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Writer/Director Ninja Thyberg nails the film's opening as the film's lead character, Bella Cherry, portrayed by Sofia Kappel, is questioned at immigration as to whether she is in the United States for work or pleasure and she demurely coos, "Pleasure," with a devil-may-care hint of what's to come.

Unfortunately, Bella has trouble finding a job and eventually shows up to do an adult film audition. She's nineteen years old, attractive, with beautiful blonde hair, and is looking for some good times.

What transpires is the making of an adult film scene. The camera operator is crude and vulgar as he draws the silent ire of Bella. The male character continues the domineering behavior and Bella is trying her best to perform yet is quite awkward. She's paid $900 for the day's work.

From this first sex scene, Bella begins navigating the world of adult film. As the narrative bends into very raw and brutal sex scenes, Bella comes to the realization the adult film industry is about business and comes to the realization that the adult film "stars" are not as whole and authentic as the B-movie actresses that Bella broke in with.

I wasn't expecting Thyberg's hardcore approach to illuminating an industry often not thought very highly of and not given much attention. "Pleasure" is highly revealing and highly recommended.

Judas and the Black Messiah is a richly told story of the leadership, revolutionary activism, and eventual assassination of Black Panther Fred Hampton, and powerful addition to the social revolution films of the 1960s and early 1970s. Seeing history brought to life in a viscerally real and emphatic manner, made the work very compelling to me.

Fred Hampton was killed at the age of 21 on December 4th, 1969. The aggrieved parties would wait well over a decade for justice with a civil suit settlement of $1.85 million in 1982 after an initial coroner's jury inquest in January of 1970 found Fred Hampton's death justifiable homicide.

The writing pulls heavily from historical texts with Black Panther phrases such as "War is politics with blood. Politics is war without blood." King also manages to pose questions about how to make progress as his characters address the concepts of reform and revolution. While the film is set in 1968-69, these issues are still prevalent today. On HBO Max. Do yourself a favor and check it out. You'll be glad you did.

One for the Road is full of nostalgia as multiple genres come together including romance, buddy film, as well as sex-positive melodrama. The film had a wonderful soundtrack with some Cat Stevens music along with several mainstream hits, a strong production design, and a lovely mise-en-scene with exquisite cinematography and a touch of colorization. One For the Road follows a young Thai man, who is dying from cancer and has decided to make his final amends by delivering a parting gift to those closest to him on the earthly plane.

One For The Road is very visual, very visceral, and one I was sad to see it end after 136 minutes. But end it did and as the credits began to roll, there it was - a title revealing "Produced by Wong Kar Wai" - "... a filmmaker who specializes in making the evanescent tangible, in capturing fleeting emotions in a style that is always poetic, often ravishing and, despite his films' surface-level dreaminess, unerringly precise." I'm a huge fan of Mr. Wong's work so all I could do in that moment was sit and smile. What a wonderful gift. (Wong and Director Baz Poonpiriya worked together on One For The Road for three years.)

Director Baz Poonpiriya, a strong storyteller who has come into his own, had previously helmed Bad Genius the 2017 Thai box-office smashing and the record-breaking winner of twelve categories at the 27th Suphannahong National Film Awards (the Thai Oscars), before embarking on One For The Road with Wong. If you're a fan of Wong, this is a film you don't want to miss. And, if you're a fan of Thai film (Apichatpong Weerasethakul's 2010 Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives turned me on to Thai film), it's a must-see! Lastly, if you simply enjoy exquisitely told films, I highly recommend you see Baz Poonpiriya's One For The Road!