Song of the day:
From the movie, Better Man (so, so good!!)…
And Robbie singing it live on The Graham Norton Show…
Well, February was the shortest month of the year, but it seemed to last about 17 weeks. Whew, a LOT has been happening. The administration of this country continues to be horrible, embarrassing and dangerous; we lost some incredible artists - Gene Hackman, Michelle Trachtenberg, Roberta Flack, Angie Stone, Tony Roberts; we lost children to measles - totally preventable! - and many more are sick; many others are sick with COVID and the flu; the Eagles won the Super Bowl - well, the Eagles and Kendrick Lamar; and the weather everywhere continues to be weird. I’ll take the nice days in Colorado, but I know the winter will return soon.
I’ve seen a few movies, watched some TV, and read a little, too. I built some LEGO, lounged, and redecorated our front porch for the new month. We saw Gutenberg: The Musical - so fun! I got a quick visit with my dad and Frannie, had lunch with a good friend, and also got to reconnect with two friends who I hadn’t seen in over 30 years! I also took advantage of over 20 birthday discounts at shops and restaurants. It totally pays to sign up for all the things, believe me.
Movies:
Captain America: Brave New World - I had been waiting for this one for quite some time, and it did not disappoint. I saw it twice in its opening weekend and absolutely loved it! Anthony Mackie was outstanding, as were Carl Lumbly and Danny Ramirez, to to mention Harrison Ford. I mean he’s always brilliant. I will probably go see it again soon, so I can get another view of that magnificent suit in the theatre. I highly encourage you to check this one out.
Love Hurts - Is this a great movie? No. But I fully enjoyed it. It’s action-packed with lots of blood and ick, but also some humor and sweetness. And it was super-fun to see Ke Huy Quan in the leading man role. If you like cheesy action movies that are light on story but have some fun aspects you might like it. If not, then it’s probably not for you.
My Dead Friend Zoe - This is truly one of the best movies I’ve ever seen. We’d seen one of the stars (Natalie Morales) interviewed and then saw her on Celebrity Jeopardy and were intrigued. Then we learned that Morgan Freeman and Ed Harris were in it and started reading more about it because we love them. It’s based on true experiences of the military, and it is funny, sweet and heartbreaking. If you have the chance to see this one, do it. It’s worth every moment of your time. And stay through the credits for the comments from the filmmaker and stars.
Nickel Boys - I wanted to like this, I really did, as I’d heard so much about the book and figured the movie would be good. It may have been good, but we weren’t able to stay through the whole thing. The filming method was different and hard to follow - though very creative in the way it was done. It just wasn’t for us. If you’ve seen it, I’d love to know what you thought.
Paddington in Peru - Loved this one! We started seeing the previews for this sometime last year and knew we needed to see it because it looked simply adorable, but The Mother had never seen the first or second movie (I’d only seen the first). So, we watched the first two movies in preparation then headed off to Peru with one of the most famous bears in the world. And it was so good. It’s got heart and humor, with a little adventure and intrigue thrown in for good measure. I only had to shield my eyes a few times from an evil 8-legged creature they ran into in the Amazon. Highly recommend! As a side note, our movie got interrupted by a fire alarm in the theatre so we had to evacuate for almost 15 minutes before continuing the film. Never a dull moment!
Books:
The Davenports: More Than This by Krystal Marquis - Finally finished this one, and it was great! I enjoyed it just as much as the first book in the series and can’t wait for the next one!
Better Than Revenge by Kasie West - I’ve read all of Kasie’s books, and this is now a new favorite. I loved the characters and the story. It was a great young adult novel, and a fun read.
TV:
Paradise (Hulu): I restarted my Hulu subscription so I could watch this show because a, I adore Sterling K. Brown and James Marsden, and b, everything I’d been reading about it was great. I’m only three episodes in, and it’s so good! It’s twisty and weird and intense, and I love it! Anyone else watching?
Zero Day (Netflix): I randomly came across this - had never heard of it despite the huge stars including Robert De Niro and Angela Basset! - and it’s also twisty and intense and wow, streaming TV is so good right now! I’m just a couple of episodes in, but wow, it’s excellent. Anyone watching this one?
Beyond the Gates (CBS): Okay, I’m not a soap opera person these days - was fully committed in high school and college - but when I learned about this new soap focused on a Black family, with Black creators and producers and such, I wanted to give it a try. And it’s exactly like every other soap I’ve ever seen, which is cheesy, dramatic, and filled with overacting. I mean we had a face slap in episode one! But I’m enjoying it. I don’t know how long I’ll stick with it but wanted to support it since it’s so rare to have a new soap premiere and even more rare to have one focused on a Black family.
Suits LA (NBC): I watched the first episode of this new series from the original Suits creators. It stars Stephen Amell, who’s been a favorite since Arrow, but it’s gonna take me a minute to see if I wanna be involved. I loved the original series and watched it faithfully when it was on, but not sure about this one yet. I’ll keep you posted.
The Americas (NBC): This is a 10-part nature series narrated by Tom Hanks, and y’all, it’s so good! We watched the first two episodes last weekend, and I believe two more will air tonight. I highly encourage you to check this one out.
The Masked Singer (FOX) and The Floor (FOX) are already back on for new seasons, and we love them both. There have already been some super interesting people revealed on The Masked Singer, and The Floor seems even more competitive than the last season.
I’ve also watched most of the award shows and am looking forward to the Oscars tonight to cap off the season. Maybe I’ll do another post later to recap all the things.
On tap for this week is seeing Purple Rain back in the theatre in DOLBY. The movie’s not the greatest, but the music…well, it’s one of the best soundtracks of all time. But I think it’s also gonna be sad because Prince. Still, I’m looking forward to it. The Mother isn’t joining me for that one. She will, however, be joining me for some hockey later in the week. She’s going to the Avs game while I’ll be attending the Sharks game. They’re at the same time in the same building, mind you, but our loyalties are not the same. I’m excited to see Team Teal for only the second time this season.
Anyway, I think that’s it for now. Hope you have a great week ahead! I’ll be back soon…
Video of the day:
Seriously, go see this movie!!
I'm almost embarrassed to say I binged Zero Day in one day.