Elton John Project: Part 1

In the summer of 2019, inspired by the movie Rocketman, I decided to acquaint myself with the classic 1970s albums of Elton John. The project would involve thoroughly and repeatedly listening to his first 11 studio albums, along with various soundtrack and other non-LP tracks. I had long enjoyed the long stream of Elton's hits from this period—"Philadelphia Freedom," "Rocket Man," "Someone Saved My Life Tonight," "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road," "Crocodile Rock," "Your Song," "Daniel," "Tiny Dancer," "Bennie and the Jets," "Island Girl," "Don't Go Breaking My Heart"—all of them are top-tier 1970s smashes, and make up a big part of "the soundtrack of my life." Of the tunes from this era, "Candle in the Wind" is about the only one I would not include on my list of favorite Elton John songs, even though it is not terrible by any means. The question that I hoped to answer was simple: How many of the songs on Elton's dozen (or so) 1970s albums contain songs as good as the ones I just mentioned? The answer turns out to be as agonizing as it was predictable: not very many.

But first, a quick flashback: A few years ago, I did attempt a different sort of "Elton John deep tracks" project. I asked two friends, Mark and Robert—both major Elton fans—to recommend 10-12 lesser-known songs apiece that they thought were excellent. Unfortunately, most of their picks were songs that I didn't particularly care for, although roughly a third of them were good; a few of those were from his later albums. This year's project would be a far more comprehensive undertaking, leaving me to discover for myself which "deep tracks" were the outstanding ones.

After going through the process I have come to refer to as "drilling," I have learned that all of the truly great songs of Elton were the ones that became hits. Of the roughly 150 non-hits I listened to incessantly over several months, spread across the albums starting with 1969's Empty Sky and ending with 1976's Blue Moves, most were graded 1, 2 or 3 stars out of 5. However, just over 50—about a third—were graded at least 4 stars, with only a handful ("Bitter Fingers," "Skyline Pigeon," "I've Been Loving You," "Love Lies Bleeding" and "Where to Now, St. Peter?") landing the perfect 5-star rating. "Love Lies Bleeding" is unfortunately attached to a separate full-length song, "Funeral for a Friend," that I don't really care for, so some musical surgery was required to attach it for my personal enjoyment. Meanwhile, I would reckon that "Where to Now, St. Peter," "I've Been Loving You" and especially "Bitter Fingers" are the songs that deserved to have been hits. ("I'm sick of tra-la-las and la-de-das" is a lyric that has gotten permanently stuck in my head.)

Going into this project, I was particularly excited to hear the iconic, universally beloved LPs that Elton and lyricist Bernie Taupin made, specifically Don't Shoot Me I’m Only the Piano Player, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, and Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy. I think it was only natural for me to assume that these bestselling records would contain a higher ratio of excellent material. However, this proved not to be true. Practically all of Elton's albums from this period contain at least one hit, some good songs, some mediocre songs, and a couple of clinkers. (Indeed, if you were going to average out all of my ratings, you'd probably discover that I like the Friends soundtrack more than any of the previously mentioned "iconic" records!) Moreover, upon learning that I was initially prepared to stop after 10 albums, Mark implored me to include the experimental double album Blue Moves, as it's one of his favorites. But this, too, was really not any better than his other albums.

After the 1970s, Elton's parade of irresistible singles dried up. Not to say he didn't continue to make the charts, but his best-known songs in the 1980s and beyond—"Can You Feel the Love Tonight," "Blue Eyes," "Sad Songs (Say So Much)," "I Don't Wanna Go on with You Like That," "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me"—do not measure up to the strength of his '70s masterpieces, and that's a huge understatement. There are a few that I like: "I'm Still Standing" and "Sacrifice" are excellent, especially in comparison to his other charting singles from those years, and "I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues" is pretty decent. So...do I really need to explore his subsequent 19 albums? Logic would suggest that if I couldn't find a juggernaut of amazing material from the 1970s, then the ratio of great "unknown" songs from the 1980s and beyond will be even smaller.

And yet, I am curious. Clearly there must be some good songs spread across those 19 later albums. But how many? If there is a Part #2 of this project, I will definitely not be including the 1979 Victim of Love album, as he didn't play piano or write any of the album's songs. So that brings it down to 18 albums, which would probably best be split into two groups of nine. Only time will tell if I get to them, but in the meantime, I will be enjoying the 50 very good Elton John songs I have discovered in 2019—plus the five awesome ones.

Here were my grades:

August 2019

Other than work, August was uneventful. For the third year in a row, I flew to Chicago, rented a car and then drove to Michigan City, IN, for the boat races. BOOKS: I finished Last Words by George Carlin, A Life in Parts by Bryan Cranston and The Last Lie by Alex Lake, and began reading Dangerous to Know by Margaret Yorke. The new Dick Tracy comic-strip anthology was released, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading that as well. MUSIC: Continued listening to my Elton John playlist through 1974’s Caribou.

Here are the movies I saw in August:

SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK (2019)—Directed by André Øvredal and produced by Guillermo del Toro, this sort-of anthology horror film is an adaptation of a popular children’s book. And though it is squarely aimed at younger audiences, it is occasionally scary (particularly a scene where a teenage girl suffers a nightmarish facial blemish from which spiders emerge. A bit too juvenile, but enjoyable enough. (8)

WHERE’D YOU GO, BERNADETTE (2019)—Director Richard Linklater adapts Maria Semple’s comedic novel about a woman whose daughter must figure out what happened to mom after circumstances prompt her to vanish. Not bad, but seems haphazardly edited. Cate Blanchett is always marvelous, and Kristen Wiig has a great supporting role as Cate’s next-door neighbor and nemesis. (8)

BLINDED BY THE LIGHT (2019)—Having only recently seen Yesterday, the Beatles-worship movie, and Rocketman, the Elton John-worship movie, and Bohemian Rhapsody, the Queen-worship movie, Bruce Springsteen is next in line to have a movie built around his music. Viveik Kalra is a Pakistani high-school student oppressed by his domineering father, but when he discovers the music of the Boss, his whole life changes. In fact, virtually every aspect of his life becomes informed by songs like “Born to Run.” The movie is passably entertaining, especially when it isn’t focusing on Bruuuuuce. (7)

READY OR NOT (2019)—Comedy-horror film about a young woman (Samara Weaving) who marries into something akin to the Addams Family. Per tradition, this crazy clan welcomes any new bride or groom into the fold by making them play a game, but when Weaving draws the “Hide and Seek” card, it spells doom for her. Or does it? The movie is one long chase through the family mansion; it’s beyond preposterous, but basically hard to look away from. Weaving is a very attractive Margot Robbie clone. (8)

July 2019

I am filing this post late, and since I didn’t take very good notes on what I did this month, I’m a little hazy on the events of July. But I do recall some of the highlights. On Saturday, July 6, I attended the 78th birthday party of Barry “Dr. Demento” Hansen (with Joan, of course—why would I be there otherwise?). It was also attended by comedy-music genius Henry Phillips, who I actually got to talk to, although I doubt he was really listening, and why would he be? It was a fun affair, although no ice cream was served (despite the event being heavily advertised as a party at which ice cream would be served). I also got to meet my online friend Tonya Poirier after a great many years of only seeing her preternaturally beautiful self depicted on Facebook. We had a marvelous dinner with her husband, Mike I think his name is, at the Wood Ranch BBQ restaurant. They found a good parking spot at the Farmer’s Market. OK, this might be too much information. TV: I know I watched some stuff, but I don’t remember what I saw. BOOKS: I finished Alex Lake’s After Anna and started another one of his/her books (Lake being an intentionally gender-neutral pseudonym): The Last Lie. MUSIC: I started going through Elton John’s early albums in search of “hidden gems.” Here are the movies I saw in July:

SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME (2019)—This final entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s “Phase Three” is a follow-up to Avengers: Endgame, released in April. Peter Parker/Spider-Man is not my favorite comic-book character, and Tom Holland is far from my favorite Marvel performer, but the movie provides adequate escapism. The main highlights are Jake Gyllenhaal as a superhero with suspicious intentions, and Zendaya as a love interest for Holland. More than most of the Marvel movies, this one transcends comic-book antics into straightforward juvenilia—a fancy way of saying this movie is mostly for kids. But I didn’t hate it. (8)

YESTERDAY (2019)—I had no plans to see this, but then an opportunity arose to see a movie with Cindy, so we went together (she had already seen it). The bad news is that my fear that I would be left with a million plausibility questions was not exactly allayed. But more concerning is the fact that Himesh Patel is the most bizarrely and outrageously miscast actor of any movie I’ve ever seen. Fortunately, the movie has Lily James (of Downton Abbey fame) to look at, and a pleasant soundtrack of Beatles songs—mostly Paul’s. On the bright side, I didn’t dislike the film nearly as much as I feared I would. (7)

THE FAREWELL (2019)—Playing against type, comedic actress/rapper Awkwafina (Crazy Rich Asians, Oceans 8) is cast as a young NYC woman whose Chinese grandmother (living in Changchun, China) is diagnosed with cancer; the news causes Awkwafina to spend the entire movie sad, depressed and totally dour—her considerable comedic gifts totally wasted. But the elderly woman’s extended family opt to do the Chinese thing, and not tell her. This leaves Western-cultivated Awkwafina at a crossroads; she travels to China to see grandma for the last time, but has a hard time keeping the family’s big health secret. Instead, the grandmother is told that a wedding is the reason for the family reunion. It’s a reasonably engrossing movie, not a classic, but an interesting story based on actual events experienced by director Lulu Wang. (8)

ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD (2019)—Quentin Tarantino’s latest movie is a fictional story playing out against the events of the Charles Manson “Helter Skelter” killings. Made-up characters played by Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio appear with real-life Hollywood people like Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie), Bruce Lee (Mike Moh) and "Squeaky" Fromme (Dakota Fanning). The movie takes its time reaching its climax, but it’s a fun and mesmerizing ride. The two male leads are absolutely perfect, especially Brad Pitt as a larger-than-life stunt man. (9)

June 2019

Highlights of this month included a trip to Lake Elsinore, CA, to participate in my magazine’s annual bikini shoot, featuring nine boats we’d invited to take part in the event. I lasted about five hours before the crippling heat finally got to me. Still, we shot a large amount of materials for me to fill numerous pages of our July issue, plus lots of feature stories to mete out over the following 12 months or so. I also had a lovely breakfast with my friend Anna, who was in town just for a few hours during a layover at LAX. Joan and I saw Roy Zimmerman perform in a very warm room sitting on uncomfortable chairs, and there was no new material, and some of the audience members (the ones sitting right next to us, natch) were talking during the performance. TV: The new season of Black Mirror dropped, but only one episode was exceptional. I also watched the first episode of Dead to Me. BOOKS: I finished I Found You by Lisa Jewell (thanks to Connie Ogle for the recommendation) and started After Anna by Alex Lake.

Here are the movies I saw in June:

TANGENT ROOM (2017)—Director Björn Engström’s short (64 minutes) sci-fi movie locks five characters—all scientists—in a room. They’ve been given the task of solving an existential math problem or face almost certain death if they don’t crack the conundrum’s cryptic clues. From what I could gather from the scientific double-talk, it seems that the Earth is in imminent danger of collapsing on itself (or something), which leads to some very creepy special effects and a life-changing conclusion. This otherworldly thriller, sort of a modern-day Twilight Zone episode as conceived by Stephen Hawking, is helped by the always extraordinary acting chops of Britain’s Vee Vimolmal. (9)

BOOKSMART (2019)—Two graduating high school girls (Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever) set out to finally break the rules and party on their last day of classes. This coming-of-age comedy is meant to remind viewers of movies like Superbad and Adventureland, but it’s actually a bit more inventive and offbeat than those movies. It takes a bit of time for the picture truly take off, but once it does, it’s extremely enjoyable, and quite funny and clever. Dever is fondly remembered in the episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm about a Girl Scout who experiences getting her period for the first time. (9)

TOY STORY 4 (2019)—Here’s the year’s best-reviewed movie that is actually a colossal disappointment. Disney/Pixar brings back the familiar characters from the first three (excellent) Toy Story movies, then all but ignores most of them in favor of introducing a large amount of new—and much less interesting—toys. The story is an irritating retread of the “toys get separated from the others, and then they must find their way back home” trope that has been done to death in this franchise. The filmmakers load up the movie with frenetic scenes intended to fill the screen with a lot of action and chaos to keep small kids interested; as a result, there is a marked lack of humanity. This is the first Toy Story movie that left me feeling bored. I did like Forky, a new character, and the ending is touching, but many of the main characters are sorely missed. (5)

ROCKETMAN (2019)—To tell the Elton John story, Rocketman’s filmmakers decide to turn the story into a something like a traditional musical, using Elton’s songs to advance the storyline. For a while, it works just fine. Unfortunately, because this is the story of a pop singer, the movie ultimately starts shunting back and forth between diagetic musical number numbers (“I don’t ‘know’ I’m singing!”) and non-diagetic numbers (i.e., live concert performances or songwriting sessions), and never seems to decide for sure what kind of movie it wants to be. Much of it is entertaining, but it’s one of many films I’ve seen about a superstar who is universally worshipped but spends the movie wallowing in a sea of drug- and alcohol-fueled self-pity anyway. Thus, I felt like I’d seen this movie innumerable times already, instead of feeling like I was seeing something fresh and unique. Having said all that, Taron Egerton is utterly perfect as Elton John, and all of Elton’s wonderful hits are performed exquisitely. (8)

LATE NIGHT (2019)—Mindy Kaling’s first big-screen comedy is about an aging host of a late-night talk show (Emma Thompson) who hires a token minority female (Kaling) for her writing staff—strictly for appearances. Unfortunately, Thompson’s character is so inhumanly cruel and repugnant that it sends the movie into a tailspin before she is finally, finally (sort of) redeemed at the end. Kaling is very funny, as always (I saw every episode of her TV show), but this movie isn’t quite as hilarious as it needed to be. (8)

WILD ROSE (2019)—A young Irish mother of two, newly released from jail on some drug-related charge, dreams of being a country-music star. She struggles between choosing to follow her dream, or being a responsible mom. We’ve seen this kind of “making of a pop star” movie many times before (i.e., the recent Teen Spirit and A Star Is Born), but Jessie Buckley is breathlessly perfect in the title role, and the movie is genuinely appealing on virtually every level. Extremely well done. (9)

May 2019

This month, I headed to San Jose to see South Bay Musical Theater’s excellent production of Thoroughly Modern Millie (thank you, Jay Steele!), attended the Desert Storm Poker Run in Lake Havasu City, AZ (nearly fainting from heat stroke in the 100+ F temperatures) and wrapped up tutoring duties at John Muir Elementary School for the final time after seven glorious years. TV: I watched the final episode of The Big Bang Theory...so sad the series has ended its run. Jay and I watched several episodes of The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’s final season. BOOKS: I finished listening to Rachel Abbott’s The Shape of Lies and neared the end of Neil Simon’s Fools. MUSIC: I finished grading all 140+ songs of Death Cab for Cutie.

Here are the movies I saw in May:

LONG SHOT (2019)—Very entertaining romantic comedy about how presidential hopeful Charlize Theron falls in love with writer Seth Rogen (yes, it’s a science fiction picture). As preposterous as the plot is, and as silly as some of the scenes are, it’s amazingly enganging. Theron in particular is quite funny. (9)

A LITTLE PRINCESS (1995)—Adaptation of the Frances Hodgson Burnett novel follows young Sara Crewe (Liesel Matthews), whose rich father must go off to war; after leaving the child in the care of despicable boarding school headmistress Miss Maria Minchin (Eleanor Bron), he is apparently killed in action, leaving Sara no option but to become an indentured servant. Disney-type production hits most of the right notes, altering the original story somewhat, but improving it overall. The cast is uniformly excellent. (9)

A DOG OF FLANDERS (1959)—Another famous children’s story, this time by Marie Louise de la Ramée writing as Ouida, adapted as a Disney-type family drama. A young orphan farmboy in Belgium, living with his milkman grandfather (Donald Crisp), take in an abused dog and nurse him back to health. The kid, who aspires to become an artist, is taken under wing by a local painter (Theodore Bikel). It’s a gentle and moving story; the only drawback is the comparatively lackluster performance by David Ladd as the boy. (8)

ECHO IN THE CANYON (2019)—Documentary about the development of the Southern California “Malibu Canyon” folk-rock style of music (Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, Mamas and the Papas, Beach Boys), featuring interviews with most of the key players by Jakob Dylan (son of Bob Dylan). Mostly engaging; only frequent clips from the film that inspired the movie (Model Shop) distract from the musical entertainment. Featuring numerous classic songs re-worked by Dylan and various other contemporary singers and musicians, including Regina Spektor, Beck, Norah Jones, Cat Power, etc. (8)

SURVIVAL ISLAND (2005)—A married couple (Billy Zane and voluptuous Kelly Brook) and a hot Latin boathand (Juan Pablo Di Pace) are the only survivors of a yacht disaster. Washed up on a desert island, the trio go through various Lord of the Flies stages before someone gets killed. This is a pretty schlocky film—a guilty pleasure, if only for the psychological love-triangle drama and the fact that sexy Brook is frequently nude. The worst thing about it is a voodoo subplot that should have been taken out completely—without it, the movie would be 100% better. Enjoyable, for all of the wrong reasons. Original title: Three. (7.5)

THE PERFECTION (2019)—Apparently, this Netflix horror movie is the latest scarefest entertaining the nation—this month’s Bird Box. From what I understood, people are seriously grossed out by the disgusting and shocking nature of the film, so I felt I needed to check it out. It’s true that there are several extremely lurid images in the movie, many involving body mutilations and people vomiting, but I have a pretty strong tolerance for that kind of thing. What I don’t have a tolerance for is stupidity, and there are at least a couple of plot developments in The Perfection that preventing me from suspending my disbelief. Having said that, like the previous movie, much of it is enjoyably trashy; the cast is very good and the leads are quite attractive. Bonus: several gorgeous views of Shanghai’s Oriental Pearl building, which I love. (7)

April 2019

This month, I got my tooth #5 pulled, after cracking it while eating a sandwich (thanks, Jersey Mike’s Subs!). It was also the month of Desert Storm in Lake Havasu, which I attended to cover for Speedboat. It was over 100 degrees, so I had to curtail some of my outdoor activities. BOOKS: I read more Neil Simon plays (finished Barefoot in the Park and I Ought to Be in Pictures). I listened to the audiobook of Cary Elwes’ As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride, and started The Shape of Lies by Rachel Abbott. MUSIC: I began listening to and grading every song by Death Cab for Cutie. TV: I watched every episode of Hot Date, a very funny sketch-comedy series recommended by my friend Anna.

Here are the three movies I saw in April:

HIGH LIFE (2019)—Another overrated sci-fi drama to put on the shelf next to Interstellar. In this one, Robert Pattison leads a group of criminals aboard a spaceship who are tasked to travel to a black hole to find an alternate energy source. I found it to be long, muddled and boring. (4)

TEEN SPIRIT (2019)—Elle Fanning plays a bored British high-school girl of Polish descent who gets a chance to compete in a kind of American Idol-type TV singing contest. All the odds are against her, but she perseveres in what amounts to a fairly by-the-numbers competition movie. However, what the film has going for it is some very good music, plus Elle’s above-average performance and amazing beauty. Rebecca Hall also has a nice role. (9)

AVENGERS: ENDGAME (2019)—This is the movie that wraps up the Avengers storyline that began with last year’s Avengers: Infinity War. Half of the superheroes have evaporated, thanks to ultimate villain Thanos (Josh Brolin), who got the “infinity stones” and wiped out half of humanity. Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) devises a plan to bring them back, and it involves time-travel. I’m not a huge time-travel fan, but the movie is generally entertaining, if overlong. (8)

March 2019

This month flew by very quickly. No real highlights or lowlights. I bit down on a sandwich and apparently cracked a tooth, which will need to be extracted and (hopefully) replaced with an implant. Also, an old friend from New Zealand got in touch after many years of estrangement. BOOKS: Listened to the audiobooks of Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell, which I thoroughly enjoyed; then immediately listened to her earlier novel The Girls in the Garden, which was passable but not as engaging. (A third attempt, Watching You, was abandoned about a third of the way through.) I also continued to read Neil Simon plays, including Little Me, California Suite and (currently) Barefoot in the Park. TV: I watched the first season of Ricky Gervais’s dark comedy After Life, as well as the first episode of Brian Clemens’ old Thriller series.

Here are the movies I saw in March:

GLORIA BELL (2019)—Julianne Moore stars in this carbon-copy remake of the 2013 Sebastián Lelio-directed Gloria; he also directed the English-language version. Despite very strong critical acclaim, Joan and I were bored by this story of a lonely middle-aged woman looking for love in the bars and dance floors of L.A. She hooks up with divorcee John Turturro, who turns out to have some negative baggage. Moore is good, and looking quite attractive at 58, but the movie is a snooze. (4)

US (2019)—Another movie with strong critical acclaim, Us is Jordan Peele’s follow-up to his 2017 smash Get Out. This hyped-up horror movie is illogical and not remotely scary. It contains so many plot holes and ridiculous concepts that I spent the entire movie wishing it would end. I would have walked out, but star Lupita N’yongo is absolutely drop-dead gorgeous—the only reason for seeing this third-rate M. Night Shyamalan clone. (4)

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON: THE HIDDEN WORLD (2019)—Third in the Dragon series is every bit as adventurous, funny and well-animated as its two predecessors. Toothless gets a girlfriend, while the humans and dragons encounter a malevolent enemy and set off to search for a new land. (9)

CAPTAIN MARVEL (2019)—Brie Larson as the new female superhero and the start of a new franchise from Marvel. Like most of the other Marvel comic-book adaptations, this one is non-stop action from start to finish. Very entertaining! (9)

ON THE BASIS OF SEX (2018)—Felicity Jones stars as up-and-coming attorney Ruth Bader Ginsburg in this biopic that traces the Supreme Court Justice’s early cases. Decent legal drama suffers from a draggy middle third, but it comes alive in the final court case that challenges an antiquated and sexist law. This is one of those “textbook” movies that seems more like homework than pure entertainment, but it is educational and fairly thought-provoking. Jones is good, but her Brooklyn accent tends to fade in and out. (7)

February 2019

I only saw one movie this month. Pretty pathetic. Except it was a very busy month. I traveled to San Jose to see two stage shows put on by South Bay Musical Theatre: Big River (the Huckleberry Finn musical) and Broadway By the Decade: The 1990s, a revue consisting of songs from that decade’s best musicals. It was a very fun trip! Almost immediately after returning, I hopped on a plane to Florida to attend the Miami International Boat Show. I stayed with Chris in a high-rise condo and took a “water taxi” to the show for a couple of days. It was a lot of fun, but I caught a cold right after returning, which was the usual drag. Continuing on my health decline: My arms—especially my left arm—have started to tingle (i.e., fall asleep) a lot, apparently due to the Type 2 diabetes I suffer from. BOOKS: I listened to Don’t Wake Up by first-time novelist Liz Lawler and started Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell. I am enjoying Jewell’s book enough to want to read all of the rest of her books. I am also continuing to read plays by Neil Simon plays, including Come Blow Your Horn, The Star-Spangled Girl and Last of the Red Hot Lovers; I am currently reading (and quite enjoying) Little Me. MUSIC: I began listening to everything by Fleet Foxes.
Here’s the movie I saw in February:

SHOPLIFTERS (2018)—After reading a ton of excellent reviews of this Japanese film, I decided to check it out at a local art theater. It’s the story of a ragtag group of people—some biologically related, others not—who live in house “off the grid” and in a state of poverty. There’s a father and son (more or less) who help make ends meet by stealing from the local markets. Then the family takes in—or semi-kidnaps—a young girl who evidently is living in an abusive household, and provide her with a more friendly environment, even if it is much more offbeat. Director Kore-eda Hirokazu wanted to explore the concept of what exactly constitutes a family, and really accomplished his goal with this often moving picture. It rambles at times and needs a little tightening up, but it was very interesting. (8.5)

January 2019

I saw only four movies in January—mostly old pictures—which for me is a typically low number for the beginning of any year. Also typical: the rain hit SoCal, so it was (and continues to be) very wet here in L.A. I developed some pain in my left arm, which has caused some discomfort sleeping on my left side, and my left forearm to keep falling asleep. Going to the doctor this week to have it checked out. This month, I enjoyed an a cappella show put on by Beverly Hills High School; although Jenna didn’t have any solo parts, it was still a wonderfully executed performance. I also booked two Carnival cruises, one for this December on the Inspiration, and one for December 2020 on the new Panorama ship, which isn’t even finished being built yet. MUSIC: I listened to numerous recent chart hits, as well as an album by Kero Kero Bonito. BOOKS: I listened to Her Last Secret by Barbara Copperthwaite, and read a bunch of Neil Simon plays (God’s Favorite, Gingerbread Lady, Prisoner of Second Avenue, Chapter Two), and plan to continue reading more by him.
Here are the movies I saw in January:

COMPULSION (1959)—This crime drama, based on the Leopold and Loeb murder trial, was fairly decent until Orson Welles showed up as the attorney representing the two young killers. Overall, pretty forgettable. (7)

GREEN FOR DANGER (1946)—One of my favorite actors, Alastair Sim, stars as a police detective trying to get to the bottom of a man’s death at a rural British hospital during World War 2. He is, as always, absolutely splendid. A fun whodunit! (8)

DESTROYER (2018)—Nicole Kidman plays against type as an American detective who has seen too much of the booze and rough stuff. She had once infiltrated a bank-robbery gang and managed to illegally sock away some money; the guilt has driven her half-crazy, and now her formal crime boss, long off the grid, has come back to haunt her. Contains a solid double-whammy twist at the end. Kidman—who has been “uglified” via makeup as Charlize Theron was in Monster—is fantastic, and so is the film! (10)

MY MAN GODFREY (1936)—My Facebook friend Shirlee Hauser was recently challenged to post 10 still images from movies that had a special significance to her—one each day. I love old movies, and what she wrote about My Man Godfrey inspired me to watch it. It’s a boisterously funny comedy featuring William Powell as a “forgotten man” (i.e., Depression victim) who takes a job as a butler to Carole Lombard’s ultra-wealthy but hopelessly kooky family. The two develop an attraction for one another—more on Lombard’s side—and it doesn’t hurt that the two actors were previously married. Their on-screen chemistry in this lunacy is perfect. Nice to see Powell in a non-Thin Man role—he is pure perfection in this movie. (10)

Most Anticipated Movies of 2019

Of the 30 “Most Anticipated Movies of 2018” I wrote about a year ago, I only ended up seeing half of them. Of the 15 I did see, only seven of those wound up in my Top 20 (of 85) new films I saw in 2018. In fact, a few of the movies I was looking forward to either got pushed back to 2019 (Where’d You Go Bernadette, Charming, Teen Spirit), and Woody Allen’s A Rainy Day in New York looks like it may never be released at this point. So there seems little point in assembling a “most anticipated movies” list at all, except to continue to prove how feeble I am at predicting what I will like, or how bad I am at even knowing which great movies will even be released in the coming year. Nonetheless, once again, here are the movies I’m looking forward to in 2019.

FYRE—Documentary about the now-infamous, would-be music festival that was billed as a luxury experience but slowly unraveled into well documented disaster. (Jan. 18) UPDATE: I watched enough of it to satisfy my curiosity.

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON: THE HIDDEN WORLD—Third installment in the Dreamworks animated adventure will apparently find a mate for Hiccup. (Feb. 22)

CAPTAIN MARVEL—Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) becomes one of the universe's most powerful heroes when Earth is caught in the middle of a galactic war between two alien races. (March 8)

US—In Jordan Peele’s follow-up to Get Out, a mother and father take their kids to their beach house, expecting to enjoy time with friends, but their serenity turns to tension and chaos when some visitors arrive uninvited. (March 15)

AVENGERS: ENDGAME—Follow-up to 2018’s Avengers superhero saga wraps up the story of Thanos. (April 26)

AD ASTRA—Brad Pitt in a sci-fi space adventure. Sounds good to me. (May 24)

FLARSKY—Excellent test screenings have got me interested in this Seth Rogen/Charlize Theron comedy. (June 7)

TOY STORY 4—When a new toy called "Forky" joins Woody and the gang, a road trip alongside old and new friends reveals how big the world can be for a toy. (June 21)

ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD—A faded TV actor and his stunt double embark on an odyssey to make a name for themselves in the film industry during the "Helter Skelter" reign of terror in 1969 Los Angeles. Directed by Quentin Tarantino and starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Margot Robbie. (Aug. 9)

WHERE’D YOU GO, BERNADETTE?—After her anxiety-ridden mother disappears, 15-year-old Bee does everything she can to track her down, discovering her troubled past in the process. Based on the Maria Semple novel and starring Cate Blanchett. (Aug. 9)

IT: CHAPTER TWO—In the sequel to the 2017 horror movie, it’s 27 years later, and the Losers Club have grown up and moved away…until a devastating phone call brings them back. (Sept. 6)

DOWNTON ABBEY—The Crawley family is back on the big screen after a splendid six-season run on TV. (Sept. 20)

THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW—Amy Adams in an adaptation of the A.J. Finn psychological thriller novel. (Oct. 4)

THE ADDAMS FAMILY—An animated version of Charles Addams' series of cartoons about a peculiar, ghoulish family. (Oct. 18)

LAST CHRISTMAS—Emilia Clarke and Emma Thompson in a rom-com. Sign me up! (Nov. 15)

FROZEN 2—The delightful Disney animated feature gets a sequel. (Nov. 22)

Best and Worst Movies of 2018

I saw 85 movies in 2018. That’s five less than in 2017, but 12 more than in 2016.

Of the 85 movies I saw, 71 were released in 2018; the rest were older films.

I awarded 13 movies a perfect “10” (as opposed to only five in 2017—that’s a pretty significant upswing!).

As with previous years, I know I missed some outstanding movies in 2018, and I’ll need to catch up on some of them (see “Sorry I Missed You,” below).

The best movie I saw in 2018 was Isle of Dogs. I saw it twice in the theater. I loved this movie very much.

The rest of my “perfect 10” movies were Adrift, Incredibles 2, Leave No Trace, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Eighth Grade, Mission Impossible: Fallout, Juliet Naked, Searching, A Simple Favor, The House With a Clock in Its Walls, Bad Times at the El Royale, What They Had.

Rounding out my Top 20 movies of the year, I must include A Quiet Place, Jurassic World, The Mule, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, The Miracle Season and The Favorite.

Other movies I really liked in 2018: Mary Poppins Returns, Love Simon, Game Night, On Chesil Beach, A Star Is Born, Crazy Rich Asians, Wildlife, Beautiful Boy, Bohemian Rhapsody and Fahrenheit 11/9.

WORST MOVIE I SAW IN 2018: BlacKKKlansman.

VASTLY OVERRATED MOVIES OF 2018: Black Panther, Phantom Thread, Ready Player One, The Endless, Hereditary, The Party, First Man.

BEST OLDER MOVIES I SAW IN 2016: The Greatest Showman, Entertaining Mr. Sloane.

SORRY I MISSED YOU:

Shoplifters (Have since seen)
The Miracle Season (Have since seen)
Every Day
Red Sparrow
The Meg
Flower
In the Fade
Ismael’s Ghosts
Keep the Change
A Private War
You Were Never Really Here
The Rider
Love After Love
The Tale
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before
Bumblebee
Claire’s Camera
Colette
Custody
Dark River
The Escape
Mary and the Witch’s Flower
A Mother's Worst Fear
Night Comes On

December 2018

I started December by taking a four-night Carnival cruise to Catalina Island and Ensenada. The highlights were a walking tour of Catalina restaurants I’d done before, and a pedicure I got on the ship. Otherwise, it was a pretty dismal cruise, but I guess 18 good cruises out of 19 is nothing to sneeze at. I ended the month by entertaining some friends from China who were in town; naturally, I took them to Huntington Library, a massive botanical gardens where I usually take out-of-town guests. We also had a fun lunch at a Chinese restaurant on Olympic and Sepulveda that I must remember to go back to. BOOKS: I read and enjoyed Kathryn Croft’s The Warning, but gave up on Rachel Abbott’s And So It Begins—she is one of my favorite mystery writers, but after more than two hours listening to the audiobook, I was bored. MUSIC: I listened to new albums by Elvis Costello and The Beths, as well as the Mary Poppins Returns soundtrack.

Below are are the movies I saw this month. Upon further reflection, I am surprised by how many of these movies are either documentaries (Fahrenheit 11/9) or based on true stories (The Mule, Bohemian Rhapsody, Can You Ever Forgive Me, The Favourite, Roma, The Miracle Season).

THE BALLAD OF BUSTER SCRUGGS (2018)—I have always enjoyed anthology films. It’s rare that feature films consisting of a bunch of shorts strung together are excellent all the way through, but there are almost always some gems in these “short story” type movies. Most of the ones I’ve seen tend to be horror anthologies like Creepshow, or dramas based on Somerset Maugham stories (Trio, Quartet). I’m not sure there has even been a Western anthology before, but Joel and Ethan Coen are the perfect pair to conjure one up. Of the six shorts in Buster Scruggs, most of them are at least good, with only the final chapter somewhat disappointing. The title film, which kicks the whole thing off, is by far the best; it features Tim Blake Nelson as a grinning, fast-draw sociopath who gets a real kick out of killing people…until he meets a competitor who’s a pretty fast draw himself. The fine cast includes James Franco, Liam Neewson, Tom Waits, Zoe Kazan, Tyne Daly and Brendan Gleeson. (9)

BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY (2018)—The Queen biopic paints an astonishing picture of the late, great Freddie Mercury, a larger-than-life personality played to perfection by Rami Malek. Although entertaining, the movie is full of understandable dramatizations—along with plenty of half-truths and full-blown lies. That kind of soured me on the film retroactively, but I liked it when I was watching it. (8)

THE MULE (2018)—In what may be Clint Eastwood’s last-ditch attempt to win a Best Actor Oscar, he directs himself in the true story of Leo Sharp (changed to Earl Stone for the film), a World War II (changed to Korean War) veteran who becomes a drug runner in his 80s. Bradley Cooper is a Special Agent trying to catch the evil drug lords, and Dianne Weist is Clint’s estranged ex. It’s a low-key but highly watchable movie, with Clint much less of a grouch than he was in 2008’s Gran Torino. (9)

CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME? (2018)—Melissa McCarthy plays real-life author Lee Israel, who notoriously ran afoul of the law by forging and selling signed letters by famous authors like Noel Coward and Dorothy Parker. A good portion of the movie is about Israel’s friendship with Jack (Richard E. Grant), a fellow boozer. Israel is quite unlikeable, but McCarthy plays her with a heaping helping of pathos. Dolly Wells is good as a bookseller who buys some of Israel’s letters and attempts to begin a romantic relationship with her. (8)

ENTERTAINING MR. SLOANE (1970)—Joe Orton’s 1964 black comedy play gets the cinematic treatment. This is a four-hander about how a bloke (Peter McEnery) is taken in by a brother and sister, who live with their old dad. Sadism, scandal and homosexuality ensue. I found the movie entertaining and quirky; someday I would like to see a stage version of it. It has inspired me to seek out other Orton films and plays. (8)

THE FAVOURITE (2018)—I had seen the trailer for this dark, historical comedy-drama several times, so I knew what to expect. While critics may have slightly overpraised it, I did thoroughly enjoy the apparently true story of Queen Anne of Great Britain (reigned 1702-1714) and the two women who jockey to be her favorite. The performances of all three main actresses—Olivia Colman, Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone—are absolutely the best of the year. It is interesting that I saw this movie one day after finishing Entertaining Mr. Sloane, as both films are dark comedies with equal measures of sadism, homosexuality, cruelty and personal politics. (9)

FAHRENHEIT 11/9 (2018)—Michael Moore’s latest documentary is much less about the election of Donald Trump and more about the general disintegration of democracy and rise of national corruption across governmental platforms. Much of Moore’s wrath is aimed at the clean-water crisis in his hometown of Flynt, Mich., which local officials brought about by greed and corruption. His attention bounces around a bit, so we get stuff about gun control and other national crises. And he gets a few licks in on Trump, too (a comparison to Hitler was one of the high points). Overall, very well done, but I still want to see a scathing indictment of the Trump election and presidency. (9)

ROMA (2018)—Shot in gorgeous black and white, this Spanish-language Alfonso Cuarón-directed film won huge raves toward the end of the year. The film features centers around a upper-middle-class family in the Roma district of Mexico City: a mom and dad with their four kids, a couple of maids, and a dog. The film’s story focuses on Cleo, one of the maids. The plot unfolds at a snail’s pace, but it is absolutely gorgeous to look at; when drama occasionally happens, the viewer is grateful. I liked the movie, but 15-20 minutes could easily be cut out of it. At times, the film is very moving. (8)

THE MIRACLE SEASON (2018)—Although I've never been much of an actual sports fan, for some reason I am a total sucker for underdog sports movies, from Rocky to McFarland, USA. This particular movie tells the real-life story of a high-school girls’ volleyball team that overcomes tremendous odds, etc. It’s also a relentless tearjerker, extremely manipulative, and highly effective. William Hurt and Helen Hunt play the adults; Danika Yarosh and Erin Moriarty are a pair of super-cute volleyball players. (9)

MARY POPPINS (1964)—I saw the original Poppins when I was a kid, but I was too young to remember anything about it half a century later. With a sequel finally in theaters, I knew I would need to refresh my memory about the story and characters. Naturally, the movie is loaded with the signature Disney charm. But even though I’d been warned about Dick Van Dyke’s horrendous Cockney accent, it was much worse than I could have imagined. God, is it terrible. The special effects in this movie are also pretty cheesy compared to what they can do now. But the Sherman Brothers’ songs more than make up for any deficiencies in the film, and Julie Andrews is practically perfect in every way. (9)

MARY POPPINS RETURNS (2018)—Emily Blunt takes over the lead role in the Poppins sequel, and although nobody could equal Julie Andrews, Blunt is very good at making the character her own. I enjoyed the sequel songs very much. The film is a little bit too long, like its predecessor, but there is a lot of magic here, and no bad Cockney or dated SFX. So in several ways, I liked the sequel more than the original. (9)

THE FEELS (2018)—I am a fan of Taiwanese actress Constance Wu (Crazy Rich Asians, TV’s Fresh Off the Boat), so I was delighted to hear that she’d be playing a lesbian in an indie comedy. And Wu is definitely the highlight of The Feels, which is a sort of lesbian Big Chill, with seven people (many previously unacquainted) getting together to celebrate the impending marriage of Wu and her fiancé. The movie is indie verging on mumblecore, pleasant but unremarkable except for Wu’s excellent acting and enormous beauty. Note: Watching Wu in this film inspired me to download and watch the fifth episode of the sci-fi anthology TV series Dimension 404, which features Wu playing another lesbian. She’s great in this episode as well. (7)

CREED II (2018)—By my count, this is the eighth Rocky movie, and like the best movies in that series, it copies the best elements of what has come before. In this one, the son of Apollo Creed gets to fight the son of the guy who killed him, Ivan Drago, as depicted in Rocky IV. That’s a pretty good setup. What follows is very similar to the plot of Rocky 3; enough said. It’s all very predictable but undeniably enjoyable. (8)

THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES (1959)—As a fan of mystery literature and film, it’s fairly embarrassing that I have virtually no relationship with Sherlock Holmes—and I am loath to count the horrendous Robert Downey Jr. movie I saw a true entry in the Holmes canon (although I understand that the current Will Ferrell/John C. Reilly Holmes & Watson “comedy” may be even worse). I have long been curious about The Hound of the Baskervilles, and this Hammer Studios remake—supposedly the first Sherlock Holmes movie to be filmed in color—is supposed to be one of the best. It’s definitely watchable, although I understand numerous liberties were taken in telling the story to bring it up to Hammer’s “scarifying” standards. Peter Cushing is the Holmes I’d always imagined, nothing against Benedict Cumberbatch, who plays him on TV. As a way of ringing 2019, I thought it would be good to finally take this one off the bucket list. (8)