WHAT TO WATCH, AND NOT, ON NETFLIX THIS WEEK

From Worldometer (new  COVID-19 deaths yesterday):

        DAY  USA  WORLD   Brazil    India    South Africa

June     9    1093     4732        1185        246        82

July    22     1205     7128        1293      1120       572

Aug    12     1504     6556        1242       835       130

Sept     9     1208      6222       1136      1168        82

Oct     21     1225      6849         571       703        85

Nov    25     2304    12025        620       518      118

Dec    30     3880    14748      1224       299      465

Jan     14       4142    15512       1151         189      712              

          20      4385    17350      1382        152     566

          28       3908   16388      1439       162     555 

Feb      1       1904     9265        609         94     235

Summary:  I hesitate inserting Monday counts, for they are usually too low, but let's see what happens tomorrow.  In any case, from The New York Times this morning, 

• The number of new cases in the U.S. continued to decline yesterday, to a daily average of 146,000 over the past seven days. That’s down nearly 45 percent from the peak, on Jan. 8.

Also:

• 
  The White House is pushing to make rapid-turnaround virus tests available. The federal government will buy 8.5 million at-home nasal-swab tests that don’t require a prescription.  Find it all here. 
• Interestingly enough, this was a $232 million contract with Ellume, an Australian company.

Also from TNYT, Democratic presidents have improved the economy more than Republicans:

You know why the NFL has gone through a full season without using anything like a bubble?  Simple:  they've run a million tests so far, doing this daily with comprehensive contact tracing, wearing masks whenever and wherever possible, and emphasizing ventilation and distancing.  Not sure about the washing of hands part.  Mind you, it has not been perfect, and it appears that the Kansas City Chiefs will soon learn how many of their players will need to be quarantined away from the Super Bowl.  From Thursday, I'll focus on this event, beginning with Tampa, Florida, a truly amazing city.

Netflix yesterday featured a limited series, Pretend It's a City.  Not bad, Rotten Tomatoes had it at 88/80.

Their Top Ten, though, is mostly hype.  For example #1 was Below Zero, a film, which was rated 83/52.  Prison film with icy temperatures.

#2, Finding Ohana, a film, RT:  85/90.  About Hawaii, so I watched it.  #3 was The Dig,  another film, 87/82, so I viewed it too.  #4 was Bridgerton, a series, rated at 89/82.  But I detest those British costume/historic offerings, for I can't understand what they're saying.  Yes, closed caption works, but that's distracting.

#5 was Fate, season 1, but had a 31 reviewers' rating, so forget that.  #6 was The Next Three Days, a 2010 film, with Russell Crowe, but a 51 reviewers' rating is discouraging.  #7 was animated.  #8, The Vanished, 21 by reviewers, so ignore.  #9 Homefront, 43/61, not worth the time, and #10 Mariposa De Barrio, a series with a sexy lady as the poster, but not yet rated, even though it was released in 2017.  I think it has 91 episodes.

Finding Ohana was an enjoyable film, starring Kea Peahu (originally from Kapolei, and has a bright future) and the island of Oahu.  

• Made me think of my life, for I grew up on Oahu in a largely Japanese community, went away to college, and returned to Hawaii to work in the sugar industry, which gave me a slice of life I did not earlier have.  This was a paternalistic society with obvious ethnic layers.  Learned a lot about the history of the state.  

• 
  In a way, this film inserted into my life a missing piece, how local Hawaiians live.  Two Brooklyn siblings come to Hawaii with their mother (Kelly Hu, who was Miss Hawaii 1993, and is part Hawaiian) to live with their grandfather (Branscombe Richmond, who has been in a hundred films and TV shows, and, while he might not be a Hawaiian, certainly looks like one), and learn what it's like to experience a totally different lifestyle, like ohana, or extended family.

• 
  The movie was a nice mix of The Goonies, Indiana Jones and King Solomon's Mine, with the main thread being a search for hidden pirate's treasure.
• Oahu, indeed, is a beautiful place to live.

The Dig was also a gratifying film, a true story of how, just around the time World War II started, an experienced excavator, played by Ralph Fiennes, found a 6th century Saxon ship declared to be a national treasure, on the land of a relatively wealthy rich lady (Carey Mulligan) in poor health.  Unfortunately, the British Museum comes in and Fiennes, with no formal education, is cast aside.  He was initially given no credit, for his protector (Mulligan character) passed away in 1942, and only recently when the Sutton Hoo finding went on permanent display, was credited.  Not to be confused with a 2018 film, also called The Dig, with 75/90 ratings by Rotten Tomatoes.

As you know, today is Groundhog Day, and Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, meaning six more weeks of winter.  However, in Illinois, Woodstock Willie (right) did not, so here comes an early spring.  Tell that to the people on the East Coast.  I remember it snowing 19 inches in DC when I was living there.  Except that I checked the records, and 16 inches in 1983 was the highest.  I think that was the year when the Air Florida plane crashed.  But that was 1982.  All I really remember is that we got two days off, with pay.  

Groundhog Day, now a popular meme, is running pretty much all day on AMC.  Rotten Tomatoes gave 96/88 scores.  Watch Phil, and Bill Murray, repeating his life in Punxsutawney.

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