What I'm watching in December 2022:

12/31/22 The Swimmers (Netflix)

12/30/22 White Noise⭐ (Netflix)

12/29/22 About Fate (Amazon Prime)

12/26/22 My Grown-Up Christmas List (Hallmark)

12/25/22 Undercover Holiday (Hallmark)

12/24/22 Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan, Season 3⭐ (Amazon Prime)

12/23/22 Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery⭐ (Netflix)

12/23/22 Christmas with You (Netflix)

12/22/22 Top Gun: Maverick⭐ (Paramount+)

12/22/22 A Bad Mom's Christmas (Netflix)

12/21/22 1923 (Paramount+ series, episode 1)

12/20/22 The Recruit (Netflix series)

12/18/22 If These Walls Could Sing (Disney+)

12/18/22 The Apology (AMC+)

12/17/22 I Believe in Santa (Netflix)

12/16/22 Black Adam (HBO Max)

12/15/22 Banshees of Inisherin⭐ (HBO Max)

12/14/22 National Treasure: Edge of History, Season 1 (Disney+, In Progress)

12/13/22 Pelosi in the House⭐ (HBO Max)

12/12/22 Lady Chatterley's Lover (Netflix)

12/12/22 The White Lotus, Season 2 (HBO Max series)

12/11/22 Emily the Criminal (Netflix)

12/11/22 A Royal Corgi Christmas (Hallmark)

12/10/22 #XMAS (Hallmark)

12/09/22 Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio⭐ (Netflix)

12/08/22 Amsterdam (HBO Max)

12/07/22 Wednesday (Netflix series)

12/06/22 The Lady from Shanghai

12/05/22 Mrs. Harris Goes To Paris⭐

12/05/22 Bullet Train (Netflix)

12/04/22 Sr.⭐ (Netflix)

12/03/22 Dead to Me, Season 3 (Netflix)

12/01/22 A Hollywood Christmas (HBO Max)

The Banshees of Inisherin

— A dark tale of a friendship that’s soured on a desolate island off the coast of Ireland in the 1920s. Hurt, anger, and meanness flow like water as the emotional, hazy story unfolds in a line from love to vengence. It’s a film that looks good, feels right, and evolves to a perfect end. Having Colin Ferrell and Brendan Gleeson in the lead roles helps, as does having Martin McDonagh writing and directing. [HBO Max streaming.]

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[2022. 114 min. Directed by Martin McDonagh. Starring Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Kerry Condon, and Barry Keoghan.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-banshees-of-inisherin-film-review-2022

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio

— A lovely tale told by a really good storyteller. It’s nice to see good stop-motion animation after so many CGI-heavy tales, and Guillermo del Toro’s variation is unusual enough to have you sometimes smiling and sometimes gasping at his audacity. It’s darker than Disney, but every bit as stunning. I don’t think it’s exactly a children’s film but, in the end, it is about imperfect fathers and imperfect children, life and death, authoritarianism, and everyone’s ability to make a difference in the world. It doesn’t hurt to have Ewan McGregor in a very prominent voice role and, in smaller roles, the likes of Cate Blanchette, Christoph Waltz, Tilda Swinton, and John Turturro. I really liked this film. [Netflix streaming.]

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[2022. 157 min. Directed by Guillermo del Toro. Voice Starring Ewan McGrego, David Bradley, and Gregory Mann.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/guillermo-del-toros-pinocchio-2022

Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris

— The synopsis of this senior Cinderella story sounds like a run-of-the-mill 1950’s comedy or a 1970’s romcom. It’s about a British cleaning lady who, on seeing a Dior gown in an employer’s closet, decides she must have one of her own. It could easily have relied on a tried-and-true formula for success, but this is a charming story of dreams, love, values, and maybe a little karma. In the end, it feels like an anthem for unseen women, for the common man, and for invisible workers, as well as for the core similarities we all share. [Peacock streaming.]

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[2022. 155 min. Directed by Anthony Fabian. Starring Lesley Manville, Isabelle Huppert, and Lambert Wilson.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/mrs-harris-goes-to-paris-movie-review-2022

Sr.

— “Sr.” is a pretty offbeat and free-flowing look at Robert Downey Sr. and Robert Downey Jr. relating to each other while making a documentary about their relationship, with Sr. loosely gathering footage at the same time and making his own film. Conversations, clips from other films, and reminiscences manage to come together, painting a look at life, generations, art, death, and acceptance. If you’re looking for an odd documentary, this may be one to sample. [Netflix streaming.]

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[2022. 89 min. Directed by Chris Smith. With Robert Dopwney Sr., Robert Downey Jr., Paul Thomas Anderson, Sean Hayes, Norman Lear, and Alan Arkin.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/sr-movie-review-2022