Bullet Train

Starring Brad Pitt and a cavalcade of supporting players including Joey King and Brian Tyree Henry, Bullet Train should be a fun thrill ride to who cares where. A group of trained assassins are thrown together on a fast train through Tokyo with the same goal: securing a silver briefcase. Hijinks, jokes, and choreographed fights ensue with a couple fun cameos thrown in too. Bullet Train isn't going to win any awards, but if you want mindless and easy - Bullet Train is for you.




Where the Crawdads Sing

Daisy Edgar-Jones portrays the main character Kya, in the movie adaptation of Where the Crawdads Singshe really brings the character to life straight off the pages of the book. The movie gets slow in a few places, but the visual aesthetics of the movie make up for it. All in all, the movie was very well done and kept pretty close to the book.



Kingsman: The Secret Service

Kingsman: The Secret Service (Rated R) is great for people who like an underdog that succeeds and a ton of action. The main character Eggsy gets another chance at life when a secret spy service thinks he is a good candidate. The training missions and truly amazing fight scenes are what make this movie as great as it is.




Look Both Ways

This one was really cute. Reminiscent of Sliding Doors. The story follows Natalie where one major event changes the course of her life, or does it? You get to see how her life turns out if something happens, and if it doesn't. It's a sweet-squishy-romance to warm your heart.


Look Both Ways is available on Netflix; check a Roku with Netflix to start watching.


The Last Vermeer

I enjoyed watching The Last Vermeer (Rated R) which is about stolen artwork by the Nazis during WWII. The courtroom drama at the finale of the movie was good as was the final scene. It left me wondering, Hmmmm. Good movies sometimes do that, you know? So whether you like a good drama or a WWII movie or just a good movie, I think you will also enjoy this one.




The Tick

The Tick is the creation of Bill Edlund, who first created a comic strip, then went on to make it into an animated cartoon, and next a one-season, live-action, comedy TV show. This review is about that live-action show. The Tick is a ridiculously strong superhero who is also quite clueless about everything and played perfectly by Patrick Warburton. He relies heavily on his sidekick, Arthur, who is the brains of the operation. Along with other interesting characters like Captain Liberty and Batmanuel, they fight an eclectic assortment of supervillains. My favorite episode was never aired and stars Armin Shimerman as The Terror. If you like quirky characters, this show is just right for you.

Starring Patrick Warburton, David Burke, Nestor Carbonell, and Liz Vassey.



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Before The Coffee Gets Cold

I picked this book up, Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi after seeing on social media and really loved the heartwarming tales in this book. This book features a time traveling seat in a café in Tokyo, Japan and contains four different stories of people who want to go back in time. All stories have the same café staff who explain the different rules for time traveling. The explanations of why the people want to go back in time are really special and emotional. I definitely recommend checking it out as well as the sequel Tales From the Cafe.



Pokemon: Detective Pikachu

I am not one that memorized all of the hundreds of pokemon, but in this movie that is okay because they created this movie in such a great story telling way that you didn't have to have them memorized. The comedy of Ryan Reynolds as Pikachu and Justice Smith as Tim is a match you have to see. The colors and action in this movie are amazing.


Pokemon: Detective Pikachu (Rated PG) is available for checkout on DVD.



Parks and Recreation

This TV comedy series follows the political career trajectory of Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) who works in the Parks and Recreation department of a small town in Indiana. The show features a full cast of quirky characters from April (Aubrey Plaza), the sulking twenty-something receptionist; to Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman), the ultra-masculine, libertarian, meat-eater; to Chris Traeger (Rob Lowe), the always upbeat, vegetarian, political middle manager. Parks and Recreation will put a smile on your face.

Starring Amy Poehler, Nick Offerman, Rashida Jones, Aubrey Plaza, and Rob Lowe.



Murder on the Orient Express

The Murder on the Orient Express (2017, Rated PG-13) movie is highly underrated. The suspense, drama and the amount of questions that has you acting like a detective yourself is what makes this movie great. Just when you think you know how the movie is going there is a twist. 

The movie is based off of the book of the same name by Agatha Christie




Casablanca

Casablanca is a classic film set during WWII, which has some of the most quoted lines in movie history, is a must see for movie buffs. Rick (Humphrey Bogart) is an American expatriate bar owner in Morocco, and when his former lover Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) asks for his help to flee the city from the Nazis with her husband, he has to decide how much he is willing to risk. The witty dialogue between the deadpan Rick and Captain Renault (Claude Rains) is worth the price of admission alone.

Starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Claude Rains, and Paul Henreid.



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The Heart Guy

In this Australian TV comedy series, a surgeon who likes his single life (and nightlife) a bit too much is about to lose his medical license unless he cleans up his act and is offered one chance. He has to go back to his home town and be a GP.

I enjoy The Heart Guy because deep down I think Rodger is a good guy and has to come to the rescue every episode (like most of the doctor shows) and save the day. He has a quirky kind of family, which provide some of the humor. He is gradually starting to like his boss, and vice versa (reminds me a little of Doc Martin).

Check out season one on Hoopla—I think it's worth a shot.



The Crimson Pirate

The Crimson Pirate is a family classic that you can watch with your kids. It follows pirate Captain Vallo as he sails about the 1700s Caribbean pursuing money-making schemes ranging from seizing British vessels to kidnapping. But when he falls for the beautiful Consuelo, he changes his pirate ways. This swashbuckling comedy is good, clean fun.

Starring Burt Lancaster, Nick Cravat, and Eva Bartok.



The Chosen

I recently watched the DVD of the first season of The Chosen and it's the best show I've seen in years. It's a TV series about Jesus. While a lot is fictional stuff written in, there is a large amount of scripture here and they do an excellent job of weaving it in so that it all ties together to make a terrific story. I hope everyone has an opportunity to take home this DVD and binge watch The Chosen. 



The Desperate Hour

I highly recommend this high adrenalin movie, "The Desperate Hour". The entire movie has Amy Carr (Naomi Watts) in it as the mother that has just got her kids off to school and goes for a long jog in the woods. She has her cell phone with her and makes many plans and takes many calls along her long run. During her run she comes to realize that the town has been thrown into chaos - as she finds out there has been a school shooting at the high school. She is miles away and wants to know if her son is okay or even at school. He's not answering his phone and she can't get in touch with him or get to him. This movie was heart-pounding and kept me on the edge of my seat. Very good suspense thriller. Every mother's nightmare these days.