Movie and TV Reviews - December 2023

Short reviews of what Nancy and I watched in December. 

Movies

• Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny: The (hopefully) last movie in the franchise was better than I expected but certainly not the best of the five. I could have done without the time travel element. (Disney+)
• BlackBerry: The story of RIM and the Blackberry from the time Jim Balsillie came on board in 1996 to 2007 when the Apple iPhone was released and the Blackberry fell on hard times. It's a very watchable movie and I recommend it even if you're not particularly into tech stuff. (CBC Gem)
• Barbie: This turned out to be much better than I expected. I was not expecting a movie about a doll to be a pointed social commentary. It's also a brilliant (literally) piece of filmmaking that's full of nods to filmic history. (The opening sequence, for example). Greta Gerwig should definitely take home the Best Director Oscar next year and it wouldn't surprise me to see the movie take Best Picture. (Crave)
• Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse. This movie justifies the cost of our OLED TV. Like its sequel, it has some of the best animation I have ever seen. (Disney+)
• Seven Psychopaths: I missed this when it first came out and decided to watch it because we really liked Martin McDonagh's earlier film, In Bruges. This wasn't quite that good but still enjoyable with a stellar cast of bad guys, taut snappy dialog, and an unpredictable plot. (Prime rental)
• Die Hard: The classic action film somehow has become a Christmas staple. I'm not sure what that says about society these days, but we watched it anyway. (Disney+)
• Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. I enjoyed this more than the first Black Panther movie, which I found tedious. This one had better pacing, at least. (Disney+)
• Die Hard 2: I don't consider this one a Christmas movie the way the first one is, but it's still one of the classic action flicks and really comes alive on our new TV. (Disney+)

TV Shows

We finished watching Ghosts season 5, Paul O'Grady's For the Love of Dogs season 11, and Antiques Roadshow season 27. 

• Monarch: Legacy of Monsters. A Godzilla-themed series with a conspiracy element reminiscent of Agents of Shield. Well made and reasonably entertaining if you accept the basic premise. But it needs more monsters and more action in the last part of the series. (Apple TV+)
• A Murder at the End of the World: This started out by reminding me of Knives Out 2 with a group of diverse people sequestered in a remote location at the behest of a billionaire with delusions of grandeur. It's quite good though my suspension of disbelief was stretched pretty thin by the fifth episode.  (Disney+)
• Cadfael (seaons 1-4) : An historical murder mystery/drama based on a series of books by Ellis Peters set in 12th century England and aired beginning in 1994. Derek Jacobi plays Cadfael, a Benedictine brother and herbalist with a penchant for solving murders. This being the 12th century, there were quite a few. I have no idea about the historical accuracy, but it's reasonably entertaining, well written, and the acting is first rate. (BritBox)
• Gordon Ramsay's Ultimate Cooking Course: I'm not a big fan of Ramsay, but he does provide some worthwhile tips and interesting recipes. I do wish the show was slower paced; I may have to watch it more than once to make notes on the good bits. (Amazon Prime)
• Doctor Who 60th Anniversary and Christmas Specials: Unquestionably the best Doctor Who episodes in several years. I am very much looking forward to the next season. 
• Death in Paradise Christmas Special. This is episode 1 of season 13. Not the most Christmas-related plot, but enjoyable nonetheless. (BritBox)
• Beyond Paradise Christmas Special. This is episode 1 of season 2. With an interesting Christmas-related mystery to solve, this was a rather sweet episode. (BritBox)