The Life of Chuck — Prime | Another Stephen King novella gets a film adaptation starring Tom Hiddleston. The story collection came out during COVID and didn’t blow me away, but I had nice things to say about it at the time since there wasn’t much else to do in the world. I will go on record to say Mr. King is the single most prolific producer of pop culture since about 1980.
The Incredible Hulk — Disney+ | This 2008 film, one of the first in the MCU (the credits scene introduces Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark!) and starring Ed Norton as the green guy, was playing on broadcast TV so I recorded it and then figured out it was easier to watch on Disney+. Didn’t hate it upon a rewatch and kind of wish Norton’s tortured Bruce Banner wasn’t replaced by Mark Ruffalo, although I have nothing against Ruffalo.
Death of a Unicorn — HBO | I imagine Paul Rudd was paid handsomely for this hallucination on celluloid, because he certainly didn’t do it for the acting challenge. Or the script. Or the special effects.
A House of Dynamite — Netflix | I don’t know why, but I had higher hopes for this Kathryn Bigelow-directed streamer starring Idris Elba as a U.S. president faced with an unthinkable choice: Allow a nuclear warhead (origin unknown) to detonate over Chicago or strike back against a range of possible attackers. The movie is told in real time from multiple perspectives, so that was interesting, but in the end it’s nothing but a cinematic think piece about nuclear deterrence. There’s no real other plot.
No Sleep ’til Christmas — Netflix | This 2018 made-for-TV (Freeform) movie took up 90 minutes of our time on Veterans Day. It’s a cute enough rom-com about two young people with chronic sleeping problems who find out they can only get some shuteye when sleeping with one another. Not that type of sleeping. Get your mind out of the gutter.
Same Time, Next Christmas — Netflix | The algorithm sucked Carey in again and I watched this with her from about the 25-minute mark onward. It’s from 2019 and stars Lea Michele and an actor Carey recognized from her binge of the saucy vamp CW spinoff “The Originals.” Maybe the time invested gives me good holiday Karma.
The Family Plan 2 — Apple TV | Mark Wahlberg continues his middle-career niche playing Dads with a particular set of skills. In this sequel, the Morgan family is in on it and it’s more of a modern twist on the “Spy Kids” films with updated jokes.
Play Date — Prime | A goes-down-easy buddy comedy with Kevin James and the guy who plays Jack Reacher in the streaming series. Some solid Dad jokes.
Nobody Wants This., S2 — Netflix | I still don’t quite get the title of this popular series, but the stars — Kristen Bell and Adam Brody — have undeniable chemistry and it’s a pleasant show with a few laughs. It also does a good job of portraying Judaism as a very human-focused religion, where rabbis are more life counselors than spiritual advisors.
Live by Night by Dennis Lehane | The best thing about growing older? Short term memory loss when it comes to reading. I’m pretty sure I read the first and last book in this crime trilogy, but not this one, the middle book, which I found in a Little Free Library. Lehane is a master at writing gangsters who feel real and putting them in scenes that are believable. Apparently Ben Affleck directed a film version starring himself (which bombed); I’m still going to check it out.
The Testament by John Grisham | I somehow never read this 1999 legal thriller, but it ticks all the boxes: Breakneck plot, exotic locales, and the only constant in capitalism: The lawyers always get paid.
Watched Death of a Unicorn on a plane and thought it was a stinker. If you haven't seen it, checkout Paul's superior film from this year, Friendship. (I'm not going to scroll through previous diets to check if you've seen it — sorry). Any feelings about Life of Chuck? Our reactions were tepid. Although it did serve as a vehicle for Carah to "meet" Mark Hamill.
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