Netflix’s crime thriller ‘Ozark’ goes to town on dirty money

The positive buzz for Netflix series Ozark piqued my interest. I’m in the middle of catching up on The Sopranos so I wasn’t necessarily looking for another crime and family centric drama. But after checking out the pilot to see if it would be something I’d like I became addicted. The pilot is very good, one of the best pilots I’ve seen in a while. I ended up finishing the rest of the 10 episode season in less than a week.

Ozark hits the mark on what you’d expect from a crime thriller. One lie can cost you everything. And one lie can lead to another and then another. Jason Bateman plays Marty Byrde, a Chicago-based financial adviser who must save his and his family’s lives by moving to Lake Ozark and launder $500 million dollars in 5 years. Where some crime stories are about a heist or stealing money, Byrde must spend cold hard cash by the barrel full.

Princess Mononoke Movie Review: Revisiting an Animated Classic

Princess Mononoke is a wondrous animated film made in 1997. Writer/director Hayao Miyazaki’s rich imagination plays with many themes in a manner that draws you into his inventive story of forest spirits, warring humans and cursed animal demons in ancient times, yet it’s challenging to fully articulate why it resonates. In part, Princess Mononoke’s cautionary tale explores human beings’ relationship with nature, an eternal conflict that is as timely and relevant now as it was 20 years ago. It also has something to say about the price we pay when we lose touch with the belief that the transcendent is life itself.