Month: February 2018

Three sentence movie reviews: Irreplaceable You

Oh, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, you’ve been so good in so many films* and I hope you keep working for many years. This is one of those films that could be incredibly so-so, or also could be quietly charming and very good, and I’m happy to say that it was the latter, rather than the former. This was just the bit of “good movie” my Sunday night needed.**

Cost: Netflix subscription fee
Where watched: at home. Matt was half watching it and he also enjoyed it.

*I’m specifically thinking here of Beyond the Lights, but I know also she’s quite good in Belle, which I haven’t seen because the library only had a Blu-Ray copy and I didn’t have a Blu-Ray player when it was released on DVD. Which reminds me. [pause while things happen online] Hold has been placed.
**Random note:  Michael Huisman also played the romantic lead in the Age of Adaline. What a difference the subtraction of facial hair and addition of glasses makes. And further investigation has me thinking they also changed his nose. Also, he was Sonny in the show Treme!  He’s great in that, too.

poster from: http://www.impawards.com/tv/irreplaceable_you.html

Three sentence movie reviews: Black Panther

If you are going to see one–and only one–superhero film, this is a good pick, mostly because it’s so well done, but also because this superhero film has put women front and center in a way that none of its predecessors have.* It’s an action-packed, meaningful narrative that handles very well its many plot arcs. That said, I have seen many superhero films and am burned out on the genre, so while I appreciated how good this movie was, I also didn’t love it in the way I would have had I seen it in 2012, instead of 2018.

Cost: $9.00
Where watched: Century 16 Eastport, our first visit to that theater. Movies start early at Century Theaters. Our showing was at 8:45 a.m.

*Except Wonder Woman, but if that movie wasn’t female forward, it would have been a disaster.

poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2018/black_panther.html

Three sentence movie reviews: Chris Rock: Tambourine

There are some very good bits in this comedy special.* Chris Rock manages to be funny while taking about the end of his marriage and what he did wrong. Along with the funny parts, there were some on-point observations as when he compared how connected he and his wife were (through social media, cell phones and texting) versus his own parents, who said goodbye to each other in the morning and didn’t speak again until the work day was over.

Cost: Netflix subscription
Where watched: at home with Matt.

*My personal favorite, best thought of in your best Chris Rock voice:
In response to a school orientation where his daughter’s class was told, “You can do anything!” Rock’s reply was, “You can do anything you’re good at, as long as they’re hiring.” Pause for laughter. “And even then, it helps to know someone.”

poster from: https://can.newonnetflix.info/info/80167498

Three sentence movie reviews: Step Sisters

Because I love dance, I was interested in this film about step dancing. I was less interested when I found out the thrust of the narrative was about white sorority girls becoming competent step dancers under the tutelage of Megalyn Echikunwoke. However, the commitment of all actors to their roles eventually won me over.

Cost: Netflix subscription fee
Where watched: at home

poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2018/step_sisters.html

80’s Love Song Sing Along @the Hollywood Theatre

I found the promise of singing along to 80s music videos hard to resist and so Kelly and I headed over to the Hollwood Theatre. (Our group was supposed to be bigger. One person backed out due to illness and one person didn’t show up due to date confusion.)

We received our kazoos, so as to play along with the sexy saxophone solos, (!!!!!) and lustily sang along.

Some highlights:

  • Our host pointed out that he loved 80s videos because some of them are bat-shit crazy. Indeed.
  • The best sexy saxophone solo came with our first song, “Careless Whisper.” Let me say that the narrative established in the video leaves me not feeling sorry for two-timing George Michael.
  • The screams–actual screams–that came from the females of the audience with the opening chords of Rick Springfield’s “Jessie’s Girl.”  While I appreciate that song, it’s not on such a visceral level. “Oh my god, he had such good hair!” Kelly exclaimed breathlessly. I’ve concluded that when the song was released, I was still pre-pubescent, and did not have that potent cocktail of hormones coursing through my system that people slightly older than me experienced.
  • I did, however, scream at the first notes of “Never Tear us Apart” by INXS. Man, Michael Hutchence. And that band in general.
  • Some of the videos did not translate well to the current decade. “Tainted Love” was particularly icky, as the lead singer is singing to a young girl. We’re talking an eight year old young girl. Gross.
  • Some of those videos I had never seen because we didn’t have cable when they were originally in rotation and had fallen out of favor by the time we did have cable.
  • The host pointed out that people often ask him why there are not more videos of heavy metal bands. He then said that it was because metal sucks. That got a very loud “boo!” from me. He then played one (1) song: Bon Jovi’s “You Give Love a Bad Name” which was awesome for viewing the trappings of being a 1980s heavy metal band, but is one of two songs of Bon Jovi’s that are always played. A better choice would have been “Born to be my Baby.” (Released November 24, 1988 and peaked at #3 on Billboard’s Hot 100, yet I never hear it played on classic rock radio, but that’s a topic for another day.)
  • The host encouraged us to dance from the get-go, but it was Erasure’s “A Little Respect” that got people out of their seats and dancing.
  • The original video for Berlin’s “Take My Breath Away” is a hilarious unintentional (?) homoerotic love fest featuring Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer.
  • We got Rickrolled!  The host introduced the ultimate 80’s love song, we heard the first few bars, and then! Record scratch and a detour to Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up.” That was one of the first 45s I bought as an adolescent.
  • The ultimate 80’s love song, “Total Eclipse of the Heart” has perhaps the craziest video ever. I had never seen it, and ho-boy. It has everything.

Three sentence movie reviews: Phantom Thread

There was brilliant acting by all three leads, plus a delicious feast of clothing for the eye. However, I’ve grown tired of entitled men being assholes and arranging their world to revolve around them, so most of this movie was excruciating.* It’s worth watching, though, so you know what people are talking about when they reference “the ending” with befuddled glee and/or confusion.

Cost: $5.35
Where watched: Regal City Center Stadium 12

*I did not find this to be, as the Filmspotting crew termed it, “a love story.”

poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2018/phantom_thread.html

Mom’s Birthday cake 2018


Mom requested chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting for her birthday. And that’s what she got. This was a delicious chocolate cake (following the directions, I made a “pudding” first) and the cream cheese frosting nicely set it off.

The cats were also interested in the cream cheese frosting, and knocked the leftover cake off the counter in an attempt to get to it. They were thwarted by the Tupperware container.

Three sentence movie reviews: Fred Armisen For Drummers Only

A recommend by someone who knows of my love of drummers, this was a bit uneven for a comedy special, but it was full of drummer love. I particularly enjoyed Armisen’s tour of the drum kits through the years. The audience members also had to play drums in order to prove they were drummers to gain entry; the notice on the sign didn’t lie.

Cost: Neflix monthly fee
Where watched: at home

poster from: http://www.slimspresents.com/event/fred-armisen-drummers-only-netflix-special-taping-gamh/
Is this not the best promotional poster you’ve seen in a long time?

Postcard from Ohio

This arrived from Cousin Ron and I was initially confused.

This is a postcard that came with instructions. The person was supposed to create an Emerge poem (The term “Emerge” is trademarked) by marking out words or phrases so other expressions can “emerge” from the author’s original work. The instructions continue: “Share your work through social media and tag your poem with #TSAkron and #KentState. If you’d like, mail your poem to a friend or loved one by using a first class stamp.”
This kind of “art” annoys me. I wouldn’t follow those directions, and neither did Cousin Ron. A search of #TSAkron shows that no one else has followed the directions, either.

At any rate, it was nice to hear from Ron and hear that he has a new job in Akron!