🎬 "I volunteer as tribute!"

Well, guess that means it’s time for a newsletter! Hope everyone enjoyed the bonus newsletter earlier this week, with my list of comfy movies. My profound gratitude to Steven Soderbergh for making Ocean’s Eleven, the movie that got me through Election Night 2020. Other than that one shot where you can see the words “Trump Plaza” in the background, it’s great!

I’d also like to thank the people who have donated to support this newsletter. You can make a $3 donation at Buy Me a Coffee, or you can reply to this email like Matt did last week to ask for my Venmo. He says, “Awesome newsletter.” Thank you, Matt!

Having never read the books or seen any of the movies, I liked 2012’s The Hunger Games much better than I expected.

Through cultural osmosis, I knew certain things about the movie already: Jennifer Lawrence, a possible love interest named Peeta, that three-fingers-up salute thing, and a couple spoilery details that I won’t reveal here. What I was not prepared for is that this is not a generic young-adult action girl story, but in fact a surprisingly cynical satire about media manipulation, layered on top of a well-paced if predictable action story.

The screenwriters overplay their hand on the satirical stuff at times, making the titular televised battle royale less like relatable reality TV and more like an implausible video game. I also wish more time had been spent developing certain characters who die in the course of the Games, to up the suspense and make their deaths more meaningful. Still, I liked The Hunger Games enough that I think I’m going to watch the sequels. Recommended. ★★★★

I bought The Hunger Games on Amazon, but it’s currently streaming on Freeform and Sling TV.

Creepy, kooky, mysterious, and spooky? In this economy? Well, The Addams Family makes it work, even though its main story doesn’t quite hold together.

I knew most of the characters already and (of course) the famous theme music, but I had never actually seen any Addams Family media before this — not even the original New Yorker cartoons by Charles Addams, which I recommend Googling. Maybe it’s just because trends come and go in generation-long waves, but this movie struck me as an unintentional predictor of Gen Z’s sense of humor: Morbid, loud, and disarmingly wholesome.

There is a story running through the film, involving a couple humans trying to steal the Addams’ fortune, but it’s muddled and a bit of a snooze. Luckily, the filmmakers seem to have realized this and stocked the movie with fun vignettes that give everyone — including Anjelica Huston, Christopher Lloyd and a young Christina Ricci — time to shine. Recommended. ★★★½

The Addams Family is currently streaming on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, CBS, and Sling TV.

Attentive readers may be wondering: Didn’t Eric just watch this film last year? First of all: Yes. Second of all: Stop being so attentive, nerd.

(Just kidding, I love it.)

Here’s what I wrote in August 2019:

Wow, my reviews used to be so short. Anyway, my feelings haven’t changed, which is a good thing. This is legitimately one of the smartest and most important films of the 21st century so far. Even though I was watching it on Halloween, it’s not a crazy-scary movie, and you owe it to yourself to watch it at some point. Highly recommended. ★★★★★

Get Out is not currently streaming it anywhere, but it is available to rent/buy on many digital platforms.

For anyone who’s already familiar with the famous operetta by Gilbert & Sullivan, the 1982 made-for-TV movie production of H.M.S. Pinafore is a perfectly fine adaptation; however, I can’t recommend it for G&S newbies.

I don’t know how many people would actually watch, but these plays are due for a modern filmed interpretation, in widescreen HD and building on the dynamic directing style of Hamilton.

Pinafore, a light romantic satire on class differences, features some excellent earworm songs and fun characters, but the talented D’Oyly Carte Opera Company seems hemmed in here by the claustrophobic and mostly static 4:3 frame. They sometimes made the most of the format, as in the songs “I Am the Monarch of the Sea” and “Kind Captain, I’ve Important Information,” but otherwise, the adaptation to the screen didn’t click. ★★★

This adaptation of H.M.S. Pinafore is not available in any form online, but if you really wanted to watch it for some reason, you could buy the DVD on eBay.

Benny & Joon is a frustrating hodgepodge of characters and subplots slapped on top of a unique premise.

The “A” story is about mentally ill woman named Joon, her brother Benny, and an oddball named Sam who comes to live with them and becomes Joon’s love interest. Sam is obsessed with Buster Keaton, a quirk that gives Johnny Depp an excuse to re-create some of Keaton and Charlie Chaplin’s most famous bits. However, other than a quickly abandoned showbiz “B” story, this has no bearing on the movie.

What’s most disappointing is that neither Joon’s “illness” nor Sam’s apparent learning disability or backstory is ever explored or described in very much detail, making them unknowable totems for all people with mental handicaps. Joon may be a high-functioning person on the autistic spectrum, and we briefly see she has real skill at painting and gardening, but these talents are not highlighted as prominently as Sam’s silent movie antics. Instead, we are constantly reminded of the things of which she is allegedly incapable. I could go on, but eh. Just skip it. ★★½

I watched Benny & Joon on Blu-Ray, but it’s currently streaming on Max Go and DirecTV.

I took my own advice on Election Night and de-stressed by watching Ocean’s Eleven. This was absolutely the right decision. This movie is so fun, so well-acted, and so well-paced that even though I was at home and in arm’s reach of other devices, I was able to unplug for a bit and get lost in the heist.

Unlike most movies with a star-studded cast, it’s legitimately fun and exciting to meet every new character in Ocean’s Eleven, even on my (seventh? eighth?) rewatch.

Slowly building the team and feed us more and more details about the insane job George Clooney and Brad Pitt want to pull, director Steven Soderbergh works with the assured confidence of a Las Vegas magician. Soderbergh plays with the framing, frame rate, and editing to give us just enough info to follow the caper, while intentionally withholding other details until they become relevant. Recommended. ★★★★½

Ocean’s Eleven is currently streaming on Netflix.

(new additions in bold)