Movies, part 2

[mellicious]

When did BlackKKlansman come out, late summer? I think this is everything I saw in sort of late August to October. BlackKKlansman was really excellent. It's an amazing story, and apparently hews fairly close to what actually happened. Here's the book it was based on. Short version: back in the 70s, a black policeman in Colorado infiltrated the local Klan. He started out talking to people on the phone, and then when it came to actually meeting them in person, a white cop went in his place. The black cop is played by Denzel Washington's son (I didn't even know Denzel had a son who was an actor, but he was really good), and the white cop is played by Adam Driver. Topher Grace, bizarrely, plays David Duke. It's directed by Spike Lee and Jordan Peele was a producer, no less. I don't think a lot of people saw this in theaters, but it's totally worth tracking down.

I had seen it once before - ages ago - but Princess Mononoke made the rounds on the Ghiblifest circuit that they do every year, and we went to that. It's not my favorite Miyazaki movie but it's entertaining, and the artwork is really beautiful, as in all his movies.

Crazy Rich Asians wouldn't have been a movie Rob went to see on his own, of course, but he seemed to enjoy it pretty well, and so did I. I hadn't read the book - I knew it existed but it's really kind of an offputting title, you know? But everybody seemed to like the movie and so we went, after it had already been out for a couple of weeks, and it was good. I kind of think there's something wrong with the concept of marrying somebody who you don't know well enough to know if they're insanely rich, but once you get past that part, it really works. I liked it enough that I'll probably read the book when I get around to it.

And then another one we didn't go see until it had been around a while was Venom. I knew who Venom was from playing Marvel Heroes - otherwise we probably wouldn't have gone at all. The reviews were kind of so-so, I think, but it kept making money and making money and so I figured it can't be that bad or people wouldn't still be going to see it, right? And we both liked it. It's not exactly a piece of art and it's awfully testosterone laced, but it was entertaining.

And then we went to see The House With A Clock In Its Walls. It's a kids' movie, but the trailer looked good, and really it was pretty cute. (And I'll watch pretty much anything with Cate Blanchett in it.) It's set in the 50s and it's about a kid who goes to live with his uncle, who turns out to be a magician - a real magician. (How much you want to bet that somebody somewhere pitched it as the next Harry Potter?) It's based on a whole series of books that I'd never heard of that were written starting in the 70s, I think.

And then we're coming up on the things that have come out more recently, so I think I'll save that for a part 3 on another day.

Comments

[oracne]

I felt like Tom Hardy was the reason Venom did so well. He was so funny!