I just watched Picture This on Amazon Prime, a British rom com based on an Australian rom com. The plot itself was obvious and kind of dumb, some silly characters and dialogue (other than the Gay Best Friend), but the locales and costumes were fun to see. I watched it for Simone Ashley, who is absolutely luminous. I became a fan after her Bridgerton season. But she had tons more chemistry with Jonathan Bailey (like who wouldn’t) than whoever the lackluster love interest was in this movie. Zero attraction. So…fun to watch but not think about much.
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^ the story behind the film is interesting though:
Simone Ashley is a big name thanks to Bridgerton but couldn’t find any studio to make the film, because studio execs said 1) romcoms=?!? Who cares? 2) sorry but non action person of color= non bankable.
So she set up her own company with the Bridgerton funds (&++ others) and the film is now #1 on Prime.
(Summarizing)
Studio execs really need to diversify because not everyone is a teenage boy 
or film specialist.
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Interesting! She’s certainly not the first woman (or man, for that matter) to create their own production company to make movies in which they believe.
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We saw Mickey 17 last night. A humorous Sci-fi film with a lot of messages. I thought the cast was exceptional. It ran a bit long and it is a strange story, but I enjoyed it. Interesting to see in our political times. A look at how we treat people as expendable.
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My DH went with a friend to see that. His friend fell asleep 
My MIL fell asleep, but she does that at every movie!
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We watched Music by John Williams just now on Disney +. Wow. 12/10 stars from us. H was in hog heaven with Steven Spielberg and John Williams together. (And we have their autographs on a Raiders poster above our fire place.) it’s just so well done and moving. What talent. And he was roughly 91 when he made this movie. And he is still so sharp playing the piano!!!
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I would watch that! Layer Cake (2004 - also Daniel Craig) is good too.
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Just saw “The Assessment” with Elizabeth Olsen. A little disappointing for a sci fi thriller. Last week saw “Black Bag” with Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett (who I love). I wish I’d opted for captions – couldn’t hear or decipher all the terse dialogue. Saw previews of movies worth watching - The Wedding Banquet (like The Proposal but with gay protagonists). The Penguin Lessons. Ones I’d skip: The Shrouds (improbable; too gory); Freaky Tales (same reason); Hell of a Summer (straight on horror movie which I’m not into). Sometimes I see the previews and wonder if I’m in the right theatre since the movie I’m there to see is not gory or horror.
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We saw “Black Bag” in the theater and I was wishing we were home, so we could use captions! I think I’ll watch it again on TV. We liked it a lot.
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Just watched Past Lives as it finally came to a streaming service we have (Amazon Prime). I’m often a bit disappointed when the movie was really hyped up (like in the case of Parasite, Barbie, or Everything Everywhere at Once), but in this case I really loved it.
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We watched Flow, which won an Academy Award for Animated Feature Film. Gorgeous visuals. The characters are all animals. My wife absolutely loved it (and has now watched it more than once). I liked it. Not clear I would want to watch it again.
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I was fascinated by the way they had the animals function like real animals. Not human-like at all, very distinctly from their own species. They also didn’t “communicate” thoughts or with each other, although they did convey things that they wanted done, which seemed realistic. Only the end was probably a bit human-like and even then you could tell the dogs just followed what the leader was doing and if the hare had ran past 1mn earlier they’d have run after it just like that.
(It also brought to mind the novel City which Id read as a teenager, where dogs sitting around the campfire tell tales about a mythical creature called Man.)
Apparently since the film’s release there have been more adoptions of black cats. 
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one way to not be disappointed about the hype is to avoid reading reviews and seeing the movie soon after its release😎. enjoyed all 4 but eeaao would probably be better enjoyed after an edible or 2😉
When everything opened up again after the Covid lockdowns, I found that I had absolutely no desire to go back into a movie theater ever again. Yes on eating out in restaurants, yes on travel of any kind, even yes on seeing a play or musical in the theater! But perfectly happy to stream all my movies in the comfort of my own home forever. Unfortunately, that means that I am never one of the first to see anything.
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I love to see movies in the theater although I don’t go that often, maybe a little less often than once a month. I rarely watch movies at home. I’m planning to see Eephus at the local art house this week or next.
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I agree for the most part - but those animals really could sail a boat!
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True 
It seemed haphazard but indeed after a while they did sail the boat 
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We just watched Anora and the first bit was cringy transactional sex – the lead character is a sex worker – but after that, it got better and better. And Mikey Madison was outstanding – somehow really evocative.
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I was shocked my husband has never seen Cirizen Kane. So we watched it yesterday. Wow, so many parallels to certain events. What a masterpiece. Incredible cinematography for a movie filed in 1941!
After that, Amazon recommended a handful of movies like they always do. One was Andromeda Strain. Somehow, we both missed it. Started watching, and as soon credits to scientific equipment makers appeared on the screen, we were hooked. 
Perkin Elmer! VWR! What lab nerd can resist that? The movie, filmed in 1971, had some interesting moments.
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