Pre-Covid, we always spent Christmas Day doing what we jokingly called “Jewish Christmas” - going to the movie theater, followed by Chinese food. This year, because Christmas and the last day of Hanukkah coincided and my son hadn’t been to visit during Hanukkah, I lived up to my responsibility as a Jewish mother and made latkes, instead, using my late great-aunt Estelle’s recipe from back when women were still referred to as Mrs. (Husband’s Name). Raise your hand if you’re glad that sexist custom has fallen by the wayside.
You can always tell the well-loved recipes in actual cookbooks by the stains on the pace. Aunt Estelle was a phenomenal cook and her latke recipe is delish.
Yo, Sarah! You said you were going to talk about movies, not tease me with pictures of food!
I did indeed! Let’s start with 8-Bit Christmas (HBO Max) which we started on Christmas night and finished on Boxing Day morning.
We went into this film with low expectations, and were very pleasantly surprised. Adult Jake Doyle (played by Neil Patrick Harris) is visiting his family with his daughter, who is nagging him for for a cell phone. In a narrative device borrowed from late 80’s hit, The Princess Bride, dad Jake starts telling his daughter about how he got the Nintendo console that still sits in his childhood bedroom. Eighties kids will LOVE the nostalgic references - and recognize the “video games make our kids stupid/violent/irresponsible” arguments.
Young Jake and his dad have a hard time relating to one another - Dad is anti-gaming, and Jake finds his father’s never-ending obsession with carpentry and home improvements snoozeworthy.
Jake and his friends plot how they will purchase one of these gaming Holy Grails with hilarious results.
How Jake and Dad finally find their way to a connection and Jake finally gets the Nintendo - well, it’s worth watching to find out. Have a tissue ready.
Next up: Guillermo Del Toro’s PINOCCHIO (Netflix).
If this film doesn’t win an Oscar, I will be grievously disappointed. It deserves accolades from both a storytelling and craft perspective. No digital animation here. A fifteen year journey of model making to create a stop-motion animation film that is both gorgeous and moving. Another challenging father/son relationship that has a happy ending - but not before you’ve gone through a few tissues. Be sure to watch the “how it was made” video after you see it.
And finally…The Banshees of Inisherin (HBO Max)
People make fun the friendship dramas of middle-school girls, but the drama between adult males in this film make those look positively tame. Every man on this island is bonkers in some way - and as my favorite character Siobhan says, they’re all “fecking boring.”
This definitely isn’t a feel good movie - but the writing, performances, and spectacular scenery make it worth watching.
What have you been watching lately?