I just finished my Oscar’s watch with Zone of Interest. I watched every nominee in the major categories so I can complain from a knowing place when I don’t like who they choose. Ha.
Zone of Interest was quietly horrible, very well made but terrifying in its commitment to being a slice of life movie.
I wanted to like Past Lives, but I just couldn’t get into it. It was sweet, but much too slow for me.
I’ve seen 7 or the 10 movies nominated for Best Picture. My favorites were American Fiction and The Holdovers. I don’t think either will win best picture.
We watched The Beekeeper (Jason Statham) last night. We splurged on the $20 rental since we had 4 people watching it and we were tired of waiting for the price to drop.
It’s a fun movie, if you like revenge by a ex-secret ops dude movies. The revenge was against a scamming company that scammed a sweet older woman out of millions (most of which was in a charity that she managed). The woman (played by Claire Huxtable) was the “only person who ever took care of” Jason Statham.
As I said, not deep. But it was very fun. And who doesn’t wish someone would do that to all of the scummy scammers out there?!
You mean Phylicia Rashad? 
We watched Past Lives last night and I had a similar reaction. Plus I didn’t really like either of the men that much - but overall I liked it and I like the idea. I am hoping to see The Holdovers before next Monday - is American Fiction streaming anywhere?
Yup! But she’ll always be Claire to me. And she was very Claire like in the movie.
American Fiction is streaming on Amazon Prime.
I’ve never read the book nor saw the first movie. Is that background crucial to seeing this film?
I would imagine that you’d be better off seeing the first movie. It covers half the book and it’s one story. Honestly it’s worth reading the book. It was ground breaking when it appeared. Like nothing else we’d seen before in sci fi.
I just loved the book as a kid.
I read the book way back when, but honestly, I remembered none of it. I did see the 1984 film a couple of times (a very enjoyable movie), so I understood what was going on. At bare minimum, I’d definitely see Dune part one, for sure. I don’t recall the book as being an easy read (which is probably why I remember so little).
It would be very helpful to read the book and at a minimum see the first movie. Honestly, I think you’d be lost otherwise. I read the book a few times decades ago and almost re-read it when the first movie came out. It is long and complicated (world building) so I passed for now. But it’s iconic and sets the basis for a lot of future sci fi.
The problem with reading the book, however, (I just looked it up because I was going to reread it), it’s 896 pages. So unless you’re a fast reader or looking for a project, it’s a commitment. You’ll probably do just fine watching part one, even better, watching the earlier version of it also.
You definitely need to see the first Dune movie. The second movie isn’t a sequel, it’s really a continuation of the first movie (i.e. first movie doesn’t really have much of an ending, it just stops). If you skipped the first movie and just watched the second, it would be like only watching the second half of a 6 hour movie.
We just watched the second Dune movie for a second time tonight. Made even more sense since we just rewatched part one a few days ago, and agree, it is definitely a continuation. Great movie, time goes fast.
After watching the Oscars, I decided to try Poor Things on Hulu. I told husband he likely wouldn’t like it and when I took a break halfway through, told him he definitely wouldn’t like it. 
I’m not sure I actually liked it, but did very much appreciate the artistry. I understand why it won the awards it did. So I’m glad I saw it, but highly unlikely to ever watch again! At least I made it through; left Flowers of a Killer Moon partway through because it was too depressing.
We just rewatched the Dune part 1 in anticipation of watching part 2 soon. It’s really very beautiful, but though I like Oscar Isaac, I feel like he’s too soft-spoken for the part. I kept coming back to his sadsack character in Inside Llewyn Davis. That could of course have been intentional.
Cabrini. With all of her accomplishments why isn’t she known by the masses?
I just saw Perfect Days, a Japanese film directed by Wim Wenders. A stunning, quiet movie about finding beauty in everyday life. Loved it and will be thinking about it for quite a long time.
