I made today a show day and drove to Memphis to see Ladybird (and then go to one of the live theatres for a production of Topher Payne's A Perfect Arrangement ). It was well-filmed and all the acting was top-notch, but the story kind of left me cold. I wasn't really rooting for or sympathizing with anyone except the dad, and the ending felt really tacked on.

The Public, the film shot in flea's library, had its first screening last week.

Watched Blade Runner on DVD last night. I just loved the look, much like I did the first one. Sentient birthed non-human humans that can die just make my brain twist in a way that doesn't quiet. see also Battlestar Galactica. But the electronic wife thing that learned and engaged that made my teeth hurt.

I covet an abandoned town in post-apocalyptic world though.

I covet an abandoned town in post-apocalyptic world though.

I still daydream about buying an abandoned town.

So, I signed up for MoviePass on a lark and the card arrived after some delay. I figured, even if the business model is unsustainable, I'll get enough mileage out of it while it worked, since I watch 3-4 movies a month on average throughout the year. And turns out it covers most of my local theaters including the big local AMC multiplex.

Anyway, I tried it out last night and went to see The Greatest Showman. It worked out without a hitch! As for the movie itself, I honestly can't believe it's a movie and not an awkward adaptation of a Broadway musical to the screen. The art decorations and set pieces are stagy as hell and the entire thing is built around a handful of song-and-dance numbers. It was schmaltz from top to bottom without a subtle bone in its body. Hugh Jackman in particular, oh boy. He's obviously charismatic as fuck and can be a powerhouse when directed well, but I think Jackman's personal instinct is to go as broad as possible when given any opportunity and well, this film gives him plenty.

That said, I enjoyed some of the numbers. The one in which Zendaya and Zac Efron sing a love duet on trapeze is *gorgeous* and worth the price of the ticket (well, a MoviePass ticket - I'd have been annoyed if I had payed a full price for it). Rebecca Fergerson has a small but memorable role as Jenny Lind, the opera singer, and GOSH is she ever so beautiful. I feel like she should be a much bigger name than she is right now. Apparently she is back in the latest Mission Impossible movie? I loved her in the last one.

Apparently the movie is doing reasonably well in the box office and I will eat my shorts if it isn't adapted as a musical on stage in the next couple of years, which is clearly where it belongs.

I really wish Greatest Showman had just made up a fictional circus dude, because I really did enjoy it as a musical, but DEAR GOD WHAT A LOAD OF REVISIONIST BULLSHIT THAT WAS.

The relationship between Barnum and his troupe was painted over with a ham-handed brush but it must have been deeply sketchy. I was like, "it's probably a blessing I know little to nothing about the dude."

The tl;dr version is that several of the freaks shown here accepting jobs as consenting adults were in fact adopted/purchased as children. Even if he truly did care for them, they were his property, not his employees.

My tween daughter adored The Greatest Showman and begged me to take her to see it; I kept whispering "There's a sucker born every minute" to the spouse while we were watching it.

I was in a written for grades 5 - 8 musical about PT Barnum. It was not Barnum. I now can't believe that I was in the chorus of dancing hundred year old women while another 5th grader sang the role of Joyce Heth.