in the 1940s deep south--a man on drugs--brothers fighting--a Jew from Germany in the south--KKK without sheets--all the cliches but holds your attention as Tyler Perry can and does--it's Tyler Perry who produced, directed and wrote it which means it is full of melodrama and good acting.


5) "Luckiest Girl Alive"--Netflix--movie--1 hour & 55 minutes--Synopsis: a writer's perfectly crafted life in NYC starts to unravel when a true crime documentary forces her to confront her harrowing high school history of being gang raped--Mila Kunis is excellent as the girl/woman while, for the first time, I didn't completely buy Connie Britton as her mother--not easy to watch but certainly has happened too much and still does.


6) "Disobedience"--Prime Amazon--movie--1 hour & 54 minutes--Synopsis: old passions reignite when a New York photographer returns home to the orthodox Jewish community in London that shunned her years before--I don't recall ever seeing a movie where 2 Jewish men were gay and exiled from their community though I can see it happening--I was certainly surprised to see a film about how 2 Jewish lesbians were treated--it didn't end as I wanted it to and might--just might--have ended differently if made today though this was just made 5 years ago--it is quite a compelling drama--Rachel Weiz, Rachel McAdams and Alessandro Nivola are standouts in this film.


7) "Elsa & Fred"--Prime Amazon--movie--1 hour & 35 minutes--Synopsis: a senior experiences life in new ways when he (Christopher Plummer) begins spending time with the free spirited woman (Shirley MacLaine) who lives across the hall--take 2 old pros in a romantic comedy, add James Brolin in what is basically a cameo and just sit back and enjoy--I never heard of this movie and it is far from professionally produced but having Shirley play 71 when she is 80 and Plummer playing 80 when he is 85 is funny in itself--and much "BRAVO" to MacLaine imitating Anita Ekberg frolicking in the Trevi fountain scene from "La Dolce Vita" which is far from being successful.