birthday movie fest with dane!

I can just hear him now.

"What does the doggie get his Auntie when he has no funds?

How about a Netflix Film Festival for her bday68 weekend?

She's sure to like that!!!"

Dane was absolutely correct, too.

Some were movies I'd seen before, some were new to me, but all certainly added to the celebration of the new start of my year!

it all began on Thursday, when Tony and Laura went to set up camp for their two-day concert in Bloomingdale.

They planned to return home this afternoon, but, after two days of rain and mud, they called around midnight to say they were coming home. 

That marked the end of the three days of movies for me!

So, here's the gift list from Dane.

"There's Something About Mary" (1998) - fun romp with Ben Stiller, Cameron Diaz, and a musical duo standing in as the Greek chorus!

"The Wrong Missy" (2020) - new-to-me rom-com set in Hawaii, with a 56-year-old David Spade on a corporate trip trying to impress his boss, but he's invited the bad date with the same name as the dream girl he'd wanted to bring along. Guess he needed help setting up his phone book! LOL! Really was a nice lark.

"Remarkably Bright Creatures" (2026) - new-to-me film set in an aquarium in Washington state, starring an octopus named Marcellus. This is one of the best I've seen in a while! This is live action, narrated by the old octopus (Alfred Molina), who reflects on the doings of the humans around him, including a cleaning lady (Sally Field) and her temporary aide (Lewis Pullman). Such a beautifully scripted tale!!!

"Nonnas" (2025) - new-to-me biographical tale of Joe Scaravella, a man who decides on the spur of the moment to open an Italian restaurant to honor his recently deceased mother. Here's the draw for me: he knows absolutely nothing about doing such a thing! I can totally relate to that! Vince Vaughn does a charming job in the role of Scaravella. Nice to see Lorraine Bracco, Talia Shire ("Adrian!"), Susan Sarandon, and Brenda Vaccaro as the cooking grandmas!

"The Lost City" (2022) - after a busy birthday Friday, it was so wonderful to curl up with this rom-com adventure of the grieving writer (Sandra Bullock), her bookcover model (Channing Tatum), and her ever-faithful agent (Da'Vine Joy Randolph)!!! I do so love this movie!!!

"Splash" (1984) - closing out my Friday with another rom-com! This fantasy had a twenty-year lapse in the love affair between a human (Tom Hanks) and a mermaid (Daryl Hannah), with lots of ocean action. In a way, this was a precursor to "The Shape Of Water", wasn't it?

"The Penguin Lessons" (2024) - post-play at the Post, this new-to-me was one I'd wanted to see. I'm not a fan of Steve Coogan, but he's quite good as an ESL teacher in Argentina during a time of political turmoil. I mostly came for Jonathan Pryce, but I did like this one.

"Jay Kelly" (2025) - new-to-me, this Oscar contender with George Clooney was the perfect final film. It's a bit of "Cat's In The Cradle" for his character, but from both ends, as neither his dad nor his daughters have much use for him at this time in his life. His agent wants him to go to Italy for a 25-year award for his movies and he finally relents. He realizes his work had meaning for other people as he watches their faces during the montage of clips. Redemption!!!

Oops! Guess I should have said "spoiler alert!" for that last one... but I'm leaving in that last line. The movie is a bit of a downer otherwise, and I encourage you, my reader,  to thread up the reels and watch it anyway.

It really is Oscar-worthy!

Thanks, dear Dane, for this gift!