kiddo82

They did make a Heathers musical. I think you can stream it on Prime.

God, yes. Sound of Music. Wizard of Oz. Star Wars. None of these are seasonal movies but all are in heavy rotation this time of year. If you want to watch it, great. If not, don't. Just leave everyone else out of it.

I don't give a fig who thinks Die Hard is a Christmas movie and who doesn't.

https://screenrant.com/hunger-games-ballad-songbirds-snakes-first-reactions/ Now, these are only preliminary reactions from people who I would guess would have a tendency to be more favorable than not but still, good for Rachel Zegler. She needs a win.

There are worse tragedies but it sucks for Meg Ryan that she can't promote What Happens Next. (I guess she could have as writer/director.) I haven't seen it but it but it looks like the type of movie that needs her being charming on talk shows--and interviewers touting her comeback-- to get any sort of traction.

Knowing that this is by Sophia Coppola I can see tentacles of Lost in Translation here. Particularly Priscilla's general ennui and eventual disillusionment. I don't know that that's necessarily intentional but they say write what you know.

I think what hit me the hardest was how much of a baby playing dress up she was almost right up until the end. And how much of a prison Graceland was for her. Watching this not long after watching the Baz Luhrmann movie is such a fun experiment. It was like watching an episode of The Affair.

I read a review that called it sherbert (or sorbet) colored and I thought that was an especially apt description.

On a loop.

Yeah. The first I was ever even aware of it was a year or two ago when it was on a TV at work. I caught a brief scene with Anna Paquin, had no idea what it was, and had to look it up on the Google machine. Even after that I was still confused because this seems like the type of movie I would have at least known existed. Apparently, it only screened at some festivals and was then direct to video. All of this added up to me thinking it must have been awful and I didn't give it much thought after that. This year, like you, I heard a few recommendations for it and decided to give it a chance. It's a pleasant surprise.

Even by today's standards, the violence in Bonnie and Clyde is no joke.

I'm not disagreeing with you but I don't know that that specifically applies in this case. (although it can be argued that race and/or privilege is never not a factor.) Frankly, I don't think Zegler has done anything out of pocket but I also think the internet is full of people who just love the excuse to be assholes regardless of the target. There are some "protected" young starlets but it's fickle and I could see people turning whoever has made the comments Rachel has made. (Even though I will again state that she hasn't done or said anything wrong!) The likes of Anne Hathaway and Brie Larson were given shit simply for having the audacity to exist.

Halloween Movie Dump *Trick 'R Treat (2007): This movie has no business being as enjoyable as it is. I thought it was going to be a typical cliched slasher--and it's not entirely original--but it was so much fun and it knows exactly what it wants to be. Black Swan (2010): One of my all time favorite movies period. Natalie Portman earned the hell out of that Oscar. *Scooby Doo (2002): I had never seen this one before and it....isn't great. But there is something refreshing about watching a movie, as not great as it is, that's allowed to be goofy fluff as opposed to all the "authentic" and "gritty" that gets released today. *Totally Killer (2023; Amazon Prime): Another really fun slasher that knows exactly what it wants to be. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993): This is where I insert the gif of Erin from the Office going "I don't get it. I just--I don't get it." I have tried and tried to see what others see in this one, aside from the tunes, and I will just have to accept that I never will. *Wishmaster (1997): Ah, the first R rated movie I was ever kicked out of. I wonder what 14 year old me would have thought of it. "Bad" movies with a cult following aren't exactly my thing but I can see why one might be entertained by it. That said, it does hit on just about every level of "bad". What We Do in the Shadows (2014): I love the show. I love the movie. I love Stu. This one rewards multiple watches because it's so droll that different lines are going to hit differently every time. *First time watch

Would have been a very different movie, that's for sure.

I feel like the humor of the Kelsie scene fit the tone of the movie as a whole. Fraser's performance was bizarre. It felt more petulant child than bombastic lawyer. Maybe it was simple miscasting though as I could see Lithgow being the one to better pull off the character. Truth be told I didn't love him in The Whale either but at least the performance didn't feel out of step with the film.

This never gets old no matter how many times I've seen it 1. The music still slaps. From the early straight up choral part right through to the ending. It's perfection. I have listened to this on loop. 2. In 3 and a half minutes with absolutely no dialogue you know an entire story. An empty church gains life. A rebellious choir master and Mother Superior's disapproval (Maggie Smith's look at the end still makes me sit up straight. It's right up there with Claire Huxtable yelling at Vanessa for going to "Baltimore for biiiig fun." ). And a group of women finding themselves in front of everyone's eyes. The music is great but the acting is also on point. From the women being so unsure and kind of embarrassed at the beginning to completely feeling it and then being taken aback by themselves at the very end. Mary Patrick is down for anything but Mary Robert goes through an entire arc in just these 3+ minutes. And the way Delores leads them all with her unspoken "I got you." She is having the time of her life too. 3. Older women, and especially nuns, are not supposed to want to have fun per society. Those are the rules. So watching a group of mostly older women suddenly being allowed to enjoy themselves out loud hits on a new level. Mary Lazarus has all these "Hey. This is neat" looks and it gets me. It's probably the best time she's had in a long time. Same could be said for most everyone there. 4. The look of disbelief the two nuns sitting in the pew give each other that this isn't going to be a dumpster fire. HA!

I've never seen the Invitation but I really liked Ready or Not for what it was. I'll have to check out the former.

There was a brief period where I thought Mollie figured everything. The scene where she says they will move and put all Ernest's secrets in a box and bury them. I thought that my be her way of saying "I know" so that he would never have to tell her and she never had to "know" for real. If that makes sense. All the easier to stay in denial and kind of take the easier path in moving on with him. So glad for her sake that wasn't the case. He didn't deserve her. I agree Lily Gladstone did so well with the giant emotional swings as well as the small details. On the flip side, what movie did Brendan Fraser think he was in? I almost burst out laughing at one point as he was so over the top it bordered on parody. Maybe I was just punchy because we were rounding the final turn of the movie.

What did y'all make of the coda?

This movie is very good, albeit, it doesn't quite justify its mammoth run time. The story itself is obviously upsetting but it's Scorsese so you know he's going to do well with it. DiCaprio does his usual, I feel like we've seen him give this type of performance before, but Lily Gladstone and Robert De Niro both truly popped for me. I would have wanted better closure here but that could have been on purpose. The Osage Nation probably didn't get the closure they wanted deserved either.

Random Insomnia Thought: 1992 was a heck of a year for either women driven films and/or women giving performances that have endured/entered the zeitgeist. The top grossing domestic movie of the year was Batman Returns which gave us Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman. The number 3 movie domestic of the entire year was Sister Act. Also in the top 10 you have Basic Instinct, A League of the Own, and the Hand that Rocks the Cradle. The Bodyguard, White Men Can't Jump, and Fried Green Tomatoes were in the top 20. Also of note in the top 30 is Death Becomes Her and just outside at 31 is My Cousin Vinny. Not sure if that means anything but as I said, I had this realization that a lot of these great movies/performances came out of this year and when I dug a little deeper I found even more. *The Prince of Tides was a Christmas release in 1991 and made most of its money in 1992 where it ended up at 23rd.

The Witches (1990): so it does not hold up the way I was hoping save for Anjelica Huston which brings me to my next point... The Grand High Witch. Morticia Addams. Rodmilla De Ghent. Me and my age brethren need to put more respect on Ms. Huston's name.

I don't specifically rember but I think the first R rated movie I ever saw was The Good Son at a sleepover. It came out in 1993 so I must have been 11 or 12 depending. I remember all the intrigue about it in my age group at the time because Macaulay Culkin was the biggest star in the world to us and seeing him as a bad seed was a big deal. It was the first "grown up" movie that felt like if you didn't see it you were left behind. First R movie I ever saw in a theater was probably Jerry Maguire. I went with my older sister and her then boyfriend. First R movie I ever got kicked out of was Wishmaster in 1997. I still haven't seen it but maybe they did me a favor? Earlier this year I was going to see Cocaine Bear and I was very amused by the dad who was trying to buy tickets for a group of teen girls but not himself. He was telling the ticket scanner that he gave permission for the girls to go in but they still wouldn't let them unless he went too. Ah, memories.

I don't think anyone sets out to be in a disappointing project but I also feel like we are in an era where stars who have made their name and money take more risks, do more passion projects, are more content to do a glorified cameo in a Wes Anderson movie than take a leading role for someone not as acclaimed, or just have more agency to make films with their buddies. It's possibly because in our current landscape it's getting harder and harder to predict what will or will not hit with an audience so might as well stop stressing about and do what fulfills you instead. And even when something does hit it's much more transient than it used to be. Movies like Maverick, Barbie, and Oppenheimer that stay in the zeitgeist longer than a few weeks are now the exception. In the case of John Hamm specifically, outside of Mad Men he's never really been a leading man. Like you said, he probably already made his money and it's not like he doesn't work or has fallen off the radar. Maybe now he's just happy to be character actor guy whenever Tina Fey has a new project.

More Halloween Watches: Little Shop of Horrors (1986): I was born in the 80s but I've always had this affinity for 60s era girl groups (The Crystals, The Ronettes, the Chiffons, etc. Hey! Those are the names of the girls in the chorus in the movie!) and it's in hindsight that my appreciation for that music was born from watching this as a child. I wish this version had the original, darker ending but anything that rhymes "bicuspid" with "maladjusted" is fine with me. Howard Ashman was a genius. Little Shop of Horrors (1960): The lesser known non-musical version and a Roger Corman special. It's cheap. It's campy. The acting is suspect. Anyone with an iphone has probably made a more professional looking movie. But it's short and fun. And the theme of paying for fame in blood is still universal. Green Room (2015): Probably the best all around watch for me of this bunch. It was a little hard to follow just because so much of it is in low lighting and I had a hard time remembering who was who at times. Definitely the most "real life" of all these but who doesn't want to see a Nazi cult get what's coming to them? The Witches of Eastwick (1987): There are some plot holes here and there but I liked this too. And it's even a little ahead of its time with a bunch of women literally finding their power. The casting of Jack Nicholson was spot on. John Carpenter's They Live (1987): Another campy and cheap cult movie. I don't know that I ever need to watch it again but it also has lines like, "Brother, life's a bitch and she's back in heat." I can see why it has a following. Videodrome (1983): I don't even know what I watched but if I took a drink every time someone in the movie said "Videodrome" I would have died within the first half hour. I haven't seen a ton of Cronenberg so I don't have a lot to compare it to. At least The Fly kept me interested. I had a hard time paying attention here. It's probably more of an acquired taste. When a Stranger Calls (1979): Great first 15 or 20 minutes. Keep the rest. It's a shame because the opening act is so epic but the rest of the movie failed to keep my attention. Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955): I always enjoyed Abbott and Costello. You know exactly what you're signing up for with this one. The Addams Family (2019): Cute family movie but nothing really special for me. The kids will probably enjoy it. I did like Wednesday and wearing a unicorn barrette.