TV and Movie Reviews - January 2021

Here are some short reviews of things I watched in January. My viewing pattern has been disrupted because my wife is spending a lot of time taking care of her mother, so I haven't been watching a lot of shows that I know she wants to see.

Movies

• Duane Allman: Song of the South. Another British music documentary. This one was most interesting for the material on Allman's pre-Allman Brothers career. (Amazon Prime)
• Outside The Wire: A slightly better than average action flick. The story and characterization are nothing to write home about, but the action sequences are very well done. (Netflix)
• Secrets of the Saqqara Tomb. If you like Egyptology, this National Geographic documentary is for you. Watch a team of archeologists dig deep, literally, into a major discovery. More new details in this CNN article. (Netflix)
• White Noise: A documentary produced by The Atlantic about white supremacists Richard Spencer, Michael Cernovich, and Lauren Sothern. I found this difficult to watch. In the end, the major players come across as both deluded and pathetic. Their followers, on the other hand, are truly scary. 

TV Shows

• History of Swear Words: Occasionally funny but I didn't learn much. I would have preferred a more serious approach that had more lexicographic information. (Netflix)
• Pretend It's a City: Fran Lebowitz talks about New York City. You'll learn a lot about Lebowitz and not as much about New York and laugh a lot. (Netflix)
• Star Trek Discovery - Season 3: I finally finished the third season of Discovery, and if I didn't have family members who wanted to see it I wouldn't have bothered. It's like an old, sick dog that should be taken out in the woods, fed a nice piece of steak, and shot in the head. 
• Spycraft: A series of short documentaries about the nitty-gritty of espionage. There's some material that is new to me and quite fascinating, especially in the first two episodes. The amount of effort that went into espionage technology during the Cold War is mind boggling. (Netflix)
• Lupin: This is a live-action show (very) loosely based on the anime series. It's implausible as all get out, but fun to watch. (Netflix)
• 7 Days Out - Westminster Dog Show: I'm not a dog person, but found this interesting anyway. The amount of effort people expend on their dogs is quite remarkable. (Netflix)
• Midsomer Murders - Various episodes: This is one of the classic British mystery/crime shows. It never gets too heavy, although some episodes are darker than others, and the mysteries can be quite twisty. Nancy and I have watched the whole show (all 20-some seasons) ove the years, so going back to the beginning is our comfort viewing.