October 2018

October highlights included seeing one of my favorite musicals, Dear Evan Hansen, at the Ahmanson Theater with Joan—and receiving the gift of a Macbook from her as well. (Thank you so much for bankrolling so many of my favorite things, JM!) We also saw a pretty good play called VietGone as well! I continued to ride Bird and Lime scooters, and unfortunately fell off a Bird, skinning both knees and scratching up my right arm, due to my own stupidity. This was also the month I tried a few different juicers for making lemonade. My most recent acquisition is a lemon press that squashes the lemons by pulling a handle. I have been enjoying many batches of fresh lemonade! I ended the month by flying to Fort Lauderdale to attend the boat show. TV: I’m still enjoying all of my favorite shows. BOOKS: I finished Brian Kiley’s novel, and listened to Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris. I quickly began another of her books, Bring Me Back. I also read an excellent newer Alan Ayckbourn play called A Brief History of Women. MUSIC: I finally finished grading every song by the Moody Blues.

Here are the movies I saw in October:

A STAR IS BORN (2018)—This latest remake of the perennial celebrity-couple romance features a terrific performance by Lady Gaga, who trades in her platinum-blonde persona for a more natural (and infinitely more pleasing) look—you cannot take your eyes off of her. But the movie is really all about the music, which is incredibly well done. Basically the same story as all the other versions, but updated to modern styles, dress, etc. (9)

BAD TIMES AT THE EL ROYALE (2018)—In April 2015, I saw the 2003 movie Identity, about a bunch of strangers (Ray Liotta, Amanda Peet, John C. McGinley) who find themselves holed up in a motel during a terrible storm...while being stalked by a serial killer. Bad Times is an extremely similar film with the same basic plot, with things quickly going from bad to worse. It’s extremely entertaining, with outstanding performances by Jon Hamm, Jeff Bridges, Chris Hemsworth, Dakota Johnson, et al. (10)

FIRST MAN (2018)—Ryan Gosling plays Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon. The problem is that in this biopic, Gosling portrays him as a cold, insensitive husband and father, stoic and emotionless to the point of absurdity. One of the most agonizingly boring and ridiculously overrated movies of recent memory. (4)

THE OLD MAN AND THE GUN (2018)—Ho-hum real-life drama starring Robert Redford as an aging bank robber who just can’t resist getting into trouble. Sissy Spacek plays his love interest. Unremarkable. (6)

THE HATE U GIVE (2018)—This “ripped from the headlines” drama tries to pack so many controversial subjects into one movie that it seems to be bursting at the seams. We’ve all read stories about innocent black people targeted by menacing cops (as well as black drug dealers and gang members). T.H.U.G. tries valiantly to address many of these subjects, but a little less might have been a bit more effective. What’s here is certainly not boring, and I give the filmmakers credit for exploring all angles of racial tension. (8)

WHAT THEY HAD (2018)—Blythe Danner is the mom with Alzheimer’s; Michael Shannon and Hilary Swank are her children trying to help her (and possibly get her into an assisted living facility); and Robert Forster is Danner’s husband, who just wants to take care of her in their apartment—despite the fact that she keeps busting out. This family drama is extremely well acted, and its emotional intensity is occasionally buoyed by dollops of much-needed humor. Very memorable and touching; one of the year’s best. (10)

THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL (1952)—Vincente Minelli, one of my favorite directors, does a superb job with this Hollywood-centric story all about moviemaking. Kirk Douglas is a studio chief who manipulates the lives of his director (Barry Sullivan), writer (Dick Powell) and leading lady (Lana Turner) to get what he wants. The movie is told mostly in three long flashbacks that focus on each of his cronies. Gloria Grahame won an Oscar for a relatively small role as Powell’s Southern belle wife, but she is really amazing in the movie. I really need to watch more black-and-white movies from the ’50s...and more movies featuring Grahame. (9)

September 2018

Like August, September was definitely a slow movie month (and an uneventful month in general). But on the bright side, I really loved all four movies I saw, which is a rarity verging on a miracle. The new TV season is in full swing, with many of my favorites (This Is Us, The Big Bang Theory, Mom and Law and Order: Special Victims Unit) debuting. I’m very sad about this being the final year for Big Bang—I sure will miss Sheldon, Raj, Howard, Penny and the gang. This month, I was busy using Tandem and chatting a lot with my new Chinese friend, Joanna, a lot. She is a very kind and funny young woman who shares my love for The Big Bang Theory. This was also the month I started riding those Bird scooters a lot. MUSIC: I have been working through the entire Moody Blues catalogue and making some very cool song discoveries from the 1970s and 1980s. BOOKS: I listened to the audiobook of Shari Lapena’s An Unwanted Guest and started Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris. Meanwhile, I am “sight reading” The Astounding Misadventures of Rory Collins by comedian Brian Kiley, a self-published comic novel that contains a lot of typos but is interesting nonetheless. I was also very active using an online book-trading site called MyAnonamous this month.

 Here are the movies I saw in September:

JULIET, NAKED (2018)—This is an adaptation of Nick Hornsby’s sixth novel, about a music fan (Chris O’Dowd) who is so obsessed with a long-retired musician (Ethan Hawke) that it starts to take a toll on his relationship with his girlfriend (Rose Byrne). It’s a funny, charming and moving comedy-drama directed by Jesse Peretz and really well acted by the entire cast. (10)

SEARCHING (2018)—Suspense yarn about a dad (John Cho) searching for his missing daughter (Michelle La), and putting clues together through her social-media footprint. Like 2014’s Unfriended, this is a found-footage type thriller completely from the point of view of webcams, TV screens and Facetime videos. It’s extremely well done and very imaginative, with some twists I did not see coming. (10)

A SIMPLE FAVOR (2018)—Darcey Bell’s 2017 psychological thriller gets a great cinematic transfer courtesy of director Paul Fieg. Anna Kendrick plays a single mom and online blogger whose new friendship with the mother (Blake Lively) of her son’s best friend takes some truly harrowing turns. “Hitchcockian” might be overselling it a bit, but I was thoroughly entertained by this intriguing mystery. (10)

THE HOUSE WITH A CLOCK IN ITS WALLS (2018)—Jack Black plays a magical warlock who invites his orphaned young nephew to come live in his mansion...and teaches him a few tricks in the process. Based on the books by John Bellairs, it seems obvious that the filmmakers wanted to capture a bit of the Harry Potter flavor with this macabre and scary juvenalia...and as far as I’m concerned, they did a great job, because this was far more entertaining and absorbing than the Potter movies. Cate Blanchett plays Black’s friend and neighbor, a friendly witch. A great family picture, but definitely too scary for smaller kids. (10)

August 2018

It was not a great month for movies. MoviePass has changed its rules to the point where I can’t even see the movies I want anymore. What a disappointment.
In August, I traveled to Michigan City, IN, for the boat races. It was hotter than hell there. I enjoyed staying at the local Blue Chip casino and had some fun meals there. I was able to report on the story and get the September issue of Speedboat Magazine out before the end of the month—we really hauled ass on that issue.
This was the month where I did a load of laundry and was shocked by the thick layer of lint-like paper shavings that covered all of my shirts. I never did figure out how that happened, but getting those particles off about 50 shirts turned out to be quite an ordeal. Wow, this blog is incredibly interesting, isn’t it?
TV: I watched relatively little outside of Better Call Saul, Penn & Teller: Fool Us, the late-night talk shows and old episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm. BOOKS: I listened to the audiobook of J.P. Delaney’s Believe Me and read “Uncle Jimbo’s Marbles,” a cool short story by Evan Hunter. MUSIC: Listened to a bunch of Moody Blues music, Norah Jones’ first album and some miscellaneous Chinese pop.
Here are the movies I saw in August:

BLACKKKLANSMAN (2018)—Spike Lee botches the interesting story of a how a black police officer infiltrates a chapter of the Ku Klux Klan. Overlong, full of weird musical-score choices and fairly ponderous, Lee should stop making movies. The best thing about this amateurish movie was watching beautiful Laura Harrier playing the president of the local university's Black Student Union. (5)

PUZZLE (2018)—As a big fan of actress Kelly Macdonald (Black Mirror, Swallows & Amazons), I was drawn to Puzzle because of her participation in this film about Agnes, a married woman who teams up with an Indian man to participate in a jigsaw puzzle-solving competition. Macdonald is excellent, although I miss her natural Scottish accent, and the movie is only OK—much of the movie is about Agnes’s stale marriage to David Denman, which I didn’t find all that compelling. (7)

CRAZY RICH ASIANS (2018)—For the first time ever, an all-Asian cast stars in an American hit movie. Based on Kevin Kwan’s comic novel (the first of a trilogy), the movie tells the story of Rachel Chu (Constance Wu of TV’s Fresh Off the Boat), an Chinese-American who doesn’t realize her boyfriend Nick (Henry Golding) is “crazy rich” until she flies with him to attend a wedding in Singapore. It’s there that we meet the highly pedigreed Chinese families experience all of the gossip, backbiting, and scheming that occurs when the heir to one of the most massive fortunes in Asia brings home his ABC (American-born Chinese) girlfriend to the wedding. It’s funny, engaging and features a cast full of lovely Chinese women. Between this movie and Ocean’s 8, Awkwafina is having a massively successful year. (9)

THE LAST STARFIGHTER (1984)—Caught this revival at the Arclight Hollywood theater with star Lance Guest in the audience. I’m sure he doesn’t get to experience fan accolades like this every day. Starfighter is a mostly lame fantasy for small children; it’s not very well acted, loaded with cheesy (by today’s standards) special effects, and the story is beyond preposterous. But it was fun to see Robert “The Music Man” Preston in one of his very last roles (he died three years following the release of this movie).