The Movie I Saw 2021

This ⬆️ is the Hollywood Theater, 5509 Oregon Ave, Halethorpe, MD 21227. I probably saw my first movie there. There are a few other possibilities, but this was the theater closest to my house and we went there A LOT, so....  Of course, it was just a one screen theater at the time. I remember that movies were 50¢ a ticket--at the beginning, at least. A lot of memories. 

But that was then. This is now:


***** = Must see.
**** = Really good.
*** = Worth seeing.
** = A waste of time, but one or two good moments.
* = Not worth your time.
-0 = Less Than Zero.

1. Dunkirk: Special Features (2017) **** I counted this as a movie because (1) it's two hours long and (2) I wanted to recommend it. In fact, I'd say it is necessary viewing if you want to get the full effect of the movie itself. I'd even go so far as to say that you should watch this before you watch the movie, even if you've never seen Dunkirk before. It will "spoil" a few plot turns, to be sure, but this really isn't that kind of movie, you know? I mean, you'd have to be pretty oblivious as to history not to know how it is going to come out in the end. Watching these features will show you just how brilliant Christopher Nolan is, and how much care he put into this movie. If you can't get hold of the 2 disc version of the movie, type Dunkirk featurettes into your Google search box and you should be able to find at least some of them. (There were 16 total, and every one of them was worth watching.)

2. Dunkirk (2017) ***** This was my third time watching this movie, and despite the fact that it was on a small television screen and was spread over two days and interrupted quite a few times (life with two autistic adults), it was the best viewing yet. A lot of that had to do with watching the Special Features disc (see above), which allowed me to see things in the movie that I hadn't noticed previously. I'm going to need to write more about this movie in a separate blog entry, so for now I'll just say that this is a great, must-see movie, by far the best Christopher Nolan has produced (and I've seen all of his major movies since Memento), and definitely one of my favorite movies of all time. (I really should get to work on that list at some point...just for my own edification.)

3. The Girl in the Spider's Web (2018) * Hard to believe that this is the second time I've watched this movie...but hey, it was on tv, I was drunk, and it was closing time. Even in my debilitated condition it was easy to spot the flaws in this story, though. Besides the overall mistake of trying to make Lisabeth Salander into a super-hero. Not to mention the mistake of casting Claire Foy in this role. ANYway...if I ever get around to reading the Millennium Series, I will probably feel compelled to read the novel for this...as well as The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye and The Girl Who Lived Twice, but (1) who knows if I'll ever get around to the series anyway and (2) I don't imagine I shall be enjoying the post-Larsson books very much. But that is then, this is now. This was not a good movie. Claire Foy is a terrible Lisabeth. Don't waste your time...the way I did.

4. Honest Thief (2020) * I really like Liam Neeson. A lot. Which is why it really pains me that he makes so many bad movies. I mean...for fuck's sake, he's 68 years old and still pretending to be a bad ass? Time to grow up, Liam. I know, I know, but it happens to all of us. It's getting to the point where they have to wound him early on just so his gimpy walk has an explanation other than "He's 68 years old." And this story...my God, it was so full of holes...and simultaneously so full of shit. You'd think that would be a bad combination, wouldn't you? Well, it is.

5. The Man Who Never Was (1956) *** Just happened upon this as I was flipping channels, and the premise--a counter-intelligence operation during World War II--was interesting, so I went for it. And it was actually pretty good. My favorite moment was when the officer in charge of the mission had to go to 10 Downing Street for approval, and Churchill's grumpy voice came out of a room telling him to get on with it. I looked it up and found, much to my surprise, that the voice actor was none other than Peter Sellers. 

6. Godzilla (2014) ** Not a particularly good movie, but it evoked some thoughts in me that I might have to put down elsewhere. Partially remembrances of army things past. At any rate...Joe is gearing up for the new Godzilla Versus King King movie, so he wanted to get a running start at it. He considers this to be the first in the series. I would be tempted to think he made that up, but I'm sure he knows more about this than I do, so I'll defer.

7. Kong: Skull Island (2017) ** Made in 2017 with Brie Larson, Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, and Corey Hawkins...and it's not a Marvel movie? Well. Too bad it wasn't very good. Although this may be the first King movie wherein Kong didn't want to fuck "Fay Wray," so at least it had that going for it.

8. Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) * If you want to know how to waste $200 million, then study this film carefully. It is amazing how they are able to craft a 132 minute movie which is completely devoid of anything resembling believability, emotional pull, character development, or even tension. And it's capped off by a final season which is so ridiculous that you wouldn't even expect such nonsense from a bad episode of the Power Rangers. Sigh. I still have to sit through the new Godzilla movie sometime in the near future, but hopefully that will be the end of this nonsense.

9. Mutantes - Punk Porn Feminism (2009) -0 If you want to see a movie that will convince you that the world is violent, hateful, and mean, then this is the one for you. I started watching it because I'm reading a novel by Virginie Despentes, and although I haven't yet decided how I feel about it (I'm about 1/4th of the way through), I thought that at the least she was interesting and had some insights to offer vis-à-vis the female mind. So I thought I'd check out this movie, which she directed. I was almost immediately revolted by the content, but I kept watching out of a sense of pushing up against my own boundaries. It got rough. Towards the end I was pausing every couple of minutes, seeing how much time was left, then taking a breath before going on. I am thinking that I have a lot to say about this movie. If I get to it, I'll put a link to it HERE. If I don't get to it, then I'd just say avoid this thing unless you really hate women, men, sex, and life.

10. The Little Things (2021) ** Well...Denzel Washington was good...and Remi Malek was good...and Jared Leto was creepy as fuck...and the story was at least kind of interesting...but, well, you know. It was just what it was, so at the end of it I hadn't gained anything at all. I's only bother with this one if there wasn't anything on tv to watch. (Even a re-run would be preferable, though.)

11. Soul (2020) *** There were parts of this movie that I liked a lot. Mostly the jazz stuff. But the rest of it just kind of irritated me. It pretended to be serious and weighty at times, but it was just trite and silly to me. If you're going to do a movie (or a novel, Alan) about the afterlife, then I think you should probably leave the cutsie pie shit behind. Which isn't to say that it can't be funny, not at all. But being glib and superficial and stereotypical most assuredly does not work for me. Sure would have liked to see the rest of that Jazz movie, though.

12. Lolita (1962) * Wow...how did this movie ever end up being considered a classic? It was just painful to watch...and not because of the discomfiting nature of the sexual relationship between an old man and an underaged girl (which was barely even hinted at, actually, and never shown). No, it was the terrible acting and the sad attempts at comedy that made this such a bad movie experience. Sue Lyon was a good choice for Lolita in terms of her appearance...a combination of innocence and dawning awareness of her sexual power...but the girl couldn't act for shit. And Shelley Winters was just embarassingly bad. But beyond bad was Peter Sellers, who left teeth marks on ever scene he appeared in. And those scenes...they just seemed to go on forever, with Sellers repeating lines until it really felt like an early rehearsal for a film instead of the film itself. It was supposed to be funny, obviously...like the scene in which he talks to James Mason on the porch of the hotel...but it wasn't even a little bit funny. Just tedious. And the bad German accent as he pretended to be a school psychologist...sheesh. Kubrick also thought it was a good idea to spend a lot of the film's running time on a gag having to do with setting up a cot in the hotel room Humbert and Lolita were sharing. The scene might have been apropos for a Three Stooges film...with some serious editing...but here it was just pathetic. I seriously have to wonder why people consider Kubrick to be such a giant in the field of movie directors. I've seen his last nine films...which are considered to be his best...and I have problems with all of them and would not put any of them on my Top Ten Favorites list. Hell, none of them would even make it into my Top One Hundred. But maybe it's just me.

13. Mr. Robot: Season 1 (2015) **** I'd forgotten what a great show this was. Steaming right on into Season 2 even as we speak.

14. Hairspray (2007) ***** Jacqueline's choice in the early am, and I was planning on just sitting with her and reading, but I got drawn in right from the start and ended up watching the whole thing with her. What a great movie. It's funny, it's fun, it has an important message for these racist times, and it makes you want to dance. (I tried to get Jacqueline to dance with me at the end and she growled at me, "Stop grooving!") And John Travolta...man, what a great actor. He goes above and beyond the call of duty on this one, for sure.

15. The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981) **** It's been a long time since I saw this movie. And yes, I forgot how great it was. Now I want to go re-read the book. Or maybe read it? I think I might have pooped out before I finished it way back when...though I know I was on a John Fowles kick for a while, and finished several of his novels. Anyway...great movie. Meryl Streep is more beautiful in this film than ever before and ever again. And I love the split reality format. Screenplay by Harold Pinter, btw.

16. The Expanse: Season 5 (2020 - 2021) **** I've heard that next season is going to be it for The Expanse, and that makes me unhappy. I love this show. I love the characters. My favorite is Amos, played to perfection by Wes Chatham. He hasn't had nearly as much air time as I'd like this season...there was at least one episode in which he didn't appear at all...but the scope of this show has become so vast that that is inevitable. I guess I'm going to have to go back and re-read the books I previously read...and then there are some that hadn't been published yet, so I'll have that to look forward to. There are nine novels in all...which makes me wonder why there aren't going to be nine seasons, at least...but I would guess that the answer is a combination of low ratings and big budget. Which is a shame, because this show is so good. I've tried to do my part and get friends and family interested in it, but to no avail. Part of it is just antipathy for science fiction. Which is what it is, but still, I am always amazed that I can love a show so much and people whose opinions I have some respect for think that it's just meh (or worse). Hell, I already re-watched Season 1 pretty recently...maybe I'll just rewatch the whole series a couple of times. It's been a long time since I've seen my previous favorite character, Miller, after all.

17. Sister Wendy's Story of Painting (1999) ***** A great series. Unfortunately, it was only when I saw the last episode on this disc (from the library) that I realized that this wasn't the whole series. Apparently this is only the first disc (1. The mists of time, 2. The hero steps forth, 3. The age of genius, 4.  Two sides of the Alps,  5. Passion and ecstasy) of a two disc set. As I've found in the past, it's a little tricky to get multi-disc sets from the library. In fact, the library webpage doesn't give you any way to select, so I guess it's just luck that brought me the first volume of this set. There are times when you just need to walk into the library and put your hand on an item, you know? Anyway...I really like Sister Wendy a lot. She is completely without pretense, and completely unphased when she talks about genitals and breasts and stuff like that. And she has the greatest way of showing you how to look at paintings, what to look for, what it means. I'm going to beed to find a way to watch the second disc of this series in the near future.

18. Shadow in the Cloud (2021) ***** A ridiculous, preposterous movie about World War II. And Gremlins. And the mistreatment of women. And the power of women. Did I mention that it was ridiculous and preposterous? Man, I loved this movie. I think I need to watch it again.

19. King Kong (1976) * It's been a long time since I've seen this movie. Maybe since it came out in the theaters. I had pretty good memories of it, actually, but the desire to see young Jessica Lange was the force which propelled my index finger to hit the start button when this movie showed up on HBO Max. But you know...even though seeing her was pleasing to my lower brain functions, it mostly just made me very sad. I mean, here was a movie that was in part about how a woman debased herself and sacrificed her morality in order to grab a bit of fame, played by Jessica Lange, who was debasing herself in order to grab a bit of fame. Her character, Dwan, was impossibly stupid, used her sexuality to get attention in every frame (including those with King Kong, which is disturbing on several levels, one of them mathematical), and was very anxious to display her body, even when she was the only woman on a shipful of horny guys. Sheesh. It was just shameful. Aside from the eye candy aspect, her primary function in the movie was to be the one who needed to be rescued. She needed to be rescued from a lifeboat in the ocean. She needed to be rescued from the natives who abduct her. She needed to be rescued from King Kong. She needed to be rescued from King Kong again. She needed to be rescued from King Kong again. And, finally, she needed to be rescued from King Kong. For fuck's sake. Jeff Bridges didn't fare much better here, but at least he got to play the hero...even though he didn't do much that would be considered heroic. He did give a bare chested Jessica his shirt, so I guess that counts for something. And the special effects? They were no doubt cutting edge back then, but they look terrible now. The awkward movements of the mechanical hand. The visible effects of shots that were layered in. Ach. What an awful movie. If I hadn't been 3 and a half sheets to the wind, I wouldn't have made it to the end of it, for sure, and I won't be going back again.

20. Demonios tus ojos (Sister of Mine) (2017) Well. I was scrolling through free movies on Amazon and the image of Ivana Baquero in her pink bikini caught both of my eyes, so I thought I would give it a spin. And then I couldn't help thinking that Julio Perillán reminded me of somebody, and it took another twenty minutes before I thought, "Oh, he looks like Chris Pine!" And then it took another ten minutes before I was sure that he wasn't Chirs Pine. And by the time I realized that this was a movie about a guy who wants to fuck his step-sister, it was too late. But let me just say: ewwwww. I'd have to give this one a *, and maybe even a -0...though that pink bikini does still linger in my mind. Also a puzzle: the Spanish title actually translate to Damn Your Eyes, so what's with this Sister of Mine shit? Definitely give this one a skip...though you might want to do a Google image search for Ivana Baquero and pink bikini.

21. Judas and the Black Messiah (2021) ***** Well, it's about time I saw a great movie. This was amazing. I knew a little bit about Huey Newton and Bobby Seale and and Angela Davis and Eldridge Cleaver, but I'm sorry to admit that I'd never heard of Fred Hampton before I watched this movie. And now...well, I want to know a lot more, that's for sure. The fact that he...at the age of 21...was able to organize groups of gang members, poor whites, Puerto Ricans, and Black Panthers in order to fight for justice on the streets of Chicago...well, it is just stunning. I've been meaning to re-read Soul on Ice for a long time, and since I have that on hand I suppose that's where I'll start, but I clearly need to increase my knowledge about the Black Panthers. 

22. The Green Land: Wildlife in the Land of Vikings (2005) *** Happened across this while I was cursing around Pluto TV. Of course they had me at Green Land. And it was a pretty good little documentary, actually. More about the fauna and flora than anything else...if fact, that were very few people, and almost no houses, in this, and that's what I'm most interested in...but still it had some good moments. Also explained that the southwestern edge of Greenland never freezes over completely because of the Gulfstream, which is why most of the 56,000 people who live in Greenland live in that corner. 

23. The Fountainhead (1949) Every once in awhile a bug crawls up my ass and uses its stinger to tap out A-Y-N-R-A-N-D on the side of my large intestine. This time I decided to see if I could get my hands on the movie version of The Foutainhead...and, thanks to the Louisville Free Public Library, I could. I'd seen it before and remembered not liking it very much, but I still wanted to give it a go. I mean, after all...at least it's got some Gary Cooper in it, right?

24. Welcome to Hard Times (1967) **** I read the E. L. Doctorow novel in June of 2011 (between the 19th and the 26th, actually), and shortly thereafter I found out that a movie had been made of the book. I wanted to see it, but it wasn't available at the time, and I forgot about it until I happened to see a listing for it on TCM. So Joe and I sat down to check it out last night and this morning (it's only 1:42 long, but one of us ran out of steam about halfway through and had to go to bed). And...well, it's a little corny at times, for sure, but all in all it was a very good movie, and Peter Fonda was fantastic. And the good news is that if you missed it on TCM, you can now rent it from Amazon for $2. Aside from a rousing good story of good vs. evil, I also found this movie interesting because of the way it subverted Western cliches. The bad guy kicks everybody's ass and burns the town to the ground in the first couple of minutes. The hero is derided as a coward for pretty much the entire film. The Indian is actually a good guy. And the whores don't have hearts of gold, but they're good natured and a lot of fun. What more could you want? I also noticed that the director had an interesting technique of fading from one scene to another throughout the film, which made for a connectivity that straight cuts don't (and, of course, can't) give you. 

25. Because of Winn-Dixie (2005) *** It was Jacqueline's idea to watch this...probably because the gal who play Opal, AnnaSophia Robb, later played Bethany Hamilton in Soul Surfer, which is a real touchstone for Jacqueline. It was a pretty good movie, actually, but I felt that it was marred by some heavy handed stuff...like the candy that "tastes like sorrow." Which was no doubt part of the book as well...I haven't read it, but that's not the kind of stuff that one adds to a movie, I don't think. Anyway...the cast was pretty good, and AnnSophia was really good, and Jacqueline enjoyed it, so we'll count it as a win, right?

26. Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993) *** Happened to see this was listed on TCM and thought (1) it's been awhile since I've seen a Woody Allen movie and (2) I've seen quite a few of Woody's movies...some several times...but I've never seen this one and (3) oh, Alan Alda! So I set the recording device (what the hell do we call that now?) and finally got around to watching it. And you know...it was pretty okay. A bit silly at times, but it was interesting, had a few laughs. It was worth doing. BTW, according to both Wikipedia and IMDb, this movie lost over $2 million.

27. American Pie (1999) ** I didn't really have any desire to watch this movie. I'd heard of it...and had heard about the pie thing...and I thought that that was enough for me. But I was looking through the HBO Max offerings for something light to put on while I put in some time on the stationary bike, saw that this was listed as Leaving Soon, and thought, You know, you really shouldn't judge something on what you've heard. So I started it up. And you know...it wasn't great by any means...and it wasn't what I would call funny by any means ...but you know, it actually did have a few moments. Not that I'd recommend it...and not that I have any intention of watching any of the sequels. But you know. It passed the time.

28. Tom and Jerry (2021) -0 Yowza, this was one of the worst movies I've seen in some time. And just to add insult to injury, the lead role was played by Chloë Grace Moretz, who I loved in Shadow in the Cloud. But this...just a complete mess. Any Tom and Jerry cartoon is much better than this mess.

29. Pearl Harbor (2001) *** Not a great movie by any means...but there were definitely some great moments in it. The Torn Between Two Lovers bit was distracting and tired, but the scenes of the Pearl Harbor attack, Doolittle's Raiders, and that final scene of the sunken Arizona were well worth the price of admission. Also, despite all the negative press I've heard, the movie did okay in terms of bucks: Budget $140 million, Box Office $449.2 million. I wonder why it's taken them so long to getting around to making the sequel?

30. Pearl Harbor Bonus Material ***** Truly excellent stuff in two 45 minute (-ish) documentaries. Watching the first one also made me much more impressed with how much work went into the making of the film...which these bonus things usually do. Even a bad movie takes an awful lot of work, and making a movie like this...well. It's not up there with Dunkirk, but it's in the same vein.

31. Monster Hunter (2020) -0 As with so many movies, about ten minutes in I was thinking, "You know, for a movie that lost $30 million, this is looking pretty good." Well...other than the really stupid opening with the sailing ship zooming across desert sands. The army stuff, though...that was pretty okay. And ten minutes later it got painful, and it just kept getting worse from there. We didn't even have the consolation of getting a sexy version of Milla Jovovich--just a bloody and bruised Milla whose voice sounded like she'd just knocked back a carton of cigarettes. I paid $1.91 to rent this from Redbox, and I didn't even get a nickel's worth of entertainment. Just an hour and a half of running around and fighting monsters.

32. On the Bowery (1956) **** This would have been a Must See for me if not for the fact that it was pretty obvious that some...maybe even many...possibly even all...of the scenes were staged, yet it purports to be a documentary. (Well...that's kind of confusing, actually. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature...but on Wikipedia it's labeled docufiction...and on IMDb it's identified as "Documentary, Drama.") At any rate...the edge of the film was blunted a bit for me because it seemed like it was either a drama with extraordinarily bad acting or a documentary which had been staged, either one of which is less than really good. 

There were several short films included as Bonus Features: 

"Street of Forgotten Men" (1933) 2:29

"Bowery Men's Shelter" (1972) 10:32

"The Perfect Team" (2009) 46:31

"A Walk Through the Bowery" (2009) 11:06

All of them were excellent. In fact, I'd have to say that "Bowery Men's Shelter" actually affected me more profoundly than the main feature. There was one guy in the movie who quoted from several classic works--reciting from John Donne's "No Man is an Island" and the "It is a tale told by an idiot" soliloquy from Macbeth. Reference the latter, after he'd finished his recitation, this guy said, "Meaning when you're dead, you're done, baby! The show's over!" And since this is the 21st century, you can watch "Bowery Men's Shelter" on YouTube right now if you so desire. Here, I'll help: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Abk3eCGvIJ4

Also, since the total running time of these features is actually longer than the feature (70:30), I'm counting it / them as 

33. On the Bowery Bonus Features (1933, 1972, 2009, 2009) *****

Special bonus fact: according to one of the guys in "The Perfect Team," The Bowery is the oldest street in New York City, and it was originally an Indian trail that ran the length of the island.

34. WandaVision (2021) **** I wasn't very happy with the first couple of shows, which I thought were overly cute in a way that did not work at all, but things got a lot more interesting quickly after that, and by the time the season finale was rolling into view I was already starting to go into Jones mode. I hope they are back for a second season...as the extra extra scene implies. But of course that could be a lead-in to a movie, too, couldn't it? At any rate...I hope you've been watching past the credits for the last several installments of this series!

35. Good Times, Wonderful Times (1965) ***** Well, I wasn't all that impressed with my first Lionel Rogosin movie (On the Bowery), but this, my second full lengther, was just astounding. It's a simple premise: Rogosin cuts back and forth between a cocktail party and scenes of war, death, destruction, carnage...concentration camps, Hitler rallies.... Some of the images are startlingly horrific...as bad as anything I've ever seen on screen. It helped a little that the movie was old and less defined than a modern movie, but even so, it was so horrifying that there were a few times when I thought I was going to have to stop watching. And yes, it did indeed fill me with despair... but I felt like there was more than that, too. It's a movie that I wish I could watch with someone else, because it would really be helpful to talk about it. Any takers? You can find the whole thing HERE if you want to take it on...but beware, it is definitely not for the faint of heart. 

36. Good Times, Wonderful Times Bonus Features: Out  (25:40) a shorter film by Lionel Rogosin and Man's Peril (24:16) Kind of a Making Of Good Times, Wonderful Times.  There were several clips of Bertrand Russell included. (There was also a bit in the movie itself, but there were more here.) And of course (me being me) I am now possessed of the desire to see all of Lionel Rogosin's movies. I've ordered a second set from the library, which will include at least two more...maybe more if it includes a short film or two as Bonus Features. Here's hoping. After that, though, I have to look elsewhere, since the LFPL doesn't have any more.

37. Star Trek: Season One (1966) **** Joe's idea...but a good one. As corny and dated as they are at times, there's no denying that this show hits a groove that eluded the other versions. I remembered every single one of these episodes, too...and I'm sure that there are some that I haven't seen since they first aired...when I was 9 or 10 years old. Yowza. Yes, we are going on to Season Two.

38. The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) *** The third time for me on this one...and I'm tempted to push this up to a ****. There are a few things which pull me back from that, but who knows, maybe a fourth viewing will do the trick. One thing I was conscious of while watching this time was how real this made the story of Jesus seem. Comparing it to Jesus Christ Superstar...which I love dearly, by the way...is just ludicrous. Superstar is a sanitized version of the Christ story by comparison. Big respect for Martin Scorsese for what he did with this movie...even if I'm still not sure how I feel about it. But MS went there and stayed there, for sure...and Willem Dafoe, who seems like the most unlikely choice to play Jesus ever...actually did a really superb job. And Harvey Keitel as Judas...and Harry Dean Stanton as Saul / Paul. And David Bowie as Pontius Pilate. Yeah, there is definitely some great stuff here. 

39. Greyhound (2020) **** Hey, Tom Hanks wrote the script for this movie. And it was quite good. I could have used a little more "down time," but so far as keeping a viewer engaged, this one did it for me and then some. Also dovetails nicely into the stuff I'm reading in Churchill's The Hinge of Fate.

40. Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World (2017) ***** I came for the Link Wray, but I got a whole lot more. I am sorry to say that I had no idea that American Indians had been such a large part of rock and roll history. Or that Jimi Hendrix was "Indian" (great-great- grandmother Zenora was a full-blooded Cherokee). Or that "Rumble" was the only instrumental song ever to be banned from radio. This was a great documentary, filled with excellent music. I'm going to be hearing "Come and Get Your Love" in my head for a very long time.

41. Come Back, Africa (1959) *** Another Lionel Rogosin film. And another film which has its heart in the right place, for sure, but...well, to be blunt, it was just awful. All of the negative things about On the Bowery were here in even more extreme form...because in addition to truly terrible acting, most of the actors did not speak English very well, so that was layered on top of the bad acting. It was ostensibly a film about apartheid in South Africa, and I'm sure that it was a very brave film for its time...as the background videos revealed some of the complications. But this is just not worth anyone's time now, I'm sorry to say. 

42. Bonus Features for Come Back Africa: An American in Sophiatown (51:56) and "Lionel Robison Interview" (19:45)...both of which were superior to the film itself. Sorry.

43. Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021) *** I've got to admit that I was pretty excited about seeing this. Four hours later...I'm not so excited. I don't think this improved on the theatrical release in any significant way...and there were some things that were definitely worse. I'd have to say that this is not worth your time...which is all that it cost me. It's most certainly not worth any of your money. And as for the Big Surprise(s) At The End? Not so much.

44. Black Roots (1970) **** It's a very simple movie...just a group of people...most of them, maybe all of them, musicians...talking about being Black in the U.S. of A. The technique of putting the cast against a black screen several times--

--was very effective, and the 

stories these folks told were horrifying and dissettling. It's amazing how horrible Americans have been to Black people throughout our history.

45. Bonus Features for Black Roots:  Bitter Sweet Stories (28:25) *** which is a behind the scenes thing for Black Roots and Have You Seen Drum Recently? (1:14:16) which is a feature-length thing on Drum magazine...which was founded in 1951 and still going today. This was actually a pretty good documentary, but I don't know why it was included with the films of Rogosin, as it didn't really have anything to do with him. In fact, it's kind of racist, in a way, since it seems to be included because its subject is a South African magazine. But I'm sure it was intended as such. I'm a bit sad to say that that looks like it's it for me and Rogosin, since the library doesn't have any more of his films. There is a thing called In Darkest Hollywood on Kanopy which purports to have something to do with Rogosin--albeit "Lonel Rogosin"--so I'll have a look at that, but so far as I can tell the rest of his films have disappeared without a trace.

46. Justice League (2017) **** Re-watched this with the taste of The Snyder Cut fresh in my mouth. And? I liked this version a lot more than TSC. In fact, I think that I liked this movie more than ever before--and it's at least my third time with it. Maybe just the contrast with the tedious and pretentious TSC made me appreciate Joss Whedon's version more. It's not as good as the best Marvel films, for sure, but it does have some great moments. ("Pet Sematary!" being one of them.) 

47. The Fifth Element (1997) **** I have to admit, I've seen this movie several times, but I never knew that Moebius (Jean Giraud) and Jean-Claude Mézières had a hand in designing this thing. Now I like it even more. See what you can learn from watching the dvd extras?

48. Justice League vs. the Fatal Five (2019) **** This was on the Leaving Soon List on HBO Max, so I thought I'd give it a shot. I was expecting the usual Justice League slugfest, but I got a lot more. This was actually leaning more into a Legion of Super-Heroes thing than a Justice League thing, and I love the Legion when Brian Michael Bendis doesn't have anything to do with it. The story really focused on Star Boy, who is quite the delight in that he regularly speaks nonsense and often functions as the guy who just doesn't understand what the hell is going on. This show was a lot harder edged than I expected, too. I mean...Superman even bled a bit! And both the heroes and the villains actually killed people. Lots of people! I'd guess that the death count was at least a couple of dozen. There were also lots of cool cameos, from Two-Face to Poison Ivy to Harlequin. Yep, if you've got HBO Max, you should check this out right quick before it shuffles off the coil.

49. Mr. Mayor: Season One (2021) ** There were a few laughs here and there, and I do like Ted Danson, but this was pretty typical sit-com stuff too much of the time--meaning that characters did things that no human being would ever do because it was "funny." I'm also not much of a Holly Hunter fan, and she had a pretty big part in this thing, so that didn't help. I'd say skip this unless you're really keen on Ted...and even then, close one eye.

50. Godzilla vs. Kong (2021) * If you like movies about giant animals punching each other in the face, then this is the movie for you. If you prefer movies that have plot, characters, and logic, then there's nothing to see here, keep moving. I'm glad that I got to watch it for "free"--via HBO Max--as I'd have been quite put out if I'd actually spent money to see this thing.

51. Old Yeller (1957) **** It's been a very long time since I've seen this movie...like fifty years plus long. But for some reason Joe wanted to watch it, so I sat down with him, thinking I'd get some reading done whilst pretending to watch, just to keep him company, but I got sucked into this right from the get-go. What a great movie this was. A tear-jerker, of course, but not in a cheap way at all. And along the way it also had some good laughs, some implicit commentary on human nature(s), and lots of other stuff. It's amazing how paltry most of the "kid" movies of today are compared to this.

52. In Harm's Way (1965) *** A three hour black and white movie starring John Wayne, so that probably means that this isn't going to be something most people want to see. But it had some moments, and I think it was worth the time...although it's pretty hard to endure Kirk Douglas as a rapist who ends up dying a hero. 

53. Saving Silverman (2001) ** This was pretty bad. I started watching it because it came on while I was trying to find a better placement for my antenna whilst watching "antenna tv," and then I saw that Jack Black was in it, and then I saw the very attractive Amanda Detmer, so I stuck with it even when it was obvious that this was a bad movie. But I kind of wish that I had my two hours back now.

54. Star Trek: Picard (2020) ** So let me get this straight: we're supposed to believe that 68 year old Jonathan Frakes (playing Will Riker) and 65 year old Marina Sirtis (playing Deanna Troi) have a 15 year old child (Lulu Wilson, playing Kestra)? Hmmm. The math doesn't really work on that one, does it? And just to make it worse, this so-called Kestra appears to be even younger than 15...like make 11 or so? Whatever age kids still dress up to play "Indian," anyway...which I'm absolutely certain was never 15. I didn't hate this series, and I thought it was way better than Star Trek: Discovery, but I thought it was way short of good, and the main reason for that was the poor quality of the writing, especially in its over-reliance on astounding coincidences. I don't think I'm even going to bother with Season Two. Unless Sisko from Deep Space 9 is in it. But even then, I'll wait until it comes out on dvd and get it from the library for free.

55. I, Robot (2004) *** It's pretty obvious that this movie was made a few years before the technology to make it look really good existed...so there's this disorienting sense of moving from The Real to what looks like Playstation footage...but if you can get past that...and if you can get past the fact that there is only a loose connection to Isaac Asimov's work...this is a pretty good movie. I like Will Smith, and I think he does a really good job here. Also... yowza, did he beef up for this role or what? Also also, I have a pair of Converse high tops myself....

56. Cherry (2021) ***** I'll confess that it took me awhile...like thirty minutes awhile...to get used to Tom Holland saying "fuck" ...but after that, I slowly began to realize that this was a great movie. It goes from Love to War to Death to Despair and Damage to Addiction to Crime to Prison to an Epilogue that is just astonishing, both in content and in style. Matter of fact, this movie does a lot of really cool things...from the fourth walling to the weird camera shots that really fit what's going on to the odd touches, like banks with bizarre (and honest) names. And all brought to you by Joe and Anthony Russo...the guys who directed the number one box office movie of all time. Yep. But you know...they also directed Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which is still my favorite Marvel movie...hell, my favorite super-hero movie...of all time, so I probably shouldn't be too surprised at what they pulled off here with Cherry. What is surprising, though, is the scores that have been given to this movie: 6.6/10 IMDb, 36% Rotten Tomatoes, 1.5/5 IndieWire. I mean, SERIously...what the fuck were these people watching? And the aforementioned Tom Holland...he was just brilliant. And he's only 24 years old, for fuck's sake. Anyway...brilliant, must-see movie. Worth getting Apple TV+ for in and of itself. 

57. Toy Story 2 (1999) **** Jacqueline is on a Toy Story tear. I told her I'd watch them with her, but she snuck in 1 while I was doing some yard work. But she started 2 up early in the morning, so I caught this one. And? Well, you know...there are some strained moments, for sure, but there are also some really great ones. Here's hoping that I can manage to catch 3, which I believe I more or less saw during a transatlantic flight...and I don't think I've ever seen 4 at all.

58. Fatal Attraction (1987) ** I'll admit that this is compelling stuff, but really...what a horrible movie. There are lots of nits I could pick (day cares do not let strangers pick up kids, for instance), but forget all of that, because this movie isn't worth the effort. The biggest problem here is that it takes mental illness and twists it around to serve a limping plot. I only left it on because I was trying out a new antenna...still trying to bring in The CW so that Joe can watch his super-hero shows without it glitching every minute and a half. Oh, The CW...why can't you live stream from your app? I'd ever pay for it.

59. Superstore Season 6: (2020-2021) **** Sorry to see this show go. It not only gave me regular laughs, it even went into some places that were pretty serious. And great characters, too. Favorite line from the series: "It must have been hard for Jesus, being the only white person in the Middle East."

60. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) ***** Watched it with Joe and Jacqueline. More or less. More Joe than Jacqueline. Joe seemed to get it for the most part. And me? Even after all these years and multiple viewings (not to mention multiple readings of the novel), it still packs one hell of a punch.

61. Exterminate All the Brutes (2021) ***** It's heartbreaking. It's breathtaking. This four part series from HBO is hard to watch, for sure, and there are certainly times when you'll have to look away. But I think it's a must see item, because we are so close to the precipice that we're sending clumps of earth into the abyss. And just because Trump lost in 2020 doesn't mean we've won.

62. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021) **** Excellent series. I'm sad to see that there are no plans for a second season...but that's probably because this is a bridge to the next round of Marvel movies, right? Anyway, this had lots of action, lots of humor, lots of character development, and kept a focus on race problems in America. Yep. Great show.

63. Native Son (1951) * This was an amazingly bad movie, but still noteworthy for one reason: Richard Wright, in his own acting role, plays Bigger Thomas. He also co-wrote the screenplay and all of the dialogue...but you'd never know it, because, if I neglected to mention it, this was an amazingly bad movie. None of the actors was even slightly convincing. In fact, you got the impression that many of them were foreign actors whose voices were dubbed in...which turns out to be the case, actually. And Richard Wright was a great writer, but he was not even close to being a decent actor. And to add to the effect, he was a 43 year old man playing a 20 year old...and you just can't get there from there. 

Well, shit. I don't know what just happened, but I just lost a big chunk of movies. Oh, well. I think I was up to 107 or something like that.

108-ish. The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard (2021) ** Surprisingly, there were a few laughs in this one. A bit too much blood for my taste, but it is what it is. (Joe's choice.)

And then I thought some more about it, and decided, fuck it, I'm done with this. But THEN I looked back at all of the "The Movie I Saw" entries and counted up the hits. It was a pretty big number. So I decided that I was going to keep on keeping on.

109-ish. The White Lotus (2021) I actually wasn't very interested in seeing this at all...and hadn't heard / didn't know anything about it. But it kept popping up on this and that, and I seem to remember seeing that it had gotten some rave-is reviews, so I thought I'd watch the first episode. In short: a bunch of whiny-ass rich white people, for the most part. It reminded me of Schitt's Creek...which I didn't like. I did watch the whole first season of it...and maybe some of the second...but that was mostly because I thought that Annie Murphy was hot. The humor fell flat for me, I did not find Chris Elliott the least bit amusing, and I found the name of the show offensive. Not because of the SHIT thing, though. If it had been titled Shit's Creek I'd have been fine with it. But it's that cutesy-pie, "We're not really saying, shit, see? It's SCHITT" thing. Give me a fucking break. Anyway, as for this The White Lotus episode 1. There were some very nice looking women, which is always a plus. Alexandra Daddario first among them. But the only part of the show that really interested me was as Quinn Mossbacher, played by Fred Hechinger. Quinn seems to be autistic, and I'm always interested in seeing how autistic people are portrayed in movies and television shows. 

And by the end of it...well, I did kind of enjoy watching it, but this seemed to be mostly a story about people destroying other people's lives, both intentionally and not. And the biggest sign of hope, the closing scene, is really just bullshit if you think about it. So...I don't think I'd recommend this unless you just have way too much time on your hands.

Decided to give up on the numbers...at least for 2021.

Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) **** I'd been wanting to re-watch this for some time, but it's one of the few Marvel movies that's not available via Disney+, so I had to wait for it to come on TV. Fortunately, I only had to wait a couple of days. And? Well, it certainly does bear up upon re-watching. Michael Keaton really does a great job as The Vulture. He actually manages to be menacing, and he doesn't do it by going over the top. In fact, he actually does it by going under the top...speaking in a soft voice, saying "friendly" things that he clearly doesn't mean. Yep. And he actually has some viable motivation for his criminal misdeeds. And he's not a one-dimensional bad guy, either. He has a wife and daughter who only know him as a caring dad who provides a good life for his family. And Tom Holland as Spider-Man...well, he's just perfect, isn't he? He brings a humility and everyday loser vibe to this role which actually feels genuine. It probably isn't...most millionaires seem to lack those qualities...but hey, that just means he's a really good actor. And having Tony Stark / Iron Man mentor Peter Parker was just an all-around brilliant move. The only complaint I have about this movie is the incredibly stupid splitting a Staton Island Ferry in half and then pulling it back together. It's just Hollywood bullshit, and I wish that they hadn't succumbed to it. There were literally hundreds of thousands of other choices they could have made here...yet they decided to go with one that was completely beyond the realm of possibility. (Note: ships that are cut in half sink. They do not continue to make forward progress. And by the way, the lights don't stay on, either. Thank you.) I'm now anxious to continue on to Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), and good news: I taped that one from tv, too. Probably up next.

Shang-Chi and the Ten Rings (2021) **** If you're a comic book purist, you're probably not going to like this movie, since it is substantially different from the original Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu. In fact, the name is pretty much the only thing that remains. I haven't read any of the recent Shang-Chi stuff from Marvel, though, so it's possible that it's in line with what has been done to the character in the later stories. But if you're not a purist...then I think you're going to have fun with this movie. The two leads--Simu Liu as Shang-Chi and Awkwafina as his not girlfriend girl friend--are both just charming, the story evokes the feel of a 14th century Chinese novel, and the action sequences are just riveting. It's also nice to see a movie in which you see non-white faces in prominent roles, and in which women are by no means subservient or inferior to men. I liked this movie so much that I'm hoping to catch it again before it leaves the theater. That doesn't happen very often...even when we are not in the midst of a pandemic.

Fatima (2020) ***** Third time around for me on this one...and it is still a great movie. A movie that moves me to tears. A movie that pushes me several steps closer to faith, really. Watched it with a friend who liked it, but didn't like "the implication" that you had to be Catholic to talk to Mary. I told her that I thought you could look it as the people of this area were Catholic, so God spoke to them in a way they could appreciate, but I don't think she was really swayed. 

Kim's Convenience Season 1 (2016) **** This show is so funny. I'd like it even if Simu Liu wasn't so darned cute.

Lucifer Season 6 (2021) * Oh, how the mighty have fallen. It's hard to believe that I once wrote that this was the best comic book adaptation on television and was putting up quotes from the show. I can't even tell you how hard it was for me to sit through the ten episodes of this final (thank God) season. But I would do pretty much anything for my son, and he wanted my company to watch this...so I bit the bullet. Bit it clean through.

The Secret Garden (2020) **** Surely I've seen some version of this movie before...and, in fact, Jacqueline tells me that I've even seen this version before, though I have no memory of it. And surely I've read some version of the book, if not the real book. Yet this is, somehow, the first time that I ever really knew the story. And it's quite a powerful one, really. I was more than a little disturbed at the casual child abuse that was a regular part of the story, but I guess that did heighten the pay-off at the end. Still.... But yes, it's certainly worth watching. I may even watch one of the older versions to see if any of them retain the emotional impact without the abuse. (Hey, you can always hope, right?)

Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021) -0 Hard to believe that actors who have (occasionally) done some good stuff...Tom Hardy, Woody Harrelson, Michelle Williams...would appear in a piece of shit like this. The first Venom movie was bad enough, but this is much, much worse. 

What If? (2021) ** Sorry to say that this really wasn't my cup of tea. I was impressed that they got so many of the "real" actors to do voices, but I thought the stories were pretty boring, actually...just minor riffs on what was already established in the Marvel Universe. Of course, the whole idea of What If? is kind of stupid to me, as (1) all stories are What Ifs and (2) in comic books, this kind of thing really just means that the writers are willing to take chances that they'd never to in their "real" stories. So...well, there you have it. Glad I didn't have to pay for it. So to speak.

Evil Season Two (2021) *** The Evil slowly became more obviously Evil rather than trickery as the season proceeded, and I think that was to the detriment of the show. What was a taut psychological thriller now stands poised on the edge of becoming simply a horror show with real devils and demons, etc. A shame. https://songsofinnocenceampexperience.blogspot.com/2021/10/again-evil.html

The Many Saints of Newark (2021) *** I had no intention of watching this movie. I've never seen an episode of The Sopranos, I do not like gangster movies, and I knew nothing about this movie. But it did have "saints" in the title, and I do like saints. So I thought I'd watch a few minutes. Ended up watching the whole thing. I found it very confusing at times. It took me forever to figure out that Ray Liotta was playing two different characters, for instance. (And neither Wikipedia or IMDb were helpful with this, as neither of them list two character names for Liotta in this movie. What's up with that?) But all in all I thought this was a good, compelling movie. There was one torture scene which I found to be gross and unnecessary, but you can see it coming a long way off, so I'd suggest just looking away for the few seconds that it takes for this thing to happen if you're like me. I definitely would un-see it if I could. But even with that, I plan on watching the movie again. And then I very well might start watching The Sopranos and see if I've missed anything there. Details as they happen.

No Time to Die (2021) ** I don't have the energy to say what was wrong with this movie right now, so I'll just focus on the only two things that they got right: the incredibly sexy Ana Celia de Armas Caso and the incomparable Léa Seydoux...both of whom are absolutely wasted here, but at least they brightened up the screen a bit. Everything else is this movie was pretty much shit.

Ted Lasso Season One (2020) **** Didn't have any interest in this show at all. For one thing, I thought the name was just stupid, a case of trying way too hard to be cute. But a Facebook friend sang its praises, so I gave it a try. Yep. Ran through Season One pretty lickety split and am working on Season Two even as we speak (so to speak). Also have recommended it to some friends, two of whom took me up on it and liked it, and one of whom liked it so much that he finished both seasons (thus overtaking me by quite a bit). Yep. Great show. Great soundtrack, too, btw.

Landscape in the Mist (1988) **** A puzzling, disturbing movie which follows two young kids as they wander towards Germany, ostensibly in search of their father, whom they've never seen before. The image of the giant hand being pulled out of the water alone is worth the price of admission, I think.

This is only the second Angelopoulos movie I've ever seen, and I'd say it wasn't as good as Ulysses' Gaze, but it was definitely interesting. It was the kind of movie that makes you wish you had somebody to watch it with so you could talk about some things. Not necessarily cosmic stuff, just...what's up with that hand coming out of the water, for instance. Or why were all those people so transfixed by the snow? Unfortunately, there is no one in my life who would want to sit down and watch a two hour Greek movie about two kids wandering from Greece to the German border. It's times like this that I really miss Clare. She'd have been game for this.

Joe Bell (2021) ***** One of the saddest movies I've ever seen...and one I would recommend that everyone see. It's the story of a man who is walking across America to draw attention to the evils of bullying. His son, who was gay, was mercilessly bullied at school, and no one in the administration would do anything to help him. In fact, the principal was much more interested in protecting the bullies than in helping the victim. One of the twists here is that the father, Joe Bell, is kind of an asshole, and he certainly does not give his son the kind of love and support that he needs. One of the casting surprises here is that Gary Sinise appears in a pretty small role, that of Sheriff Westin, one of the people that Joe Bell runs into along his journey. Don't want to say any more about this, but it's definitely a must see, and Mark Wahlberg did a great job.

Dune (2021) I'm pretty sure that this was a good movie, but it's hard to tell...because I watched it with two people who just would not stop talking the entire time. Sheesh. I'll give it a couple of days then have another go at it when I'm by myself...which isn't very often these days, so it might be awhile. I might even go to the theater to REALly see it...I get the feeling that it'd be worth it.

Lansky (2021) **** Got shitty reviews, bombed at the box office, and I almost passed on it because I thought it was just another gangster movie. But Harvey Keitel, you know? So I gave it a try. Almost got it from Redbox...then saw that they were SELLing it for $1.99 (Not A Typo! Not An Imaginary Price Point!), but then found out that Amazon had it streaming for free (for Prime People). And I don't know what those critics were talking about, man. This was a good movie, with some truly touching moments and a superb ending. Roger Ebert (God rest his soul) .com can eat it, man.

Stillwater (2021) *** I don't know what I was expecting from this movie...but it wasn't what I thought it would be. It was actually a pretty low-key story in which Matt Damon plays a fellow who goes to France to visit his daughter, who is in jail. He sticks around and ends up developing a relationship with a French actress and her daughter. And it all plays out in a pretty believable way. Damon actually reminds me a lot of Mark Wahlberg (especially the Joe Bell Mark Wahlberg) here. He plays it pretty low key, pretty country, and in the only fight in the movie he gets the shit kicked out of him. So it's not the usual Matt Damon kind of role, to be sure. Vast swathes of the movie are in French, so if you don't like to read movies, this isn't for you, but I found it touching and most definitely worth seeing.

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017) *** Fun movie. I think this is the third time I've seen it. Still works.

The Vast of Night (2019) *** #1🌞, who isn't a very big science fiction fan, told me that he liked this movie, so I had a look at it. And it was interesting, for sure. I like the slow burn and anticlimactic finale approach...because it defeats the expectations of cliche. I found the lead guy (Jake Horowitz as Everett) very annoying...almost to the point where I didn't want to watch the movie to the end...but the lead gal, Sierra McCormick as Fay Crocker, kind of made up for it by being charming and fresh and believable. The movie was technically interesting as well, with some very long tracking shots that I could not figure out, so had to go online to see how it was done. Also the "yesteryear" trappings were quite pleasing. I did get a little bit confused at the end...just in terms of what was happening...but to be honest, I didn't feel compelled to go back and figure it out. So...worth seeing, but not necessary.

Ted Lasso Season Two (2021) *** I really liked Season One of this show and recommended it left and right. Season Two started bogging down, however, and really hit the skids with the ridiculous to the point of unwatchable 9th episode (19th overall) "Beard After Hour," which was just ridiculous and awful. I stopped watching it about 3/4ths of the way through and it was weeks before I finally decided to go ahead and finish it off. 

Eternals (2021) *** There's a decent joke to be made reference the running time of this movie, but I'm not going to do it. As for the rest, it was a sub-par Marvel movie, I'm sorry to say. Sorry because this is the first Marvel to be based on a solo Jack Kirby work. I wonder if being more familiar with the source material would have helped. I kind of doubt it, but I'm hoping I can clear some reading space to hit the original run. And maybe the Gaiman run as well. The first (of two) extra scenes opened up some serious room for long yardage in the Marvel Universe if you know your trolls. I did get kind of excited about that. And there were some moments of humor along the way which I liked. But for the most part there was just too much fighting Deviants, which I found to be pretty boring. 

Evangelion Death(True)² (1997) * I love Evangelion immensely, which is why I clicked on this when I saw it listed on Netflix. The only other Evangelion to be had there was the series and the two 1997 movies, all of which I have seen...and intend to rewatch at some point, but this time around I was looking for something new. Well, it didn't take long to realize that that wasn't what I was going to get here. I have no idea why this "movie" was released. So far as I can tell, it's just a series of clips from the series...and maybe from at least one of the post-series 1997 movies, I'm not sure. But there is no way that this thing could make any sense to someone who hadn't seen the series. There's no continuity at all. And I can't imagine why someone who'd seen the series would want to watch this, either. Unless maybe they're like me, and just feel compelled (in an OCD / AR way) to Watch It All. My advice would be to skip this one, though. It will add nothing positive to your Evangelion experience.

Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone (2007 / 2009 US) ****, on the other hand, was a very interesting re-take of the series. I remember said series well enough to know that vast portions of the original episodes were retained here, but not well enough to recognize the new parts that were added in. Fortunately, Wikipedia remembers everything, so it told me that this movie (the first of four in the Rebuild) covered episodes 1 through 6 and added in our first glimpse of Lilith (and implied that the reason the Angels were attacking was to retrieve Lilith...which was not clear at this point in the series itself) and a scene if Kaworu on the moon. ANYway...I really enjoyed watching this, and am now going to guzzle down the other three movies in the Rebuild. (Which are on Amazon...and I'm getting ready to cut my last tie--Prime Video--with them in the near future. It was paid in advance, otherwise I would have cut that tie long ago. I have to admit, though, that while I've managed quite well without Amazon for my other stuff, I actually kind of dread losing Prime Video. But since they've proven that they don't give a gram of shit about my credit card's security, I don't want to stay with them.)

Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance (2009 / 2011 US) **** Pretty close to a must-see, but since it's probably incomprehensible without some previous Evangelion experience, and since the Giant Robot Genre isn't for everybody, I guess it's just a 4. I didn't remember a lot of this one...which makes sense, as my Wikipedia friends tell me that this movie too stuff from Episodes 8 - 12, but also took material from Episodes 18, 19, and other material up through Episode 23. I actually found several of the scenes in this movie shocking in terms of the drama. And was surprised that there were several scenes of female nudity...usually for humor. And believe it or not, they actually were pretty funny. Anyway...great movie. On to #3!

Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo (20212 / 2016 US) *** Um...what? There are several times in this movie wherein Shinji either says, "I don't know what's happening" or asks, "What's going on?" I felt the same way. From the first few minutes on until the end, this was a very confusing movie. Characters act in ways that seem contrary to their previously manifested personalities. The city which sat above NERV is gone. The EVAs are now seen as enemies. Eventually a couple of things are revealed, one of which is that 14 years have passed since the previous movie. Hmm. No 14 Years Later at the top to give us a clue there? Anyway...it was interesting, but I felt that the momentum gained in the second Rebuilt movie was lost here. So we'll have to see what gives in the fourth and final movie. Which I'll probably start watching any minute now, so at least this episode didn't take the wind out of my sails.

Stalker (1979) *** I was reading a book of interviews with director Theo Angelopoulos and he made referecnce to Stalker as being either one of the or the best Andrei Tarkovsky movie, so I wanted to check it out. Then I was hanging out with #1🌞 & 👩 and there was a propose a movie and we'll watch trailers and decide proposal, and she picked a comedy then withdrew it when the trailer looked bad, he chose a Nicholas Cage movie and she said no because there was harm to an animal in the trailer, so Stalker it was. We watched the first hour that night, then it took us a few weeks before we finished it off (2:41:53 running time). It wasn't exactly action packed, but I found it pretty interesting, as did #1, and we sat and talked about it for a good half hour after it was over...even though it was already well past our bedtimes. I thought the movie was essentially a grown up version of The Wizard of Oz, with the Stalker leading two other men into a dangerous world which promised, in a room at the end of the journey, to fulfill their dreams before they returned to their regular (and black and white, by the way) lives. But it was more than that, too, as the Stalker was not the pre-eminent tough guy that you'd expect in this position. In fact, at the end of the movie he cries because he doesn't think it's possible for him to lead other people to fulfillment...and refuses to take his wife to The Room for fear that she would be disappointed as well...because he knows that that would cause him to lose all his hope and faith in the world. #1 actually said that he would like to watch it again someday, which made me really happy: I don't know anyone else who would have sat with me and watched it even once, much less been up for another go. So now I'm going to see if I can get him to watch Ulysses's Gaze (directed by the aforementioned Angelopoulos), as it's one of my all-time favorite movies...and maybe at least one of the Solaris movies--obviously the Tarkovsky one. Time (and I) will tell how that turns out.

Get Back (2021) **** I thought this was great stuff...probably the greatest 8 hour movie ever made. (Come to think of it....) But (1) I love The Beatles immensely, (2) I am fascinated by the songwriting process, and (3) I often like movies which other people cannot stand. (No brag, just fact.) So for me, watching "Get Back" go from a small piece Paul McCartney threw out whilst jamming to one of the classic Beatles rockers was just pure joy. But in that process, I'd estimate that we heard parts of that song around fifty times, and I would think that for some people that would just be excruciating. So be ye forewarned. BTW, I felt sorry for the two young cops at the end. They were clearer just young lads trying to do their duty, not wanting to be the villains of this piece.

Foundation Season One (2021) **** Once I got over my "It's Not Asimov!" thing, I really enjoyed this show. I thought the final episode was a bit heavy handed, but it only bothered me a little bit... about a *'s worth, I'd say. And I am anxious to see Season Two, hoping that that happens.

Hanna Season 3 (2021) **** Only six episodes this season, which is kind of a bummer, but only because this show was soooooooo good. And according to logic and scuttlebutt, this is the last season for Hanna. And on top of that, my Amazon Prime membership is about to run out, and I'm not going to be renewing it, so I won't even be able to do a re-watch. Bad news all around. But if you are an Amazon Prime guy or gal, then you should definitely check this show out. It's also worth your time to check out the 2011 movie. The show re-covers the same ground, but the movie Hanna is played by Saoirse Ronan, and everything she does it worth watching, IMHO.

Injustice (2021) **** This was a truly excellent animated movie. A notch down from the comic book series it was based on, but really that's more due to the art (which was actually pretty shitty here) rather than the story (even though they did make a few major departures from the source material). Joe watched this with me, and he was so aghast about what was happening at times--exclaiming, "Oh, no!" that I thought I was going to have to turn it off and watch it on my own. But he wanted to hang in there, and I told him that it was based on super-heroes from another Earth, not our own, which he accepted joyfully. But as for the Oh No-s...there are some major death scenes here. And great gouts of blood at times, too. No guts, I'm glad to say. I almost bought this when I saw in on sale at Target, but I decided that it would probably come to HBO Max in the near future, and held off. When I saw it at Redbox, though, I could wait no longer. And I'm glad I didn't. This was well worth the $2 rental. And oh, big surprise: there are some genuinely funny moments in this movie as well...most of them having to do with Harley Quinn.

The Wind Rises (2013) **** I've been reading Ian W. Toll's Pacific Crucible (doubleplusgood) and there was a reference to oxen pulling newly constructed Japanese fighter planes to the airport because there was no equipment to do the job. I wanted to see a picture of that, so i Googled, and up came a reference to The Wind Rises. It said that there was a scene in the (animated) movie with oxen pulling a fighter, and the writer wanted to know if that really happened. So I decided to watch the movie. As I watched, I realized that I had seen at least part of it before...but as the movie went on it no longer looked familiar, so I can only guess that I didn't watch the whole thing. Don't know why that would have happened, because it was a truly excellent piece of work. Probably no need to say that if you know that Hayao Miyazaki was the director. I've seen most of his movies, and every one of them has been at least excellent. 

Invasion Season One (2021) *** This series got almost nothing but pans online, but I enjoyed it pretty immensely...although I have to admit that the final episode (#10) left me puzzled, and I had to go online to see if anybody Out There had an explanation for several things therein, including the final scene. They did, and it sounded reasonable, so now I'm thinking there might actually be a second season. Well...maybe. As I said, it didn't win much popularity beyond me so far as I can discern.

Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) *** or ****, not sure. I'll probably end up seeing it again, and maybe that will help me to decide. It's almost impossible to talk about this movie without spoiling stuff, so let's just leave it at saying that if you're a pretty serious Marvel fan, you'll do several gasps during the course of this movie. Because it is stuffed with more...stuff...than a Christmas turkey. Which might be the problem. Remember in Spider-Man 3 with Tobey Maguire how things just seemed to be straining the plot seams? Well, that was nothing compared to S-M:NWY. But it was handled with more aplomb, so at the very least this movie was worth seeing. It also seems to be the first genuine HIT of the pandemic era. The theater I was in was almost full...except for the front two rows, where I sat. The biggest problem with the movie is that the entire plot rests on the idea that Dr. Strange fucked up a spell because he was distracted. That seems very unlikely. But if you swallow that down, the rest of it works pretty well. (Although I also couldn't help wondering why he or Wong didn't just use magic to clear all of the ice and snow out of his home.)

U.S.S. Indianapolis: Men of Courage (2016) ** This was a pretty bad movie. Nicholas Cage was way out of his element, the special effects were pretty awful, and the depiction of Black sailors was shocking--especially as this film was directed by Mario Van Peebles. (Example 1: a Black sailor sees a white sailor who had given him some shit previously, and his friend tells him he should go beat up that "cracker." Which he proceeds to do, and then pulls a knife during the fight. Example 2: a white sailor (possibly the same one contained in Example 1, but it was hard to recognize these characters at times) is locked in a cell in the hold of the ship when it begins to sink. As the water pours in he begs for someone to help him. Two black sailors (possibly the same etc.) see him, then leave him there to die. And the shark stuff...well. Enough is enough. Though there was a scene near the end (no spoilers) after the trial when two characters meet in a garden and talk for about a minute...and it was very moving. But that's all. So save yourself a couple of hours and fast forward to the end of the courtroom scene, then watch for sixty seconds or so. You'll know when to stop. 

P.S. This moving lost at least $38 million. Which is not always a salient factor, obviously, but in this case...yep.

The Matrix Resurrections (2021) *** A very interesting movie, actually. The grand finale (which took about 1/3rd of the playing time) was pretty much back to formulaic, but before that it was pretty cool meta-narrative. 

The Wheel of Time Season One (2021) **** Here's the highest compliment of all: watching this actually made me want to re-read the series--which I pooped out on halfway through the third book. Very well done, and I'm seriously looking forward to a second season...even if it is coming to us courtesy of Amafuckuszon.

Northern Exposure Season One (1990) *** I was pretty disappointed in this series through the course of the first disc (which included episodes 1 - 4). The lead characters seemed to chew the scenery every time they appeared...which was most of the time...and I was really annoyed by Rob Morrow's poor man's Woody Allen routine. But things got a lot more interesting with the first episode (5) on the second disc, wherein there were a couple of dream sequences that pushed the story in the general direction of surrealism. Nothing too heavy, but definitely some much needed relief from the stark realism of the Cicely, Alaska, setting. And then in Episode 6 they went for the whole hog: a fantasy sequence which was also a parody of the first Indiana Jones movie. Then another which was a parody of Midnight Cowboy. Then finally a little generic Western thing. Also, there were multiple invocations of Woody Allen...because Ed had decided to write a movie and Woody was something of a hero to him, though Joel also commented on Woody--with no irony whatsoever. Episode 7 was back to normal (-ish), but the season ended (8) with the best show of all, my favorite part of which involved Chris (the DJ) dreaming that he got into an 18-wheeler with a newly arrived friend from Portland, only to find that Carl Jung was driving the truck. Oh, yeah. (And btw, according to Wikipedia,  _TV Guide ranked this episode number 65 on its '100 Greatest Episodes of All Time' list." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Northern_Exposure_episodes#Season_1_(1990)) So there's that.

Also, this episode featured Adam Arkin (Alan's son) in a rather strange role, and he reminded me mightily of Nicholas Cage both in looks and sound. So I Googled Adam Arkin and Nicholas Cage and

the first hit was Pig (2021), which stars...Nicholas Cage and Adam Arkin. I then fell down that rabbit hole for a minute and found an article entitled "Of Cage and “Pig” and the “Northern Exposure” connection — Adam Arkin" by Roger Moore (and dated July 20, 2021, so obviously published posthumously) which not makes reference to that episode of Northern Exposure, but also shows in picture and word that the Nicholas Cage character in Pig is based on the Adam Arkin character in "Aurora Borealis: A Fairy Tale for Grown-Ups." Right down to the hairy face, blue toboggan, and green field jacket. Plus more. (HERE) So that was kind of weird.

At any rate...I'm looking forward to Season Two of the show now, and hope that it arrives soon. (Currently 4 of 4 on the holds list, so it could be awhile. DAMN the library for cutting out the fines for late returns!)

Blue Jasmine (2013) *** I saw this at the library and picked it up, thinking that I'd seen it before and not liked it (always wondering if I really "got" things the first time, hence not averse to re-watching things I "didn't like"), but after watching a bit I was pretty sure I'd missed this one. Which surprised me, as I don't miss too many of Woody Allens movies...or at least I thought I didn't. Might have to d a run down some day to check on that. Anyway...this was an interesting movie about the dissolution of a woman (Jasmine, played by Cate Blanchett). She's obnoxious and self-absorbed, but you still end up feeling sorry for her and wish that she would catch a break. You also get a really grim view of men from this movie based on the experiences that Jasmine and her sister, Ginger, have with them. Sexual harassment, cheating, physical stuff just short of actual abuse. And the women I've known could attest to the veracity of that kind of experience. In fact, of the four most important female relationships in my life, three of them had previously been raped. I guess that's something to keep in mind when I start reflecting on my relationships and feel sorry for myself for how shitty women have treated me. After all, only one of them was physically abusive, and though it was distressing, I wasn't actually injured by it. All in all, I'm glad to be done with romantic relationships, and I guess this movie just kind of reasserted that. Though there was actually a happy ending for one of the characters. Or at least the potential for a happy ending. That's something.

The Last Duel (2021) * How much did I hate this movie? I'll tell you this: as of this writing, it is 6:18pm on New Year's Eve, and I am determined to watch another movie before midnight so that this won't be the last movie I see this year. For one thing, not only is there a very vivid rape scene which horrified me and made me think less of an actor I'd formerly liked quite a bit, but they showed that scene twice. Because this is one of those He Said, He Said, She Said movies, but still...showing a rape scene twice? And there was no discernible difference between the two, so you can't even say that the purpose was to show how the different characters saw things. Nope. It was a brutal, vicious movie. Add to that that about 3/4ths of the way through I had a thought: every male character is this movie is disgusting. Not just bad, disgusting. And another thought followed immediately: this was not written by a man. I checked: the writing credit was given to Nicole Holofcenerm Ben Affleck, & Matt Damon. So I was 7/8ths right. Besides, Ms. Hologcenerm was listed first, so presumably she was the primary architect of this misandrist screed. If you value your time and money, don't waste either one of them on this deplorable piece of shit.

And it's Kim's Convenience Season 2 (2017) **** to the rescue. I didn't even realize that Joe and I were close to the end of Season 2. But this is a much more fitting ending to my movie viewing for 2021, for sure.

Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time (2021) According to Wikipedia, this one made almost $93 at the box office...which is pretty amazing on several counts. First, that's more than any of the other Rebuild movies ($20, $44, and $67 million respectively). Secondly, it's the first of the movies released in Japan and the US at the same time. Third, it was released 8 March 2021 in Japan and 13 August 2021 in the US, so while the theaters were still not fully open because of the pandemic. I was also surprised that this final Rebuild movie had been released so recently...for one thing because I literally heard nothing about it coming out.