El Conde (2023)

Rotten Tomatoes

El Conde (2023): Chile. Dictator Augusto Pinochet is a 250-year-old vampire. Aging Pinochet wants to die, but can't. His wife wants to be bitten, but he won't oblige. The kids just want their inheritance. Satire/horror/historical fiction. Shot in haunting B&W. The scene with the flying nun is beautiful. B-

A Reverie of Hot Vernor's Ginger Ale

Jim Schutze, retired Dallas journalist, still shakes his fist at the sky in Facebook posts. Yesterday's rant caught my attention.

I ordered two twelve packs of Vernon's ginger ale from WalMart.

They said they would send me Vernor's ginger ale. They sent me Canada Dry.

Canada Dry. For Vernor's ginger ale.

OMG. Is this how it is now? I think I'm about done here.

Source: Jim Schutze.

That triggered a long-ago memory.

Leave the World Behind (2023)

Rotten Tomatoes

Leave the World Behind (2023): Family on a "get away from it all" vacation finds themselves losing connection with the world: phones, TV, internet, GPS. Watch it not for the science but for the psychological study of people reacting to the same disaster in different ways at difference speeds. B+

May December (2023)

Rotten Tomatoes

May December (2023): Actress researching a part meets with woman who had a baby with a 7th grader 24 years ago. They interact warily as the tension builds. The last 20 minutes is where stuff happens. Raises more questions than it answers. Good performances by Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore, and Charles Melton as the adult 7th grader. B-

Save the Ice House

An agenda item for the December 11, 2023, Richardson City Council meeting caught my eye. The City is on the verge of using eminent domain to acquire parts of two properties on Main Street across from the Police Department. One property is the address of the Ice House. The other is the address of Spice of Richardson, an Indian restaurant.