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)