Once again, I reviewed just 9 movies in 2024, in part because there is so much great TV to watch now. I only review movies that I really enjoy, so
any movies on my entire 2024 list (below) are worth watching, not just my top picks. Also, it's almost impossible these days to label a movie in a single genre, so I included some explanation for most of them.
As
in years past, my top picks
in each genre are just below and my full list of movies reviewed last year is
further down. To see all of the movies I have reviewed on my blog--a considerable list--check out the Movies tab,
where they are listed by genre (keeping in mind there's a lot of cross-over). Links go to my reviews, with a trailer. Note that where
each movie is available might have changed, since I
first reviewed it, so double-check to see where you can watch it now.
Best of the Best Movies Watched in 2024
Note how many of my top picks were adapted from books:
Matt Damon is excellent as a father from Oklahoma trying to save his daughter who's been imprisoned in France. Combines family drama, mystery, and legal drama.
Best Drama
Can I declare a 4-way tie? All of these (see below) were excellent and recommended(how does the Academy decide?).
Outstanding in every way, with an all-star cast and fabulous cinematography. An historical drama about mysterious murders of Indigenous people in early 1900's Tulsa. Based on the nonfiction book by David Grann.
Best Comedy
Probably our favorite movie of the year! This warm, thoughtful, entertaining movie about books, writing, and the publishing industry is also laugh-out-loud funny. Based on the novel Erasure by Percival Everett, proving he was brilliant even before James.
I was tempted to pick A Quiet Day (see below) because it was more my style, but there is no question that these two movies, based on the best-selling novel, are epic sci fi masterpieces.
My husband and I took a break from the hectic holiday season recently with a movie. I chose Next Exit. I'm not sure where I first heard about this movie, but it was on my very long list (an Excel spreadsheet!) of movies I want to watch. The premise sounds a bit dark (and my husband doesn't like dark), but I liked the trailer and read that it had some humor in it. We both enjoyed it very much, though it is hard to categorize, as it includes elements of drama, comedy, and even science fiction.
The movie is set against a science fiction backdrop, but that only comes into the story at the very beginning and the end. A scientist has proven there is an afterlife, and her video of a little boy playing cards with the "ghost" of his dead father brings wide media attention to her work. She's overseeing a large study, where people volunteer to go into the afterlife (i.e. die), and she has developed a way to track them into that world. But this film focuses in on just two people who have signed up for the study: Rose, played by Katie Parker, and Teddy, played by Rahul Kohli. Rose is haunted by a ghostly presence that seems to be her dead father, and she copes by drinking heavily. We're not sure at first why Teddy signed up for the study, except that he seems to be mostly alone in the world, with no family. The two of them are both headed cross-country to California and only have five days to get there. Due to a series of travel mishaps, they end up sharing a rental car. Rose is especially prickly at first and not interested in getting to know Teddy, but the long hours on the road, plus some challenges they encounter together eventually lead to them talking and gradually sharing their stories and connecting, in spite of Rose's reticence.
If that sounds depressing--two strangers sharing a ride on their way to commit suicide--it's not! In fact, it's a surprisingly uplifting movie. It has a great sense of humor, with plenty of funny moments to add levity to the somber plot. The two lead characters are both excellent, and it's entertaining to watch them slowly engage with each other. As they each gradually reveal information about their history and the reasons why they embarked on this trip, the viewer comes along for the ride (if you'll excuse the metaphor). And, yes, it's a road trip movie, so there is plenty of inherent fun in that trope (though, as a veteran road-tripper, I thought their route made no sense--but it was good for the story). All in all, this isn't a story about death; it's a story about life. It's about hope, meaning, and connections. We both thoroughly enjoyed it.
Next Exit is currently available on Hulu and for a fee on many other streaming platforms.
I'd heard about this new movie with the funny name on Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast, where all the hosts and guests were enthusiastic about it. Plus, it stars our tiny state's hottest star, Aubrey Plaza. So, when my husband and I heard this weekend that My Old Ass was now on Amazon Prime, we decided to watch it. It exceeded our expectations!
Eighteen-year-old Elliott, played by Maisy Stella, loves her family and friends, but she can't wait to leave her tiny hometown and her family's cranberry farm in rural Ontario. In just three weeks, she heads off to the University of Toronto, and she can't wait for her real life to start. Elliott and her two best friends, Ruthie and Ro, go camping one night on an island (where they live, on a series of lakes, they get around mostly by boat). In a last hurrah, Ro has secured some hallucinogenic mushrooms. They each take them around the campfire, and the other two girls seem to be enjoying themselves, while Elliott thinks nothing's happening for her. Then her 39-year-old self, played by Aubrey Plaza, appears next to her on the log. The two of them talk long into the night, and though older Elliott doesn't want to mess anything up, when pressed by young Elliott, she finally gives her some advice and adds a cryptic warning. That encounter (and others that follow) changes Elliott's immediate life in ways she never could have imagined.
We both loved this coming-of-age movie! Yes, it's an odd premise (Aubrey kind of specializes in quirky), but it is executed perfectly. The cast is great, especially Maisy Stella as young Elliott, the writing is top-notch, and the cinematography is wonderful. The setting was so gorgeous that I looked up where it was filmed: Muskoka Lakes, Ontario. It is billed as a comedy, and we both laughed plenty throughout the movie, but at the end, we were both crying (in a good way). It's beautiful, funny, heartwarming, and moving. Highly recommended (so much so that I felt compelled to review it after saying I wasn't going to write any more movie reviews!).
Since I got COVID in July, we've been tackling some of the longer
Oscar-nominated movies we missed last year. Last weekend, we watched Killers of the Flower Moon, which was nominated for 10 Oscars, including Best Picture. I had read the nonfiction book (my review at the link)
back in 2018, and my husband hasn't read it, so we came from different
perspectives. We both agreed it was a gripping, fascinating film.
Like
many Native American tribes, the Osage were pushed onto a reservation
on what the U.S. government thought was useless, barren land in
northeastern Oklahoma. But at the turn of the 20th century, the Osage
discovered that their useless land was on top of massive oil deposits.
Almost overnight, the Osage became the wealthiest people in the world,
but their wealth attracted greedy criminals of all kinds. The Osage
built nice homes, drove beautiful cars, and lived comfortable lives,
while whites poured into their town and took control of the bank and
their lives. They did everything they could to control and manipulate
the Osage people, including marrying Native women and murdering Native
peoples to take control of their wealth. The U.S. government set up a
system where every Osage citizen needed a white "guardian" to supposedly
protect their interests, but the system was used to keep the Osage from
their own assets and steal them.
The movie (and the book) focuses
on a young Native woman named Mollie, played by Lily Gladstone, who
lives in a large home with her mother and sisters. William Hale, played
by Robert De Niro, is a white man who has put himself in the role of
wealthy benefactor to the Osage, learning their language and
participating in their traditions. He's accepted by them, and he treats
Mollie and her sisters fondly, often referring to his deep friendship
with their father. Hale's nephew, Ernest Burkhart, played by Leonardo
DiCaprio, comes home from WWI, and his uncle welcomes him as a part of
the family. He encourages him to marry one of the Native women. Ernest
is driving a cab when he meets Mollie, and there is an instant
attraction between the two. They eventually marry. It's clear that Hale
thinks Ernest is following his advice, though Ernest and Mollie do truly
seem to love each other. Osage people begin to die from suspicious
deaths and clear, outright murder. Mollie's sister Millie, who's also
married to a white man, dies of a mysterious "wasting illness," her
sister Anna is found cruelly murdered outside of town, and many other
(over 20) Native deaths follow. Mollie herself, who suffers from
diabetes, begins to sicken and rapidly worsen. The newly-formed Bureau
of Investigation (which will become the FBI), comes to look into the
Osage murders, led by Tom White (played by Jesse Plemons).
Martin
Scorsese directs this stunning film, with the setting and time period
perfectly recreated. The A-list actors, as well as the supporting
actors, are all outstanding, and many believe Lily Gladstone should have
won the Oscar for Best Actress. She is excellent in this emotional yet
understated role. With murder at the heart of the story, there is plenty
of suspense, but the audience knows who's behind each death, so it's
more of the "will they get caught?" than "whodunit" type. The true story
is absolutely horrifying and hard to believe (truth is stranger than
fiction!). When it was over, I explained to my husband that the book
gave more time to the FBI's investigation, and the importance of this
case in cementing its role as a federal crime unit. But we laughed about
me wanting more detail because as is, the movie is 3 1/2 hours long! It
took us two nights to finish it, but it was well worth the time spent.
The entire production was excellent, with great attention to historical
detail. It's a long movie, but we were both fully engrossed the entire
time.
Killers of the Flower Moon is currently available on Apple TV or to buy on several other services, including Amazon ($19.99).
On the 4th of July, with temperatures in the high 90's here, we escaped to a movie theater to see the third movie in John Krasinski's Quiet Place series, an origin story called A Quiet Place: Day One. First, let's get some misconceptions out of the way. I don't like horror movies. Although these movies are about an invasion of gruesome aliens that hunt by sound, like its predecessors, this movie is a quiet (very quiet!) character study, with plenty of emotional depth, insights about humanity, and heart. And, yes, there are some gross and very dangerous aliens, too. Check out my earlier reviews of A Quiet Place and A Quiet Place Part II (I just reread them both and rewatched their trailers, and I would definitely watch the movies again!). Although John Krasinski helped to write this third movie, he and Emily Blunt and their film family do not appear in it, and he doesn't direct it. It's a new take on the setting and premise of the series.
The movie opens in a quiet nursing home environment, during a group therapy session. Sam, played by Lupita Nyong'o, is younger than many of the other residents and somewhat flip and disdainful of the group session. We soon find out that this is hospice care and Sam and the other residents are dying. While Sam seems brash and uncaring at times, she has a cat named Frodo that she clearly loves and is attached to, and it's obvious that her coolness is merely a shield to protect her. Reuben, played by Alex Wolff, is a nurse at the facility who leads the group session and convinces Sam to come with the group on an outing to see a show in the city by agreeing to her plea for real New York pizza afterward. She figures this will be her last trip to the city. Their bus takes them to the city, but the show has barely started when the alien invasion hits. Everyone runs into the street to see the fireballs fall from the sky and the gruesome aliens emerge. It soon becomes clear that the aliens hunt by sound, and people quickly learn to be quiet in order to avoid them. Announcements tell people to head south to South Street Seaport to board boats, but Sam has her own private mission and moves against the flow of people, heading north and clinging tightly to Frodo. She meets a British man named Eric, played by Joseph Quinn, who is also alone in the city, on a business trip, with no family or friends nearby. The two of them (plus Frodo) struggle to stay safe from the aliens, as Sam single-mindedly pursues her mission.
Michael Sarnoski helped to write and directd the movie and said in an interview that John Krasinski gave him almost total freedom to come up with a unique take on this apocalyptic world. What he came up with is brilliant because Sam has a very unique perspective during this disaster: she knows she is already dying (soon). And the focus here is squarely on the characters, especially Sam and Eric, as they are bonded by their terrifying experiences and confide in each other, as people tend to do in this kind of intense situation. The actors are all excellent, but Lupita Nyong'o's performance is especially good. It is a thriller, yes, with plenty of fast-paced scenes, but it also has a laser-focus on these two people, with plenty of emotional depth and heart. I cried at the end. For scaredy cats like me, while technically alien invasion movies are usually classified as horror, this doesn't feel like a typical horror movie, and my husband and I both noticed that there is no gore and the violence mostly happens off-screen (though those aliens are pretty disgusting up close). It's a unique movie experience, like the first two movies were, though with its own new twist on the theme. We both enjoyed it very much.
A Quiet Place: Day One is currently in theaters, which is the ideal way to see all three movies, if you can. It can also be purchased on YouTube for $25 or pre-ordered on Amazon for the same price. The first two movies are available on Amazon, Paramount+ and other services.
Note:
This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small
commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help offset the time I spend
writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.
In our hotel in Virginia this weekend (we were there for a wedding the next day), we only had access to Netflix and aren't currently watching any TV shows on it, so we chose a new movie I'd heard about: Hit Man. This fun, twisty thriller/rom-com turned out to be very entertaining!
Glen Powell stars as Gary Johnson, a classic mild-mannered professor who lives alone with his two cats, Id and Ego. He teaches philosophy at the University of New Orleans. As a hobby, he has a talent for electronics, so he works part-time for the NOPD, helping them with electronic surveillance. Undercover cop Jasper, played by Austin Amelio, pretends to be a hit man, someone tries to hire him, the police get him on audio (and often, video) with Gary's help, and they arrest the person. One day, Jasper gets suspended from the force just before one of these fake hit man appointments is to occur, and Detective Claudette, played by Retta, asks Gary to come out of the surveillance van and instead take Jasper's place and pretend to be the killer-for-hire. It turns out that quiet, introverted Gary does a great job in the role, and he becomes the new fake hit man for future sting operations. Gary, teaching philosophy to uninterested undergrads in his day job, gets really into making up a different persona to fit each new prospective "client," based on what he thinks they'll expect. He uses wigs, facial hair, different clothes, and even fake teeth, and fully inhabits the character he's pretending to be. His arrest rate speaks for itself. Then, a beautiful woman named Madison, played by Adria Arjona, tries to hire him to kill her husband. It's clear he's been controlling and abusive and Madison is scared, so Gary goes off-script. Instead of letting her clearly state that she wants to pay him to kill her husband (thus ensuring a conviction), Gary talks her out of it and convinces her to run away from him instead. His team is not happy with the outcome. When he met Madison, Gary was pretending to be Ron, an ultra-cool, handsome guy. They meet up again and are very attracted to each other. Though Gary knows it's wrong, he really likes Madison, and they begin seeing each other. Besides, he kind of likes being Ron. How can this relationship end well, when it's based on a lie? And how long can Gary keep his colleagues from finding out?
Crazy as it sounds, this movie is based on a real-life man named Gary Johnson who helped Houston police convict many people of hiring a contract killer over more than a decade. Of course, writer and director Richard Linklater (of Boyhood and the Before trilogy) gave the underlying story the Hollywood treatment here, with a lot of laughs, a hot romance, and some unexpected twists that didn't happen in real life. It's an intriguing premise for a movie, and Glen Powell is outstanding in the leading role, somehow easily transforming from nerdy teacher to slick criminal with dozens of different personas. This movie is filled with humor, from Gary's many disguises to his wide range of clients (including a teen boy who wants to pay him in video games--really happened!) to the sting operations. It's also very sexy, with Gary fully coming into his own as Ron, with Madison's help. But there is also plenty of suspense and lots of surprising twists, especially after Gary and Madison get involved and are in danger of being found out. It was highly entertaining, and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Lots of fun!
Hit Man is a Netflix original movie and is currently available there.
There are a few Best Picture Oscar nominees that I've had my eye on,
waiting for them to be available on the streaming services we have, and
this weekend, I noticed that The Holdovers was available on Amazon Prime. It was just as good as I'd heard, funny and warm.
Paul
Hunham, played by Paul Giamatti, is a grumpy, strict ancient
civilizations teacher at a private boys' boarding school in 1970
Massachusetts. This Christmas, he's drawn the short straw and is
assigned to remain at the school with the "holdovers," those students
who must stay on campus for the holiday break. He had no plans to go
anywhere anyway; he rarely leaves campus. Initially, five boys are left
in his care, three teens and two younger boys, but eventually, there's
just one boy left with nowhere to go for the holidays. Angus Tully,
played by Dominic Sessa, is an older teen boy who'd been bragging to his
classmates that he was traveling to St. Kitt's for the holiday. At the
last minute, his mother calls and says it would be best if it were just
her and her new husband on this trip, and Angus is left in the empty
school with Mr. Hunham. The two actually have some things in common, as
Angus is also prickly and unpopular with his peers, though Mr. Hunham
thinks Angus is just another spoiled rich kid. Rounding out the sparse
holiday crew at school is Mary, played by Da'Vine Joy Randolph, who
cooks at the school and is deeply grieving the loss of her son, a past
student who died in the Vietnam War. They're a glum, depressing trio,
feeding off each other's misery, until they begin to get to know each
other better. Secrets are revealed, their broken, frozen hearts begin to
thaw, and their holiday turns around.
We really enjoyed this
movie. It's wonderfully written, and the central actors are all
outstanding in their roles. It's very funny in spite of some serious
topics, like loss and grief, underlying the plot. Surprising twists that
we didn't expect keep the narrative moving. And this movie has so much
heart! The emotions feel very real and authentic. It's really a
beautiful story of people opening up and finding connections they sorely
needed. We both enjoyed it very much.
The Holdovers is currently available on Amazon Prime or for a fee on several other services.
My husband's all-time favorite book is Dune by Frank Herbert (the best-selling science fiction novel ever and winner of the first Nebula award in 1966). He's read it several times, he's read many of its sequels, and he's seen the 1984 movie adaptation. He was so excited when the recent Dune movie adaptation was released in 2021 and really wanted to see it on the big screen, but we missed it (I'm immune compromised, and theaters were still off-limits). He watched it by himself on TV when it hit streaming. When we heard that Dune: Part 2 was coming out this year, I told him I would watch the first movie with him at home, so we could see the sequel in the theater (I wear a mask). That's just what we did recently! We both enjoyed this fast-paced, epic sci fi adventure.
This is a complicated science fiction universe, so bear with me here--my husband will help me with a simple description (and of course, I will avoid all spoilers)! Arrakis is a desert planet, set tens of thousands of years in the future. It is the native home of the Fremen, people who live in harmony with the environment. But the huge sand dunes contain a powerful drug, melange, which is known as spice. Spice has many uses, including allowing people to travel faster than the speed of light, so everyone wants to control Arrakis and the spice mining and trade. The Emperor has given Arrakis to the House of Atreides to run, though the evil House of Harkonnen wants to control it. Duke Leto, played by Oscar Isaac, and Lady Jessica, played by Rebecca Ferguson, are the heads of House of Atreides, and their son, Paul (played by Timothee Chalamet), is set to inherit it. Lady Jessica is a Bene Gesserit, part of a matriarchal organization whose members possess almost superhuman mental, physical, and sensory powers. The Reverend Mother, played by Charlotte Rampling, comes to test Paul and discovers that his powers are quite strong (due to a combination of genetics and training). Paul has visions of a frightening future, but he doesn't understand them. Paul sees a young Fremen woman named Chani, played by Zendaya, in his visions, and he meets her toward the end of the first movie. The sequel picks up right where the first movie ended (no spoilers), and much of it takes place among the Fremen, where Paul and his mother are hiding.
OK, that was tough, but I think I managed to describe it in simple terms (my husband and Wikipedia both gave me way too much information! ha ha) and without any spoilers. So, clearly, my husband is superfan and knows all about this universe, and I was coming into it 100% cold. I was very glad we watched the sequel just a few weeks after seeing the first movie. And we both enjoyed it! It's a complex world, yes, but the movie leaves out some of the background detail of the books. I was able to follow the plot and characters without a problem. It's basically a story about the battle for the planet Arrakis between warring Houses, so there are similarities to stories like Game of Thrones (though that is fantasy and this is science fiction) or Star Wars. But I wouldn't call it a war movie. Like those other TV/movie worlds, it is complex story-telling, filled with in-depth characters you get to know, with drama, love, and hate between them. It is also thought-provoking, as it deals with environmental issues and native people's lands being invaded by outsiders. And it's all set against this fascinating, unique world. The cinematography is amazing, and it's definitely one to see on a big screen if you can. Oh, and it has huge, monstrous sandworms! The acting and writing are excellent, and the human dramas have as much impact as the battle scenes. As a superfan, my husband loved it, which I think is high praise, as we all know that some adaptations of our favorite books don't turn out so well. And I thoroughly enjoyed it, as well. From the way Part 2 ended, it is clear there will be another sequel, and we'll be watching it from our recliner seats in the theater!
Dune is available on Hulu, YouTube, and Max, with a subscription, and for $3.99 on many other services, including Amazon Prime.
Dune: Part 2 is still available in some theaters (recliner seats have been game-changers for me!) and for $24.99 on several streaming services, including Amazon Prime.
Note:
This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small
commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help offset the time I spend
writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.
Looking for a movie to watch Saturday night, I went through the list of Oscar Best Picture nominees, and we chose American Fiction. I'd heard great things about it, and my husband trusted me (well, that, and the 93% on Rotten Tomatoes and 96% audience score!). We both enjoyed this warm, thoughtful, entertaining movie about books, writing, and the publishing industry.
Thelonius "Monk" Ellison (yeah, it's a mouthful--that's why he goes by Monk), played by Jeffrey Wright, teaches disinterested college students about literature and writing and has published several literary fiction novels. He's a smart, well-educated man and his books have been critically acclaimed, but they don't sell well. When Monk participates in a literary festival, his session is poorly attended, so he goes down the hall to see where everyone is. A packed room is listening raptly to a well-spoken Black female author, played by Issa Rae. Her widely popular novel, We's Lives in the Ghetto, of which she reads an excerpt, represents everything Monk feels is wrong with the publishing industry. It relies on Black stereotypes: rapping, trash-talking Black characters dealing with teen pregnancy, jail, and deadbeat dads. Monk is disgusted, but when he's got writer's block while working on his latest novel, he writes his own "real Black experience" novel as a joke. His editor is shocked when he sends it out, and Monk is offered the highest advance he's ever gotten (by a long shot) from a major publisher. As disgusted as Monk is with the whole thing, he desperately needs money. His sister, played by Tracee Ellis Ross, and brother, played by Sterling K. Brown, are both broke after painful divorces, and his mother has dementia and clearly needs 24-hour care. Needing to care for her, he publishes the book under a pseudonym, and the movie rights are quickly sold for an astronomical sum. Struggling with family issues and wanting to get closer to a woman he's been dating named Coraline, played by Erika Alexander, Monk is conflicted but goes forward. As you might expect, things get really complicated (and hilarious).
This is a very funny movie, but it's smart humor with a hefty dose of irony that the audience is in on. It's also poignant and heartwarming. While it is clearly skewering the publishing industry (and some readers), it's also a deeply-felt, moving story about family. And of course, it is a thoughtful, original approach to thinking about race and biases in our society. It won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay (it's based on the novel Erasure by Percival Everett), and it's clear why: the writing is outstanding. That, combined with excellent performances by its A-list stars, makes this movie an absolute winner. My husband and I both loved it and laughed all the way through.
It is streaming on MGM (I didn't even know they had a streaming service). It is also available to rent for $3.99 on Amazon and on other outlets, like YouTube, Apple, and Roku.
I'm including a "clean" trailer below, which showcases the humor of the movie, but the trailer with the swearing in it is even more funny and highlights the roles of Ross (as his sister) and Brown (as his brother).
It's Mardi Gras Day! We used to live in New Orleans, so this is a
major holiday at our house, as you may have heard in my video, Celebrate Everything, Big and Small.
We usually celebrate on Saturday and again on Tuesday. Before the
pandemic, we had an annual party with all the food, music, etc. on Saturday. With my immune issues, it's now a small celebration with our oldest friends, who lived in New Orleans when we did. We enjoyed takeout from a favorite local New Orleans restaurant (a husband and wife team who were both chefs in New Orleans, under two of the top chefs there!), plus lots of shrimp. Today, Mardi Gras
day, we will finish off the
season with our annual tradition of
Popeye's at that same friends' house (yes, Popeye's is authentic Louisiana
food). And, of course, we've decorated for the occasion, and I'm wearing purple, green, and gold with my beads on!
Want to join the fun? Here is a collection of ways to celebrate
Mardi Gras, New Orleans, and Louisiana today...including food, recipes,
travel tips, movies & TV shows, and, of course, some great books! You can also check out my column in Shelf Awareness from last year that features books about and set in New Orleans, Armchair Travel: Destination New Orleans. And if you prefer a video, check out my Recommendations for Mardi Gras Reathathon: Books, Movies, and TV Shows.
Great Adult Books Set In/About Louisiana (additional titles in my article linked above):
The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder by Rebecca Wells, author of Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood
- I listened to Calla Lily's story on audio and laughed out loud &
bawled my eyes out! It takes place in southern Louisiana, with plenty of
local color.
Burn by Nevada Barr - part of her Anna Pigeon series, about a National Park ranger, this one is set in the French Quarter (where there's a National Historic Park). I haven't read it yet, but I plan to this year!
Mardi Gras Mourning by Julie Smith - I first read this back in the 90's and am rereading it now for the Mardi Gras Readathon on Booktube. It's a classic detective novel, set in New Orleans during Mardi Gras, so the setting and atmosphere are great!
The Vanishing Halfby Brit Bennett is another excellent dual timeline historical novel, about twin sisters born in Louisiana. One moves to New Orleans and the other twin decides to "pass" as white and lives a very different life.
Horse by Geraldine Brooks - in this historical novel from one of my favorite authors, some of the story takes place in 1800's Louisiana.
Middle-Grade and Teen/YA Books Set In/About Louisiana:
Ruined by Paula Morris - a teen/YA mystery/ghost story set in New Orleans (the perfect setting for a ghost story!)
The Freedom Maze
by Delia Sherman - a compelling middle-grade historical fiction
adventure (with a touch of time travel), where a girl from 1960 travels
back to 1860 Louisiana
Zane and the Hurricane by Rodman Philbrick - a middle-grade novel about Hurricane Katrina - powerful and gripping
Chef-
a wonderful, uplifting movie about a family food truck that travels
from Miami to LA, with a stop in New Orleans, of course! My favorite
movie of the year in 2015.
NCIS: New Orleans-
though it's a crime show, it includes many scenes of New Orleans,
mention of local restaurants and landmarks, and other local tidbits,
plus some great local music.
They usually do a Mardi Gras episode once a season, for extra fun. It's
streaming on Paramount Plus (which used to be CBS All Access).
Treme
- we LOVED this HBO show, which we were somehow able to watch on cable
at one point. You can see it now streaming on HBO Max or Hulu.
Or tune in to watch parades and
other scenes in New Orleans streaming live (or if you missed the
parades, some great videos) at www.mardigras.com.
One of the locals in Louisiana
Travel All this talk of Louisiana making you want to visit? I have written articles about visiting New Orleans and Exploring Cajun Country - check them out and start planning your trip (plenty of food recommendations in both!). I'm certainly ready to go back!
Crawfish!
Eat, Drink, and Be Merry! Notice that many of the books and
movies about Louisiana are focused on FOOD? Yes, Louisiana - and
especially New Orleans - is known for its amazing, unique food. This blog post on how to celebrate Mardi Gras
includes my own recipes for some classic Louisiana dishes, plus food
you can grab locally today and webcams where you can vicariously
experience Mardi Gras - there are plenty of suggestions in this post
that you can still manage to do between now and Tuesday. Or save it for later if you
like - we eat this food all year round.
NOTE that Zapp's potato chips - which
you absolutely MUST try) have been bought out by PA-chip maker Utz, so
you don't have to get them by mail-order anymore. We can now
find them in local stores like Wawa here in Delaware or ordered on Amazon (Cajun Crawtator
and Cajun Dill are the best flavors.)
A few weeks ago, my husband and I were looking for a movie to watch and stumbled on Stillwater, starring Matt Damon. It was excellent, combining family drama, a mystery, and legal drama, about a father trying desperately to save his only daughter.
Bill, played by Matt Damon, is a widowed oil-rig worker living in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Between jobs and estranged from his only daughter, Bill flies to Marseilles, France, to visit her--in prison. Allison, played by Abigail Breslin, was attending college in Marseilles when her girlfriend was brutally murdered. Allison was convicted of the murder and sentenced to nine years in prison. She won't talk to Bill much at first, but he perseveres and stays there, near her. When Allison finally opens up to her father, she insists that she's innocent. Bill tries his best to plead with the lawyer to reopen her case but is unsuccessful. Allison remembers a guy named Akim hanging out with them that night, and Bill sets off on his own quest to find this mystery man, searching social media and the rough sections of Marseilles where he thinks Akim lives. Meanwhile, he has met a kind French woman named Virginie, played by Camille Cottin, and they become friends. She invites him to live in the spare room in her apartment and becomes invested in him and his daughter and his fight for her freedom. Virginie's little daughter, Maya, really likes Bill, even though she speaks no English and he no French. They teach each other, become close, and Bill becomes a part of the family, helping to care for Maya. But Bill's priority remains proving that Allison is innocent and rebuilding his relationship with her.
This movie really defied my expectations. It's a moving, powerful drama about a father's love, with the suspense and action of a mystery/thriller. In between, there are moments of humor and joy--especially in Bill's growing relationship with Virginie and Maya--and sorrow, too. Both Damon and Breslin give excellent performances, and the rest of the cast is great, too. While we see some of the darker parts of this beautiful city, the movie is an integral part of its surroundings, making use of the setting to emphasize Bill's fish-out-of-water status in France and his grim determination to stay for as long as it takes. Its characterization of Stillwater is a bit less authentic. It's depicted as a down-and-out rural area that's practically a ghost town. My husband went to Oklahoma State University in Stillwater; it's actually a thriving college town with over 20,000 students. But it made a good name for the movie! We both enjoyed this one very much.
Once again, I reviewed just 9 movies in 2023, in part because there is so much great TV to watch now. I only review movies that I really enjoy, so
any movies on my entire 2023 list (below) are worth watching, not just my top picks.
As
in years past, you can see my full list of movies reviewed last year
further down, and my top picks
in each genre just below. To see all of the movies I have reviewed on my blog (a considerable list), check out the Movies tab,
where they are listed by genre, though it's getting harder to
categorize a movie into just one genre as there's so much cross-over
now. Links go to my reviews, with a trailer. Note that where
each movie is available might have changed over the years, since I
first reviewed it, so double-check to see where you can watch it now.
Best of the Best Movies Watched in 2023:
(Three categories only included one movie each, so not much of a choice!)
On New Year's Eve, my husband and I watched a wonderful, uplifting movie, Flora and Son. A great way to end the year!
In Dublin, a young woman named Flora, played by Eve Hewson, is raising her son, Max (played by Oren Kinlan), with some occasional help from her ex-husband, Ian (played by Jack Reynor) who is a bass player, though not currently in a band. Flora had Max when she was only 17 years old, and he's now 14, so she's still quite young and was caring for a baby while her friends were out partying. She blows off steam by going to clubs and dancing with her best friend. Max is at an age now where he and Flora are always fighting, he gets in trouble a lot, and he doesn't want to spend much time with her. Flora sees a beat-up old guitar in the trash one day, pulls it out, and gets it fixed by a local music shop. She tries to give it to Max, but when he's uninterested, she searches online until she finds someone offering guitar lessons whom she feels a connection with. She hires Jeff, played by Joseph Gordon Levitt, for a cheap price to give her online lessons. Jeff lives in Los Angeles and seems to be at loose ends in his own life, too. Over the course of many lessons, they get to know each other better, and Flora gradually transitions from bitter and derisive to engaged and committed to learning the guitar. Meanwhile, she realizes that Max is also interested in music, though he's focused more on synthesizer music and rap. Music just might be the thing to mend their relationship and bring them closer together, while changing both their lives for the better.
This is just a delightful movie. Flora, Max, and even Jeff are all in bad shape when we first meet them, each struggling with their own demons and challenges. Flora is especially rough at the start, smoking, drinking too much, and yelling and swearing at Max and anyone else who gets in her way. Seeing the way that music--and human connection--changes each of them is wonderfully inspiring. As you might expect, there is plenty of music integrated into the movie, from the electronic dance music in the clubs where Flora goes to the rap and hip hop Max loves to the beautiful harmonies and ballads Jeff is teaching Flora. All of the actors are excellent here, and it is a joy to see their characters' transformations. This heartwarming, funny movie is elevating and delightful, with an ending that will leave you with a smile on your face.
Flora and Son is playing exclusively on Apple TV+.
And if you like this kind of uplifting, musical movie, I also highly recommend Sing Street (my review at the link), from the same writer/director, and Begin Again, currently available on Amazon Prime, Netflix, and Hulu.
Saturday night, my husband and I watched the new Netflix movie Leave the World Behind, an adaptation of the novel by the same name, which was a finalist for the 2020 National Book Award (my review of the book--no spoilers--here). Like the book, this 2 1/2-hour thriller was full of tension, though the movie built on the foundation provided by the novel.
Amanda Sanford, played by Julia Roberts, surprises her husband Clay, played by Ethan Hawke, with a weekend getaway when she rents a luxurious house on Long Island for them and their two teen kids. As they leave the city behind, each family member is engrossed in their own digital world in the car. They arrive to find the house is even more beautiful than it appeared in the listing, complete with a pool and enormous TV. It's relaxing at first, as the kids play in the pool, and Amanda and Clay begin to unwind, but strange, frightening things begin to happen when the family goes to the local beach the next day. Back at the house, they find the WiFi, cell service, and TV are all out. After the kids go to bed, Amanda and Clay are relaxing with a game and copious amounts of wine when the doorbell rings late at night, startling them. It's a a Black man, who introduces himself as G.H. Scott (played by Mahershala Ali), and his daughter, Ruth (played by Myha'la). Amanda is clearly suspicious that this expensive home is owned by a Black family and shook up to have them show up at the door unannounced. They explain that the power is out across the city, so they returned to their home on Long Island, where it would be safer. Since they did rent the house to the Sanfords, G.H. offers to stay in the basement apartment and refund some of their money, and the Amanda reluctantly agrees. The next day, more strange things happen, and the group of six realize that something very frightening is happening in the larger world, though they don't know exactly what. Forced together by circumstances, they begin to get to know each other and work together to protect their families from this unknown danger.
All of this adds up to a lot of suspense and edgy tension that keeps ratcheting up, as stranger things begin to happen, and it's clear this is not just a simple power outage. In fact, I had very bizarre dreams that night after watching it! It's a long movie, and the underlying feeling of dread just keeps building. It's not just a suspense movie, though. It's also a character study, of what happens when people are randomly stuck together during a crisis, delving into latent racism, class issues, compassion versus self-protection, and more. The novel was very vague about what was causing the problems, and there wasn't a whole lot of action; it was mostly about the characters and the ambiguous tension. Here, we get a lot more action, and while the disaster is never completely defined, there are a lot more hints and information provided as to what is or might be happening in the wider world. In fact, the novel just sort of ended, with no answers, so the movie is a bit more satisfying in providing some hints of what is happening and how things might go in the near future. I enjoyed the novel (on audio) and my husband hadn't read it, and we were riveted by this gripping movie with its all-star cast that is both suspenseful and thought-provoking.
Leave the World Behind was released in limited theaters and is now showing on Netflix.
Now that Barbie is available on streaming, I wanted to review it here because it is such a fun movie! Forget any preconceived notions or even whether or not you like Barbie (or even the idea of Barbie) because this movie doesn't take itself too seriously and pokes fun at its own main character and the commercial world built around her. My husband actually went with me to the theater to see it, and we were both thoroughly entertained.
The movie opens with very stereotypical Barbie scenes: a pretty, pink, perfect world occupied by beautiful Barbies (and Kens). The houses, cars, and everything else look exactly like the Barbie accoutrements you may have played with as a child. But that perfect world comes to a screeching halt when the main Barbie, played perfectly by Margot Robbie, starts to see "the real world" creep into her life and asks her friends--during an epic dance party--if they ever think of death. She's advised to go visit Weird Barbie, played wonderfully by Kate McKinnon, who everyone who was ever a little girl will instantly recognize as the poor Barbie doll tortured by brothers, boys in the neighborhood, or even little girls themselves who just didn't fit the Barbie mold. Weird Barbie advises Barbie to go visit the real world to get some answers to her increasingly unsettling questions. She takes off in her pink convertible and soon discovers that Ken, played by Ryan Gosling, has stowed away. The two of them arrive in Los Angeles, with some epic, hilarious scenes of Barbie-world clashing with the real world. Word gets out that Barbie has escaped Barbie Land, and the executives at Mattel (all men, including Will Ferrell as CEO) turn to a lower-level employee named Gloria, played by America Ferrara, for help. Gloria has happy memories of her days playing Barbie, and her teen daughter, Sasha (played by Ariana Greenblatt), is much too cool for Barbie now. The two of them set out to set things right and find a way to send Barbie back to Barbie Land. Meanwhile, Ken, who has lived his life playing second fiddle to all the Barbies, discovers something called the patriarchy, and can't wait to get back home to tell all the other Kens. Eventually, Barbie and Ken both return to Barbie Land, but with new perspectives and some changes to their world.
Greta Gerwig, renowned for directing Lady Bird and Little Women, both directed and co-wrote Barbie, and brings her smart, feminist viewpoint to Barbie Land. This script is so clever and funny! I'd really like to watch it again because the writing and the set pieces are so chock-full of interesting, smart, funny things that I'm, sure I missed some of them. Robbie and Gosling are excellent as Barbie and Ken, and I loved Ferrara and Greenblatt in the real world. My husband did not play with Barbies as a kid (and instinctively doesn't like the whole concept since his name is Ken and he endured a lot of teasing as a child!) but found the movie entertaining. If you did play with Barbies as a kid, then there are a whole bunch of Easter eggs here you will recognize and delight in, including the outfits, accessories, and friends. Even if you aren't in the know, there are some real-world Barbie facts shown at the end, like explaining Michael Cera's hilarious role as Allan, a real-life short-lived toy introduced as "Ken's best friend." Gerwig has woven in smart, thoughtful concepts throughout, and you can see in the trailer below that the whole production is absolutely eye-popping. This original movie is eye candy but also so much more, with plenty of heart and thoughtfulness woven in among the nostalgia and fun. Highly entertaining.
Barbie is available to buy on several streaming services, including Amazon Prime. If $19.95 is too much for you (though it's reasonable if you watch with family or friends), and you still have a DVD player, try a Redbox kiosk, where you can rent the DVD for just $2.25.
