Based on journalist Kevin M. Hymel’s 2019 article “Fighting a Two-Front War,” Six Triple Eight follows the inspiring story of 855 women who overcame immense barriers to sort over seventeen million pieces of backlogged mail. Sorting the mail became a priority to boost morale by ensuring soldiers stayed connected with loved ones. Their...
Emilia Pérez–A Gender Bender
Emilia Perez was Inspired by both Boris Razon’s 2018 novel Écoute and by the opera libretto written by French director Jacques Audiard. The movie also won the 2024 Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival and multiple Golden Globes for a musical drama.
Emilia Pérez (Karla Sofía Gascón of Mexican telenovela fame) is a former Mexican...
Year of the Snake 2025–January 29-February 12, 2025
The Year of the Wood Snake is a period of transformation, wisdom, and adaptability. According to Chinese Buddhism, before the Buddha entered Nirvana only twelve animals came to pay homage. So the Buddha honored them by naming a twelve-year cycle after them. The Snake, the most complex and “unsettling” force among the...
Juror #2–Trial by Fire or Twelve Angry Men?
In this latest Clint Eastwood movie (2024), we see the jury selection process for the trial of a brutal murder of an abused young woman, Kendall Carter (Francesca Eastwood). After an odious fight with her abusive boyfriend, James Sythe (Gabriel Basso of “The Night Agent”) in a local bar, Kendall is found dead, bloodied and...
Man on the Inside–Outside In
In this Netflix crowd-pleaser, Man on the Inside opens with a retired curmudgeonly college professor, Charles (Ted Danson) who has recently lost his wife to dementia. Out of boredom and grief, he responds to an ad from a private investigator, (Lilah Richcreek Estrada). Someone in an upscale San Francisco retirement home has...
My Top 17 Movies and Series for 2024
This year I have seventeen films and series to recommend. Some are less well-known and under-the-radar. Also, there seemed to be more selections from DEI producers and writers, for a welcomed change!
Here are the reviews I wrote this past year with the criteria that they were available online. Of the 45 reviews I...






