What a cool idea. How do you show them?

I went into The Farewell expecting a mostly quirky big family comedy and was somehow surprised that a movie about death was so enmeshed in grief. It was excellent. Awkwafina is a great actress, and it's good that she got an opportunity to do something other than loud comedic roles.

Check out Booksmart if you haven't seen it. It was a lot of fun.

I'm glad that you liked the movie, but I'd be curious to learn how you came to your expectation that this was going to be a quirky big family comedy. Did you not know anything about the story going in, or had you not seen the trailer? I actually had the opposite expectation going in and was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't as maudlin as I feared it was going to be. Here's my write-up of the movie that I posted about 10 days ago after seeing it:

I want to see The Farewell.


So I just finished watching the Oscar winning animated film, Coco, about a 12-year-old boy named Miguel who is accidentally transported to the Land of the Dead, where he seeks the help of his deceased musician great-great-grandfather to return him to his family among the living and to reverse his family's ban on music.

The animation is about as good as it gets, the story is perfect, and the damn ending me bawl.

This is a good one for you and your granddaughter to watch together, John.

I watched this with my granddaughter last year, and we both loved it. It's a lovely film.

As an aside, my granddaughter and I had a conversation last week that began with her saying she made a bad decision. I told her we all make bad decisions, but we make plenty of good ones, too.

"What's the best decision you ever made, Grandpa?"

I became a little choked up and told her it was accepting the love of your grandmother you never met. Without that, I never would have had you and your mother in my life.

Oh Jesus Christ, I've cried enough tonight!

Sorry. Coco got to me, too.

+1 on Farewell. I thought it would be entirely slapstick, and was pleasantly surprised by how well balanced it was.

Blinded by the Light - It’s pretty much a Springsteen musical. Cheesy at times but overall not bad. I’ve never been a big Springsteen fan though I am a fan of some of his lyrics. The movie does a great job of highlighting those lyrics. A Springsteen fan would probably think this is best movie ever made.

Just watched Assayas's Personal Shopper. I loved it. Kristen Stewart is terrific.

"Or is it just me?"

Of course it is.

Continuing on the "Brando does" series. As you might recall, the last episode was Brando does British in Mutiny on the Bounty.

In Morituri, Brando does German. He plays a German pacifist in WWII, He is blackmailed to pose as an SS officer in order to take over a ship carrying rubber, captained by Yul Brynner. Look for Wally Cox as a drug addicted Dr. on the ship. This was watchable but not great.

Moving on to the pinnacle of "Brando Does". Brando does Japanese in The Teahouse of the August Moon. I gotta say, I had a good belly laugh right off the bat seeing him in this. Actually, the entire movie was pretty entertaining although the joke got a bit stale as the movie went on. The first 10 minutes were pretty damn funny, though. Would recommend.

Have you seen Burn!, Pontecorvo's lesser known film? Brando does British again.

On TCM tonight, two great Preston Sturges fims, The Palm Beach Story and Sullivan's Travels.

Are you able to travel to both Chicago and Santa Monica?

I'm awaiting a showing of Lawrence of Arabia still.

Nothing special. Duct taped a white sheet to my garage door. One of the young people has a projector and his brother has a sound bar, so stuck them in the ports on my laptop and played the DVD from there.

Started the fire pit, got smore stuff for the kids and beer for the parents, and off we went. Seems like somebody made popcorn, it was a nice evening.

P.S. Next time, it's painter's tape, clothespins or some other solution for the sheet. Duct tape left a little residue on the garage door's windows which I haven't been able to get off yet. Maybe I'll see an actual screen at goodwill and pick it up for cheap.

Watched the doc, I Am Patrick Swayze. Very good, and really came close to capturing the larger-than-life character that was Swayze. I always loved watching him do anything. He was such a force of nature.

Under the Silver Lake is strangely compelling but not really good. A bit like a Hitchcock film written by Thomas Pynchon.

Kaufman's Invasion of the Body Snatchers is on....gonna watch it. Best version, by far.

I like it too. And I've seen both in theaters. One of my favorite lines from the remake is from the woman who blames the food we eat for the invasion.

I'll take 'Things You Don't Expect Porn Directors To Say' for $1,000, Alex

lol it's still true

Top Hat on TCM. God, I love Fred and Ginger.

Good Boys - 7/10 (Highly Enjoyable)

Sharon Tate... Cinematic 'click bait'.

I watched Terms of Endearment last night. For the first time.

"I was just inches away from a clean getaway."