August media diet

Ferrari — Amazon Prime | Adam Driver stars as Enzo Ferrari in this Michael Mann biopic, which focuses on one year in the Italian race car manufacturer’s life, 1957. I didn’t know his story going in, so it was pretty captivating. Driver is destined for an Oscar at some point. Penelope Cruz and Shailene Woodley both do fine work speaking English with an Italian accent.

The Beekeeper — Amazon Prime | On a night when Greta and Carey were intensely focused on college packing and I was just going to get in the way, I sat down for 105 minutes of Jason Stratham kicking ass on behalf of defrauded old people everywhere. Superlative stuff.

A Simple Favor — Netflix | Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively have some fun in this comedic thriller from director Paul Feig. I had it on my radar since it came out in 2018, but we finally found the time. A fun watch with two gorgeous actresses.

The Union — Netflix | Mark Wahlberg and Halle Berry collect paychecks for this formulaic thriller.  Oh, and the actor who played Luke Cage shows up as the bad guy.

The Instigators — Apple TV | Matt Damon and Casey Affleck star in this action-comedy about two low-level crooks who botch a robbery of Boston’s corrupt mayor, played by Ron Pearlman. Doug Liman (“The Bourne Identity”) directed, but this one relies on dialogue and actor charisma, not cinematography. Fairly fun stuff.

The Gilded Age, S1 & 2 — HBO Max | Carey and I were a couple years behind on this Julian Fellowes follow-up to “Downton Abbey.” And while Christine Baranski is no Dame Maggie Smith, it’s a mostly engaging story. Oddly, I prefer the side characters to the main event — the robber baron and his society-obsessed wife are the least interesting plot line.

The Boys, S4 — Amazon Prime | Thought about quitting this one after the super gory season 3, but decided to give it another shot. Spoiler alert: Still gory and even more sexually graphic than usual. And too on-the-nose, really. Vought Enterprises is what would happen if superheroes were real and the MAGA movement got control of Disney (Marvel). A decent ripped-from-the-headlines storyline, but by the finale we’re right back where we began as a hardy band of rebels try to expose the corrupt U.S. government.

Hacks, S3 — HBO Max | I thought this was the final season, but based on the ending, I’m thinking not. Consistently high quality television, though. Excellent acting, a few laughs each episode and lots of heart.

House of the Dragon, S2 — HBO Max | Didn’t realize how much I missed this show. Gorgeously shot, tons of CGI dragons that truly look fierce, and fantasy storylines that keep you on the edge of your seat. Still too much incest, but the regular sex is great!

Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout | I’d never read Strout before, so wasn’t aware that most every book is set in Crosby, Maine, with a similar cast of characters. Might have enjoyed it more if I was more steeped in her fictional world, but it wasn’t an uninteresting read by any means. | My AP review.

The Blue Hour by Paula Hawkins | The reigning UK queen of psychological thrillers (she made her debut with “The Girl on the Train”) returns with a taut page turner set on an isolated Scottish island. Reachable twice per day only when the tide is out, it’s a good place to bury secrets — physical and psychological. | My AP review.

Category Five: Superstorms and the Warming Oceans That Feed Them by Porter Fox | I graduated Middlebury in 1994 with this author, a sailor from Maine who has spent his career mostly as a journalist covering climate change. Part memoir, part history, it’s stuffed with statistics that all add up to one conclusion: We’re screwed. | My AP review.