Let's go to the Movies!

 I've been planning a cozy night in with multiple movies for a while. Right now is a great time for finding lists others have made of movies to watch. Here are some ideas:

First, Scalzi is doing a month-long set of posts on "comfort watches". Exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for. He has written an essay reviewing each one. Here, I've compiled a list of the 30 he's done so far, with my notes.

	Seen It	multiple times	Will see again	My rating	Want to see it	Comments
Day One: K-Pop Demon Hunters	☑			***		Hit of the summer, didn’t hold my interest
Day Two: Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World	☑	☑	☑	*****		Best movie ever (disclosure: I’ve read the books it’s based on at least a half dozen times)
Day Three: The Untouchables	☑			****		Meh
Day Four: Defending Your Life					☑	Sounds interesting
Day Five: Dredd					☑	Maybe?
Day Six: Trading Places	☑	☑	☑	****		VERY funny. Lost a star for 80’s sensibilities not playing well today
Day Seven: Moana	☑		☑	****		Gutsy girl – that’s enough
Day Eight: The Kingdom of Heaven					☑	Me
Day Nine: Strictly Ballroom	☑		☑	****		Lovely
Day Ten: Swimming to Cambodia					☑	Sounds great if in the mood
Day Eleven: Godzilla (2014)						Meh
Day Twelve: Ferris Bueller’s Day Off						Never been interested
Day Thirteen: Raiders of the Lost Ark	☑	☑		***		Loved when it came out. Hasn’t aged that well.
Day Fourteen: Twister	☑			***		Meh
Day Fifteen: This is Spinal Tap	☑		☑	****		Iconic moments
Day 16: John Wick					☑	When in the mood for punching someone
Day Seventeen: Pleasantville					☑	Always was interested
Day Eighteen: Starship Troopers					☑	Scalzi makes it sound good
Day Nineteen: The Big Short	☑			***		Once was enough
Day Twenty: A Fish Called Wanda	☑	☑	☑	*****		One of the best ever, except for the dogs
Day Twenty-One: Kill Bill: Vol. 1					☑	More punching?
Day Twenty-Two: Notting Hill	☑			***		Pleasant and predictable with very pretty people
Day Twenty-Three: Monsters, Inc	☑	☑		***		Had DVD when kids were small
Day Twenty-Four: Pitch Perfect					☑	Scalzi re-ignited my interest. Sounds uplifting
Day Twenty-Five: Groundhog Day	☑	☑	☑	*****		Got to see it over and over
Day Twenty-Six: Get Shorty					☑	Maybe?
Day Twenty-Seven: Alita: Battle Angel						Nah
Day Twenty-Eight: Roxanne	☑	☑	☑	****		So cute and fun
Day Twenty-Nine: Apollo 13	☑	☑	☑	*****		“Competence porn” at the highest level! Set me off on a space journey for a while
Day Thirty: Top Secret!						Meh

[EDIT: Day 31 is The Shawshank Redemption. I’ve seen it, once, would watch again, probably give it 4 stars. I can’t easily format an edit to the fancy table.]

 Next, today the New York Times did a "top movies this year" article. I've only seen four of the fifty, so far! (One Battle After Another; Wake Up Dead Man; KPop Demon Hunters; I'm Still Here) But many I'm not interested in. Of those available to watch at home tonight, there are two candidates: Sentimental Value and A House of Dynamite. If I had HBO Max, there would be more candidates, and several I want to see aren't streaming at all yet. I'll definitely see a bunch when awards lists are announced. 

I have seen more movies this year than many of the previous few, but not necessarily top notch ones. It's primarily in the awards run up that I see more difficult movies. And I made four trips to California and one to Europe last year, movie watching opportunities on board the long flights, but not an environment for anything heavy. Here are the movies I've seen so far this year, with my ratings.

 

I still enjoy actually going to the movies, but tonight I'm going to snuggle in with my home videos, under a blanket and in front of the fire!