Strong Island (2017)

Rotten Tomatoes

Strong Island (2017): Filmmaker tells of brother's 1992 murder. White killer. Black victim. White grand jury declines to indict. The crime story and justice system story are all too common. The personal family story before and after is powerful, tragic and sad. B+

Last Men in Aleppo (2017)

Rotten Tomatoes

Last Men in Aleppo (2017): Documentary of Syrian war and "White Helmets" first responders. Life in a bombed out city as the bombings continue. No narration, no politics. Just raw, brutal, heart-breaking scene after scene. A-

Icarus (2017)

Rotten Tomatoes

Icarus (2017): Documentary on state-sponsored doping in Russian athletics. That Russia isn't banned is indictment of all international athletics. But movie fails to explain basic things. How did Fogel think his original sting would work? Why did Rodchenkov get involved? C+

POTD: Miami Sunset

From 2018 01 19 Norwegian Star

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the deck of the Norwegian Star as it sails from Miami headed for Los Angeles on a cruise through the Panama Canal. The sun didn't quite cooperate as hoped. As they say, a First World problem — we are very grateful that we can take this vacation at all.

Mindhunter (TV)

Rotten Tomatoes

Mindhunter (TV): 1970s FBI agents interview serial killers to learn what makes them tick. Real life crime stories that focus less on the crime, more on the psychology of criminals. Not whodunit, but whydunit. That and great character development of the FBI agents. B+