farmeglio

I get the impression not many people watched Franklin (2024) on Apple+ which is a shame because it was incredibly well done!

The story line is based on actual events during the American Revolution, but the action takes place in France. You find out how creative Benjamin Franklin was in establishing contact within a culture that at first recognized him mostly for his work in electricity and avoiding lightning strikes.

The script is great, and the acting is terrific. I hope that they bring it to Amazon or Netflix so more people can watch it. It is a gem lost in the wilderness of so many choices.

We need to remember what a crucial role Benjamin Franklin played in getting armaments and volunteers from France to the United States at a time when the US was losing the war against the British king. We would not have gotten our independence if not for Franklin.

The series recounts all these events and so many more personal events in a most entertaining way. My husband and I binge-watched it twice because it was so rich in cultural detail while exploring the depths of the characters' complex motivations.

I waited for this movie with great anticipation. The actors have done fine work in the past, and the previous Book Club movie was nicely done.

But this Book Club: The Next Chapter is so flimsy it is embarrassing, mainly to women in general. As if women live in a world of teenage dreams and have no way of solidifying their identity without resorting to superficial concerns and external validations.

For instance, the constant emphasis on clothes, or on how men love or do not love the women, or on the ideal, magical trip that is supposed to liberate you, or on what the fates want for you, or on what signs you are being given about your "destiny" - all this is just so tiresome and empty.

The characters never seemed to be concerned about anything except their own private selves.

And the ending was preposterous. It made the women seem as if they were completely inconsistent.

This is a mind-blowing, all-too-possible movie. Not that far from future reality. We had better be careful. We do not have a universal theory of ethics to guide the world, much less one that a computer could understand. Heck, we cannot even agree amongst ourselves as to what everyone "should" do. So how in blazes do you teach a computer a system of thought you don't even understand yourself?

Absolutely terrific, nail-biting movie. A definite must-see. Just tell me you don't see the relevance. How often do we get entertained but competently forewarned at the same time?

They want me to write 600 characters, but I don't want to give away too much. I have said as much as I should.