Review: “The Mandalorian” Season 1, Episode 2 (Disney+ Series)

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

The second episode of the Disney+ original series “The Mandalorian” debuted a few days ago. The episode — dubbed “Chapter 2: The Child” — comes in at a svelte 32 minutes and 55 seconds (that includes the end credits). 

This is one of the often talked about aspects of the series — the fact that the episodes are shorter than most dramas on television today. 

I mentioned this in my review of the first episode. The fact is that taking a “less is more” approach might not be a bad idea (at least for the first season). 

BABY YODA IS THE BEST!

“The Child” is a fun little episode. When the film rolls and we see the “Mando” in the early moments of Chapter 2, he and “Baby Yoda” (yes, we all know it isn’t actually Yoda since that character dies in “Star Wars: Return of the Jedi” — and this show takes place roughly 25 years after “Jedi”) are working their way across the desert planet toward the Razor Crest. 

They run into three Trandoshans — the type of creature Bossk the bounty hunter is in “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.” Do any of you who grew up with “Star Wars” (in the 70s and 80s) remember sending off Kenner “proofs of purchase” to get the Bossk figure for free?? I do!

“I CAN’T ABIDE THOSE JAWAS. DISGUSTING CREATURES.” — C3P0

When the Mandalorian and “Baby Yoda” arrive at the ship, it is in the process of being stripped by Jawas. 

The Jawas rank as my favorite of the various “Star Wars” creatures (sorry Ewoks!). 

For my second grade Halloween costume, my mom and dad made me a Jawa cloak out of a rough, brown burlap, stitched in a sheer black material inside the hood to cover my face, and used a pair of Zany Zappers (minus the lens) to give me “glowing eyes.”

For those who weren’t around in that era, Zany Zappers were sunglasses with red lightbulbs behind the lenses. They were powered by a 9-volt batter (connected via cord) that you could run down your shirt, through your sleeve, and activate via push button. 

Anyhow, the Mandalorian takes out of couple of a Jawa scavengers with his forked rifle, but the rest of the crew makes a getaway in their Sandcrawler. 

The Mando pursues in a scene that feels like it owes a life debt to the tank scene in “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.” 

FAIR TRADE AGREEMENT

Suffice it to say, the pesky Jawas prove to be a fairly cunning foe, and the Mandalorian walks away empty-handed. The parts are gone. That means the Mando and his asset are essentially stranded on the desert planet. 

The Mandalorian seeks the help of Kuiil (who proved a useful ally in Chapter 1). The resourceful Ugnaught suggests a trade to help the Mando get the stripped ship parts and supplies back from the Jawas. 

“The Jawas steal,” says Kuiil, “they don’t destroy.” 

The Jawas ask for the Beskar armor and “Baby Yoda” during the barter, but the Mando is unwilling to part with his armor or the adorable creature. 

The Jawas (in Jawaese) say, “We will require The Egg. Bring us The Egg.”

They all ride in the Sandcrawler to a cave in the desert. The cave is the source of a Mudhorn egg — guarded by a very protective Mudhorn (a furry rhinoceros-like creature).

The Mando has to do battle with the Mudhorn to secure the egg. This leads to a messy fight outside the cave. We see “Baby Yoda” (who is floating alongside in his carriage) use force-wielding skills to help save the Mandalorian from the charging beast. 

With the egg secured, the Mando and “Baby Yoda” return to the impatient Jawas (who summarily cut open the egg and start consuming the yellow yolk). Ewww.

Our protagonist gets his parts back, and Kuiil helps him put the Razor Crest back together. 

SATURDAY SERIALS

Anyone who has ever read the history of “Star Wars: A New Hope” know that creator George Lucas was attempting to channel the spirit of the “Saturday serials” he grew up with, like “Flash Gordon.” 

So far, Jon Favreau’s “The Mandalorian” seems to be operating in that spirit. The second episode has little in the way of dialogue between characters, but the tone and feel are reminiscent of those short episodic serials that were prolific in bygone Hollywood era. 

Speaking of Favreau, he Tweeted this concept art of “Baby Yoda” this week:

Take my money, please. Where are the toys? The plushies? The Funko Pops?

I’m fascinated by “The Mandalorian” thus far — looking forward to seeing where Disney+ takes the story. 

While the first two episodes might not be the sort of meaty dramas viewers are used to from the likes of Netflix and Amazon Prime, there is something inherently satisfying about “The Mandalorian.”

MUSICAL SCORE

I also want to make mention of the show’s score by composer Ludwig Göransson. While it might not have all the atmospheric glory of a John Williams “Star Wars” soundtrack, it does a solid job setting the tone for the show. 

There is a moment in Chapter 2 (the sunrise scene at the 5:22 mark) where the score feels particularly epic in scope as the music swells. 

Stay tuned for my review of “The Mandalorian” Season 1, Episode 3!

Previous post: Movie Review: “Noelle” (Disney+ Original)

Movie Review: “Noelle” (Disney+ Original)

“Oh my garland! This is amazing.”

Noelle Kringle — “Noelle”

I love Christmas movies. 

Many of my favorites tend to be sugary and sentimental. Some are just silly fun. 

I’ve reviewed a number of Christmas movies on this blog. These days, it seems like most of the holiday fare released is either on cable/satellite channels like Hallmark or Lifetime, or on streaming giants like Netflix. 

Last November I reviewed the Netflix original “The Christmas Chronicles” (starring Kurt Russell) and wrote of the movie that it “will never be mistaken for high art, but is likable enough that your family should have a good time with it this holiday season.”

Disney+ has entered the streaming wars, and one of their first original offerings on the service is the Christmas movie “Noelle” starring Anna Kendrick and Bill Hader (as Santa’s kids Noelle and Nick Kringle). 

When the patriarch of the Kringle clan decides its time to think about the future — and time for his son Nick to start his Santa training — things don’t go smoothly.

Young Nick lacks the confidence to be Santa Claus — and the Santa hat he is presented with on Christmas Eve is too big. This concerns Nick, but his father assures, “it will fit you when you fit it.” 

His precocious sister Noelle longs to be more than a player on the sidelines. Young Noelle wants to be like her father. “I would like to do what you do,” she says to her father (not being Santa, per se, but having a greater hand in the Christmas gift process). 

Noelle’s father suggests her ability to make everyone jolly with her cards, Christmas cheer, and support of her brother is a noble task unto itself.

The narrative moves forward to Noelle and Nick as adults. Their father has died, and it is Nick’s time to become the 23rd Kringle to wear the red hat. 

He is uncomfortable flying a sleigh and dealing with all manner of duties related to being Santa Claus. The big question is whether he’ll be ready for Christmas. 

Noelle dutifully makes intricate pop-up cards and spreads Christmas cheer. She likes to eat waffles and has a small, white reindeer named “Snow Cone.” 

Noelle’s mother (Julie Hagerty) insists her daughter do her job and give her “brother some Christmas spirit” — to avoid a Christmas disaster. 

As a result, Noelle does a yeoman’s job trying to tutor her hopeless brother on the intricacies of Christmas gift giving (we learn, among other things, that what all kids want for Christmas is an iPad).  

One day — when brother and sister are enjoying mugs of “double hot chocolate” at the Polar Express Cafe — Nick says, “sometimes I dream about getting out and finding someplace warm, where I can stretch and relax and just breathe, you know?”

Noelle says he should, and suggests, “you can’t be Santa if you’re having a nervous breakdown.” 

So, she encourages him to look for a destination in an issue of “Travel & Leisure” and get away for the weekend — Noelle later discovers it is Phoenix, AZ.

The problem is that he decides he doesn’t want to leave Phoenix (where he becomes a yoga instructor) and Noelle (who has become persona non grata at the North Pole) heads to the desert to fetch him home — with her elf nanny Polly (Shirley MacLaine) in tow. 

In the meantime, tech cousin Gabe (Billy Eichner) is put in place as Santa Claus. 

Interesting setup, right?

The premise is sort of like a cross between Will Ferrell’s “Elf” and the brilliant Aardman Animation movie “Arthur Christmas.” 

Unfortunately, the rest of the story is somewhat uneven. 

Along the way Noelle and Polly strike a business deal with the manager (Diana Maria Riva) at the mall where their sleigh crash lands. They also become friends with a private eye (Kingsley Ben-Adir) and his son (Maceo Smedley), who they “hire” to find Nick. 

Part of me wonders if the “fish out of water” aspects of the story — where Noelle is searching around Phoenix for her brother — would have worked better in a more overwhelming setting — like, say, New York City?

It’s hard to say for sure (and a more urban setting wouldn’t have fit the notion of a “relaxing” getaway for Nick). 

Anna Kendrick and Bill Hader are both likable in the film, and do the best they can with the material given. “Noelle” just has trouble mixing the ingredients together to make a frothy holiday concoction. 

Don’t get me wrong, there are certain charming moments in the film — a particular scene where Noelle visits a young deaf girl is a prime example.

I honestly think they could have snipped and tucked a few things in the last 20 minutes to give the film a stronger ending. I won’t go into spoilers here, but the filmmakers probably could have ended the film at the 1 hour and 22 minute mark and achieved better results.

The message of the film emphasized the notion that anyone — with the right spirit in his/her heart — can be Santa Claus. That was a good message to build the film around. To amplify that message, sometimes a “less is more” approach is a more effective one to take. 

While “Noelle” is a cute diversion for the holidays, it doesn’t quite achieve the quality that contemporary classics like “Elf” and “The Santa Clause” enjoy in the pop culture zeitgeist. 

That said, it’s not often these days that studios release G-rated “live action” movies. 

Check out “Noelle” on Disney+ and let me know what you think! 

>> If you enjoyed my review of “Noell,” follow me on X/Twitter — @TheJonCrunch 

Previous post: Review “The Mandalorian” Season 1, Episode 1 (Disney+ Series)

Review: “The Mandalorian” Season 1, Episode 1 (Disney+ Series)

MASSIVE SPOILERS AHEAD!! (You’ve been warned...)

Disney (owner of everything we know and love) has finally unveiled Disney+ — the Mouse’s entry in the streaming wars.

The Disney+ debut finally means eager “Star Wars” fans get to see the first episode of the much ballyhooed series “The Mandalorian.” This is the first “live action” TV series in the “Star Wars” universe. 

The studio is only releasing one episode at a time. The first episode — simply titled “Chapter 1” — was included with the service on launch day (Nov. 12, 2019). The second episode is set to drop on Nov. 15, 2019. 

I’ll talk about some of the technical glitches I encountered when we signed up for the service in an upcoming post (giving my impressions of the Disney+ platform). Suffice it to say, everything is working splendidly now, and the first program I viewed was “The Mandalorian.”

“Chapter 1” runs ~40 minutes. That is a relatively short runtime for the first episode of a streaming series. 

Part of me wonders if Disney eventually plans to air “Chapter 1” in an hour-long prime time slot (with commercials) on ABC to promote the series and the Disney+ service (somewhat similar to what CBS did with the first two episodes of the streaming series “Star Trek: Discovery”). 

I watched the first episode three times on my Apple TV 4K to be fully versed to write this blog post. 

I want to commend Disney+ for providing new shows/movies in 4K HDR to all subscribers — at an affordable price. Not only that, “Star Wars” aficionados will be pleased to note that “The Phantom Menace,” “Attack of the Clones,” “Revenge of the Sith,” “A New Hope,” “The Empire Strikes Back,” “Return of the Jedi,” “The Force Awakens,” and “Rogue One” are available in 4K for the first time anywhere (“Solo” and “The Last Jedi” will be included on the service when the current distribution deal with Netflix expires). 

LET'S GET THIS THING STARTED

“Chapter 1” starts off with the Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) walking into a bar on the hunt for a bounty. The “Mando’s” identity isn’t revealed in the first episode. 

It has been suggested that the show’s creator (Jon Favreau) was going for a vibe similar to Clint Eastwood in the old Sergio Leone “spaghetti westerns.” You can see that throughout the first episode. 

GALACTIC TOILETS AND THE “STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL” NOW CANONIZED!

The Mandolorian’s target is a Mythrol (a humanoid character whose face looks like a blue fish) played by Horatio Sanz. 

I kind of found this character a tad bit “off-putting.” The Mythrol seemed like he’d be more at home in 1990s era “Star Trek.” Or, perhaps more apropos, an episode of the animated series “Star Wars: Rebels” (read my review of “Star Wars: Rebels”).   

However, his presence in the show allowed fans to catch their first glimpse of a “vac tube” (what toilets are called in a galaxy far, far away) and there was also a reference to “Life Day” (the holiday Chewbacca and his family celebrated in 1978’s “Star Wars Holiday Special,” which — ironically, is not available for viewing on Disney+).

The Mandalorian tools around the galaxy in a vintage ship called the Razor Crest equipped with its own carbon freezing chamber — illustrating what a trendsetter Boba Fett was in “Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strkes Back.” 

The first half of the first episode was somewhat shaky. That said, it imbued the retro spirit that “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” (read my review) had when it was released in 2016. Quite honestly, both “The Mandalorian” and “Rogue One” serve as terrific bookends to the original trilogy.

When the Mandalorian delivers the Mythrol (along with other assets frozen in carbonite) to bounty hunter guild leader Greef Karga (an ageless Carl Weathers), he is given a bounty that goes against the norm — a “face-to-face, direct commission.”

This is kind of a fun scene as viewers get to see different forms of galactic currency. We get to see what an Imperial Credit looks like, and get to see what Calamari Flan looks like, which I can only assume is the currency of Admiral Akbar’s home world. (What is flan? Hint: It’s not the dessert you’re thinking of…) 

The Mandalorian accepts the chit, and visits the client (Werner Herzog) — a mysterious man who is guarded by four Stormtroopers. While there, he meets a man referred to as “Dr. Pershing” (Omid Abtahi) and receives an initial payment in the form of Beskar (an alloy used in Mandalorian armor) with the promise of more when the job is complete.

Details are scant on the target, but it is mentioned that the target is 50 years old. 

The Mandalorian takes the payment and tracking fob with him, and heads down to some sort of underground conclave filled with other Mandalorians. 

On the way we see him walk by a Kowakian monkey-lizard roasting on a spit, while another one watches from a cage. Made me wonder if either one was Salacious Crumb (Jabba the Hutt’s sidekick in “Star Wars: Episode VI — Return of the Jedi”). 

ORIGINS AND MYTHOLOGY

The Mandalorian visits an armorer who melts the Beskar brick down, crafting the molten metal into an armor plate designed to go on our protagonist’s shoulder (called a Beskar Pauldron). During this scene we get to see some brief flashbacks of our protagonist as a boy. 

It’s kind of nice to see the writers take a deep dive into some of the Mandalorian lore. It is suggested that the Beskar can help “foundlings” on the planet Mandalore (we see a series of flashbacks that tend to suggest the Mandalorian might have been a foundling growing up — but we’re not quite sure what that means). 

It is a bold move to have a show revolve around a character who rarely (if ever) removes his mask — a definite challenge as it regards character development. 

Yet there was something oddly compelling about the protagonist as he moved through the early stages of the first episode. To be honest, the Mandalorian story lines in “Star Wars Rebels” were among the most compelling in that series (and Sabine Wren was one of my favorite characters). 

BLURRGS AND UGNAUGHTS

With payment and tracker in hand, the Mandalorian sets out for a desert planet (none of the planet names are identified in the first episode) that looks like it could have been set in the South Dakota Badlands. 

He lands the Razor Crest in a remote area, and is soon attacked by a pair of Blurrgs (bulbous lizard creatures). 

An owly Ugnaught farmer named Kuiil (Nick Nolte) rescues our hero. He decides to help the Mandalorian in return for one of the tranquilized Blurrgs (the creatures serve as de facto horses in this space western). 

Kuiil is confident the Mandalorian can do away with the miscreant mercenaries in the area. The Ugnaught also has a habit of ending any sort of discussion with the phrase “I have spoken” (which felt to me like a nod to the Biblical phrase “It is written”).  

(Hats off to the ILM creature gurus for crafting an Ugnaught that is the spitting image of Nick Nolte). 

GUNFIGHT AT THE O.K. CORRAL

Our hero travels to a frontier town of sorts that is being patrolled by Nikto guards (a race featured at Jabba’s Palace in “Star Wars: Episode VI — Return of the Jedi”). 

The Mandalorian spies an IG droid (said to be a “bounty droid”) entering the town. 

The droid’s designation is IG-11 — and I was so happy to get to see an IG droid in action for the first time. I had the Kenner IG-88 action figure when I was a kid (that came complete with a blaster *and* a rifle), but we only had a brief glimpse of the character in “Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back.”

We finally see a live-action version of what these droids are capable of thanks to “The Mandalorian.” 

IG-11 walks into town, spouts off some mumbo-jumbo about “Subparagraph 16 of the Bondsman Guild protocol waiver...” (as he searches for the same asset the Mandalorian is after). 

When the guards don’t comply — and one draws a blaster — IG-11 starts dispatching the assembled Nikto left and right as he spins and twists, firing both his pistol and a rifle. 

The Mandalorian heads down the hill to confront IG-11, and has to take the brunt of a blaster shot as a result. 

But the two agree to work together (since they’re both in the Guild) and split the reward.

What ensues is one of the more entertaining shootouts I’ve seen in the “Star Wars” universe. 

Eventually, the two bounty hunters dispatch with the gunmen and use the tracking fob to locate the asset. 

The fob leads them to a round container that is holding what looks like a baby (remember, the asset is 50 years old) of the same species as Yoda (whose species hasn’t been identified in the “Star Wars” universe). 

The IG droid says it is under orders to kill the asset. As IG-11 levels a blaster at the creature, the Mandalorian shoots the droid. 

The episode ends with the asset reaching out its three-fingered hand toward our protagonist. 

FINAL THOUGHTS

Overall, I enjoyed the first episode of “The Mandalorian.” 

The show was created by Jon Favreau, and the writers did a good job setting things up for future episodes. 

You have to believe that the diminutive “Yoda-like” creature will figure into the story arc during the rest of the first season (which will run eight episodes). The question is whether there is some sort of Force-wielding significance to the asset. 

I’ll be interested to see if future episodes run ~40 minutes like “Chapter 1.” 

It is hard to tell at this point if that would be a good thing or not. I was left wanting more after watching the first episode of “The Mandalorian.” 

The current scuttlebutt is that Disney might be eyeing a feature film for “The Mandalorian” in the future. John Campea was talking about this on his show today: 

It’s hard to say what the future holds at this point, but Disney+ signed up 10 million subscribers on launch day. They are reportedly at work on the second season. 

If the show proves popular, you can bet Disney will (blue) milk the property for all it’s worth...

Stayed tuned for my review of “The Mandalorian” Season 1, Episode 2!

Previous post: Movie Review: “Terminator: Dark Fate is Fairly Terrible”

Movie Review: “Terminator: Dark Fate” is Fairly Terrible

I tried to like it. I really did. 

“Terminator: Dark Fate” has been promoted as being something of a “direct sequel” to “Terminator 2: Judgment Day.”

I guess it is. 

Movies that involve time travel as their impetus for being tend to become a convoluted mess after a few films. 

Truth be told, I stopped watching “Terminator” films after “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.” That wasn’t an intentional choice (I actually like the third film pretty well). 

Nothing looked particularly compelling about “Terminator Salvation” and “Terminator Genisys,” but I had planned to see them. 

The plot of “Terminator: Dark Fate” is set 25 years after the events in “Terminator 2.” 

In this movie an evil “Rev-9” Terminator (aren’t they all evil?) is sent back in time to eliminate a young woman named Dani Ramos (Natalia Reyes). 

Her fate is tied to future events (the plot of every “Terminator” movie) and an “augmented soldier” (think a “The Six Million Dollar Woman”-type character played by Mackenzie Davis) has to travel back in time to save her. 

There you have it. That’s the plot in a nutshell. 

I mean, I guess I can go into more details. 

Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) shows up during a key action sequence in a Toyota Land Cruiser. That should have been a plot point that brought “gravitas” to the film, but the role fell flat.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is back as the T-800 Terminator unit that killed John Connor. He lives a quiet life, goes by the name “Carl,” has a family, and installs carpet and drapes for a living (for real... I’m not making that up). 

Despite the ridiculousness of Schwarzenegger’s character in the film, the well-worn Austrian actor does a pretty decent job with the material (and delivers a few dead-pan remarks that made me laugh). 

But the movie is dull. 

For me, the first “Terminator” movie in 1984 was a horror/sci-fi delight. It is essentially a B-movie that combines a John Carpenter-esque aesthetic with some terrific thrills and chills. 

James Cameron’s visionary film is one of the best the 1980s had to offer. 

While I liked 1991’s “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” I thought it was bloated — and also thought Schwarzenegger’s “kinder and gentler” Terminator didn’t ring true to the style of the first film. 

(My friend Jason and I saw "T2" at a midnight showing in 1991, and both wished it had better captured the spirit of the original). 

The liquid-metal T-1000 effects in “Terminator 2” were truly groundbreaking. I honestly think those effects (produced by ILM) are largely responsible for the mega-box-office success that film enjoyed. 

Such effects are routine today. 

Every iteration of a Terminator unit is inevitably more indestructible — and defies the laws of physics to the point of silliness. 

“Terminator: Dark Fate” is — for all intents and purposes — a remake of “Terminator 2: Judgment Day”... and not a very good one at that. 

No matter how valiantly our heroes fight to save the future, it always seems to become a dystopian mess. So why do they keep trying?  

With Schwarzenegger and Hamilton back (in a story developed by James Cameron), I was hoping they would deliver something truly special. 

I wish I had more complimentary things to say about “Terminator: Dark Fate.” 

Unfortunately, I don’t. 

It might be time for all those involved to say “hasta la vista, baby” to this franchise.

Previous post: “Review: Netflix’s ‘Inside Bill’s Brain: Decoding Bill Gates’”

Review: Netflix’s “Inside Bill’s Brain: Decoding Bill Gates”

I tend to enjoy documentary content quite a bit. 

My love of the genre started a little over a decade ago when I saw the graphic-design doc “Helvetica” by Gary Hustwit. 

Beyond that, I enjoy reading “business profile” books. For example, I’ve read nearly everything written about Apple co-founder Steve Jobs — along with numerous books on the tech industry. 

When I saw that Netflix had added three-part docuseries “Inside Bill’s Brain: Decoding Bill Gates,” I had to check it out. 

As ensconced in the cultural zeitgeist as Microsoft co-founder and former CEO Bill Gates is, I feel like I don’t know much about the tech icon. 

Quite honestly, my impressions of Gates are built on the voluminous content I’ve consumed about Apple Computer, along with Anthony Michael Hall’s portrayal of Gates in the 1999 movie “Pirates of Silicon Valley." 

Each of the three parts of “Inside Bill’s Brain: Decoding Bill Gates” runs just under an hour apiece. The series works methodically to delve into the biological operating system that powers one of the world’s most successful technocrats. 

It also spends considerable time on the work of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Each part weaves elements from Gates’s past with current work he is doing to solve global issues. 

“Part 1” of the series focuses on Gates’s work to provide clean drinking water to impoverished regions around the world (you’ll learn some interesting tidbits about toilets that can self-clean waste). “Part 2” focuses on the foundation’s work to eradicate a lingering polio threat in Third World nations. “Part 3” focuses on the hefty task of reinventing nuclear power (via his venture TerraPower) as a clean solution to the world’s energy problems. 

Over the years I’ve typically assumed the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation was primarily consumed with raising and distributing money for its pet projects. While that might occupy much of the foundation’s time, the documentary shows Gates nurturing technology he hopes can solve the problems presented. 

Gates says, “It’s not my goal to be inspiring.” Rather, he suggests the world’s limited resources spur him towards “optimization.” 

He is a technophile who believes technology will save everything. 

He is described as having “a giant Excel spreadsheet in his head and everything has a spot.”

One of the more enjoyable aspects of “Inside Bill’s Brain: Decoding Bill Gates” is the fact that it doesn’t shy away from presenting all the “wonkier” details of his thought process. 

More interesting is the biographic information about Gates strewn throughout the documentary’s three episodes. I’ll be honest, I wanted to see more of this content. 

We learn about Gates as an anti-social youngster who preferred to be holed up in his room reading books than out in the world (to this day he carries a tote full of books... and apparently reads 100 pages per hour). 

His mother pushed him out of the house to try things. We see the influence that family trips to “Camp Cheerio” had in cultivating his competitive nature. We also get insight into Gates’s early friendship with Paul Allen (co-founder of Microsoft) at the private school he attended after sixth grade. 

(The docuseries also talks about some of the tension that festered between Allen and Gates over Walter Isaacson’s book “The Innovators.”)

From a young age, Gates wanted to understand what made “super successful” people tick. 

“Inside Bill’s Brain: Decoding Bill Gates” also touches on Gates’s friendship with Omaha billionaire investor Warren Buffett — a key friendship formed as an adult. Gates’s mother suggested he meet Buffet. 

Despite his initial reluctance, the two have become fast friends and play bridge together. 

Buffett is leaving half his fortune to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. You’ll often see Gates visiting some of Buffett’s favorite Omaha haunts during the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting. 

The docuseries also features the relationship between Bill and his wife Melinda (although it doesn’t delve into it nearly as much as I had hoped). 

There is an interesting “motif” presented in “Inside Bill’s Brain: Decoding Bill Gates” involving the significance of the novel “The Great Gatsby” during the early stages of their courtship.

The series is directed and narrated by Davis Guggenheim. Guggenheim is best known for advocacy/documentary films “An Inconvenient Truth” and “Waiting for ‘Superman.’”

As a result, “Inside Bill’s Brain: Decoding Bill Gates” might pay a bit too much attention to the advocacy aspects of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. 

While the charitable work is a key part of Gates’s current zeal, I felt like certain aspects of “Gates the businessman” were given short shrift.

(The feud with Apple over the Windows GUI is basically skipped over in the series). 

“Gates Notes” (the blog of Bill Gates) features a post titled “From the cutting room floor” that includes three stories cut from the docuseries (available exclusively to “Gates Notes Insider” subscribers). 

As I am writing this post, I have Microsoft’s live Surface product reveal event streaming in the background. The company announced it is manufacturing a new smartphone built on Google’s Android operating system (a move that seems antithetical for a company whose fortunes are built on its desktop operating system). 

I’ve always been an Apple fanboy. 

My love of Apple’s products started when I took a summer school class after third grade (in 1982) that had us programming AppleSoft BASIC on Apple II computers to draw pictures line-by-line and dot-by-dot. 

The only time I’ve used MS-DOS or Windows was during my time as a UNO student in the 1990s. We had a News Writing & Reporting class that used archaic DOS terminals with amber monitors. There was also a Publication Design & Graphics course that taught Aldus PageMaker on Windows 3.1. 

Despite my lean experience with Windows, the Microsoft Office software has been an important part of the marketing communications business Bridget and I started in 1996. 

It has been interesting to watch Microsoft embrace the symbiosis of software and hardware in its offerings the past decade. Those moves — along with the emphasis on search and cloud services — has shifted the company from mere software manufacturer to something closer to Apple in terms form and function. 

I would’ve loved to hear more of Gates’s thoughts on the current direction of Microsoft in “Inside Bill’s Brain: Decoding Bill Gates” — including his insight into some of the missteps the company made in the early 2000s. 

Be that as it may, “Inside Bill’s Brain: Decoding Bill Gates” offers moments of clarity as it examines one of this generation’s iconic business figures. 

Some business tycoons have head-scratching second acts — Gates has stayed busy and taken full advantage of the latter years in his life. 

I hope Netflix continues producing “deep dive” content focusing on technology and business leaders. It’s content I’d readily consume...

Previous post: “Movie Review: ‘Downton Abbey’”