A fresh take on the murder mystery, Knives Out brings an all-star cast together in one of the most dysfunctional family comedy dramas in years.

The centerpiece of the story is the death of famous murder mystery author Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) in his remote country estate while most of his family sleep in the house below. With his throat slit and blood all over the study where he is found, suicide it the most logical cause of death, however Daniel Craig's mysterious investigator Benoit Blanc is brought in by an anonymous party to investigate further, under the assumption that Thrombey was murdered.

We meet a colorful cast of characters including Thromby's daughter Linda (Jamie Lee Curtis), her husband Richard (Don Johnson) and their son Ransom (Chris Evans). Michael Shannon plays Thromby's son Walt who is in charge of the extensive publishing empire while Toni Collette is the wife of Thromby's other son, tagging along with the family even after her husbands death.

Director Rian Johnson does a masterful job early in the film of painting the picture that just about anyone in the family might have a reason to off their father/grandfather. Interviews in the lounge at Thromby's home provide an opportunity to cut from one family member to the next when they get asked the same questions by investigators.

The last key player in the story is Thromby's nurse Marta Cabrera (Ana de Armas), daughter of a woman who immigrated to the United States illegally and worries what will happen now that the man she was caring for has passed. Multiple family members insist they will continue to help her all while Blanc enlists Marta as the Watson to his Holmes.

I won't reveal the killer (or if there even is one) so you can see for yourself, but this one should keep you guessing right up to the end. 

Knives Out is available streaming now on Amazon Prime.

8 out of 10​​

Whether you're old enough to remember the Chicago Bulls dynasty of the 1990s or you've just heard tales about it from your parents, this docuseries will go down as one of the definitive tellings of the story of those teams, specifically the 1997-1998 team that completed the second three-peat in eight years.

I don't typically review television series here, but this almost feels more like an extended 8-9 hour film, than a series, so I'm making an exception. From here out, I will refer to it as a singular entity.

First, a little background. The documentary focuses its attention on the 1997-1998 season of the Chicago Bulls, dubbed "The Last Dance" by coach Phil Jackson after he was told by general manager Jerry Krause that he would not be back as coach the following year. The team had been at the top for most of the decade of the 90s and was coming off their second run of back-to-back NBA championships in 1996 and 1997, bringing their total to five in the decade.

The story is told within the the framework of this last season through flashbacks within each episode. The 1998 frame serves to start the narrative before jumping back to build the team up, piece by piece, starting with His Airness himself, Michael Jordan. Many people spoke of this as "the MJ doc" or "the Jordan series" and they can be excused for using that terminology. While it is officially about the Bulls last run to the championship, Jordan features so prominently in the story of the Bulls of the 1980s and 1990s, that the two are nearly synonymous.

Fortunately, director Jason Hehir and his creative team didn't forget about the other role players on the team. Episode one not surprisingly focuses on Jordan before delving into Scottie Pippin and Dennis Rodman's history in episodes two and three. Episode four provides the backstory for Jackson before Jordan and the 1992 Dream Team head to Barcelona for the Olympic Games in episode five, also the only appearance of the late Kobe Bryant, interviewed before his passing earlier this year.

The second half of the series starts with questions about Jordan's seemingly rampant gambling and completing the first three-peat in episode six. Finding himself physically and mentally exhausted after that championship, and dealing with the death of his father, Jordan exits to play baseball in episode seven, before returning to chase his fourth championship in episode eight. Episodes nine and ten round out the series as the bulls face off against some younger talent in the NBA and struggle to complete the second three-peat.

The series includes hundreds of interviews from the likes of former president Barack Obama, journalists Michael Wilbon, Andrea Kramer, Bob Costas, Sam Smith, and J. A. Adande (just to name a few), former NBA commissioner David Stern, Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf, NBA hall of famers Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, John Stockton, and Kobe Bryant, not to mention members of the Jordan family, former coaches, and of course, players for the Chicago Bulls of the 1990s. I'm sure there was enough interview footage to fill another 100 episodes about this team, so the care that the creative team had to take to put together these stories does not go unappreciated.

One of the hallmarks of a great documentary, in my opinion, is one that can keep you on the edge of your seat even when you think you already know the story backwards and forwards (see O.J. Made in America). The Last Dance does that to perfection by reminding you of some of the stories you may have forgotten about this great team. What happens if certain shots fall an inch the other way? If Jordan hadn't been hurt early in his career, how would that have changed his trajectory? Would he have still left basketball if his father had still been alive? Did he really have the flu for the "flu game" in 1997? We get to see these stories play out as if watching them for the first time, and hear some of those stories from the mouths of those who lived them first hand.

Whether you are a basketball fan or not, The Last Dance is required viewing. The fact that it came out in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020 only served to lift it to an even higher profile than it may have had otherwise. We were starving for sports and while sports have started to return around the world, this still feels like an important story to tell.

The Last Dance is streaming now on Netflix. You can also follow along with the episodes and listen to interviews with director Jason Hehir on the Jalen and Jacoby Aftershow podcast from ESPN or on YouTube.

10 out of 10​​

When I watch a film about an artist, be they a visual artist, musician, actor, director, or writer, I always want to find out more about the creative process they go through in creating their art. Sadly you get little of that in the 2017 film Five Foot Two, focusing on the time in late 2016 and early 2017 when Lady Gaga released a new album, performed at the Democratic National Convention, and landed the biggest gig of the year playing the halftime show at Super Bowl LI.

Billed as a behind the scenes documentary, this film relapses into a familiar view of celebrities as divas who are incredibly out of touch with reality. We move from Gaga at her Malibu home with her mother making dinner, to the palatial studio of her executive producer, Mark Ronson, to the expansive New York City apartment with glorious views overlooking Central Park. The film makes sure to highlight the fact that Gaga can hardly walk outside of her dwellings without a mob of fans and paparazzi following her around.

This constant attention tries to be the focus and she tries to deal with the anxiety of not being good enough (in her own mind) while also dealing with physical ailments that require the constant attention of a squad of personal masseuses. While I'm sure there is some degree of anxiety in her life, as evident by the handful of breakdowns displayed onscreen, the fact that she has a gaggle of handlers around reiterating how amazing she is and how any problem she encounters is somehow someone else's fault makes it hard to truly feel bad for her situation.

Early in the film, Gaga (born Stefani Germanotta) claims that she has come to peace with who she is and doesn't try to be someone other than herself. However, the film itself tells a different story, even if that is the only real narrative to be found. Even in this "behind the scenes" look, we rarely get to see Stefani. When we do get a look at her with disheveled hair and no makeup, the stylists are quick to jump in and start the process of turning Stefani into Gaga.

I really wanted to like this film. I wanted to learn more about how a Lady Gaga song comes to life. I wanted more moments like the heartwarming scene where Gaga plays a new song honoring her aunt Joanne who passed away at the age of 19 to her grandmother (Joanne's mother). If you're a die hard Gaga fan, you've probably already seen the film and loved it. For those looking for a deeper look at the artist you might not know other than a few songs on top 40 radio, you won't find it here.

Gaga: Five Foot Two is streaming now on Netflix.

3 out of 10​​

This much-hyped release on Disney+ tells the story of a beloved silver back gorilla who spends his days as part of a small circus show in a roadside shopping mall, but yearns to be free and experience the outside world.

Based on the children's book of the same name by Katherine Applegate, the film features the voice talent of Sam Rockwell as the titular gorilla, Angelina Jolie as Stella, the matriarchal elephant in the circus, Danny DeVito as the tag-along mutt Bob, Helen Mirren as the trick poodle Snickers, and Hamilton's Phillipa Soo as the circus parrot Thelma. The live action cast consists mainly of Ryan Cranston playing the ringmaster Mack with young Ariana Greenblatt (Avengers: Infinity War) as the lovable Julia who hangs around the circus.

While the film is billed as telling the story of the gorilla who discovers his love for creating art, there is sadly not much screen time of a painting gorilla. The plot feels disjointed throughout, almost feeling like it was originally intended as a 23 minute episodic series on the Disney streaming service than as a full length feature film. People familiar with Disney's formula will see the small "twists" in the film coming a mile away. Because these plot swings are so transparent, they lose all emotional impact they might otherwise have.

<Spoilers ahead> The centerpiece of the film has the troop of animals making a daring escape from the mall in the middle of the night, working together to trick the nigh security guard into Ivan's cage before locking him inside and smashing through the front doors of the mall. They run across the road with an obligatory joke about why Henrietta (the chicken voiced by Chaka Khan) should cross at all and escape to the woods. Unfortunately, they don't make it far before they realize the woods only go for a few yards before opening to a cliff overlooking the nearby city.

The film ends with a few stills and archival footage of the real life Ivan upon which the story was based. I feel like the book format may be better for telling this story than on the screen. If it was to be transcribed to film, it would have been better as a short documentary series than as a feature film.

Despite my feelings on the film, kids will surely love it. The animals are cute and there are enough laughs to keep their attention for the 95 minute running time. For adults, it may seem like a difficult slog through a story we've seen many times before. The CGI animals are passable, but a bit clunky whenever they interact with the human characters. Other than filler for family time, I cannot recommend this film.

The One and Only Ivan is streaming now on Disney+.

4 out of 10​​