“Harriet” is the biographical film about the most prominent abolitionist in American history.  Kasi Lemmons is the director of this film, which she co-wrote with Gregory Allen Howard.  Cynthia Erivo dons the title role of Harriet Tubman.  Leslie Odom Jr., Joe Alwyn, and Janelle Monae are included in the cast as well.

First of all, Erivo is an inspired casting choice, although I was pretty amused to read she is actually British.  Well, she fooled me because her performance with an American accent was quite convincing.  I will have to keep an eye on some of her future projects.

I am not sure where the artistic license came  into play, but the movie was quite riveting.  There are some truly amazing and at times heart-wrenching moments as expected in a movie that centers on the brutal practice of slavery.  The film also touches on the sometimes complex relationships between the slave owners and their perceived property.  The film does make anyone with a conscience glad that this practice is long gone in the United States.  Tubman and other abolitionists are already easy for me to applaud, but Erivo’s depiction solidifies that sentiment.

I will also note that the costuming was quite well done.  Tubman’s coat and hat during the escape scenes looked pretty slick.  The set designs were also well realized.  The movie just looked good.

The other aspect that I appreciated is that there was an acknowledgement of the white people involved in the Underground Railroad.  In today’s political climate, it is easy for some movie producers to sell the idea that all or most white people approved or celebrated the idea of slavery when that was not the case at all.  What Lemmons also did well is just basically sticking to Tubman’s story without a political and social commentary hidden in the film beyond the obvious position that the practice of slavery need to end.  The movie just demonstrated the inherent evil of slavery and celebrated Tubman’s relentlessness when it came to freeing as many slaves as she could.  She apparently was also quite germane to the Union efforts during the Civil War, although this film centers on the years leading up to that conflict.

Joe Alwyn plays a fellow named Gideon Brodess, the son of the slave owner who inherited his father’s plantation and the slaves.  He also was the main antagonist, who manages to be quite nasty without slipping into a cliche character.  There are times when characters in this sort of film come off as a bit over the top.  Alwyn did well on avoiding that pitfall, in my opinion.  I think that specific character was fictional as well as the reasons for his obsession with recapturing Harriet, but the whole thing was handled and performed well.

The film just works on so many levels.  I think whatever lapses others may find in this particular telling of this extraordinary woman’s life should be forgiven since Tubman was very much involved in various forms of activism even after slavery was finally abolished, and it would be hard to properly display all of her accomplishments in a standard movie running time.  “Harriet” is probably one of the best films I have seen all year.

“Harry Houdini’s War” is a Doctor Who audio play released by Big Finish Productions. Ken Bentley is the director of this latest contribution by Steve Lyons.  Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant return again to their roles of the Doctor and Peri, respectively.  John Schwab plays the famous escape artist with Fiona Bruce, Mark Elstob, and Glen McCready rounding out the guest cast.

Harry Houdini is enlisted by the Doctor to help infiltrate a spy ring during the First World War which may be in possession of some alien technology.  The Doctor also has to play some cards close to the chest, giving Houdini some reason to not entirely trust the Time Lord.

 I usually am interested in what Lyons comes up with for the Doctor and his meanderings, however I don’t think this is one of his better efforts.  Once again, it is Colin Baker’s energy and talent which keeps this afloat.  This may be one of those releases that I will appreciate more on the second run.  The performances were fine, but I had some trouble following the plot.  I did find the second half a bit more interesting.  Schwab’s take on Houdini was rather engaging, and I wouldn’t object to see a return of this iteration of the iconic illusionist in the series. It was also rather interesting to see a more Machiavellian streak in this version of the Doctor.  That particular trait becomes more evident in his seventh incarnation.

Lyons is still a talented and imaginative author, and I have enjoyed plenty of his previous contributions, but this particular episode just didn’t grab my attention and keep it as much as I hoped.

“Terminator: Dark Fate” is science fiction action film that continues the franchise started by “The Terminator” which was released in 1984.  Original cast members Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton are reunited and joined by newer actors Gabriel Luna, Mackenzie Davis, and Natalia Reyes.  The screen play was written by David Goyer, Justin Rhodes, and Billy Ray.  James Cameron returns as a story contributor and producer.  Tim Miller is the director.

Well, much of the continuity from the first two films is blown all to hell.  Davis plays an enhanced human who makes a formidable opponent to the newer Rev-9 model Terminator who has traveled back through time to kill young Daniella Ramos, a resident of Mexico City.  An embittered Sarah Conner returns to the franchise after her son is murdered by a more familiar Terminator at the beginning of the film.  Schwarzenegger is back in the fold as well.  The cast did the best they could with some of the clunky dialogue they were given.  It was kind of cool to see Hamilton and Arnold back on screen together.

Mackenzie Davis really has the role of lead protagonist and does fine.  Luna was appropriately menacing as the Rev-9 Terminator.

Overall, it’s better than I anticipated.  Not much better, but James Cameron;s contribution was likely of some help here.

The fight scenes were pretty spectacular in their choreography for the most part.  There were some moments that seemed a little cartoon at times.

I ended up having some mixed impressions when it was all said and done.  The movie did fairly well in some areas but struggled in others.  I wasn’t a big fan of how Arnold’s Terminator was reintroduced.  It’s still fun to see him though.  I also appreciated how much Hamilton worked on her physique to make her action sequences seem reasonably plausible for a woman her age.  She’s fine for the most part, but the cynicism and sarcasm the writers saddled her with was just a little too cliche.  Saying that, I found that I didn’t really mind her presence.  Most of my misgivings about this film have to do with the plotting and dialogue.  And I also think this franchise has gone a little too long and has gotten a little too repetitive in some ways.  Although I found much of it underwhelming, it really wasn’t that bad.

“Doctor Sleep” is the latest big screen adaptation of a Stephen King novel.  Mike Flanagan is the scriptwriter and director of this sequel to another horror classic, “The Shining”. Ewan McGregor leads a cast that includes Rebecca Ferguson, Kyliegh Curran, Cliff Curtis, and Bruce Greenwood.

Danny Torrance has grown up to be a bit of a wreck with a foul temper and more than a touch of alcoholism.  What he doesn’t know is that a wandering cult of hunters is out in the countryside feeding on the gifts that Danny tries to bury within himself.  Danny tries very hard at first to dull the Shining, however a young girl lets her’s loose attracting the attention of this group known as the True Know.  Ferguson plays the spooky and slinky leader, Rose the Hat.  The True Knot members kind of resemble gypsies and live out of their caravan of RVs.  Some years go by, and Danny ends up in a small town where he regains his sobriety and starts to use his Shining as a source of comfort for the elderly patients at the hospice where he has been working as an orderly.  As the True Knot closes in on the young girl known as Abra, her power connects with Danny’s, leading to a powerful alliance forming to resist the evil brought on by the True Knot and the dark spirits of Danny’s past.

First of all, this is a fairly long movie that drags a little.  The pacing for the most part isn’t terrible.  There are some moments that could have used a little more background in spite of this already being a pretty lengthy cinematic journey.  The cast was well chosen.  McGregor is generally a pretty compelling and convincing actor, and he does well here.  Curran as Abra is very good as well and seems to play off well with her older and more experienced cast mates.  The psychic duels  between Rose and Abra are quite compelling.  Overall, the cast just seemed to work quite well.

The visual effects were quite good.  There are some flashbacks moments to “The Shining” that are done with some recasting.  In the original film, the Overlook Hotel did not have the same fate as in the novel, the audience gets to revisit some old spectral friends in this piece.  I thought Flanagan made a bold choice in recasting some of the familiar characters seen in Stanley Kubrick’s film, and I think it is a choice that plays well.  Some of those moments seem a little self-indulgent, especially since King himself avoided revisiting most of what went on in his original novel.  In spite of that sense of retreading a too familiar road, I thought Flanagan handled it pretty well.  There are some very notable differences between this movie and the novel, however the divergence isn’t too annoying.  Plus, Kubrick’s version “The Shining” doesn’t entirely remain tied to that source material either.

Time will tell if this will be some kind of horror classic, however I think it was a pretty solid bit of entertainment.  There are a few disagreements I have with some of the choices made when it came to scenes that could stand a bit more drawing out and those that maybe could have been shortened, however the movie gets a lot of important elements right.  I think most Stephen King fans will find this at least a satisfying cinematic effort.

“Motherless Brooklyn” is a crime film reminiscent of the old private eye flicks that starred the likes of Humphrey Bogart and Robert Mitchum several decades ago.  Edward Norton not only stars in this as Lionel Essrog, the private eye with the rather distracting affliction known as Tourette syndrome, he also is the screenwriter and director.  This has been a passion project for the talented and compelling Norton for about twenty decades.  The film is based on a novel written by Jonathan Lethem.  Alex Baldwin, Bruce Willis, and Willem Dafoe are included in the cast.  The love interest for the awkward, hapless Lionel is played by an English actress named Gugu Mbatha-Raw.

Lionel is part of a team of investigators who work for a gumshoe named Frank Minna,  played by Willis,  Minna is murdered, and Lionel’s loyalty and obsessive nature doesn’t allow him to not balance the books on that.  He finds that Minna was working on something that led from the streets of Harlem to ivory towers of New York City’s considerable political power players.  Of course, the story is adapted to the 1950’s, so there are plenty of fedoras and trench coats.  The calmer side of Lionel’s troubled brain is able to help out with fairly interesting narration.

There is some exploration of racial and class unrest at the center of the mystery surrounding the death of Lionel’s mentor.

So, the movie is pretty good, but it isn’t without some missteps.  Norton is pretty compelling as the Tourette ridden private eye, but even his efforts doesn’t keep me from noticing that the film drags a little and gets a little too convoluted in its storytelling. Baldwin also is a pretty commanding force as a menacing city commissioner with more than his share of secrets.

I couldn’t really find fault with anyone’s performance, so that was helpful during some of the lulls in the plot.  The movie is longer than most, and it shows at times, however Lionel turns out to be quite a likable underdog even if the random outbursts and twitches takes some mental adjustment to watch.

I confess that I have a weakness for this genre of film, and I admire Norton’s talent in general as well, so it is fairly easy  for me to still enjoy this particular piece.  Even if “Motherless Brooklyn” doesn’t quite hit the mark as being a masterpiece, it ended up still being very much worth the time.

“Countdown” is a horror film written and directed by Justin Dec.  The cast includes Elizabeth Lail, Jordan Colloway, Peter Facinelli, and Tom Segura.  A young nurse is told about an app that can predict one’s death with frightening accuracy.  Evil forces will make sure that the death occurs on schedule.

It’s not a terrible premise considering the state of our cell phone culture.  There were some moments that were kind of effective in invoking some chills.  The visual effects were pretty good.  The performances were not terrible.  There was some effort for originality in the story.  P.J. Byrne almost worked as a somewhat eccentric, irreverent priest who tries to aid the youngsters bedeviled by the demonic app.

It’s one of those films that likely deserves the criticism aimed by the professionals, however I found it to be somewhat entertaining.  Of course, I have had plenty practice of keeping my level of expectation low when it comes to the horror genre.  It turned out to be a fairly interesting film in some ways, but I would recommend angling for a serious discount on the ticket price or just waiting for it to hit whatever streaming services it lands on.

“The Antares Maelstrom” is the latest Star Trek Novel written by Greg Cox. Yes, this is the original crew…..Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, Dr. McCoy, and everyone else.  It takes place in the latter half of the original five year mission.

The premise is that a distant planet has been found to carry a rare mineral that can be processed in a way to provide an energy source for the various starships and technology used by the various races of the Federation and other alliances.  A galactic gold rush has ensued, and the Starship Enterprise is sent to sort out the chaos.  Cox then establishes three story threads branching out from the initial plot, which isn’t a new idea, but he uses it effectively.  Lt. Sulu is left on space station to help the security forces there while the Enterprise goes on to Baldur III, the planet at the center of this turmoil.  Spock and Ensign Chekov are dispatched to investigate a smuggling operation involving an unusually potent tea which is coming from a relatively nearby world which is under observation as a developing civilization and should not be capable of galactic trading. All three of the branches end up being quite compelling. Sulu has to find a saboteur while Spock and Chekov have their own meddlers to discover.

I have read a lot of Star Trek novels over the years, and  would say this is one of the better ones.  Cox likes to reference previous episodes which is kind of appropriate but could get a little distracting as one tries to remember which details of those other  mishaps.  Cox does a good job of giving all of the regular characters some important moments.  Even Lt. Uhura had her moments of glory as well.

So the title refers to this tumultuous, unstable region of space that ends up having some secrets of its own.  Many of the other characters are privateers and prospectors looking for prosperity by fair means or foul.

Cox gives a good solid yarn that is mostly loyal to the original conception of these characters.  I had a little trouble imagining some of the actors saying the dialogue Cox presents, however I still ended up enjoying the story overall, and that really is the most important accomplishment.

So now that I saw the movie a few weeks ago, time to read the novel and hope for the best.  Up next to go under the reading lamp is Donna Tartt’s “The Goldfinch”.

“The Time Museum” is a Doctor Who audio play from The Companion Chronicles range released by Big Finish Productions.  James Goss is the writer here with Lisa Bowerman directing as usual for this particular series.  William Russell reprises the role of Ian Chesterton, one of the Doctor’s first companions when the series started on television in 1963.  Philip Pope is the talented guest actor alongside Russell.  Pope plays a myserious character named Pendolin.

Pendolin curates a Time Museum and has procured the memories and presence of one Ian Chesterton, who resumed his life after leaving the company of the Doctor.  Ian is quite a bit older now but no less of an interesting fellow.  Pendolin introduces Ian to his own section of this peculiar museum.  But another presence sends them both fleeing when an entity who feeds on such memories stalks them through Ian’s memories.

This episode is one of those infrequent numbers where there is no narration.  It’s a two-hander piece with the descriptions being relayed through dialogue between the two characters.  Russell was closing in on 90 years old when he performed this story in 2012, and he still sounds quite compelling in this one.  Pope was a good choice to pay off him as well.

I had some trouble staying into it at the beginning, but the second part sort of hooked me in better.  The idea seems to be another excuse for self-indulgence of just revisiting old stories for the sake of nostalgia, and that is likely what it is meant to be.  However, it turned out to be a pretty enjoyable nostalgic tale when it was all said and done.  There turned out to be surprising depth during a moment when Chesterton discusses how he and Barbara joining the Doctor and Susan ultimately changed everyone for the better.  The Doctor wasn’t quite the selfless interfering crusader when he first showed up on British airwaves.  Goss adds a rather creative depth to how the Doctor and his first companions affected each other that was never really explored back then on television.

Both actors did a fine job, but that is almost always the case with Big Finish releases, even if the story is a little below par,   Fortunately, this episode turned out to be a satisfying addition to the collection.

“Gemini Man” is the science fiction action thriller directed by Ang Lee.  It stars Will Smith in a dual role as a super assassin and his young clone.  Clive Owen and Mary Elizabeth Winstead are also part of the cast.  It took three scriptwriters to get this together.  David Benioff, Billy Ray, and Darren Lemke are the culprits in this exercise of mediocrity.

A government hitman named Henry Brogan is wanting to hang up his high powered firearms and live a life of leisure.  His former employers decide that he knows too much or something like that.  They are in bed with some thinktank known as GEMINI.  An evil scientist played by Owen has a secret clone tucked away somewhere and sends the young, confused, lethal young an to kill his DNA donor.

The action scenes worked well enough, although most of these studios don’t seem to need to work as hard for that.  The dialogue was clunky and uninspiring.  The premise was only mildly interesting.  Smith just doesn’t look or act that dangerous for me to buy him as some world-weary super killer.  The digitalized de-aging of Smith was cleverly done, but I was able to spot the stand-ins a little too quickly, especially toward the end.  Winstead had some great fight scenes and she was kind of cool overall.

The were some moments that looked slick enough, but it was a good thing that I had a free movie ticket when I saw it.  The movie has been out for a week already and has not fared well critically or commercially.  It doesn’t really deserve to either.  Most if not all of the disdain expressed has validity.  I know there must be some latitude given in films of this genre in order to enjoy them, but this particular one was just asking for too much.

“No Place” is a Doctor Who audio drama from Big Finish Productions and is written by James Goss, directed by Ken Bentley.  David Tennant returns to role of the Tenth Doctor, alongside Catherine Tate as Donna Noble.  Jacqueline King and Bernard Cribbins are back as well as Sylvia Noble and Wilf.  The gang is all here from the fourth series of the revived television series.  Joel Fry and Peter Singh round out the cast guest as well.

The episode starts off with the listener getting acquainted with “Haunted Makeover”, a supposed reality show about making over homes with haunting reputations.  The Doctor and Donna are there posing as a married couple who own the house with Sylvia and Wilf along for the ride.  Of course, the Doctor and Donna aren’t all that natural behaving as if their in marital bliss, so lots and lots of gags involving ridiculous pet names ensue.  I know the banter between the Doctor and Donna are one of the highlights of that pairing for fans, and I do like it too for the most part.  However, it threatened to distract me a bit from the story.  It seemed that Goss got a little carried away with it at times.  It took a while for the justification for Sylvia and Wilf being in on this story to be satisfactorily explained, but it ends up working out.  At least, I was okay with it.

The episode is an enjoyable little romp for the most part, but a little bit of toning down on the antics of the Doctor and Donna would have been appreciated.  It was still good to have a new adventure with this particular cast and revisit an era of the series I have appreciated a bit more in recent years.