The Haunting of Hill House

I binged this while I was sick and on vacation, it was good for that.  If you're expecting "Stranger Things" this is not that.  This is ultimately a drama/horror maybe weighing a little heavier on the drama than the horror.  The scares are there, but the focus is on the family and their relationships. I liked it, I enjoyed most of the characters and their young counterparts.  The casting was incredible.  Recommend.

Adam Sandler: 100% Fresh

If you're a fan of Sandler comedy albums, you will not be disappointed in this stand-up special on Netflix.  It's not quite as raunchy as some of his album skits, but don't go in thinking this is "Dad Sandler" ... it's not safe for kids.  I did have quite a few hearty laughs and a few of the songs are downright hilarious.  I feel Sandler's at his very best when singing.  Recommend.

Sully

It's hard not to like a Tom Hanks film, even the "not so good" ones turn out to be pretty good.  This is the case with Sully.  I can't say it's one of his best films, although it truly is an amazing story in reality.  The film focuses so much more on the heat he receives for his split second decision over the actual heroics itself.  I guess that's one way of pushing a 10 minute event into a 90 minute film.  It's worth it's 90 minute runtime.  Recommend.

Steve Jobs

I was hoping for some Apple nostalgia, but by the time I jumped on, the  movie was ending.  The movie features three critical moments or launches in Steve Jobs career, the launch of the Mac, the launch of black cube "next" and the launch of the iMac.  With each launch comes a family crisis where Steve must deal with personal demons amidst a product presentation.  I'm curious about the historical accuracy of this because the timing of it all seems a little too convenient for a Hollywood story line.  It's okay, but not great.  Pass.

13 Reasons Why

Eh, I kind of enjoyed this, but it was far too "teen drama" for my liking.  I can't honestly recommend it.  I don't have much else to say about it.  Pass.

Jurassic World 2

I wasn't a big fan of the first Jurassic World, so it's not like I rushed to the theater to see this, but when our softball game was cancelled due to rain, we suddenly found ourselves with a babysitter and nothing to do.  Off to the movies.  The movie is fine, maybe better than the first one.  The first half is quite exciting, it's a disaster movie with dinosaurs!  The second half takes place in small quarters, so the scenery is severely lacking.  Like the first?  See this.  No?  Pass.

Kevin James: Never Don't Give Up

So little time for TV lately I fired this up for something mindless to watch...it's pretty mindless. Stand up comedy can be quite offensive at times, this is not.  It's a lot of jokes about food, parenthood, and family.  He goes on a little tirade about food allergies that had me loling.  Eh, I'd recommend it, it's okay.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

I wanted a nice light-hearted movie between my night shifts, it started out this way, but about 45 minutes in I was all "WTF!?!".  This movie is pretty complex and requires some serious attention, but it's not overly hard to understand. You just don't want to miss anything.  It's a tale of lost love and the memories created.  In some ways it reminds me of The Discovery, but it's better.  I don't want to spoil anything, so I'll just say I recommend.

A Quiet Place

*whispering* it's good, recommend.

Love: Season 3

I didn't recommend this show after the first 2 seasons, but when I learned the third would be the final season, I decided to finish it.  The show has a memorable cast, and some fine enough story lines, but I can't really say there's enough here that you "have to watch it".  If you've invested some time into the first 2 seasons, it's probably worth finishing.  Overall however, I still say pass.

The Office (UK)

After rewatching most of the US version I decided to give the UK version a 2nd chance.  I've watched the first episode once years ago, but found the accents so difficult I didn't follow through.  This time I turned on subtitles which was a huge help and watched both series 1 & 2 in about a 3 week period.  It's great.  The plot and characters are very similar to the US version, but the plot lines are completely different.  I got quite attached to the characters and was sad when it was over.  This series is darker, dirtier but equally as funny as the US show.   I'd recommend it if you're a fan of the US version. 

When We First Met

This movie is getting horrible reviews on metacritic, but my wife and I enjoyed it.  It's a mindless journey through time with an end result that is not conventional.  I had a few laughs and had no problem getting through it's much appreciated 97 minute runtime.   Recommend.

Chris Rock: Tamborine

It's an interesting introspective on what Chris Rock has been up to, turns out it's a lot of adulting.  I appreciated his personal journey through child raising, divorce and battling other personal demons.  It was indeed funny, but it goes deeper than the laughs.  Caution: 1000 F-Bombs.  Recommend.

Jurassic World

Jurassic Wold, another nostalgia play, delivers a movie that feels like it was written by a child recalling what his dad told him about the first Jurassic Park movie.  It’s just bad.  Pass.

Beauty and the Beast

This is the second live action remake of Disney animated classics, and much like The Jungle Book, it’s equally well done.  I’m all aboard the train that says Hollywood needs to quit banking on nostalgia, but at the same time, I’m a sucker for it.  The scenery (likely all CG) is beautiful, well acted and cast.  Recommend.

Concussion

Will Smith plays a Nigerian Doctor ... that's weird right?  I really didn't know much about this movie, but I enjoyed it quite a bit.  I've said it before but it's always nice to learn a little something when watching a movie.  As a football fan this film was quite informative, and if I take it all as gospel, then the NFL has a real problem on it's hands.  Of course there are two sides to every story, and I haven't done the research to see how far this film stretches to portray the NFL as the bad guy.  All that aside, it was an entertaining film with a love story mixed in for the ladies.  Recommend.

The Polka King

I scrolled past this on Netflix, then scrolled back up, then back down, and then back up, and then settled on it as the run-time seemed right for between night shifts.  This is another Netflix Original featuring a fairly big name in Jack Black who portrays Jan Lewan, the Polka King of Pennsylvania.  The film is based on a true story which kept things fairly grounded and I found it quite a fascinating tale.  I don't know the historical accuracy, but it kept me entertained throughout and my toes tapping.  Who knew I liked Polka so much.  It was a decent way to spend an afternoon and I always like when I learn something through film...no matter who stretched it might be.  Recommend.

Bright

Metacritic scores this at 29 at the time of this writing, that's awfully generous.  I can handle elves and orcs in a fantastical (that is a word) setting, but not in reality ... I just can't grip it.  So while I can handle Zelda more than fine, when it takes itself seriously (Lord of the Rings) I bow out.  I don't know why I even tried.  This movie sucks.  I guess I was just curious what a big budget Netflix film would look like.  Pass.