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HALLIE EPHRON: I've been *going to the movies*! Sometimes in, you know, actual movie theaters as well as streaming at home.
I dragged two of my best friends to the Pixar-animated INSIDE OUT 2 at my local megaplex.
It was totally enjoyable -- no wonder it earned over $1.5 billion worldwide (making it the highest domestic grossing animated film of ALL time, as well as the highest-grossing film of 2024). One of my friends is a psychologist so we had a great time over dinner after dissecting the mood characters.... and sharing our most painful memories of adolescence.
Feet up in plush stadium seats. Popcorn. Senior discount. Worth every penny. Loved every minute.
I streamed HIT MAN. Also a winner, in my opinion.
Really it's a romantic comedy about a dweebie college professor who poses as a hit man for the police. Glenn Powell looks like he's having an absolutely blast assuming disguises and romancing Adria Arjona. And asonishingly the story is based on something that really happened. It's streaming on Netflix.
Then there was WICKED LITTLE LETTERS. A guilty pleasure.
So funny, so much dirty language in the service of a hilarious set up. And starring the incandescent Olivia Coleman. That one is streaming on Netflix.
Now I can't wait to see the new Minions movie. They crack me up.
After the convention...
You can see how my taste is running these days: silly and light. And to think in my youth I was into Last Year at Marienbad and The Seventh Seal.
Are you going to the movies (or staying home for them)? What are you watching and what should the rest of us be sure not to miss?
We took the grandbabies to see IF . . . it turned out to be surprisingly good.
ReplyDeleteWriting it down... Thanks, Joan.
DeleteI streamed Hit Man and IF. Thelma is in my queue.
ReplyDeleteOur last venturing out for a movie was in a local theater to see a remake of an Agatha Christie movie. Can't think of the name right now, but it was truly spooky. And we love movie theaters, although in the states we went to matinees to avoid all the junk on the floor left by movie goers. Here, a totally different experience: Ushers wait at the end of several aisles after each showing with large bags to collect popcorn boxes and empty soda containers, and the movie goers drop their trash in. Consequently, each showing is as pristine as the first matinee. It was such a pleasure to see a movie in such a clean theater.
ReplyDeleteOooh that sounds amazing. And I'll bet they can turn over the showings faster that way and squeeze in more $$. Smart. Or Smaht as we say in Boston but nowhere have I been here where theydo that.
DeleteA Haunting in Venice, with Kenneth Branagh. That was it. I highly recommend it.
ReplyDeleteNo going to see movies in person since downtown theatres closed several years ago. Not much worth watching to take a LRT & bus ride out into the suburbs! That being said, I also have not watched a single movie at home, either. The only movies I saw were on the 15-16 direct flights to Singapore-Vancouver in Aptil/May.
ReplyDeleteI saw Wicked Little Letters and Thelma in our small local theater and loved both. But I haven't been to a movie since then, I think (Hugh is my movie memory and he's busy right now...). Seeing a film on the big screen is such a different (and better)experience than watching in our den.
ReplyDeleteUp this week is Between the Temples, which sounds delightful, and then Didi, which does too.
I agree, seeing a film in a theatre adds a dimension.
DeleteFROM JAY:
ReplyDeleteI haven't hit the theaters to see a movie in a good long while. However, on my weekly jaunt to my Local Comic Shop, we usually can watch movies since the owner has the TV with all the bells and whistles to let you watch pretty much anything you want.
So far at the shop this year I've seen: Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F (Really good!), Damsel (which while not terrible could've been better and wastes Millie Bobbie Brown), the "new" Road House movie (an absolute abomination in every aspect of filmmaking. And Connor Macgregor as the main bad guy makes Yosemite Sam look more intimidating) and Madame Web (a movie so bad that it somehow is worse than abomination of filmmaking and impossible to figure out what the hell the point of the movie was supposed to be)
My two favorites that I've seen at the shop so far have been The Beekeeper (Jason Statham basically kicking and killing the holy crap out of nearly everyone else in the movie) and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (which was pretty good though I despair for the world it inhabits with its ending).
I saw Shamrock Spitfire via Tubi at home and it was decent if a bit stuffy with the performances at times. It is based on a true WWII story.
I'm hoping to see Kevin Costner's Horizon at some point. I know it bombed at the box office and didn't get great reviews but I have always seemed to enjoy his epic length movies regardless of what others think of the movies.
This is making me think we should have a bad movie contest. You have very eclectic tate, Jaye, and a strong stomach.
DeleteEmoji movie on Netflix. Argylle on Apple +. Back to the Future on Netflix.
ReplyDeleteOh, would love to see Back to Future again!! Will see if I can talk hubby into it!
DeleteWe do both, in-theater and streaming. At the theater, we're also big fans of the senior discount combined with a matinee discount. I have to say, it's taken me a while to figure out how to find what's playing at the movies. My most reliable source now is reading the NYT reviews and then scrolling Fandango.
ReplyDeleteI agree, it's challenging. Used to just open the paper to the movies page and look in the theatre/times table.
DeleteWicked Little Letters is a treat! May even watch it again. Olivia Coleman is the greatest!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed Fly Me to the Moon at the theater on my birthday in July. It brought back memories of watching the moon landing on TV when I was 7.
ReplyDeleteSounds good.
DeleteI haven’t been in a movie theater since about seven days before the world shut down due to Covid. Since then, I’ve watched an occasional movie on Netflix or Prime. But I can’t remember the titles!!
ReplyDeleteLast week I was at my sister’s, and her family and I watched a movie, Bridge of Spies. It was excellent! I didn’t expect to like it because the main character is one of my least favorite actors. (Tom Hanks) However, he was good in this one. It was set during the Cold War. I’ve been thinking about the movie ever since. Now I’m on a historical fiction kick!
DebRo
Sounds good. Love Tom Hanks.
DeleteTaking notes here. Lately, until the DNC, I've been bingeing Miss Scarlet and the Duke on PBS. Before that, Magpie Murders. I know, it takes me forever to get around to the hot shows!
ReplyDeleteHallie, I took my grandson to the first two Minion movies. They were so much fun! Now that he's all grown up, and he's 500 miles away, I miss our movie dates.
DeleteMinions rock! And I did LOVE Magpie Murders. Miss Scarlet etc, not so much.
DeleteOh I love super deluxe movies— I love that you don’t have to wait in line for tickets, that you don’t have to battle for seats, that they’re comfortable, that you can always see. I’ll never forget when we dragged, truly, our younger grandson to a super plex. He was apprehensive, because he had never been to a movie like that, and he was not eager for the new experience. It took him about four seconds to have his eyes widen, as he settled in his massive seat with his popcorn and his theater- provided blanket, and heard the opening music of. I think it was Spider-Man. I have never seen a happier kid. I feel just the same way.
ReplyDeleteWe don’t go to many movies, thinking about it now—every time we consider it, it soon comes to TV. The Olivia Colman us on TV now, and can’t wait.
And I loved HitMan. What a surprise!
We used to have a local movie theatre where your feet stuck to the floor and it smelled... weird. Delicious (cheap) popcorn, however. Signs everywhere about how you were NOT supposed to under any circumstances bring in your own food.
DeleteIf we go (not very often these days) we go to our IPIC. Luxury reclining seats, even blankets, plus pretty decent food and drink. We love the truffle fries! The downside is trying to eat in the dark without mosr of it going down your front...
DeleteWe've been watching the DNC - be sure to vote in November!
ReplyDeleteWe've just "discovered" VERA (the BBC detective drama). We are looking forward to Death in Paradise (BBC/PBS), and the other British cozy mysteries - Father Brown, Sister Boniface, which take place in the scenic and very British Cotswolds.
Love the British detective shows!! Check out Shetland and Annika, too! — Pat S
DeleteVera!! One of the all time best. I like Death In Paradise but they kept changing the cast. It's so weird when a character continues but suddenly it's a different actor in the role.
DeleteDeath In Paradise--they aren't the same character with a different actor. They are different actors playing a person with the same job.
DeleteI streamed Hit Man and Dirty Little Letters. I enjoyed the latter more than The Hubby, who was slightly turned off by the excessive swearing. Me, I think it's a cultural thing.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to take my nephew to the little old-time theater- here in Ligonier. They've had animated movies for a while. But last weekend they had Deadpool and Wolverine. Not exactly good fare for a 5-year-old.
My husband didn’t like Dirty Little Letters and he’s not afraid of language! He felt it started too slowly (and I think wasn’t really in the mood for it that night; he loves Olivia Colman usually), but I continued to watch it and the next day wanted to know how it ended! — Pat S
DeleteWe've been to the movies once in the two years we've been here. Was surprised by reserved luxury seating! We saw Oppenheimer. On TV we watched Signora Volpe, Under the Vines, The Serpent Queen, Monsieur Spade, Harry Wild, Dalgliesh, and I've been indulging myself with old movies on TCM.
ReplyDeleteAs the last movie I watched (theater and TV and online) was “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?”….Cheers, Elisabeth
ReplyDeleteDoes it hold up? Because that's decades old... I loved it. That moment when Roger Rabbit admits he can easily take his hand out of the handcuffs...? Makes me laugh just remembering it.
DeleteWe LOVE going to the theater - both “moving pictures” and live performances. So once the world opened back up, we started going back to the movies, masks on. The old, rundown theater where we (okay I) took our son to see animated movies when he was little got bought by a New York-based small chain and totally upgraded. It has the reclining chairs and food (and cocktails). The last movie we saw was Twisters, also with Glen Powell. A fun adventure movie. Now the DNC is over, I think I’ll see what’s playing this weekend! — Pat S
ReplyDeleteFor those of us who thought the first Twister movie was so bad that we were openly rooting for the tornado to kill all the characters in the movie, do you think Twisters is worth it?
DeleteJay, it was definitely not the best movie I’ve ever seen (or in the top 200, probably), but it fit the bill that day. It was my husband’s birthday and an adventure movie with some humor was good. — Pat
DeleteWe will definitely watch Twisters when it starts streaming, with hubby having had long experience with storm chasing.
DeleteSummer is movie time for me! I just saw Deadpool and Wolverine with the Hooligans and their Plus Ones. I haven't laughed that hard in a loooong time. Very rough language but that's never bothered me. Can't wait to see Inside Out 2 - I absolutely loved the first one.
ReplyDeleteIf you recommend it, Jenn...
DeleteI went to see a couple of movies back in May. Unsung Hero was very good, based on a true story. The Fall Guy was fun, but not quite as good as I wanted it to be.
ReplyDeleteFrom Celia: really enjoying your post Hallie and all the comments. I need a list as knee replacement surgery is Tuesday and I think there may be some down time to watch movies after. I’m monitoring Julia who is my knee recovery information bureau and loaner too.
ReplyDeleteBut we haven’t been inside a movie house since before the pandemic. Our only public viewing was to see Met Opera broadcasts on a local prep school with a great auditorium.
So I’ll go for Thelma and Dirty Little Letters. My iPad will be busy.
Enjoy!
DeleteWishing you the best with your knee, Celia! We'll all be pulling for you.
DeleteYes, we will be cheering you on, Celia!
DeleteAt 91, my hearing is selective (i.e. going AWOL). Closed captions are a necessity, so no movie theaters anymore. I'm taking notes for television watching. This summer I'm relishing reruns of Northern Exposure on Prime. Very satisfying! Lenita
ReplyDeleteYou know in the new movie theatres there's a free gizmo that they give you that provide closed captions just for you. Wondering if anyone's used it? I tried it last time I was in the theatre but the device they gave me was broken so I managed without.
DeleteHallie, a deaf blogger and her husband were just talking about the broken device that is supposed to have captions for the movie theater. That happened to me several times and I ask to exchange for another device that works. Sometimes they forget to turn on the captions.
DeleteDiana
Thanks for this information--I had no idea. How frustrating, though, to be handed a device that doesn't work. So guess I'll stay home, where I don't have to put on real clothes (especially shoes), watch good shows on a biggish screen, and munch on practically free popcorn.
DeleteI admire your adventurous spirit! Not sure I've seen an animated movie in, well, forever. Yikes. I have never been much on movies or streaming - I've come late to every craze - Downton Abbey - gone for years before I tuned in. Longmire, same. I'm just chronically behind the curve. With that in mind - I recently streamed Book Club, and Book Club, the Next Chapter. Loved 'em both.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen either so thanks for the recommendation.
DeleteHitman has been on my list, Hallie! Maybe we'll give that try this weekend. We are not even contemplating the theater right now, with the covid surge, but we are so spoiled to our big TV that I really don't miss it. I think the last movie we streamed was The Fall Guy, which we liked but it wasn't quite as good as I expected, given the buzz.
ReplyDeleteWhen despicable me 4 hit the movie theaters, my husband begged to see it at a local theater. Patriot Place in Foxboro, MA has a ton of small, clean, comfortable theaters in their complex with senior discounts! We both really enjoyed it. He asked me to still order the DVD as we both enjoy the outtakes, director and actor comments as well as the bloopers! It took us a while to be comfortable enough to actually sit in a theater after so many shootings. But this theater during an afternoon may only have 10 people in the theater with us! Like when I was a little kid, I still find the music captivating. Just read the credits to see who wrote the lyrics and the score! Amazing! Have fun tonight as we are off to dinner at the Naked Oyster in Hyannis and then the Righteous Brothers at the Melody Tent. It’s still Island Time once you cross the bridge! Alicia Kullas
ReplyDeleteAh, Hallie! What a blast from the past when you mentioned Bergman's The Seventh Seal. Just the kind of serious movie I used to love! I think I probably saw it five times and discussed it with college classmates for hours. (You make me want to see the Woodie Allen parody again!) My husband and I love movies, and when we were first married, we went to an average of two a week, but for the past few years, we've had a hard time finding ones we like. However, I also thought Inside-Out 2 was terrific. Haven't yet seen Hit Man, but the reviews make it sound wonderful. Will try to get hold of Wicked Little Letters and Thelma. Thanks for your advice!
ReplyDelete