Night Court: The Judge’s Boyfriend’s Dad

This is New York, so the idea of recruiting prosecutors out of prison is not so far-fetched for Alvin Bragg. They say our courts have a revolving door. That has been especially true for the Night Court franchise. Everyone remembers Markie Post from the original series, but they went through two prior public defenders before she took over the role. Losing a prosecutor should be nothing out of the ordinary for the reboot-continuation series. However, curmudgeonly public defender Dan Fielding will be a little freaked out by his new rival. As a possible consolation, he might discover a new son he never knew he had in “The Judge’s Boyfriend’s Dad, Part 1 & 2,” the two-part season premiere of showrunner Dan Rubin’s Night Court, airing tomorrow and next Tuesday on NBC.

A lot has changed since the first season. In addition to the new prosecutor, Judge Abby Stone also has a new clerk and a new boyfriend. In most respects, they are all trade-ups. India de Beaufort got a lot of laughs as Olivia, the self-absorbed, uber-aggressive ADA. However, her replacement is Wendie Malick, who played Fielding’s former stalker-tormentor Julianne Walters. Yes, she was sent to prison in a previous episode. Welcome to New York City.

Nyambi Nyambi also mines more humor from the clerk’s position than his predecessor. Plus, recuring Gary Anthony Williams often feels like a throwback to the old school Night Court (which is a good thing), as Flobert, a former judge who often subs in the various Night Court positions (which have had several vacancies) and just generally like to hang out and kvetch. He is going to have plenty of gossip, because Judge Abby suspects her boyfriend Jake might be Fielding’s secret illegitimate son, for reasons she explains in the eccentric opening prologue to “Part 1.”

True to form, the naïve do-gooding Stone agonizes over how to broach her supposition with both men. On the other hand, Flobert and Gurgs the bailiff offer plenty of suggestions for invasive DNA tests, which Stone will eventually go along with, for her own personal reasons.

Of course, the best scenes of this two-parter focus on Walters’ cat-and-mouse sparring with Fielding. She has the edge this series needs, since it has gone out of its way to tame Fielding. Walters also outmaneuvers Gurgs as well, when they clash over smoking on the fire-escape, which is solidly relatable workplace material.

Hyper-sensitivity will be the death of the sitcom genre, but the new shows like St. Denis Medical and Animal Control are not giving up without a fight. Frankly, it is still unclear whether Rubin and his fellow writers intend to join the battle or surrender, but at least their writing for Malick shows some signs of life.

Ghost Cat Anzu, in Cinema Daily US

GHOST CAT ANZU features an endearingly mischievious Yokai cat who will keep younger viewers laughing. but older animation fans will also appreciate his bizarre fantastical misadventures, which are indeed wonderfullly weird. CINEMA DAILY US review up here.

Gladiator II, Ridley Scott Returns to the Colosseum

The Romans built some astounding aqueducts, but nobody cares. We’re just interested in the bloodsport of the Colosseum and the hedonism of their bacchanals. Viewers should be happy to hear Ridley Scott’s sequel to his Oscar-winning Gladiator is an aqueduct-free zone, but it has plenty of the other stuff. Politically, Rome has gone from bad to worse, but it retains its military might. However, an enslaved warrior like Lucius could prove Rome’s downfall in Scott’s Gladiator II, which opens Friday pretty much everywhere.

Marcus Acacius is a loyal general of Rome, so he conquers the North African kingdom of Numidia as his twin Emperors ordered, even though the carnage sickens him. Of course, the captured Lucius cannot see his inner turmoil, just his commanding presence, so he vows vengeance against Acacius as his proxy for the Roman Empire.

Macrinus happily promises Lucius the opportunity for payback sometime in the future. The former slave turned powerbroker recognizes the value of Lucius’s anger as the star attraction of his stable of gladiators. He also has his own reasons for wishing misfortune on Acacius.

As fate would have it, Acacius is the current lover of Lucilla, the daughter of the late Marcus Aurelius, Rome’s last decent emperor. Her former lover, Maximus Decimus Meridius (a.k.a. Russell Crowe) sacrificed himself to protect her son Lucius Verus from her brother, the tyrannical Emperor Commodus. Of course, as soon as Lucilla sees Macrinus’s Lucius, she knows he is her Lucius.

As bad as Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix) was, the mad co-emperors Geta and Caracalla are even worse. Rome would be much better off if Acacius, Lucilla, and distinguished elder statesmen like Senator Gracchus (Derek Jacobi, the only other holdover from the first film) plot a successful revolt, but Macrinus conspires against them for his own perverse reasons, using Lucius as a pawn.

Thanks to Connie Nielsen’s return as Lucilla, Gladiator II should satisfy fans of the original film, by fulfilling the destiny of the child she gave up so much to protect. Ironically, those who have not seen the first film recently, might instead be struck by the similarities to Peacock’s Those About to Die. Both feature social climbers using their control of a gladiator faction to gain the trust of unhinged emperors, but in the streaming series, viewers are expected to root for the roguish Tanax, while Macrinus is flamboyantly but irredeemably villainous. (Coincidently, both productions also flood the Colosseum, forcing the gladiators to face off against sharks in special naval-themed spectacles.)

Frankly, Paul Mescal does a nice job filling Crowe’s sandals, but the real stars of Gladiator II are Nielsen and Denzel Washington as Lady Lucilla and devious Macrinus. She provides the apostolic connection to the first film, while conveying the classically tragic dimensions to her maternal woe, whereas Washington is just fun to watch.

Leonardo da Vinci, on PBS

He was like the Orson Welles of the Renaissance. Everyone knew he was brilliant, but he still had trouble finishing projects. Of course, he left behind enough to judge his genius—like the Mona Lisa. He led an eventful life, which is fortunate since he has already been the protagonist of fictional series from Starz and CW. Now the true Renaissance man becomes Ken Burns’ first non-American subject when the two-part Leonardo da Vinci (co-directed by Sasha Burns and David McMahon) premieres this Monday and Tuesday on PBS.

Yes, Leonardo was illegitimate, but the battery of historians and talking heads do a nice job explaining why that really wasn’t such a big deal at the time. Frankly, the same was true for his presumed sexuality in pre-Savonarola Florence. There is still a good deal of speculation regarding Leonardo’s life, particularly his early years, but the law firm-sounding trio of Burns, Burns, and McMahon do a nice job of covering all the periods of his life, from Vinci to Florence and then onto Milan and eventually France.

Logically, they focus and good deal on his work, particularly his sketches, codices, and scientific journals. Frankly, they make a convincing case Leonardo really was hundreds of years ahead of his time, especially with regards to his deductions regarding the structure and mechanics of the human heart.

Of course, it is also frustrating to hear about all the commissions he left incomplete or had canceled at the last minute. Arguably, they had to give “Vetruvian Man” roughly equal time as the Mona Lisa and the Last Supper, because that is what they had to work with.

The Creep Tapes, on Shudder

You cannot be a serial killer without the serial murders. Unfortunately, the psycho-killer who sometimes refers to himself as “Peachfuzz” has plenty of videotapes in his closet documenting his serial killer credentials. That means he has more than enough tapes to sustain a found-footage streaming series, but, sadly for the victims, they all essentially end the same way in co-creators Patrick Brice & Mark Duplass’s The Creep Tapes, which premieres today on Shudder.

Much like the films Creep and Creep 2, the first four episodes follow a familiar template. Peachfuzz (or whatever name he currently adopts) lures a prospective victim to his mountain home or another isolated location, where he plays mind-games with his prey, before finally moving in for the kill. It always seems very unfair, because they are usually just freelance videographers hustling to make a buck on Craigslist.

Creep 1 was distinguished by Duplass’s manic scenery chewing, while Creep 2 is particularly effective because you really believe his prospective victim might make it, because she is so unpredictable and Peachfuzz’s own neurotic hangups have become so pronounced. The ambiguous ending held the promise of a potentially intriguing Creep 3, but co-star Desiree Akhavan is absent from the series.

Fans will appreciate the show’s consistency with the look and tone of the films, but episodes 1, 3, and 4 (“Mike,” “Jeremy,” and “Brad”) are basically the same thing all over again, as the “Creep” invites someone with a video camera to his home. Seriously, how are there any freelance videographers left alive in his state? “Mike” is probably the most tightly executed and “Jeremy” adds an amusing wrinkle, wherein Duplass’s talky psycho cons a leftwing would-be YouTube muckraker into thinking he is a corrupt Catholic priest. Unfortunately, the formula really looks tired in “Brad,” the series low-point.

The second episode, “Elliot” is largely more of the above, but it is impressively staged. For this killing, PF posts reports of a rare bird sighting to lure the birder to the middle of nowhere. This is probably the best directed episode, all of which were helmed by Brice (and edited by Christopher Donlon, another holdover from the Creep movies).

Submitted By Ukraine: La Palisiada

1996 was a confusing transitional year for Ukraine. President Leonid Kuchma realigned Ukrainian foreign policy back towards Russia (but he has since turned against Putin after the 2022 Russian invasion). However, Ukraine had already agreed to abolish the death penalty, in order to conform to European standards. However, there is still time for one last execution. Nothing about the process will be pretty in director-screenwriter Philip Sotnychenko’s La Palisiada, Ukraine’s official Oscar submission for best international feature, which releases tomorrow on VOD.

There is an unsettling undercurrent of violence that occasionally erupts in La Palisiada, as when the long, confusing prologue culminates in apparently shocking murder. How this relates to Sotnychenko’s primary narrative (which, in itself, is rather ambiguously shaped) is not immediately clear (and it may never be). Eventually, a police detective and a forensic psychiatrist investigate the murder of their colleague. Perhaps not surprisingly, they focus in on a questionable suspect, whose mental and neurological capacities would surely be challenged in an American court.

La Palisiada is a challenging film to watch, in the worst sense of the expression. Sotnychenko’s deliberately obscure approach only grows more frustrating over time. Even the title will annoy viewers, because it is simply mentioned in passing as a “figure of speech,” the meaning of which is never explained. In this regard, Sotnychenko appears inspired by Cormeliu Porumboiu’s Pollice, Adjective (and other Romanian New Wave films), but Porumboiu’s intentions and references are always reasonably transparent.

The Other Side of Tomorrow, Graphic Novel

In 2013, life was hopeless in North Korean. It is even worse now. Starvation and oppression are just as omnipresent, but now draftees are essentially being sold as cannon-fodder for Putin’s imperial dreams. That is not the life Yunho’s mother (or Omma) wants for him. However, to escape, they must risk grave peril in Tina Cho’s graphic novel, The Other Side of Tomorrow, illustrated by Deb JJ Lee, which is now on-sale.

Somehow, Yunho’s mother “escaped” across the border to China, where she secretly works to raise money for her full escape with Yunho. He still lives with his grandmother (halmoni), but Yunho was forced to drop out of school, so he could scavenge for scrap metal fulltime to survive. In contrast, Myunghee lives entirely on her own, having lost all her family to starvation and the regime’s cruelty. Yet, the fates of the two North Korean children soon intertwine.

First, the cool-headed Myunghee saves Yunho from possibly betraying himself when the army sweeps them up amid a large crowd to witness the public execution of his Uncle Samchon. Fatefully. Yunho’s uncle had already arranged his passage across the river to China, where his Omma awaits. Myunghee also paid her way that far, using the last of her food.

Ominously, Myungheesoon finds herself sold into bondage to an elderly farming couple. However, when she makes her next “escape,” she comes face-to-face with Yunho, who reunited with his Omma. As the Korean Evangelical underground railroad plans the next leg of their journey, Omma temporarily “adopts” Myunghee. It will help Yunho to have someone to help care for his mother when she gets sick during the arduous trek. However, he also jealously resents Myunghee trying to share Omma’s affections.

If you saw the extraordinary documentary Beyond Utopia, you will understand the flight from North Korea is not simply one escape, but a series of dangerous escapes: first from the DPRK to the PRC, then from China to Laos, and finally to the reasonably safe Thailand, where the South Korean and American embassies offer asylum.

Cho captures the grueling nature of each leg. She also explicitly establishes the Evangelical Christian character of the rescuer network. Although the freedom seekers deal with a few mercenary traffickers, they are mostly helped by Christian volunteers, who risk their own lives and freedom to save North Korean defectors.

Cho vividly humanizes and personalizes their plight. Myunghee and Yunho are fully realized young characters, with believably messy pre-teen emotions. Adults will understand and forgive them, while the target 8-12 year-old audience will readily identify with them. As a result, Other Side of Tomorrow functions as an excellent introduction to North Korea and the general idea of repressive regimes to younger readers. Hopefully, someone can convince Marco Rubio to give Trump a copy.

Cross, on Prime Video

If the police get defunded, Alex Cross will be out of a job. He is keenly aware of that fact. Yet, he is also hyper-conscious of expectations placed on him, for reasons of identity politics. In fact, resentment of the police often makes his job much harder during this case. The implications could be tragic as the DC detective hunts a serial killer holding a woman captive in creator Ben Watkins’ eight-episode Cross, obviously based on James Patterson’s novels, which premieres tomorrow on Prime Video.

When a defund-the-police activist like Emir Goodspeed turns up dead, it becomes a media nightmare for politically conscious Chief Anderson. She wants Cross to sell the press on her premature verdict of drug overdose. Of course, Cross knows better. He just cannot believe the reformed Muslim addict relapsed with hard drugs, shaved his head, and then feasted on pork chops for a final meal.

Naturally, Goodspeed’s family is more than skeptical, but Cross becomes the focus of their anger and distrust. As a result, they will withhold a key piece of evidence that Cross needs. For him, it is not just about solving Goodspeed’s murder. He also quickly concludes the culprit is a serial killer they dub the “Fanboy,” who just abducted his latest victim. That would be Shannon Witmer, who unfortunately bears a very vague resemblance to one of history’s most notorious serial killers.

Frankly, Cross will key-in on his prime suspect relatively early, but he is no drifter. This time Cross must play a cat-and-mouse game with one of Washington’s most influential power-brokers. The Fanboy probably has sources within the DC police department, so Cross can only trust his closest associates, including his partner and best friend John Sampson (one of the few characters retained from the books, besides Cross’s family) and his FBI contact Kayla Craig. For extra added pressure, someone from Cross’s past has also been terrorizing the Crosses. Given the clues left behind, he reasonably concludes the stalker was involved in the unsolved murder of his wife Maria several years ago.

Unlike the Reacher series, Cross does not correlate to a specific Patterson novel, which must greatly annoy his publisher. There might be a few similarities with the like-titled Cross, but the crimes and perps are entirely different.

Still, Ryan Eggold portrays the Fanboy with such creepy viciousness, he should satisfy fans of early vintage Patterson, especially Kiss the Girls (the book more than the movie). Johnny Ray Gil also adds impressively villainous sleaze, as Bobby Trey, a flamboyant gangster, who is mixed up with the Fanboy. Watkins and the battery of co-writers also take the stalker subplot in an unexpected direction, chillingly played by the relevant cast-members (they telegraph the revelation early in the final episode, but before that, it is rather unexpected).

Bogart: Life Comes in Flashes

Nobody wore trench coats in movies better than Humphrey Bogart. Other actors also portrayed Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe, but they never escaped Bogart’s shadow. Years after his death, his persona still inspired such loyal fandom, there were several films about people trying to be him, like The Man with Bogart’s Face. You never heard about anyone trying to have Clark Gable’s face, even though it was considered more desirable. Filmmaker Kathryn Ferguson chronicles Bogart’s life, using his own words unearthed from unpublished letters and other largely unseen archival material, in Bogart: Life Comes in Flashes, which opens Friday in New York.

Any casual fan knows Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall were the first great Hollywood romance, rivaling Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. Yet, Bogart had three prior marriages, all to women of considerable fame. Ferguson and producer-co-writer Eleanor Emptage will fill in the rest of the story for a lot of fans. For instance, his first wife Helen Menken was a stage actress whose acclaim was on par with Katharine Cornell. Menken was even president of the American Theater Wing—twice.

Mary Philips maybe never quite achieved the fame of the other Ms. Bogarts, but she had a long career (which apparently Bogart believed she prioritized ahead of their marriage), including A Farewell to Arms in 1932. However, none of his marriages held as much drama as his third, to Mayo Methot. At the time, she was a star verging on superstardom, specializing in wild, flapperish roles, until the Hayes Code largely put her out of business. According to Flashes, she shot at Bogart with her revolver on at least twice and stabbed him fairly seriously on one occasion, so it was definitely a dramatic union.

Flashes does not discuss Bogart’s career, film by film. It rather traces the state of his life, particularly with regard to the ups and downs of his marriages. However, there is some colorful archival footage of John Huston discussing Bogart’s career-making casting in The Maltese Falcon. We also hear Bogart’s complaints regarding The Return of Dr. X, which some describe as his “only horror film,” but even at the time, its horror cred was debatable. In contrast, Ferguson (perhaps mercifully) overlooks the other oddball curio of Bogart’s Warner years, his only musical, the corn pone Swing Your Lady.

Throughout the doc, Kerry Shale reads Bogart’s words “in character,” but without attempting a Rich Little-esque impression of the unique Bogart voice (in contrast to Mark Cousins’ My Name is Alfred Hitchcock, which would make a fitting companion film). Ferguson also incorporates extensive interviews with Bacall and their son Stephen Bogart (who also wrote two mystery novels inspired by his famous parents). Fittingly, we also hear a good amount from Huston and Katharine Hepburn, obviously including considerable discussion of The African Queen, for which Bogart won his only Oscar.

Meschugge, Graphic Novel

The Dutch policeman who stood by idly watching terrorist-supporters hunting down and attacking Jews on their city’s streets on the night of November 7^th should keep one thing in mind. Those who survive a pogrom (as the mayor of Amsterdam herself described it) come out of the horrors hardened and tougher. That is exactly why the Jewish Ghetto of 1905 Copenhagen was considered such a rough-and-tumble neighborhood. Frankly, the police hardly notice a Jack the Ripper-style serial killer stalking the ghetto until he (or it) nearly finishes his sinister project in Benni Bodker’s graphic novel Meschugge, illustrated by Christian Højgaard, which goes on-sale tomorrow.

Froken Nathansen’s family is Jewish, but they consider themselves part of the assimilated establishment. Rebelling against their bourgeoisie lifestyle, she fancies herself a progressive reformer. Unfortunately, her boss, police magistrate Kingo is not as progressive as she assumed, when she accepted the job as his stenographer-secretary.

When he dispatches Nathansen to take notes during the autopsy of a murdered Ghetto sex-worker (that is probably not the term they used in 1905 Denmark, but anything more descriptive tends to get censored on this platform), it clearly represents a low priority for the magistrate. However, when Nathansen realizes she partially witnessed the murder when she took a wrong turn walking home the night before, she feels duty bound to investigate.

Her young waifish informer quickly clues her into the pattern of ripper-esque killings that have largely gone unnoticed in the Ghetto. So far, there was only one survivor, who escaped after the killer carved a Kabbalist figure on her forehead.

The Kabbalist implications to the killings add an intriguing dimension to the mystery. Højgaard’s art also perfectly captures the story’s eerie noir vibes. However, it is hard to fully realize the ultimate monster (“meschugge” being the Yiddish word for crazy or insane, closely derived from the Hebrew equivalent) on the printed page—and it would be almost impossible to do it justice on film.

Superman & Lois: A Regular Guy

In small towns like Smallville, everybody knows everyone else’s business. Maybe they are not the best places for someone with a secret identity to live. Yet, Clark Kent (a.k.a. Superman) has always felt safe there. However, he has had a lot of trouble keeping the cat at least halfway still in the bag at the start of “A Regular Guy,” the latest episode of Superman & Lois, which premieres tonight on CW.

Pretty much everyone in Smallville saw Doomsday dump Superman’s temporarily dead body on the town’s Main Street. Quite a few people also saw Lois and his sons react with the pain and grief of family members. Nevertheless, those glasses sure keep people off the scent.

For a good part of the episode, Kent goes on a geeky wimp tour, trying to make himself look anything but super in front of the most suspicious neighbors. Of course, past super sightings of his sons further complicate his efforts. Things reach a turning point, when the Kents realize Lex Luthor is trying to stir the pot.

This season of Superman & Lois takes the iconic DC character and gives him the vintage Marvel treatment. It is all about Superman’s family relationships and his efforts to find the right superhero life-work balance—after coming back to life. Ultimately, the Kents decide what to do as a family, hashing it out over the kitchen table. Honestly, these kind of scenes are why it is the best family drama currently running on TV or streaming.

“A Regular Guy” is also a great showcase for Tyler Hoechlin, who was largely sidelined during the earlier “death of Superman” episodes (because he was dead). Without question, he is the best Superman since Christopher Reeve as well as those who came before 1978.

St. Denis Medical, on NBC

Some things are easier to appreciate with distant. For instance, medical dramas are entertaining on television, but miserable in real life. Similarly, it is easier to appreciate the workplace humor of hospitals, if you are not confined to one. In fact, there are a lot of laughs to be found in this mid-sized Oregon hospital, but you really, really would not want to be a patient in co-creators Eric Ledgin (also showrunner) & Justin Spitzer’s St. Denis Medical, which premieres Tuesday on NBC.

Think of St. Denis as if it were Dunder-Mifflin Medical. Our vantage point comes from the camera recording a documentary about the hospital, which presumably will become Frederick Wiseman-length, if the show runs for multiple seasons. Alex the supervising RN is a kind soul, perhaps to a fault. She is so conscientious, she has trouble tearing herself away from the ER madness. In fact, the opening episode, “Welcome to St. Denis” entirely focuses on her struggle to leave well after her shift ends, so she can watch her daughter perform in her high school musical.

Of course, Dr. Ron, the admitting ER doctor bets against her. He is not mean, per se. He is just extremely cynical. He is also quite selfishly set in his ways, as we can fully see in episode five, “A Peanut and Caramel-Filled Miracle,” in which he goes to outrageous lengths to enjoy his regular afternoon treat, a NutRageous candy bar.

What is stopping him? That would be arrogant trauma surgeon Dr. Bruce, who bought up all NutRageous bars from the vending machines, gift shop, and surrounding convenience stores, just to mess with his colleague. You could say Dr. Bruce is a bit petty and enormously vain. He goes to outrageous lengths to avoid giving blood in episode seven, “50 CC’s of Kindness.” (Apparently, episode six still needs more time baking in the oven.) On the other hand, the two rival gang members from a nearby prison spill plenty of each other’s blood. The fact that Ledgin and Spitzer consider prison shivving a valid subject for comedy is definitely a promising sign.

The best of the six episodes provided to critics would be episode four, “Salamat You Too,” in which Nurse Alex tries to assert her authority over a “mean girl” clique of Filipino nurses, but ends with the supervising nurse in some very hot DEI water. Frankly, this episode is an instant classic, ranking with the best of The Office. When they come for Seinfeld’s “Puerto Rican Day Parade,” they will include this one on the same blacklist too, so watch it while you can (on November 26^th).

Allison Tolman nicely anchors the series as Nurse Alex, making her easy to identify with. She is funny in a more lowkey way, without competing with her more outrageous co-stars. If these characters were real-life caregivers, her Nurse Alex is probably the only one you would want to see at your bedside.

Frankly, David Alan Grier deserves Emmy consideration for his work as the pompous Dr. Ron. He is shameless and ruthlessly sarcastic, but Grier’s portrayal will remind viewers of people they might know from their own workplace, in much the way Dan Larroquette did on the original Night Court.

The third episode, “Weird Stuff You Can’t Explain,” is another strong showcase for Grier’s comedic chops. This time around, Dr. Ron takes a lot of flak for defiantly calling down a hex on St. Denis, just to prove the ridiculousness of supernatural beliefs. Of course, once he does, the emergency room seems to be plagued by a genuine curse. This episode is also a good example of recurring cast-member Dave Theune’s very funny contributions as the world’s most deadpan and morose orderly.

The Last Rifleman, in The Epoch Times

THE LAST RIFLEMAN treats irs aging D-Day veteran characters with the sensitivity and respect they deserve. However, the modest budget undermines the wartime flashbacks. EPOCH TIMES review up here.

Independent Lens: Make Peace or Die

In the mid to late 2000s, there were scores of documentaries about PTSD. Today, when they are not so politically useful to the anti-war cause, there have almost completely disappeared. Anthony Marquez noticed a similar phenomenon with Gold Star families. They received an initial outpouring of support, but after a year or so, people largely forgot them. That is why Marquez decided to personally check-in with the families of all 17 fellow Marines of his unit who died in Sangin, Afghanistan. Filmmaker Manny Marquez follows his brother’s cathartic journey in Make Peace or Die: Honor the Fallen, which airs this Monday on PBS, as part of the current season of Independent Lens.

Sangin will be remembered as one of the deadliest destinations ever for the Marine Corps. Not surprisingly, his experiences there haunted Marquez years after the fact. As part of his self-proscribed therapy, he hand-crafted (or chainsaw-crafted) memorial statues for each Gold Star family, which he hand-delivered. Realizing how quickly the community support evaporates for Gold Star families, Marquez resolved to revisit the same families one year later (this time with his brother following him).

Most were incredibly welcoming, even though his visits inevitably rekindled the pain of their loss. He hardly knew some of their sons, but he could still relate through their shared experiences. At times, he even questions his mission, but eventually doubles down, inviting the families to a special commemoration ceremony at Camp Pendleton. Along the way, he assembles a special dress uniform, consisting of garments and medals contributed by the seventeen families.

There are several deeply emotional moments in Make Peace or Die (the title refers to Corps 1^st Battalion, 5^th Marines’ motto—as in make peace with us, or else). However, the sequence that will absolutely destroy viewers documents the final hours of Marquez’s military service dog, who even had a Marine honor guard for the fateful last trip to the vet’s office. No matter how tough you think you are, you are going to be choked up.

This is a powerful film that should have had much more attention on the festival circuit. Obviously, Marquez approached his subjects with the best of intentions. After all, his parents appear in the documentary, as well as his brother. Of course, nobody wants to question the motives of some the docs that came out so regularly during the George W. Bush administration, but isn’t it so strange how they just aren’t being produced anymore (with the exception of this film)?

Overlord: The Sacred Kingdom, in Cinema Daily US

OVERLORD: THE SACRED KINGDOM, the anime franchise's first feature, tells an accessiblestand-alone story, but the intricately detailed world-building will still mostly appeal to fantasy fans. CINEMA DAILY US review up here.

Youth (Hard Times) & Youth (Homecoming), in The Epoch Times

Wang Bing's YOUTH (HARD TIMES) vividly illustrates the systemic exploitation of provincial migrant textile workers in China. YOUTH (HOMECOMING), the conclusion of the documentary trilogy, provides further context, explaining why the cycle continues. EPOCH TIMES joint-review up here.

Bangkok Dog: Prachya Pinkaew “Presents” D.Y. Sao

LS-75 is such a super-secret law enforcement agency, it apparently operates out of a Chatsworth office park. Somehow, they scrape enough money to send agent Andrew Kang to Thailand, where he assumes the identity of a drug ring’s American point-man. Despite the constant brawling, Kang’s handler fears he might be succeeding a little too well in Chaya Supannarat’s Bangkok Dog, executive-produced by Ong-Bak action auteur Prachya Pinkaew, which releases Tuesday on VOD.

After Kang and his partner Kaitlyn Liu bust Benz Wu for his shipping container full of dead trafficked people, with stomachs stuffed with illegal narcotics, they are highly motivated to take down the rest of the operation. The top man is Dominic Mesias—and he is one bad apple.

However, in his new role in the Bangkok agency, Kang masquerading in the guise of Wu, works closely under jaded Charn Chai Yoodee, who quickly becomes a fast-friend. Kang even harbors illusions of flipping Yoodee, which worries Liu, who now serves as his in-country LS-75 handler. Regardless, Kang has no such affection for Mesias, especially after a particularly brutal debt-collection. Obviously, the worst thing that could happen for Kang would be Wu escaping from LS-75 to blow his cover, so that is exactly what will happen.

Everything about Bangkok Dog looks cheap, except the considerable blood and sweat equity co-stars and co-fight choreographers D.Y. Sao and Brian Le put into the bone-crushing marital arts beatdowns, which are priceless. They bleed for this movie.

Clearly, Bangkok Dog was conceived as a no-frills showcase to determine whether Sao and/or Le leave a sufficient impression on viewers to warrant a comparatively bigger budgeted follow-up. They both should pass the test, provided the film attracts enough eyeballs.

Sao plays Kang with impressive intensity and his physicality is off the charts. However, the breakout discovery could turn out to be Le, who struts through the picture with the flamboyance of a pro wrestler. Yet, he matches Sao, step for step. As a considerable bonus, martial arts fan favorite and journeyman stuntman Ron Smoorenberg also appears as Vega, tangling with Sao in what might be the film’s most brutal fight scene.

Citadel: Honey Bunny, on Prime Video

India had 24: India, so it makes sense they would also get their own spinoff from Prime’s Citadel franchise. In this case, it is a prequel that tells the way-backstory of a major character of the anchor series. Going forward, spinoffs will probably be divided into two categories: pre-fall of Citadel and post. So far, post offers greater dramatic stakes, because survivors are so greatly outnumbered. Regardless, in this case, viewers do not even hear the name “Citadel” until about the fourth installment of creator Sita R. Menon’s six-episode Citadel: Honey Bunny, which starts streaming today on Prime Video.

In 1992, “Honey” was a struggling Bollywood starlet developing a romantic relationship Rahi “Bunny” Gambhir. Like Colt Seavers, he did not get paid much to help his stars look good on-screen, but he always has money, because he moonlights as a secret agent. For one fateful assignment, Bunny recruits Honey to act in a sting operation, but complications reveal Honey’s identity. Instead of accepting some kind of witness relocation, she joins Bunny’s super-secret agency, despite the misogynistic skepticism of his boss, “Guru.”

Of course, they work well together, but something goes awry during a mission in Serbia. Flashforward to the year 2000, at which point Honey vigilantly raises her daughter Nadia, hoping Guru still assumes she is dead. Apparently, he does not, judging from the hit squad he sends after her and Nadia. Now estranged from Guru, Bunny sets out to save her, despite his injured feelings. For backup, he recruits his former comrade Chacko and their old pal Ludo, who still works in Guru’s evil IT department.

Much like Citadel: Diana, Honey Bunny follows the pursuit of a vaguely defined “black box” item that would jeopardize the world order if it fell into the wrong hands. Throughout the early episodes, Menon and co-writers Raj & DK (the filmmaking team that also helmed all six episodes) try to be cagey about which hands would be the wrong ones. Of course, we can also expect a mole in Citadel, right?

Diana was the ultra-chic Citadel spinoff. Honey Bunny is its gritty counterpart. In fact, the Macguffins might be too similar, even though they take place during different time frames. However, Honey Bunny has some of the best action sequences, especially the climactic shootout. Instead of big set-piece spectacles, its fight scenes are down and dirty, executed on the mean streets.

Samantha [Ruth Prabhu] somehow finds the right balance between Honey’s vulnerability and butt-kicking action cred. She also has decent, but not extraordinary chemistry with Varun Dhawan’s Bunny. Kay Kay Menon is entertainingly ruthless as Guru, while Simran Bagga is intriguingly mysterious as his mastermind rival, Zooni.

Day of the Jackal, on Peacock

Author Frederick Forsyth wanted his name removed from the not-so hot 1997 Bruce Willis adaptation of his famous novel, because it was so drastically unfaithful. It is hard to imagine he will be too crazy about this one either. There is no question, Fred Zinnemann’s 1973 film towers above the competition. At least the early episodes have a little zip when creator-writer Ronan Bennett’s ten-episode Day of the Jackal, which premieres tomorrow on Peacock.

The Jackal is still an elite British assassin, but instead of a shadowy man of mystery, viewers learn his entire backstory over the course of the series. It kicks off with his complex assassination of a German anti-immigration political leader. Of course, the hit goes off smoothly, but things turn messy when the client refuses to pay the balance. The whole scandal attracts MI6’s attention, where Bianca Pullman, an intelligence officer out of synch with the interim director, believes she can track down the elite gunsmith who crafted the Jackal’s special rifle.

Not surprising to anyone, Norman Stoke came up through the ranks of the IRA. Tracking him down will be almost as tricky as finding the Jackal, but Pullman once handled his sister-in-law as a reluctant informer in Northern Ireland. The clock really starts ticking when MI6 determines the Jackal’s next target will be Ulle Dag Charles (UDC), a leftist tech titan, whose soon to launch “River” application will bring “transparency to financial markets,” which will somehow redistribute wealth to the needy. Nobody bothers explaining how that might work, because they just expect viewers to treasure the dream. If you don’t, you must be a villainous capitalist, who looks like Charles Dance.

That is about where one could expect Forsyth, and probably most everyone else, to check out. It is a shame, because the early episodes represent an entertainingly brisk ride. Unfortunately, it veers southward when the focus turns towards ruthless captains of finance. The unflattering depiction of the British military’s conduct in Afghanistan during the Jackal’s service as a sniper also casts unpleasant shade the service. It also makes no commercial sense. Most potential viewers for a thriller following the hunt for a globe-trotting assassin, ostensibly based on a Forsyth novel, will have positive associations with the British military.

Regardless, thriller fans of any strip will be disappointed by the final two episodes, which string along a parade of contrived accidents, as Bennett searches for an exit strategy. Still, the Thommas Crown-ish opening titles are stylish, in an appealingly retro way.

It is a shame, because the first five episodes or so serve up solid procedural business and several nicely produced action sequences. Although not an obvious casting choice, Eddie Redmayne has the right cerebral Edward Fox vibes as the Jackal. He also has an appropriately pliable face for all the Jackal’s disguises.

Lashana Lynch is convincingly driven, perhaps to a fault, as Pullman. She also has decent action chemistry with Nick Blood, playing her protection agent, Vincent Pyne. Lynch also spars nicely with Chukwudi Iwuji and Lia Williams, in the roles of her escalating chain of command. However, the UDC subplot is utterly silly and Khalid Abdalla portrayal is just as much a caricature as Dance chewing the boardroom scenery as Timothy Winthrop, the chairman of the cabal.

A Greyhound of a Girl, in Cinema Daily US

A GREYHOUND OF A GIRL is a lovely, mildly fantastical, and maybe even therapeutic animated film about multi-generational reconciliation and possibly cross-species reconciliation. It deserves to become a Mother's Day staple. CINEMA DAILY US review up here.

Heretic: Hugh Grant Terrorizes Mormons

It is hard enough serving as a Mormon missionary in liberal Boulder, Colorado. Trey Parker and Matt Stone did not do them any favors with Book of Mormon either. However, they are in for a truly harrowing ordeal when they are invited into the home of a cultural relativist with a nefarious interest in comparative religions. Prepare yourself to root for the Mormons in director-screenwriters Scott Beck & Bryan Woods’ Heretic, which opens Friday in theaters.

Supposedly, Mr. Reed’s wife is in the kitchen baking a blueberry pie. That is why they allow him to lure them into his house. Otherwise, being alone with a man would have been against the LDS rules for missionaries. It turns out the Church has good reason for these rules. It is snowing outside, but the girls are smart enough to recognize when it is time to retreat. Unfortunately, Reed keeps his home inescapably secured with Rube Goldbergian time locks.

Against their will and better judgment, Sister Barnes and Sister Paxton sit through Reed’s Michel Foucault-ish lectures regarding the commonalities present in most monotheistic religions. Their lives are clearly in physical peril, but Reed also hopes to endanger their faith. However, Sister Paxton, the more assertive and worldly of the two girls, realizes the more they challenge Reed’s arguments, the more their odds for survival improve. He will show them some shocking sights designed to shake their faith, but they are more resilient than he assumes.

Fans of the A24 brand of horror might be taken aback by many aspects of Heretic. For starters, the nonbelieving not-so-humanist is an absolute, undeniable monster. As screenwriters, Beck & Woods have their criticisms of Mormonism, but they are keenly sympathetic towards the two Sisters. In fact, they show that many of the lazy cheap shots lobbed at Mormons are exactly that: lazy cheap shots.

Although co-stars Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East are no longer practicing Mormons, they both grew up in the LDS Church and still maintain personal ties, so they keenly understood the missionary experience. They were also not inclined to trash the Church. That kind of sympathy and authenticity really comes through in their gripping performances as Sister Barnes and Sister Paxton. There is nothing cartoonish about their portrayals. Right from the start, we believe they are young women already somewhat stepping out of their previously sheltered existences, facing someone sinister and manipulative, well beyond their experiences.

Inspector Ellis, on Acorn TV

If DCI Ellis shows up at your police station, you probably work in a zoo—and maybe you should call your solicitor. After taking personal time for yet to be disclosed reasons, DCI Ellis reluctantly agrees to serve as her boss’s troubleshooter, taking over high-profile cases from provincial constabularies that are too corrupt and too incompetent to handle them. Naturally, nobody is happy to see her, but she gets results in creator-writers Paul Logue & Sian Ejwunmi-Le Barre’s Inspector Ellis, which premieres today on Acorn TV.

In “Hanmore,” the first of three feature-length installments, the late Rowan Edwards’ mother is a former member of parliament with a reputation for criticizing the police, so ACC Leighton needs someone competent running the investigation. At least Louise Edwards recognizes Ellis is a considerable trade-up from lazy local DCI Jim Belmont. However, Ellis is more concerned about the second victim, Maggie Bradley, the victim’s working-class girlfriend, who disappeared on the night of his murder.

Of course, Belmont latched onto Bradley’s step-father as the easiest suspect. He therefore resents it when Ellis uses logic and forensic science to poke holes in his flimsy narrative. Poor DS Chet Harper is stuck in the middle, tasked with supporting Ellis, while Belmont still demands his loyalty.

“Hanmore” is a decent case, but “Callorwell” turns into a nasty can of worms. Ellis and Harper (who is now assigned to the trouble-shooting Inspector, which should give you an idea how things went with Belmont) are dispatched to investigate the disappearance of DC Jenny Rawler, a junior detective who just filed a harassment complaint against the local DCI, Hain. Soon, Ellis and Harper discover she had received a series of death threats that “magically” disappeared from evidence.

Frankly, this is a notably strong episode, because it reveals plot twists American television would not have the guts to touch. In an American procedural, Rawler would be the victim—period, end of discussion. In Ellis, it gets messy—really, really messy. This episode also features a terrific supporting cast, starting with Sam Marks as the conspicuously slimy local DI Jamie Morrison. Tim Dutton is even sleazier as Hain, while William Travis nicely humanizes honest but intimidated Sgt. Frank Landry.

1982: The Greatest Geek Year Ever

Technically, there was a superhero movie this year, but it takes a while to get to it. As it happens, Clint Eastwood, whose most likely final film was just unceremoniously dumped into theaters, had two films release this year. Genre fans were truly spoiled this year, but we didn’t know how good we had it growing up in the 1980s. Looking back, most viewers will agree with the general enthusiasm of the commentators in Roger Lay Jr.’s 1982: The Greatest Geek Year Ever, which releases Tuesday on DVD in a feature-documentary cut.

It will not take long to convince readers of 1982’s cinematic merits. Just look at the highlights: E.T., Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Rocky III, Creepshow, Poltergeist, and Conan the Barbarian. Amongst the “flops” were universally beloved classics like John Carpenter’s The Thing and Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner. Plus, there were “minor” hits like The Swamp Thing (the lone “superhero” movie) and Tron, which scratched out its profitability for Disney through video game tie-ins.

There were several historic firsts, like Friday the 13^th, Part III, which was the first film in which Jason wore the iconic hockey mask. Sadly, Halloween III: The Season of the Witch became the first and last installment of the Halloween franchise not featuring Michael Myers, but in retrospect, it was one of the best. Filmmakers took risks, which sometimes paid off, as with Jim Henson’s brilliant The Dark Crystal.

All of the above films are covered in considerable detail during Greatest Geek Year Ever—and rightfully so. However, some of the omissions will leave you scratching your head, like Jean-Jacques Annaud’s Quest for Fire and Alan Parker’s Pink Floyd: The Wall, which were shoot-for-the-moon movies if ever there was one. Weirdly, nobody mentions this was the first year Disney faced serious competition for theatrical animation, from Don Bluth’s The Secret of NIMH, and Rankin-Bass’s The Last Unicorn.

They cover some of the “prestige” films as well, while lamenting the Best Picture Oscar for Ghandi over so many other films that have become a part of our lives (yet, it is not as egregious as Kramer vs. Kramer winning in 1979, which stands as another incredibly deep year for movies). Appropriately, Lay and company spend a good deal of time on Eastwood’s Firefox, which arguably represents the very first “techno-thriller,” whereas Eastwood’s much more personal Honkytonk Man is ignored. Perhaps one of the most glaring oversights is An Officer and a Gentleman, which is only mentioned it passing, but still holds up and its military cred ought to buy it more screen discussion.

Frankly, some of the most entertaining segments focus on more idiosyncratic selections, like The Beastmaster, which became a hit on video, and the Roger Corman-produced Forbidden World, mostly because it is always fun to hear the low-budget mogul reminisce. Yet, nobody is more tongue-in-cheek than Barry Bostwick looking back on the goofiness of Hal Needham’s Megaforce.

You Would Do It Too, on Apple TV+

Experts say eye-witness testimony is the least reliable form of criminal evidence. The Barcelona cops would concur. They have six witnesses who are perversely uncooperative. They assumed the six agreed to a “code of silence” to protect a vigilante out of gratitude. Little by little, their collective story keeps changing, in increasingly sinister ways in creator-writers David Victori & Jordi Vallejo’s eight episode You Would Do It Too, which is now streaming on Apple TV+.

Nine passengers and a driver were on an express bus leaving the airport. Three hijackers took over assumed control, forcing the other passengers and drivers to transfer their bank balances to an untraceable offshore account (after taking out quick high-interest online payday loans) and then threatened to hunt down everyone in their contact lists if they ever told the police. However, a hooded man in the back disarmed one hijacker, fatally shooting all three, before running off into the woods. That is the initial story, but it will change.

At first, the six witnesses steadfastly refuse to identify the hooded vigilante, stonewalling Det. Fran Garza. His boss, Chief Victoria Jordan, makes his task even more awkward by temporarily elevating his ex, uniformed officer Rebeca Quiro, to act as his partner. However, a pair of hunters eventually ID Dante Bazan from his old mugshot. The suspect has a violet criminal history. Yet, according to his former lawyer, Bazan was more of a victim of the legal system rather than a hardened criminal.

Her words only further enflame social media, which had already embraced the “vigilante” as a folk hero. Consequently, Jordan needs Bazan caught and convicted as quickly as possible. As far as she is concerned. he is the killing and that’s the end of it. However, Garza always had his doubts, which are confirmed by a new witness: the getaway driver, who abandoned his accomplices once shots were fired.

You Would Do It Too is a terrible, but the writing of Victori & Vallejo is wickedly clever. This is definitely a thriller in the tradition of The Usual Suspects, in which a web of lies is untangled as the characters’ secrets are patiently revealed. Viewers might guess the nature of the big twists, but they are unlikely to anticipate all the particulars. Every time Victori (who also directed all eight episodes) takes viewers back to that fateful bus, the stakes rise and the plot thickens quite palpably.

All six witnesses and/or suspects do terrific work keeping viewers off balance. Michelle Jenner is especially intense as Elisa Pena, an Antifa-like cam model with anger management issues. Conversely, Pilar Berges is a woeful mess as the basket-case pothead, Miren Lujan. Elena Irureta is so genuinely sympathetic as the grandmother, Marga Sarabia, it really seems profoundly unfair she was caught up in this mess. However, Xavi Saez inspires that exact opposite feelings as bitter, obnoxious Jandro Pineda, who is so angry at life, he constantly stirs up trouble.

Paulo Molinero is also terrific seething and brooding as Garza. On the other hand, Ana Polvorosa (from La Fortuna) seems inconsistent, even erratic, portraying Quiros, who frequently over-reacts with excess outrage, but also makes some extremely cold and calculated decisions. It seems like her only productive purpose is giving Garza a hard time. However, both Ana Wagener and Mirela Balic are unswervingly and entertainingly Machiavellian as Chief Jordan and click-bait “journalist” Leyre Palacios.

Absolution, Starring Liam Neeson

Why do young thugs keep underestimating and disrespecting old bad*sses? Don’t they know the old guys have more experience and greater likelihood of saying “to heck with it,” or something like that? Haven’t they seen any Clint Eastwood or Liam Neeson movies? This one is a Liam Neeson film. He plays a man simply called “Thug” in the credits who is losing his faculties, but he steely as ever in Hans Petter Moland’s Absolution, which opens today in theaters.

This might not be the first time Leeson played a tough guy losing his memory. I can’t remember, can you? Regardless, he is in familiar territory playing the “Thug,” who has many regrets, starting with the realization he is his violent father’s son. Lately, his undiagnosed CTE has progressed to the point he must resort to jotting down key details of his life, including the name of his gangster boss, Charlie Conner.

Awkwardly, Conner assigned the Thug to his idiot son, Kyle, who wants to take over the family business. Of course, Junior lacks both the brains and the guts, but the Thug often covers for him, which makes the entitled junior gangster resent him even more.

By the time the former boxer gets himself checked out, the prognosis is grim. He waited way too late, but there really isn’t any treatment anyway. He still might have time to patch things up with his daughter Daisy, but it will take repeated efforts to wear down her calcified resentments. However, Dre, the grandson he never knew he had, shows some curious interest in the steely old man. Weirdly, the “Woman” he picked up in a bar also shows some interest. Yet, ironically, when the Thug can hardly remember the most important aspects of his personal life, he cannot forget the desperate woman he unknowingly helped traffic, as part of a sketchy deal the younger Conner negotiated [poorly].

Frankly, critics do not give Neeson’s recent action films enough credit for maturing with their star. The better ones, like In the Land of Saints and Sinners and The Marksman are character studies of men facing their mortality and meditations on the psychological and social costs of violence. Frankly, all three are pretty strong movies. Arguably, the less distribution Neeson’s films get, the more apt they are to be good (that could very well apply to plenty of other thesps, as well).

Regardless, Neeson is rock-solid as the Thug, including the legit dramatic parts, when the enforcer is forced to face the implications of his diagnosis. Actors have won nominations for worse performances involving similar material, but critics will automatically dismiss Neeson because he also kicks a lot of butt.

DC Showcase: Jonah Hex

Nobody cowboys harder than Jonah Hex. The scarred bounty-hunter is so hardnosed, it is practically a super-power. The live-action movie did not do him justice, but this animated short did. Once again, it is an example of how DC straight-to-DVD animated films are vastly superior to both Marvel and DC live-action tent-poles. On the day of what is sometimes listed as his in-world birthday (11/1), get a taste of his cool steeliness and hot lead in Joaquim Dos Santos’s 12-minute short, DC Showcase: Jonah Hex.

In the 1980s, Jonah Hex was just about the last western comic book title that still cranked out new issues. However, there was a non-fantastical macabre vibe to Hex’s world that was far from traditional. Joe R. Lansdale’s screenplay captures that sensibility perfectly.

Hex soon blows into town hot on the heels of Red Doc, an outlaw wanted dead or alive. Unfortunately for Doc, he will soon be stone cold, thanks to the seductive treachery of Madame Lorraine, the proprietress of the salon and upstairs areas, where, you know. She is no Miss Kitty, that’s for sure. Madame Lorraine makes a practice of killing and looting horny drifters like Red Doc. She assumes she can do the same with Hex. Right, good luck with that.