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)

November 2018

I kicked off the month by flying to Fort Lauderdale to cover the boat show for Speedboat Magazine, and ended the month by signing off on the story I wrote about the event. I had a fun lunch, and a fun dinner, with Chris Davidson and Jim Wilkes. When I got home, my car had a dead battery, which led to a bad experience with the garage that came to swap out the battery. (AAA ended up refunding my annual dues as a result of the incident.) This was also the month that Joan and I saw Joan Baez perform at UCLA’s Royce Hall. All month long, I looked forward to going on my 20th cruise (on Carnival again) on Dec. 2. MUSIC: I listened to a bunch of songs by the Rolling Stones, and thoroughly enjoyed the new album by the Grip Weeds. BOOKS: On the audiobook side, I finished B.A. Paris’s book Bring Me Back, which was mostly a drag. Then I read Stephen King’s new novella, Elevation; it was just OK, but he included a truly marvelous short story called “Laura” that I just loved. I also “sight read” a great play called June Evening by Bill Naughton, then devoured some new Alan Ayckbourn plays, including A Brief History of Women, Arrivals and Departures and Hero’s Welcome. Looking forward to reading more Ayckbourn!

Here are the movies I saw in November:

BAD BEN (2016)—This was a low-budget “found footage” horror film along the lines of Paranormal Activity. Same basic concept: security-cam footage records some ghostly things going on in a house. No one is going to confuse it with Citizen Kane (or even The Exorcist), but it was a decent time-waster, which I watched on my iPad during the flight to Fort Lauderdale. (8)

HUNTER KILLER (2018)—While I was in Fort Lauderdale, I needed to waste most of a Sunday, as my flight was leaving about 10 hours after I had to check out of my hotel. So I saw a couple of movies. This first one was kind of a Hunt for Red October flick about some submarines and some politically tense maneuvers. Totally forgettable, but not bad as a time-waster. (7)

INDIVISIBLE (2018)—This was the second Sunday time-killer. I knew nothing about this movie going in, other than the reviews were fairly decent. Well, I got tricked—it turned out to be one of those “faith-based movies” that I try to stay very, very far away from. Fortunately, the religious angle took a backseat to the main story, about a priest suffering from a crisis of faith after some heavy-duty wartime tragedies. Like my other Florida movie, this one was also forgettable, but it did do its job. (6)

WILDLIFE (2018)—Finally, an excellent movie! Based on Richard Ford’s novel and directed by Paul Dano (who was so good playing Brian Wilson in Love and Mercy), this film takes place in 1960. An adolescent boy copes with the breakdown of his parents’ marriage. Carey Mulligan and Jake Gyllenhaal are outstanding as his mom and dad. (9)

BEAUTIFUL BOY (2018)—Here’s the other totally worthy movie I saw this month. Steve Carell plays real-life writer David Sheff, whose son (Timothée Chalamet) is having some major drug-dependancy issues. Great performances by all involved, including Maura Tierney as his wife and Amy Ryan as his ex. (9)

BOY ERASED (2018)—A preacher (Russell Crowe) and his wife (Nicole Kidman) send their homosexual son to a rehab center where they try to pray his gay away. There’s an admirable story here about the evils of conversion therapy, and Joel Edgerton is deliciously evil villain, but I found the movie mostly lifeless. (6)

RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET (2018)—The original 2012 movie, Wreck-It Ralph, was one of my favorite Disney animated movies. This long-delayed follow-up features the same basic cast, and a pretty good story—at least until the final 20 minutes. So many Disney cartoon films have to end with a gigantic, seemingly unstoppable villain who is ultimately brought down by our much smaller protagonist. So I was rolling my eyes when the filmmakers went the same, tired route with this movie. But the first half is fun. Unfortunately, most of the characters we loved from the film movie are given short shrift in the sequel, which is way, way too long. The one truly great sequence in the sequel involves Vanellope von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman) interacting with all of the other famous Disney princesses. There’s also a charming song written by Alan Menken. (8)

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).

July 2018

Highlights of July included a visit from Fiona from Guangzhou and from Mark and Janet from New Jersey (in SoCal to see their son Brian get married). Mark, Janet and I went to Disneyland, where I lasted for exactly three rides. Meanwhile, Joan and I saw some movies and ate a bagel, and I spilled soda on my keyboard, ruining the second keyboard in as many months. By the end of the month, MoviePass was already on the verge of bankruptcy. This was also the month of crippling heat waves resulting in numerous power outages that actually led to my sleeping in my car with the air conditioner on. BOOKS: I read and thoroughly enjoyed the British suspense thrillers Cross Her Heart by Sarah Pinborough and Come a Little Closer by Rachel Abbott. TV: I binge-watched the four-season show Inside No. 9, a very clever anthology series from the UK. MUSIC: I “drilled” great new albums by Astral Drive, fashioned as a great, lost Todd Rundgren album from the 1970s, and The Beatnix, a band that covers songs that Lennon & McCartney gave away, in the style of the Beatles.

Here are the movies I saw in July:

THREE IDENTICAL STRANGERS (2018)—Fascinating documentary about three brothers, separated at birth, who accidentally connected as adults. (9)

ANT-MAN AND THE WASP (2018)—One of the best and funniest Marvel superhero movies, very imaginative, exciting and funny. (10)

SHOCK AND AWE (2018)—Earnest but largely ho-hum story featuring Rob Reiner (the movie’s director) about how the Knight Ridder news organization refused to cowtow to the Bush Administration’s myth that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. This is what I call a “textbook movie”—more educational than entertaining. Good cast includes Woody Harrelson, Tommy Lee Jones and Richard Schiff. (7)

EIGHTH GRADE (2018)—Standup comedian Bo Burnham’s comedy about an eighth-grade student (played by Elsie Fisher) “coming of age” in a world full of horny boys, self-obsessed girls, her loving dad and social media. A triumph; one of the best movies of the year. (10)

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: FALLOUT (2018)—Sixth film in the MI series is the best one yet, with nonstop action and great characters. (10)

MAMMA MIA! HERE WE GO AGAIN (2018)—I saw this one during one of our power outages, because it happened to be playing at the ideal time. Pretty ridiculous; redeemed mostly by the two pretty leads (Amanda Seyfried and Lily James) and Cher. Some good ABBA music, but the best parts belong to the story. (7)

June 2018

June was clearly a major movie month for me, as I tried utilize my MoviePass membership as much as possible. The downside to this system is that you tend to see a lot of the same trailers over and over again—I already feel like I’ve seen The Darkest Minds, Crazy Rich Asians and Ant-Man and the Wasp already. But overall, it’s a great deal—the $100 a year membership has already paid for itself!
This month, I had dinner with Choiwan down at the Howard Hughes Dave & Buster’s, where she was revealed to be a “coin pusher” slot-machine junkie. We had fun collecting Star Trek cards, but the place was a little too noisy for me. I got a root canal on tooth #31, as it’s known in dental circles, and July should bring a new crown for that tooth. I flew up to see Jay perform as the villainous Frollo in the musical The Hunchback of Notre Dame, which was very well executed. BOOKS: I listened to the 18-hour audiobook of Stephen King’s new horror novel The Outsider, which was excellent, and am currently about halfway through reading Tomorrow’s Children, a sci-fi short-story anthology edited by Isaac Asimov (a book I admired a lot in my youth but never actually read). Also, I received and devoured the latest Dick Tracy comic-strip anthology. TV: The Affair and Penn and Teller: Fool Us have returned, so I’ve been enjoying those, and am looking forward to Better Call Saul and Orange Is the New Black returning in the coming month or two. MUSIC: I “drilled” the Hunchback soundtrack, enjoyed a new release by Pugwash and listened to a bunch of current radio hits.

Here are the movies I saw in June:

UPGRADE (2018)—This science-fiction actioner was likely pitched as John Wick meets The Six Million Dollar Man. After mechanic Grey (Logan Marshall-Green) and his lovely wife Asha (Melanie Vallejo) are in a devastating car accident, paid assassins leave her dead and him a paraplegic. Enter billionaire biotech scientist Eron Keen (Harrison Gilbertson), who offers to restore Grey’s physical capabilities. The operation is a success, but the miracle chip has a mind of its own, and through a series of mental conversations, starts helping Grey solve the mystery of his wife’s murder. It’s the kind of thing we’ve seen a bunch of times before; it’s plotted so briskly that you tend to overlook a lot of nagging questions, implausibilities and an ending that makes very little sense. It is difficult, however, to overlook the embarrassingly awful performance by Gilbertson as the scientist—it’s total amateur hour whenever he’s onscreen. The movie borrows its storyline from numerous sources, including The Matrix. It’s more like a comic book than a movie, but at least it’s not a boring comic book. (8)

FIRST REFORMED (2018)—Ethan Hawke stars as the pastor of a historical church in upstate New York who suffers a crisis of faith after the violent death of resident in his town. Paul Schrader, the screenwriter of Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and writer/director of many others, gives a slow-moving but chilling story of Hawke’s transformation from a thoughtful religious leader to a potentially dangerous psychopath. Amanda Seyfried co-stars as a pretty member of Hawke’s flock, with whom he forges a strong bond. Watching this movie felt like I was reading a short story—it has a literary feel to it. Hawke is very good at showing numerous layers to his complex character. The movie perfectly illustrates one man’s gradual undoing, and contains several shocking twists. (8)

THE SEAGULL (2018)—Two movies opened last month featuring Brooklyn star Saoirse Ronan: On Chesil Beach and The Seagull. Both films are above average, with Ronan outshining the material in both cases. The Seagull takes place in Russia, with all Russian characters, except for once, nobody speaks English with a Russian accent; they’re all speaking in their natural American drawls. (Well, except Ronan is Irish, so she is doing a fake accent—just not a Russian one.) This is a film version of the famous Anton Chekhov play, in which an aging actress (Annette Bening) is dating a popular writer (Corey Stoll), who in turn flips for Ronan, who is dating Bening’s son (Billy Howle), who is loved by Masha (Elisabeth Moss). So it’s basically a triple love triangle story, and there are a bunch of petty jealousies and suicide attempts. None of it really adds up to a whole hell of a lot, but Bening is terrific. (8)

ADRIFT (2018)—True story of Tami Oldham (here played by Shailene Woodley), who along with her boyfriend Richard Sharp (Sam Clafin) attempt to navigate a friend’s sailboat across the Pacific Ocean—and run straight into a hurricane. Their boat badly damaged, Oldham must move heaven and earth to survive what will prove to be a seemingly endless search for rescue. Woodley does a marvelous job showing us the immense strength and fortitude of this movie’s exceptional heroine, and director Baltasar Kormákur gives us a great deal of intrigue and suspense. I’ve seen other survival dramas like this one (most recently Robert Redford’s All Is Lost), but Adrift is among the best, with incredible special effects and a storyline that is both gripping and romantic. Bring a box of Kleenex for that ending! (10)

HEREDITARY (2018)—In The Sixth Sense, Toni Collette had a son who could see dead people. In the new horror movie Hereditary, her daughter can see dead people (although sooner or later, pretty much all of the characters in the film can see them). Collette has no sooner buried her estranged mother than creepy things start to happen involving her husband, son and daughter. There are three or four excellent scenes when the movie suddenly springs to life, but the rest of it is a confounding, scattershot mess. Much of the time it moves along like molasses, and the rest of the time very little of it makes sense, with very little of it adding up by the time the credits roll. As of this writing, the movie has a very high rating on the Tomatometer (94%), which is arguably scarier than anything in the movie. (5)

WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR? (2018)—A documentary about Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood creator Fred Rogers, who was an ordained minister, television pioneer and savvy child whisperer. I watched his groundbreaking series as a child, and the film perfectly illustrates how this gentle, soft-spoken man was able to connect with kids in ways other TV hosts were simply not interested in doing. Family members, co-stars and colleagues all provide insights into the Rogers psyche, but it’s the words of Rogers himself that best speak for the subject of this thoroughly thought-provoking documentary. (9)

BOUNDARIES (2018)—Irene Tsu invited me to see this comedy-drama screener at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. It’s a road-trip comedy about a daughter (Vera Farmiga) who must take her frequently estranged and aging dad (Christopher Plummer) to her sister’s house to live. Although it is a typical road-trip movie, it’s wittier than most. Director Shana Feste and co-star Peter Fonda were interviewed after the movie. (9)

RIFFTRAX LIVE: SPACE MUTINY (2018)—The comedy team riffs on this execrable Star Wars ripoff from 1988. As usual, a truly ghastly movie makes excellent fodder for Michael J. Nelson and his wisecracking crew. (9)

JURASSIC WORLD FALLEN KINGDOM (2018)—When we first see Bryce Dallas Howard in this dinosaur sequel—the fifth in the series that began in 1993—she’s using a smartphone, and we fans of Black Mirror will be excused for remembering all of the trouble she got into swiping on that app in the episode Nosedive. But there is way, way more in Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom that deliberately reminds us of the four previous movies: all of the old tropes are here (such as the scene where a T-Rex is about to munch on the hero, when all of a sudden, another dinosaur attacks the T-Rex). As dumb as the story is, the movie follows the template of the predecessors, giving us great dinosaur effects, a cute-as-a-button kid, some evil humans and lots of explosions. (The only new element is the lava, because there’s an active volcano.) Silly but enjoyable. (9)

HEARTS BEAT LOUD (2018)—Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation) is the dad; Kersey Clemons is his beautiful mixed-race lesbian daughter. She’s bound for college to become a doctor, but her dad—understandably proud of her musical gifts—wants her to take a year off and write songs with him. Together they record some admittedly catchy music, but she’s reluctant to pursue his dream. This is the basic premise of the film, and while it’s not much to hang a screenplay on, it works. Key to the movie is the charm of the two leading actors and the music they make. The ending is fairly predictable, but it’s a warm, embraceable movie—a close cousin to 2013’s Begin Again and 2007’s Once, with their shared stories of how two talented people come together to create some extraordinary pop music. Ted Danson, Blythe Danner and Toni Collette are along for the ride. (9)

INCREDIBLES 2 (2018)—Fourteen years after Pixar’s original superhero sendup, writer/director Brad Bird unleashes the sequel, and it’s every bit as fun, lively and funny as the original. Bob, Helen, Dash, Violet and Jack-Jack once again save the world, this time from a villain who isn’t unmasked until late in the film. The voice cast is wonderful, with Catherine Keener and Bob Odenkirk doing great guest-star work. (10)

AMERICAN ANIMALS (2018)—Here’s the first of two heist movies I saw in a row. This one could be dubbed Ocean's 4—it’s the true story of four young male students who plot to rob a Kentucky library of some extraordinarily rare books, including a priceless edition of John James Audubon's The Birds of America. Interviews with the actual four thieves (post-prison) make this kind of a docu-drama, and an informative one at that. Nicely done and well-directed. (8)

OCEAN’S 8 (2018)—Although I haven’t seen the other films in the Ocean’s series, and this spinoff features a few running characters, it can be enjoyed independently of the others. The “eight” refers to a group of women (played by Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Mindy Kaling, Sarah Paulson, Rihanna, Helena Bonham Carter and Awkwafina) who plot the heist of a diamond necklace valued at $150 million. It’s a mildly amusing, sometimes suspenseful caper film with a great cast; some of these ladies’ talents are wasted (especially Kaling), but the movie is worth seeing for Helena Bonham Carter’s character. (8)

LEAVE NO TRACE (2018)—A slowly paced but absorbing film directed and co-written by Debra Granik, Leave No Trace tells the story of a former soldier suffering from PTSD and his 13-year-old daughter, both of whom are living completely off the grid in the forest of a public park in Oregon. There they live off the land and seem to quite happy, until they are discovered by the authorities…and the story moves on from there. The film is sensitive, sometimes frustrating and ultimately deeply moving. One of the best films of the year and guaranteed to be an Oscar contender; currently it holds a well-deserved 100% on the Tomatometer. (10)

THE PARTY (2018)—The good news is that I can scratch a 2017 release off my list of “movies I was sorry I missed.” The Party, a short (70 minutes) film shot in gorgeous black and white, is a black comedy about a party celebrating Kristin Scott Thomas’s professional advancement, but the soon-to-be-exposed secrets and escalating emotions bubbling beneath the surface of the other six people attending the shindig (notably husband Timothy Spall and best friend Patricia Clarkson) could mean tragedy before the end of the evening. From what I’ve read, the film is a thinly disguised metaphor for Brexit or some other British current events; in any case, the movie didn’t really work for me, as I found it a bit of a bore. (5)

May 2018

May was a pleasant month. The issue of Speedboat that I was working on mostly went smoothly. I attended a choir concert in Beverly Hills in which my goddaughter Jenna sang beautifully. I put a down payment on my next cruise, a four-nighter on Carnival set for Dec. 2-6. Joan and I saw “Weird Al” Yankovic in downtown L.A., where my comedy idol Emo Philips not only opened, but he also posed for a few selfies with me in the lobby. I joined MoviePass, a deal where you can see a movie every day for just $10 a month. Cindy and I finished our fifth year of tutoring at an elementary school in Santa Monica. One night I made a midnight trip through the local Jack in the Box drive-through, and after ordering, the line seemed to not be moving. Turns out the guy in the car ahead of me actually fell asleep behind the wheel! Finally, I made plans to fly to San Jose in early June to see Jay Steele in the musical The Hunchback of Notre Dame, where he plays the bad guy. TV: Now that all of my regular broadcast shows have ended their season, I started watching an anthology show called “Inside No. 9,” and continued to enjoy David Letterman’s talk show on Netflix. BOOKS: I finished reading Listen, Please Listen by Naomi Hintze and the audiobook of The Broken Ones by Sarah A. Denzil. I am now about two hours into the new, 18-hour long Stephen King novel The Outsider. 
Here are the movies I saw in May:

DISOBEDIENCE (2018)—I started the month seeing two movies that got excellent reviews on RottenTomatoes, but that were both disappointing in their own ways. Both films also feature standout performances by their two lead actresses. Based on Naomi Alderman’s novel, Disobedience stars Rachel Weisz as a woman reconnecting with her estranged Orthodox Jewish family after her dad dies. That includes her father’s disciple (Alessandro Nivola) and his wife (Rachel McAdams), the latter whom we come to learn had a lesbian fling with Weisz some years ago. It all turns into a bisexual love triangle, with rabbi-to-be Nivola coming to grips with the revelation that the two Rachels may be planning to hit the hay again. There’s too much smoking in the movie for me, and at least two-thirds of the movie crawls along too slowly and is too amateurishly directed for my liking. But there is a good movie in here struggling to get out. I think this would have been a much better movie in the hands of a better director. (6)

TULLY (2018)—There was a random line in this new film written by Diablo Cody (of Juno fame) in which somebody asks, “What was your dog’s name?” And the answer that came into my head was…Tully! Because oddly enough, that was my very first dog’s name. This movie features Charlize Theron as the pregnant wife of Ron Livingston, who already have two kids. In the first 30 minutes or so, we see her struggling with the pregnancy, having the baby, and showing signs of postpartum depression—her son has some kind of behavioral disorder, and she and her husband seem to be growing distant. Then Theron’s brother (always excellent Mark Duplass) insists on hiring her a “night nanny” named Tully, a pretty and fit 27-year-old who alleviates Theron’s struggles in many ways. The middle third of the film, where we see how the au pair infiltrates and benefits this couple’s life, is excellent. Unfortunately, there’s a plot twist in the final third that makes the film “jump the shark” in a truly disastrous way, and the film sinks like a rock. There are also about three too many montages in the movie—I couldn’t figure out why there were so many montages; it seemed a really lazy way to convey that some amount of time and progress was being made. I did, however, thoroughly enjoy seeing super-gorgeous Elaine Tan (playing Duplass’s wife)—they could have just pointed the camera at her for two hours and it would have been a better movie. Having said that, Theron and Mackenzie Davis as Tully are superb. (7)

BOOK CLUB (2018)—With a terrific cast of aging and elderly female actors, including Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, Diane Keaton, Mary Steenburgen, Book Club is like a Nancy Meyers movie, but lacking the wit and finesse of her excellent comedies (It’s Complicated). It’s a lighter-than-air comedy with a fairly entertaining first half; then it just coasts from there. My friend Robert referred to it a “geriatric sex comedy,” and that’s not far from the mark. Several aging male stars make an appearance, including Richard Dreyfuss, Andy Garcia, Craig T. Nelson, Don Johnson, Ed Begley Jr. and Wallace Shawn. None of them embarrass themselves, exactly, but even a couple of weeks after seeing the film, I can barely remember much of it. (6)

ON CHESIL BEACH (2018)—Ian McEwan’s prize-winning novella has been made into a feature film starring Saoirse Ronan (of Brooklyn, Lady Bird and other fine movies). She plays a young newlywed who, on her honeymoon, has some trouble consummating her marriage to Billy Howle. We learn their backstory through numerous flashbacks and there is a post-honeymoon epilogue. This is a movie that takes its sweet time unfolding its story, and without Ronan, it probably wouldn’t be terribly interesting. Fortunately, she is spectacular in it. I will see any movie that she appears in. Note: This was the first movie I saw using my MoviePass membership. (8)