The Welcome Mat

:710: 93 - American Symphony (2023) - 7/10 - Jon Batiste works on composing his American Symphony while also supporting his wife who is undergoing treatment for leukemia. He also has his job as a tv bandleader, the Grammys, and more. The music, people, and story are all interesting, but I thought th...

:6510: 88 - The Adventures of Picasso (1978) - 6.5/10 - This surrealist comedy about the life of Pablo Picasso seemed kind of dumb at first, but I soon started to enjoy it and found a number of the antics amusing. It went on too long, though, and I started losing interest in it, though some of the g...

:7510: 84 - Eat Sleep Die (2012) - 7.5/10 - Rasa is a 20 year old who works at a factory and lives with her father. Her father has a number of ailments and doesn't speak Swedish nearly as well as his daughter so she looks after him as well. When the factory lays off a number of employees, including ...

:6510: 82 - Children's Island (1980) - 6.5/10 - Reine is an 11 year old boy who doesn't like his mom's boyfriend. He rebels against being sent away to a summer camp by pretending to go, but instead wandering around Stockholm, meeting a variety of people and having a few adventures. The kid is also o...

:7510: 77 - Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023) - 7.5/10 - There is plenty of action and I like Hayley Atwell's character here. The story is decent, but not as entertaining as some of the earlier entries in the series. Still, it is a fun movie. :710: 78 - The Creator (2023) - 7/10 -...

:7510: 75 - Bobi Wine: The People's President (2022) - 7.5/10 - This documentary covers several years in the life of Bobi Wine, a musician/politician in Uganda who tried to dethrone the President of Uganda who has been in power since 1986. There's plenty of corruption and strongarm tactics employed ...

:510: 68 - Roland Hassel (2012) - 5/10 - A retired police detective and his friends are somewhat obsessed with the 1986 murder of the Swedish Prime Minister. They do quite a few re-enactments and Hassel tries to access police documents as part of his effort to solve the case. This film is a continua...

20 - Ways of Seeing (1972) - John Berger serves as host for this series which looks at art and how its meaning and uses have changed in an era where photographs can copy art and easily so that it reaches a wider audience. Gender roles also serve as a prime topic for discussion. It was very interest...

:710: 63 - Rustin (2023) - 7/10 - This biopic focuses on civil rights activist/organizer Bayard Rustin, mostly with his organizing of the March on Washington in 1963. Rustin was gay and thus had two strikes against him in some parts of society. He was also an effective organizer and was friends with...

:7510: 58 - Buddy (2003) - 7.5/10 - Kristoffer is a 20 something who lives with his best friends Geir and Stig Inge. They mess around quite a bit and Kristoffer keeps a video diary of their escapades. Their lives change when the video diaries get featured on a popular talk show and they become famou...

:610: 57 - What Happened Was... (1994) - 6/10 - Jackie and Michael work together at a law firm and they meet up for dinner one night in Jackie's apartment. It's a pretty awkward evening with two pretty awkward people. This was well done, but this type of film doesn't really work that well for me mos...

:810: 53 - River (2023) - 8/10 - Another time loop story from the group that brought us Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes . The setting this time is a Japanese Inn where the staff and guests discover that they are repeating the same two minutes over and over again while retaining their memories of eac...

18 - Halo Season 1 (2022) - I went into this only being minimally familiar with the series and not having played any of the games. There are a few plot lines here, including aliens who went to destroy humanity, super soldiers who have been brainwashed as part of their training, and a girl who is th...

:610: 48 - Jurassic World: Dominion (2022) - 6/10 - This film jumps ahead a few years to a world where dinosaurs are living in the world around us. A genetically altered plague of locusts threatens crops (and people). The film is pretty boring during the first half hour and gets a little better afte...

17 - Foundation Season 2 (2023) - This series picks up where the first one left off and is pretty good. One focus is on Gaal, Salvor, and Hari while another focus is on Day and the shenanigans around him. A third focus is on a few new characters, including Hober Mallow. We get a glimpse of The Mule...