Movies and TV shows to binge on while waiting out the virus

When you are semi-stuck at home during an outbreak that is stretching from winter and into spring, sometimes there is very little else to do but binge on whatever shows are available on the television.

During that time, my family of two opted to take in shows off our cable TV.

The last movie I had watched before the virus hit was The Farewell, the Golden Globe award-winning movie starring Chinese-American comedian and rapper Awkwafina. The cinema was practically empty when we watched it a day into Chinese New Year.

Shortly after that, all the movie theaters shut to prevent COVID-19 from spreading.

We began trawling our VOD for movies and TV shows to kill the time.

Most of the time, we would click on the movies and put them in the archive section of our service so we can go to them at our leisure.

Normally, that means trying to buy some chips and setting aside some time to talk about the movie afterwards.

The list of movies we particularly liked includes Knives Out and The Highwaymen. For TV series, we tuned into McMafia and the canceled series Me, Myself and I.

We took in Knives Out one Sunday evening when we could not find anything else. I had seen the trailer, which I found intriguing.

Knives Out is like one of those whodunits popularized by Agatha Christie and her iconic detective Hercule Poirot. The character has appeared in 33 novels, one play and over 50 short stories between 1920 and 1975.

The flick is a flat out tribute to Christie. It features 007 star Daniel Craig as Detective Benoit Blanc investigating the apparent suicide of very rich crime novelist Harlan Thrombey, played with delightful verve by Christopher Plummer.

The only thing that seemed a little annoying to me is listening to Craig try to speak in an accent that seems to be a cross between New Orleans, Louisiana or somewhere in Alabama. Southern drawl mixed in with a lingering British accent.

The performance by the ensemble cast, led in part by Captain America (Chris Evans), is wickedly delightful. I still think of Evans throwing that shield of his in the Marvel movies. The newest Bond girl－Cuban-Spanish actress Ana de Armas－portrays the heroine of the flick.

The whole thing was done with wit and style by Star Wars director Rian Johnson. The movie gives new meaning to the phrase "your family is your own worst enemy".

The other film we particularly enjoyed is The Highwaymen, which we took in on a Saturday afternoon in the middle of Chinese New Year.

Starring Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson as two aging former Texas Rangers, the film is about their pursuit of Bonnie and Clyde in Depression-era America. The weariness of the two actors drips from the flick like molasses.

The two very good actors make the film work despite the stodgy pacing, even though you kind of knew how it was going to end. The film can be overly long and I found myself sneaking off to the kitchen to make a sandwich and pour myself a Coke Zero.

Still, there were parts that were riveting, especially when the Rangers were waiting with a few other lawmen to end the career of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow. No prisoners were taken.

The TV series McMafia is a slow-motion depiction of how the son of a Russian gangster transforms from a well-heeled London investment banker into a crime lord. We watched this over a series of days and took about a week because we were not in a hurry to finish it off.

It took about 8 episodes before the transformation of the lead actor was done. The only thing I did not like was that I wish the actor portraying the lead, James Norton, would show more emotion other than the stony-face he put on like a mask throughout.

On the sentimental side, Me, Myself and I is a series that has been canceled in the United States.

The show focuses on the life of a man who was 14 years old in 1991, 40 during the present day and then 65 years old in 2042. The man's name is Alex Riley.

The 14-year-old is acted out by Jack Dylan Grazer, 40-year-old Riley is portrayed by comedian Bobby Moynihan and the 65-year-old version is played by veteran actor John Larroquette.

The episode switches from one story line to the next. The plots range from childhood crushes to going gaga over Star Wars.

An abiding theme is that Riley, in all his age groups, is a fanatic of the Chicago Bulls led by Michael Jordan and he absolutely detests the Los Angeles Lakers.

The series had 13 episodes, is endearing and just grows on you. But the ratings did not catch on in the US and the show was axed a few years back.

There were other shows during the time we were in practical quarantine like The Mandalorian and a Netflix movie that is so familiar: The Pandemic. I even got started on Westworld and Humans, a pair of series set in a near future where synthetic androids are your next must-have entertainment devices or household appliances.

At this time, I am now trying to work my way through Picard, reliving my days as a long-time Trekkie. I am up to episode 5 and waiting for the rest to drop in.

Winter is almost over, but bingeing never seems to go out of style. As Spock says oh so long ago in a different Trekkie universe, "Live Long and Prosper."