Pretty good recap. I did watch the show. They dropped any over arching big plot story line in favor of cute and action with Mando and Grogu. It was OK if you are a fan of the series, but I’m glad I didn’t pay to see it in the theater.
I did very much enjoy the 1st season. Seasons 2 and 3 not as much.
I also liked this one a lot. It felt really real (can I use the same adjective and noun?). It made sense that it had the same director as United 93.
United 93 is on the long list of movies I could never watch again
Million Dollar Baby is my number one movie that I could not watch again and was also excellent (plenty of bad ones that I can’t watch again obviously). I don’t think I could watch Schindler’s List again either.
Google also tells me that Requiem for a Dream and Grave of the Fireflies are excellent movies that people have said they never want to see again (I haven’t seen either).
I can confirm Requiem for a Dream being a great movie I will definitely never see again.
For me, it is The Hurt Locker.
The Whisper Man (2025, Netflix). Deniro and adam scott in a spooky hunt for a serial killer show.
Also watched the Naudet brothers 9/11 documentary where they were following an NYFD probationary fireman. It was impressive. Hadn’t seen it yet. It’s on YouTube
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011 - American)
Pretty good. The ending wasn’t as good as the Book or Swedish film, but probably less expensive. Swedish film is part of the trilogy of Swedish films based on the books.
Might have to search out the Swedish films and watch them again.
EDIT: looks like the first one is on Apple and Prime.
Not on Apple, but on Prime. So, watched the Swedish “The Girl Who Played With Fire” on Sunday and “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest” last night. (There are no American/English ones.)
Practical Magic 2 at the theater. Much better than the first one. It even had a plot. According to my wife, it really followed the book pretty well. They wasted Maisie Williams though, very small part as one of the younger sisters.
Just finished this movie tonight for the first time. It was gripping even though, of course, you know how it will end. Very sad.
Color Me Obsessed: A Film About the Replacements (its from like 2011?)
very little if any new ground for me. best graphic they repeated was showing for each album, how many it old that year and upon re-issue. then what the top selling album of that year sold.
it was like 100K for them (combining initial release and re-issue) and whatever top album of that year was like 8M. on repeat.
they were self destructive both individually and collectively.
Mary and Max (2009) A very unusual claymation movie of two lonely outcasts - a young girl with body image issues in Australia and an obese man with Asperger’s in NYC - who become pen pals. There’s a lot of humor and sadness. And mental illness, alcoholism, suicide, … It’s hard to describe without making it sound like a complete downer but it’s really well done and balanced.
The Parking Lot Movie (2010) Two big thumbs up. It’s a documentary about the parking lot attendants working at a small lot in Charlottesville across from the UVA campus. The workers are artistic and well-educated. The movie is pretty funny, upbeat, and a fairly short watch.
Iron Maiden: Burning Ambition (Airplane). Cool documentary. I didn’t realize how popular they were.
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
Pretty much where ST:TNG S1E12 comes from.
One of the most famous uses of a MacGuffin.
Toy Story 5 (Disney) Didn’t fully grab me to begin, but gradually grew on me. First of all the animation was amazing, particularly the nature and animals. 2nd, the topic is important, not necessarily about toys, but screen time and chat features. Since so little was the adult discussion, these things weren’t a in depth as the could have been. Even, an early scene where a child complains the neighbor kids don’t want to be her friends - she actually never asked, which is so real. My grandkids are very limited in their screen time and never in a restaurant or house of worship. Kids do outgrow toys and that is acknowledged, and they realize Electronics aren’t all evil. But a good start for a discussion. Kids aren’t just growing up too fast, they are losing communication and social skills. Ok, I took this off topic from a movie review. I feel the film did as much as they reasonably could on the topic
Beyond the Border: Latino Representation in Hollywood (TCM) Good documentary. TCM has done similar for Black and Asian in Hollywood. Nothing too earth shattering, and I feel unfair to some like JLo, without talking about actors like Martin Sheen.
Charles Grodin: Rebel with a Cause (TCM) Another TCM Bio. There was a lot I didn’t know, particularly his activism. Also, what it took him to get fame.
Better topic than the movie.
Toy Story franchise touched on this with their Christmas special, where the one kid is too immersed in his video games to play with the separate room full of toys. And the evil toy likes it that way so he can take over the tri-state area.
The Substance (Netflix)
Pretty good. Props for nakedidity.
Props for Demi having more courage than most in the Biz showing her bod and face close-ups.
Thought it didn’t have to get weird at the end. Slightly more realistic ending would have sufficed.
Not sure why the clone didn’t look like a young Demi, but instead a completely different person with a completely different personality.
The Green Book (HBOMax)
A rewatch. Simplistic, yet Ali and Aragorn make it work.