Movie/TV Reviews
June 2020 Movies
Becoming ☆☆☆☆☆ A Netflix original documentary following Michelle Obama on her book tour for her autobiography Becoming. I enjoyed the book and the documentary covers some of the same material. The joy of the documentary, however, is in seeing the reaction that people have to meeting Mrs. Obama and her own genuine enthusiasm and care…
May 2020 Movies
A Secret Love ☆☆☆☆☆ A documentary telling the story of Pat and Terry, two women who began to live with each other as romantic partners in the 1940s. They kept their lesbian relationship secret from their families who remarkably seemed surprised when they came out in the 2000s. Terry played in the All American Girls…
April Movies
The Incredible Jessica James ☆☆☆ There are a couple of really great scenes in this movie but in general, it’s not a particularly funny movie. The main character’s relationship with the children in her theater class are particularly problematic. And the situation that sends her to London at the end of the movie is completely…
March Movies
The Assistant ☆☆☆☆ I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this movie. It was a quiet exploration of one day in the life of a young woman who is one of the assistants of a movie industry executive. Julia Garner is quietly expressive as the assistant. She says hardly anything throughout the movie but…
February Movies
Jo Jo Rabbit ☆☆☆☆☆ I had heard that this movie is about a boy who has Adolf Hitler as an imaginary friend. I didn’t know what to expect from a premise as potentially offensive as that. The combination of serious, life-threatening subject matter and light-hearted ridiculousness that comes from the imagination of the main character…
January Movies
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker ☆☆☆☆ I enjoyed this movie a lot. It’s not particularly nuanced but the resolution of the various story lines opened up in the previous two movies was satisfying. Romance between characters was hinted at but I liked that it was resisted. At the Concord Regal Little Women ☆☆☆ The…
December Movies
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood☆☆☆☆☆ I was a bit skeptical as this movie started because it’s about the journalist’s awakening and I wasn’t sure I was going to like yet another story about a middle-aged white man’s existential crisis. But Tom Hanks as Mr. Rogers won me over, much as Mr. Rogers won the…
October Movies
The Current War My goal is always to see one movie a week. I often don’t meet that goal. In October, I saw only one movie for the entire month. Unfortunately, it was The Current War. It stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Thomas Edison, Michael Shannon as George Westinghouse, and Nicholas Hoult as Tesla and tells…
September Movies
Peanut Butter Falcon ☆☆☆☆ I liked this movie more than I expected to. From the previews, I thought it might be overly sappy. It wasn’t. Until the end. The only reason I didn’t give the movie 5 stars is because of the very last scene which felt like a cop out. Shia LaBoeuf was surprisingly…
August Movies
The Farewell ☆☆☆☆ Great movie based on actual events. Awkwafina plays Billi, a Chinese American woman in her 30s whose grandmother back in China has just been diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. Her family decides not to tell her grandmother about the diagnosis in the belief that stress about these sorts of diagnoses is…
July Movies
I only saw two movies in the entire month of July! Lucky they were both great! Yesterday ☆☆☆☆☆ I smiled through this whole movie. Surprisingly sweet with great music. At the Concord Regal with Ann Spiderman: Far From Home ☆☆☆☆☆ I thought I would like this movie because I’m a fan of Tom Holland as…
June Movies
Wild Nights With Emily ☆☆☆☆ Molly Shannon is such a surprise as Emily Dickinson. Very fun and strange movie about Dickinson’s love affair with her sister-in-law. At Red River with Ann and Pat All True ☆☆ Kenneth Branaugh plays Will Shakespeare in retirement, returned home after his theater, The Globe, has burned to the ground.…
