Peaky Blinders

Peaky Blinders on Netflix.  Holy crap!  Don't miss this.

Country Music

Ken Burns has dug deep once again with his pursuits.  This time into Country Music.  I found this series compelling.  This is not an "entertainment" series in that there are no long renditions of songs.  It's more about the history.  The stories, the words, the amazing footage, but most of all, the engaging music. 
The series begins in 1933 with the music described as "3 chords and the truth".  Early stars included Jimmie Rodgers, the Carter Family, Woody Guthrie, Bob Willis.  Hank Williams, "the hill billy Shakespeare", is highlighted in the series as he wrote a string of hits, such as "I Saw the Light", "Jambolaya", "Your Cheatin Heart".  He died at age 29 of alcohol and drug abuse.  Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn and Elvis are also featured.  Amid all this are the stories and photographs of the artists, mostly from dirt poor beginnings, with apt, current comments interspersed by Rozanne Cash, Marty Stuart, Hank Williams Jr., Dolly Parton, Merle Haggard, Emmy Lou Harris, Kris Kristofferson and many others.
As this series of 8 episodes of 2 hours each goes on, it just gets richer.  Classics such as Patsy Cline singing "I Fall to Pieces", Ray Charles singing "I Can't Stop Loving You" and Loretta Lynn singing "Don't Come Home Drinkin' with Lovin' on your Mind" are other highlights. Bob Dylan gets some references but he's not part of this scene.  There is reference to the "Bakersfield Sound" headed up by Buck Owens and Merle Haggard, who did a lot of time in prison when he was younger, but "came to a fork in the road and took it."  He decided his best bet was to become a model prisoner, and this saved him.  He became a "poet of the common man". "Okie from Muskogee" was one of his big hits.  Charlie Pride first appeared at the famous Rhyman Auditorium in Nashville, and the audience went silent when they saw the color of his skin but came around to him after they heard him sing.
Johnny Cash is another highlighted star.  He married June Carter and they did a Folsom Prison concert together.  He sang "A Boy Named Sue", and the audience roared.  He and Bob Dylan sang together the great Dylan song "Girl from the North Country".  There's reference to a profound Waylon Jennings title, "Ain't It Hard When It Ain't".  Kris Kristoferson, another highlighted star, and an acclaimed song writer, had a very different upbringing, but after a successful academic career and becoming a Rhodes scholar, he veered into the country music world.  His mother wrote him a scathing and nasty letter saying she didn't want to see him again or any of the people he was associated with.  He told Johnny Cash about this, who said "nothing like getting a letter from home".
The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band sing one of the country standards "Will the Circle Be Unbroken".
Dolly Parton sings "Jolene", "I Will Always Love You", "Here You Come Again".  George Jones and Tammy Wynette were married and later divorced.  Garth Brooks is the most recent highlighted country star.  He is shown at one of his concerts soaring over the crowd like a some high-wired acrobat/drone.  I guess country music has come to this need to over-entertain.  Regardless, it's a great series.  I love talking about it, but find I have very few friends who are interested.

Tel Aviv on Fire, Where'd You Go, Bernadette, + 2 limited tv series,

In Tel Aviv on Fire a Palestinian man becomes a writer of a tv show and befriends an Israeli border guard officer.  If you're exhausted with the age-old, seemingly endless Israeli-Palestinian conflict, check out this film for some good comedy relief.  It's worth it.
Where'd You Go, Bernadette.  The engaging and outrageous Bernadette is played to perfection by Cate Blanchett and is so magnetizing that I immediately went out and bought the book of the same name.  The book is better and funnier, but the compelling story of this infuriating, yet charming and uncharming, curmudgeon is impossible to resist either way.
Unbelievable (limited tv series) is based on the extensive investigation of a serial rapist.  This 8 episode series showing on Netflix rises to the must-see list due primarily to the talents of the three main characters played by Merritt Weaver, Toni Collette and Kaitlyn Dever.  The casting (including so many exceptional smaller parts) and the editing and directing, also, make this series an obvious candidate for post season awards.
Spy (limited tv series) has Sacha Baron Cohen playing a real-life Israeli secret agent in this gripping series.  This is Cohen as you've never seen him.  He slips right into this ever frightening role, leaving behind any semblance of the outrageous comedian we thought he was for so long.

Space

An old friend left after a good visit
I called him later
and asked where he was
he said on the train going through Martinez
I said I was in the park looking at the sky

Pavarotti and Late Night

Pavarotti is a documentary of this incredible opera singer, but it shows so much more.  He had a magnetic personality and a genuine warmth.  He seemed to connect with everyone he met.
Late Show features Emma Thompson, as a fading late night host, and Mindy Kaling, as recent hire on her writing staff.  Kaling also wrote the script for this engaging film. 

Nureyev and Christo

What do these two artists have in common?  Well, there are documentaries about each one currently playing  in theaters.  The films are both compelling and should not be missed.  Nureyev is essentially a compilation of footage of this extraordinary dancer, who is frequently referred to a the best male dancer ever.  The movie includes many life scenes and dance scenes, including ones with Margot Fonteyn.
Walking on Water shows Christo, uncensored, at work on his project, The Floating Piers, completed in 2016 in a lake in Northern Italy.  It's the latest one of his large scale installations.  There is a joyful feeling about this, as there is with so many others he has done.  As planned, it was taken down after 2 weeks.

Broadchurch

Broadchurch is a British TV series that is most compelling.  It's basically about the killing of a young boy in the coastal town of Broadchurch, England.  Heading the cast are 2 police detectives, magnificantly played by Olivia Coleman and David Tennant.  The cast is large with many very strong performances.  Be prepared for the unexpected ups and downs and episodes that are the equivalent of page-turners of a good book.

Never Look Away & Joni 75: A Birthday Celebration

Never Look Away is a thoroughly engaging story loosely based on the German artist, Gerhard Richter.  A lengthly film, over 3 hours, with the time going by before you know it.  The life of this young artist is shown to be filled with doubt, and paintings that he frequently changes or erases.  In the midst of his early life he falls in love and a captivating love story ensues.  All the while this talented artist is painting, which is shown in close-ups of the works while in progress.  It's the best such depiction I have ever seen on film.
Joni 75: A Birthday Celebration is,  of course, Joni Mitchell and this is a tv movie of her 75th birthday concert, which occured in Los Angeles in November, 2018.  There are many highly acclaimed musicians appearing who are singing mostly her songs.  What a party! An extraordinary highlight, and there are many, is Seal's rendition of Both Sides Now.

BFRinSF

The best fucking restaurant in San Francisco is Heirloom Cafe.
We've been there many times and we've been to a lot of restaurants in our great city.
This one stands out.  Well sourced foods, perfectly prepared, great variety and extraordinary wine, all reasonably priced.
Outstanding staff, always attentive, helpful and never overbearing. 
A part-time cook-owner, although sometimes preppy, keeps it together. ****

2019 WISH

I wish we could get an ADULT in the White House.

On the Basis of Sex

Have you ever come out of a movie theater and just wanted to shout  YES?