August Media Diet

Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, S4 - Amazon Prime | Jim from “The Office” (John Krasinski) concludes his run as CIA analyst-turned-super-agent Jack Ryan. Wendell Pierce shines again as his partner and the plot jumps all over the world (Mexico, Myanmar, Turkey, D.C.) in a race against the clock. Oh, and the funny dude from the Ant-Man films (Michael Pêna) gets a chance to play against type as a hitman for the good guys.

Alone: Frozen - Hulu (History Channel) | Started this one in D.C. when visiting Gardner and finished it, partly, with Carey and Greta. Not as strong as the original show. Fewer characters, less suffering. But spoiler alert: Somebody does endure the full 50 days, which finds six survivalists hunting and gathering rabbit, squirrel, fox and lots and lots of mussels on the coast of Labrador, Canada, at the onset of winter.

Hijack - Apple TV | Idris Elba helms this 7-ep thriller, set mostly on a commercial flight from Dubai to London. When the plane is hijacked about an hour in, the remainder of the show puts viewers in the same seat as the passengers and authorities on the ground — who is behind this, why, and can they be stopped? With Luther/Stringer Bell on board, what’s your guess?

Mythic Quest, S1-3 - Apple TV | Been working on this one for months, an episode at a time. Originally started it because Rob McElhenney from “Wrexham” and “It’s Always Sunny…” stars, but it’s the supporting cast that gets most of the laughs. A solid workplace comedy about a video game company the first two seasons, it gets a little wobbly in the third when two of the staff splinter off to pursue their fortunes in the metaverse. The bottle episodes are the best.

I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson, S3 - Netflix | I think this sketch comedy show has run its course. Pretty much off the rails from start to finish, it had too many one-note characters and just a lot of cringe comedy that made me raise my eyebrows more often than I laughed.

White Men Can’t Jump - Hulu | Finally got a chance to watch this remake of the 1991 Woody Harrelson/Wesley Snipes classic, but to call it a remake is not quite right. It’s more like a twist on the theme as two past-their-prime basketball stars hustle the playgrounds of L.A. The easy racial banter between the black and white characters is heartening and some of the jokes are funny, but in this super splintered streaming age, not very many people are going to watch it.

The Princess Bride - DVD | A fine South Lake movie in front of a crackling fire. Gets better with age. “Inconceivable!” “As you wish.” “My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Now prepare to die.” Etc., etc.

Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 - Disney+ | Managed to not get this spoiled for me for months and was sorta shocked to discover it was Rocket Raccoon's origin story? Had some fun moments, but really think the MCU had an extremely lucrative run and entertained my growing family for well over a decade, but now it's time for the creative minds at Disney to come up with something new.

Shazam! Fury of the Gods - Max | I’m a sucker for superhero stories that aren’t pretending to be anything other than corny stories about kids in spandex with God-like powers. Also, Helen Mirren gets paid to play an evil Daughter of Atlas, and there’s a Gal Gadot (“Wonder Woman”) cameo.

Heart of Stone - Netflix | Historians will remember this film only because it was the last one Greta watched before her college days officially began. Even Gal Gadot couldn’t save it.

Get a Job - Amazon | Remember 2016, when Miles Teller, Anna Kendrick, Bryan Cranston, Marcia Gay Harden, Alison Brie and so many other actors you would recognize starred in an 83-minute comedy about a recent college graduate and his father, both suffering the slings and arrows of joblessness? There’s a reason you don’t.

Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead | The twice-crowned Pulitzer Prize winner for fiction (“The Nickel Boys” and “The Underground Railroad”) returns with a sequel to “Harlem Shuffle.” Furniture salesman/stolen goods fence Ray Carney is back, it’s the 70’s and Harlem is burning, literally. Fantastic authorial voice. Left it on the South Lake bookshelf if anyone’s interested!

Wellness by Nathan Hill | The second novel from the author who debuted to much fanfare with “The Nix” in 2016 is a doozy about a couple who meet cute as Chicago college students in 1993 and by 2014 they’re wondering if the whole notion of soulmates is anachronistic. Very well paced and observant about today’s culture.

The Secret Garden — Live Theater | We enjoyed “Something Rotten” enough in June that we rolled the dice with the second summer show at Albany’s Park Playhouse. Alas, best thing about it for me was the cost (free) and the 20-mile bike ride from our house to the venue after work. Outdoor theater needs to be loud and funny, especially in a downtown venue where you can hear medivac choppers and ambulance sirens headed to the nearby hospital.