This post is made of movie & TV reviews. NO, NOT AVENGERS. all the same, ahoy, maties, SPOILERY WATER AHEAD.Shape of Water: Yes, it won umpteen awards, and I can see why.  The movie is an phenomenally cohesive, polished work of cinematic craftsmanship from start to finish,  from the acting and directing right through soundtrack, cinematography and costuming.It's also still Creature from the Black Lagoon Falls In Love, so despite the amazing ambiance of the scenery, the moody music, and the adept acting of the cast, it...didn't wow me.  I guess I like my creature love stories with a lot less messaging about Othernesss meaning people aren't whole, a LOT fewer of the Obvious Evil style of baddies,  and happy endings that involve a inclusion WITHIN society rather heroes than having to flee into isolation to be their true selves.I over-think things, perhaps. Doesn't make me wrong.Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story. Yes, yes, I watched a documentary. GO, ME.  Depressing as hell, about a brilliant, beautiful woman whose brilliance was dismissed--even declared impossible--because she was also beautiful, a woman whose government and bosses cheated her, a woman whose reputation was blackened and misrepresented by a media machine more interested in headlines than truth. A woman who ended up broke and broken by the system.Outrageous. Me being me, of course I went out and did a bunch of booky research to fact-check and bias-check the film's claims. Result: turns out the movie bent over backwards to give the impression that no malice was ever meant when in reality, there is plenty of evidence to suggest jealousy, bigotry and misogyny played large roles in her defeats.The careful approach the creators took makes sense. Any appearance of outrage would have gotten it ignored as weak girly shrieking about unfairness.Because that tactic still works, doesn't it? The events in the documentary took place decades before the long-running campaign to tarnish and diminish Hilary Rodham Clinton's reputation ever began.  I wasn't expecting to see resonances. But there they were, BIG AS LIFE.Anyhow. That was my takeaway.Darkest Hour. Ah. Hm. Maybe I was not in the right mood for Oscar-nominated/winning movies? Because this was 2+ hours of brilliant acting, fabulous costuming and cinematography, but at the end it left me wondering WHY WAS THIS MADE?  The plot covers a momentous month in Britain's history, (NOT, its darkest hour by the way, only the time leading up to the "FINEST Hour" speech being given) but it wasn't not exactly a month that lends itself to storytelling drama in London.  Dunkirk? That got its own movie. Ditto all the other places major action and sacrifice were taking place.So despite a whole lot of fictional dialogue and dramatic elements being added, it felt like a long parade of "Golly, Churchill, wotta character, eh?" moments. To me.The YMMV principle applies to all my reviews.One more! The new Lost In Space. TV series, season 1. Did I gush about this one already? I don't care. Among my social circle this show  seems to be a polarizing topic. People either love it or hate it.  I  love it with a passion equal or greater than my loathing for the 1990's era movie, and I LOATHED that movie.Why do I love this one?Scientists winning with science instead of science being Dangerous and Not To Be Trusted. Characters who are true to the campy originals without being the campy originals (because traits that were acceptable in the mid-60s do not always translate well to today's mores.)   A plot that keeps an optimistic, we-can-fix-it feel without falling into perky positivity.  Is it perfect? Oh, hell no. Plot devices and coincidences abound, the dialogue is sometimes painfully stilted and the surprises were, with one exception, telegraphed well ahead of their reveals. So there's room for season 2 to get better or for the whole thing to crash and burn. I'll watch it and see.That's it for now. I also watched Into The Borderlands and the latest Avengers movie, but I'll hold off on reviewing either one until I'm done with them.Which for the Avengers won't be until next May.  Until then...I write books.  They're quite excellent, or so people tell me. You can buy them all. & judge for yourself on Amazon or anywhere books are sold. Choose from paperbacks, ebooks, and even audios.  Click the BOOKS link on this site to get a free peek.Or, you know, not. Your choice. Until next blog.