Since implmenting screen-free Sundays, we've been playing more board games and Clue is one of those featured. We decided to share this with the kids and they really loved it. We tried to explain the multiple endings and I can't wait until they are older and can see other classic Tim Curry works.

Watching "I Had an Abortion" on Kanopy. It's distributed by Women Make Movies. It chronologically highlights the experiences of women who had abortions in the 1930s up until the move was created in 2005. This includes famous Gloria Steinem, but also, at the 34:20 mark, a woman named Jenny Egan, who grew up Mormon. Some women already had children, some would later have children, and some never had any. With 1/4 women in the United States having an abortion at some point in her life, it's important to listen to these stories and keep abortion safe and legal.

Watched this with the kids since they are going through the MCU mvoies. This one is fun. Paul Rudd is a gem.

Another family movie night flick. This one was really good. The same studio made Into the Spiderverse and you can tell they are testing the bounds of computer animation in this new one just as much as the Spiderverse. I told my husband that it's like Pixar isn't even trying anymore and now Sony Animation is giving them a run for their money and being the creative leaders in the animation space.

The Bicycle Film Festival is virtual this year and we bought the tickets for the San Francisco screening time. We loved it- a wonderful mix of the previous years' films and new ones. Some from the 2012 Olympics, and one from the BLM protests of 2020. I loved the first animation one. Very cute. Highly recommend watching it. My kids really got into it and one now wants to try BMX.

This is one of those movies where I used a random number generator to pick the movie and so I watched it. It's a British comedy horror film from 1990. That'll tell you enough about the level of humor and scariness there is. It's all very highly contrived, but does keep to the vampire tropes of anti-sunlight, anti-garlic, wooden stakes, crucifixes, and drinking blood. So there's that.

Bonus surprise: Anthony Daniels (C3PO) is the priest.

I knew about prison, hospital, and military chaplains and have friends who have been prison and hospital chaplains, but I learned that Tyson Foods employs 200 chaplains for their meat facilities, and that there are Nascar Chaplains. I also learned more about the Chaplain of the United States Senate (and apparently, House of Representatives). I think that attending to people's spiritual and emotional needs, non-denominationally, is a vital part of humanity that gets overlooked.

I've linked to the Kanopy page for watching it since it is free through many libraries, including my local Oakland Library.

IMDB link

I expected this to be mainly about the camp, but it is really mostly about how Section 504 and the ADA came to be. This is very important history and too recent- we should have had these changes much sooner, and there is so much to do yet for disability rights. It should have won the Oscar over My Octopus Teacher, absolutely. Should be required watching for teens when learning about civil rights- disabilty rights are just not taught about in school. And anyone at any time can become disabled. So important for everyone.

I have not seen the anime- maybe I should now. I went into this only knowing that it was supposed to be scary. I found the time limits and the structure of the world/magic really engaging. and had fun the whole time.

Now here's a classic I never got around to watching as a teen! I'm glad I got to watch it with my kids, though. Jack Black does everything right here and the kids are outstanding (some even went on to become professional musicians). Wonderful messages about drive, learning, and body confidence. Definitely recommend. Remind yourself what learning is really about, especially in this virtual schooling pandemic time.

The story of this octopus is a sad one. I was not interested in Foster's story or why he ended up filming in a South African kelp forest. White man tears. But the octopus- I really liked her. Foster forms this friendship, but when the octopus is in need in a shark attack where she loses an arm, he doesn't do anything. I just think that if this octopus is as advanced as a dog or cat, she probably felt a little bit betrayed that her human friend just stood by. I get that he wanted to "leave nature alone" but he wasn't doing that to start with. Introducing an observer absolutely changes the environment.

But did I get teary when she died and meditate on my own mortality? Yes, I did.

I don't know why I started watching this- I think because it started related to biking, though I'm not really into road bike racing. And then it turned into quite the affair! Fogel really hit the jackpot by starting to work with Rodchenkov just before all the Russian drugging scandal happened. It was really interesting. I didn't pay much attention to the Russian doping scandal when it happened, but since the Olympics are this summer again, it's good to catch up on it.

These were definitely made to be watched together, so here they are. Lots of plot holes, if you give it a think. Do they really think leaving Jennifer in the future would work? Also, if going forward to the future and then back splits timelines so much, how come future Biff's travel back and forward didn't split the timeline? Also, typical Hollywood portrayal of Native Americans, so that's not cool.

But the kids found it very fun.

Watched this one with the kids for movie night. They are finally at the age where they can really enjoy movies and the references. It had been a while since I had seen it and it was still good. The writers really thought out almost everything. The kids are excited to watch the next one.

This was our family movie night movie and I hadn't seen it before. I like the DC stories and wish the movies were better in general. This one was one of the better ones, but dispite the PG-13 rating, was mostly geared towards kids. And my kids loved it and it was fun. Would be interested in sequels about the family of Shazam super heroes.

We watched this solely because we thought we should round out the trilogy. Always love Brendan Fraser and Jet Li.

With the combination of Black History month and our love of bicycles, we decided to watch this PBS documentary from 1999 about the 25th Infantry's bike ride from Montana to Missouri. The army wanted to see if troops on bicycles would be a good replacement for troops with horses. Bicycles don't need feeding and are quieter and don't kick up dust and give away your position like horses do. This regiment was an all black group and the documentary talks about the racism they experienced and what happened to them after they left the army.

This 2001 sequel to the Mummy is much more of an adventure film and it's fun and funny and CGI Dwayne Johnson is a bit too uncanny valley for us. But we loved watching it. It's not a movie you watch when you want award-winning film, but hey, it's fun and the scarabs are still very creepy.

We've been watching Schitt's Creek and at the end of the fifth season, the town puts on a performance of Cabaret. Because musicals were discouraged in our house growing up, I missed any exposure to this musical so I figured I should see the film before watching the Schitt's Creek episode.

This was really good. Lisa Minelli carries the whole show and the complex issues of bisexuality in a world where Naziism is rising are played well.

We finally watched the 2020 live action version of Mulan. It was pretty good and the kids liked it. I liked how they brought in the musical themes from the cartoon version. Probably could have used some singing and a fun dragon side kick. I think the phoenix was supposed to represent that, but it got gimmicky, especially at the end giving her "wings". I thought the relationship between Mulan and Xianniang was really great and I liked the mentor role she took.

This one is really good. The pace is nice and steady and there are bits of hilarity throughout, but also it is about the very real struggles of a family trying to make it. It should definitely get a nomination, if not a win.

This was a beautiful movie and the whole family enjoyed it. Definitely recommend, though a little scary if you have sensitive little ones.

It had been a while since I had seen the 1999 The Mummy with Brendan Fraser so it was a good option for showing the kids. It was a bit too scary for the youngest, but it's a fun romp. Everyone in the cast is beautiful and on point. The graphics seem a little silly now, but it's still properly creepy/freaky/scary.

We got to see an early screening of this virtually and it was really very touching. I found Fern's character to be extremeley relatable and you are really compelled to imagine yourself as a nomad and think on your own relationships and what makes life meaningful.

Definitely recommend watching it.

This is a lovely Japanese movie. We watched it dubbed instead of in the original Japanese because of our kids. But it was very cute. The arc and pacing are calm and even. I think the way the boy's relationship with his ancestors helps him in his growth is endearing and bold.

We were a little late to watching this. Its arc is not heavy/very movie-like. Much more like a long episode. But it's a fun one- fun music and motorcycles.

This Pixar movie was delayed half a year and ended up coming out as streaming instead of in the theaters because of the pandemic, but it is very lovely. I think the theater experience would have been better but it's fun. I think the message about our purpose/spark in life is really important.

A fun musical with a majority-black cast, which is very fun. The second half drags a little.

Lots of wonderful things in this action movie: Jet Li and Aaliyah (may she rest in peace), for starters.

Jet Li escaping a Chinese prison by bike. It takes place in Oakland (though the opening sequence is all San Francisco landmarks).

Also A+ for the biracial (Asian/Black) main characters and central romance.

A coworker mentioned this being a classic example of "bisexual lighting" so I added it to my list. It was a fun action movie and I love the German setting. Ganz toll.

This is the classic 1947 black and white version where the USPS saves the day. Gotta love the post office.

Here's one I missed from back in the day. I read the book years ago and figured we should get around to this classic ScarJo movie. Pretty good.

Another one on the Top 100 Comedies on the BBC list. This is a good classic- touches on racism and wealth and stickin' it to the man. Could do without the blackface, though.

We watched this at the suggestion of a friend. Very meta and you can definitely see it coming, but you want to go along for the ride as it happens. I've not read The Orchid Thief, but I can definitely see it being trouble to write a screenplay for.

This was one we watched with the kids. Very cute and all of the scenes with the moon goddess are great. It's as if Pixar wanted to do a musical, but it's not Pixar. Not as emotional as most Pixar movies, though.

Very cute movie. I'd be interested in watching the musical, too.

This is Regina King's first movie as a director and I really liked it. You'd think that a movie that consists mostly of people talking to each other in a hotel room would be boring, but you definitely want to keep watching. Would recommend.

I guess this is my year for watching horror movies made in 2018. We went into this one not knowing it was a horror comedy and being surprised with the comedy aspects. There are essentially 2 movies in this one. The first follows one woman who buys the red dress and ends up dying and the second is of a man who wears the dress on a dare. I guess it all comes together in the end. Definitely for a mature audience. Don't take it too seriously.

This one is a good slow burn. I expected more creepiness early on, but it does get there. I think a second watch would indicate more spookiness early on- a lot is subtle and I bet knowing the ending makes the beginning scarier. Not for the faint of heart (gruesome death, spooky suspense, etc), but only one big jump scare. I think I'll have to watch it a second time.

I have a hard time getting into movies with Johnny Depp because his alleged abuse against his partner(s?). But I like Alan Rickman. The songs weren't as catchy as I was expecting, but maybe I'd need to see it a couple of times. I was surprised that they did leave the "good" characters alive at the end instead of killing at least the little boy off. If you want a dark musical, here's one.

After watching The Awakening, I expected this South Korean horror film to delve into mysticism as well, but it was just a straight-forward slasher film. And if this film were accurate, South Korea would be teeming with serial killers. This movie is not accurate, and Korea isn't full of serial killers, but that's what you'll get here.

This is a modern film stylized to look like a horror movie from the 60s. And they do a really great job in that: from the fashion to the soundtrack, to the camera work. It's not that much of a horror film, though people do die and people are stabbed and bloody. Watch just for the style.

This South Korean horror film is also really great. You don't know the truth until the last couple of minutes and so you want to keep watching. It's got magic, it's got strange illnesses, vampire-like creatures in the forest. It's just good.

A solid, quality spooky movie. Jump scares, ghosts, unreliable characters/narrators that leave you wondering what is going on until the end. And then end kind of makes you want to watch it again, knowing what the ending is.

I hadn't seen this classic horror film until this year. My mother said she saw it as a teenager and that it gave her nightmares for weeks, which seems funny now in 2020, when the special effects look much more campy and low-budget than current movies. It was also obviously made in the 60s with how they treat women: absolutley like objects. One character even mentions how hard it will be to fight back the ghouls with just the "3 of us" completely not counting the 2 women present. Of course, one of the women is in shock and completely useless.

But it was a lot of fun to watch. A few plot holes (that dead person upstairs never came to life? the mother just waited for her daughter to kill her- she couldn't stand up and overpower an undead child?), but it was fun. And the ending- well, unfortunately, ACAB. The last 5 minutes was definitely the worst part of the movie, graphic-wise, for me.

Oh wow, Midsommar. I really loved it. The mood, the setting, especially. You can tell there was obviously a lot of thought put into the paintings and costumes and sets. It's long, but you don't ever want to stop watching. I mean, there are parts that are very graphic and you might want to look away, but also, you get wrapped up in the ethereal mood.

I'm sure the reason for all this nonsense is that no one is getting good sleep when it's only dark for 3 hours at night in the middle of the summer. Not a good combination for thinking clearly.

It did have me wondering where the sheep were. It doesn't stay summer all year and they need some wool to stay warm the other half of the year. Where is there knitting? I'm sure it's as gorgeous as their woodworking and painting and embroidery. I'm totally down for a Midvinter sequel.

I had seen parts of this movie as a kid and didn't get very far in- the part with the girl in the painting was too spooky for me. I decided I'm grown-up enough that I should be able to handle this now. And I am. The puppetry and effects are SO GOOD and I read that this was Jim Henson's last movie. I'm curious if it'd be as spooky to my kids, since what scares kids has probably changed over time.

This is the 2014 Godzilla. It was a good mix of classic Godzilla action (eg. Godzilla fighting other large monster) and some modern believablility. But not too much believablility. It'd Godzilla.

Here's a fun one for our spooky month. I was surprised when the first death hit. When the first girl was saved by our two hero hillbillies, I figured everyone would be saved unexpectedly, but no. Just her. Has gore, not for children. It's fun, though.

This has everything my husband likes (romantic comedy) and everything I like (bicycles). It was very cute and sweet and I really appreciated that it handled the relationships well and good relationsips weren't thrown away simply because it makes a good story. We watched it for free through Kanopy.