The indie distributor Neon has an ongoing streaming deal with Hulu, and they just dropped 4 (!) Bong Joon Ho films streaming on Hulu: Parasite, The Host, Mother, Barking Dogs Never Bite

Still missing: Memories of Murder, which many regard as Bong's best film. I think they're holding off because there is a plan for a limited theatrical re-release (who knows if that will happen) then a deal with Criterion.

I have yet to see Mother and Barking Dog (Bong's first film) so color me psyched! Hope to get to them this weekend (I'm in health care so have been working full time, which is a blessing of sorts. So weekends still feel like weekends.)

Neon also distributed Portrait of a Lady on Fire, which is a ravishing period lesbian love story from France and one of the best films of last year. It's also been streaming on Hulu for the last couple of weeks. Very much worth watching if you subscribe to the service (or renting it online if you haven't seen it yet).

Onward is on Disney+ and it seems like it should be a cool movie instead it hits all my buttons when it comes to awkward and low confidence characters and people trying to help but being over bearing so I bailed.

The indie distributor Neon has an ongoing streaming deal with Hulu, and they just dropped 4 (!) Bong Joon Ho films streaming on Hulu: Parasite, The Host, Mother, Barking Dogs Never Bite

Nice! Oddly enough, The Host and Mother are two of the DVDs I managed to take out of the library before it closed, but I'm happy to have the other two available as well. Though, as you note, I really want to see Memories of Murder above all.

That is not to say I have actually watched any of the 20+ DVDs I have out, but I am making a decent amount of headway on my Criterion watch list. Of course, once I realized I could access both the Met Opera daily stream and MasterClass (my sister gifted me with an annual pass last Christmas) on my Roku, we've been watching a lot of that instead.

Watching La fanciulla del West now, AIFG!

Watching La fanciulla del West now, AIFG!

I didn't realize Met Opera was streaming daily! Will have to check out during the weekend. I only know that one famous aria from La Fanciulla but interesting to think that to Puccini, American West was just as exotic as Imperial China of Turandot.

Another streaming FYI: Armando Iannucci's Death of Stalin just started streaming on Netflix. Kinda seems too on the nose nowadays with its depiction of craven behaviors of those on top of the political ladder. That said, it is VERY funny, even if it's not exactly a comforting viewing.

Another streaming FYI: Armando Iannucci's Death of Stalin just started streaming on Netflix. Kinda seems too on the nose nowadays with its depiction of craven behaviors of those on top of the political ladder. That said, it is VERY funny, even if it's not exactly a comforting viewing.

Oooh, I wanted to see that.

PBS had a recent Great Performances airing of Akhenaten from the Metropolitan Opera. It was really beautiful to look at ... but you'd have to like Philip Glass's music. A lot (it's three hours long).

Granted, I haven't see Tommy Boy, but is it annoying to anyone else that the brilliant Brian Dennehy (RIP) is being referred to as Tommy Boy star Brian Dennehy?

In other acting news, I've made it through almost half of my intended "expiring" Criterion watches and have seen some phenomenal acting performances and some very good films.

It is hard to rank such different films, but per my own rating system they fall as follows, and I'd say that is roughly how I'd rank them except I'd likely put Condor at the top because it is so in my wheelhouse. But The Defiant Ones was a fantastic discovery. Two great performances, a fantastic script and visuals, and, sadly, still very relevant. I had never really heard of it but I can see why it got so many Oscar nominations in its day. As an exercise in documentary form, The Arbor was also really interesting.

The Defiant Ones
Three Days of the Condor
Klute
House of Games
Footlight Parade
The Arbor
Adaptation
My Dinner with André
Near Dark

I enjoyed and would recommend all of these, though the latter three probably only to certain people. I assume many Buffistas would like Near Dark, but I also assume most have seen it.

annoying to anyone else

Absolutely.

Name confusion can be ... interesting. I remember once reading that Jean Simmons (lovely English actress) would every once in a while receive fan mail for Gene Simmons (of KISS). It confused her at first, until she understood what was happening.

is it annoying to anyone else that the brilliant Brian Dennehy (RIP) is being referred to as Tommy Boy star Brian Dennehy?

That does not seem right to me.

I saw Tommy Boy when it came out and it was better than I expected, and he was certainly very good in it, but still.