The Last Movie You Watched

[Fake Messiah]

My Salinger Year (2020) this movie is like Devil Wears Prada but with less conflict and less drama. Actually, there is almost no conflict in this. The movie ends with the protagonist leaving her lucrative job to become a poet - as if being a poet is a job. I mean it's so stupid that you can't even laugh at it.

It made me appreciate Woody Allen (even more) as how he could make interesting movies set in Manhattan, a place that seems to be populated with the most boring people on Earth - according to movies set there for the last 25 years.

Then I also remember that "Seinfeld" and "Friends" were set in Manhattan and they were fun shows with interesting characters. So what happened?

[Nanny]

The Trial of the Chicago Seven (2020). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Trial_..._Chicago_7

I mostly enjoyed this legal procedural about the aftermath of the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago. The storytelling begins with each of the principals departing for the protests. Each has a different motive - to end the war, to protest the draft, to protest Nixon, to give a speech, to advance Democratic ideals, to stir things up politically. I credit Sacha Cohen for attempting a Worcester, MA accent, but he comes off more Rhode Islandish at times (I grew up in the same neighborhood as Abbie Hoffman, albeit in the 1980s, and the accent is distinct) but that's a local's beef.

Frank Langella's performance as Judge Hoffman is over the top, but by all accounts the real Hoffman was pretty much a lunatic. Michael Keaton shines, and the stars of the show are Joseph Gordon Leavett and Mark Rylance, who play opposing counsel. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II give a memorable performance as well.

I'm a fan of a well executed procedural and this one delivers. Worth a watch.

[Gwaithmir]