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We haven’t had a movie post since September and I love movies, especially this time of the year, so I thought I’d start one. What movies have you seen lately? Here are a few that I’ve seen:

🎬Thelma — This is a 2024 movie that I watched on Hulu because I blinked and missed it while it was in theaters. I loved it. June Squibb is great as Thelma, a 93-year-old grandmother who loses $10,000 to a con artist on the phone. With help from a friend and his motorized scooter, she soon embarks on a treacherous journey across Los Angeles to reclaim what was taken from her. This dramedy is the perfect blend of humor about a serious subject. The 96-yr old actress was nominated for an Independent Spirit award for Best Lead Performance for this role. She is also doing a play on Broadway this year. That’s a lot of stamina for a 96-yr old actress. Broadway is 8 shows a week!

🎬Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale I enjoyed the entire Downton Abbey series and movies and I enjoyed this one too. Its 1930 London, pos-1929 Wall St crash. I was glad to see Thomas Barrow find his place and happiness in the theatre world. It was fun that Noel Coward was a character. Overall, it was a satisfying ending for the series and characters.

🎬One Battle After Another I enjoyed this action thriller directed by Paul Thomas Anderson based on a Thomas Pyncheon novel. There was drama, comedy and lots of action, including a great chase scene. Here’s a brief summary: “Bob is a washed-up revolutionary who lives in a state of stoned paranoia, surviving off-grid with his spirited and self-reliant daughter, Willa. When his evil nemesis resurfaces and Willa goes missing, the former radical scrambles to find her as both father and daughter battle the consequences of their pasts.” Good cast including Leonardo di Caprio, Sean Penn and Benicio del Toro, Chase Infiniti and Teyana Taylor.

🎬Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere I enjoyed this one but I’m a big Springsteen fan. It might not be everyone’s cup of tea. It’s about a pretty down period of his life. I probably benefited from having recently watched a recording of Springsteen’s Broadway show, which was part music and part him telling personal stories. Jeremy Allen White was very good as Bruce as was Jeremy Strong as Jon Landau, his manager and Stephen Graham as his father.

🎬The Ballad of Buster Scruggs This is a Coen Bros movie that I watched on Netflix. In general, I love the Coen Bros and their movies are always worth watching to me. But this was not my favorite CB movie. It’s a group of six short films all occurring in 19th-century post-Civil War America during the settling of the Old West. I liked the last 4 better than the first two.

🎬Bugonia — I saw this Friday night at a theater. I loved it. Yorgos Lanthimos is always an interesting, creative director worth checking out whenever he releases a movie. Other films of his that I loved are The Favourite and Poor Things. Bugonia is about a conspiracy theory-obsessed beekeeper and his cousin who kidnaps the CEO of a major pharmaceutical company when they become convinced that she's an alien who wants to destroy Earth. Jesse Plemons and Emma Stone (who shaved her head for this role) are both terrific in the lead roles. It’s an English language remake of Korean film Save the Green Planet.

🎬Frankenstein I watched Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein on Nexflix last night. I wish I had the chance to see it in a theater because del Toro’s films tend to be visually stunning and worthy of a big screen. And this one was. But even in NYC, as is often the case with Netflix films, I somehow missed its 5-day (?)theatrical release. We all know the story and I enjoyed del Toro’s version. It was very fairytalesque more than traditional horror. But fairytalesque in the sense of Hansel and Gretel or Red Riding Hood. The film was divided into two parts: first, Dr Victor Frankenstein’s tale (played by Oscar Isaac) and the second part was the creature’s tale (played by Jacob Elordi).