Movie and TV Reviews - August 2024

Movies and TV shows that Nancy and I watched in August. I do these posts mainly so I can keep track of what we've been watching, so the reviews are cursory. 

Movies

• The American Society of Magical Negroes: I hadn't heard of this one until my daughter mentioned it. It's a combination of rom com, satire, and pointed social commentary. Worth watching if you like any of those tropes. (Amazon Prime).
• Jackpot: The premise is dystopian and almost believable but the movie plays it for laughs. Very much light entertainment. The best part was the blooper/gag reel which was integrated into the credits. (Amazon Prime)

TV Shows

• House of the Dragon (season 2): I enjoyed this season, somewhat to my surprise. (I didn't like the first season though it did get better towards the end.) However, the finale was ... disappointing. (Crave)
• Presumed Innocent: I've not read the Scott Turrow movie this was based on nor am I likely to after the twisty ending of the show was revealed. We enjoyed it and it kept us guessing but it's still not as good as the better British shows. (Apple TV+)
• Antiques Road Trip (season 3): Our comfort/relaxation watching. We'll probably get to season 15 sometime in 2026. (When we started watching the show, we worked our way backwards from the current season 26). (PBS)
• Black Snow:  A detective from Brisbane travels to a small farming town to solve a 25-year-old cold case. This is one of the best shows we've seen in a while. I liked the way it dealt with issues surrounding Australia's treatment of indigenous and Islander peoples. I'm glad to see there will be a second season. (Acorn TV)
• My Lady Jane: A light alternate-history fantasy with shape shifters. I enjoyed it, though the voice-over narration is overdone. Too bad there won't be a second season. (Amazon Prime)
• Signora Volpe (season 2): A British spy retires in Italy but can't stay out of other people's business. A bit darker in tone than season 1. (Acorn TV)
• Collision: A British police procedural about an investigation into a freeway accident that affects many lives. After watching a couple of episodes, we realized that we may have watched this before (it came out in 2009) but we didn't remember enough to spoil it, so we kept watching and enjoyed it. (Acorn TV). 
• Hidden Assets (season 2): We watched the first season of this and liked it and the second season is just as good. (Acorn TV)