The Gentlemen (2019)

Wow, Guy Ritchie. I hadn't seen anything he directed since the 2009 Sherlock Holmes. This one looked more along the lines of Snatch and Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, and it has the third highest IMDb rating among his feature films.

Toward the beginning, PI Fletcher (a nearly unrecognizable Hugh Grant) crashes the English mansion of Raymond (Charlie Hunnam), right-hand man to expat marijuana kingpin Mickey Pearson (Matthew McConaughey), to tell almost the whole rest of the story, which Fletcher threatens to sell to a movie studio if Raymond doesn't pay him. The plot involves Pearson trying to sell his stash to billionaire Matthew Berger (Jeremy Strong) before it becomes legal in the UK, making an unlikely alliance with thug trainer "Coach" (Colin Farrell), and accidentally getting on the wrong side of mob boss "Dry Eye" (Henry Golding) and tabloid editor Big Dave (Eddie Marsan).

The Whale (2022)

Even before seeing the A24 logo, I knew that this would not be a fun feature. Having Darren Aronofsky at the helm wouldn't help. But it looked like one of the more intriguing offerings on my list, different enough from my recent viewings, and short enough (117 minutes) that I might not see fit to split it over two nights.

In modern Idaho, Charlie (Brendan Fraser) teaches online college literature courses with his camera off, because he'd rather hide his Class III obesity. In the first scene, he gets a heart attack but refuses to go to the hospital for financial reasons, even tho he can well afford it. The screen indicates each new day of the week, hinting that he really doesn't have long to live. Will he make peace with himself and his few acquaintances in time?

White Fang (2018)

This French-produced animation has more modest ratings than I usually go for, but it seemed my best bet for getting acquainted with another Jack London classic. The 1991 adaptation isn't as popular, and I wasn't likely to make time for the book. If nothing else, the Netflix cover image promised a cute puppy.

The pup lives in the 1890s Alaskan wild with his stray wolf-dog mother, until desperation drives her back to her owner, Grey Beaver (Eddie Spears), from an unspecified tribe. GB dubs the pup White Fang and raises him to lead a sled team. When the tribe's land is set to be sold out from under them because of the Klondike Gold Rush, GB sees little choice but to sell now-adult WF to shady Beauty Smith (Paul Giamatti), who makes a lot of money in dog fighting. Marshal Wheedon Scott (Nick Offerman) puts an end to that, and he and his wife (Rashida Jones), despite their fear, do right by WF. But Beauty and his thuggish comrades (Armando Riesco and Dave Boat) aren't finished with Wheedon or WF....