LOST – An off-course airliner crashes into a remote island creating a “Lord of the Flies” dynamic among the surviving passengers. Streaming now on Hulu, this series was wildly popular when it originally aired in 2004. Kelly loves it! I’m hooked, too, and viewing it for the first time. The episodes are intense and each one gives us a glimpse into the history of a particular character. Supernatural overtones enhance the suspense and there is plenty of eye candy. The work is excellent. Glasses raised high for this one! Cheers! Boyfriends – 4; Girlfriends – 3.

DOPESICK – Lives and relationships disintegrate as the monstrous Sackler family nefariously unleashes super addictive OxyContin on the unsuspecting medical community and their patients. Gut wrenching. And the Sacklers’ punishment? A slap on the wrist. Despicable. Outstanding work from Michael Keaton and the cast. Cheers! Boyfriends – 1; Girlfriends – 1.

DEPP V. HEARD – Dysfunction and deceit are at the heart of this three episode mini-series documenting the Court battle over defamation lawsuits brought by both famous parties. Mostly old news and basically boring. Plus the constant annoying viral commentary interspersed throughout is a drag. Skip it! Cheers! Boyfriends – 1; Girlfriends – 0.

BARBIE – Box Office Bonanza Barbie is a smash in the theatres, but a dud for Sandi and me. There are some cute bits, and I get the girl empowerment angle and the political agenda. There are also lots of stupid situations and dialogue. And again, it’s too long. The best parts of the film were self-deprecating nods to Mattel, the incorporation of Ruth Handler (Barbie’s creator) as a character and the actual Barbie dolls featured in the closing credits. “Just Ken” would say just skip it! But I know you won’t. Cheers! Boyfriends/Girlfriends – 0.

OPPENHEIMER – Mirith, Mike and I agree this film will rake in buckets of Oscars. The performances are stellar. The director has an excellent reputation and body of work. The subject matter is historical, intriguing and relevant to today’s politics. There are powerful scenes that drive home the lessons to be learned from creating a nuclear world we must all now endure forever…..just the kind of picture the Academy loves. That said, it does have some flaws. The 3-hour running time should be reduced by at least half an hour. We were all squirming in our seats during the first hour of dense exposition leading us to mentally urge the movie to get on with it. Nolan uses black and white film in certain scenes, presumably to highlight some point or symbolism. What that point or symbolism was, we had no clue, so it didn’t work. Then there is a segment during interrogation where Oppenheimer is sitting in his seat having sex with his mistress. Michael says it was supposed to be Kitty envisioning her husband’s transgression during his questioning, but that was lost on me. Either way, it was a distraction and unnecessary in the scene. Lastly, Mike found the disjointed presentation of the story hard to follow. Chris Nolan is known for this type of storytelling, but in a timeline of events like this, it leaves the audience confused. Overall this film is quite good…just not quite as good as we were expecting! Cheers! Boyfriends – 1; Girlfriends – 0.