Back to the Movies!

There's been a lot going on with me, so my movie watching sort of slid. Actually, when it did get around to watching something, it was just as often a documentary as a movie. Terrible how RL can interfere. *g* Anyway, here's three months' worth.

FEBRUARY

Feb 7 - The Circus (2018)
The rise and fall of the circus experience. The story of the circus as an American experiment and entertainment. The story of those who brought it to life.
Director: Sharon Grimberg
Star: Michael D. Lancaster

Interesting and informative. Its beginnings weren’t what I had always thought.


Feb 9 - Killers Of the Flower Moon (2023)
When oil is discovered in 1920s Oklahoma under Osage Nation land, the Osage people are murdered one by one - until the FBI steps in to unravel the mystery.
Director: Martin Scorsese
Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Lily Gladstone, John Lithgow, Brendan Fraser

A good movie, but I think it would have worked better if they had stuck more to the book, which I thought was excellent. Still worth watching, though.


Feb 16 - Maestro (2023)
This love story chronicles the lifelong relationship of conductor-composer Leonard Bernstein and actress Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein.
Director: Bradley Cooper
Stars: Carey Mulligan, Bradley Cooper, Matt Bomer, Sarah Silverman

Pretty weird, which I guess was the whole point. I didn’t think it lived up to the hype. Unless you’re a real fan of the man, you may be disappointed.


Feb 20 - Uranium: Twisting the Dragon’s Tail (2015)
Host and physicist Dr. Derek Muller unlocks the mysteries of uranium, one of the Earth's most controversial elements.
Star: Derek Muller

An excellent and in-depth history of man’s involvement with uranium, and the problems we’ve created because of it. Highly recommended.


Feb 21 - Barbie (2023)
Barbie and Ken are having the time of their lives in the colorful and seemingly perfect world of Barbie Land. However, when they get a chance to go to the real world, they soon discover the joys and perils of living among humans.
Director: Greta Gerwig
Stars: Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, Issa Rae, Kate McKinnon, America Ferrera, Rhea Perlman, Will Ferrell, Helen Mirren (narrator)

It’s…okay. I watched it because they were hyping it as a feminist take on the doll. I didn’t really see that. I just thought it was sort of silly.


Feb 28 - The Andromeda Strain (1971)
Top scientists work feverishly in a secret, state-of-the-art laboratory to discover what killed the citizens of a small town and how the deadly contagion can be stopped.
Director: Robert Wise
Stars: James Olson, Arthur Hill, David Wayne

They take way too much time on how wonderful the security is at the laboratory, and how impossible it would be for a contagion to get out. I think more than half the movie was the scientists going through one decontamination after another. It makes for a pretty dull movie, which isn’t made up by the race to stop the contagion once it does, surprise, surprise, get out.


MARCH

Mar 17 - Fiddler On The Roof (1971)
In pre-revolutionary Russia, a Jewish peasant with traditional values contends with marrying off three of his daughters with modern romantic ideals while growing anti-Semitic sentiment threatens his village.
Director: Norman Jewison
Stars: Topol, Norma Crane, Leonard Frey, Paul Michael Glazer

I hadn’t watched this movie in years, so when my sister asked me to pick something from her dvds, this was it. A wonderful movie. Sad, yet inspiring. And the songs are superb.



Mar 20 - Poor Things (2023)
An account of the fantastical evolution of Bella Baxter, a young woman brought back to life by the brilliant and unorthodox scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter.
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Stars: Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe

A very strange movie, but ultimately a very good one. It took awhile for me to get into it, but once I did, I was hooked. Stone was wonderful, and fully deserved the Oscar.


APRIL

Apr 3 - The Life of Muhammad (2011)
A landmark documentary series examining the life of the Prophet Muhammad and the origins of Islamic faith.
Stars: Rageh Omaar, Tariq Ali, Karen Armstrong

I’d read a book about Muhammad, but didn’t get much out of it. This documentary is so much more thorough. Another highly recommended documentary.



Apr 4 - Dante : Inferno to Paradise (2024)
Chronicles the life, work and legacy of the great 14th century Florentine poet, Dante Alighieri, and his epic masterpiece, The Divine Comedy, one of the greatest achievements in the history of Western Literature.
Stars: Catherine Adoyo, Alan Cox, Dikran Tulaine, Fattori Fraser

I read The Inferno years ago, and have to admit that, even with the illustrations, it was hard to envision a lot of what was going on. This documentary filled everything in, and made The Divine Comedy come alive. I’m sure I’ll be watching it again.



Apr 10 - Downwind (2023)
Hiroshima. Nagasaki. Mercury, Nevada? The latter was the site for the testing of 928 large-scale nuclear weapons from 1951 to 1992. Martin Sheen narrates this harrowing exposé of the United States' disregard for everyone living downwind.
Directors: Douglas Brian Miller, Mark Shapiro
Stars: Lewis Black, Mary Dickson, Michael Douglas, Martin Sheen, Patrick Wayne

I’ve seen programs about the testing, but none brought home what was done to the people in the area as much as this did. It’s hard not to think that there wasn’t a better way.



Apr 11 - Fail Safe (1964)
A technical malfunction sends American planes to Moscow to deliver a nuclear attack. Can all-out war be averted?
Director: Sidney Lumet
Stars: Henry Fonda, Walter Matthau, Fritz Weaver, Larry Hagman, Dan O’Herlihy, Frank Overton

A bit dated, but still worth watching. The ending, especially, brings home the danger of what we’re playing with.



Apr 12 - The Zone of Interest (2023)
Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss and his wife Hedwig strive to build a dream life for their family in a house and garden beside the camp.
Director: Jonathan Glazer
Stars: Christian Friedel, Sandra Hüller, Johann Karthaus

It’s horrifying how people can blind themselves to what’s going on around them. Uncomfortable to watch.



Apr 19-22 - Good Omens (2019-)
The End of the World is coming, which means a fussy Angel and a loose-living Demon who've become overly fond of life on Earth are forced to form an unlikely alliance to stop Armageddon.
Creator: Neil Gaiman
Stars: David Tennan, tMichael Sheen, Miranda Richardson, Jon Hamm, Frances McDormand

I loved this, and can’t wait for the third season! Two years to go? Oh, no!