The Most Recent Movie You've Seen on Streaming, Broadcast TV, or Movie Theater?

We watched 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom' last week. It was intense, striking performances by Chadwick Boseman, Glynn Turman and Viola Davis. I would have loved to see more of Ma, but all together it was fab.

That was one of Boseman’s last performances. Stage 4 colon cancer. Hardly anyone knew he was undergoing surgeries and chemotherapy. That was an exceptional young man.

Yes, he was extremely talented and his energy was over the top.

Did you see him as Jackie Robinson in ‘42’? That’s when I became a fan.

3 Days To Kill, a bit of dark humor and a severe body count. TWO BOWLS A BUTTERED POP-CORN

One of the few movies I watched more than one time. I'da bet it would be impossible to satirize something like the death of Stalin...but they did a spectacular job.

I was a big fan of Rupert Friend's Quinn on Homeland...and I enjoyed his portrayal of Stalin's son, Vasily.

I felt sorry when Beria got shot but then I looked him up on Wikipedia and he was a monster.

At one of the conferences Stalin introduced him to Roosevelt as his Himmler, and he wasn’t far off.

Yeah. I lived through lots of that stuff...so I was aware of Beria.

He was dreaded by the entire of the Communist hierarchy.

One of the Bernie Gunther books is about the Katyn massacre, and Beria was the main architect of that atrocity.

The Polish film industry (don't know what else to call it) made a film about the massacre, but I've never seen it. I doubt it has ever been released in English, but hopefully I can find one with English subtitles.

Talking about the death of Stalin movie, so much of the dialogue appeared to be just ordinary problem solving, office politics and routine chit chat, and then somebody would be brutally eliminated and no one would even raise an eyebrow.

It was the clinging to procedure and a need for protocol to appear legitimate, which after Stalin had done whatever he wanted seems so ironic.

As always it was the general who held the power, once Zhukov arrived it was game over.

Just saw Let Him Go with Kevin Costner and Diane Lane. Set in the 1960’s, it’s the story of a couple of grandparents who go to rescue their grandson from an evil family/clan. Very well done - understated acting by two Oscar winners. The violence is very graphic but also very well done and believable. Man, this is one creepy-evil family.

Tried to watch The Call of the Wild, the recent version with Harrison Ford.
I got about ten minutes into it when I realized the whole movie was going to be focused on a CGI generated dog, complete with cute facial expressions and supernatural physical abilities. I maybe could have hung in there (I had heard it was good entertainment), but the cartoon dog was just too hard to get past.

I’ve just watched a TV series called The Third Day, starring Jude Law.

It’s very good, he is drawn to this mysterious island off the coast of Essex.

It’s similar to Lindisfarne in Northumberland in that it’s only an island during high tide, at low tide you can drive to the mainland over the causeway.

Lots of shades of the Wicker Man, worth a look.

Because Wonder Woman 1984 is a hot, muddled overly-long mess.

I never thought I’d see a zero stars movie. Until now, probably the worst movie I’d ever seen I would have rated as two stars.

But the movie An Imperfect Murder, starring Sienna Miller and Alec Baldwin, is so bad I feel like I should get some stars awarded to ME - just for watching it. They try to tell a story about a murder in constant flashbacks, narration, and a bunch of barely-related scenes where the lead character is having conversations that I guess are supposed to give you insights into her mind.

It’s SO bad. I saw it for free and still feel like I need a refund. BAD.

One more reason that Pixar's Soul (2020) is one of the best things to happen in that dreadful year. Easily one of the best films of 2020.

I have a goal this year to watch more foreign films. Recently, I saw two epic films.

1900: an Italian historical film starring Robert De Niro and Donald Sutherland that is over 5 hours long. It is about the rise of fascism in Italy during the first half of the 20th century. It is not bad, though it can get pretty violent, and it is not at all subtle on its messaging (Communism=good, Fascism=bad). Available on Hulu

War & Peace: 4 part Soviet Union film that lasts over 7 hours long. It is an adaptation of the classic book, and apparently it includes all of the narrative, which is about members of high society during the French invasion of Russia. It is great, though it is odd that the 45 year old director is playing an aristocrat in his 20s. It probably has some of the best war scenes I have seen (depicting the Battle of Borodino). Available on HBO MAX

After this COVID pandemic has come to an end and I'm vaccinated up, I'm going to need to find a way to learn how to build up a tolerance and be able to watch really long movies again (especially in terms of being able to focus and to not have anxiety attacks while watching them).

I did manage to watch One Night in Miami in two parts last week. Found on Amazon Prime. That directorial debut for Regina King has some serious Oscar contention for it. Rated 8/10.

Last night, I watched the George Clooney directed sci-fi flick, The Midnight Sky in one sitting. Minor successes to be proud of. The third act tanked what was a decent post-apocalyptic film. Would have been ... at best a 7/10 on IMDb. The terrible twist ending (I won't spoil it) dropped my rating down to a failing 5/10.

Finally, Friday night was the opening night to the FIAF (French Institute Alliance Francais) Animation First Festival.

And boy do I have a film for Calamity Jane!

Calamity, a Childhood of Martha Jane Cannary (2020)


Eligible for the 2021 Animated Feature Oscar, this one should give Pixar's Soul and Apple's Wolfwalkers a run for their heavily favored money. Prior to tonight, Soul was the best movie I seen from 2020 and I have yet to see the latter (to be rectified ... soonish).