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)