Movie and TV Reviews - June 2021

Here are some short reviews of things I watched in June. It's baseball season, so there won't be as much as usual.

Movies

• Wrath of Man: With Jason Stratham and Guy Ritchie at the helm, you expect at least a half-decent action flick and this doesn't disappoint. My only major peeve is the back-and-forth chronology, which really breaks up the flow of the film. It is nice to see a movie with a distinct visual style. Is Ritchie the modern Peckinpah? 
• Nomadland: This was the big winner at this year's Oscars and it was well deserved. It's a sad movie and I found it both depressing and uplifting at the same time. It feels real in a way that few movies do. 
• Breach: We were looking for a mindless, bad action flick to watch the other night and Breach fit the bill. It owes a lot to the original Alien movie, but is about one-tenth as good. I suspect it would not have been made had Bruce Willis not been in it. Unfortunately, he sleepwalks through most of the movie. (Netflix)
• Black Holes: The Edge of All We Know. This is a documentary about the team of scientists that captured the first image of a black hole. I enjoyed this quite a bit, although it could have been cut down by deleting the cute graphical/musical interludes. Definitely worth watching, especially for some of the last footage of the late Stephen Hawking and for seeing the way the teams of scientists across the globe worked together. (Netflix)

TV Shows

• Shadows and Bones: This is based on the series of books by Leigh Bardugo. I enjoyed it, although I probably would have ditched it after the first episode had my wife not insisted on continuing. It's well done but much of the show is very dark and hard for me to watch. I suggest finding an episode guide and reading a summary of the first couple of episodes before watching them because much of the background is only hinted at in the show. (Netflix)
• Westminster Dog Show: I think it is terribly silly and occasionally pretentious,  but some of the dogs are cute, and my mother-in-law wanted to watch it. 
• Circus Days and Nights: A new opera by Philip Glass produced by the Malmo Opera in Sweden and streamed over the Internet. The combination of circus and opera worked really well. It wasn't in the same calibre of his major operas like Akhnaten, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I suspect it would be very popular with audiences if it gets produced in North America. 
• Brokenwood Mysteries (Season 7). This is a crime drama set in New Zealand. It's one of those lighter shows, something like Midsomer Murders or Pie in the Sky, with quirky characters and moderately complex plots. Perfect for relaxation in trying times. (Acorn TV)