Monday, March 23, 2020

In Which We Watch Some Movies

Social isolation, self-quarantine - whatever you are calling it, comes with at least one benefit for Jeff and I - we are watching more movies than usual, so I thought I'd give you a rundown on what we've seen recently.  We are trying to avoid anything too dark because let's face it, what's happening is dark enough right now, so for the most part we've focused on the lighter movies.  If you have any recommendations, please comment - it looks like we're going to be in this isolation for a while longer, so the movie watching will continue.
Swimming with Men (Hulu), starring the guy from Sherlock and the guy from Downton Abbey - Rupert Graves (Lestrade), and Jim Carter (Carson).  This was a random pick one evening as I was scrolling through the movie choices on Hulu; I'm so glad we watched it as it had a great story all the way through.  It's based on a documentary of the Swedish men's synchronized swim team, only this team is British.  Watch it!
The Avengers (Amazon Prime), starring everyone.  Yes we've seen it before but not in a while and we'd both forgotten a lot of what happens in this movie.  It ended up being such a good choice because for a couple of hours we forgot about the woes of the world.
Thor (Amazon Prime), starring my handsome future third husband, Chris Hemsworth.  Even though his hair isn't as Thor-like gorgeous as it is in the later Avengers movies, it's still a good one and explains the back story on Thor and Loki, which again, I'd forgotten.  Well some of it.  I try to retain all things Thor, LOL.  Of course I recommend watching it, it's THOR!
Honey Boy (Amazon Prime), starring Shia LeBouf.  I don't want to give away the plot twist, but it's about a child actor.  It's more of a serious movie; I enjoyed it.  Jeff was just OK with it but more because of the subject matter than the movie itself.
Jojo Rabbit (On Demand), starring Taika Waititi as Hitler.  Weird premise but it works; it's at times funny and charming and sweet and heartbreaking and sad and a tiny bit hopeful.  We wanted to see it when it was out in theaters and it was worth the rental.
Bottled Up:  The Battle Over Dublin Dr Pepper (Amazon Prime), starring real life people.  We were interested in this documentary because it's about a small Texas company battling with a huge corporate conglomerate.  I'm not a Dr Pepper person but even I knew about the appeal of Dublin Dr Pepper.  The issue between the two Dr Peppers was that the original recipe had cane sugar in it, and at some point after the formula was sold to Dr Pepper/Snapple, they changed to using high fructose corn syrup.  However, the Dublin plant was still bottling the original Dr Pepper with cane sugar.  They had a small six-county distribution area but people came from all over to pick up cases of their drink, and eventually corporate Dr Pepper sued them and they had to stop making it.  One thing I've realized after living in Texas for 20+ years is that Texans are fiercely loyal, and this did not sit well with not only Dublinites, but many Texans throughout the state.  I believe that while Big Red and Dr Pepper are the "official" drinks of Texas, there are those who refuse to drink Dr Pepper anymore.  It was an interesting documentary and really cool to see the history of Dr Pepper, but a little sad to see how the original Dr Pepper ended.  Side note:  all along I could have sworn that Dublin Dr Pepper had been revived and was still in stores, but apparently not.
Swell (Amazon Prime), starring the guy from LA Law - Corbin Bernsen (Arnie Becker).  I'll admit that this movie caught my eye because it looked like it was filmed on the beaches of northern California, which I am quite familiar with.  Turns out the opening scene was filmed on West Cliff Drive in Santa Cruz - it was so nice to see one of my favorite places in California!  I was there in January and walked the same area where the surfer girl in the movie was...oh man, did it ever make me miss Santa Cruz!  The movie was about a young woman's search for her younger brother, and it involved driving up Highway 101 to Oregon.  That part was lovely to see; she even stopped at Trees of Mystery, which is random but sentimental because that's where Jeff and I went the day after we got engaged.  There's a giant Paul Bunyan statue there, along with Babe the blue ox.  So that was cool.  But the movie was a little too dramatic for what I was looking for, and along the way she connected with dinosaur boy who had the most loud, grating voice - I nearly turned off the movie but the scenery kept me going.  Instead, I turned the volume down low.  Unless you are really wanting to see some beautiful parts of the California/Oregon coasts, I wouldn't recommend this movie.

Up next, Yesterday and probably Avengers:  Infinity War.  Any other suggestions?

10 comments:

  1. Loved JoJo Rabbit--that kid is going places! I haven't seen any of the other movies, tho.

    We've been watching a lot of movies too!! Yesterday we watched Warren Miller's Here, There, and Everywhere. He's a legendary ski filmmaker and even if you don't ski, the shots are just breathtaking. It was the perfect movie--we just sat back and enjoyed. On the recommendation of our son, we watched Uncut Gems with Adam Sandler. I think it's one of those movies that you'd either like or hate. It's loud, intense, and never slows down. I have to say that Adam Sandler was amazing in it. We watched The Other Guys with Will Ferrell, which was funny at first, but like every Will Ferrell movie I've seen ran out of gas and just got bad.

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    1. I have seen several Warren Miller movies over the decades - his photography is always amazing. I wonder how it is now - does he use the game changing drones as well?

      Uncut Gems - I bet I would like it but not Jeff. I'll have to watch it while he's working. As for what you said about Will Ferrell movies, FOR SHAME!!! Just kidding, I know some of his movies can get silly toward the end.

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  2. I was going to ask if you are going to do the whole Marvel experience! I have seen some people doing that, and watching Star Wars straight through, too.

    Bottled Up sounds really interesting!

    Did you see Peanut Butter Falcon? Yes, I am pretty sure you told me you did. That one was really uplifting :) Yesterday is fun! :) We've mostly been watching a lot of crap, so I don't have any good suggestions! Eek!

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    1. I've thought about doing all the Marvel movies but we just did that a year ago so we're picking and choosing which ones to rewatch. I did see Peanut Butter Falcon (in the theater, no less), speaking of Shia LeBouf. That was a good one. Thanks for the Yesterday recommendation; we're looking forward to seeing it!

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  3. Luckily we have a ton of movies! And I have plenty of home projects to keep us busy too :) My husband and stepson may not like that part nearly as much as I do, but it will keep them from getting bored.

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    1. I know the home projects aren't as thrilling to some people but it sure is nice to knock them off the list, isn't it?

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  4. I have no suggestions because I'm still working and only get about an hour a night of TV. Right now I'm still watching whatever shows are on the DVR, although I'm making notes of all these lists people are putting out right now for summer viewing!

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    1. Well you're no help! ;) Hopefully you'll get to see some of these movies soon.

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  5. Ha! I started watching all the seasons of Monk. My favorite TV show. But I will watch some of these movies that you recommended too!

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  6. I do like when I watch movies in which I have a connection with the place where it was filmed! That Dublin dr. pepper movie sounds interesting. I actually haven't been watching much tv or Netflix. Although I caught a bit of Dr. Oz the other day and he had talking to the producer of Contagion. I was curious so I bought it off Netflix. OMG How eerie it is because it practically mimics what is going on in the world right now even though it was produced in 2011!

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