Tag: Gender

Grace and Frankie starring Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Martin Sheen & Sam Waterston (Netflix)

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Grace (Jane Fonda) and Frankie (Lily Tomlin) mourn their former lives at the beach.

NOTE: This review contains MILD SPOILERS for Season 1.

Sometimes the friend you DON’T want is the one you get… and realize you NEED!  This is the set-up of the Netflix comedy series starring former 9 to 5 co-stars Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin.  The show is funny (BUT w/ serious undercurrents), smart, sensitive- a MUST-SEE!  After their husbands, Robert (Martin Sheen) and Sol (Sam Waterston), leave them for EACH OTHER (becoming NOT only law partners), WASPy perfectionist Grace Hanson (Fonda) is thrown together w/ Jewish hippie Frankie Bergstein (Tomlin).  These ladies had dealt w/ each other over the past 30 yrs, BUT never been real friends until BOTH refuse to leave the SoCal beach house that their families invested in together. 

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The two opposites share a lovely beach house.

Grace is VERY angry/embarrassed by the situation- how could Robert so something like this to HER!?  What will PEOPLE think, she often wonders?  Eventually, she realizes that there WERE clues around that he might’ve been gay.  Grace goes about creating a new life for herself, which includes online dating (MANY viewers of all ages will relate to this)!  

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Grace has lunch w/ an overeager online suitor.

Frankie, on the other hand, is sad and retreats into herself.  She burns incense, meditates, and creates vlogs about how she’s feeling.  Frankie keeps in touch w/ Sol; they seem like a couple that was best friends (unlike Grace and Robert).  Of course, above these strong/capable women’s heads is the (VERY real) possibility of living their remaining years alone.  

Robert and Sol are VERY much in love, live together, and plan to wed soon. They don’t want to hide anymore.  Their four grown-up children are surprised, BUT also have dramas of their own to deal w/, as we eventually learn.

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The younger gen doesn’t have it ALL figured out either!

Grace and Robert’s daughter Mallory (former model Brooklyn Decker) has some serious history w/ Frankie and Sol’s eldest son Coyote (Broadway actor Ethan Embry).  There is also Brianna (June Diane Raphael), who has taken over Grace’s cosmetic line.  Coyote’s younger brother Bud (up-and-coming comedian Baron Vaughn) is ALSO a lawyer and has his life together; he is helping out Coyote (recently got out of drug rehab).

With such a GREAT leading cast, you’re bound to also get some FAB veteran actors as guest stars: Corbin Bernsen (LA Law),  Sam Elliott, Ernie Hudson (Ghostbusters), Christine Lahti, Joe Morton (most recently on Scandal), and Craig T. Nelson (Coach). 

Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation (NOW PLAYING)

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NOTE: This is a SPOILER-FREE review.

I went to see this action film b/c it was FREE (w/ my movie Meetup)!  LOL… I’m NOT a big fan of Tom Cruise, BUT I don’t loathe him (like SO many out there).  I was (pleasantly) surprised that I had a GOOD time; the same goes for the ladies in my group (we’re ALL female, BTW).

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Tom Cruise and Rebecca Ferguson star in “Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation.”

I was esp. glad to see a strong female counterpoint to Cruise in the form of Swedish actress Rebecca Ferguson (who plays a Brit).  Yes, she’s a beautiful lady, BUT she is also tall, muscular/solid build, and does some AWESOME stunts!  Is her character a good spy or a baddie?  It takes a BIT of time for that to be revealed. She and Cruise have TERRIFIC onscreen chemistry.  FYI: This is her FIRST big movie role.

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Actress Rebecca Ferguson at a premiere for the film.

As for the men, I liked Simon Pegg’s computer expert character- he provided a LOT of the humor.  Jeremy Renner- don’t know WHY this guy keeps getting cast in big movies!?  The poor guy just has NO screen presence; forget about ever being a leading man.  Ving Rhames is underused, as is Alec Baldwin (looking good, as always).  Baldwin has one of the funniest lines in the film though.

The soundtrack is one of the BEST things about this movie; one (well-known) piece of opera is woven throughout a pivotal scene.  Also, everyone likes hearing the MI theme song, right?

Check out The Super Fantastic Nerd Hour podcast (Episode 72) if you’ve seen this film and want to hear an in-depth review.

Thoughts on Game of Thrones: Season 5, Episodes 9 & 10

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SPOILERS: Don’t read if you have not yet seen or don’t want to know details from E9 and E10 (the season finale) of the show.

Episode 9: A Dance of Dragons

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Jorah (Iain Glen) surrounded by the Sons of the Harpy.

Some will say this was a betrayal… of the contract that showrunners have with the audience.  Sometimes you can just go too far.  -Ben Mankiewicz (What The Flick?!) noting some viewers’ opinions of Sansa’s marital rape

This would never ever, ever happen in a normal TV show, and that’s part of the reason we watch this show.  -Cenk Uyger (Ben’s co-commentator) on Shireen’s death/sacrifice by burning

This was a VERY hard to watch ep (if you’re still watching)! We find out that, just before dawn, Ramsay and a few of the Bolton bannermen came and took ALL the horses.  Also, the sellswords (half of Stannis’ army) rode away in the middle of the night. Davos (LOVE him, as always) is sent away by Stannis to The Wall.  Davos wonders why HE needs to go when any other man would suit.  He gives Shireen a present (a deer he carved out of wood) before he rides away.  Poor little Shireen is walked from her tent to a pyre.  She cries and calls out for her father, but the soldiers just lower their heads and do nothing.  Suddenly, Selyse finds her motherly feeling (FINALLY), but it’s TOO late!  Melisandre has already set fire to the pyre.

The second half of the ep was like something you’d see in a feature film- WOW!!!  How cool was it when Jorah speared Dany’s would-be assassin!? (BTW, where did ALL those Sons of the Harpy hide their masks?) There was some heavy fighting, BUT finally Drogon flew in for the rescue.  It was a GREAT ending for the ep!

Episode 10: Mother’s Mercy

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Stannis (Stephen Dillane) realizes that he is defeated.

Go on.  Do your duty.  -Stannis’ last words (to Brienne)

There is no rightful heir right now to Westeros!  -Cenk Uygur

Cersei is (FINALLY) punished!  (FYI: They closed a lot of streets on location and used a body double for some of the shots, as Lena Headey is pregnant.  I didn’t know re: the double until I heard A Cast of Kings podcast.)  Yes, Cersei has done TERRIBLE things, BUT it was tough to see her treated in such a way.  What will come NEXT from her, I wonder!

Is he (Jon Snow) dead?  Is he alive?  Will he be raised from the dead by Melisandre? (We saw Thoros do that before, BUT maybe she can do that, too?)  And what about Theon/Reek and Sansa?  So many questions…

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Jon (Kit Harington) lies wounded from the MANY cuts inflicted by the Night’s Watch.

Actors Gabrielle Union & Denis O’Hare: Redefining Family

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The black community in Hollywood is very small and close-knit. We watch each others’ scenes. There is a natural chemistry. You can’t have a crazy diva…  -Gabrielle Union

Getting married was a political act because so many people fought so hard for it. Also, every time I say the word “husband” and somebody flinches, I am helping to teach society this is the way it will be. This is the way it is.  -Denis O’Hare

Good Kill (2015) starring Ethan Hawke, Bruce Greenwood, Zoe Kravitz & January Jones

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NOTE: This is a SPOILER-FREE review. 

This is a small (as in intimate) movie w/ a VERY serious message- distancing and dehumanizing your enemy is ALSO a way of dehumanizing yourself.  I went to see this film back in May w/ my ladies’ movie Meetup; there was a brief Q&A w/ Ethan Hawke (VERY pleasant/thoughtful guy) and the director (Andrew Niccol, a Brit).  Aside from my group, there were press folks, and many associated w/ MSNBC’s news show, Hardball (Chris Matthews was the moderator).  A few members of the armed forces were also present; they seemed to relate to a LOT the film from comments I heard.  

Good_Kill_cockpitFighter pilot Major Tom Egan (Hawke) is STILL fighting The War on Terror, though he now works from a pod in the Nevada desert, not too far from the suburban Las Vegas home he shares w/ his wife, Molly (January Jones), and their two young kids.  Tom and his team conduct drone strikes; it looks a LOT like playing a video game (disturbing, yet darkly humorous to a layperson).  We see that Tom is dissatisfied w/ his work; his supervisor Lt. Col. Johns (Bruce Greenwood- provides wry humor and some of the best lines) knows that it’s NOT an ideal situation, but they are still “doing good.”

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This is a one man’s journey (Hawke is VERY well-suited) type of film, which uses tight close-ups on Hawke and his team, which later includes a young newbie, Airman Suarez (Zoe Kravitz, who does a decent job).  The people in Afghanistan (locals, baddies, etc.) are seen in grainy video- no closeups there.  Check out this film (recently available on Redbox) to see what happens!