American Made:

Tom Cruise is excellent as the real-life Barry Seal, a TWA airline pilot in the 1970s, who found his way into the drug smuggling trade.  Seal had a perfect life -a fine career path, his pretty wife Lucy, two young kids with one on the way - but something was missing.  Seal was addicted to excitement, and when "Shaffer," (Domhnall Gleeson) paid him a visit, suggesting that he could serve his country by spying on "bad people" in Central America by using a high-tech airplane equipped with state-of-the-art cameras, it was too good for Seal to pass up.  He neglected to mention to Lucy that he was no longer with TWA, slipping back into his pilot's uniform after every surveillance run over the jungles of Nicaragua and El Salvador.  Soon Seal was flying hundreds of kilos of cocaine from Colombia, courtesy of Pablo Escobar and the Medellin cartel, to the US.  American politics is the driving force here, and there is plenty of footage of Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, we see Oliver North portrayed in the film, and we watch as the combined forces of the CIA, the FBI, the ATF, and various State and local agencies bump into each other, fumbling the ball each time they touch it.  Barry Seal is the guy who always delivers - Escobar sees him as a valuable ally, he does pick-up-and-delivery for Manuel Noriega, and he runs guns for the CIA, cocaine for the cartel, and Contra soldiers for shadowy US factions.  Cruise is perfect with his scalawag Louisiana accent and his good-old-boy attitudes, but below the surface of the story is a very serious set of issues that could be fatal for many involved.  It goes from light-hearted banter to life-threatening situations, and back again.  A very good film, well worth the trip to the theatre.  Rated 14A here, R in the States.

Battle of the Sexes:

In September of 1973, Bobby Riggs, a former men's tennis champion and avowed male chauvinist, took on women's tennis champion Billie Jean King in a match at the Superdome that, to this day, remains the most-watched tennis match in history.  It was all about publicity, a major stunt, with the 55 year-old Riggs losing to the 29 year-old King, played here respectively by Steve Carrell and Emma Stone.  The film making is smart - there is actually very little tennis to be had here, with most of the attention on the backstories of both Riggs and King.  It's an exceptional snapshot of the times, whether you lived through them or whether you did not, and it offers excellent insight into what tennis was all about, as both a sport and as a business back in the '70s.  Just so you know, Riggs and King went on to become the very best of friends after all was said and done.  Rated 14A.

Breathe:

Claire Foy (The Crown) and Andrew Garfield star as real-life couple Robin and Diana Cavendish.  At the age of 28, in the days before the polio vaccine had been made available universally, Robin contracted polio and was given only a few months to live.  Refusing to give up, Claire, along with a number of never-quit people, created both an environment and a series of devices to help Robin not only survive, but to thrive.  All the people in the film are based on reality, and Robin’s real-life son is one of the producers on the film.  Andy Sirkis, who is best known as Gollum in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, and as both King Kong in Skull Island, and as Caesar in Planet of the Apes, makes his directorial debut here.  Rated 14A.

The Crown (Season 2):

Claire Foy returns as the young Queen Elizabeth in season 2 of this award-winning series that takes us inside the Royal family, the politics, and the challenges faced by those who rule.  The level of detail is outstanding, and the characters are well-fleshed-out.  Last season we saw Winston Churchill losing the confidence of The Queen by hiding the fact that he had had two strokes and was in ill health, and we saw the beginnings of the flirtatious side of Prince Phillip (Matt Smith) who seemed to spend more time off on his various pursuits than in being Elizabeth's partner.  Great for binge-watching!  Rated M for mature.

Manhunt: Unabomber (2017):

Paul Bettany plays Unabomber Ted Kaczysky, a domestic terrorist who, between 1978 and 1995 killed a number of people with letterbombs and similar devices.  The FBI took years to crack the case, but eventually, through sound detective work and some help from the public, found out his identity and his whereabouts.  The show aired earlier this year on Discovery Channel in the US, and even though it was advertised to appear in Canada, it never did, so this is our first look at it.  Sam Worthington and Chris Noth also star.  Rated M.