Sometimes when you talk about something, people remember it and expect a repeated sharing experience after a similar event. Perhaps eagerly anticipated, or perhaps dreaded. I’m thinking the tone of voice for “I guess we’ll be hearing Mom’s movie list when she gets here” was more to the dread than the hurray side.
My last similar post reviewed four movies, but this time I’ll just have three. The most affecting film in November was White Bird (2023). I’ve recommended it many times, with the caveat that I was sobbing at the end. Ah humanity!
The three reviewed today: Just My Luck (2006), Here (2024), Paddington in Peru (2024).
They say end strong, but I’m not sure exactly how to do that. Yes, I will recommend there for your watching enjoyment. The best one? Up to you.
Most famous director (Robert Zemeckis), should have been better: Here. Arguably, Forrest Gump (1994) is one of the best American movies per the American Film Institute’s listing, #71. Zemeckis has featured Tom Hanks in five movies. Here, Hanks plays a teenager who grows up and grows old. Movies do that sort of thing these days. The title Here is interesting, however. Technically, the setting is narrow: a single location over time from the prehistoric to the Lenni-Lenape indigenous people through the 1770s and modern day. It’s a lot to take in. The first couple, the Lenapes, give us a glimpse of their lives presumably on the same site where we see four other families’ lives. A hummingbird connects us to them. There is colonial mansion across the street where Benjamin Franklin’s son lives. I don’t know why this is included with occasional dialogue other than we need to get out of that living room. Another subplot involves the invention of the La-Z-Boy chair, but it’s not accurate. The film ends on a sad note—divorce and dementia. Good acting.
Building on a franchise/bear, Paddington in Peru is the third in the series. A fourth is in the works. Trivia bit: a marmalade perfume was issued in limited edition for its premiere. Really. These movies center on good values, family interactions, zany adventures. This version included a tarantula with predictable consequences once it was introduced. Sorry. But, family wins, love prevails, greed and evil are defeated. Here is a trailer. It’s light and fun. Hugh Bonneville is a good sport, also light and fun, which is what acting means—you can’t always be at Downton Abbey.
Predictable rom-com, Just My Luck is absolutely, completely predictable from the first time we see Lindsay Lohan wield her good luck. We do like to see Chris Pine at any time, and they have a bit of chemistry. One question—why is American Airlines showing a movie from 2006, other than Chris Pine? Probably reason enough. With something so predictable, I guess there’s no reason to summarize. Love wins, sacrifices are made, and water is a motif. The thing writes itself, and it was enjoyable.
I also watched several episodes of House and the beginning of The Spiderwick Chronicles (2024), a new series and not the 2008 film. Christian Slater stars as the villain. I would like to see the rest. He’s definitely a force. His phrase “meat pies” was chilling.
This is actually the first new post in a month. I left for Germany on June 1, was driven to London and a small town in France, returned on the 17th, had a major event on the 22nd and another on the 23rd. Whatever limited brain space I have was in use. Hope to do more next week. (My “v” is stuck so there’s that…)