Four movies in one week!

With grandchildren spanning in age from 5 to 15, going to the movies is no longer a “one size fits all” family event So, we ended up seeing three different movies with our grandchildren last week, and then today went to a distinctly grown-up film.

We took Joshua to see “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.” Frankly, after a while all of these Star Wars films tend to seem rather similar to me. I have to admit that I am not very knowledgeable about the details of the series beyond the original film, released back in May of 1977. We may well have never seen the movie when it was initially released, since Simmie was born in early April of that year and it was a very long time before we went out after her birth. But at some point, we must have seen the movie, as well as the second and third movies which were released in early 1980s, which are actually episodes 4-6. Here is the full list of the nine movies with their release dates:

Original trilogy

         Episode IV – A New Hope (1977)

         Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

         Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983)

Prequel trilogy

         Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999)

         Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002)

         Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005)

Sequel trilogy

         Episode VII – The Force Awakens (2015)

         Episode VIII – The Last Jedi (2017)

         Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker (2019)

In this last episode, when it is discovered that the evil Emperor Palpatine did not die at the hands of Darth Vader, the rebels must race against the clock to find out his whereabouts. Finn and Poe lead the Resistance to put a stop to the First Order's plans to form a new Empire, while Rey (played by Daisy Ridley) anticipates her inevitable confrontation with Kylo Ren (played by Adam Driver). Many of the favorite characters from the earlier films also appear, including Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker and Harrison Ford as Han Solo. Even Carrie Fisher, who sadly died four years ago, is “present,” due to some amazing tricks used to create her character from old film footage.

If you are “into” the Star Wars franchise, you have undoubtedly already seen this, and, like our son-in-law, have spent some amount of time during the past month gathering with friends to re-watch the entire set of nine films.

We went with Eliana and Ella to see “Little Women.” This was a beautifully done film directed by Greta Gerwig, with Saoirse Ronan playing the lead, Jo March. “Little Women” was a novel written by American author Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888) which was originally published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869. The novel details the passage from childhood to womanhood of four sisters: Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy March, and is said to be loosely based on the author and her three sisters. I am not sure that our granddaughters really appreciated it, depicting as it does a very different time from the one in which they now live. But was certainly charming, well-acted, and visually breathtaking.

Although Eliana had seen it twice and Julia had seen it once, we took them again along with Maya for the first time to see “Frozen 2.” In this movie, which includes all the main characters of the original “Frozen” movie, released back in 2013, Anna, Elsa, Kristoff, Olaf and Sven leave Arendelle to travel to an ancient, autumn-bound forest of an enchanted land. They hope to learn the origins of Elsa’s powers in order to save their kingdom. Needless to say, there is a happy ending, as well as a lovely new set of songs (including “Into the Unknown”) encouraging young girls everywhere to sing and dance.

We took a decidedly darker and more grown-up turn today and went to see “Uncut Gems,” a film from acclaimed filmmakers Josh and Benny Safdie. I should have paid more attention to the rating:

Rating: R (for pervasive strong language, violence, some sexual content and brief drug use)

This is a crime thriller about Howard Ratner (Adam Sandler), a charismatic Jewish-American Diamond District jeweler who is addicted to gambling and always on the lookout for the next big score. When he makes a series of high-stakes bets that could lead to the windfall of a lifetime, Howard must balance business, family, and encroaching adversaries on all sides, in his relentless pursuit of the ultimate win.

Idina Menzel, who was the voice of Elsa in the Frozen movies, plays Howard’s wife, Dinah, Kevin Garnett, a forward for the Boston Celtics, plays himself, Eric Bogosian plays Arno, Howard's brother in law and a loan shark, and Judd Hirsch plays Gooey, Howard's father-in-law.

If violence bothers you, this may be a movie you may want to let pass you by.

Meanwhile, stay warm and pray that cooler heads will prevail during the coming days and weeks.

Love,

Rebecca