What movies have you been watching?

[charis]

Last night, DW and I watched "It's a Wonderful Life" which at one point was an annual tradition for us.  As I watched it last night, it certainly was enjoyable and nostalgic, but I was left with a different feeling today than in the past.

I was struck by the fact that George is abusive to his friends and family throughout almost the whole movie.  There are certainly misogynistic and racial undertones throughout. He and his uncle don't run their business well, and if it weren't for his wife - he would have been a train wreck - which is partially the point of the movie.   His wife offers up the family money to save his business, she remodels the home and takes care of the kids during George's meltdown, and she rally's the town to help save him in the end. 

Maybe a better title would be "It's a wonderful wife"?

I recently watched with my kids for the first time since I was a kid.  It was much less heartwarming than I remember (or was perhaps led to believe).  The child abuse scene in the pharmacy was traumatic for me as a child, so I remembered to warn my kids.  But there's a significant amount of alcoholism/ alcohol abuse throughout.  And I agree, George is an obtuse jerk.  The way he runs the bank, or whatever it's called, is ultimately harmful to himself and his customers.

[Michael in ABQ]

I watched Dune Part 1 the other day. It was ok. I read the book years ago so I remember the broad outlines of the story but that was about it. It's a little slow at times but also punctuated with a fair amount of action. I'm a sucker for decent sci-fi movies since so many are just terrible.

[Fresh Bread]

Nobody (on Netflix) is John Wick but it's a suburban dad with a family. Requires substantial suspension of belief, but entertaining. Stars Bob Odenkirk of Better Call Saul. Might have been mentioned here before.

The only thing that grated is that he has zero chemistry with his family, they are just filler until the action starts, but maybe that makes sense for his character.

[wenchsenior]

I really disliked the original Top Gun (despite being supposedly right in the correct age wheelhouse to love it when it came out), but found the new sequel pleasantly entertaining. Very old-school, which I sometimes really miss.

All the plane footage made me think fondly of my grad school days when I would have to suspend field work out on the Air Force Base airstrip field where I periodically was collecting data, to crouch down next to my vehicle with my arms over my ears, while the F16s roared down the runway right next to me to take off. Jesus those things were loud...the sound waves could practically knock you off your feet.

Nowadays, those are relics, much like the Tomcat in the movie (I had to duck and cover from a few of those, too).

[Psychstache]

I really disliked the original Top Gun (despite being supposedly right in the correct age wheelhouse to love it when it came out), but found the new sequel pleasantly entertaining. Very old-school, which I sometimes really miss.

All the plane footage made me think fondly of my grad school days when I would have to suspend field work out on the Air Force Base airstrip field where I periodically was collecting data, to crouch down next to my vehicle with my arms over my ears, while the F16s roared down the runway right next to me to take off. Jesus those things were loud...the sound waves could practically knock you off your feet.

Nowadays, those are relics, much like the Tomcat in the movie (I had to duck and cover from a few of those, too).

Perhaps you enjoyed it because you are a Star Wars fan =D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZK9meaHDLUc

[wenchsenior]

I really disliked the original Top Gun (despite being supposedly right in the correct age wheelhouse to love it when it came out), but found the new sequel pleasantly entertaining. Very old-school, which I sometimes really miss.

All the plane footage made me think fondly of my grad school days when I would have to suspend field work out on the Air Force Base airstrip field where I periodically was collecting data, to crouch down next to my vehicle with my arms over my ears, while the F16s roared down the runway right next to me to take off. Jesus those things were loud...the sound waves could practically knock you off your feet.

Nowadays, those are relics, much like the Tomcat in the movie (I had to duck and cover from a few of those, too).

Perhaps you enjoyed it because you are a Star Wars fan =D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZK9meaHDLUc

Certain formulas are definitely effective.

[slackmax]

Nobody (on Netflix) is John Wick but it's a suburban dad with a family. Requires substantial suspension of belief, but entertaining. Stars Bob Odenkirk of Better Call Saul. Might have been mentioned here before.

The only thing that grated is that he has zero chemistry with his family, they are just filler until the action starts, but maybe that makes sense for his character.

I saw this one. I think the zero chemistry with his family is supposed to be that way.

I liked this movie. But yes, suspension of disbelief is needed. I enjoyed the scenes of small-boned good guy destroying the bad guys in hand to hand combat.   

[charis]

Nobody (on Netflix) is John Wick but it's a suburban dad with a family. Requires substantial suspension of belief, but entertaining. Stars Bob Odenkirk of Better Call Saul. Might have been mentioned here before.

The only thing that grated is that he has zero chemistry with his family, they are just filler until the action starts, but maybe that makes sense for his character.

I saw this one. I think the zero chemistry with his family is supposed to be that way.

I liked this movie. But yes, suspension of disbelief is needed. I enjoyed the scenes of small-boned good guy destroying the bad guys in hand to hand combat.   

I just watched on the recommendation from this thread because I really like Bob Odenkirk and Christopher Lloyd. It did not disappoint.

[alcon835]

The Menu was really, really good! I enjoyed it quite a bit. The story was interesting if not a bit shallow. But that's the point. Of course the acting was spectacular. It's definitely a suspense/horror film so go in knowing what you're walking in to (and I'm not normally a big horror/suspense fan). But was really, really good and I definitely recommend it!

[GuitarStv]

Planet of the Apes . . . the Heston version.  I watched this with my kid last night.  Still a decent flick, and it really stands up. 

Spoiler: show

Can you really spoil a movie that came out in the 60s?  My son was shocked at the ending when Heston found out it was Earth.  :P

[GardenBaker]

Our Father on Netflix. True story based on a fertility doctor. Shocking scandal and unscrupulous behavior on part of a medical professional.

[Tyson]

Saw Tar with Cate Blanchett.  One more bit of proof that she is (IMO) the best actor working today.  Incredible performance.  The rest of the movie is also excellent. 

One thing I noticed with the reviews/commentary of the movie - everyone is so focused on the woke/cancel culture aspects that no one seems to have noticed that this was actually a ghost story.  For me it's the most disturbing type of ghost story because it's subtle, and the haunting occurs around the edges. 

[lost_in_the_endless_aisle]

Parallel Mothers  -- Smit & the inevitable Penelope Cruz are great, but the nested story arcs fit together a bit awkwardly. I found the time jumps (months here, months there) a bit jarring & it's interesting to consider in many other movies the subtle techniques employed that help smooth over time discontinuities. My favorite Pedro Almodovar movie is still Volver.

Starlet  -- I've had this on my watch list for a very long time, having previously seen two other Sean Baker movies The Florida Project and Tangerine. Starlet has a lot of what makes TFP one of my favorite recent movies, with less of the grittiness of Tangerine, and without being thematically redundant if you've seen his other movies. Besedka Johnson (who is arguably the actual main focus of the movie) makes her excellent acting debut at the age of 85. Dree Hemingway (Mariel Hemingway's daughter) is also impressive and a premonition of the sort of untested acting talent that Baker would ultimately find years later in Bria Vinaite.

[techwiz]

Another good movie for the family by Dreamworks.

[wenchsenior]

Husband has been gone a lot this past month so I'm catching up on 'downer' movies that he won't watch.

The Devil All the Time:  Hilariously ott neonoir, with two notably good performances from Tom Holland and Robert Pattinson (skin crawlingly good as a slick preacher).  I can't say it was actually good, nor was it 'pleasant', but it was weirdly engaging.  I got all the way through without recognizing Sebastian Stan (a common problem for me...I've seen him in tons of stuff but have apparent face-blindness with him; or maybe he put on weight for this? Dunno).

A Pale Blue Eye: New gothic thriller on Netflix. Stunning cinematography, and enjoyably pulpy. Christian Bale underplays, everyone else goes for the scenery chew. A most enjoyable performance from Harry Melling (aka Dudley Dursley from the Harry Potter movies) as Edgar Allen Poe.  Ending was a bit too clever for its own good, IMO.

Road to Perdition:  Extremely stylish and stylized revenge/gangster drama with Tom Hanks as a hitman.  Watchable but kind of dull... it was clearly aiming for being an award caliber serious drama with an incredible cast, but the script was too schematic to live up to the ambitions.  Tom Hanks was fine, though probably somewhat miscast. Paul Newman was good but didn't have a lot to do; Jennifer Jason Leigh/Ciaran Hinds/Daniel Craig were wasted. By far the bright spots of the movie were Jude Law as an oily hit man/crime scene photographer, and Stanley Tucci as mob boss Frank Nitti.

Prisoners: Effective, if long and pummeling, psychodrama about the escalating ripples of psychological damage that radiate out in the wake of a child abduction/death.  Great cast; better work from Hugh Jackman than is frequently seen. Jake Gyllenhaal made an interesting choice to adopt a tick, but that's the only 'big' thing about an otherwise very good and understated performance so I thought it worked. Paul Dano was great in the 'Paul Dano' role. Good supporting turns from Viola Davis and Terrance Howard and Maria Bello.

[Metalcat]

I've been seeing all of these articles about Road To Perdition and Hanks whining about it being under appreciated.

But I also remember when it came out, it was *heavily* marketed as I could Oscar-bait, if it was going to succeed it would have. It just wasn't good enough. It was the massive cast trying too hard to achieve too little. I remember hating it. It's not that it was awful, it was just *really* awful compared to the hype and what people expected of it.

So seeing it come back around and be described as underrated is just kind of laughable. It's not like it was some gem that never got the attention it deserved. If anything, it's marketing was overblown and bloated.

There are a lot of great under-appreciated movies out there, but this is not one of them.

It was Tom Hanks at the height of his likeability desperately trying to prove he could be gritty, Jude Law at the height of his charm and beauty desperately trying to be ugly, and Paul Newman not doing much of anything at all.

[techwiz]

And finally, as an MMM issue, how do vampires get their money, and why do they always seem to have so much of it?

The power of compounding, it's time in the market that really counts.

[GuitarStv]

And finally, as an MMM issue, how do vampires get their money, and why do they always seem to have so much of it?

The power of compounding, it's time in the market that really counts.

Vampires always keep a close eye on the stakes.

[midweststache]

We just finished Tenet (2020) which is on HBO. I enjoyed it - decent cast with Kenneth Branaugh having what I assume is the time of his life as flat villain with the most ridiculous "bad guy reasons" in a movie that takes itself seriously (as opposed to Kenneth Branaugh having what I assume is the time of his life as a flat villain with the most ridiculous bad guy reasons in a campy film like HP and the Chamber of Secrets). Also, Robert Pattinson being slightly smarmy is always fun.

The plot doesn't always make perfect sense, but there's enough of a through line in an intentionally confusing film to make it amusing and not frustrating. Not Nolan's finest, but perfectly serviceable and worth a watch nonetheless. 

[lost_in_the_endless_aisle]

Husband has been gone a lot this past month so I'm catching up on 'downer' movies that he won't watch.

The Devil All the Time:  Hilariously ott neonoir, with two notably good performances from Tom Holland and Robert Pattinson (skin crawlingly good as a slick preacher).  I can't say it was actually good, nor was it 'pleasant', but it was weirdly engaging.  I got all the way through without recognizing Sebastian Stan (a common problem for me...I've seen him in tons of stuff but have apparent face-blindness with him; or maybe he put on weight for this? Dunno).

I watched that after reading the book and thought the movie was not good. However, it its defense, I don't think the book could be turned into a good movie since a movie would necessarily compress so many events that are allowed to unfold over greater space in the novel. Agreed that Pattinson was excellent and I wish they showed more of his character's story. The most egregious cut was with

Spoiler: show

Roy & Theodore since it isn't really properly explained why Roy kills Helen. And later, we miss Roy & Theodore escaping, joining the circus (where Theodore spends his time playing "the skin flute" with a clown named Flapjack, while Roy messes around with a "Flamingo Lady"), and Theodore ultimately dying in his sleep in a campsite covered in his own excrement

So as you can see, the movie was a bit sanitized!

[Serendip]

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On :)

[wenchsenior]

Husband has been gone a lot this past month so I'm catching up on 'downer' movies that he won't watch.

The Devil All the Time:  Hilariously ott neonoir, with two notably good performances from Tom Holland and Robert Pattinson (skin crawlingly good as a slick preacher).  I can't say it was actually good, nor was it 'pleasant', but it was weirdly engaging.  I got all the way through without recognizing Sebastian Stan (a common problem for me...I've seen him in tons of stuff but have apparent face-blindness with him; or maybe he put on weight for this? Dunno).

I watched that after reading the book and thought the movie was not good. However, it its defense, I don't think the book could be turned into a good movie since a movie would necessarily compress so many events that are allowed to unfold over greater space in the novel. Agreed that Pattinson was excellent and I wish they showed more of his character's story. The most egregious cut was with

Spoiler: show

Roy & Theodore since it isn't really properly explained why Roy kills Helen. And later, we miss Roy & Theodore escaping, joining the circus (where Theodore spends his time playing "the skin flute" with a clown named Flapjack, while Roy messes around with a "Flamingo Lady"), and Theodore ultimately dying in his sleep in a campsite covered in his own excrement

So as you can see, the movie was a bit sanitized!

That's entertaining to hear, considering the movie was lurid enough...

[iris lily]

I saw “ Living” with Bill Nighy in the theater yesterday. The first third is so very tedious, but then it gets good.

[wenchsenior]

I saw “ Living” with Bill Nighy in the theater yesterday. The first third is so very tedious, but then it gets good.

Have you seen the Kurosawa film it's based on? I was thinking of watching that one first, but then I worry the new one won't favorably compare. Hard to beat Kurosawa.

[Log]

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On :)

:)

One of the best movies of 2022 imo, such a delight

[Tyson]

I saw “ Living” with Bill Nighy in the theater yesterday. The first third is so very tedious, but then it gets good.

Have you seen the Kurosawa film it's based on? I was thinking of watching that one first, but then I worry the new one won't favorably compare. Hard to beat Kurosawa.

Ikiru is quietly beautiful.  Very Japanese.

[sui generis]

We watched "Say Anything" last night.  We think we both saw it decades ago, still well after it was released and had become something of a legend, but long enough that we didn't remember it.  In fact, I remembered nothing of the taxes or London plot points/subplots.  We enjoyed it.  It's a VERY 80s movie, so mostly I guess it's a bit of nostalgia. 

But two things totally surprised me.  The girl who used air quotes for everything, and then Diane started using air quotes.  And when Diane called Lloyd "basic."  I felt like the air quotes were at least like a decade, decade and a half before their time and the use of basic - wow, I'm pretty sure I didn't hear that in the zeitgeist until around 2010?  Even if I was behind the times, was I really 20 years behind?  Or did this movie actually plant a seed for both that just took a while to germinate?

[Log]

Just re-watched The French Dispatch yesterday. It might just be my favorite movie now, which is a distinction I've never given out before...

[mspym]

How It Ends (2021) - a woman and the embodiment of her younger self walk around on the last day before a meteor is going to hit the earth. I liked it. There was a sparse bleak beauty to the visual style, the girl who played her younger self was really good, and it was poignant. I can see why people would be divided on it but I fell into the group that it worked for.

[Serendip]

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On :)

:)

One of the best movies of 2022 imo, such a delight

Utterly charming

[Fresh Bread]

How It Ends (2021) - a woman and the embodiment of her younger self walk around on the last day before a meteor is going to hit the earth. I liked it. There was a sparse bleak beauty to the visual style, the girl who played her younger self was really good, and it was poignant. I can see why people would be divided on it but I fell into the group that it worked for.

I was very confused by your review but then realised I watched How it Ends (2018) which is very different! A man & his FIL drive across country to find man's fiance during apocalyptic events. Had some bad reviews but I really liked it.

On what service did you watch the 2021 one? Sounds good. 

[mspym]

How It Ends (2021) - a woman and the embodiment of her younger self walk around on the last day before a meteor is going to hit the earth. I liked it. There was a sparse bleak beauty to the visual style, the girl who played her younger self was really good, and it was poignant. I can see why people would be divided on it but I fell into the group that it worked for.

I was very confused by your review but then realised I watched How it Ends (2018) which is very different! A man & his FIL drive across country to find man's fiance during apocalyptic events. Had some bad reviews but I really liked it.

On what service did you watch the 2021 one? Sounds good.

It’s on Stan.

[slackmax]

Just saw 'The Whale' in a theater. I was disgusted by the first 20 minutes, which had 'the whale', a morbidly obese man wallowing in self-pity, lurching around his apartment. But after that, there were some interesting characters introduced. And these characters are well acted.

Some interesting sub plots. Social commentary on belief in God.

It has the feel of a play, and the acting is intense, some might say it was overacting, but I liked it.

I recommend it, except for the first 20 minutes.

[iris lily]

I saw “ Living” with Bill Nighy in the theater yesterday. The first third is so very tedious, but then it gets good.

Have you seen the Kurosawa film it's based on? I was thinking of watching that one first, but then I worry the new one won't favorably compare. Hard to beat Kurosawa.

No, I have not seen that Japanese film but I know that this is a remake of it.

[BicycleB]

And finally, as an MMM issue, how do vampires get their money, and why do they always seem to have so much of it?

The power of compounding, it's time in the market that really counts.

Vampires always keep a close eye on the stakes.

These remarks sent a silver bullet right to my funny bone

[BicycleB]

Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

Really enjoyed this. After seeing Pig, I now have a profound love for Nicholas Cage, and this movie just played off of that same gonzo, self-aware schtick he's got going on right now.

It was fun, well paced, silly, stupid, and clever. I really liked it. And I now kind of want to watch Paddington 2. Lol.

I can't really describe it more because it's so self-referential. But if you have any love for Nicholas Cage, or even if you have ever loved mocking Nicholas Cage, this movie is a good time.

Hustle

This is a REALLY FUNsports movie. Wow, what a good time. It's no Any Given Sunday, the plot is 100% predictable, and it's spoon-fed to you like pablum, but not in a bad way, just in an earnest way that the movie does actually pull off.   

What a frickin' gem they found in Juancho Hernangomez though, the Cinderella of the movie.

I am not a basketball fan, but my DH is an avid player and follows it casually. I had no idea going into the movie that he's actually a pro player, currently with the Raptors, I just thought he was a little known Spanish actor who was maybe a former college level basketball player and could pull off the athletics enough to be convincing with some movie magic. Nope, he's a pro baller and total unknown actor.

But man does he have a great screen presence. I bought his sweet, hard done by character completely and just loved him from his first scene. He has this adorable giant thing going on, with a heavy emphasis on sweetness. It's hard to have that kind of presence and chemistry on screen for a non-actor. I would love to see a making-of to see the process of casting the role.

There are too many cameos to count, so again, if you're a basketball person at all, it will be fun to see everyone. Plus you get the sense that they had a lot of fun making the movie.

It's been awhile since I saw a sports movie this well-paced and genuinely fun...okay, I'm saying "fun" a lot, I know, but it is. And Adam Sandler and Queen Latifah have a surprising amount of chemistry for a pair that I would NEVER expect it from.

Overall, even as a non sports person who particularly dislikes basketball and didn't recognize any of the very famous cameos in the movie except for Marc Cuban (he's in everything), the fact that I really, really liked it is saying a lot.

Although, I do like sports movies even though I don't like sports...so I guess it's not actually saying much after all?

Will keep this one in mind. As NBA fan, heard Hernangomez did this movie, didn't know it was good / good-ish. Great review. :)

[sui generis]

I watched Titane, and added it to probably my top 5 worst movies list. 

DH is gone for a business trip and, as I like to do at those times, I queued up a horror/thriller movie to watch by myself one night.  I saw it on a recommended list of things avail on Hulu recently and it had a ton of nominations and awards from a variety of film festivals and what-not. A horror/thriller with pedigree?  I guess I knew it would either be fantastic or abominable. 

It has a paper thin plot and isn't scary at all so I would never call it a thriller.  Though it's certainly grotesque enough to qualify as horror, and in a number of different ways!  I don't know if it's because it's French and, not speaking French or being familiar with the culture, I'm missing something that would be thought-provoking that all the critics saw in it?  Reading a few reviews didn't enighten me.  I suspect all of them were paid off or were kidnapped and killed and had false reviews submitted in their names by the filmmakers.  They just did not resemble anything I saw on the screen.

It wasn't just a waste of time like a normal bad movie.  I feel like a worse person for having watched it. 

[lost_in_the_endless_aisle]

To Leslie
Yes, I watched this because of the strange media it got from prominent actors loudly campaigning in favor of an Academy Award nomination for Andrea Riseborough. The non-sensationalized story and supporting characters reminded me of a Sean Baker movie, though I found it lacked in the way of Baker's immaculate execution and fell into a number of common redemption-story tropes. As such, it didn't have that much to distinguish it from many others on the subject of constant backsliding. At the margins, I'm glad movies like this are being attempted versus Yet Another Superhero Movie or The Seventh Sequel of Some Hollywood Garbage--worth watching, but I'd recommend something like Samson & Delilah over this.

[mspym]

Sharper - a pretty fun con-artist scam film for the first 75% that just fell apart in the last quarter and turned so so stupid.

[wenchsenior]

I watched Titane, and added it to probably my top 5 worst movies list. 

DH is gone for a business trip and, as I like to do at those times, I queued up a horror/thriller movie to watch by myself one night.  I saw it on a recommended list of things avail on Hulu recently and it had a ton of nominations and awards from a variety of film festivals and what-not. A horror/thriller with pedigree?  I guess I knew it would either be fantastic or abominable. 

It has a paper thin plot and isn't scary at all so I would never call it a thriller.  Though it's certainly grotesque enough to qualify as horror, and in a number of different ways!  I don't know if it's because it's French and, not speaking French or being familiar with the culture, I'm missing something that would be thought-provoking that all the critics saw in it?  Reading a few reviews didn't enighten me.  I suspect all of them were paid off or were kidnapped and killed and had false reviews submitted in their names by the filmmakers.  They just did not resemble anything I saw on the screen.

It wasn't just a waste of time like a normal bad movie.  I feel like a worse person for having watched it.

Heh. One of the funniest podcasts I've ever listened to was a 2 hour discussion of Titane. It was clear it was not for me, but the discussion was terrifically entertaining.

[lost_in_the_endless_aisle]

Banshees of Inisherin -- actually surprised this was quite good despite my dislike of McDonagh's In Bruges and Three Billboards. It had the feeling of a good novel being successfully adapted into movie. A little ponderous in the 2nd half--I always feel as though 10 or 15 minutes could be cut from many movies without losing any important thematic elements--but overall, a solid movie.

[evme]

Banshees of Inisherin -- actually surprised this was quite good despite my dislike of McDonagh's In Bruges and Three Billboards. It had the feeling of a good novel being successfully adapted into movie. A little ponderous in the 2nd half--I always feel as though 10 or 15 minutes could be cut from many movies without losing any important thematic elements--but overall, a solid movie.

I did not like the ending but agree that it is a very worthwhile film overall. It had a couple of truly shocking moments.

[Michael in ABQ]

We just rewatched Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone as a family. I hadn't seen it in years (we bought all 8 movies several years ago) and had forgotten a lot of it. It was a bit weird seeing this 11-year-old that I just watched playing Weird Al Yankovic as a thirty-something. Overall, a good movie for the family and it gives us something to watch over the next few months since we typically only watch something like that for 30-60 minutes on nights where there's no school the next day.

[midweststache]

We just rewatched Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone as a family. I hadn't seen it in years (we bought all 8 movies several years ago) and had forgotten a lot of it. It was a bit weird seeing this 11-year-old that I just watched playing Weird Al Yankovic as a thirty-something. Overall, a good movie for the family and it gives us something to watch over the next few months since we typically only watch something like that for 30-60 minutes on nights where there's no school the next day.

We watched the first three HP movies with my eldest (6) at his request. The first one was fine, but 2 and 3 had him pretty scared at some parts (basilisk and werewolf, respectively) that confirmed my stance to not let him watch the rest. (I have no desire to let my child see Cedric Diggory murdered, and I still find the later deaths in the series upsetting.) But he does like the first three and will re-watch them, as long as we skip the "scary parts."

What I loved about going back to these movies is looking at the production value of the first, compared to the third. I love Christopher Columbus, but the first film very much feels like watching a made-for-TV-movie. It's a reminder that those first two films were very much children's movies, while the later films seem to "grow up" with the viewers (and respective directors).

(Though I have similar feelings about my memories of the film vs. how I now view the production value of the first LOTR film, so maybe I'm just showing my age?)

[uniwelder]

We just rewatched Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone as a family. I hadn't seen it in years (we bought all 8 movies several years ago) and had forgotten a lot of it. It was a bit weird seeing this 11-year-old that I just watched playing Weird Al Yankovic as a thirty-something. Overall, a good movie for the family and it gives us something to watch over the next few months since we typically only watch something like that for 30-60 minutes on nights where there's no school the next day.

We watched the first three HP movies with my eldest (6) at his request. The first one was fine, but 2 and 3 had him pretty scared at some parts (basilisk and werewolf, respectively) that confirmed my stance to not let him watch the rest. (I have no desire to let my child see Cedric Diggory murdered, and I still find the later deaths in the series upsetting.) But he does like the first three and will re-watch them, as long as we skip the "scary parts."

We were babysitting a 5 and 7 year old this weekend, and they had seen the first two movies already.  They really wanted to see the third, and when I mentioned they start getting scary, it didn't phase them and their mom insisted it wouldn't be too scary.  They were ok for the first half of the movie while it was still light out, but as the movie went on and it got later in the evening, they decided maybe they should take a break and then asked for a Disney movie.

[farmecologist]

Off topic a bit...but I swear I watch YouTube FAR more than any other media lately.  An absolute ton of great content, if you can find it.  I'm into nonfiction stuff ( history, etc... ) and now that I have a large list of subscribed channels, I rarely watch any paid streaming services or movies anymore.

If it wasn't for my wife, I would ditch the paid streaming services and just rent the occasional movie...

[wenchsenior]

She Said, which was a solid journalism procedural about the NYT investigation that broke the Harvey Weinstein story.

The main takeaway for me was that FAR more attention and effort needs to go into highlighting the systemic nature of these types of acts/crimes, b/c that is clearly where the foundation of the problem is.

For example, while the sheer extent/number of the crimes of Weinstein and Epstein were not known to me, I absolutely knew about the general activities of both men DECADES before these stories 'officially' broke. The Weinstein stuff I heard about consistently by the late 90s, and the Epstein stuff I heard about in the early to mid 2000s (though not the extent of who was or might have been involved with him, though that wouldn't have been hard to speculate either, had I done a little googling).

If I (as a random woman from the Midwest who is totally unconnected to the entertainment industry) knew about this stuff, that means almost everyone remotely connected to the industry must have known at least what I knew, and probably FAR more than I knew.

And yet, no one investigated in any organized way...and the legal system protected and in some cases actively enabled the ongoing activities of these men.

I really wish the film had done more than touch on that aspect of things.

[mspym]

We saw Catherine Called Birdy last night and it's fun! Bella Ramsay is a really good actor and the cast is having a blast.

[BicycleB]

Off topic a bit...but I swear I watch YouTube FAR more than any other media lately.  An absolute ton of great content, if you can find it.  I'm into nonfiction stuff ( history, etc... ) and now that I have a large list of subscribed channels, I rarely watch any paid streaming services or movies anymore.

If it wasn't for my wife, I would ditch the paid streaming services and just rent the occasional movie...

I understand! Fan of Extra History myself, for example, and sometimes quite entertained by TierZoo. (Also an embarrassingly large amount of basketball analysis.) Cumulatively comparable in quantity to all viewing of movies and series combined (in which vein, watched House of the Dragon and The Last of Us, but rarely watch single films).

Sorry for the sidetrack, movie fans. :)

[sui generis]

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story

This one had me rolling with laughter. Great flick with a LOT of liberties on reality. Meant more as a satire of musician biopics and the weird changes they make to people's lives to try and turn them into more interesting 90 minute stories. Worth your time if you like a good laugh or have ever been a listener of Weird Al.

I really want to see this with my teen who is a huge Weird al fan.  However, it doesn't seem to be coming out in theaters here in Italy (probably because Weird Al's songs just don't translate well so he was never famous here).  Is this streaming anywhere?  Where did you watch it?

It's streaming for free on Roku! Here you go: https://therokuchannel.roku.com/watch/066097da82ed5762966888a59b151058/weird-the-al-yankovic-story

I'm in the US, so I am not sure if there are any gates in your region. Let me know if you have trouble watching it, I may be able to help.

Watched it today.  I also enjoyed it and think it's the perfect reflection of Weird Al and his career:  it was fun and silly and some of it worked and some of it was less successful....

Also looked around Roku a bit, which I didn't realize was its own streaming service.  They seem to have a very heavy emphasis on horror and in particular what looks like really bad horror (I mean, it's not hard, I guess).  The best example, though tbh I have not sampled it myself, is "Velocipastor".  That's right folks.  A film about a man who is a pastor... and also a velociraptor.  I'm sure you all have already seen it though.  I've been living under a rock...