Conclave (2024)

Jack and I really liked this story about choosing a new Pope in the Vatican. It's well described as a thriller and is on many Oscar short lists. Ralph Fiennes is very good as the dean of cardinals, as are Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, and many more. Isabella Rossellini is possibly the only woman with lines––this movie fails the Bechdel test. To pass, a movie must feature (1) two named female characters (2) that talk with each other (3) about anything other than a man/men. Oh well, I can't speak for the Catholic church.

Director Edward Berger works from Peter Straughan's screenplay based on the 2016 novel by Robert Harris. I'm streaming the tense soundtrack by Volker Bertelmann (also known as Hauschka) on Apple Music as I type.

Shout out to the magnificent photography by Stéphane Fontaine, editing by Nick Emerson, and production design by Suzie Davies, particularly the set dressing in the dormitory.

Fiennes was last blogged for The Menu, Tucci for Beauty and the Beast, Lithgow for Killers of the Flower Moon, Rossellini for Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, Straughan for Our Brand Is Crisis, Bertelmann for Jules, Fontaine for Jackie, Emerson for Sky Ladder: The Art of Cai Guo-Qiang, and Davies for Mr. Turner. Berger may be best known for All Quiet on the Western Front, which, as noted in that blog post, I couldn't watch.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are burning the white smoke with a 93% average and its audiences aren't far behind at 86. We rented it from Apple TV on December 3, but apparently now it's for sale for the same price on that platform and available on Peacock with a subscription.

Saturday Night (2024)

We thoroughly enjoyed this dramatization, in real time, of 90 minutes before the first episode of Saturday Night Live in October 1975. Gabriel La Belle is an adorable Lorne Michaels and has sweet chemistry with Rachel Sennott, who plays his then-wife Rosie Shuster. For those who don't know, Michaels has been producing SNL since that first show and Shuster was a writer on it for the first thirteen years.

The enormous cast features Cory Michael Smith as Chevy Chase, Lamorne Morris as Garrett Morris (no relation, although Lamorne used to say there was when he was a kid), Nicholas Braun as both Jim Henson and Andy Kaufman (the copious trivia tells me that Braun was tapped to play the second role of Kaufman after another actor had to drop out), Cooper Hoffman as executive producer Dick Ebersol, Michael Rhys as George Carlin, Tommy Dewey as Michael O'Donoghue, Willem Dafoe as network exec Dave Tebet, and J.K. Simmons as Milton Berle in a scene that was apparently taken from a much later event.

Jason Reitman, whose late father Ivan directed movies starring many of the SNL Not Ready for Prime Time Players, keeps the action tense as we get closer and closer to 11:30. He co-wrote the script with Gil Kenan and they apparently shot many versions––following different characters and editing them together later. Shout out to editors Nathan Orloff and Shane Reid.

Jon Batiste's original (and adapted from traditional SNL riffs) soundtrack can be streamed on Apple Music. He recorded the score live on the soundstage with several original SNL musicians and appears on screen as Billy Preston playing Nothing from Nothing, which is among the many songs to be heard. Another is musician Naomi McPherson performing beautifully At Seventeen as Janis Ian.

After we watched the movie we watched that premiere episode with our subscription to Peacock. Not every sketch holds up but, hey, they can't all be winners. There have been 978 episodes, including one airing tonight!

LaBelle was last blogged for The Fabelmans, Sennott for Bottoms, Lamorne Morris for Game Night (before he was so good in sixteen episodes of Woke and seven of Fargo), Braun for Zola, Hoffman for Licorice Pizza, Rhys for It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Dafoe for Kinds of Kindness, Simmons for Being the Ricardos, Reitman for The Front Runner, and Batiste for acting in The Color Purple and for scoring Soul.

Smith played one of Julianne Moore's character's children in May December and I particularly liked Dewey in 44 episodes of Casual, among his dozens of credits. Kenan is new to me, as is Reid, and Orloff co-edited Plan B

Rotten Tomatoes' critics aren't quite ready for prime time, averaging 78%, while its audiences are more so at 84. We rented it on December 7 from Apple TV.

Megalopolis (2024)

Oof. I, for one, really wanted to love director/writer Francis Ford Coppola's lifelong dream project about a dystopian future American city but Jack and I found it a self-indulgent mess, albeit with beautiful production design and cinematography. The talented cast, headed by Adam Driver and Giancarlo Esposito, works hard to make something of Coppola's disconnected script about the rivalry between Cesar [sic] and Cicero for control of "New Rome," representing New York with flying cars, etc. 

Our favorite character was Aubrey Plaza's reporter named Wow Platinum, played with her reliable snark and cunning. My least favorite character was Nathalie Emmanuel's Julia Cicero, daughter of Esposito's character, who is inexplicably in love with and protective of her father's rival, despite his having no redeeming qualities. Hundreds of other actors, including Shia LaBeouf, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne, Kathryn Hunter, Coppola's sister Talia Shire, her son Jason Schwartzman, and Dustin Hoffman, do what they can under the circumstances .

Osvaldo Golijov's majestic soundtrack can be streamed on Apple Music.

At first we were captivated by the aforementioned production design by Beth Mickle and Bradley Rubin and photography by Mihai Malaimare Jr. As an acrophobe, I noticed how many scenes involved heights and scaffolding. I thought of Batman's Gotham City, Blade Runner, and finally Babylon, which was worse than this by far. We enjoyed shots of (or were they computer-generated?) the Chrysler building, a circus sequence, and an antique subway car with wicker benches, which kept us entertained from time to time but... 

...at some point during its 2:18 running time I wondered if we should just turn it off, but Jack reminded me we had paid $19.99 to rent it so we should keep going!

My friend in Los Angeles, who knows a lot about movies, said "the story was so convoluted and characters so underdeveloped that it was hard to care about any of them," and that two groups of people walked out of the theatre before it was over. 

Coppola and Golijov were last blogged for Tetro, Driver for Ferrari, Esposito for Okja (despite dozens of TV and other credits since then), Plaza for My Old Ass, LaBeouf for Pieces of a Woman, Voight for Four Christmases, Fishburne for Ant-Man and the Wasp (after which he was briefly noted for Death to 2020 and Death to 2021 and not mentioned for 89 episodes of Black-ish), Hunter for The Tragedy of Macbeth (and not mentioned as the diminutive madam in Poor Things), Schwartzman for Quiz Lady, Hoffman for The Meyerowitz Stories, and Malaimare for Jojo Rabbit.

Emmanuel has a number of credits, including 38 episodes of Game of Thrones, which I did not watch. Shire is best known for the Godfather and Rocky franchises and has dozens of other credits–we saw her most recently in two episodes of Grace and Frankie and one of Abbott Elementary. Mickle has worked on several movies I've liked, including Sugar, It's Kind of a Funny Story, and Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, and has been nominated by her peers in the Art Directors Guild for her work on Drive and more. Rubin designed three other features and five episodes of the pirate comedy Our Flag Means Death.

Rotten Tomatoes critics and audiences are fleeing for the suburbs with averages of 46 and 35%. We rented it on Apple TV on November 29.

My Old Ass (2024)

We correctly assumed we'd like this dramedy a lot since Aubrey Plaza is in it, playing the 39 year old version of 18 year old Elliott tripping on mushrooms. Maisy Stella, 21 this month, has more screen time than Plaza but she's great and has good chemistry with Plaza as well as with Percy Hynes White. The small cast also includes Maddie Ziegler as Elliott's best friend Ruthie and Maria Dizzia as Elliott's mother.

Writer/director Megan Park's second feature is good fun and was shot in Muskoka, Ontario in Park's native Canada.

The score is by Jaco Caraco and Tyler Hilton with a few songs listed here, including Stella singing One Less Lonely Girl. I could not find a video of her singing it that wasn't on TikTok–I don't have an account–but I think I liked hearing it at the time.

Plaza was last blogged for Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates (which I posted eight years after its release), Ziegler for The Book of Henry, Dizzia for Funny Pages, and Hilton for Larry Crowne.

Stella is a Canadian-born singer who appeared in 119 episodes of Nashville, has made a number of videos, performs with her sister Lennon, and has published a children's book. White, also Canadian, is now 23 and has been acting since age two. He played Xavier in eight episodes of Wednesday. This is Caraco's second feature.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences of all ages are averaging a healthy 90 and 89%. We streamed it on Prime with our subscription November 13.

Woman of the Hour (2023)

Not for the faint of heart, Anna Kendrick's directorial debut is based on the true story of an actress who appeared on the long running reality show The Dating Game in 1978, and picked a charming serial killer as her date. We thought it was well done. Kendrick stars as Sheryl, with Daniel Zovatto as the murderer Rodney and Tony Hale as the callow TV host, among others. Several beautiful women play Rodney's targets and the final one, a teenager played by Autumn Best, has the most to do.

Kendrick, who also produced, natch, works from a script by Ian McDonald, and the score by Dan Romer and Mike Tuccillo can be streamed on Apple Music. Seven songs are listed here, including Laura Nyro's Lonely Woman.

I noticed that the captions spelled Kendricks' character's name as Cheryl, but whenever it was printed in the actual movie it was spelled Sheryl. Apparently the real person's name was Cheryl Bradshaw but in the movie her name was Sheryl. That's not the first time the captions have it wrong, nor will it be the last. Here's some trivia about the real Cheryl and the movie.

Kendrick was last blogged for acting in Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates (as was Aubrey Plaza in today's other post), Hale for Happythankyoumoreplease (in the 14 years since then he's had a ton of work but no leading roles), and Romer for A Chiara. I don't remember seeing Zovatto in Laggies nor Lady Bird, among his two dozen credits, but he was there. Best makes her feature debut. She is "differently limbed," which in this case means she has only a thumb on her left hand, but that's not mentioned. This is McDonald's second feature screenplay and Tuccillo has scored three before this–one shared with Romer, one shared with someone else, and one on his own.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are more timely at 91% than its audiences at 67. We watched it on Netflix November 26. 

Kendrick donated all of her pay to RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) and the National Center for Victims of Violent Crime. So, if you do see it, you'll be making a donation.

Kinds of Kindness (2024)

This three-part anthology with the same actors playing unrelated parts left me saying "Ridiculous" and Jack saying "Hard to like." A one line description might include the words control, suspicion, cult, sex, violence, and other abuse. The stars include Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Willem Dafoe, Hong Chau, and Margaret Qualley.

Some were eager to see it because of the previous collaboration of Stone, Dafoe, and director/co-writer Yorgos Lanthimos in Poor Things, which won Oscars for Stone and the makeup and hair team and nominations for directing, music, and best picture.

Efthimis Filippou co-wrote the script with Lanthimos. Each chapter has the letters R.M.F. in its title, and imdb lists Yorgos Stefanakos, a Greek notary public, as playing the role of R.M.F. I did jot down while watching and groaning that I thought the middle chapter was the worst.

Trippy music by Jerskin Fendrix can be streamed on Apple Music and likely elsewhere. Imdb also has some interesting trivia. 

Stone, Dafoe, Lanthimos, and Fendrix were last blogged for Poor Things, Plemons for Killers of the Flower Moon, Chau for Showing Up, Qualley for Drive-Away Dolls, and Filippou was Oscar-nominated for The Lobster.

Rotten Tomatoes critics, averaging 71%, are much kinder than its audiences at 48. We groaned at it on Hulu on November 4.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024)

Jack and I liked this sequel to the 1998 fantasy dark comedy, with original cast members Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, and Catherine O'Hara–playing the same roles but older–joined by Jenna Ortega, Justin Theroux, and Monica Bellucci, among others. The excellent special effects have evolved in the passing decades.

Tim Burton once again directs from a screenplay by new writers Alfred Gough & Miles Millar (story by Gough & Millar and Seth Grahame-Smith).

I've been a big fan of composer Danny Elfman since the mid 80s and have several of his soundtracks in my music library. Yeah, I'm old. I went from vinyl to cassettes to CDs to mp3s and, although I am streaming this latest soundtrack on Apple Music as I write, I have a lot of digital files, including the 1998 Beetlejuice score, at my fingertips. Jack and I both loved the first movie and saw it separately years before we met. Classic songs from the new movie are also available on Apple Music, including a boys' choir singing Day-O.

The movie has Burton's signature dark look, shot by Haris Zambarloukos, partly in the original location of East Corinth, Vermont. Fun fact: I visited there briefly in 1970 and it's a whole story. Write me and I'll tell you about it.

Ryder was last blogged for The Dilemma, Keaton for Spider-Man: Homecoming, O'Hara for Elemental, Theroux for On the Basis of Sex, Bellucci for Spectre, Burton for Dumbo, Grahame-Smith for Dark Shadows (also a Burton joint), and Zambarloukos for Belfast.

Ortega, now 22, made a big splash as the title role in eight episodes of Wednesday but has been acting for twelve years, including playing young Jane in thirty episodes of Jane the Virgin. Gough & Millar co-created Wednesday and have a bunch of other credits, including screen story for Spider-Man 2 (2004).

Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences aren't summoning many spirits with averages of 76 and 79%. We rented it on November 2.

UPDATE: Amy tells me that, after we both watched in it our respective homes, we agreed that "there were too many plotlines and it was overall too busy." Her memory is better than mine, so I am changing "really liked" to "liked," because I did enjoy the production values and the acting, especially Ryder's and O'Hara's.

Dìdi (2024)

I thoroughly enjoyed this story of Chris AKA Dìdi, a Taiwanese-American rising high school freshman in 2008 Fremont, California, learning some life lessons. Director/writer Sean Wang's feature debut won the Audience Award and U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award at Sundance. Izaac Wang is terrific in the title role, with Joan Chen as his patient mother, Zhang Li Hua as his critical grandmother, Shirley Chen as Didi's sister, Stephanie Hsu in a cameo in a YouTube video, and a cast of many first-time actors in Wang's semi-autobiographical story. Dìdi means younger brother in Mandarin.

Eighteen minutes of Giosuè Greco's score can be streamed on Apple Music. The movie was shot on location in Fremont last year.

Chen has done a lot since I wrote about her in Mao's Last Dancer and Hsu was last blogged for Joy Ride. Izaac Wang (no relation to the director), now 17, was in Good Boys and voiced a part in Raya and the Last Dragon, though I failed to mention him. 

Zhang is Sean Wang's real grandmother and appeared in his Oscar nominated documentary short Nai Nai & Wai Po (with his other grandmother). You can stream the 16½ minute short on Disney+, I think for free, and Wang has also directed a feature documentary. Chen played the younger version of Sandra Oh in Quiz Lady, and Greco has scored nine features, four of which have 2024 release dates.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences are fraternally grateful for this movie, averaging 96 and 92%, respectively. I downloaded it with my subscription to Peacock to watch on October 27 on a cross-country plane trip. It's also available to rent on the usual platforms.

His Three Daughters (2023)

Carrie Coon, Natasha Lyonne, and Elizabeth Olsen are brilliant as estranged sisters dealing with their father's hospice in the New York apartment he shares with one (Lyonne in bright pumpkin colored hair). You may recognize the face of character actor Jay O. Sanders as the comatose father. Most reviewers have called it funny, but Jack and I would disagree. However, it is very moving.

Director/writer/editor Azazel Jacobs keeps up the momentum in the claustrophobic setting of (mostly) the apartment. 25 minutes of Rodrigo Amarante's soundtrack is available on Apple Music and elsewhere.

All three main actresses have done some great TV work besides features. Coon was fun in ten episodes of Fargo season 3 and all seventeen of The Gilded Age after I mentioned her in my post on Gone Girl. Lyonne was last blogged for United States vs. Billie Holiday and then she was wonderful in fifteen episodes of Russian Doll, ten of Poker Face, and more. And Olsen, most recently in these pages for Avengers: Infinity War, played the same Marvel character in nine of WandaVision. Jacobs was last blogged for French Exit. Sanders is, according to imdb, best known for The Day After Tomorrow (2004), Revolutionary Road, and others that I haven't seen. This is Amarante's second feature as composer.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are all in the family with a 98% average and its audiences are showing up for Thanksgiving at 85. We watched it on Netflix on September 25.

Jackpot! (2024)

It's not very good, but this uneven action/sci-fi movie, about a dystopian future California where lottery winners can be hunted down for their murderers to legally claim the prizes, did give Jack and me some laughs. The huge cast is headed by Awkwafina as the winner and includes John Cena, Simu Liu, Becky Ann Baker, and Colson Baker AKA Machine Gun Kelly, as himself. 

I expected more from director Paul Feig, best known for Bridesmaids. Maybe we can blame the writer  Rob Yescombe? Theodore Shapiro's exciting score is streaming on Apple Music as I type.

Because The Fall Guy reopened the conversation about stunt people getting recognition from the Oscars and elsewhere, I need to point out that the stunt department on this one did a lot of great work.

Awkwafina was last blogged for Quiz Lady, Cena and Liu for Barbie, Becky Ann Baker for Holler, Feig for A Simple Favor, and Shapiro for The Eyes of Tammy Faye. Colson Baker/Kelly is a rapper who has acted in Beyond the Lights, The King of Staten Island, and more. This is Yescombes' second feature after several video games and shorts.

Rotten Tomatoes critics lost the ticket, averaging a rotten 31% and its audiences liked it only a little better at 51. We watched it on Prime Video with our subscription on October 2. If you go for it, keep the TV on for outtakes during the entire credits, followed by a scene.

Fly Me to the Moon (2024)

We were very entertained by this rom-com about a clever marketing professional helping NASA get public support for Apollo 11, the first moon landing, in 1969. Scarlett Johannson is delightful in that role as is Channing Tatum as her adversarial launch director. Woody Harrelson and Ray Romano are key in the enormous cast.

Greg Berlanti directs from a fleshed out screenplay by Rose Gilroy, with story credit given to Keenan Flynn & Bill Kirstein. I've read that the 2014 nonfiction book Marketing the Moon by David Meerman Scott and Richard Jurek had an influence. And a real public relations expert Julian Scheer did help sell the moon launch to a skeptical America.

Daniel Pemberton's 60s-influenced lively score is available to stream on Apple Music and elsewhere. Luscious photography, production design, and wardrobe are thanks to Dariusz Wolski, Shane Valentino, and Mary Zophres, respectively.

Johansson was last blogged for Asteroid City, Tatum for Logan Lucky, Harrelson for Zombieland: Double Tap, Romano for Somewhere in Queens, Pemberton for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Wolski for House of Gucci, and Zophres for Babylon.

Berlanti, who has directed three other features, is better known as the prolific TV producer of Dawson's Creek, Brothers & Sisters, The Flight Attendant, and dozens more. This is the first script for Gilroy, who happens to be the daughter of actress Rene Russo and writer Tony Gilroy. Flynn & Kirstein also make their feature debuts, and the latter is also a cinematographer, having shot Mean Girls and others. Valentino has a few nominations for his work on Nocturnal Animals and The Trial of the Chicago 7.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics aren't flying so high with a 65% avergae, but its audiences are soaring at 90. We rented it on August 30 on Apple TV but today it appears to be available only to buy for $19.99 there and on Prime Video. Give it time and it'll come down (see what I did there?).

Twisters (2024)

Jack and I really liked this sequel to the 1996 tornado chasing original, this time starring Glen Powell, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Anthony Ramos, Maura Tierney, and dozens more. 

Director Lee Isaac Chung keeps it tight, working from a screenplay by Mark L. Smith, story by Joseph Kosinski, and characters created by Michael Crichton & Anne-Marie Martin.

Benjamin Wallfisch's exciting score can be streamed on Apple Music, though you will probably better remember the kick-ass country songs, available on Apple Music's official playlist.

Enormous visual effects and stunt departments were utilized and we're hoping that, after The Fall Guy brought attention to it, stunts get their own Oscar category.

I recommend the trivia list on imdb. Here are a few. Due to delays from COVID and the writers' strike, some scenes were shot just a few months before the July release and post production was still working in June. The references to the Wizard of Oz in the first movie (storm vehicles called Dorothy I-IV) and this one (theirs were called Lion, Tin Man, Scarecrow, and Wizard) inspired a credit that reads, "The Wizard of Oz is still licensed by Warner Brothers Entertainment Inc." The word "twister" is never uttered in this movie. And I don't need to tell you not to click on the spoiler section of the trivia, do I?

Powell was last blogged for Hit Man, Ramos for Dumb Money, Tierney for Beautiful Boy, Chung for Minari (he was Oscar-nominated), Smith for The Midnight Sky, and Wallfisch for Blade Runner 2049. Edgar-Jones starred in all twelve episodes of Normal People, Kosinski is better known as the director of Top Gun: Maverick, and Crichton and Martin (now ex-spouses) wrote the first Twister script.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics were not blown away by this one, averaging 75%, but its audiences were, at 91. Stick around for scenes at the end of the first round of credits. We rented this on Apple TV on August 16.

Molli and Max in the Future (2023)

We enjoyed this silly sci-fi low budget rom-com with snappy dialog starring Zosia Mamet and Aristotle Athari meeting each other repeatedly in the distant future. If you liked Mamet's Shoshanna in the series Girls, you will love her in this. Director/writer Michael Lukk Litwak makes his feature debut and admittedly based the idea on When Harry Met Sally (1989).

Alex Winkler's alternately trippy and jazzy score can be streamed on Apple Music. I'm going to try to remember to listen to it again.

Mamet was last blogged for The Boy Downstairs and I did not recognize Athari, despite his 20 episodes of Saturday Night Live in 2021-22 and two of Hacks this year. This is Winkler's fourth feature after dozens of shorts, videos, and TV shows.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are eagerly looking ahead to this with a 98% average, while its audiences are a few steps behind at 89.

Jack and I watched it on Prime with our subscription way back on August 10. You can also rent it on Apple TV.

The Taste of Things (2023)

I enjoyed this delicious story of 1889 French cook Eugénie and her gourmet employer Dodin. Juliette Binoche is delightful as the inscrutable Eugénie, preparing, sometimes with Dodin's help, gorgeous meals for the household and its guests. Benoît Magimel, with whom Binoche has a daughter from their five years of marriage, plays Dodin.

Director Anh Hung Tran adapted Marcel Rouff's 1924 novel La vie et la passion de Dodin-Bouffant, Gourmet (The Life and Passion of Dodin-Bouffant, Gourmet) into the screenplay. The character of Dodin-Bouffant was apparently inspired by the famous gourmet Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1755-1926).

Because I watched it on a long flight–with distractions–I don't remember noticing that there was no composer and almost no music. Later I did find the song from the end credits, Méditation de Thaïs by Jules Massenet, arranged for piano and performed by Andrew von Oeyen. Here's an article explaining why Tran didn't use music.

French chef Pierre Gagnaire has a cameo and worked as culinary director (single card credit for Direction gastronomique) and there's a whole cuisine department not credited on imdb.

Watching it on my iPad with sunlight shining into the plane's cabin somewhat reduced my appreciation of the cinematography by Jonathan Ricquebourg and the glorious locations of the Chateau du Raguin in Maine-et-Loire, France, but they are lauded.

Binoche was last blogged for Non-Fiction. Magimel and Ricquebourg are new to me, despite dozens of credits for each. This is Tran's sixth picture but I haven't seen any, though a couple were on my list.

Nominated for 26 awards and winner of seven more, including 2023 Best Director at Cannes, the movie was eaten up by Rotten Tomatoes' critics, averaging 97%, while its audiences got full sooner at 76.

This is going on my running list of food movies as #33. Binoche also starred in #15 Chocolat (2000). 

This can be rented from Apple TV and elsewhere but I had to buy it in order to download and watch it in airplane mode on July 31.

Coup de Chance (2023)

Woody Allen's 50th feature (this time in French) is a dramedy about Fanny, a young married woman who runs into handsome former classmate Alain and it's dependably watchable. Somehow Lou de Laâge as Fanny manages the classic Allen stutter, even in a language not his own. Niels Schneider is Alain and Melvil Poupaud is Fanny's controlling husband Jean. Coup de chance translates to stroke of luck in English.

As mentioned in these pages, I have some guilt feelings about supporting Allen's work but have such a nostalgic attraction that I go ahead and keep watching. He did say in a recent interview that this will be his last (I've seen all but one).

As usual, no composer is credited but there's a fun jazz playlist of six songs, available on spotify.

Vittorio Storaro provides the beautiful cinematography, shot entirely in Paris and environs, with the luxurious homes and wardrobe I've come to expect from an Allen joint.

Allen and Storaro were last blogged for A Rainy Day in New York and the French actors are new to me.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences are somewhat lucky, averaging 82 and 81%, respectively. I downloaded it from Apple TV and watched it on a long plane ride on August 5, and now it can be rented.

Thelma (2024)

We loved this story of a feisty nonagenarian on a quest to get her money back after being scammed. Nonagenarian June Squibb is wonderful in the title role, as are Parker Posey and Clark Gregg as her hilariously anxious daughter and son-in-law, as well as Fred Hechinger as their son, devoted to his grandma, Richard Roundtree as Thelma's fellow retirement community resident, and many more. 

Josh Margolin directs from his own script, based on his grandmother Thelma, who is, according to the internet, still alive at 103, and her apartment was used as movie Thelma's apartment. Don't leave or turn off the movie before the credits are over because the real Thelma is on screen then!

Nick Chuba's exciting music on Apple Music underscores the caper aspect of the movie.

Squibb was last blogged for The Humans, Posey for Columbus, Gregg for The Avengers, and Roundtree for Moving On (Thelma was his final movie before his death in October, 2023). Hechinger, Margolin, and Chuba are new to me and this is Margolin's feature debut after directing one short.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics' hearts have been stolen, averaging a near perfect 99%, and its audiences aren't far behind at 83. We rented it on July 23, as soon as it became available.

Ezra (2023)

Jack and I loved this moving and sometimes funny story of Max and his ex-wife Jenna who frequently disagree on how to parent their son on the autism spectrum. Bobby Cannavale and Rose Byrne, real life partners, play powerful advocates for Ezra, played by William A. Fitzgerald, now 15. Lots of star power in supporting roles, including Robert DeNiro as the boy's grandfather, Rainn Wilson, Vera Farmiga, and Whoopi Goldberg.

Tony Goldwyn, who plays the ex-wife's boyfriend, directs from a script by Tony Spiridakis. The latter has a son on the autism spectrum and Goldwyn is Spiridakis' son's godfather.

As I write I'm streaming Carlos Rafael Rivera's 25 minute soundtrack on Apple Music and thinking about the tears I cried at the emotion in the movie. Did I mention that it's moving?

Do stick around for the extras during the credits. I won't tell you what celebrities are in it because that would be a spoiler.

Cannavale was last blogged for Blonde, Byrne for Irresistible, De Niro for Killers of the Flower Moon, Wilson for Jerry & Marge Go Large, Farmiga for The Front Runner, Goldberg for Babes, and Goldwyn for acting in King Richard.

Fitzgerald makes his debut and here's an article about him from his hometown newspaper. If my math is correct, this is the fifth feature directed by Goldwyn and I loved A Walk on the Moon (1999), Someone Like You (2001), and The Last Kiss (2006). He's also directed dozens of TV episodes. Spiridakis is new to me, and Rivera scored seven episodes of The Queen's Gambit, eight of Lessons in Chemistry, and 27 of Hacks.

Rotten Tomatoes's critics, averaging 70%, are way less attentive than we and its audiences, whose average was 92. We rented it on July 16.

Babes (2024)

I eagerly looked forward to and we loved this profane buddy picture about best friends in New York. Eden (Ilana Glazer) is happily single and Dawn (Michelle Buteau), who is married, goes into labor with her second child in the first two minutes of the movie, before the credits. I just watched the whole labor sequence again and it's hilarious and over the top. Great support from Stephan James, Hasan Minhaj, John Carroll Lynch, Oliver Platt, and Whoopi Goldberg, just to name a few.

Director Pamela Adlon works from a snappy script by Glazer and Josh Rabinowitz (the latter plays the server in the labor sequence).

I can't locate online any tracks from the score by Jay Lifton and Ryan Miller but there are 25 songs, all of which are listed here.

James was last blogged for If Beale Street Could Talk, Lynch for The Trial of the Chicago 7, Platt for Professor Marston and the Wonder Women, Goldberg for The Color Purple musical remake, and Miller (a member of the band Guster) for How It Ends.

Glazer's acting is best known to me for 76 episodes of Broad City and eight of The Afterparty and she was in Rough Night (2017), which I saw but apparently forgot to write about. Buteau, who was in Always Be My Maybe, though I didn't mention her, is a talented stand-up comedian, was a member of the ensemble in 29 episodes of the remake of The First Wives Club, and starred in (and created) all eight episodes of Survival of the Thickest. This is Minhaj's first time on these pages, despite a long resume that includes Rough Night, The Spy Who Dumped Me, No Hard Feelings, eight episodes of The Daily Show, and four of The Morning Show.

Adlon makes her feature directing debut after directing 44 episodes of her wonderful series Better Things, now available on Hulu and Disney+ with subscriptions and rentable elsewhere. Glazer's writing credits include one other feature and 63 episodes of Broad City, which she co-created. This is also Rabinowitz's feature screenwriting debut and Lifton is new to me despite many credits.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are swaddled and pacified with an 88% average and its critics are only slightly crankier at 79. When it arrived on Apple TV, the only way to see it then was to buy it, and I was so excited that I bought it within days on July 6. Now you can rent it there or from Amazon Prime. 

I'm intentionally posting this and Am I OK? the same day, as both are feminist buddy pictures--this being very New York and the other very Los Angeles.

Am I OK? (2022)

As Tig Notaro fans, we were eager to see her feature directorial debut about quirky millennial best friends/roommates: self-absorbed Lucy (Dakota Johnson) and practical Jane (Sonoya Mizuno), fighting and making up and dealing with big life changes, and we enjoyed it, though the still of Johnson weeping is a bit off-putting, especially since it's a dramedy. Notaro has a funny cameo in the second act in an intentionally terrible wig.

Notaro co-directs this buddy picture with her wife Stephanie Allynne (also a directorial debut) from a script by Lauren Pomerantz.

Craig Wedren is credited with the soundtrack (none of his tracks for this picture is available online) with additional music by Annie Clark, which is the birth name of the artist known as St. Vincent, and who happens to BFFs with Johnson. All 23 songs, the last written and performed by Clark, are listed here.

Johnson was last blogged for Cha Cha Real Smooth (and shot this back to back to back with it and The Lost Daughter), Mizuno for Crazy Rich Asians, Notaro for acting in Together Together, and Wedren for A Futile and Stupid Gesture. This is also a feature directorial debut for Pomerantz, who is credited with writing 825 episodes of The Ellen DeGeneres Show and twenty of SNL, among others. I've heard of Clark/St. Vincent, but do not know her work.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are more than OK, averaging 81% while its audiences are a bit less so with 65. Jack and I streamed it on MAX (formerly known as HBO) with our subscription on July 1.

I'm intentionally posting this and Babes the same day, as both are feminist buddy pictures--this being very Los Angeles and the other very New York.

The Idea of You (2024)

Jack and I enjoyed this fluffy story of a September-May relationship (she's 40, he's 24) with Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine playing a single mom and a boy band front man. It's not deep but the acting is good, including supporting roles by Reid Scott and Annie Mumolo, along with a cameo by Perry Mattfeld.

Michael Showalter directs and he and Jennifer Westfeldt adapted Robinne Lee's 2017 novel (in which the age gap was, I think, a little bigger).

30 minutes of Siddhartha Khosla's soundtrack can be streamed on Apple Music. There's another playlist which includes songs sung by Galitzine fronting August Moon, the fictional band in the movie. Neither includes Dance Hall Days by Wang Chung, which I enjoyed hearing again after all these years.

Hathaway and production designer Amy Williams collaborated on choosing the art displayed in Hathaway's gallery.

Hathaway was last blogged for Armageddon Time, Mumolo for Joy Ride, Showalter for The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Westfeldt for Friends with Kids, and Khosla for I Want You Back. Galitzine's resumé includes playing the handsome high school football player in Bottoms, though I failed to mention him in that post. Though Scott has dozens of credits, I know him best from 65 episodes of Veep, three of Black-ish, and twelve of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Williams is no stranger to the business. And I mention Mattfeld because Jack and I particularly liked her work starring in 52 episodes of the thriller In the Dark,

Rotten Tomatoes' critics like the idea of this, averaging 81%, while its audiences are looking around for another idea at 66. We streamed it on June 25 on Prime with our subscription and it's also rentable.

Hit Man (2024)

Jack and I loved this charming movie based on the true story of a mild mannered man who poses as a hit man for hire to help police catch criminals. Glen Powell is delightful in the title role, ably supported by Adria Arjuna and Retta, among others. 

Powell and director Richard Linklater co-wrote the script based on Skip Hollandsworth’s 2001 article in Texas Monthly (read it here if you like—sorry about the popups). In the end credits they admit to taking a few liberties with the truth.

I'm streaming Graham Reynolds' snappy soundtrack on Apple Music as I write.

Retta was last blogged for Good Boys (we love her TV work, from Parks and Recreation to The Ugliest House in America), Linklater for Apollo 10½: a Space Age Childhood, and Reynolds for Where’d You Go, Bernadette? I have seen Powell in several other projects, including The Dark Knight Rises, Hidden Figures, and the aforementioned Apollo 10½. Arjuna is new to me.

Rotten Tomatoes critics and audiences are taking aim with averages of 95 and 91%. We watched it on Netflix June 13.

Wicked Little Letters (2023)

Jack and I loved this comedy about Edith, a prim 1920s English woman, and her cheerful foulmouthed neighbor Rose. Olivia Colman and Jesse Buckley beautifully inhabit the leading roles, with added support from Timothy Spall as Rose's dreadful father, Gemma Jones as her quiet mother, Anjana Vasan as Woman Police Officer Moss, and Lolly Adefope and Eileen Atkins providing extra laughs as Edith's card game friends. Moss encounters quite a bit of sexism, played for laughs, and I can't for sure confirm whether she's referred to as Woman Police Office or Woman Police Constable, but always the three word title.

Director Thea Sharrock keeps a lively pace with the screenplay by Jonny Sweet, based on a hundred year old true story in Littlehampton, England. If you know the real story, outlined in this spoiler-filled link, you won't be surprised by the twist, about an hour in, that Jack totally saw coming.

Isobel Waller-Bridge's soundtrack can be streamed on Apple Music.

Colman was last blogged for Empire of Light, Buckley for I'm Thinking of Ending Things, Spall for Finding Your Feet, Jones for You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, Waller-Bridge for Emma. I'm a fan of Vasan's series We Are Lady Parts, about an all-female Muslim punk band (streaming on Peacock), and Adefope's work on the series Shrill, as well as a role in Saltburn among her dozens of credits. Venerable English actress (like Jones) Atkins may be best known for Gosford Park (2001) but has played over a hundred film and TV parts starting in 1959. This is Sharrock's third time directing a feature, with a fourth on Netflix right now. Sweet started acting before writing and has a small part in this movie. It's his feature screenwriting debut.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics' average is a slightly mischievous 80%, while its audiences come in at a positively devilish 92. We rented it on Apple TV on June 8.

We Grown Now (2023)

We greatly enjoyed this story of ten year old best friends Malik and Eric in the 1992 Cabrini-Green public housing complex in Chicago. My memory is sketchy since we watched it over four months ago (more on that in a moment), but I jotted down the word transcendent. I've since been reminded that a seven year old boy was killed by a stray bullet there that year.

Blake Cameron James and Gian Knight Ramirez play the boys and their families include Jurnee Smollett, S. Epatha Merkerson, and Lil Rel Howery.

Written and directed by Minhal Baig, it has mostly Chicago locations, including interiors in the Art Institute of Chicago. This spoiler-free article can tell you more about her.

I'm streaming the soundtrack by Jay Wadley and Attaca Quartet on Apple Music.

Watch for still photos over the early end credits.

Howery was last blogged for Spin Me Round and Wadley for Fire Island. This is James' third feature and Ramirez' first. Smollett was much lauded for the title role in Eve's Bayou (1997), and The Great Debaters (2007). Her dozens of credits include seven episodes of Parenthood in 2013. Merkerson, briefly mentioned in Mother and Child, is best known for 391 episodes of Law & Order. This is Baig's third feature.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences are maturely averaging 93 and 90%. We watched it February 10 on a screener I obtained as a member of the Independent Feature Project--we get to preview movies nominated for Spirit Awards, and this one had three. No wins there but it won two at the Chicago International Film Festival and one in Toronto. It opened in April in the major cities and is now, finally, available to rent on all the major platforms.

The Fall Guy (2024)

Jack and I liked very much this action/rom-com/homage to movie stunt people, loosely based on the 1980s TV series of the same name, with Ryan Gosling as the dedicated title character. Emily Blunt is his multi-faceted love interest, Aaron Taylor-Johnson the narcissistic leading man in the movie within the movie, and Hannah Waddingham that movie's determined producer. Lee Majors and Heather Thomas, who starred as the stunt man and his love interest in the series, have cameos in a final scene after the credits (don't miss it!)

Director David Leitch is a former stunt man, and Drew Pearce's screenplay gives credit to Glen A. Larson, the writer of the series. This project has been in development for fourteen years with a number of filmmakers attached. That said, this doesn't take itself too seriously and the movie is loaded with "Easter eggs," some of which we got, others that went over our heads.

I'm streaming the exciting soundtrack by Dominic Lewis on Apple Music as I type. 

This movie is helping with the campaign to get stunts recognized as an Oscar category, both in its subject matter, and directly in dialogue. Chris O'Hara's credit as stunt designer hasn't before been used, and imdb's list of the stunt department is quite long. Also quite long is that site's trivia list. It's fascinating, and includes that Gosling has a fear of heights, but still did the 150-foot fall at the beginning of the movie and that with 8.5 car rolls, this movie breaks the Guinness World Record of the most car rolls (a fact which Waddingham's character actually mentions in the dialogue).

It was shot almost entirely in Australia (the country's film commission helped with the budget), and, impressively, got to shoot one sequence right in front of the Sydney Opera House.

Because you follow my lead and will stick around for the final bonus scene, you will also see a short documentary about stunts as the credits begin.

Gosling was last blogged for Barbie, Blunt for Oppenheimer (they joked at the Oscars about being the love interests in the two smash hits), Taylor-Johnson for Nocturnal Animals, Leitch for Deadpool 2, Pearce for Iron Man 3, Lewis for Money Monster. Waddingham is best known for 34 episodes of Ted Lasso as the team owner Rebecca, and we also liked her in 14 of Sex Education as one of Jackson's two moms. I've seen almost none of Majors' hundreds of credits, other than three episodes of Weeds, one of Community, one of Grey's Anatomy. He's 85 years old now and apparently has four upcoming projects right now. Thomas, 66, was in all 112 episodes of The Fall Guy and I've seen nothing of hers. 

We have seen quite a few movies with O'Hara's stunt work, including two Kill Bills (2003 and 4), Spider-Man 2 and 3 (2004 and 7), The Hangover, The Hangover Part III, Water for Elephants, We Bought a Zoo, Iron Man 3, and Baby Driver, to name just a few.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences are rolling with averages of 81 and 86%, respectively. We rented it on Apple TV May 28.

Challengers (2024)

Jack and I enjoyed this story of three professional tennis players at different stages in their careers, despite its veering back and forth between the sports and the love triangle. Three beautiful stars carry the plot which begins with Patrick (Josh O'Connor), broke and trying to get back into tournament play, Tashi (Zendaya), now a tenacious coach, and her husband and client Art (Mike Faist), who's got the yips (performance anxiety--am I using the right sports metaphor?). There are lots of flashbacks to different times in their lives. When Tashi is in a scene, her hairstyle will confirm when it's taking place.

We were getting impatient at the pace changing from languid (the romance) to frantic (the sports) until I remembered that it's directed by Luca Guadagnino, Italian auteur known for his poetic approach. Several times I observed the camera lingering a long time on something, only to have a character do or say something to advance the plot at the very end of the sequence. That said, the tennis scenes are exciting.

Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross's score, available on Apple Music, does capture the different moods quite well. There are also a bunch of songs, listed here, including two by the Toronto Children's Chorus.

Zendaya was last blogged for Dune, Faist for Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game, Guadagnino for Call Me By Your Name, and Reznor & Ross for Empire of Light.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are serving up some love (wait, I think I'm mixing the tennis metaphors) with an 89% average, while its audiences are simply volleying (did I get that one right?) at 73. We rented it on Apple TV on May 26.

Unfrosted (2024)

Jack and I laughed a lot at this critically panned retelling of the invention of Pop Tarts in 1963. Jerry Seinfeld directs, co-writes, and stars as the Kellogg's executive spearheading the development, with a supporting cast including funny people Amy Schumer, Melissa McCarthy, Jim Gaffigan, Max Greenfield, Sarah Cooper, and too many more recognizable personalities to name them all here.

Spike Feresten, Andy Robin, and Barry Marder also co-wrote the snappy script, full of absurdities while being based on truth.

Christophe Beck's soundtrack can be found on Apple Music and here's the list of songs, which includes one written for the movie by Seinfeld and others and performed by Megan Trainor and Jimmy Fallon.

Shout out to the production design by Clayton Hartley, splendidly evoking the candy-colored era. And lots of fun trivia can be found here.

Of course you know Seinfeld, last blogged for a cameo in Top Five--he created, wrote, and starred in 172 episodes of his eponymous series Seinfeld, he's played himself in a bunch of things, and we like his Netflix series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. He co-wrote The Bee Movie (2007), which I haven't seen and this is his feature directing debut.

Schumer was most recently in these pages for The Humans, McCarthy for The Kitchen, Gaffigan for Linoleum, Greenfield for The Glass Castle, and Beck for Ant-Man and the Wasp. Cooper is best known for her hilarious lip-syncing of the 45th president's speeches but uses her own voice in her comedy career. This is her second feature acting gig. 

Feresten was a staff writer on Late Night with David Letterman and co-wrote nine episodes of Seinfeld. Robin worked on SNL and Seinfeld, among other shows. Both co-wrote The Bee Movie with Marder and Seinfeld, which was the first screenplay for all four, and this one is their second. Hartley has a few dozen credits, including We're the Millers, The Big Short, and Don't Look Up.

Rotten Tomatoes's critics are burnt, averaging 43% and its audiences, at 51, are half baked. We watched it on Netflix May 22. Stick around for the blooper/dance reel at the end credits, which is reported to have had more views than the whole movie.

Paint (2023)

Despite critics' disdain, we enjoyed this story of a soft-spoken, eccentric painter whose daily show is broadcast on Vermont Public TV. Owen Wilson stars as Carl Nargle, inspired in part by Bob Ross, and sports a similar perm, as his character seems stuck in the 1970s, even though there are cell phones in the story. Support comes from Michaela Watkins, Stephen Root, Wendi McClendon-Covey, and more.

Director/writer Brit McAdams' screenplay made the 2010 Black List, which is a lineup of scripts judged by a respected panel to be the best unproduced screenplays each year. I really liked the funny twist at the end.

Lyle Workman's soundtrack isn't available online so I'm streaming his latest album as I write and it's quite pleasant. Someone made a Spotify playlist of songs in the movie.

Upstate New York stands in for Vermont locations, including a Saratoga Springs TV station, empty because of COVID in the spring of 2021. This Fast Company article about the movie is fascinating but does contain a slight spoiler in the end of the second paragraph, so reader beware.

Stick around for a dance/blooper reel during the end credits, which is reported to have been watched more than the rest of the movie. Pro tip: on a computer, when Netflix shrinks the screen during the credits (and I start cursing), click on the little window to continue watching. On an Apple TV, press the up button or swipe up, depending on your remote. Do not use the back button because that will end the screening (and I will continue cursing when I accidentally do that).

Wilson was last blogged for Inherent Vice (though I didn't mention him as part of the large ensemble in The French Dispatch), Watkins for You Hurt My Feelings, Root for To Leslie, McClendon-Covey for one of the voices in Elemental, and Workman for Win Win. It's McAdams' feature directing debut.

As I said above, Rotten Tomatoes' critics have thrown turpentine on this with a 32% average and its audiences are fading with 57. Jack and I streamed it on May 8 on Hulu.

Tiger (2024)

Jack and I loved, as expected, the latest animal documentary from Disneynature. Narrated by Priyanka Chopra Jonas and directed by Mark Linfield, Vanessa Berlowitz, and Rob Sullivan, it follows a tiger and her cubs in the forest of India. Its website tells us its hour and a half length was cut from 1500 days of filming.

The Indian-influenced soundtrack by Nitin Sawhney is available on Apple Music and probably elsewhere.

I noted that some of my favorite moments were the peacock, the "frog fu fighting" (my invention), the langur monkey ballet, and the fireflies. 

Here's my list of Disneynature documentaries and here is Disney's. Remarkably, there are no computer generated effects in these docs.

Jonas was last blogged for (the scripted feature) The White Tiger, Linfield and Berlowitz for the Disneynature Elephant, and Sullivan makes his feature co-directing debut after a handful of nature TV serieses.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are purring with an average of 88 and its audiences' claws are still retracted at 75. We watched it on Disney+ with our subscription on April 23. It can also be rented on the usual outlets.

Hundreds of Beavers (2022)

Sorry, Chris (who recommended it), we could not finish this weird black and white slapstick "story" about a man in the snowy wilds of North America encountering trials and tribulations. Sure to become a cult favorite, it features Ryland Brickson Cole Tews (who co-wrote the script with director Mike Cheslik) as a fur trapper trying to defeat, you guessed it, hundreds of beavers as well as some rabbits, all played by humans in furry costumes. The music by Chris Ryan is not available online. 

Even at a length of 1:50, Jack and I got impatient and switched to something else. Perhaps it would be better as a series in shorter doses. However, Rotten Tomatoes agrees with Chris. See below.

Tews and Cheslik co-wrote one other feature, which Tews directed. Cheslik makes his feature directing and co-writing debut and Ryan has scored three other features, dozens of shorts, and a few TV series.

Unlike us, Rotten Tomatoes' critics are dam well happy about this one, avaeraging 96% and its audiences close behind at 86. We paid Apple TV for the rental on April 30 but did not get our money's worth.

The Breaker Upperers (2018)

Jack and I really liked this New Zealand comedy about two women, best friends, whose business is to end relationships for people who don’t want to do it themselves. Madeleine Sami and Jackie van Beek star, direct, and wrote the script. Jemaine Clement makes one of the recognizable cameos and the prolific Taika Waititi is executive producer. One to watch is Rose Matafeo, who has a scene as the "Check Out Chick."

No composer is credited but here's a list of songs, including one by Pip Brown, AKA Ladyhawke, who is Sami's wife.

Clement was last blogged for Brad's Status and Waititi for Jojo Rabbit, for which he and the other producers were Oscar nominated for Best Picture. Sami co-starred in eight episodes of Deadloch, often providing comic relief, and co-wrote one of them. She was in the ensemble of Waititi's hilarious Our Flag Means Death and makes her feature directing debut here. Van Beek directed and co-wrote one feature before this, and has some other acting credits as well. I mention Matafeo because I liked the series Starstruck which she starred in and created. Every one of the above filmmakers is from New Zealand.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics aren't too broken up over this, averaging 87%, but its audiences are seeking counseling with 52.

We found this movie on a list of Netflix movies running 90 minutes or fewer and watched it on April 17. Sit tight because there's a bonus scene at the beginning of the credits (followed by the Ladyhawke song) and a tiny one at the very end.

Asleep in My Palm (2023)

We liked a lot this independent movie about a father and teenage daughter living off the grid in a storage container near an Ohio liberal arts college. The small cast is led by Tim Blake Nelson and Chloë Kerwin with a scant few as townies and out of town students, including Gus Birney as one of the latter.

Directed and written by Nelson's son Henry Nelson, a graduate of Oberlin College, the movie was shot near and on that campus and employed many students both behind and in front of the camera.

A google search for the composer Will Curry yielded this spoiler-free fascinating article about the making of the movie, but no links to his soundtrack are available. I think there were songs, too, but the rental has long expired and nothing is listed on imdb.

Tim Blake Nelson was last blogged for The Ballad of Buster Scruggs and Birney for Happiness for Beginners. Henry Nelson and Curry make their debuts with this picture. I do not recognize Kerwin from seven episodes of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel season 5 (her character's name was Trudy) nor did I see her three other features and handful of shorts.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are wide awake, averaging 92% while its audiences are a bit drowsy at 75. We rented it on Apple TV March 29 and appreciated its tight brevity at one hour 28 minutes.

Mean Girls (2024)

Jack and I both like musicals and this one is good fun with high production values. The enormous cast is led by Angourie Rice as the new girl in high school Cady and Reneé Rapp as Regina, the meanest girl of them all. Cady's friends are Auli'i Cravalho as Janis and Jaquel Spivey as Damian and Regina's posse is Bebe Wood as Gretchen who tries so hard and Avantika as the dim-witted Karen (that's her character's name, not her stereotype!). Some of the adults making appearances are Tina Fey, Tim Meadows, and Jon Hamm as teachers, Busy Philipps as Regina's mom, Jenna Fischer as Cady's mom, musician Megan Thee Stallion as herself, and Lindsay Lohan in a cameo as the Mathletes moderator.

It's co-directed by Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr. and written by Fey, based on her stage musical, based on her 2004 film, based on Rosalind Wiseman's 2002 book Queen Bees and Wannabes. We saw the touring company on stage in 2019.

Fey's husband Jeff Richmond composed the music for both the stage musical and this film one, but not the 2004 version. The soundtrack on Apple Music is all songs with lyrics, so I'm not streaming it as I write. We did, however, listen to it after we watched the movie weeks ago.

If you watch it now, look at Fischer's arms. She apparently broke her shoulder before shooting some scenes and couldn't move her right arm. Fey and Richmond's daughter Alice Richmond, now 19, made some of the art. 

Rice was last blogged for The Beguiled, Cravalho for the TV series Rise, Fey for acting in Soul, Hamm for Top Gun: Maverick, and Fischer for Brad's Status. 

I enjoyed Rapp's acting in all 20 episodes of The Sex Lives of College Girls. She's a singer/dancer in her own right, too, with albums and music videos. This is Spivey's feature debut after his Tony nomination for the lead in A Strange Loop on Broadway. Wood and Avantika have plenty of credits but are new to me. Meadows, best known for 182 episodes of Saturday Night Live in the 1990s, has been in a bunch of movies and hundreds of TV episodes. My favorites of Philipps' roles are 102 episodes of Cougar Town and 22 of Girls5eva. And if you didn't know, Lohan starred as Cady in the 2004 Mean Girls.

Jayne makes her feature directing debut and it's the second time around for her husband Perez. Fey's writing career is extensive and almost all TV except for the first Mean Girls. This is Richmond's second feature, after Baby Mama (2008), co-starring Fey, and he's written music for many of Fey's TV projects.

Rotten Tomatoes audiences are meaner than we are, averaging 62%, and its critics are only slightly nicer at 70.  We streamed the movie on Paramount+ on March 22, but it's now available on most streamers, including Prime and Apple TV.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)

Jack and I enjoyed many parts of this animated sequel to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, particularly the rescue in "Mumbattan" and the old school POWs and BAMs but, unlike the public at large (see below), we liked the first chapter more. Returning from the previous movie are the voices of Shameik Moore as Miles, Hailee Steinfeld as Gwen, Brian Tyree Henry as Jeff, Jake Johnson as Peter B. Parker, Mahershala Ali as Aaron, and many more in the cast of hundreds.

Co-directors are Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson, working from a script by Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and Dave Callaham. All but Lord are new to the Spider-Verse series. At one point when the story focused on Miles' and Gwen's relationship, I called it a rom-comic.

I'm still digging Daniel Pemberton's new score, streaming on Apple Music and elsewhere.

Noticeably missing from this Marvel movie are a Stan Lee (1922-2019) cameo and a full bonus scene after the credits. We see only the words TO BE CONTINUED before the credits (and the third movie is in production now with the same directors and writers).

Lord and Pemberton were last blogged for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Powers for Soul, and Callaham for Wonder Woman 1984. This is the feature directing debut for Dos Santos, after some action TV episodes and shorts, and the directing debut, period, for Thompson. Miller has written or co-written several other movies and TV shows, including The Afterparty, which he created.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences are spinning with joy, averaging 95 and 94%. We watched it on Netflix March 26.

Dumb Money (2023)

Jack and I liked a lot this frantic fictionalization of the GameStop 2020 stock market phenomenon (more in a moment)--frantic because some of the action takes place online with busy, loud, multi-screen reactions. The big ensemble includes Paul Dano, well cast as determined financial analyst Keith Gill, as is Pete Davidson as his loose cannon brother Kevin. The hedge fund guys (the 1% we love to hate) include Seth Rogen (so good at acting so anxious), Vincent D'Onofrio, and Nick Offerman. Some of the "little guy" investors are Talia Ryder as a college student, America Ferrera as a nurse, and Anthony Ramos as a GameStop branch employee. My top ten are rounded out by Shailene Woodley and Olivia Thirlby as the supportive wives of Keith Gill and Rogen's character Steve Cohen.

Director Craig Gillespie keeps up the pace from the script by Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo, based on Ben Mezrich's 2021 book The Antisocial Network: The GameStop Short Squeeze and the Ragtag Group of Amateur Traders That Brought Wall Street to Its Knees. The action is firmly set during lockdown with most of the characters observing safe pandemic practices, though not all.

Here's a brief summary, though I am no expert. Correct me on any details by writing to babetteflix at gmail. GameStop, still in existence now, is a retail chain selling "consoles, collectibles, video games, and more." Just before the pandemic, people on Wall Street Bets, described by Stephen Colbert as "a popular, juvenile, foul-mouthed Reddit page," noticed that hedge funds were short selling GameStop, essentially betting (big) for the stock to fail. Those users, inspired by Keith Gill, launched a coordinated buying spree, which is called a short squeeze, and drove up the share price, costing those 1% guys a LOT. Here's a Wikipedia article with more detail.

I'm streaming Will Bates' soundtrack on Apple Music. There are some rap and other songs on that album as well. Here's a song list. After the movie Jack and I listened to the long version of White Stripes' Seven Nation Army, which plays over the credits.

More trivia. The real Ken Griffin, played by Offerman, spent a little of his enormous wealth on legal fees trying very hard to prevent this movie from being made. He even sued afterwards but couldn't stop it. Speaking of lawsuits, the Winklevoss twins Tyler and Cameron, whose case against Mark Zuckerberg over the creation of Facebook is depicted in The Social Network, are among the executive producers of this movie. And, lastly, The Social Network and this one are both based on books by Ben Mezrich.

Dano and Rogen were last blogged for The Fabelmans, Davidson for The King of Staten Island, D'Onofrio for Jurassic World, Offerman for Frances Ferguson, Ryder for Never Rarely Sometimes Always, Ferrera for Barbie, Ramos for In the Heights, Woodley for Ferrari, Thirlby for Being Flynn (though she was one of the many in Oppenheimer), Gillespie for Cruella, and Bates for Another Earth. This is the feature debut for Blum and Angelo, both of whom were staff writers for Orange Is the New Black.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences are happy to spend some smart time on this, averaging 84 and 86%. We watched it on Netflix on March 20.

Perfect Days (2023)

Deb, Angela, and I loved this languid tale of a Tokyo public toilet cleaner contentedly living his well-ordered life. Some things do happen but this is not for the impatient. Some of the movie's seven wins and 35 other nominations have gone to star Koji Yakusho and others to German director Wim Wenders, the first non-Japanese director to helm an Oscar-nominated Japanese language movie.

The screenplay was co-written by Wenders and Takuma Takasaki. No composer is credited but our hero listens to audio cassettes of 70s and 80s American and British music (here's one list, including the ad hoc title track of Lou Reed's Perfect Day).

The nine public toilets in the movie are architecturally and sometimes technologically fascinating. Apparently they were built to welcome people to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Obviously, the games were delayed but the restrooms are still standing. An executive with the company Uniqlo spearheaded the idea of making a documentary about the buildings, and Wenders was one of the directors contacted. Wenders decided to make a fiction feature instead.

The second item on my list of Rules for movies and television is that the Eiffel Tower is visible in nearly every shot of Paris. Further down is Big Ben, London Bridge, and/or Buckingham Palace and the guards for London. In this movie, Tokyo's Skytree tower is ubiquitous.

Wenders was last blogged for Pina and this is the second feature for Takasaki. Yakusho's resume includes Tampopo (1985), Shall We Dance (1996), and Babel (2006).

Rotten Tomatoes' critics reviews are practically flawless, averaging 96% and its audiences are close at 90. Not St. Patrick's Day fare, but we rented it on March 17 anyway.