Excellent. 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.

The Tourist is a 6 part TV show series where an Irish tourist (?) in Australia run off the road, waking up in hospital with amnesia.

It’s been compared to Fargo: a blend of violence and barbed humour; bleak, underpopulated places, and the same cavalcade of viciousness and folly that brings out the heroism in an ordinary person.

Danielle Macdonald as Probationary Constable Helen Chambers steals every scene.

This entertainment has many original and quirky touches. Odd characters.

But it’s weird. If you don’t like weird, it may turn you off before the end.

Jamie Dornan, who portrays the protagonist Elliot Stanley confirmed that talks are progressing for bringing a second instalment.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Mixed review.  

An entertaining, funny horror story.

Seize the Night (1998) is the second in the Moonlight Bay Trilogy, involving Christopher Snow, who suffers from the rare (but real) disease called XP (xeroderma pigmentosum).

Actually, the 3rd book never got finished.

Fascinating characters, include Chris’ rich surfer bum friend Bobby Halloway. A smart dog. And a smarter cat.

It’s a great premise. The world is slowly changing due to an accidentally released virus developed by the U.S. military.

BUT … the plot bogs down in an endless and seemingly pointless series of adventures in an abandoned military base. They are suppose to be searching for kidnapped children — but seem to wander randomly.

The plot I’d give 2/10.

The entertaining banter and pop references kept me going.

That’s it. I’ve read all the Koryta books.

An excellent writer.

That said, this one didn’t really work for me. I found the storyline too muddled.

In the seven years since he learned that his U.S. marshal father lead a double life as a contract killer–and committed suicide to avoid prosecution–Frank Temple III has mostly drifted through life.

But when he learns that Devin Matteson, the man who lured his father into the killing game only to later give him up to the FBI, is returning to the isolated Wisconsin lake that was once sacred ground for their families, it’s a homecoming Frank can’t allow.

michaelkoryta.com

#losers

The ladies won the annual Bocce Ball tournament. Third year in a row. They are undefeated.

MEN did win the second consolation game this year.

Only the fine folks of our COVID-19 bubble are eligible for this prestigious event.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube. On this edit I played around with slow motion, speed ramping and Ken Burns panning.

When I cycle around Vancouver Island, Broom is my favourite vegetation. Bright yellow. Cheery. Everywhere. 

Unfortunately many folks hate it. Broom spreads rapidly and densely, chokes out native species, and prevents reforestation. It is a fire hazard & toxic to animals and the soil. People volunteer to go cut it down while in bloom.

Broom is the English version of an olde German word for “thorny shrub”.

Use of the branches of these plants for sweeping gave rise to the term broom for sweeping tools in the 15th century …

Broom is pretty much a weed. It’s sometimes used for wasteland reclamation (e.g. mine tailings) and sand dune stabilising.  It grows in poor soil.

On the east and west coasts of North America, common broom (Cytisus scoparius) was introduced as an ornamental plant …

It is known in much of the pacific northwest as Scotch broom. It has become a naturalised invasive weed, and due to its aggressive seed dispersal broom removal has proved very difficult. …

 

 

Fantastic. 

Director Jason Hehir did a superb job putting this together.

Over 500 hours of all-access footage was filmed that final season. Jordan refused to let it be used until 2016.

The Bulls are one of the few professional sports teams I watched EVER. I mostly boycott pro sports. Brian and Jane were living in Chicago during their dynasty. A connection.

And my annual vacation week in Mazatlan coincided with the NBA Playoffs each year.

At the time, my favourite player was Scottie Pippin. I wish he would have negotiated a better contract.

Jordan was a clutch competitor. We all knew that. But the documentary revealed to me just how much a jerk he could be to teammates. I wouldn’t buy the man a drink.

My only complaint with the documentary is that I would like to have seen more of Dennis Rodman.  He contributed more than what we saw in The Last Dance.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

It was fun to see Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci together.

Pacino plays Teamster boss Jimmy Hoffa. 

The acting is surprisingly minimalistic and understated. Even Pacino … for Pacino.

As a movie, I still found it too long. Too slow.

The Irishman is a 2019 American epic crime film directed and produced by Martin Scorsese …

… based on the 2004 nonfiction book I Heard You Paint Houses by Charles Brandt.  …

With a production budget of $159 million and a runtime of 209 minutes, it is among the most expensive and longest films of Scorsese’s career.

Pesci was offered his role a reported 50 times before agreeing to take part, at first saying he did not want to do “the gangster thing again”, while Scorsese tried to persuade him The Irishman would be “different.”

De Niro played a big part in convincing Pesci to take the role, telling him “We gotta do this. Who knows if there’ll be anything after?” …

Click PLAY or watch the trailer on YouTube.

Along the Bow river in Calgary families of Canada geese flock together.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.