My September 2026 Movie and TV Series Picks and Pans

[I review the Anthony Bourdain biopic, "Tony" as well as the drama "The Seemingly Perfect Family" and the Netflix docuseries "The Death of the Pastor's Wife."]

Tony (2026)

Origin story about Anthony Bourdain, when he was just Tony.

I was a huge fan of Anthony Bourdain, from his ground-breaking restaurant expose book, "Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly (2000)" to his foodie travel shows - "A Cook's Tour" on the Food Network followed by "No Reservations" and "The Layover" on the Travel Network and "Parts Unknown" on CNN. Happily, when I lived in Seattle, I was able to get some VIP tickets for his "Close to the Bone," one-man show in 2015 and met him.  He was very welcoming and humble, though he didn't like it when I said I enjoyed "The Layover," which he did NOT enjoy. 

Sadly, Anthony took his own life in 2018 at the age of 61. 

But this movie is before all of that, when Anthony was still Tony, a young guy without a clue. He said about himself during those years, "I was - to be frank - a spoiled, miserable, narcissistic, self-destructive and thoughtless young lout, and badly in need of a good ass-kicking."  And the movie begins with that quote and that guy.

Dominic Sesse ("The Holdovers") plays 19-year-old Tony Bourdain who is a student at Vassar and aspires to be a writer. When he doesn't get a fellowship to write a novel over the summer, he travels to Provincetown, Massachusetts to catch up with Nancy (Emilia Jones), a girl he is interested in, but upon arrival discovers she is dating a pizza delivery man.  He gets drunk at The Flagship, a local seafood restaurant, and afterwards is robbed, so finding himself short of money and not able to take the ferry home, he returns to The Flagship and appeals to the head chef there for a job, even though he has no restaurant experience.  The kindly chef (Antonio Banderas - always a joy to see him) takes pity on him and gives him a dishwashing job and Tony eventually works his way up to a cook, though he still engages in some clueless stuff, but that summer stint in a restaurant in Provincetown, Massachusetts, turned out to be a turning point in young Tony Bourdain's life.

Sesse is wonderful as Tony, the "young lout," and the rest of the ensemble is also excellent, espcially Banderas and the handsome Leo Woodall ("The White Lotus") as Sal, an abrasive macho guy who takes Tony under his wing. Anthony's close friend, chef Eric Ripert, who discovered Anthony's body has a poignant cameo in the film. Directed by Matt Johnson and written by Johnson, Todd Bartels, Lou Howe, and Matthew Miller, this is an atmospheric "coming of age" story about one very special summer and how Tony became Anthony.

Rosy the Reviewer says...an affectionate and very poignant tribute to a wonderful talent we lost too soon. (For rent on Apple+)

The Seemingly Perfect Family (2026)

A young woman who has just aged out of foster care, gets a nanny job under false pretenses.

I was surprised to discover this was a Lifetime movie.  I didn't really realize Netflix was in cahoots with the Lifetime movie folks. However, that is not necessarily a bad thing as I have been known to like Lifetime movies in the past (I even wrote about it - "Lifetime Movies: A Baby Boomer's Appreciation"), but that was the past.  I have become more sophisticated since then.  However, I am susceptible to movies about couples being impacted by their nannies or housemaids.  In fact, the premise and the teaser for this movie totally reminded me of "The Housemaid," a movie I enjoyed and which I favorably reviewed back in March, so I jumped but I have to say the fall wasn't pretty. I was reminded of just how bad Lifetime movies can be.

Lexi (Rylee Reagan) is a young woman leaving foster care but not sure what to do with her life.  She overhears her friend, Blair (Violet SinClair), talking about a nanny job and Lexi goes behind her back and nabs the job.  Chelsea (Anna Morgan Neugent) and Daniel Sterling (Bourke Floyd) are an affluent couple with a newborn, but it becomes clear early on that they are not a happy couple and theirs is not a perfect family.  And despite the title of this film, they don't even SEEM to be a perfect family. Chelsea is not a happy camper and is actually quite hostile to Lexi.  And let me tell you about Daniel.  He is about as pervy as an older man can get. He is forever oggling Lexi and following her around.  Let's just say he has plans for our Lexi.

As I said, I have a weakness for this kind of movie, but even I have my standards.  Remember how I always say, "I see the bad ones so you don't have to?"  Well, this one is bad. Directed by Lisa France (story by Ken Sanders and written by Amy Dawson and Daniel West), the whole film is like a cartoon and it actually made me laugh at times, but not in a good way. Everyone is overacting like crazy. Neugent always looks mad; Floyd as Daniel seems to have two expressions - a menacing grimace or big eyes as he leers at Lexi.  And speaking of Lexi, Reagan always seems either concerned or surprised.  She is probably wondering what she is doing in this movie.

Rosy the Reviewer says...you might watch this for the campy aspect to get a laugh or two, but all-in-all, I can't recommend it. If you like this genre, try "The Housemaid" instead. (Netflix)

Death of the Pastor's Wife (2026)

Can you be a murderer if you drive your wife to suicide?

This three-part docuseries makes you wonder as it recounts the true story of Mica and John-Paul Miller and the circumstances surrounding Mica's mysterious death.

John-Paul Miller was a charismatic pastor for the Solid Rock Church and young Mica Francis was one of his parishioners.  He was a 38-year-old married man with five children and she was just 16 when they met.  She worked for him as a nanny and they later began an affair when John-Paul was 35 and Mica was 20 and wed when he was 38 and she was 22.

From the outside, the Myrtle Beach-based Millers appeared to have a picture-perfect marriage. Mica sang and helped John-Paul lead the congregation but behind closed doors the two had a tumultuous relationship and Mica would ultimately be found dead at aged 30 in a state park, and it wasn't long before everyone started asking questions about Mica's death. 

Mica grew up in the chuch, dedicated her life to it and spent most of her time with John-Paul and the congregation during her young years.  She looked up to him as a pastor and as an authority figure and he had a tremendous amount of power over her. She was fully wrapped up in John-Paul's world but as time went on, the relationship soured and Mica suffered from mental health issues and it didn't help that John-Paul was controlling (he would bombard her with texts and calls whenever she left the house) and had kinky sexual proclivities, such as hiring homeless people to have sex with the both of them. She complained in her diary of being abused "emotionally, sexually, spiritually, financially and physically." 

Mica first filed for divorce just six years after they married but dismissed it and then there were several back and forth separations and dismissals.  That was a theme for them. Mica also sought a restraining order against John-Paul due to his alleged abuse. The final filing was in 2024 when Mica moved out of their home and was living on her own. She reported John-Paul for stalking her, tracking her car with surveillance devices, cutting her tires with razor blades and posting nudes of her online. But her cries for help were not answered.

She eventually purchased a firearm, called 911 to report that she was going to kill herself and wanted them to know where she was so her family could find her body.  She was later found in a state park with a bullet to the head.

On the day after her death, John-Paul held a lengthy service filled with humor and only at the very end mentioned to the congregation that Mica had died.  Nice guy.

Mica's story was a cause celebre on the Internet, and this series directed by Michael Gasparro and Julia Willoughby Nason uses John-Paul's sermons (he was quite the misogynist and talked about sex a lot), police calls, text messages, never-before-seen footage and firsthand accounts from friends and family to try to figure out what drove her to suicide.  The series also shines a light on how sometimes patriarchy in religious doctrine can facilitate abuse and that domestic abuse does not always include physical violence. And even though John-Paul had an alibi for the day Mica died, after seeing this docuseries, one can't help but feel his hand was also on that gun.

Rosy the Reviewer says...a chilling and engrossing docuseries that raises awareness about the different faces of domestic abuse. (Netflix)

See You Next Time!

If you enjoyed this post, feel free to like it and share it on Facebook, X, or other sites; email it to your friends and/or follow me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/rosythereviewer where I share short reviews about TV shows I am watching, books I am reading and all sorts of other fun stuff that doesn't appear here!

And next time you are wondering whether or not to watch a particular film, check out my reviews on IMDB (The International Movie Database). Go to IMDB.com, find the movie you are interested in.  Scroll over to the right of the synopsis to where it says "Critics Reviews" - Click on that and if I have reviewed that film, you will find Rosy the Reviewer alphabetically on the list (NOTE:  IMDB keeps moving stuff around so if you don't find "Critics Reviews" where I am sending you, look around.  It's worth it)!

Oldies But Goodies: Some Movies You Might Have Missed the First Time Around!

[I review "Fly Me To The Moon," "Weird: The Al Yankovic Story,"  and the French foodie film, "The Taste of Things"]

 

Fly Me to the Moon (2024)

Remember that conspiracy theory about how the U.S. never really landed on the moon and what we saw was all faked?  Well, this rom-com has fun with that idea.

In late 1968, Manhattan advertising executive Kelly Jones (Scarlett Johansson) is offered a high-stakes job by Moe Berkus (Woody Harrelson), a covert government operative working for President-elect Richard Nixon. The U.S. space program had been put on hold partly partly because of the Vietnam War and the costs of running a space program but also because of waning interest in the Space Race in general.  The program was in need of some PR, and Berkus tasks her with revitalizing NASA's bad public image. "Sell the moon!!"  Kelly has a bit of a bad image herself and Berkus threatens to uncover it if she doesn't agree to take the job, so off to Cocoa Beach, Florida Kelly goes with her loyal assistant, Ruby.

Almost upon arrival, Kelly "meets cute" with Cole Davis (Channing Tatum), the serious and principled launch director at the Kennedy Space Center before either knows who the other is, but when they eventually meet at work, a love-hate relationship begins. There was immediate attraction between the two, but Cole is uptight and serious and doesn't approve of Kelly's techniques.  She is a force of nature and not above doing what she needs to do to get her way.  For example, when Cole tells her that his men don't do interviews, she hires actors to, not only pretend to be the space scientists so they can do interviews, but hires an actor to also be Cole. They also clash over Kelly's move to get corporate sponsorships e.g. the astronauts wearing Omega watches up in space and drinking Tang.

As NASA prepares for the historic Apollo 11 mission, Kelly suggests broadcasting the moon landing using a television camera on the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM), a proposal Cole dismisses as impractical. However, Moe secretly endorses the idea and reveals an additional, shadowy directive to Kelly: she must prepare a fake moon landing to be aired if the real mission fails, a project codenamed "Artemis," a name that is an eery forshadowing for today. Once again, Moe threatens to expose Kelly's past if she doesn't cooperate, and then it comes to light that Moe wants them to broadcast the fake transmission, no matter what, even if the launch is successful.

Kelly becomes increasingly uneasy with the deception, especially as she and Cole grow closer and their romantic relationship blossoms, though it still manifests some love/hate issues. This is an opposites attract kind of rom/com.

There are some twists and turns and bumps along the way, not only in the launch, but in Cole's and Kelly's relationship and a black cat figures prominently in the outcome.

Scarlett and Channing are two beautiful people playing in the usual "I love you, I hate you" rom-com. It's fun to see their relationship play out in this scenario, and it's especially fun to see all of the behind-the-scenes machinations that go into a space launch. It's also fun to be reminded of that old conspiracy theory that the moon landing never happened and was fake,which is especially appropos today two years after this movie was released with astronauts up in space right now, flying around the moon in a spaceship called "Artemis."

Scarlett is expecially good here playing a smooth saleswoman who will do anything to get what she wants.  And I couldn't help but wonder where she has been? She hasn't done many movies in the last few years. And Channing is more subdued but still a handsome guy to watch. Oh, and keep your eye out for a cameo by Scarlett's husband, Colin Jost.  If you blink, you will miss him.

With a screenplay by Rose Gilroy and directed by Greg Berlanti, this is one of those "what if?" scenarios, and though a bit overlong, it reminded me of those old feel-good rom-coms we don't see much anymore.  But it also unintentionally made me ask myself - with another war going on and so many domestic issues, does anyone really still care about space travel?

Rosy the Reviewer says...if you have missed seeing Scarlett Johansson or are a Channing fan and you are looking for an old-fashioned rom/com in an unusual setting, you might just love this to the moon and back. Or maybe not. (Apple+)

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022)

A biopic about the life and career of Alfred "Weird Al" Yankovic - well, kind of.

If you were expecting a straight forward and serious film about the life and career of Weird Al, you might be disappointed with this film, but if you can suspend disbelief and enter the world that is Weird Al's mind, you might find this very funny.

So I was an unsuspecting viewer. I thought this was Weird Al's real story, but when the film began with Al as a child interacting with his Dad (Toby Huss), I was thinking, "Gee, this film is really overdramatic and the actors are way over the top." But as the film went on and Al was a teen at a polka party and it got raided, I thought "Teenagers at a polka party?" I then realized that Weird Al wasn't called Weird Al for nothing. I was watching yet another Weird Al parody, a parody of his own life. 

Young Al's (Richard Aaron Anderson) Dad wants Al to follow him into the factory where he works, but Al wants to write parody songs.  Al's Dad is not happy, but Al's mother secretly purchases an accordion for Al. Years later, an older Al is living with his roommates Steve (Spencer Treat Clark), Jim (Jack Lancaster) and Bermuda (Tommy O'Brien), and is constantly rejected in band auditions as an accordion player, but while listening to "My Sharona" on the radio and fixing a bologna sandwich, Al is inspired to write "My Bologna," which becomes a huge hit and Al becomes a huge star...and a huge ego. 

The story goes on to show how Al wrote "I Love Rocky Road" and "Another One Rides the Bus," meeting his idol Dr. Demento (played by Rainn Wilson), who becomes his manager, how he got the name "Weird Al," and his love affair with Madonna who is dying for him to parody one of her songs - at this point, if you haven't already figured it out, that you are being drawn into a Weird Al parody of his own life, you will stop going "Huh?" When Al gets involved with a drug lord, you will certainly realize Al is having fun with you (he can't help himself), and when he eventually reconciles with his father, who shares that he grew up in an Amish community where he wasn't allowed to play the accordion, you will be shaking your head. And there is more, but you get the idea. 

It's difficult to know what is true and what is Al's imagination or exaggeration in this parody of his life written by Al and director Eric Appel.  For example, Al did become a great accordion player after a door-to-door salesman selling accordions stopped by his house when he was a young boy; Madonna did want him to parody one of her songs, but as far as I can tell, Al never had a love affair with her; nor did he take drugs despite the scene where he goes off on an LSD trip.  I also don't think he had to save Madonna from a drug lord or was on the cover of People Magazine as "The Sexiest Man Alive (duh)," but that's not the point.  This is a comedy. Al is making fun of himself, and it's a lot of fun.

Let's just say it becomes apparent very soon that this is not a biopic of Weird Al, but yet another parody from the weird mind of Weird Al. Daniel Radcliffe does a good job of playing Al and is joined by a star-studded cast of comedians in cameos playing other famous people - I mean Conan O'Brien as Andy Warhol? Will Forte, Patton Oswalt, Michael McKean, Jack Black and others make appearances.  It's fun to try to spot them.

Rosy the Reviewer says...an over-the-top biopic parody of Weird Al's life.  Can we expect anything different from Weird Al? (For rent on Amazon Prime)

The Taste of Things (2023)

Set in 1889, this film depicts the romance between Eugenie, a cook, and M. Dodin, the gourmet chef for whom she has been working for over 20 years.

Winner of several awards and chosen as the French entry for "Best International Feature Film" at the 2024 Academy Awards, the movie begins on a country estate in France in 1889. Eugénie (Juliette Binoche) works as a cook for Dodin (Benoit Magimel), a gourmet, who loves not only her cooking but it appears, he loves her too. Eugénie and Dodin, along with her assistant Violette (Galatea Bellugi) and Violette's young niece Pauline (Bonnie Chagneau-Ravoire), who is visiting for the day, prepare an intricate meal for Dodin's friends.The group meets regularly to eat and enjoy food and praise Eugénie for her artistry.  And let me tell you, they eat a LOT! 

And let me also tell you.  We see every... single... bit... of the preparation. The first 30+ minutes of the film is, well, cooking. Every ingredient gets its close-up (thank you, Mr. DeMille)! This is a film for major foodies. If there is such a thing as food porn, this is it. 

Eugénie and Dodin, both middle-aged, are in a sort of long-term romantic relationship, but maintain separate bedrooms. He has asked her to marry him several times, but she has declined, preferring that they maintain their relationship as they are. Somehow being his cook rather than his wife allows her to lock her bedroom door from time to time. However, their real joy is in developing new recipes and preparations together. 

For the first hour of the film, it's a quiet worship of food, but then Eugénie begins to experience fainting spells, and Dodin grows worried about her health. His doctor friend, Rabaz (Emmanuel Salinger), is unable to determine the cause, and Eugénie persistently claims she is fine. After one such scary fainting episode, Dodin cooks an intricate meal for her and includes an engagement ring hidden in a dessert. Talk about a slow burn. It's taken him 20 years to get that together. But Eugenie finally accepts Dodin's proposal, and they plan to marry in the "autumn of their lives."

He should have asked sooner.  

The French are known for their passion for fine food and wine, and this film captures that passion. Written and directed by Anh Hung Tran, Dodin is based on Dodin-Bouffant, from the 1924 novel by Swiss author Marcel Rouff - "La Vie et la Passion de Dodian-Bouffant, gourmet" ("The Passionate Epicure"). It is one of those slow-moving French films meant to evoke emotion through sight and sound.  And if you have emotion about food, this is for you! It's all very elegant, gentile and sensual.  The cinematography is glorious.  There is one scene where a large party is taking place on the grounds of the chateau and everyone is seated at a long table, and it looks exactly like a Renoir painting.

I love my cooking shows, so this film feeds right into that (pardon the pun), and I also love Juliette Binoche and I love love...so food, Juliette, love...what more could I ask for?  Who wouldn't want to watch the beautiful Juliette Binoche prepare gourmet food? She is a charming actress no matter what she does. She has been charming us in films for years, and she may be in the "autumn" of her life, but she is still beautiful and luminous.  I could watch her prepare food for hours.

Rosy the Reviewer says...this film might not be for everyone, but like dining at a five-star Michelin restaurant, it is an experience. If you consider yourself a foodie, you will want to see this.  It is food porn at its finest! (Hulu)

See You Next Time!

If you enjoyed this post, feel free to like it and share it on Facebook, X, or other sites; email it to your friends and/or follow me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/rosythereviewer where I share short reviews about TV shows I am watching, books I am reading and all sorts of other fun stuff that doesn't appear here!

And next time you are wondering whether or not to watch a particular film, check out my reviews on IMDB (The International Movie Database). Go to IMDB.com, find the movie you are interested in.  Scroll over to the right of the synopsis to where it says "Critics Reviews" - Click on that and if I have reviewed that film, you will find Rosy the Reviewer alphabetically on the list (NOTE:  IMDB keeps moving stuff around so if you don't find "Critics Reviews" where I am sending you, look around.  It's worth it)!

If You Like Documentaries... (2026)

[I review the Academy Award winning "All The Empty Rooms" as well as the true crime documentary "Murder in Monaco" and "Naked Ambition," the story of pin-up photographer Bunny Yeager]

All the Empty Rooms (2025)

News essayist Steve Hartman and photographer Lou Bopp memorialize the untouched bedrooms of children lost to school shootings.

Steve Hartman is an American broadcast journalist best known for his coverage of human interest stories for CBS News.  He is often called in for a "feel good" moment to end the broadcast, especially after bad events so that viewers can feel positive about the world again. 

However, with the ever increasing number of school shootings and usually sensationalized news about the shooter, Hartman felt we were becoming numb to it all. Hartman decided his feel good optimism was no longer enough.  He came up with the idea to highlight the dead children instead of the shooter, so he and photographer Lou Bopp embarked upon a trip across the country memorializing the bedrooms of children lost to school shootings. He has been doing this for seven years and this film, directed and produced by Joshua Seftel, highlights the last four children and their bedrooms on this journey of his, and the film won an Oscar for Best Documentary Short at this year's Academy Awards. 

The children featured in the film are:

• Nine-year-old Hallie Scruggs, a victim of the 2023 Covenant school shooting in Nashville.

• Dominic Blackwell, 14, killed at the 2019 Saugus High School shooting in Santa Clarita, California

• Gracie Anne Muehlberger, 15, also a victim at Saugus High School

• Jacklyn Jaylen Cazares, 9, died in the Uvalde school shooting in Uvalde, Texas 2022

The parents of these children had left the rooms exactly as they were when the children last left for school feeling that as long as the room exists, so do they in a way.  There is a tube of toothpaste with the cap left off; hair ties on the knob of the bedroom door; dirty clothes in a basket. Gracie Anne Muehlberger's parents shared that she put on shows for them in her room.  Her dad read a letter she wrote to her future self when she started high school. He could barely get through it.  I couldn't either. Videos and recordings of the children are shared as they lived their lives without a care in the world.

Hartman and Bopp are also featured with their own children.  Bopp photographs his daughter every year at the beginning of a new school year and the film ends with Hartman's daughter painting his nails.

I became teary almost immediately upon starting to watch this 34 minute film that attempts to capture the devastation of these childrens' parents. And it is devastating to see those untouched rooms just as those children left them before leaving for school the very last time, but it is important to see this film, to honor these children and their brief lives, so that we don't accept these shootings as a regular part of our lives. There is not preaching here. Not much needs to be said. The pictures tell it all. 

The film ends with the names of every child killed in school shootings since Columbine.  Too many names.

Rosy the Reviewer says...a reminder to hug and say "I love you" to your children, because "these could be your children." (Netflix).

Naked Ambition (2023)

Bunny Yeager might just be the most-famous photographer you have never heard of!  This documentary biopic attempts to change that.

Bunny Yeager had a stellar career - first as a model, then a photographer of models but not just any models - we are talking pin-ups, cheesecake, nudity.  Yeager shot the very first "Playboy" centerfold (January 1955) as well as that famous photo of Ursula Andress in her bikini for the James Bond movie, "Dr. No." She single-handedly popularized the bikini and was an early adopter of "selfies (she was a model herself after all)." Yeager also went on to discover Bettie Page as well as publishing 20 books. 

So why is it that someone so prolific and famous in the photographic industry is unheard of today?  

Well, I guess it's not a shock that a woman in a male dominated industry would be ignored. And Yeager was ambitious, something that was taboo for a woman back in the day.  But writer/director Dennis Scholl and fellow director, Kareem Tabsch, want to right that wrong with this documentary and make sure everyone remembers Bunny Yeager. 

Bunny Yeager began her career as a model, but as she became a wife and mother, she decided to step away from modeling and pursue photography instead as a way to earn money with a more flexible schedule. She was dubbed "The World's Most Beautiful Photographer."  She was noted for her high standards, her interesting choices of location and she could work fast.  She was able to highlight the personalities of her subjects, probably because she was working woman to woman. She had a successful career as a photographer, but it was her collaboration with Bettie Page and "Playboy" that brought both her and Page success and changed both of their lives. Page had just been considered a fetish model until Yeager elevated her. But then along came porn and feminism and pin-ups fell out of fashion and things went downhill for Yeager, forcing her to regroup.

At only 73 minutes, the film does a good job of covering Yeager's career and showcasing her work (hundreds of photos are displayed as well as home videos), but I wish the film had gone deeper into her motivations and what she had to go through as a woman photographer specializing in pinups and nudes, having to deal with the obscenity laws of the time, the ensuing popularity of porn and the negative view feminism had for pin-up photography.

But the conversations with Yeager's daughters, Lisa Irwin and Cherilu Duval, did yield some insight into Yeager's personal life. Daughter Cherilu was particularly embarrassed by her mother's photographic choices while Lisa felt her mother empowered other women. One can't help but wonder how her daughters' differing opinions of her affected her relationships with them.

"Talking heads," which included Dita Von Teese, Hugh Hefner, photographer Bruce Weber and Larry King and others weigh in, as well as Bettie Page herself via a recording, whose voice strangely did not match her photos, but probably that was the voice of a very old Bettie Page.

The film does a good job of highlighting Yeager's achievements as a pin-up girl photographer and as the first woman photographer for "Playboy." She captured the times.  I just wish it had gone deeper into what it must have been like for her to do this work in a "man's world" in the rather prudish time of the 1950's.

Rosy the Reviewer says...Yeager was ambitious and portrayed the power of female sexuality in her photographs, and this is a fitting tribute to a woman who was an ironic feminist. It was an amazing life that I am surprised has not been made into a dramatic biopic. Maybe now it will. (Netflix)

Murder in Monaco (2025)

An examination of the mysterious murder of billionaire Edmond Safra in Monaco in 1999.

Billionaire Edmond Safra died along with one of his nurses in 1999 in a fire in his Monaco penthouse.  Authorities were initially led to believe by his other nurse, Ted Maher, that the 67-year-old billionaire was the victim of a bungled burglary, but as this documentary plays out, the circumstances surrounding Safra's death and the aftermath just got "stranger and stranger."

Edmond Safra, one of the richest men in the world, was a Lebanese-Brazilian banker living in a 10,000 square foot penthouse in Monaco with panic buttons, bullet-proof windows and a safe room. He had Parkinson's Disease and was on medications that made him paranoid.  He had full-time nursing care and was surrounded by bodyguards.  His death caused a media storm giving way to various conspiracy theories about who was responsible.  Safra was found dead of affixiation in his safe room along with his nurse, Vivian Torrente.  His other nurse, Ted Maher, escaped with stab wounds and said the assassins got in and attacked them. But how did intruders get into an apartment that appeared inpenatrable?  

The suspicious circumstances surrounding Safra's death created an international media storm giving way to various conspiracy theories about who was really responsible.  Was it Russian mobsters?  Safra conducted business with Russian oligarchs until he informed the FBI that they were trying to launder money through American banks.  Or was it his wife, Lily, a woman with some rich dead husbands in her past who yearned to be a famous socialite and who stood to inherit billions? Or was it Maher himself, the nurse who was accused of starting the fire to set the stage to rescue Safra and become a hero? And did Safra die because the authorities took too long to put out the fire and was there a cover-up, using Maher as a scapegoat?  Monaco relies on its reputation as a safe and secure haven for the very rich, so when someone is murdered there, not good. So many questions in this crazy murder mystery.

And then things get really crazy.

Written by Sam Hobkinson and directed by Hodges Usry, this true-crime documentary explores the various conspiracies surrounding Safra's death.  It's a murder mystery with a trial and a prison escape and some judicial corruption and much more.  The film features interviews with reporters, Safra's banking associates, lawyers, cell mates and exclusive interviews with Maher, whose life was a whole crazy story on its own. He eventually went on trial for Safra's death and it was the O.J. Trial of Europe. But the story doesn't end there.

The moral of this story?  Sometimes it's not that much fun being a billionaire.

Rosy the Reviewer says...if you like true crime about the rich and famous with all kinds of real life twists and turns, this is for you. (Netflix)

See You Next Time!

If you enjoyed this post, feel free to like it and share it on Facebook, X, or other sites; email it to your friends and/or follow me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/rosythereviewer where I share short reviews about TV shows I am watching, books I am reading and all sorts of other fun stuff that doesn't appear here!

And next time you are wondering whether or not to watch a particular film, check out my reviews on IMDB (The International Movie Database). Go to IMDB.com, find the movie you are interested in.  Scroll over to the right of the synopsis to where it says "Critics Reviews" - Click on that and if I have reviewed that film, you will find Rosy the Reviewer alphabetically on the list (NOTE:  IMDB keeps moving stuff around so if you don't find "Critics Reviews" where I am sending you, look around.  It's worth it)!

Get Ready For The 2026 Golden Globes With These Golden Globe Nominated Performances, Part 1!

[I review these Golden Globe nominated performances: Jeremy Allen White in "Bruce Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere," Rose Byrne in "If I Had Legs, I'd Kick You," Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson in "The Smashing Machine," and Eva Victor in "Sorry, Baby"]

Bruce Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere (2025)

How Bruce Springsteen's album "Nebraska" came to be.

The film begins in 1957 in black and white.  A young Bruce Springsteen is sent into the bar by his mother to bring his dad (Stephen Graham) home. Back at home, his parents fight and Bruce defends his mother (Gaby Hoffmann) with a baseball bat. His dad also has a penchant for waking young Bruce up at night to box, again dad is drunk.

Then the film shifts to color and it's 1981. Bruce Springsteen (Jeremy Allen White) has just finished his sold-out "River Tour."  Exhausted and wanting to lie low for awhile, his manager, Jon Landau (an always wonderful Jeremy Strong), rents Bruce a house in Colts Neck, New Jersey, near where he grew up in Freehold. Bruce buys his first new car, a Chevrolet Camaro, and plays with local bands at the Stone Pony bar where he meets Faye Romano (Odessa Young), an old classmate's younger sister, and a relationship of sorts ensues. 

With the full cooperation of The Boss himself, the film continues to use flashbacks in black and white to show Bruce's troubled relationship with his father, Douglas, an alcoholic battling mental health issues and Bruce's traumatic childhood which continued to haunt him.

On the heels of his first top-ten song "Hungry Heart," Bruce is battling depression and his record label is pressuring him for another hit album. Bruce suggests saving money by preparing the demo himself.  Influenced by his childhood memories and an increasing depression, Bruce writes a collection of stark, somber songs with a blue-collar perspective. He also sees the film "Badlands" about Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate, two teens who went on a crime spree in Nebraska and Wyoming in the 1950's, killing 11 people, which plays into his state of mind and influences him. Recording his new tracks unaccompanied, he makes the risky choice to embrace a raw, acoustic quality.

Meanwhile, living in California Adele calls Bruce for help with Douglas.

After visiting his father, Bruce arrives in New York City to record the new album, reuniting with the E Street Band. They lay down several successful tracks, but Bruce is unhappy with the overall full-band studio sound of the record, so Jon agrees to use Bruce's raw demo as the new record. Using older equipment to re-create the demo tape as a vinyl master recording, the new album "Nebraska" is born.

However, Al Teller (David Krumholtz), the record exec, is not happy with this artistic departure.  What?  No singles? No tours?  No press?  Why, Bruce's face isn't even on the cover! 

And then Bruce suffers a mental breakdown and contemplates suicide. 

Such was the environment where the album "Nebraska" was born."

The price of fame can be high, especially if you have traumas from your youth and issues with depression. This film shares a small, but pivotal time in Springsteen's life, a  time when he needed to express himself and his depression, and it shows how pain can turn into art. White as Springsteen does a good job of not only playing Springsteen in this difficult time of his life but showing his love for Faye  and Springsteen's love/hate relationship with fame. I mean, think about it.  White had never played a guitar or harmonica before and didn't know if he could sing! And the film has lots of music. What he did with this role was an amazing accomplishment.  

However, the movie itself is kind of niche. The first half drew me in, but then it started to drag. I mean, a movie about depression can be...well, depressing. This film covers a very small period of Springsteen's life and the making of one album. "Nebraska," which by the way, made it to #3 on the charts and, then, Bruce's next album, "Born in the U.S.A" made him a global superstar. He has produced over 20 studio albums and numerous live albums since then. We are glad he made it through that dark time.

The film, written and directed by Scott Cooper (based on the book by Warren Zanes) has one Golden Globe nomination and that is for White's performance.

So will Jeremy Allen White win the Golden Globe for "Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama?"

Prediction:  I say no.  Despite a wonderful performance, I think he has too much competition from the other nominees.

Rosy the Reviewer says...if you are a big Springsteen fan, you might love this, but as a movie fan, it didn't do it for me. But see it for Jeremy Allen White's performance. (available to rent or buy on Amazon Prime)

If I Had Legs, I'd Kick You (2025) 

Sometimes a psychotherapist needs a psychotherapist!

Linda (Rose Byrne) is a psychotherapist stretched to her limits while caring for her daughter, who is suffering from a feeding disorder.  Her daughter is also enrolled in a day hospital program, which Linda must attend with her. The family's situation takes a turn for the worse when the ceiling in their apartment collapses, flooding the house. The sky is literally falling in Linda's life! 

With her husband, Charles (Christian Slater, heard mostly over the phone), a ship's captain, away on an eight-week work trip, Linda is forced to move with her daughter into a shabby motel. When they talk on the phone, he is not supportive. Sharing a motel room with her daughter and her daughter's feeding tube, Linda can't sleep. Sleep-deprived, she spends nights outside the motel, drinking alcohol, smoking marijuana, listening to music, and eating junk food. She is befriended by James (ASAP Rocky), her next-door neighbor at the motel and the two try to buy drugs on the dark web.  This begs the question - what is your therapist doing when you are not around?

At the same time, Linda has to work and ironically is surrounded by clients in crisis, including Linda who seeks therapy from her own colleague (played by Conan O'Brien as you have never seen him - he can act)! However, he is also not very supportive and becoming increasingly exasperated by her behavior, he eventually declines her as a patient after she repeatedly crosses professional boundaries.

Things don't look good for Linda in this story of an overwhelmed mother.

This film has one Golden Globe nomination, and it is for Rose Byrne's performance which is a tour de force. She is just remarkable.  I have become increasingly impressed with her over the years. I think I first noticed her in "Neighbors," though she had done many roles before that. But I never really thought about her much, and when I did, I remembered her as a sort of "second banana," playing the wife or the friend.  Then along came the TV series "Physical" in 2021. She carried that series and was great, but she played a kind of nervous, ditsy woman and it was a bit of a comedy.  But in "Platonic" in 2023 I realized what a good actress she is.  She exuded a warmth and reality even though, again, the series was a bit of a comedy. I also liked that she actually used her real Aussie accent (in almost all of the roles I remember her for, she had to use an American accent).  This is the story of a woman struggling with her life and you would think it would be a slog, but it's mesmerizing and that's because Byrne has the ability to make us care about her.

And the movie, written and directed by Mary Bronstein, is riveting and raw examination of a woman on the edge, mostly because of Byrne but Bronstein's directorial choices are also interesting.  The child (Delaney Quinn) is not seen through the course of the film, which I think was a good choice - we just hear her voice - and that helps the viewer focus on the challenges of the mother and not the child (even though I also thought the child's voice was annoying - with that kid I would be freaking out too)! 

I only have two complaints.  

First of all, I don't get the title at all. I would be interested to know how this film got a green light with that title.  But second, and my biggest complaint, which has nothing to do with the movie, really, but is the fact that Byrne is nominated for "Best  Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture - COMEDY OR MUSICAL." What? Did I miss something?  This film is NOT a comedy and certainly NOT a musical.  What's the deal? Did they want to make sure she won a Golden Globe because there was too much competition in the Drama category?

But that said, will Byrne win Best Performance in her category?

Prediction: She should.

Rosy the Reviewer says...an amazing performance by Byrne (for rent or purchase from Amazon Prime and Apple+)

The Smashing Machine (2025)

A biopic about American former wrestler and mixed martial artist, Mark Kerr.

Mixed martial artists, Mark Kerr, might not be a well-known name today but back in the 1990's and early 2000's, he was a pioneer in the Mixed Martial Arts world. He was a two-time Ultimate Fighting Championship winner, World Heavyweight Tournament Champion, World Vale Tudo Championship tournament winner, and a PRIDE FC competitor. He also had a drug habit and a difficult relationship with his girlfriend, Dawn (who he eventually marries).  This film starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as Kerr and Emily Blunt as Dawn, covers the ups and downs of Kerr's career and relationships from 1997-2000. 

Johnson is nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance in this film and he is barely recognizable, in a good way.   I guess I am not used to seeing him with hair. The make-up is first-rate. Though this movie felt like a soap opera at times and didn't really do much for me, I am glad Johnson had a chance to show his dramatic acting chops.  But Emily Blunt, who is also nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance, is quite amazing. I would not have known it was she if I hadn't seen her name in the credits.  I have seen her play Americans before but never a dippy one!  She shows her range by playing a character unlike any she has done before.

Written and directed by Benny Safdie, there is lots of wrestling and punching and kicking with some modern day fighters making their acting debuts, but I couldn't help but wonder what it is about men fighting each other that people enjoy watching.  I don't.

So will Johnson win a Golden Globe for "Best Male Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama?"  Will Blunt win a Golden Globe for "Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture?"

Prediction: Johnson - probably not.  Blunt - I am rooting for her. 

Rosy the Reviewer says...if you are a fan of "The Rock" or enjoy mixed martial arts, you might enjoy this, but I didn't, though I give props to Johnson and Blunt. (For rent or purchase on Amazon Prime)

Sorry, Baby (2025)

The aftermath of a sexual assault.

Agnes (Eva Victor) is a literature professor at Fairpoint, a liberal arts college in rural New England.  The film flashes back to Agnes in graduate school with her friend, Lydie (Naomi Ackie).  Agnes is a favorite of her literature professor, Preston Decker (Louis Cancelmi).  Perhaps, too much of a favorite because when Agnes goes to his house to meet with him about her thesis, a Bad Thing happens, a sexual assault that is not seen but later described in detail by Agnes.  The film, also written and directed by Victor, explores the emotional ramifications of such an event, and the insensitivity many women experience from others. When a "Bad Thing" happens and life is moving on, how does one move on?

This personifies the "indie film."  Independent films are known for artistry, unique stories and niche subjects.  They are often passion projects and showcase talent.  Check, check, check, check and check.  However, they can also be indulgent and, sadly, I felt that with this movie.  It covers an important subject - how little support women often get after an assault - but it was a one-note story that played out very slowly with long lingering camera shots that lingered and lingered and lingered.

Victor is nominated for a Golden Globe in the  "Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama" category.  Will she win?

Prediction: No.

Rosy the Reviewer says...Victor's performance was believable and the topic important, but, sorry, I found the character annoying and the film too slow moving. (Hulu and HBO Max)

See You Next Time!

And Happy New Year!

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