It's Movie Time!

You would have thought that my being on vacation for most of the month that I wouldn't have watched many movies. But my sister is a true movie hound, so we hit the mother load!

MOVIES WATCHED IN MARCH

Mar 6 - Leaving Neverland Pt 1 (2019)
At the height of his stardom, the world's biggest pop star, Michael Jackson, began long-running relationships with two boys, aged seven and ten, and their families. They now allege that he sexually abused them.
Director: Dan Reed
Stars: Michael Jackson, Jimmy Safechuck, Wade Robson

I stopped liking Jackson after he bought the Beatles’ songs out from under his supposed friend, Paul McCartney, but I was never sure about the allegations against him. I’m sure now.

Mar 7 - Becoming Jane (2007)
A biographical portrait of a pre-fame Jane Austen and her romance with a young Irishman.
Director: Julian Jarrold
Stars: Anne Hathaway, James McAvoy, Julie Walters, James Cromwell, Maggie Smith

Interesting, and apparently based on fact. Well, some facts. *g* Still, an engaging movie.

Mar 8 - Spy (2015)
A desk-bound CIA analyst volunteers to go undercover to infiltrate the world of a deadly arms dealer, and prevent diabolical global disaster.
Director: Paul Feig
Stars: Melissa McCarthy, Rose Byrne, Jude Law, Allison Janney

I’ve seen this movie before, it was just as funny the second time.

Mar 11 - Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001)
A British woman is determined to improve herself while she looks for love in a year in which she keeps a personal diary.
Director: Sharon Maguire
Stars: Renée Zellweger, Colin Firth, Hugh Grant

Amazingly enough, I’d never seen this movie. I liked it, enough to look for the two sequels. Lighthearted, and a little silly, but a good way to spend two hours.

Mar 11 - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
A bounty hunting scam joins two men in an uneasy alliance against a third in a race to find a fortune in gold buried in a remote cemetery.
Director: Sergio Leone
Stars: Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, Lee Van Cleef

It had been years since I’d seen this movie. I’d always liked it, and was pleased to see that it held up. Of course, Eli Wallach stole the show.

Mar 11 - Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan 91982)
With the assistance of the Enterprise crew, Admiral Kirk must stop an old nemesis, Khan Noonien Singh, from using the life-generating Genesis Device as the ultimate weapon.
Director: Nicholas Meyer
Stars: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, Bibi Besch, Paul Winfield, Ricardo Montalban

The best of the TOS movies, set after the snooze-fest of TMP, and before they turned Spock into a doofus (marshmelons, indeed. Give me a break.)

Mar 13 - The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011)
British retirees travel to India to take up residence in what they believe is a newly restored hotel. Less luxurious than advertised, the Marigold Hotel nevertheless slowly begins to charm in unexpected ways.
Director: John Madden
Stars: Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, Dev Patel, Maggie Smith, Tom Wilkinson, Penelope Wilton

I never tire of seeing this movie. Great writing, and an absolutely great cast.

Mar 14 - Up In Smoke (1978)
Two stoners unknowingly smuggle a van - made entirely of marijuana - from Mexico to L.A., with incompetent Sgt. Stedenko on their trail.
Directors: Lou Adler, Tommy Chong (uncredited)
Stars: Cheech Marin, Tommy Chong, Strother Martin, Edie Adams, Tom Skerritt, Stacy Keach

Boy, did this ever bring back memories. I went with a girlfriend to see it when it first came out. Maybe because it was a workday, there couldn’t have been a half dozen people in the theatre. Didn’t make it any less funny. And it’s still funny.

Mar 15 - How to Train your Dragon: The Hidden World (2019)
When Hiccup discovers Toothless isn't the only Night Fury, he must seek "The Hidden World", a secret Dragon Utopia before a hired tyrant named Grimmel finds it first.
Director: Dean DeBlois
Stars: Jay Baruchel, America Ferrera, F. Murray Abraham, Cate Blanchett, Craig Ferguson, Kit Harington

I love Toothless. Enough said. *g*

Mar 16 - The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2015)
As the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel has only a single remaining vacancy - posing a rooming predicament for two fresh arrivals - Sonny pursues his expansionist dream of opening a second hotel.
Director: John Madden
Stars: Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Bill Nighy, Dev Patel, Celia Imrie, Richard Gere

Having rewatched the first, we had to watch the second. Not as good as the first, but still enjoyable.

Mar 21 - Birdbox (2018)
Five years after an ominous unseen presence drives most of society to suicide, a mother and her two children make a desperate bid to reach safety.
Director: Susanne Bier
Stars: Sandra Bullock, Trevante Rhodes, John Malkovich, Sarah Paulson

Very well done. Suspenseful, sometimes horrifying, always engrossing. I loved the book, and the movie comes in a close second.

Mar 22 - I Am Richard Pryor (2019)
The documentary tells the story of the legendary performer and iconic social satirist, who transcended race and social barriers by delivering his honest irreverent and biting humor to America's stages and living rooms until his death at 65. Featuring an iconic comedic cast, historians, activists and artists who provide a unique brushstroke into the complex world of Pryor. The film dives deeply into the psyche of a comedic genius whose mother was a prostitute, father a pimp, and grandmother a madam. Pryor dispensed a penetrating comedic view of African American life - essentially comedy without jokes - that struck a chord with audiences of every ethnic, social and economic disposition.
Director: Jesse James Miller
Stars: Sandra Bernhard, Todd Boyd, Ron De Blasio, Howie Mandel, Lily Tomlin, Jimmy Walker

Pryor was always one of my favorite comedians. Not so much for his movies, but for his great stand-up routines (there’s no beating Richard Pryor, Live in Concert [1979].) While this is a good documentary, it got a little sappy at the end. Pryor deserves better than that.

Mar 24 - Leaving Neverland Pt 2 (2019)
At the height of his stardom, the world's biggest pop star, Michael Jackson, began long-running relationships with two boys, aged seven and ten, and their families. They now allege that he sexually abused them.
Director: Dan Reed
Stars: Michael Jackson, Jimmy Safechuck, Wade Robson

It was hard to see what became of the boys, how their lives have never gotten back on track.

Mar 27 - Trouble (2017)
Middle-aged siblings feud over possession of their father's estate in this sibling rivalry dramatic comedy.
Director: Theresa Rebeck
Stars: Anjelica Huston, Bill Pullman, David Morse

Sort of weird, sort of funny. It took awhile to get going, but once it did it was an interesting movie.

Mar 28 - The Front Runner (2018)
In 1987, U.S. Senator Gary Hart's presidential campaign is derailed when he's caught in a scandalous love affair.
Director: Jason Reitman
Stars: Hugh Jackman, Vera Farmiga, J.K. Simmons, Alfred Molina

I vividly remember when this all happened, though I have to admit to not following it as closely as maybe I should have. The movie certainly filled in some blank spots, though there’s always artistic license to think about. A good, solid movie.

Mar 29 - The Hate U Give (2018)
Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Now, facing pressure from all sides of the community, Starr must find her voice and stand up for what's right.
Director: George Tillman Jr.
Stars: Amandla Stenberg, Regina Hall, Russell Hornsby, Common

This one was as good as I was hoping it would be. An excellent cast, and a timely, though very disturbing, movie.

Mar 30 - Dumbo (2019)
A young elephant, whose oversized ears enable him to fly, helps save a struggling circus, but when the circus plans a new venture, Dumbo and his friends discover dark secrets beneath its shiny veneer.
Director: Tim Burton
Stars: Colin Farrell, Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito, Eva Green, Alan Arkin

After Malecifent, I was so afraid that I would be disappointed with the Dumbo remake. I wasn’t at all. In fact, I loved it, and can’t wait to buy the DVD.