The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981)

Year 10, Day 6 - 1/6/18 - Movie #2,806

BEFORE: Christopher Lloyd carries over from "Going in Style" into this other crime-based film that's also a remake.  I've been waiting years for some channel to show this film, and finally one did - of course I covered Nicholson movies years ago, so it's nearly an afterthought now.  And getting it so late nearly consigned this one to the unlinkables file, but I can rescue it thanks to yesterday's lead-in, and watching a film on Netflix tomorrow.

FOLLOW-UP TO: "The Postman Always Rings Twice" (1946) (Movie #1,706)

THE PLOT: The sensuous wife of a rural diner proprietor and a drifter begin a sordidly steamy affair and conspire to murder her Greek husband.

AFTER: It's a classic story based on the novel by James M. Cain - and now I can say I've watched "The Postman Always Rings Twice" twice.  But did they really change anything here, beyond using more modern actors and including more explicit sex scenes?  Ah, the ending - reviewing the two mostly similar plots on Wikipedia reveals that the 1946 film took the story one step further at the end, with one of the main characters facing punishment and using a metaphor that looming death was like waiting for a letter from the postman, and it doesn't matter if you don't hear the postman when he first rings, because he'll ring a second time - meaning you can maybe cheat death once, but it will keep on trying.

But without that full ending here, the entire meaning of the title of the film is lost.  People probably wondered why there wasn't a postman anywhere in this movie, and delivering a letter after ringing the doorbell twice wasn't an important plot point.

Nicholson already looked old back in 1981, I can't wait for tomorrow's film, released in 2010, when I'm guessing he'll look like the Cryptkeeper from "Tales From the Crypt".  He was 44 when this film came out, and I guess he's 80 now.  Jessica Lange was only 32 in 1981, there's a disparity here between their ages and their looks, but I guess Nicholson's character Frank was a drifter who'd led a hard life, and if Lange's Cora is that much more youthful and attractive, it helps explain why he falls for her so quickly.

As with "Going in Style", I think if a woman falls for a drifter and this makes her realize she's not truly in love with her husband, there are several more viable alternatives to improving her situation before she'd land on, "Hey, let's kill my husband and run the diner together."  Cora and Frank could probably have run off together and found another diner to run, and just because Frank likes to shoot craps in the bus station, that shouldn't mean that they're not good travel companions.  Really, was that the only thing preventing them from leaving town at the same time?

They wouldn't even have to leave together, Frank could quit and move on down the line, and Cora could slip out a few months later - there's just no reason to get mixed up in murder and face such a large rap - unless, of course, they just wanted to take the shortcut to diner ownership and felt that they were talented enough to make the murder look like an accident.  Ah, the American dream....

Unlike "Going in Style", however, I wasn't inclined to root for the criminal main characters here.  Why, Frank couldn't even spend a few days without Cora before he shut down the diner and drove out to San Francisco to hook up with a lady lion tamer.  (The "cat" imagery for women is strong throughout the film, and is very un-subtle.)  Cora also owned a cat, which does nothing to explain why she falls for a dog like Frank.  But hey, this is set back in a different age, one where you could smoke in a restaurant, California was still underdeveloped, and men didn't let the fact that women were resisting stop them from having sex with them.

Also starring Jack Nicholson (last seen in "Reds"), John Colicos, Michael Lerner (last seen in "X-Men: Days of Future Past"), John P. Ryan, Anjelica Huston (last seen in "Ever After: A Cinderella Story"), William Traylor, Jon Van Ness (last seen in "Sunset"), Don Calfa, Albert Henderson, with cameos from Brion James and future MMA star Chuck Liddell (last seen in "Kick-Ass 2")

RATING: 5 out of 10 Boy Scouts

Going in Style (2017)

Year 10, Day 5 - 1/5/18 - Movie #2,805

BEFORE: Of course, the joy and relief of a snow day soon gets tempered with the aggravation of shoveling snow.  I was raised in Massachusetts, and I still recall the Blizzard of '78, so I know how to shovel - you stack the snow on your own property, never shovel it on to someone else's lawn or driveway, and never shovel it into the street, because the first priority is to keep the roads clear.  But people in New York City are weird, if my block is any indication.  The people on the other side of the street (which happens to be the sunnier side, where snow melts faster) have this attitude where they have to get rid of it from their property at all costs, like it's toxic or something.  So they shovel it into the street, which is both illegal and dangerous - after all, the plow just got done getting the snow OUT of the street, and the homeowners take this as an invitation to ditch their snow somewhere, which is dirty pool.  And the plow is supposed to alternate sides each year, but of course it doesn't - so the last 7 or 8 years, it's always pushed the snow to the right side, which is our side of the street.  So all the snow that my neighbors dump into the street gets plowed to where it blocks our driveway - essentially, we have to shovel at least twice, once to connect our driveway to the street, and then again to clean up the neighbor's snow that gets plowed there.  Frankly, I'm sick of it.

So I approach the neighbors who shovel into the street and plead my case, explaining that what they're doing is wrong and un-neighborly, and sometimes they listen and sometimes they don't.  Yesterday the people across the street seemed like they understood and agreed to comply, but then we saw them shoveling into the street again later in the day.  Look, I understand you want the cars to run over the snow and melt it, and this seems to work OK in Manhattan, but not in residential Queens, and especially not when the temperature's not going to rise above freezing for the next few days.  So all they're doing is moving snow to where it will freeze in the street, creating icy road conditions for all traffic.  So I bolted across the street last night in a blind rage, and started shoveling snow from the street back into their driveway - and they did not take this well.  They called me all kind of names and threatened to call the police (they didn't) but still, I believe I made my point.  I never got personal or called them any names, just pointed out that there's a proper way to do this, and they weren't doing it right.

I have a feeling that this is how I will die someday, in an altercation over the proper shoveling of snow - I'll either get a snow shovel buried in my cranium or I'll be so mad when crossing the street that I won't check for oncoming traffic, and get creamed by a UPS truck or something. 

Michael Caine carries over from "Youth", and if Hollywood wants to keep pairing big stars together like this, there's hope that I can keep my chain going for a good long time. 

THE PLOT: Desperate to pay the bills and come through for their loved ones, three lifelong pals risk it all in a daring bid to knock off the very bank that absconded with their money. 

AFTER: This is a rather charming film, of course, what else would you expect when you put Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman together, both known for their charm, along with Alan Arkin, who's made his own niche in the past few years by playing charming cranky old men.  So you want to root for these guys, even if they're planning a bad thing, namely a bank robbery.

So the plot has to sort of bend over backwards to make the bad thing OK - this bank is foreclosing on one character's house, PLUS the bank is taking over the pension fund that these three guys worked so hard to build up over their careers, but the fund's not paying out because the company is moving operations overseas - no U.S. employees means no responsibility to pay them.  I feel like there are probably 3 NITPICK POINTS and a big contrivance in there somewhere.  Like, a pension fund still has to pay the people who paid into the system, even if the company moves, right?  There should have at least been a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of the workers, or a scrappy news reporter there to do a story on this corporate malfeasance.

I'm surprised to find out that a "teaser rate" on a mortgage is a real thing - I was willing to bet that was something that a screenwriter made up.  But no, that's real, although I don't see how the increase of a mortgage rate means that someone automatically loses their home, it's just a higher rate of interest - how come he was he making the payments before at the lower rate, but he suddenly has no money when it's time to make the payments with interest?  And it's easy to focus on a bank as the "bad guy" here, with the financial scandals and the sub-prime mortgages and such.  God forbid they show someone losing their house due to a reverse mortgage, which I think is much more likely than the "I can't seem to pay the interest rate" scenario shown here. 

Either way, there are at least a half-dozen reasonable solutions to this problem before "Hey, let's rob a bank" becomes the best viable option.  Doesn't his daughter work as a nurse?  Maybe she can make a few mortgage payments while the pension lawsuit thing gets straightened out, I'm just sayin'.  But why am I now doing the screenwriter's job for him, in pointing out these story problems?

Anyway, it's also a massive contrivance that Joe (Michael Caine's character) happened to be in this bank the last time it was robbed.  And that he gets interviewed by the same FBI guy after both robberies.  This whole film is a big bunch of contrivances and shortcuts, it seems.  Even when the guys decide to rob a grocery store (you know, to "work up" to bank robbery) it just happens to be a grocery where the love interest for the third guy works.  And the third guy just happens to get seen on the security camera, which is important later, and so on, and so on.

But it's also still a whole lot of fun.  You want to root for these guys as they plan their heist (around their busy schedules of going to the bathroom, because it's seems that's all that Hollywood thinks old people do all day...) and get themselves into "fighting shape" (at least for three 70-year olds), practice with firearms, etc. 

I recognized a lot of local Brooklyn + Queens landmarks, like the Clinton Hill Diner, which is now known locally as the "Goodfellas Diner".  It did appear in the movie "Goodfellas", but it wasn't the diner with the neon sign that said "Airline Diner", that was a Jackson Hole burger place near LaGuardia, which looks a lot like a classic diner inside.  And I noticed that at one point Michael Caine's character walked by the sign for Alfie's Pizza in Richmond Hill, I bet that was a reference to his early movie "Alfie".

My theme is still solid, even if the plot here is a bit shaky, the message is clear - young or old, you've got to rise up and face your fears, develop new skills, try something new and challenge yourself in the New Year.  And I've been reminded by this film that I only fulfilled 4 of the 5 New Year's resolutions that I made last January - I never got around to figuring out my 401K account or investigating whether it can be turned into a retirement account with some additional contributions from me.  So seeing as I'm turning 50 later this year, I should probably look into that.

Also starring Morgan Freeman (last seen in "Now You See Me 2"), Alan Arkin (last seen in "Catch-22"), Ann-Margret (last seen in "52 Pick-Up"), Peter Serafinowicz (last heard in "Sing"), Maria Dizzia (last seen in "True Story"), Joey King (last seen in "Independence Day: Resurgence"), Matt Dillon (last seen in "The Art of the Steal"), Kenan Thompson (last heard in "The Smurfs 2"), Christopher Lloyd (last seen in "Back in Time"), Siobhan Fallon Hogan (last seen in "Boiler Room"), John Ortiz (last seen in "Steve Jobs"), Josh Pais (last seen in "Rounders"), Anthony Chisholm (last seen in "Premium Rush"), Richie Moriarty, Seth Barrish, Jeremy Bobb, Gillian Glasco, Ashley Aufderheide, Jeremy Shinder, Annabelle Chow.

RATING: 6 out of 10 duffel bags

Youth

Year 10, Day 4 - 1/4/18 - Movie #2,804

BEFORE: SNOW DAY! The first one of the year.  I could probably drag my ass from Queens to Brooklyn today, because the subways are running - but then there's no guarantee that I'd be able to get home.  If the storm gets worse, as they're saying it will, then they could shut down the subway at any point, like they did during the major storms in the past couple of winters.  Then why do we even have a damn subway system, if not to help people get around when they can't drive a car?  The city government says that they do this to encourage people to not go out into the storm, but still there are people like doctors and fireman who have to get to work to keep the city safe and running, and shutting down the system in the afternoon just means they'll all be stranded at work, which makes no sense to me.  Anyway, my job is hardly essential to keeping the world running, so it makes sense to just hunker down and ride out the snow cyclone or the thunder-snow or the snow-pocalypse, or whatever new term the media has come up with to scare the crap out of us.

Harvey Keitel carries over from "The Comedian", and though I did a bunch of Michael Caine films last year, this one came into my possession too late to be included with those.  Plus I was waiting for tomorrow's film to show up on cable, and both seem to be right in line with my unintended theme for the week.

THE PLOT: A retired orchestra conductor is on vacation with his daughter and his best friend, a film director, in the Alps when he receives an invitation from Queen Elizabeth II to perform for Prince Philip's birthday.

AFTER: I've never seen any films directed by Fellini, but this is a bit like what I imagine Fellini's films are like - people sit around and discuss the meaning of life, while random naked people appear in the background.  (I probably should watch something by Fellini to see if I'm right, and because those films are classic cinema...I've been avoiding Bergman too for mostly the same reasons.)

There is a loose plot here, as mentioned above two old friends are visiting a spa in, where, Italy?  Switzerland?  This almost seems like the sort of film somebody made after "The Grand Budapest Hotel" became a hit (and before that "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel") because this hotel is similarly populated with a bunch of wacky characters, only there's not as much of a coherent plot line.  However, this is a lot less flash-backy than that Wes Anderson film.

An aging conductor/composer is on holiday with a film director, the conductor has brought along his daughter/assistant, and the director has brought along a bunch of screenwriters who are hashing out the next draft of a script.  We learn that these two men have been friends for 60 years, and are still arguing over women they knew 40 or 50 years ago, plus we eventually learn that one's daughter is married to the other one's son, and that marriage may be on the rocks.  Meanwhile the conductor gets contacted by someone representing the royal family to request a command performance of his work "Simple Songs", and also there's an actor staying at the spa who's preparing for a difficult role, plus Miss Universe shows up there and so does a very large soccer player.

That's about it, overall it's very disjointed and fails to gel into a coherent narrative, instead the film seems content to show us a number of surreal images, like the conductor imagining himself conducting the sounds of nature in a cow pasture, which I admit is sonically clever, and the director imagining a field full of all the actresses he's directed over the years, who range from difficult to insane to just plain annoying.  But we've seen this sort of thing before, in films like "9" (which of course is based on "8 1/2", which brings me back to Fellini).

There's obvious tie-ins to yesterday's film, which was also about trying to remain relevant beyond the age of 70, whether you're a comedian or director or composer, it's all the same.  But at least yesterday's film was hopeful about being productive in one's golden years, this one, not so much.  Here growing old means that you'll be having banal conversations with your friends about being regular, and that's if you're lucky.  This also means you get to watch the people you love drift out of your life, or pass away or suffer from dementia and again, that's if you're lucky.  So we all have that to look forward to.  Thanks for bringing the room down.

Also starring Michael Caine (last seen in "Now You See Me 2"), Rachel Weisz (last seen in "Enemy at the Gates"), Paul Dano (last seen in "Love & Mercy"), Jane Fonda (last seen in "This Is Where I Leave You"), Alex Macqueen (last seen in "Cinderella"), Roly Serrano, Luna Mijovic, Robert Seethaler, Tom Lipinski (last seen in "Labor Day"), Chloe Pirrie, Alex Beckett, Nate Dern, Mark Gessner, Ed Stoppard (last seen in "The Pianist"), Paloma Faith (last seen in "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus"), Mark Kozelek (last seen in "Shopgirl"), Madalina Diana Ghenea (last seen in "Zoolander 2"), Sumi Jo, Viktoria Mullova.

RATING: 3 out of 10 cowbells

The Comedian

Year 10, Day 3 - 1/3/18 - Movie #2,803

BEFORE: Well, that's two films down in the New Year, just 298 to go.  Here comes #3, with Danny DeVito carrying over from "Matilda".  It seems I've already got a loose theme for the week developing, I'll elaborate more after watching today's film.

THE PLOT: A look at the life of an aging insult comic.

AFTER: I didn't plan this, not intentionally anyway, perhaps subconsciously, but the New Year is usually symbolized by a baby or small child, and the old year represented by an old man, like a Father Time character.  Knowing what's coming up in the next two days, I think this whole week is going to be about young kids and old men - "Matilda" is my Baby New Year, and De Niro's Jackie Burke is my Father Time.  Pee-Wee Herman, meanwhile, represents that weird man-child, he's probably getting on in years too, but continues to act like a giddy schoolboy.

But I'll take things a step further - since it's a New Year, we have to think about new horizons, new challenges, facing our fears as we set foot into another great unknown, the year which so far has been neither good nor bad.  (In terms of movie plots, I've had two sort of disjointed films that were all over the place with their story, so things have bound to get better.)  Pee-Wee decided to leave Fairville and head for New York, unsure of what life on the road would be like, or whether or not he'd get to his destination in time.  Matilda faced the challenge of school after surviving neglect, and had to face her fear of the principal and out-think her parents in order to get the life she felt she deserved.  And now we've got Jackie Burke, an older comic trying to stay relevant, and funny, in a world of viral videos, texting and "webisodes".

The trouble starts when people interrupt his comedy routine solely for the purpose of creating their own content - they're professional hecklers, trying to start something in public for their own "content".  Jackie doesn't take this well - nor should he - but he overreacts and gets in trouble with the law.  Great, another celebrity scandal - but at least this time it's just a comic decking a fan.  I'm with Jackie on this one, there's no way taping a comic's routine with a phone camera is legal - the comedy club should have shut this down on the spot, or at least have signs posted that this is against the rules.

But Jackie does his time, then gets saddled with community service hours, and has to fight his way back from cultural exile while also taking anger management therapy (which we never see, that sort of seems like a missed opportunity...).  He meets Harmony, a neurotic woman (that's right in Leslie Mann's wheelhouse) who's also working at the soup kitchen, who got violent with her cheating ex.  This is not a terrible portrayal of how two damaged people can come together in that "two wrongs make a right" way.

But Jackie can't stop being Jackie, he can't "turn off" the insult humor, even when meeting Harmony's father, or saying a few words at his niece's wedding.  It's fascinating to see him walk that very fine line between off-color comedy and being flat-out offensive.  Don Rickles, Roseanne Barr and Jeffrey Ross (who co-wrote this screenplay) are probably the best examples of people in the real world who've performed on that very narrow tightrope.  But this is who this fictional comic is, this is what he does, and he's good at it, and quick with a snappy comeback.

And this is what De Niro's good at, too - Jackie Burke is like a mix of his characters Rupert Pupkin from "The King of Comedy", Jake LaMotta from "Raging Bull" (in the later on-stage years), and Travis Bickle from "Taxi Driver", with a little bit of Jimmy Doyle from "New York, New York", and the hard edge of Jack Byrnes from "Meet the Parents" and the zaniness of Harry Tuttle from "Brazil".  Basically throw any time De Niro didn't play a mobster into a blender, and you'd come up with Jackie Burke.  But the end result is somehow even better than the sum of its parts, because he's hilarious, outspoken and willing to face his fears and take on those new challenges.

The less I say about the plot in the second half the better, but it did seem that the writers sort of painted themselves into a corner and had no real plan for getting out of it.

Also starring Robert De Niro (last seen in "Dirty Grandpa"), Leslie Mann (last seen in "Orange County"), Harvey Keitel (last seen in "The Ridiculous 6"), Edie Falco (last seen in "Random Hearts"), Patti Lupone (last seen in "Summer of Sam"), Cloris Leachman (last seen in "Spanglish"), Lois Smith (last seen in "The Nice Guys"), Charles Grodin (last seen in "Ishtar"), Lucy DeVito, Kelly McCrann, Happy Anderson, Rebecca Kling, Gameela Wright, with cameos from Brett Butler, Billy Crystal (last heard in "Monsters University"), Jim Norton, Jimmie Walker (last seen in "The Concorde...Airport '79"), Richard Belzer (last seen in "The Bonfire of the Vanities"), Gilbert Gottfried (last heard in "Thumbelina"), Hannibal Buress (also last seen in "The Nice Guys"), Nick Di Paolo, Jessica Kirson, Bill Boggs, John Lutz (last seen in "Sisters"), Greer Barnes, Sheng Wang, Ryan Hamilton.

RATING: 6 out of 10 autographed photos

Matilda

Year 10, Day 2 - 1/2/18 - Movie #2,802

BEFORE: I was so happy to be back watching movies and posting again that yesterday I forgot to issue my annual dedication for 2018.  Last year it was easy, I just dedicated the next 300 films to the memory of Carrie Fisher, but this year's a little tougher.  I went up and down the list of the fallen tributes from last year's Hunger Games, from Mary Tyler Moore to Adam West to Hugh Hefner to David Cassidy to Jerry Lewis, but I didn't really have a personal connection to any of them - maybe Jerry Lewis has been in my countdown the most, but that's not really how I make my dedications.  So by default I'm going to dedicate the coming year to Tom Petty.  I've really dug his music, plus he and I shared our birthday, and if I've got any regrets over rockers who I failed to see perform live, that list probably only contains George Harrison and Tom Petty.  While I don't own all of his albums, I've got most of them, and the "Playback" box set.  I guess I can tie this in with my chain because he wrote a song for a Western that's coming up for viewing in January.  So I'll acknowledge that again when it comes up in a few weeks.  If you're not familiar with his movie work, please check out the soundtrack for the film "She's The One".

Paul Reubens carries over from "Pee-Wee's Big Holiday", and while I initially got this film to pair with "Midnight Special" on a DVD (both have kids with special powers) I figured I'd get around to it during August or September for back-to-school time.  But the linking says it belongs here in January, to get me where I need to be tomorrow and by extension, next week.

THE PLOT: The story of a wonderful little girl, who happens to be a genius, and her wonderful teacher vs. the worst parents ever and the worst school principal imaginable.

AFTER: I end up watching a bunch of kiddie movies, most of them animated, but I don't have any children.  This puts me in a couple of difficult spots, like explaining why I'm watching them in the first place (umm, I work in animation, so I have to watch the competition, right?).  I grew up watching Disney films, in fact for the first 8 years of my life, that was the ONLY kind of movie I was allowed to watch.  So naturally when I got old enough to choose my own entertainment, I stayed away from animated films for at least a decade, but then I found myself in the position of producing them, so after a few years I had to circle back and watch the Disney films like "The Lion King" and "The Little Mermaid" that I had missed during my time away.

I wish I could say that I was saving these movies for my niece and nephew to watch when they come to visit, but the truth is that they've never been to my home.  And that leads me to wonder if my sister is just as over-protective of them as my mother was with me.  Which isn't necessarily a bad thing per se, except that I feel that it took me longer to develop as an adult (in some ways, I'm still waiting) than it would if I had been exposed to the world differently when I was younger.  Look, hindsight is always 20/20, but maybe if I had been allowed to play sports or watch something other than a Disney film, I might have had different social relations with others, or been better prepared for real-world disappointments when they came around.  Because Disney films all end well, they're 90% sunshine and flowers and music and only about 10% about defeating the evil power.

But not having any kids puts me in another difficult spot, beyond explaining why I watch kiddie movies from time to time.  It gives me zero authority when it comes to commenting on how kids SHOULD be raised - so even if I spot someone that's not doing it right, by my definition, I can't raise any objection, because I don't have a dog in that fight.  I can't point to the perfect kid that I raised MY way, who's excelling at school and volunteering for charity on the weekends, while keeping a perfect mix of hobbies that look good on a college application.  (When I was young, I did great in school, so if those are the benchmarks, then I was 1 for 3.  But I guess I did help my father collect furniture for charity and I had a good mix of extra-curricular activities in high school, so maybe I did OK.)

Over the Christmas holiday, it was a little upsetting to learn that my 9-year old niece and nephew were expecting to get presents from Santa Claus - isn't that a little old to be believing in a magic bearded man who watches you from afar and rewards you for good behavior, and somehow visits every house in the Christian world in one night, which would require traveling faster than the speed of light?  I mean, I get that this belief brings them (and my sister) joy on some level, but at some point, I would hope that a kid would start to think on his or her own, and figure out what's possible and what isn't.  But I was warned that if I tried to tell them that Santa isn't real, then that would be a terrible thing to do, and I'd be the guy who ruined Christmas.  Well, I certainly wasn't going to do that, but I also don't want them to be the last kids in their grade who haven't wised up, because then they'll be the objects of ridicule.  Kids can be socially cruel, I know this first-hand.

I'd like to think that if I had a kid, he or she would figure out the Santa thing in a much quicker time-frame, because I would have raised that kid to think for him- or herself.  Once you start with the whole Santa Claus nonsense, you've screwed yourself because in the future you've either got to destroy your kids' dreams, or watch as they become laughing stocks - so the only way to win is to not play in the first place.  Same goes for the whole religion thing, because I'm an agnostic (bordering on atheist) then I wouldn't impose any belief system on a child, I'd wait for the kid to be old enough to make a rational decision on the existence of a higher power, and if I'd done my job right, that would occur at least by age 10.  But it's easy for me to play "Monday Morning Quarterback" when I'm not even participating in the activity of child-rearing.  And hey, my parents still believe in that OTHER magical bearded man who watches you from afar and then rewards you for good behavior, despite my best efforts to break them of their delusion - they're in their 70's and I keep wondering when they're going to smarten up.

I'm probably getting too far away from the movie "Matilda" here - but it does kind of tie in because this character was a self-starter, she taught herself how to read and then how to get books from the library, because her parents were total duds who didn't even want to send her to school for some reason.  Plus they neglected her in other ways, not just in almost failing to provide her with an education, since her father was always busy cheating people at the used car lot, and her mother was always busy playing bingo.  Matilda is forced to chart her own educational path until circumstances change, and an encounter with a teacher leads her father to believe that school might be the best place for her after all.

Unfortunately, it's a mixed bag as she really bonds with her teacher, but the school has the worst principal you can imagine.  And since this story is based on a Roald Dahl book, and he was always very twisted in his depiction of certain adults (*cough* Willy Wonka *cough*) that's saying a lot. Ultimately this might as well have been a cartoon, because the characters are such outrageous stereotypes, beyond all rational possibility, that it's hard to imagine them existing in real life.  The principal can't just be mean, she has to be SUPER-mean, the kind of person that throws kids out of windows, which just wouldn't be allowed in any school district anywhere, plus she was some kind of former Olympic shot-put champion or something, and not feminine in any way, like, do we have to spell it out for you here?

And once Matilda gets to school, the film doesn't seem to ever settle on a coherent plot line.  Like, what's her end goal, surviving school or just getting revenge on every adult that ever yelled at her or put her down?  Once Matilda figures out that adults are "people" (duh) that somehow means that they should be held accountable for their actions, and if they're not nice people, then they deserve to be pranked, or worse.  That's a terrible message to send out to the kids, isn't it?  Like, my sister also wouldn't let her kids watch "A Christmas Story" on TV, which is a Christmas classic - she just said she "didn't appreciate the humor", but since she wouldn't give me specifics, I'm thinking now it might have been because Ralphie wanted a rifle as a Christmas present, and she didn't want her kids to get any ideas.  Or maybe she didn't want them sticking their tongues to flagpoles - but that doesn't make sense, because the film shows how that's a bad idea, and also all the adults keep telling Ralphie that he'll "shoot his eye out".

Look, it's tough to be a kid, especially when you don't see eye-to-eye with your parents, and it's probably tough to be a parent, because there are SO many ways to screw up a kid, either by being too strict or too lenient, by not encouraging them or by hovering over them.  Thankfully there is a way to win, and I found it by not playing the game at all.

NITPICK POINT: How does Matilda's mother walk out of the hospital under her own power, so soon after giving birth?   Don't most women need some form of assistance just after giving birth?

NITPICK POINT #2: How does Matilda have American parents, and seems to live in some American state, but she attends a school where all the staff seems British?  Maybe it's just the fact that I'm currently burning all the "Harry Potter" films to DVD (I've seen them all before, but didn't save them) but in many ways this film seems like a precursor to Harry Potter - a kid who doesn't get along with the parents/family raising him/her, then goes to school and develops magical powers.  Is it me?

NITPICK POINT #3: When the paperwork is signed at the end, there were no impartial witnesses to the signing, nor was the signature notarized.  No way does that stand up in court.

Also starring Mara Wilson (last seen in "Mrs. Doubtfire"), Danny DeVito (last seen in "Back in Time"), Rhea Perlman (last heard in "Sing"), Embeth Davidtz (last seen in "Paranoia"), Pam Ferris, Brian Levinson, Tracey Walter (last seen in "Masked and Anonymous"), R.D. Robb (last seen in "The Brady Bunch Movie") Kiami Davael, Jean Speegle Howard (last seen in "The Paper"), Jimmy Karz, Kira Spencer Cook, Jacqueline Steiger, with a cameo from Jon Lovitz (last seen in "Sandy Wexler").

RATING: 4 out of 10 flying erasers

Pee-Wee's Big Holiday

Year 10, Day 1 - 1/1/18 - Movie #2,801

BEFORE: Being on break from movies for 10 days or so allowed me to catch up on some TV, once Christmas with my family in Massachusetts was over.  When I wasn't writing my 2017 wrap-up or figuring out what movies to watch in early 2018, I was watching TV.  For some shows, I'm two months behind, like I just got to the Simpsons Halloween episode last week.  But I'm current on Jeopardy and all the late-night talk shows I watch, plus I started the new season of "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D" and I'm working my way through "The Gifted" and "Inhumans", though I'm not sure why I'm bothering with them.  Plus my wife and I are current on "Top Chef" and only 3 episodes behind on "South Park", "The Orville", and "Iron Chef Showdown".  I caught up on "Ginormous Food", and I can tackle the new "Man vs. Food" next, and I even started on the second season of "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency", though it can't possibly match Season 1.

But wouldn't you know it, here comes January 1 and I'm back on movie detail, so those 30-40 episodes of "Food Paradise" and "Carnival Eats" on the DVR will have to wait a little longer.  Now that I have my starting point for 2018, I can't wait to dive in.  But, you may ask, why HERE, why THIS film?  Good question.  Mostly it's because it links to only ONE other film on my list, so January 1 is a great time to watch it - I don't require that there's an actor link between the last film of one year and the first of the next, that would be madness.  Nope, new year, new chain, and it starts here.  It also helps to know that in exactly 30 linked films from here, I can be at the film I want to start February with.  The 2018 schedule after March 25 is all still TBD.

Also, as I mentioned yesterday in the recap, 2017 was the year I took Netflix seriously, it really helped me catch up on most of the animated films of 2015 and 2016 that I hadn't seen yet, because they haven't aired on cable yet.  But since I found them on Netflix, along with a bunch of geek-themed documentaries, it seemed like the place to be.  But I'm still not completely sold on the concept of Netflix, and it's not just because I like reading the credits, and Netflix INSISTS on playing a trailer for another suggested film instead of letting all those people who worked very hard on a film's production get their due.  (Really, Netflix, you should give credit-watchers the option to toggle this "helpful" service OFF.)  I don't like being told WHEN to watch a movie, I greatly prefer to burn a film to DVD and watch it on my own schedule, which I obsessively plan.  Since I know that any film on Netflix is there for a limited amount of time, I can't help but feel that a film's time on the service could end at any time, so the clock is always ticking.  I'm planning to watch 10 more films on Netflix during January, and as of tonight they're all still available, but a film I had scheduled for late February has disappeared - now I have to either re-program that slot, or find another way to watch that film.  So the "convenience" of watching a film on Netflix leads to several other inconveniences - not the least of which is that I watch through the Playstation, and the controller/remote just doesn't reach across the room to the recliner.

But symbolically, this is a great choice for the first film of the year, because I do plan to watch more films on Netflix in 2018.  Also it's got the word "Holiday" in the title, and the year starts with a holiday.  Yes, I know there are two different definitions for "holiday", and this film is really about a vacation holiday, not a calendar holiday, but I'm still going to take it.

THE PLOT: A fateful meeting with a mysterious stranger inspires Pee-Wee Herman to take his first-ever holiday in this epic story of friendship and destiny.

AFTER: If you don't know who Pee-Wee Herman is, no one can really blame you - the character hadn't appeared in a film for 28 years, after the actor was forced to retire him due to a scandal.  But that scandal seems relatively tame now, I won't re-hash it here but you can look it up on the Wikipedia.  And after the terrible, horrible, no-good year of sex scandals (and political scandals) we just had, and in the spirit of New Year's Day, I put forward that there IS a way back from cultural exile.  You just have to apologize publicly, get off the radar for a decade or two, and wait for about 87 people to commit acts that are much, much worse.  Because THIS actor never drugged anyone without their consent, or touched anyone inappropriately or used his power in the industry to gain favors (that we know of, anyway) he only did something that we all do, just unfortunately in a public place.  Which was only a problem since he hosted a kids' show, and as we all know, those people aren't allowed to have relationships or any sexual desires whatsoever, that wouldn't be right.

So if you don't know who this character is, it's understandable - he represents a simpler time, which we called the 1980's, but back then we were all nostalgic for the 1950's for some reason, after "Happy Days" and "American Graffiti" told us that it was the best, greatest time to be alive in America, because everyone wore letterman jackets and drag-raced their cars to the malt shop where they engaged in very innocent kissing with the girls in the poodle skirts.  And nothing bad or naughty ever happened.  Right.  So for a brief time in the 1980's, it was "hip to be square" and nobody was squarer than Pee-Wee Herman - he was so square that he somehow circled around to cool again, which isn't supposed to happen.  We knew that he had a Playhouse, with a talking chair (Chairy), a clock (Clocky) and other animated furniture and puppets, and a robot named Conky, who would give him the Secret Word every morning, and for the rest of the day whenever you heard that word you were supposed to scream real loud.  A number of humans would come and visit the Playhouse each day, played by prominent character actors, many of whom would go on to be famous later (Laurence Fishburne, S. Epatha Merkerson).

But Pee-Wee himself was the constant, the grounding force in Puppetland, and the show subtly threw in references for the adults that might be watching the show - I famously remember when Pee-Wee had a dance-off with Cowboy Curtis, and after Curtis showed Pee-Wee his dance, he said, "OK, I showed you mine, now you show me yours!"  That sort of innuendo was aimed exactly at the right spot, which was over the heads of children, who of course wouldn't get the reference.  So many adults started watching the show (myself included) to figure out where all the adult jokes were.  Still, the actor Paul Reubens remained something of a mystery, like is he for real, is he in on the joke, is he gay, is he straight, or is he just some kind of ventriloquist dummy that somehow came to life, Pinocchio-style?

Well, he's back with a Netflix film, and if you're looking for any answers or insight, you're out of luck.  But we do find out that he lives in the town of Fairville (located in some unnamed state in the U.S., so it might be the same as yours) which does seem a bit like a town that's stuck in the 1950's, with those letterman jackets and milkshakes down at the corner diner.  Pee-Wee works at the diner, and with perhaps a nod to "The Truman Show", he's never left Fairville.  Why would he, everything he needs or wants is there - but this opens up the possibility that the Playhouse only exists in Pee-Wee's mind, that it's his happy place when he needs to get away from the reality of Fairville.  Logically therefore, Fairville should be like Twin Peaks, with a dark underbelly and a ton of secrets, only it's not that kind of film.

I wish I could say this is a great film, but in terms of story quality, it's probably somewhere between "Big Top Pee-Wee" and the superior "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure".  Basically a stranger comes to town, forms an instant friendship with Pee-Wee based on their mutual love of classic candy and goofy catchphrases, and then invites Pee-Wee to his birthday party in New York, taking place in five days.  Our hero then faces the difficult decision to leave town for the first time - then the rest is just a madcap criss-crossing of the U.S. meeting all kinds of strange characters, played by a bunch of character actors making cameos.

There are a ton of pieces here that never add up to a coherent whole.  Pee-Wee hitches a ride with a novelty salesman and visits a snake farm, run by people who love bad puns.  He meets a rich lady who also loves tiny cars, and a mountain man who sings karaoke.  A trio of lady bank robbers use his car to escape the cops, then tie him up in a motel room while they have a pillow fight.  He spends time with the Amish, possibly the only people squarer than he is.  And he finally makes it to New York, where he eats pizza (for the first time!) and rides in the strange underground train.  And through it all, I found myself asking the same questions I did back in the late 80's.  Is this guy for real, is he in on the joke, is he gay, is he straight?  Because the humor's aimed at exactly the same place that it was back in "Pee-Wee's Playhouse" - a kid can enjoy it on one level, but an adult is going to see things from a different perspective.

Two guys riding on a motorcycle together means something different to an adult than to a kid.  Being tied up in a motel room while three women have a pillow fight is an adult voyeur fantasy, perhaps, but a kid's just not going to pick up on that.  Same goes for a fear of giant snakes, and now I have to go back and look at the Indiana Jones films and wonder if Indy's fear of snakes is Freudian in some way.  But at the end of the day, it just doesn't matter.  You can comb through this entire film for clues in the subtext, and end up right back where you started.  It's annoying and refreshingly just about a guy who makes a male friend and travels across the country to go to his birthday party.

Just enjoy someone who's so classically retro that it hurts - you damn hipsters can take a lesson from a man who knows how to make a real milkshake, with ice cream, milk and syrup, not your damn soy milk, rice cream and Sriracha or Gochujang.  By all rights, the catchphrase here that SHOULD catch on is saying, "I'm gonna let you let me run..." when you want to get out of a conversation.

Sarring Paul Reubens (last heard in "The Smurfs 2"), Joe Manganiello (last seen in "Justice League"), Jessica Pohly, Alia Shawkat (last seen in "The To Do List"), Stephanie Beatriz (last heard in "Ice Age: Collision Course"), Hal Landon Jr. (last seen in "Eraserhead"), Diane Salinger (last seen in "Alice"), Brad William Henke (last seen in "Fury"), Patrick Egan (last seen in "Butch and Sundance: The Early Days"), Tara Buck, Richard Riehle (last seen in "Hard Time: Hostage Hotel"), Leo Fitzpatrick, Christopher Heyerdahl, Jordan Black, Monica Horan, Brian Palermo (last seen in "Shrink"), Josh Meyers (last seen in "Brüno"), Paul Rust, Frank Collison (last seen in "Hesher"), Lynne Marie Stewart, Lindsay Hollister (last seen in "Get Smart"), Cooper Huckabee, Darryl Stephens, Anthony Alabi, Sonya Eddy, Dionne Gipson, Katherine VanderLinden, with cameos from Charlie Robinson, Nicole Sullivan, David Arquette (last seen in "Hamlet 2")

RATING: 5 out of 10 breakfast garnishes

year 9 wrap-up / year 10 preview

It's been over a week since I watched my last film for 2017, and it's time for the yearly wrap-up post, where I try to make sense out of a year that, on many levels, made no sense at all.  Seriously, in terms of the news can you remember a worse (or funnier, but in that dark hopeless sense of funny) year in human history?  OK, maybe back when there were plagues and stuff there was a darker year - but my point is, you've got to go WAY far back to find the level of dread and angst that got tossed around.  But let's get to the movie breakdown, because that's going to circle back to the dread and angst thing eventually.

I got the Entertainment Weekly Annual "Best of" issue, and I'm sure that every other magazine and newspaper will be counting down the top films of the year, but those Top 10 lists and mine just don't seem to have a lot in common.  Of the Top 10 films listed in EW, I'd only seen one of them, and that was "Wonder Woman".  I haven't seen "Dunkirk", "Get Out", "Call Me By My Name", "The Shape of Water", "Foxtrot", "Hostiles", "Lady Bird" or "Molly's Game", and I'm OK with all that.  I've got a different agenda, and it's (mostly) catching up with the classic films that I've missed, whether they're from the 1930's or the 1990's or even last year.

That's not to say I didn't go to out to the movies this year, I did - I saw almost a dozen films in current release, but nearly all were superhero, sci-fi or animated franchise films.  That's just what I'm about, and I think there's so much product coming out of Hollywood these days that you really have to pick and choose what will bring you out to the theater, especially with the price of popcorn being what it is these days.  But for my top-rated films of the year, we have a tie between "Thor: Ragnarok" and "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2", both scored a "9" on my very un-scientific scale.  Tied for second with scores of "8" were "Logan", "Justice League" and "Star Wars: The Last Jedi".  Hmm, all new releases that were seen by me on the big-screen.  It's possible that going out and having the big-screen experience is skewing the rating system - but it's in favor of the films I'm most likely to like anyway.
(My WORST film of the year, by the way, was "Norm of the North", which barely scored a "1".)

Even though I stayed current on big-screen sci-fi and superheroes, the bad news is that the size of my watchlist increased this year, and I think that's the first time this has happened.  I started the year with 145 films on the list, and now here at the end of 2017, it's nearly 160.  There are two culprits here, Netflix and Academy screeners.  I gained access to Netflix this year, my wife set up an account for me, and it helped me see a number of films that just weren't available on premium cable - like "Lovelace", "Into the Wild" and a bunch of animated films like "Sing" and "Zootopia".  That was all great news for my linking, but not great news for progress where the size of the list is concerned.  In addition to the nearly 160-film watchlist, I now have a second list of films on Netflix and Academy screeners that's almost 80 films.  But it's too discouraging to think of my watchlist going from 145 to 240, so I'm trying not to think about it.  I finally got the number of Academy screeners I want to borrow from my boss down to under 10, and now a flood of new screeners came in over the last couple of weeks.  Another great resource, but discouraging in terms of volume.

But let's at least try to break down Movie Year 9 by category:

1) Superhero films stood out, of course, beginning with "Suicide Squad" in January, then I caught up with last year's "Doctor Strange" and this year's "Logan", followed by "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2", "Wonder Woman" and "The Lego Batman Movie" in June, and "Spider-Man: Homecoming" in July (don't they know that Homecoming happens in the fall?) and finally November brought the one-two punch of "Thor: Ragnarok" and "Justice League".  Sure, they're all formula films, most of them fall right in line with the common plot line of "put the team together and defeat the evil power".  But they all made a ton of money, so they must be doing something right.  I guess I also have to count the film "Midnight Special" in the superhero category, since it featured a kid with mutant powers, much like an X-Man.

2) Following right behind was the sci-fi category, of course.  Knowing that "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" was coming in December sort of set the whole tone for the year, which I'd dedicated to Carrie Fisher - so in a way the whole year's chain was setting up for her final appearance.  While "The Last Jedi" may have just missed being my top film for the year, it was still light-years ahead of the other sci-fi films I watched, like "Chappie", "Ex Machina", "The Zero Theorem", "Passengers", "Gods of Egypt" and "Blade Runner 2049".

Aliens came around again, in films like "Arrival", "The 5th Wave", and "Independence Day: Resurgence".  "Arrival" was the best of that bunch, though I think I need to watch it again to fully understand it.  Then there were the classic films about aliens arriving, which I mixed in with my horror films - "The Thing from Another World", "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (1956) and "20 Million Miles to Earth".  Aliens were always here with evil intent during the 1950's, right?  It would have been unthinkable to make a film like "Arrival" back then.

And then we had the sci-fi films about dystopian futures, namely "Mad Max: Fury Road" and the four "Hunger Games" films.  I'll get more into the Hunger Games thing with relation to politics, but it seems we all agree that the world will eventually be a place where humans need to fight to survive, either because of dwindling resources, or because it makes for good entertainment.  Maybe both.

3) Next up another big big category - animation.  Once I realized that the big animated films from the last year or two weren't turning up on cable, I ended up finding a bunch of them on Netflix, and I was off to the races.  But first in January I watched "Anomalisa", "Minions", "Mr. Peabody & Sherman", "The Penguins of Madagascar" and "Sausage Party". Then I included "Thumbelina" in February's chain, it wasn't really a romance film but I needed the link.  Another mini-wave in May, with "The Boxtrolls", "Ice Age: Collision Course", "The Peanuts Movie" and "Strange Magic" - and then came the Netflix flood in June and July: "Zootopia", "Moana", "The BFG", "The Lego Batman Movie", "Kubo and the Two Strings", "Sing", "The Jungle Book" (2016), "My Life as a Zucchini", "Ernest & Celestine", "The Little Prince", "The Secret Life of Pets", "Finding Dory", "The Good Dinosaur", "Cars 3" and "The Angry Birds Movie".  August brought the low point, "Norm of the North", which probably made "Despicable Me 3" look that much better a couple of weeks later.  By the time I got to "The Fox and the Hound 2" and "Pocahontas 2: Journey to a New World", I was pretty much just watching those films to make my linking connections.  Same goes for "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip", which allowed me to connect two films about porn actors - that was odd.  Still, that's 30 animated films in 2017, that was a significant percentage of my line-up.  I watched so many kids movies this year (and I don't even have a kid...) that the category is still pretty clear months later.  I think there are maybe FOUR animated films on my list right now, which is pretty close to zero.

4) And I can't talk about animation without also discussing fairy tales and children's stories - in addition to "Thumbelina", I watched three versions of "Cinderella" this year: "Ella Enchanted", "Ever After" and "Cinderella" (2015).  Then came two films about Peter Pan, the 2003 version and the "Pan" prequel from 2015.  Thankfully I made that rule change before the year began, which enables me to link between two films that have the same character, that really does help me make these connections.  And finally in November came two films with Snow White, "Snow White and the Huntsman" and "The Huntsman: Winter's War" to kick off my Hemsworth chain.  Snow White was really only in the second film for a brief appearance, that's what happens when an actress has an affair with her married director...

Also aimed at kids was my lead-off film for the year, "The Black Stallion Returns".  Then in February I got to "The Flintstones" and "The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas", and I HOPE those were made for kids, because the prospect of adults enjoying those movies is just too frightening.  (I know, the Flintstones and Rubbles are classic couples, but those films really didn't belong in February - again, linking.)  And I also finally got to the live-action "101 Dalmatians" and its sequel "102 Dalmatians" - those count as kiddie-lit too, not animation.  And then I covered teen fiction by FINALLY getting around to "The Hunger Games" - man, I avoided those about as long as I could, but with a bunch of other Jennifer Lawrence and Liam Hemsworth films on my list, the linking was practically shouting at me that it was time.

5) And that leads me to politics, because everything about President Snow in "The Hunger Games" just made me think about Donald Trump.  A dictatorial older man famous for producing a reality TV show where the contestants are eliminated one by one, and his main opposition is a female president-in-exile, who's not good at giving speeches - I'm not the only one who sees the connection, right?  But there were a LOT of films that reminded me about Trump, and part of that is probably just the zeitgeist we're all soaking in. I finally got around to watching "1984", based on a book that shot to the top of the best-seller list again after Trump's election, since it's all about a government replacing the headlines with "fake news".  "Tapeheads" was about an older man running for office with two useless sons, trying to get back his embarrassing sex tape - so that was about Trump, even though it was released in 1988 - as was the 1992 film "Bob Roberts", about a corrupt right-wing politician willing to say or do anything to get elected, while a reporter kept trying to point out the scandals in his past, that was uncannily about Trump, too.  Heck, even the original "Dracula" was about Trump, the way I saw it.  Of course, there are differences - one's an evil blood-sucker who molests women without consent, and the other one is a vampire.

I did set out this year to try and cover politics more thoroughly, and this included the documentary "Trumped: Inside the Greatest Political Upset of All Time", and also three docs from Michael Moore: "Weiner", "Sicko" and "Where to Invade Next".  But also on topic of politics was "Our Brand Is Crisis", "Truth", "Nashville", a few films about economics like "The Big Short" and then a bunch of films about Russia and Communism, like "Reds", "Pawn Sacrifice", and "Trumbo".

And along with politics this year came political assassinations, again and again.  This topic first popped up in "The Parallax View", followed shortly after by "Assassins" and "American Ultra", "Jackie" and "Bobby" (TWO films about Kennedy assassinations), "The Crying Game", "Vantage Point", and even "Nashville".  Plus there were hitmen in "Ghost Dog", "The Nice Guys" and "The Accountant" and the terrorism at the Boston Marathon in "Patriots Day", and finally a terrorist plot in "Inferno".

6) On the larger scale, war and international conflict, which pops up every year for sure, was depicted in "Free State of Jones" (post-Civil War), "Unbroken" (World War II), "We Were Soldiers" (Vietnam),  "The Year of Living Dangerously" (Indonesia), "Seven Years in Tibet" and more comically in "Start the Revolution Without Me" (French Revolution) and "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot" (Afghanistan).

Government agents and spies were also seen in "The Conversation", "The Specialist", "The Ipcress File" and its two sequels, "Body of Lies", "MI-5", "Eagle Eye", "Snowden", "Jason Bourne", "Criminal", "Bridge of Spies", and more comically in "Ishtar", "The Brothers Grimsby", "Keeping Up With the Joneses", and "You Don't Mess With the Zohan".  Then there were the cyber-crimes seen in "Black Hat", "Paranoia", "Now You See Me 2" and "Runner Runner".

7) Crime came back in a strong way this year, everything from murder on down to robbery.  Let's start the break-down with "Kalifornia", "Mr. Brooks" and "Untraceable" (serial killers) and then organized crime, as seen in "Black Mass" (Whitey Bulger), "Legend" (the Kray twins), and "Live By Night" (Prohibition bootlegging).  Then there was "Night Moves" (smuggling/kidnapping), "The Nice Guys" (arson/murder/kidnapping), "Stolen" (kidnapping), and "Money Monster" (hostage situation).  Let's not forget "Triple 9" (bank heist/cop killing), "Winter's Bone" (drug-dealing and murder) and the comedies "Irrational Man (murder of a corrupt judge) and "The Late Show" (detective solving murder).

Then there were thefts and heists, as seen in "Drugstore Cowboy" (robbing drugstores), "The Art of the Steal" (art theft & forgery), "Masterminds" (armored car heist), "You're Never Too Young" (diamond theft) and no less than four films about con artists: "Focus",  "Now You See Me 2" (magic-based heists),  "Matchstick Men", and "I Love You Philip Morris".  And all those heists needed a good get-away driver, as seen in "Drive".

That leads me to the vehicular crime in "The Bonfire of the Vanities" (hit-and-run), and then we've got "Regarding Henry" (man shot during a robbery).  More criminal activities were seen in "Nightcrawler" (tampering with/causing crime scenes), "Hesher" (arson/destruction of property), "Demolition" (destruction of property), "Out of the Furnace" (illegal gambling/fighting),  "Keanu" (drugs, gangs, cat-napping), "The 'Burbs" (spying on neighbors, breaking and entering), "Hot Pursuit" (something about protecting the widow of a drug boss, but come on, that plot was a real mess), and "Equus" (blinding horses, but did we ever find out why?)

Special shout-out to Ben Affleck who balanced his appearance as crimefighter Batman with four appearances as criminals in "The Accountant" (hit-man), "Live by Night" (bootlegging), "Boiler Room" (stock-market fraud) and "Runner Runner" (cyber-gambling)

7) Another big category this year was movies about performers - nearly every Fred Astaire film (see full list below) was about him being a famous singer or dancer, either going on holiday or putting on a Broadway show.  (most of them also seemed to feature a case of mistaken identity, but that's beside the point)

Other films that seem to fit in here include - "Café Society" (nightclub performers), "Idlewild" (jazz clubs), "Hail, Caesar!" (film directors & actors), "Factory Girl" and "I Shot Andy Warhol", "Danny Collins" (aging pop singer), "Don't Think Twice" (improv comics), "Sandy Wexler" (talent agent), "Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie" (supposedly about two filmmakers), "Hamlet 2" (school play director & performers), "Miles Ahead" (jazz musician Miles Davis), "La La Land" (jazz pianist & actress), "Cecil B. Demented" (anarchist filmmakers), "Lovelace" (porn actress), "Wonderland" (porn actor), "Jimi: All Is By My Side" (Jimi Hendrix), "Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping" (boy-band/pop star), "Bright Lights" (mother-daughter Hollywood actresses), "Sweet Liberty" (author/filmmakers), and "Rules Don't Apply" (Howard Hughes and his stable of actresses)

8) Which leads me into films about romances and relationships: There were two basic kinds of romance movies this year, and most of them fell into February by design, but the concept of romance also spread to the other months as well, that's just the way it breaks down.  The first kind was the classic romance film - let's just take all of the Fred Astaire films as a given, since most of them had some kind of romance plot, along with the singing and dancing.  The other classics this year were mostly a mix of Debbie Reynolds, Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin films: "How Sweet It Is!", "The Mating Game", "The Unsinkable Molly Brown", "The Tender Trap", "High Society", "Pal Joey", "Some Came Running", "Marriage on the Rocks", "Who Was That Lady?" and "Bells Are Ringing".  These always seemed inclined to end with either a party scene, a brawl, or a brawl during a party.  Other classic romance films featured Michael Caine in "Alfie" and  Liz Taylor and Richard Burton in "Cleopatra" and "The Taming of the Shrew", and we'll be seeing more of them in February 2018 too.

For the more modern romance films, it seems that the theme this year was "Everything goes wrong".  There were a number of films where, despite the characters' best efforts, falling in love or staying in love was extremely difficult due to many failures or slapstick accidents, all in the name of comedy (supposedly).  Of course, it's not supposed to be easy, but neither is it supposed to be this difficult.  These difficulties occurred in "Sleeping With Other People", "How to Be Single", "The Other Woman", "The Sweetest Thing", "What Happens in Vegas", "Just Married", "Riding in Cars with Boys", "Music and Lyrics", "The Rewrite", "What Women Want", "Dr. T & The Women", "Bride Wars", and also the January films "The Anniversary Party" and "By the Sea", May's "Mystic Pizza" and "Don Jon" and the August films "Town & Country" and "Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates".
And even though it's a classic film from the 1970's, "Two For the Road" with Audrey Hepburn also fits here, since it shows three European trips where everything went wrong.

9) And after Valentine's Day was over, I managed to find films for several other holidays - "Finian's Rainbow" (for St. Patrick's Day), "The Robe", "The Passion of the Christ", "Risen" (3 films for Easter), "Mother's Day", "Free State of Jones" (for Independence Day), "Labor Day" (for, umm, Labor Day). And for Back to School time, I watched - "Hamlet 2", "Orange County", "Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising".  Sorry, Christmas movies, better luck next year - it's not my fault that "Bad Santa 2" and "Office Christmas Party" didn't air in time to be worked into the chain.  

10), Oh, yeah, the other month-long holiday season, Halloween/Horror - It took a couple years, but I finally watched those early German expressionist "horror" films, namely "Faust", "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" and "Nosferatu".  That led thematically into the first "Dracula" film from 1931, then I followed that with a couple from the 1970's, and the best of the Hammer Studios "Frankenstein" films.  Of course, Turner Classic Movies and I were working at cross purposes, because at the same time they picked Dracula as their star of the month, so they were running all the Universal Dracula sequels, and all the Hammer Studios Dracula films.  Do you see why I get so discouraged with my lack of progress?

The rest of my October horror chain was devoted to the classic alien invasion films (mentioned above) and then the classic "creature" films - "Creature from the Black Lagoon" and its sequel, plus "Them!" (giant ants), "Tarantula" (giant spider), "The Deadly Mantis" (giant mantis) and 2 Godzilla films, the earliest and the most recent.  Bryan Cranston was my lead-out, and Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis were my lead-in with their comedy "Scared Stiff".

11) Another special category, which came about due to my new access to Netflix: Documentaries about filmmaking, Comic-Cons and other geek stuff: "Elstree 1976" and "I Am Your Father" (Star Wars), "For the Love of Spock" (Star Trek), "Jodorowsky's Dune", "Back in Time" (Back to the Future), "Ghostheads" (Ghostbusters), "Room 237" (The Shining), "Fanarchy" and "Raiders! The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made", "Comic Book: The Movie" and "Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope", and "Drew: The Man Behind the Poster" (about Drew Struzan's poster art, but at the end of the film, he appears at San Diego Comic-Con)

12) That still leaves sports, which was a really mixed bag this year - we had "Creed" (boxing), "Concussion" (football), "Eddie the Eagle" (ski-jumping), "Race" (Olympics, Jesse Owens), "Unbroken" (also Olympics), "Wild" (hiking),"Pawn Sacrifice" (chess), "Rush" (auto racing), and let's throw "Premium Rush" in here too (cycling).  Nothing really dominated, except that the Olympics popped up three times, the Summer Games twice and the Winter Games once.

13) And the last main category: Westerns - it's a stroke of good fortune that I was able to knock off "The Ridiculous 6", "The Magnificent Seven", and "The Hateful Eight" in the same year. Plus I got around to "The Revenant", "Forsaken", and "McCabe & Mrs. Miller".

Oddly, most of the other films seemed to break down in pairs.  But this makes a kind of sense, because I'm usually putting two films together on DVDs and I'm always looking for the connective tissue.  This year I watched "Criminal" and "Self/Less" (two Ryan Reynolds films where one person's soul/memories went in another person's body), "Burnt" and "Chef" (two films about high-end chefs suffering from creative burn-out and job/relationship problems), "Wild" and "Into the Wild" (two films about people dropping out of society to go hiking/living in the wild), "Moonlight Mile" and "Demolition" (two films where Jake Gyllenhall plays a young man grieving over a dead wife), "Carol" and "I Love You Philip Morris" (two films where married people get involved in gay romance), "Still Alice" and "Concussion" (two films about brain damage), "The Intern" and "Joy" (women succeeding in the corporate world), "Dirty Grandpa" and "Bad Grandpa", and if I'm stretching things, "Lion" and "Australia" (two films where Nicole Kidman adopts native orphaned children).  Wait, I almost forgot about "The 33" and "Deepwater Horizon" (two films about mining/drilling accidents) also "Room" and "10 Cloverfield Lane" (two films about people held in a confined space) and then there was "The Do-Over" and "You Don't Mess With the Zohan" (two films where Adam Sandler fakes his own death).

Then there are the films that pissed me off this year, by not following a linear narrative structure: "Two for the Road", "Unbroken", "Premium Rush", "Snowden", "Jackie", "Vantage Point", "Free State of Jones", "The Little Prince", "Into the Wild", "Steve Jobs", "Miles Ahead", "Arrival", "Lovelace", "Wonderland", and "Sully".  (I probably missed a few, too, but no time to double-check...) Enough with the fractured time-lines and excessive time-jumping, Hollywood.

And the following films stand accused of excessive Flashbackery: "Ishtar", "American Ultra", "Just Married", "Riding in Cars With Boys", "Wild", "The Age of Adeline", "Lion", "In the Heart of the Sea", "Ghost Dog: the Way of the Samurai", "Sandy Wexler", "Pawn Sacrifice", "The Accountant" and "Inferno".  The only film that gets a pass for flashbacks is "The Hateful Eight", because Tarantino knows what the hell he's doing.  OK, I'm going to give a pass to "Manchester By the Sea" too, because it used the technique the right way, too.

And a special shout-out to my home state of Massachusetts, which showed up this year in "Black Mass", "In the Heart of the Sea", "Manchester By the Sea", "Patriots Day", "Spotlight", "Labor Day",
                     
Now, the even harder part, counting up who had the inside track this year.  Actually, it's easy now because I started keeping track about two months ago, now I just have to compile it all before the New Year's ball drops.  The winner was never really in question, because I specifically set out to watch as many of his films as possible this year. (And I've 5 more on tap for 2018).  Beyond that, any actor who appeared in several animated films (voice-overs count) or those geek-themed documentaries (archive footage counts, too) had the inside track.  Heck, anyone who was in "The Hunger Games" made the list, because that was four appearances right there.  It also helped to be a character actor (they work a LOT) or to be the creator of a very famous comic-book company who likes making cameos in movies with his characters.
                
And this year's winner, with 14 appearances, is:
Fred Astaire - "The Band Wagon", "The Gay Divorcee", "Roberta", "Top Hat", "Follow the Fleet", "Swing Time", "Shall We Dance", "Carefree", "Broadway Melody of 1940", "Second Chorus", "Three Little Words", "The Barkleys of Broadway", "Finian's Rainbow", "Funny Face"

In second place, with 10 appearances:
Harrison Ford - "The Conversation", "The Age of Adaline", "Regarding Henry", "Elstree 1976", "Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope", "Fanarchy", "Raiders! The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made", "Drew: The Man Behind the Poster", "Paranoia", "Blade Runner 2049"

And third place, riding Fred Astaire's coat-tails, with 8 appearances:
Ginger Rogers - "The Gay Divorcee", "Roberta", "Top Hat", "Follow the Fleet", "Swing Time", "Shall We Dance", "Carefree", "The Barkleys of Broadway".

7 Appearances:
Woody Harrelson - "Now You See Me 2", "Triple 9", "Out of the Furnace", 4 "Hunger Games" films
Chris Hemsworth - "Doctor Strange", "Blackhat", "In the Heart of the Sea", "Snow White and The Huntsman", "The Huntsman: Winter's War", "Rush", "Thor: Ragnarok"
Jennifer Lawrence - "Joy", 4 "Hunger Games" films, "Winter's Bone", "Passengers"
Debbie Reynolds - "The Intern", "How Sweet It Is!", "The Mating Game", "The Unsinkable Molly Brown", "The Tender Trap", "Three Little Words", "Bright Lights"
J.K. Simmons - "The Rewrite", "Zootopia", "Patriots Day", "Labor Day", "La La Land", "Justice League", "The Accountant"
Frank Sinatra - "What Women Want", "The Tender Trap", "High Society", "Pal Joey", "Some Came Running", "Marriage On the Rocks", "Blade Runner 2049"
Kristen Stewart - "Still Alice", "American Ultra", "The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas", "Café Society", "Into the Wild", "Snow White and the Huntsman", "The Huntsman: Winter's War"
Michael Stuhlbarg - "Doctor Strange", "Body of Lies", "Steve Jobs", "Pawn Sacrifice", "Miles Ahead", "Arrival", "Trumbo"
Donald Sutherland - "Billion Dollar Brain", "Forsaken", "Start the Revolution Without Me", 4 "Hunger Games" films

6 Appearances:
Ben Affleck - "Suicide Squad", "Justice League", "The Accountant", "Live By Night", "Boiler Room", "Runner Runner"
Warren Beatty - "Reds", "Ishtar", "The Parallax View", "Rules Don't Apply", "Town & Country", "McCabe & Mrs. Miller"
Michael Caine - "Alfie", "Sweet Liberty", "The Ipcress File", "Funeral in Berlin", "Billion Dollar Brain", "Now You See Me 2"
Steve Coogan - "Minions", "Ella Enchanted", "The Secret Life of Pets", "Hamlet 2", "Despicable Me 3", "Rules Don't Apply"
Jim Cummings - "Minions", "Sing", "The Secret Life of Pets", "Comic Book: the Movie", "The Fox and the Hound 2", "Pocahontas 2: Journey to a New World"
J.D. Evermore - "Wild", "Stolen", "I Love You Philip Morris", "Deepwater Horizon", "Trumbo", "Live By Night"
Griff Furst - "Focus", "Self/Less", "I Love You Phillip Morris", "The Founder", "Trumbo", "The Magnificent Seven"
Zach Galifianakis - "What Happens in Vegas", "The Lego Batman Movie", "Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie", "Masterminds", "Keeping Up With the Joneses", "Into the Wild"
Liam Hemsworth - "Independence Day: Resurgence", "Paranoia", 4 "Hunger Games" films
Scarlett Johansson - "Hail, Caesar!", "Don Jon", "Sing", "The Jungle Book", "Chef", "Thor: Ragnarok"
Stan Lee - "Doctor Strange", "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2", "Spider-Man: Homecoming", "Comic Book: The Movie", "Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope", "Thor: Ragnarok"
Dean Martin - "Some Came Running", "Marriage on the Rocks", "Who Was That Lady?", "Bells Are Ringing", "You're Never Too Young", "Scared Stiff"
Julianne Moore - "Assassins", "Still Alice", "Don Jon", "Eagle Eye", 2 "Hunger Games" films
Nick Offerman - "Ice Age: Collision Course", "Sing", "Danny Collins", "My Life as a Zucchini", "Ernest & Celestine", "The Founder"
Wayne Pére - "American Ultra", "The Big Short", "Midnight Special", "Free State of Jones", "Spider-Man: Homecoming", "Trumbo"
Billy Slaughter - "Focus", "American Ultra", "The Big Short", "Midnight Special", "Trumbo", "The Magnificent Seven"
Jason Sudeikis - "Sleeping With Other People", "What Happens in Vegas", "Race", "Mother's Day", "The Angry Birds Movie", "Masterminds"
David Thewlis - "Anomalisa", "Seven Years in Tibet", "Legend", "Wonder Woman", "The Zero Theorem", "Justice League"
Stanley Tucci - "Mr. Peabody & Sherman", "Spotlight", 4 "Hunger Games" films
Forest Whitaker - "Out of the Furnace", "The Crying Game", "Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai", "Vantage Point", "Ernest & Celestine", "Arrival"

5 Appearances:
Sean Bridgers - "Midnight Special", "Room", "Free State of Jones", "Trumbo", "The Magnificent Seven"
Albert Brooks - "Concussion", "The Little Prince", "The Secret Life of Pets", "Finding Dory", "Drive"
Marcus Lyle Brown - "The Big Short", "Hot Pursuit", "Stolen", "Self/Less", "I Love You Phillip Morris"
Hannibal Buress - "Spider-Man: Homecoming", "The Secret Life of Pets", "The Angry Birds Movie", "Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising", "The Nice Guys"
Richard Burton - "Cleopatra", "1984", "The Taming of the Shrew", "The Robe", "Equus"
Sam Claflin - "Snow White and the Huntsman", "The Huntsman: Winter's War", 3 "Hunger Games" films
Joe Chrest - "Focus", "I Love You Philip Morris", "Deepwater Horizon", "Free State of Jones", "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2"
Billy Eichner - "The Penguins of Madagascar", "Sleeping With Other People", "What Happens in Vegas", "The Angry Birds Movie", "Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising"
Carrie Fisher - "Elstree 1976", "Wonderland", "Bright Lights", "Star Wars: The Last Jedi", "The 'Burbs"
Will Forte - "My Life as a Zucchini", "Keanu", "The Ridiculous 6", "Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie", "Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping"
Gal Gadot - "Triple 9", "Wonder Woman", "Criminal", "Keeping Up With the Joneses", "Justice League"
Jeff Goldblum - "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2", "Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie", "Nashville", "Thor: Ragnarok", "Independence Day: Resurgence"
Joseph Gordon-Levitt - "Don Jon", "Premium Rush", "Snowden", "Hesher", "Star Wars: The Last Jedi"
Ryan Gosling - "The Big Short", "Drive", "The Nice Guys", "La La Land", "Blade Runner 2049"
Bill Hader - "Sausage Party", "The BFG", "Finding Dory", "The Angry Birds Movie", "Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping"
Tom Hanks - "The Bonfire of the Vanities", "The 'Burbs", "Bridge of Spies", "Sully", "Inferno"
Garrett Hines - "The Big Short", "Stolen", "Midnight Special", "Deepwater Horizon", "Trumbo"
Hugh Jackman - "Australia", "Eddie the Eagle", "Chappie", "Logan", "Pan"
David Jensen - "Focus", "Hot Pursuit", "Midnight Special", "I Love You Phillip Morris", "Free State of Jones"
Richard T. Jones - "Concussion", "Hot Pursuit", "Moonlight Mile", "Vantage Point", "Godzilla" (2014)
Toby Jones - "Ever After: A Cinderella Story", "Snow White and the Huntsman", 3 "Hunger Games" films
Tom Kemp - "Café Society", "Black Mass", "Demolition", "Manchester By the Sea", "Irrational Man"
Leslie Mann - "Mr. Peabody & Sherman", "How to Be Single", "The Other Woman", "I Love You Philip Morris", "Orange County"
Jason Mantzoukas - "Sausage Party", "Dirty Grandpa", "Sleeping With Other People", "How to Be Single", "The Lego Batman Movie""I
Holt McCallany - "Concussion", "Blackhat", "Vantage Point", "Justice League", "Sully"
Tim McInnerny - "101 Dalmatians", "102 Dalmatians", "Eddie the Eagle", "MI-5", "Race"
Zoe Saldana - "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2", "Out of the Furnace", "Vantage Point", "For the Love of Spock", "Live By Night"
Adam Sandler - "The Do-Over", "Spanglish", "You Don't Mess With the Zohan", "The Ridiculous 6", "Sandy Wexler"
Peter Sarsgaard - "Black Mass", "Jackie", "Pawn Sacrifice", "The Magnificent Seven", "Lovelace"
Sylvester Stallone - "The Specialist", "Creed", "Assassins", "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2", "Comic Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope"
Sigourney Weaver - "Chappie", "Vantage Point", "Finding Dory", "Ghostheads", "The Year of Living Dangerously"
Jeffrey Wright - "Ernest & Celestine", "The Good Dinosaur", 3 "Hunger Games" films

4 Appearances -
Jan Arvan - "Some Came Running", "Bells Are Ringing", "The Robe", "20 Million Miles to Earth"
Lucille Ball - "Roberta", "Top Hat", "Follow the Fleet", "Trumbo"
Elizabeth Banks - 4 "Hunger Games" films
Cate Blanchett - "Cinderella", "Truth", "Carol", "Thor: Ragnarok"
Eric Blore - "The Gay Divorcee", "Top Hat", "Swing Time", "Shall We Dance"
Steve Carell - "Minions", "The Big Short", "Café Society", "Despicable Me 3"
Bradley Cooper - "Joy", "Burnt", "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2", "10 Cloverfield Lane"
Benedict Cumberbatch - "The Penguins of Madagascar", "Black Mass", "Doctor Strange", "Thor: Ragnarok"
Peter Cushing - "The Curse of Frankenstein", "The Revenge of Frankenstein", "Frankenstein Created Woman", "Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed"
Matt Damon - "Mystic Pizza", "The Zero Theorem", "Jason Bourne", "Thor: Ragnarok"
Laura Dern - "Dr. T & The Women", "Wild", 'The Founder", "Star Wars: The Last Jedi"
Adam Devine - "The Intern", "Ice Age: Collision Course", "The Lego Batman Movie", "Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates"
James DuMont - "Midnight Special", "Deepwater Horizon", "Patriots Day", "Trumbo"
Jesse Eisenberg - "American Ultra", "Now You See Me 2", "Café Society", "Justice League"
Idris Elba - "Zootopia", "The Jungle Book", "Finding Dory", "Thor: Ragnarok"
John Eyez - "Focus", "Stolen", "Triple 9", "I Love You Phillip Morris"
James Franco - "Sausage Party", "Tristan + Isolde", "The Little Prince", "Lovelace"
Domnhall Gleeson - "The Revenant", "Unbroken", "Ex Machina", "Star Wars: The Last Jedi"
John Goodman - "The Flintstones", "10 Cloverfield Lane", "Patriots Day", "Trumbo"
Douglas M. Griffin - "10 Cloverfield Lane", "Self/Less", "I Love You Philip Morris", "Deepwater Horizon"
Jess Harnell - "Minions", "Mr. Peabody & Sherman", "Norm of the North", "Comic Book: the Movie"
Anne Hathaway - "The Intern", "Bride Wars", "Ella Enchanted", "Don Jon"
Kate Hudson - "Dr. T & the Women", "Bride Wars", "Mother's Day", "Deepwater Horizon"
Helen Hunt - "What Women Want", "Dr. T & the Women", "Bobby", "Bob Roberts"
William Hurt - "Race", "Vantage Point", "Mr. Brooks", "Into the Wild"
Josh Hutcherson - 4 "Hunger Games" films
Oscar Isaac - "Body of Lies", "Ex Machina", "Drive", "Star Wars: The Last Jedi"
Allison Janney - "Minions", "Mr. Peabody & Sherman", "The Rewrite", "Finding Dory"
Michael Keaton - "Minions", "The Founder", "Spider-Man: Homecoming", "Spotlight"
Ben Kingsley - "The Boxtrolls", "Self/Less", "The Jungle Book", "Room 237"
Harry Jay Knowles - "Comic Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope", "Fanarchy", "Raiders! The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made", "Drew: The Man Behind the Poster"
Stephen Kunken - "Still Alice", "Café Society", "Jason Bourne", "Bridge of Spies"
Maurice LaMarche - "The Boxtrolls", "Zootopia", "Comic Book: the Movie", "Ghostheads"
John Leguizamo - "American Ultra", "Regarding Henry", "Ice Age: Collision Course", "Chef"
John Carroll Lynch - "Hot Pursuit", "Hesher", "Jackie", "The Founder"
Anthony Mackie - "Our Brand Is Crisis", "Eagle Eye", "Triple 9", "Runner Runner"
Paula Malcomson - 4 "Hunger Games" films
David Maldonado - "Deepwater Horizon", "Free State of Jones", "The 5th Wave", "Trumbo"
Jena Malone - "Into the Wild", 3 "Hunger Games" films
Rooney Mara - "Carol", "Lion", "Pan", "Kubo and the Two Strings"
Margo Martindale - "The Hollars", "28 Days", "Mother's Day", "Cars 3"
Erica McDermott - "Joy", "Black Mass", "Manchester by the Sea", "Patriots Day"
Kevin Nealon - "You Don't Mess With the Zohan", "Sandy Wexler", "Cecil B. Demented", "Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping"
Brad Pitt - "Seven Years in Tibet", "Kalifornia", "By the Sea", "The Big Short"
Parker Posey - "The Anniversary Party", "The Sweetest Thing", "Café Society", "Irrational Man"
Chris Pratt - "Bride Wars", "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2", "Passengers", "The Magnificent Seven"
John Ratzenberger - "Reds", "Finding Dory", "The Good Dinosaur", "Cars 3"
Margot Robbie - "Focus", "Suicide Squad", "The Big Short", "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot"
Seth Rogen - "Sausage Party", "Comic Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope", "Steve Jobs", "Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising"
Stephen Root - "Finding Dory", "Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates", "The Fox and the Hound 2", "Trumbo"
Kurt Russell - "The Hateful Eight", "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2", "The Art of the Steal", "Deepwater Horizon"
Rob Schneider - "You Don't Mess With the Zohan", "The Ridiculous 6", "Sandy Wexler", "Norm of the North"
Liev Schreiber - "Creed", "The 5th Wave", "Spotlight", "Pawn Sacrifice"
Willow Shields - 4 "Hunger Games" films
Jenny Slate - "Zootopia", "The Lego Batman Movie", "The Secret Life of Pets", "Despicable Me 3"
Patrick St. Esprit - "Truth", "We Were Soldiers", "Independence Day: Resurgence", "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" 
Nick Swardson - "The Do-Over", "You Don't Mess With the Zohan", "The Ridiculous 6", "Sandy Wexler"
Channing Tatum - "The Hateful Eight", "Hail, Caesar!", "Don Jon", "The Lego Batman Movie"
Elizabeth Taylor - "The Flintstones", "Cleopatra", "The Taming of the Shrew, "Bright Lights"
Charlize Theron - "Mad Max: Fury Road", "Kubo and the Two Strings", "Snow White and the Huntsman", "The Huntsman: Winter's War"
Marisa Tomei - "The Big Short", "The Rewrite", "What Women Want", "Spider-Man: Homecoming"
Alan Tudyk - "28 Days", "Zootopia", "Moana", "Trumbo"
Gary Weeks - "Self/Less", "Spider-Man: Homecoming", "The Nice Guys", "Sully"
Mary Elizabeth Winstead - "10 Cloverfield Lane", 'The Hollars", "Factory Girl", "Bobby"

And (God help me, this was really a lot of work) 3 Appearances -
J.J. Abrams - "Regarding Henry", "Comic Book: The Movie", "For the Love of Spock"
Scott Adkins - "Doctor Strange", "The Brothers Grimsby", "Criminal"
Casey Affleck - "Triple 9", "Manchester by the Sea", "Out of the Furnace"
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje - "Suicide Squad", "Concussion", "Trumbo"
Alan Alda - "What Women Want", "Sweet Liberty", "Bridge of Spies"
Mahershala Ali - "Free State of Jones", 2 "Hunger Games" films
Bruce Altman - "Bride Wars", "Regarding Henry", "Matchstick Men"
Paul Anderson - "In the Heart of the Sea", "Legend", "The Revenant"
Christina Applegate - "The Sweetest Thing", "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip", "Wonderland"
Alec Baldwin - "Concussion", "Still Alice", "Rules Don't Apply"
Ike Barinholtz - "Suicide Squad", "The Angry Birds Movie", "Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising"
Drew Barrymore - "Riding in Cars With Boys", "Music and Lyrics", "Ever After: A Cinderella Story"
Michael Beattie - "Minions", "The Secret Life of Pets", "Despicable Me 3"
Lake Bell - "Mr. Peabody & Sherman", "What Happens in Vegas", "The Secret Life of Pets"
Annette Bening - "Regarding Henry", "Danny Collins", "Rules Don't Apply"
Haley Bennett - "Music and Lyrics", "Rules Don't Apply", "The Magnificent Seven"
Mike Birbiglia - "Hot Pursuit", "Don't Think Twice", "Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping"
Jeremy Bulloch - "Comic Book: The Movie", "Elstree 1976", "I Am Your Father"
Sandra Bullock - "Minions", "28 Days", "Our Brand Is Crisis"
Nicolas Cage - "Stolen", "Matchstick Men", "Snowden"
Bill Camp - "Midnight Special", "Black Mass", "Jason Bourne"
Bobby Cannavale - "Chef", "Danny Collins", "Lovelace"
Mariah Carey - "The Lego Batman Movie", "You Don't Mess With the Zohan", "Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping"
Gwendoline Christie - "The Zero Theorem", "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2", "Star Wars: The Last Jedi"
Julie Christie - "Reds", "McCabe & Mrs. Miller", "Nashville"
Jemaine Clement - "Moana", "The BFG", "The Lego Batman Movie"
Lynn Cohen - "I Shot Andy Warhol", "Eagle Eye", "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire"
Lily Cole - "The Zero Theorem", "Snow White and the Huntsman", "Star Wars: The Last Jedi"
Charles Coleman - "The Gay Divorcee", "Shall We Dance", "Carefree"
Chris Cooper - "Demolition", "Cars 3", "Live By Night"
Steve Coulter - "Mr. Brooks", "The Founder", "The Hunger Games"
Bryan Cranston - "Trumbo", "Godzilla", "Drive"
Lavell Crawford - "American Ultra", "The Ridiculous 6", "Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates"
Billy Crudup - "Jackie", "Spotlight", "Justice League"
Alan Cumming - "The Anniversary Party", "The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas", "Strange Magic"
John Daly - "Bride Wars", "Hail, Caesar!", "Masterminds"
William Daniels - "Reds", "The Parallax View", "Two for the Road"
Stef Dawson - 3 "Hunger Games" films
Robert De Niro - "The Intern", "Joy", "Dirty Grandpa"
Cameron Diaz - "The Other Woman", "The Sweetest Thing", "What Happens in Vegas"
Guy Doleman - "The Ipcress File", "Funeral in Berlin", "Billion Dollar Brain"
Vincent D'Onofrio - "Mystic Pizza", "Room 237", "The Magnificent Seven"
Natalie Dormer - "Rush", 2 "Hunger Games" films
Robert Downey, Jr. - "Chef", "Spider-Man: Homecoming", "The Nice Guys"
Shelley Duvall - "McCabe & Mrs. Miller", "Room 237", "Nashville"
Zac Efron - "Dirty Grandpa", "Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising", "Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates"
Taron Egerton - "Legend", "Eddie the Eagle", "Sing"
Giancarlo Esposito - "Money Monster", "The Jungle Book", "Bob Roberts"
Elle Fanning - "The Boxtrolls", "Trumbo", "Live By Night"
John Farley - "You Don't Mess with the Zohan", "The Ridiculous 6", "Sandy Wexler"
Jon Favreau - "The Jungle Book", "Chef", "Spider-Man: Homecoming"
Ralph Fiennes - "Hail, Caesar!", "The Lego Batman Movie", "Kubo and the Two Strings"
Peter Firth - "Risen", "Equus", "MI-5"
Wilbur Fitzgerald - "The Founder", "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire", "Sully"
Nick Frost - "The Boxtrolls", "Snow White and the Huntsman", "The Huntsman: Winter's War"
Allen Garfield - "The Black Stallion Returns", "The Conversation", "Nashville"
Brad Garrett - "Music and Lyrics", "Finding Dory", "Pocahontas 2: Journey to a New World"
Mel Gibson - "What Women Want", "The Year of Living Dangerously", "We Were Soldiers"
Everett Glass - "Pal Joey", "The Thing From Another World", "Invasion of the Body Snatchers"
Heather Graham - "Drugstore Cowboy", "Bobby", "Norm of the North"
Beth Grant - "Matchstick Men", "Jackie", "Factory Girl"
Seth Green - "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2", "The Lego Batman Movie", "Comic Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope"
Clark Gregg - "We Were Soldiers", "Labor Day", "Live By Night"
Melanie Griffith - "Night Moves", "The Bonfire of the Vanities", "Cecil B. Demented"
Luis Guzman - "Keanu", "The Do-Over", "Sandy Wexler"
Jake Gyllenhaal - "Nightcrawler", "Moonlight Mile", "Demolition"
Gene Hackman - "The Conversation", "Reds", "Night Moves"
Tony Hale - "American Ultra", "The Angry Birds Movie", "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip"
Mark Hamill - "Comic Book: The Movie", "Elstree 1976", "Star Wars: The Last Jedi"
Jon Hamm - "Minions", "Keeping Up with the Joneses", "We Were Soldiers"
Tom Hardy - "Legend", "Mad Max: Fury Road", "The Revenant"
Desmond Harrington - "Riding in Cars with Boys", "We Were Soldiers", "Boiler Room"
Lucas Hedges - "The Zero Theorem", "Manchester By the Sea", "Labor Day"
Audrey Hepburn - "Funny Face", "Two For the Road", "Trumbo"
Jonah Hill - "Sausage Party", "Hail, Caesar!", "The Lego Batman Movie",
Dustin Hoffman - "Ishtar", "Moonlight Mile", "Chef"
Anders Holm - "Sausage Party", "The Intern", "How to Be Single"
Philip Seymour Hoffman - 3 "Hunger Games" films
Edward Everett Horton - "The Gay Divorcee", "Top Hat", "Shall We Dance"
John Hurt - "1984", "Thumbelina", "Jackie"
Thomas Jane - "The Sweetest Thing",  "Comic Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope", "Drew: The Man Behind the Poster"
Kristen Johnston - "Music and Lyrics", "Bride Wars", "The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas"
Diane Keaton - "Reds", "Finding Dory", "Town & Country"
Tom Kemp - "Café Society", "Black Mass", "Manchester by the Sea"
Catherine Keener - "Into the Wild", "Bad Grandpa", "Hamlet 2"
Anna Kendrick - "The Hollars", "Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates", "The Accountant"
Tom Kenny - "The Boxtrolls", "Sing", "Comic Book: The Movie"
Keegan-Michael Key - "The Angry Birds Movie", "Keanu", "Don't Think Twice"
Nicole Kidman - "Lion", "Australia", "Room 237"
David Krumholtz - "Sausage Party", "Hail, Caesar!", "Bobby"
Stephen Kunken - "Still Alice", "Café Society", "Jason Bourne"
Ashton Kutcher - "What Happens in Vegas", "Just Married", "Bobby"
Sandra Ellis Lafferty - "Self/Less", "The Hunger Games", "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire"
Diane Lane - "Untraceable", "Trumbo", "Justice League"
Jennifer Jason Leigh - "The Hateful Eight", "The Anniversary Party", "Anomalisa"
Jay Leno - "The Flintstones", "Weiner", "Sandy Wexler"
Jerry Lewis - "Trumbo", "You're Never Too Young", "Scared Stiff"
Jon Lovitz - "Mother's Day", "The Ridiculous 6", "Sandy Wexler"
Dolph Lundgren - "Hail, Caesar!", "Jodorowsky's Dune", "Comic Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope"
William H. Macy - "Room", "Bobby", "Ernest & Celestine"
John Magaro - "The Big Short", "Carol", "Unbroken"
Aasif Mandvi - "Music and Lyrics", "Mother's Day", "Premium Rush"
Kenneth Mars - "The Parallax View", "Night Moves", "Thumbelina"
Eleanor Matsuura - "MI-5", "Wonder Woman", "Justice League"
Rachel McAdams - "Doctor Strange", "Spotlight", "The Little Prince"
Matthew McConnaughey - "Kubo and the Two Strings", "Sing", "Free State of Jones"
Kate McKinnon - "Finding Dory", "The Angry Birds Movie", "Masterminds"
Scoot McNairy - "Our Brand Is Crisis", "Bobby", "Wonderland"
Fred Melamed - "Ishtar", "Hail, Caesar!", "Passengers"
Kate Micucci - "The Lego Batman Movie", "Don't Think Twice", "Sandy Wexler"
Sienna Miller - "Burnt", "Factory Girl", "Live By Night"
Maika Monroe - "The 5th Wave", "Labor Day", "Independence Day: Resurgence"
Demi Moore - "Forsaken", "Bobby", "Mr. Brooks"
Michael Murphy - "McCabe & Mrs. Miller", "Nashville", "The Year of Living Dangerously"
Thomas Francis Murphy - "Focus", "Self/Less", "Free State of Jones"
Laraine Newman - "The Flintstones", "Sing", "The Boxtrolls"
Leonard Nimoy - "For the Love of Spock", "Fanarchy", "Them!"
Andy Nyman - "Minions", "Despicable Me 3", "Star Wars: The Last Jedi"
Mike O'Malley - "Concussion", "28 Days", "Sully"
Nestor Paiva - "Creature from the Black Lagoon", "Revenge of the Creature", "Tarantula"
Michael Papajohn - "American Ultra", "Nightcrawler", "Live By Night"
Simon Pegg - "The Boxtrolls", "Ice Age: Collision Course", "For the Love of Spock"
Joe Pingue - "The Art of the Steal", "Room", "Drive"
George Plimpton - "Reds", "The Bonfire of the Vanities", "Factory Girl"
Richard Portnow - "Café Society", "Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai", "Trumbo"
David Prowse - "Comic Book: The Movie", "Elstree 1976", "I Am Your Father"
John C. Reilly - "The Anniversary Party", "Sing", "Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie"
Ryan Reynolds - "Logan", "Criminal", "Self/Less"
Eric Roberts - "The Specialist", "Lovelace", "Cecil B. Demented"
Julia Roberts - "Mother's Day", "Mystic Pizza", "Money Monster"
Terence Rosemore - "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2", "Triple 9", "The Nice Guys"
Maya Rudolph - "Strange Magic", "The Angry Birds Movie", "Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping"
Mark Ruffalo - "Now You See Me 2", "Spotlight", "Thor: Ragnarok"
Jackie Sandler - "The Do-Over", "The Ridiculous 6", "Sandy Wexler"
Jared Sandler - "The Do-Over", "The Ridiculous 6", "Sandy Wexler"
Rodrigo Santoro - "The 33", "Focus", "I Love You Phillip Morris"
Paul Scheer - "Bride Wars", "Comic Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope", "Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping"
Michael Shannon - "Midnight Special", "Premium Rush", "Cecil B. Demented"
Martin Sheen - "Bobby", "Rules Don't Apply", "Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping"
Mark Rhino Smith - "Creed", "Criminal", "Zootopia"
Will Smith - "Focus", "Suicide Squad", "Concussion"
David Spade - "The Do-Over", "The Ridiculous 6", "Sandy Wexler"
Bruce Spence - "Australia", "Peter Pan", "Gods of Egypt"
Steven Spielberg - "Raiders! The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made", "Drew: The Man Behind the Poster", "Back in Time"
Joe Stapleton - "Manchester by the Sea", "Spotlight", "Irrational Man"
Fisher Stevens - "Hail, Caesar!", "Bob Roberts", "Bright Lights"
Emma Stone - "La La Land", "Irrational Man", "Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping"
Sharon Stone - "The Specialist", "Bobby", "Lovelace"
Peter Stormare - "The Penguins of Madagascar", "Strange Magic", "The Zero Theorem"
Mark Strong - Tristan + Isolde", "Body of Lies", "The Brothers Grimsby"
Kay Sutton - "Roberta", "Follow the Fleet", "Carefree"
Tilda Swinton - "Doctor Strange", "Hail, Caesar!", "The Zero Theorem"
George Takei - "Kubo and the Two Strings", "You Don't Mess With the Zohan", "For the Love of Spock"
Fred Tatasciore - "The Boxtrolls", "The Angry Birds Movie", "The Huntsman: Winter's War"
Billy Bob Thornton - "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot", "Our Brand Is Crisis", "Eagle Eye"
Lily Tomlin - "Nashville", "The Late Show", "Orange County"
Donald Trump - "Snowden", "Weiner", "Trumped: Inside the Greatest Political Upset of All Time"
Herb Vigran - "The Unsinkable Molly Brown", "Bells Are Ringing", "The Band Wagon"
Alicia Vikander - "Ex Machina", "Burnt", "Jason Bourne"
Dominic West - "28 Days", "Money Monster", "Finding Dory"
Kristen Wiig - "Sausage Party", "Masterminds", "Despicable Me 3"
C.J. Wilson - "The Intern", "Demolition", "Manchester By the Sea"
Kate Winslet - "Triple 9", "Steve Jobs", "Labor Day"
Reese Witherspoon - "Wild", "Hot Pursuit", "Sing"
Finn Wittrock - "The Big Short", "Unbroken", "La La Land"
Robin Wright - "Wonder Woman", "Blade Runner 2049", "Justice League"
James Woods - "Night Moves", "The Specialist", "Riding in Cars With Boys"
Keenan Wynn - "Three Little Words", "Finian's Rainbow", "Nashville"
"Weird Al" Yankovic - "Sandy Wexler", "Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping", "Tapeheads"
Steve Zahn - "Riding in Cars With Boys", "The Good Dinosaur", "The Ridiculous 6"

Now, as writing this wrap-up has stretched from New Year's Eve Eve to New Year's Eve itself, I've got to really wrap things up.  I still have to give out my 2018 preview, pick someone to dedicate Year 10 to, and explain how I picked the start of the 2018 chain.  Let me get two of those out of the way here - what's on tap for 2018, and where is it going to start?

As I mentioned above, I've got about 160 films on the main Watchlist right now, with another 75 or 80 on the list of films to add, which are available on Netflix or Academy screeners.  The only way to keep the linking going was to isolate the romance films for February, and comb the cast lists of those films, looking for connections.  The best I could do was to assemble them into two main chains, so then I had early February and late February chains, with an unavoidable break in the middle.  Any romance film that didn't fit into one of these chains was (temporarily, at least) consigned to the "unlinkables" section.  I also rescued a few films from the "unlinkables" section of the list, but creating any chain by following SOME links inevitably means that I have to avoid others, so that also added a few films to the unlinkables section, it couldn't be avoided.

I've got the film "Once", and I really want to get to it, but it only links to ONE other film on my list, so I'm calling it a "One-linkable".  I could start the romance chain with it on February 1, but that still creates a break between Jan. 31 and Feb. 1, so that doesn't really solve the problem, it just moves it.  But accepting a break in the middle of February allowed me to determine what film would land on February 1, and from there I could reverse-link back to the start of January.  The first 14 or 15 links came very easy, because I dipped into the Netflix list as needed.  Then over the Christmas break, while I was up late in a hotel room in Massachusetts, I sat down with some scrap paper and a calendar and scrolled through some IMDB cast lists, and slowly but surely worked my way back to January 1.  It's not perfect, a chain never is, but it's a plan that gets me from Jan. 1 to about March 25 with only one break and one other indirect link.  For Year 10, that's probably the best I can do.

I knew I'd found the right film to start 2018 with when I realized it was also a One-linkable, so putting it there makes sense - it can't fit anywhere else during the year without causing a break in the chain.  So when I found this One-linkable that was 31 links away from the start of the romance chain - yeah, that's it.  As a bonus, I also found a way to get to the classic Sherlock Holmes films in March, I've got a good lead-in and lead-out for them now, and I think I can get to Easter-themed films in just about a week from there.  (Remember, I now allow linking by character as well as actor, so if I've got three films with, say, King Arthur in them, I can put those together even if they don't share any actors.)

Other coming highlights for January include the recent remake of "Going in Style", "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them", "Alice Through the Looking Glass" on Netflix, "A Monster Calls" and "Split".

So Goodbye 2017, please PLEASE let the door hit you in the ass on the way out, and I'll be back tomorrow with the start of Movie Year 10.