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)