The Farewell

Ned has been busy with other activities, so I decided to watch The Farewell on my own.

 

Billi is a young woman with a close relationship with her grandmother, NaiNai (who lives in China).  Their long distance relationship reminds me a lot of Jeri's relationship; with my mother.  When NaiNai is diagnosed with terminal cancer, the family agree that she should not be told, but they stage a mock wedding as an excuse for everyone to gather in China to say their goodbyes. Billi is the only one who disagrees but ultimately goes along with the family wishes.  There is an emotional goodbye as the family all return to the US.

This is based on a true story and it's nice that the very end of the movie is a fun video of the real NaiNai, still alive 6 years after her diagnosis.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

I really had zero expectations about this movie and other than knowing Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio were movie star and stuntman (and not knowing which was which), I came into this movie cold.  Also, Ned loves it and Marta thought it boring.

Of course, I fell asleep about 20 minutes in and woke up maybe 20 minutes later.  but I was determined to see the whole 3 hour movie, so fixed a pot of coffee.  About the  time I got to where I woke up after my brief nap is when I got hooked into the movie and by the end of it, I loved it.

I chose this photo because I've eaten at Musso & Frank's
without realizing what an iconic restaurant it is!

This movie is Quentin Tarantino's opportunity to examine what might have happened if the Manson family had gone to the wrong house, but it is filmed in such a way that all the way through the 3 hours you know that at the end Sharon Tate et al. are going to be murdered.

It tells the story of TV star Rick Dalton (DiCaprio) and his stunt man Cliff Booth (Pitt), as Dalton's career is starting to fade. It shows a lot of backstage Hollylwood, while filming is going on (cars driving through a western set, for example), Dalton's mental breakdown when he flubs lines, the rising little girl actress (Julia Butters), who is terrific as the actress and precocious little girl.

Booth visits the ranch where the Manson family lives, he accepts a challenge by Bruce Lee, convinced he can beat him up (he can't).

Just the whole thing is so Hollywood, and the ending totally unexpected.  As I said, I loved it.

Rocketman -- sort of

Today's movie was Rocketman, which I've been  wanting to see and which Ned had not seen.  A friend of his has what I  guess, are pirated movies on a hard drive.  That's how I was able to see Judy before the Oscar broadcast.

So we settled in to watch it.  I was never a big Elton John fan, but I just loved this movie.  I loved how it was shot, for one thing, and surprisingly I enjoyed the movie too.

We had been watching nearly an hour and Elton had just made a triumphant appearance at the Troubador in Los Angeles.

 

And the recording just stopped.  Apparently we only have half the movie.  Ned tried all the other sources for downloading the rest of it, unsuccessfully, unless we want to pay $12 to buy it.   So we had to call a halt to today's movie and will watch something different next time -- and keep our eyes out for when we can find the entire recording of Rocketman!

Be Kind, Rewind

Ned knows more movies that I have never heard of!  Today's choice was Be Kind, Rewind, a 2008 comedy starring Jack Black, Mos Def, and Mia Farrow.  It was very funny. I didn't even fall asleep once.

This takes place in a video rental store (so old they only rent VHS tapes), condemned by the city and scheduled to be torn down.

Jack Black becomes magnetized while trying to sabotage a power station (nearly electrocuting himself) and he inadvertently erases all of the videotapes in the store, while the owner is out of town at a centennial celebration for Fats Domino, the owner's hero.

To keep from letting people know what he has done, Black and Mos Def decide to remake every movie with their own camera, starting with Ghostbusters.

 

They make other movies and claim they are "Sweded" versions, made in Sweden, so they charge $20 per rental.  Sooner or later they the feds find out and they are going to be sued for millions of dollars for copyright infringement, and the city is waiting with demolition equipment to demolish the building.

Ned tells me the interesting thing about this movie is that it was actually filmed in a run down neighborhood in New Jersey and all the extras in the film are actual people who live in the neighborhood, just like all of the "Sweded" movies are cast with actual people who live in the neighborhood. 

A very odd movie, but given Ned's love of making movies, I can see why this appeals to him -- and I laughed out loud several times (and I'm not particularly a "laugher.")

Critic rating:  4.5

The Trouble with Harry

What a cool movie day.  Ned made popcorn, which he fixed in bowls for each of us and we settled in to watch this 1954 Alfred Hithcock comedy/mystery, which introduced Shirley MacLean.

The trouble with Harry is that he is dead.  And nobody's quite sure what to do with the body.  Edmond Gwenn (Santa Claus in Miracle on 34th Street) is Captaini Wiles, who thinks he shot him accidentally while shooting at rabbits.  MacLean is the widow Jennifer Rogers (whose young son is Jerry Mathers before  there was Leave it to Beaver). Harry is her estranged husband, whom she hit over the head with a milk bottle and thinks that might have caused his death.  But Miss Gravely (Mildred Natwick) hit him with the heel of her shoe when he tried to attack her.

John Forsythe, as the artist Sam Marlowe, helps bury the body -- three times until the sheriff gets wind of a possible murder.

It's not as complicated as it sounds, with more humor than the usual Hitchcock tenseness. The ratings say it has "adult situations," but darned if I can figure out what that might be, except the Forsythe kissed MacLean...very chastely.

But it's a good movie and much more enjoyable to me than Memento.  And even Walt sat down and watched the whole thing.

Memento

This was our first movie and I can't give it a good review because I fell asleep before it was over.  I found it very confusing and even reading the synopsis on IMDB, I still couldn't figure it out.

He keeps lots of notes, including many tattoos.

 
Ned explained it to me and it was still confusing.  The description on IMDB reads:

Leonard (Guy Pearce) is tracking down the man who raped and murdered his wife. The difficulty, however, of locating his wife's killer is compounded by the fact that he suffers from a rare, untreatable form of memory loss. Although he can recall details of life before his accident, Leonard cannot remember what happened fifteen minutes ago, where he's going, or why.

There is apparently an important plot twist near the end that I know now, but I'm not sure I want to see the movie again just to get to that point.

Critic review:  3 stars (2 for the movie and 1 for its ability to give me a nice nap)

Humor Me

 Ned had downloaded a movie called Humor Me from OnDemand and that was going to be our first movie, but Marta watched it on her own and I watched it over the weekend.  Ned still hasn't seen it.

This was made in 2017 and also has a cast of unknowns-to-me (Joey Slotnick, Bernie McInerney, Thor Feldman), but at least I knew Elliot Gould's name.  

Slotnick is a playwright with writer's block whose wife divorces him and leaves him without any money, so he moves in with his father in a senior facility.  It's labeled a comedy and it does have funny stuff in it, but it's more a dramady.  Looking for "something to do" at the facility, Slotnick is talked into directing their upcoming production, which happens to be The Mikado. 
 

We don't know if they do the whole Mikado or just "Three Little Maids," which is all we see.  But what a perfect movie for me.  I loved it, and especially the final version of "Three Little Maids," which is hilarious.  Having watched that number performed in every possible way imaginable in Lamplighters galas, this was perfect.

Movie Marathon

While we are sheltering in place here in California, Ned and I are going to be watching a lot of movies together.  I decided to keep a list of the movies we watch, along with a review.