The last Movie Night round-up I did was way back in November, but there haven’t been quite as many movie nights as you might expect from that span, since The Pip’s baseball team has been doing winter work-outs on Saturday evenings that end too late to squeeze in a movie before bed. Which has led to some Streaming TV Nights, about which more later.
Anyway, this run of Movie Nights has featured The Pip going on a couple of big kicks for particular things. I’ll accordingly group some of these thematically rather than chronologically:
Group I: Actually, the Missions Were Possible, After All:
These were all good fun, but honestly I don’t recall much from them other than that Tom Cruise rides a motorcycle and runs weird.
Group II: Nolan-Fest
Interstellar
I watched this with SteelyKid at some point, but The Pip missed it, and specifically requested to see it, which kicked off a run through the filmography of Christopher Nolan. This got a “Damn! That was a good movie!” at the end.
Inception:
I swear The Pip watched this one with us, but he didn’t remember it. Still a lot of fun, and another “Damn!” at the end.
Tenet:
I watched this when it was initially released, on a night when neither of the kids wanted a movie, and thought it was good as spectacle, but very confusing. The Pip requested it on a Friday when I had had an extremely long day, so the re-watch didn’t exactly clear things up. He said “I didn’t understand all of it, but I think I got the basic idea.”
Dunkirk:
I didn’t go see this when it was in theaters, and I’m kind of sorry now that I didn’t. It’s really excellent as a movie, about a Top Five “I Can’t Believe That Worked” event in history. This led directly to the final movie on the list, but is the last of the Nolan films we’ve watched. I may try to sell The Pip on The Prestige, though.
Mad Max: Fury Road:
I pushed for this right after the Furiosa trailer dropped. The post-apocalyptic setting really doesn’t make a lick of sense, but things sure do go fast and blow up.
Burn After Reading:
I pushed for this despite the risk of bad name humor, just so I can reference the ending scene to The Pip now:
“What did we learn, Palmer?”
“I don't know, sir.”
“I don't fuckin' know either. I guess we learned not to do it again.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I'm fucked if I know what we did.”
It’s the simple things that make parenthood fun…
A Haunting in Venice:
Got the whole family for this one. Kenneth Branagh in a preposterous mustache having fun. Not great cinema, but fun.
Rebel Moon:
Netflix was pushing this very hard, and it is Not Good. Just turgid sludge from start to finish.
The Holdovers:
A wholesome Christmas movie that we could watch with my parents.
Predator:
I told The Pip that this is how we chose future governors back in the 1980’s.
Killers of the Flower Moon:
The Pip was asking to watch Oppenheimer to round out the Nolan fest, but I warned him again that it’s almost entirely people talking. I suggested a very different very long movie, one with some shootings and explosions…
This is really outstanding. Scorsese is just a master, and DiCaprio and DeNiro were magnificent. Really great movie, glad I saw it.
No Time to Die:
Amazon keeps suggesting James Bond movies, but The Pip only wants the Daniel Craig ones. This was pretty solid, and a good way to end his run.
The Beekeeper:
Pretty much exactly what it’s advertised as, which is gloriously stupid fun. SteelyKid joined for this one, and we all cackled throughout.
Saving Private Ryan:
After Dunkirk, The Pip specifically suggested this, and demanded it last night. Really amazing movie, Spielberg is just so good at what he does.
And that’s what we’ve been watching in Chateau Steelypips this winter.
Not sure where to go next with this; there are a bunch of older Spielberg movies I might push for, or we might try something more recent, since The Pip now fairly reliably enjoys good films. If you’d like to see what we decide, some time down the line, here’s a button:
And if you’d like to suggest movies or directors to check out, the comments will be open: