Two Winners for Your Entertainment Pleasure

 "She Said"

"She Said" was a movie from last year, 2022, that was sadly ignored during the Awards Season.  Directed by Maria Schrader, it tells the story of New York Times reporters Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor, played by Carrie Mulligan and Zoe Kazan, who investigated the story and did the reporting on the sexual abuses perpetuated by Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.  A story that led to Weinstein's imprisonment, and which was largely responsible for the sparking of the #MeToo movement.

Carrie Mulligan is a terrific actress.  She looks different in every movie she does, it seems (think 2020's "Promising Young Woman"), and she is always good.

In addition to this being a good story, it is also a great "newspaper movie" in the tradition of "All The President's Men" and "Spotlight".  Maybe not quite on the level of those two, but not far below them either.  Makes you realize just how important newspapers are in our world.

Three Stars from The Grandstander.

"Righteous Prey" by John Sandford

Somehow I missed it when Sandford's thirty-second Lucas Davenport novel was published last Fall, but I finally caught up with it, and it was a great read.  I am happy to say this because the last couple of Davenport stories have been a bit disappointing to me.  Not so this one.

The story involves a group of highly organized, highly secret, and very wealthy folks who call themselves The Five are behind a string of serial killings that are happening all across the United States.  One of these murders takes place in Minnesota, and that brings about the involvement of Federal Marshall Lucas Davenport and his old sidekick from the Minnesota   Bureau of Criminal Investigation, Virgil Flowers.   The two of them working in concert with the FBI and local law enforcement agencies cover ground from Minnesota to San Diego to San Francisco and, finally, to Long Island in tracking down The Five and their organizer/leader,  Vivian Zhao.

It's a can't-put-it-down story.  I knocked it off in about three sittings.  It makes me look forward to the next one, due out later this year.  Among other reasons, I can't wait for it is to see what the next development will be in a seemingly new career for Virgil Flowers.

Four Stars from The Grandstander.