Party Girl, 1995. Parker Posey is a dance hall fanatic who, upon finding herself financially strapped, decides to become a librarian.   This film is amusing from a librarian POV because she begins working in an early 1990s system that still uses a physical card catalog, in which digital records are nonexistent. I did appreciate Parker growing to love the order of library & information sciences, and the magic of being an information voodoo operator.  Also, the part where she screamed at a patron was fun. 

The Year of Living Dangerously, 1982. Young Mel Gibson is a reporter from Sydney who is dispatched to Jakarata on the eve of armed unrest  against a military dictatorship. He befriends a local photographer, “Billy”, as well as Sigourney Weaver, who is playing an assistant to a western military officer.   He betrays both of their confidences after they feed him some information intending to save his life, and then boogies – but still gets the girl. 

The Benchwarmers, 2006.  Rob Schnedier repeatedly beats an entire team of children in baseball.  I only watched this because it was baseball related and free to stream on prime.

After the Thin Man 1936.   A cinematic sequel to the movie based on Hammett’s original novel, reusing some of the same principal actors. Amusing/engaging. . 

To Die For, 1995. Nicole Kidman plays a blonde bombshell who wants to be famous more than anything, and if that means seducing a teenager or two and having them shoot her husband who has annoying ideas like “spending time together” and “having children”, then so be it.   Prescient of tiktok culture. 

Rookie of the Year, 1993.  A dismal junior league prospect has an arm injury that heals oddly, leaving him in possession of a super pitching arm. He plays for the Chicago Cubs, employing both his supernatural arm and his innate kid ability to annoy the hell out of adults.  (He’s a little Ty Cobb terror on the bases,  psyching out the pitcher and constantly pushing for the steal.) Probably my favorite part was Surprise John Candy!

Angels in the Outfield, 1951. A little girl at a Catholic orphanage (St. Gabriel’s) prays for her Pirates and especially their manager as they enter a slump and the manager becomes known for his swearing and fighting. Enter the Voice of God — or at least, Gabriel’s voice, who admonishes the manager to rein in his temper and tongue and treat other people like human beings instead of obstacles and opponents. Little orphan Annie — or in this case, Bridget — later meets the manager after her claim to see angels in the outfield (hey, that’s the name of the movie!) hits the press and inspires him to become a better man. Sweet story. The 1990s remake introduced physical effects and a lot more comedy.

Donkey Baseball, 1935. I don’t know if this counts, being a short film included as an extra on the Angels disc, but hey, why not?

Legally Blonde, 2001. Reese Witherspoon is a sorority girl dumped by her boyfriend for someone ‘more serious’.  To prove to him that she’s got what it takes to be a Serious Society Wife, Reese applies to Harvard Law, and once engaged grows as a character and finds she’s more interested in being a lawyer than being ex-boyfriend’s trophy wife.  I wasn’t expecting much from this movie besides Reese Witherspoon, but liked how her character was developed: she doesn’t lose her love for expressive fashion or her general cheer to become Serious Lawyer Lady.

Gothic, 1986.   That’s an hour and a half of my life gone. My cinema buddy sold it to me as a dramatized version of the weekend Mary Shelley spent with a few friends at Lord Byron’s, which inspired her to write Frankenstein. He neglected to mention the summoning a demon  > fever dream plot that the movie turned in to.   The only redeeming aspect  was seeing a younger Natasha Richardson, who I’d previously seen in The Parent Trap with Lindsay Lohan.

Legally Blonde 2, 2003. Reese Witherspoon goes to Washington and becomes a lobbyist against animal testing. Sally Field plays…an antagonist?

The Last Rodeo, 2025.  An aging former rodeo champion pushes himself to try for the bull-riding championship for a fourth time (decades after he retired) to earn money to pay for his grandson’s medical expenses. He has to patch up his relationship with his daughter along the way, who resents him for how he almost destroyed himself with liquor and bull-riding.

Clueless, 1995.   Watched this for Alicia Silverstone and Paul Rudd.  Everyone in this movie has cellphones and they talk on them constantly like they’re from ten years in the future. AS IF! 

Operation Petticoat, 1959. Cary Grant is a submarine commander whose mission gets complicated by the rescue of women-folk. Mostly watched for Cary Grant.

A Complete Unknown, 2024. WOW. I knew I would love this Bob Dylan biopic just based on the recording of the title track, and the fact that I have NEVER not loved a Timothee Chalomet movie, but Ed Norton was a surprise as Pete Seeger. Also appreciated the steady presence of Johnny Cash, though he could’ve been better cast and I was unaware that Johnny had such a connection to the folk scene.