Happy April Fools Day! I guess the joke’s on us Minnesotans. Spring? Yeah right. As I’m writing this, our driveway is covered in white stuff again 
I didn’t expect to have to plow/shovel 6-8 inches of thick, wet, and heavy new snow! So much for rejoicing about not having to shovel again this year 😂
In any case, here’s what I watched last month:
NEW MOVIES
(films indicated with * are directed by women)
We Have A Ghost
I saw it only a month ago and I barely remember any of it. It was amusing but tonally off and I was left scratching my head the whole time just why in the world would David Harbour and Anthony Mackie sign up for this.
Breaker Upperers*
Madeleine Sami and Jackie van Beek wrote, directed, and starred in this New Zealand comedy about a pair of besties whose business is to break up unwanted relationships. Executive-produced by Taika Waititi, there are definitely touches of the zany, bawdy, irreverent style of humor he’s known for. There are moments that made me laugh out loud, but it’s uneven, unfocused, and at times ridden by cliches. Still, it was amusing enough to warrant a recommendation and I’m curious to see what Sam and van Beek will come up with next.
EMILY*
The Lost King
65
John Wick Chapter 4
Hustle
I don’t know why I put off watching this one on Netflix, but since I was canceling my subscription in mid-March, I decided to catch up on some of the well-reviewed movies on there. Well, I’m glad I did! Adam Sandler plays Stanley Sugerman, a basketball scout who discovers a phenomenal street ball player while in Spain but he ends up taking a big risk when he brings him to the US in order to get him drafted by the NBA.
This is perhaps one of my fave Sandler roles so far–he balances his self-deprecating sense of humor with genuine emotions to get you to be truly invested in his character’s journey. Real NBA player Juancho Hernangomez is so adorable as an amateur baller Bo Cruz, and he’s got a wonderful rapport with Sandler.. Highly recommend this one even for non-Sports fans.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods
Tetris
Troop Zero*
I’ve been wanting to check this out for some time, and since I just saw the talented young actress Mckenna Grace last month, I decided to finally watch it. It’s slow going at first but I was enamored by the story of an underdog who dreams of life in outer space. I used to be a girl scout as a kid so all the adventures of this makeshift troop of Birdie Scouts are fun to watch.
Viola Davis is always immensely watchable no matter what role she plays and she adds depth to her character of an aspiring attorney who ends up being a scout leader. The kid actors are adorable, especially Grace who’s so charming and talented. The Jamboree scene is a moving finale that beautifully wraps up this uplifting, heartfelt little movie.
AIR
review upcoming
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
The Good House*
The reason I was excited to see this was the Sigourney Weaver and Kevin Kline reunion, even though for the first half or so, Kline was barely in it. I wasn’t sure where this movie was going at first, but Weaver made it watchable and made me curious about her character. This is such a great role for the 73-year-old actress–she plays a New England realtor whose life unravels upon meeting an old lover and as she refuses to admit she has a drinking problem. It’s a nice diversion from her usual role of a strong, wise, no-nonsense woman. The modern approach with the breaking-the-fourth-wall stuff is amusing but feels a bit odd at times.
The parts I enjoy the most are when Weaver and Kline are together, including the rather awkwardly hilarious love scene. File this under movies that start slow but actually get better as it progresses, topped with a satisfying ending. The Good House is not perfect but I wish Hollywood would make more of this type of dramedies with seasoned actors.
Murder Mystery 2
review upcoming
Rye Lane*
review upcoming
TV SERIES
AppleTV is on a roll – they’re churching out so many new movies and series I could barely keep up. Two of my favorite series, Mandalorian and Ted Lasso, are back with Season 3 and I’m enjoying it so far!
LIAISON – full review »
The Mandalorian S3
Ted Lasso S3
Extrapolations S1
I’ve only managed to see two episodes of Extrapolations, but frankly, it’s pretty disappointing so far. The subject matter is obviously an important one but even for someone who’s on board with the message being presented, I find it hard to engage with any of the characters. It doesn’t help that the gloom & doom vibe is depressing and the preachy delivery makes it feel more like a star-studded PSA than a compelling character-driven drama. I’d be willing to watch maybe one more episode and see if it’s worth watching all the way through.
So I’m continuing the 52 Films By Women challenge I started on International Women’s Day a few years ago. Per Women In Film (WIF) organization, the basic rules are simple: watch 52 films directed by women within the course of one year and share what you watched on social media, using the hashtag #52FilmsByWomen to spread the word, and get more people talking about the women filmmakers that don’t always get attention.
I was afraid I would fall short this month but I rallied in the last week of the month so I ended up with 5 movies by women: Breaker Upperer, EMILY, Troop Zero, The Good House, and Rye Lane.
REWATCHES
Always fun to rewatch old favorites! My hubby and I are such big fans of The Mask of Zorro and it’s immensely rewatchable. We finally rewatched Maverick after seeing it in the theater last May and I actually enjoyed it more this time around. That inspired us to rewatch some of the Mission Impossible movies in anticipation of Dead Reckoning – Part One coming in July. Dayum, the insane Burj Khalifa scene is still as thrilling as ever!
The Mask of Zorro
Top Gun Maverick
Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
MARCH 2023 MOVIE OF THE MONTH
RYE LANE
Wrapping up Women’s History Month on the last day of March, I wanted to see a movie by a female director. Thankfully, RYE LANE just dropped at Hulu! A full review upcoming, but let’s just say I LOVED this one, now I can add yet another charming and funny London-set rom-com to my list of favorites.
So what did you see in MARCH and which one(s) are your favorites?
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FLIXCHATTER FILM BLOG 
I keep hearing great things about Rye Lane which got a glowing review from Mark Kermode as it helped the film reach the U.K. Top 10 box office. I wanna see it. I’m also watching The Mandalorian and Ted Lasso as I’ve been enjoying both of those shows.
We all want to go after Nate for betraying Ted but there’s 2 bigger villains in this. Rupert and that fucking marriage counselor.
Rye Lane is so good!! Glad that Mark Kermode likes it too, I trust his judgments quite. a bit.
Yes, Rupert is so awful in Ted Lasso!! Anthony Head is terrific in that role. You’re referring to Ted’s marriage counselor who cheated on his wife? Yeah that scene is so devastating to watch, poor Ted!
Yep. The guy who is with Ted’s wife and being Henry’s father figure. I hate that motherfucker already and he gave Ted another panic attack and Ted isn’t fine right now. Sassy and Dr. Sharon are trying to help him. I think the entire Richmond staff and team need to help Ted. Sassy, Dr. Sharon, Rebecca, Keeley, Keeley’s CFO, Mrs. Higgins, and Rebecca’s mum should put a beat-down on this fucking quack. Oh, Phoebe and Nora as well.
I’m so tire of the snow, apparently this winter is the third most snowiest season in MN history. I can’t wait for the warm weather to get here since I move to my new house at the end of the month.
Saw movies twice in theater last month, Creed 3 and John Wick 4. That’s most the I’ve ever visited a theater since the before Covid. Lol! For TV shows, I’ve just finished Netflix’s The Night Agent a couple of nights ago. Good show but hopefully Netflix put some money into the second season since it became a big hit for them. Then just caught up with The Mandalorian season 3, final season of Succession and second season of Mayor of Kingstown. I totally forgot about Extrapolations, might watch it later this year once I’m all moved into my new place and install my home theater.
I love The Mask of Zorro, I bought the 4K disc last year and it looks and sounds spectacular, especially in Dolby Atmos. I’m bummed that it never took off as a franchise and the sequel turned out to be awful.
I totally forgot since I started watching it way back at the end of February and finished it by early March. But my favorite show from last month was Station Eleven. Glad I waited till Covid has died down to watch it, otherwise it would’ve been quite depressing to watch it during its original run. Lol!
Hey Ted! So is The Night Agent worth watching then? I don’t have Netflix now but might put that on my watch list once I renew later in the Fall.
The Mask Of Zorro has a sequel?? I didn’t even know and glad I didn’t as I bet it’s awful!
Oh Station Eleven is excellent!! I saw it during the pandemic but it wasn’t during its most severe period. Yeah it was weird to watch it during that time but the writing/acting are so good I didn’t mind.
Yeah, I enjoyed The Night Agent, it’s nothing special but worth a watch. Like I said earlier though, it’s very low production quality, I assume Netflix didn’t have much faith in it and didn’t spend that much money on the show. Now that it became a hit, I hope they’ll fork over some big money for season 2. The show needed bigger action set pieces. Also, the show’s casting is very diverse and the hero isn’t a super agent like Bond, Bourne or Hunt. He gets his butt whooped a lot. Lol! They tried to make it more grounded compare to other shows/movies in this genre.
The sequel to Zorro came out in 2005, it came and went in theaters pretty quick. It’s not very good at all. It came out during the weird time when Hollywood tried to cash in the “family” friendly action genre in the 2000s and early 2010s. I think when Pirates of the Caribbean became a massive hit, other studios wanted to copy it with their films.
Ok now I’m curious to check out Night Agent, maybe later once I’ve re-subscribed to Netflix again in the Fall.
I’m glad I’ve never seen the Zorro sequel. Same w/ The Mummy, love the first one but never bothered w/ the sequels, or worse, the spinoff w/ Dwayne Johnson, ugh!
The Zorro sequel, they turned it into some family friendly fare and it didn’t work at all. I was never a fan of The Mummy films with Brandon Fraser, I saw the first two but never bother with the third film or the spinoff.
FYI.. I live in Los Angeles about 2 miles from the beach.. it snowed at my apartment. I looked at my sea level because I was in shock..granted it melted right off – but still. I’m at 305 ft. The Hollywood sign was covered in snow. We’ve had 900 inches of snow in our mountains – they expect ski resorts to stay open till July. I feel every bit of what you say here. 🙂
Hey Peggy! Glad to hear from you. Man sorry about the long Covid that really put a dampen to your writing. Hope you’re on the mend now. Yeah I’ve been hearing all the crazy weather-related havocs in CA, so did you get flooding too? I remember seeing in the news that some movie premieres got flooded!! Good thing you didn’t live in the mountains area, the snowstorm was so crazy, I’ve never seen anything like it and I live in Minnesota!
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