Many, Many Movie Nights

Including lots of re-watches and an actual movie for grown-ups.

It’s been a couple of weeks since the last round-up of family movie night fare, and that span included the Thanksgiving break, so we got several Bonus Extra Movie Nights in while we were at my parents’, so this is a big, big recap.

Licorice Pizza:

Oddly, this starts off with a solo Movie Night, because The Pip got the new Pokemon game for hs birthday, and opted to spend that Friday night grinding. So I retired to the basement, and watched the latest Paul Thomas Anderson movie, which is a very shaggy story about kids growing up in the early 1970’ in California. It’s well done, but would probably have more impact if I were a few years older or Californian.

The Batman:

The first of a bunch of re-watches for me. SteelyKid and I watched this a year or so ago, but The Pip asked for it this week. It’s still a bit more Goth Batman than I actually required, but we have enjoyed texting each other the .gif of Paul Dano’s Riddler saying “NO, NO, NO!” so that’s a nice bonus.

The Princess Bride:

The Pip got a cold the weekend before Thanksgiving and missed a couple of days of school, so, really, we had an obligation.

Enola Holmes and Enola Holmes 2:

SteelyKid and I watched the Netflix original movie Enola Holmes when it first came out, but The Pip hadn’t seen it. So we devoted two nights at my parents’ to watching the original, and then the recently-released sequel. These are good fun; they don’t exactly bear thinking about all that deeply, but Millie Bobby Brown is great in the title role, and Henry Cavill as Sherlock has the same contempt for everybody who isn’t him that he does when he’s Geralt of Rivia.

Clue:

The kids spent a big chunk of one holiday afternoon playing the board game Clue, so this was an obvious choice for Movie Night. SteelyKid and I had seen it together, The Pip had not. My parents definitely watched this with us on a VHS tape back in 1988 or so, but they had no recollection of it. Anyway, still a fun movie, great cast.

Midnight Run:

I made some kind of Dad Joke in the general direction of The Pip last week and he replied “Shut the fuck up.” I said “We should re-watch Midnight Run,” and he instantly said “Friday.” So, there we were. Just an endlessly enjoyable movie for me.

Spenser Confidential:

Yet another rewatch for me; The Pip didn’t have any particular requests, and this was the first thing in the Netflix recommendations that clicked at all. This is another inessential Netflix original with Marky Mark Wahlberg doing a version of an origin story for the Robert Parker private eye character. It’s fine as an excuse to eat popcorn (The Pip) and drink beer (me) in front of the TV, and not much more than that.

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And, there you go. Probably the last Movie Night post of 2022, because Kate and I will be traveling and then there are the holidays. If you want to be first in line for the New Year edition, here’s a button:

And if you want to quote any of the many eminently quotable lines from the re-watched movies above, the comments will be open: