TxMike

This is a family drama with much humor. IMDb page doesn't specify where it was filmed but in one street scene we see the sign for "Quinn Podiatry" and that is in Pearl River, NY, just near the NY/NJ state line. And, I suppose, in other smaller communities in NJ and NY just upstream from New York city.

The cast contain a number of good, experienced actors and each creates an interesting character. The story revolves around Edie Falco as Wanda. She works as a bookkeeper for several small businesses in her area.

She has a pregnant daughter who is planning her wedding. She has a young adult son who never seems to be on a good track in life. Trouble seems to follow him.

She also has an ex-husband who, with his new family, may not be able to pay half of their daughter's wedding. Plus she is being pursued romantically by two different people, a man and a woman.

In essence the whole story is about Wanda coming to grips with her own life and happiness and it is a good ride.

My wife and I watched it at home, after our usual Saturday evening steak and red wine dinner, streaming on Peacock.

Set in Chicago but filmed entirely in Ireland, this story involves the use of phone "air drops" where an anonymous person can send photos and/or messages to another's phone.

Meghann Fahy is Violet, she has a 5-yr-old son and is just starting to date after her husband's death. She is using an ap where you can meet someone virtually then meet up if there is a mutual interest.

Now she is meeting a man, Brandon Sklenar as Henry, at an upscale downtown restaurant. There is a quick mix-up at the bar while she was waiting for him and, as soon as they are seated at a table she starts to get disturbing drops.

As it started, streaming on Peacock, my wife and I weren't sure we would stick with it, but we did and it turned out to be reasonably interesting and entertaining. Much of the movie was Violet trying to find out who in the restaurant area was sending the messages, plus why she was being asked to do something completely against her morals to save her son and her sister who was with him that evening.

It is a fictional story, some of it seemed implausible, but it is well made enough that we don't egret spending the approximately 90 minutes watching it.

I came about watching this movie backwards. I watched the most recent "Venom: The Last Dance" a few weeks ago, then afterwards realized I had not watched this one, the first in the Venom series. So last night I did, on Blu-Ray from my public library.

It has three of my favorite actors. Tom Hardy is the main one as Eddie Brock. He gives the role a good mix of seriousness and comedy. I enjoyed the comedic aspects of the movie, it is such an absurd premise I find it nice to not take it too seriously. He gets infected and possessed, only we the audience can hear the conversations the two of them are having, and they are funny.

Michelle Williams, who I like in everything, she is great to look at and one of the better actresses, is Eddie's girlfriend Anne but they have a falling out.

Then there is Riz Ahmed who was great in "Nightcrawler". He is Carlton Drake, the owner of a cutting edge space company, perhaps inspired by Elon Musk. A mission brings back an alien form from a comet. But he has no morals and no hesitation to use human volunteers even if he knows there will be a good chance they will die from the interaction with the alien organisms as he looks for the ideal combination.

I watched it at home on Blu-Ray from my public library. I was entertained. It was nice to see what turned out to be the last cameo appearance by Stan Lee in a street scene. He passed away not long after.