Goliath Season 4 2021 Episode 2: title The Pain Killer aired 9/24/2021

     Patty finds herself on the hook for Billy’s behavior as he digs deeper into this case.  Episode 2 opens with a student basketball game for a state championship.  It’s a flashback and Tom True’s daughter is on the cheerleading team.  She experiences a nasty fall and her father watches on in complete horror.  

     Then it then turns into a trippy-feeling scene with George Zax on stage in an imagined Broadway show.  He’s on the piano singing about a fallen princess who is in pain and he offers his assistance to help her.  His way of helping is by giving her opioids.  He calls himself “The Painkiller.”  If that is not a direct aim at big pharma companies, I do not know what is??  It is filmed like a commercial ad.  48 min.

5* (I really like this series)

Note:  TV Fanatic 4.5 out of 5 with 4 1/2 reviews, Rotten Tomatoes 100% critic with 5 ratings 80% audience score of 60,  https://decider.com/2021/0924/goliath-season-4-amazon-review/,stream 69.6%, skip it 10.1%, results 20.3% out of 227 votes, readysteadycut.com 4* out of 5*, Metacritic 7* with 5 ratings.

Created by David E. Kelley and Jonathan Shapiro, executive producer Lawrence Trilling, Geyer Kosinski, Jennifer Ames, Steve Turner. 

Mr. Mercedes TV series episode two 2017: On Your Mark

     Detective Bill Hodges continues his pursuit after the maniac who killed 16 people with a stolen gray Mercedes.  This episode opens with a paranoid, drunk Hodges watching another video delivered to him through email from the mysteries murderer.  

     This video is of the little baby Patti and her mother.  They were ruthlessly killed in at the City Center Job Fair.  In this video, the happy mom and baby are celebrating Patti’s first month of life.  Her grandmother has captured the memory.  This video was manipulated like the first one, making the mother and baby appear distorted, bloody and also scary.  Only for mature audiences.  5* (I really liked this series)

53 min, crime directed by Jack Bender, written by Stephen King, David E. Kelley, Sophie Owens-Bender with Brendan Gleeson, Harry Treadaway, Kelly Lynch, Jharrell Jerome, Scott Lawrence, Robert Stanton, Breeda Wool, Mary-Louise Parker, Holland Taylor, Ann Cusack, Laura Dooling.

Note:  Imdb 7.8 out of 10 with 889 ratings, tvfanatic editor 4.5 out of 5, user rating 5 out of 5, Rotten Tomatoes 83% with 29 critic ratings 90% with 637 user ratings, Amazon 4 1/2* out of 353 reviews.   

Goliath Season 4 2021 Episode 1 title Hadleyville aired 9/24/2021

     Recovering from a world-shattering injury?  Billy reunites with Patty at a prestigious law firm in San Francisco in order to take down the opioid industry.  In the first episode of this season it is alluded to that Billy has had an injury but it is not explained fully.  He is still drinking, chain smoking and looks the same!!!

     Billy McBride and Patty Solis-Papagian are working for a different law firm in this season.  Patty feels like she has to keep tabs and remind Billy of everything!!  Even things like look sharp and arrive on time!!  I liked that this season is filmed in San Francisco and it is nice to see the sights of this city.  It is pouring rain in the beginning.  5* (I really like this new season)

29 min with Billy Bob Thornton, Nina Arianda, Tania Raymonde, Diana Hopper, Julie Brister, Bruce Dern, Brandon Scott, Jena Malone J.K. Simmons.

Created by David E. Kelley and Jonathan Shapiro, executive producer Lawrence Trilling, Geyer Kosinski, Jennifer Ames, Steve Turner.

Note:  Rotten Tomatoes 100% critic with 5 ratings 80% and an audience score of 60, https://decider.com/2021/09/24/goliath-season-4-amazon-review/, stream 69.6%, skip it 10.1%, results 20.3% out of 227 votes, readysteadycut.com 4* out of 5*, Metacritic 7* with 5 ratings, TV Fanatic 4.5 out of 5 with 4 1/2 reviews.

Special Note:  You don’t need to have watched previous seasons to pick right up on this season.

Two Lovers 2008

      This film is loosely based on Fyodor Dostoevsky’s 1848 short story titled White Nights.  Leonard Kraditor is a burned-out case as a person!!  He is living with his immigrant parents after his fiancée left him.  He is helping out at their Brooklyn dry cleaners, taking photographs, at loose ends and he is suicidal.  In quick succession, he meets two women!!  

     Sandra is the daughter of his parents' business associates.  She is frank, direct, sensual and Jewish like Leonard.  He also connects with his neighbor Michelle.  She is mercurial, rootless, fun, blond and unattainable.  Michelle is in love with a married man and she cries on Leonard's shoulder.  Sandra wants to save him.  Is Leonard willing to risk losing Sandra's fidelity for the moments of Michelle's mood swings toward him?  Can this end well?

Note:  Imdb 7 out of 10 with 39K reviews, Roger Ebert 3 1/2*, Rotten Tomatoes 82% with 168 critic reviews 59% with 50,000+ audience scores, Metacritic 74 with 33 critic reviews 8.6 with 102 user ratings, RollingStone Magazine 3* out of 4* Peter Travers.

Mistake:  After Leonard drops his suitcase out the window, it isn't there when he goes downstairs to meet up with Michelle.

Special Note:  Featured in Maltin on Movies: Awards Special 2013. 

110 min, Drama, directed and written by James Gray and also written by Ric Menelloo with Joaquin Phoenix, Gwyneth Paltrow, Vinessa Shaw, Anne Joyce, Eliot Villar, Craig Walker, Carmen M. Herlihy, Donald John Hewitt, Christian Albrizo, Isabella Rosselini, Moni Moshnov, Julie Budd.

Note:  Imdb 7 out of 10 with 39K reviews, Letterboxd 3.7 out of 5, Rotten Tomatoes 82%, Roger Ebert 3 1/2*, Wikipedia 82% based on 167 reviews, Metacritic 74% with 33 votes, Eye for Film 4* out of 5*, Amazon 2060 reviews. 

North Country 2006

       This film is a fictionalized account of the first major successful sexual harassment case in the United States.  It is titled Jenson vs. Eveleth Mines.  It is about a woman who endured a range of abuse while working in a job as a miner.  Mines filed and won a landmark 1984 lawsuit.  It is based on a book written by Clara Bingham and Laura Leedy.

      In 1989, Josey Aimes takes her two children, Sammy and Karen with her.  She leaves her abusive husband Wayne and she is to returning to her northern Minnesota home town.  She has a chance meeting with her old friend Glory Dodge.  He works as a driver and union rep at the mine operated by Pearson Taconite and Steel.  Josey decides to also work at the mine.  This type of work is dominated by men in number and in tone.  She wants to be able to stand on her own two feet for the first time in her life.  She probably could not do this if she remained in a job washing hair at a beauty salon.  Plus, she needs to make a higher wage.  

     Working at the mine does not sit well with her father, Hank Aimes.  He also works at the mine and like the other male workers, he believes she is taking a job away from a man.  Hank has also believed that all Josey's problems are of her own doing!!  It is because she was unmarried and she had Sammy while she was still in high school.  Josey has always stated that she does not know who Sammy's biological father is?  Sammy also has Hank's attitude about his mother.  This film is only for adult audiences.  5* (I liked this movie)

126 min, Drama with Charlize Theron, Jeremy Renner, Frances McDormand, Thomas Curtis, Elle Peterson, Sean Bean, Woody Harrelson, Richard Jenkins,Sissy Spacek, James Cada, Rusty Schwimmer, directed by Niki Caro, written by Michael Seitzman, 

Note:  Imdb 7.3 out of 10 with 41k reviews, Rotten Tomatoes 69% with 175 critic reviews 76% with 50,000+ audience scores, Roger Ebert 4*, Common Sense Media age 16+, 3* out of 5*, 3* drinking, drugs, smoking and sex, 4* violence and language.    

The Lookout 2007

     An admired high school hockey player with a bright future foolishly takes a drive in the night with his girlfriend and two other friends.  He doesn’t have his headlights on and devastating results ensue.  The former athlete is left with a brain injury.  It prevents him from remembering many things for extended periods of time.  To compensate, he keeps notes in a small notebook to aid him in remembering what he is to do.  He also lives with a blind friend who helps him.  Unfortunately, with his mental incapacitation, he is unable to find meaningful work.  

     He does find work as a night cleaning man in a bank.  He comes under the scrutiny of a gang planning to rob the bank.  The leader makes friends with him and gets him involved with a young woman who further ensnares him.  After they get close then there is reeling him in because of his mind not working.  The bank plan begins to unfold.  He is confused but he wants to escape his current existence.  He initially goes along with the scheme.  After finally realizing he is being used, he attempts to stop the robbery.  Of course everything immediately goes bad!!  5* (I liked this movie)

99 min, crime directed and written by Scott Frank with Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jeff Daniels, Mathew Goode, Isla Fisher, Carla Gugino, Bruce McGill, Alberta Watson, Alex Borstein, Sergio Di Zio, David Huband, Laura Vandervoort, Greg Dunham, Morgan Kelly, Aaron Berg, Tinsel Korey, Suzanne Kelly Brian Edward Roach, Martin Roach.

Note:  Imdb 7 out of 10 with 58K reviews, Rotten Tomatoes 87% with 169 critic reviews 74% with 50,000+ audience scores, Metacritic 73 with 33 critic reviews, 8.7 with 163 user scores.     

Serious Moonlight 2009

      This movie is based on a novel by Jean Bennet.  Ian (Timothy Hutton) wants to have a day with his mistress Sara (Kristen Bell)?  His high-powered lawyer wife Louise (Meg Ryan) surprises him by showing up a day early.  He is packing to leave her when she takes him prisoner.  She vows to win him over.  She lies to Sara about their impending separation and sends her away.  While Louise is out, Ian gets the attention of lawnmower Todd (Justin Long).  Instead of helping, Todd starts robbing the home.

     Adrienne Shelly has written a quirky story.  It doesn't have enough comedy and directing novice Cheryl Hines is unable to inject any.  Ryan and Hutton are angry but the comedy falls flat.  The quirky tone is not funny until the last act when Hutton, Ryan and Bell are locked in the bathroom.  It's a little late although it's better to end on a good note.  The movie needs to have set that tone from the start.  There are tough topics such as loss, grief, self-harm and disability.  The main characters are 18 and 19 plus they have medical conditions.

84 min, drama directed by Cheryl Hines, produced by Andy Ostroy and Michael Roiff, written by Adrienne Shelly with Meg Ryan, Timothy Hutton, Kristen Bell, Justin Long, Derek Carter, Bill Parks.

Note:  Rotten Tomatoes 221% with 37 critic reviews 25% with 2,500+ audience scores, Metacritic 36 with 16 critic ratings 5.1 with 10 user scores, Slant Magazine 2.5* out of 4*, Common Sense Media, 4* out of 5* age 14+, 1* consumerism, 2* educational value, drinking, drugs, smoking and violence, 3* positive messages, sex, language 4* positive role models.

Special Note:  Police arrested Diego Pillco, a 19-year-old construction worker.  He confessed to killing Shelly and trying to make it look as if she had committed suicide.  This event happened on November 1, 2006 and she was 40 years old.  Her residence had been in West Village, Manhattan, New York.