BNTR

My wife and I watched A Real Pain

Eisenberg and Caulkin are both really good. Written and directed by Eisenberg. I liked the movie more than my wife did, she was annoyed that it’s classified as drama/comedy when while there are some funny parts, it’s not a comedy.

We’ve taken several trips to Germany with high school students because my wife is a German teacher and have seen a concentration camp on each one. They nailed the feeling on the bus after leaving one.

We watched "Flow," the 2025 Oscar winner for best animated feature, streaming on Max. This no-dialog film is about the adventures of a cat and several other animals in a fantasy world reminiscent of Eastern Europe, China, and South America all at the same time and populated with both realistic and fantastic animals. It is a wonderful escape and good for the whole family. Highly recommended - just don't expect reality beyond the fantastic animation quality.

Director Steve McQueen's WWII film "Blitz" watched on Apple-Plus. A predictable to typical London-based WWII movie with the twist of being about a mixed-race couple and their child. Saoirse Ronan is great, but I will admit I fell asleep with 20 minutes left and missed part of the climax. I won't bother to go back and see what I missed. 2 stars.

DYohn wrote: Sun Mar 23, 2025 1:19 pm I will admit I fell asleep with 20 minutes left and missed part of the climax. I won't bother to go back and see what I missed. 2 stars.

That's what she said.

Snow White live action reboot. My kids wanted to go. DO NOT! Gal Gadot gets a lot of hate for her "acting" and its not nearly enough.

The Mrs. and I enjoyed "Sinners" as presented by IMAX. We liked it a lot. Be sure to stick around at the end for a surprise or two. Not for kids.

"The Dry" starring Eric Bana on Acorn TV. A slow-moving but compelling detective mystery set in Australia. If you have trouble with Aussie accents, avoid, otherwise it's a decent movie - very like reading the book. Three stars for the story, one star for pacing.

Munich
Director: Steven Spielberg
Cast: Eric Bana, Daniel Craig, Geoffrey Rush, some talented actors you may recognize but not be be able to name

After the murder of 11 Israeli athletes and their coach at the 1972 Olympics, the Israeli government secretly assigns Avner Kaufman (Eric Bana) to carry out a series of strategic retaliations. With the help of a driver (Daniel Craig), a forger (Hanns Zischler), a bomb-maker (Mathieu Kassovitz) and a former soldier (Ciarán Hinds), Avner conducts a worldwide operation, targeting 11 individuals. As the assassinations pile up, Avner begins to doubt the morality of his actions.

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/munich

--
Liked it. One of Spielberg's lowest-grossing. Not hard to imagine why. It's not a happy topic or a happy movie. More or less a revenge thriller, although that's clearly a statement that's glossing over the history of conflict and everything that comes with it. Unfortunately I feel like squeezing all that into just a couple hours forces Spielberg to stage some somewhat ham-fisted expository scenes where we delve into aforementioned.

"Force of Nature: The Dry 2" on Acorn TV. Not really a sequel to the first "The Dry" film but starring Eric Bana in the same role. This time set in a rain forest National Park in southern Australia with nothing dry about it, it's a much better paced and more involving film that the first one. Enjoyable police mystery. Again, if you dislike Aussie accents best to avoid, but we found this engrossing and enjoyable. 4 stars.

"Becoming Led Zeppelin" on Netflix. A fine documentary about the formation and rise of the band through the release of their second album. A bit more interesting than a typical rock band bio, featuring interviews with the band and not with a series of talking heads about the band. Great music; maddening footage used under some songs like "Whole Lotta Love" where the footage had nothing to do with the song and the music was the recording not a live track. Recommended, 4 stars.
NOTE: My wife Diane was at their first US show in Denver in 1968 and says the reason the Auditorium Arena was half empty when they played was that they were a late addition to the bill (opening for Spirit and Vanilla Fudge) and only people like herself who got there early got in to see them. She said their name was not even on the tickets. She told me she had gone to see Vanilla Fudge and to hang with her girlfriends from High School, and that none of them really liked Led Zeppelin's set but all of them fell in lust with Robert Plant.