I really enjoyed The Old Guard, even though I found a lot of the tropes pretty predictable. I knew Booker was going to betray them; that Quyen (sp?) was going to come back as a villain; that Copley was going to second-guess his loyalties.

I would like to know when Nile had time to redo her hair between getting picked up by Andy and when they went to London...

I assumed that was indicative of time passing (so Andy could heal up and etc), and was glad to see it because I was wondering about her hair! Like, how long would it have stayed in those braids -- the regular amount of time or no?

I wished I had seen it in the theater.

I really enjoyed The Old Guard, even though I found a lot of the tropes pretty predictable

Same. I am enough of a "Charlize Theron saves the world even though she is so. fucking. tired." genre fan to be pretty forgiving of tropeyness.

She even drives through the desert!! Sorry, thought that might be a spoiler...

I loved the Eurovision movie in that it was exactly what I wanted to watch at the time I watched it. And I've been listening to the songs on repeat.

Palm Springs is up to the hype. And I am no Samberg fan, he's more subtle than a lot I have seen him in and the female lead (the mother from HIMYM) is lovely.

Yeah, I really enjoyed it. I love a film where the male and female leads fall in love by spending time together and actually doing stuff, rather than locking eyes across the room.

Instead of watching stuff on Criterion Channel (I guess I'll catch up on Godard or Aguirre, The Wrath of God at some other time, haha), I have been watching ALL the Studio Ghibli flicks on HBO Max for the last few weeks, subs first obviously but also some selected dubs for fun comparison. Miyazaki is good for calming the brain worms in these uncertain times, I find.

Favourite Miyazaki unknown to me previously: Porco Rosso

Most joyous marriage of the music and the visual: Ponyo riding the waves to Joe Hisaich's take on the Ride of the Valkyrie

The one 14-year-old Vonnie would have liked the best had she seen it at that impressionable age: Castle in the Sky

Coolest morally ambiguous antagonist: Lady Eboshi from Princess Mononoke

Best all-around cast of dub performances: Howl's Moving Castle, mostly for Billy Crystal's Calcifer, but with a particular shout-out to Jean fucking Simmons, the screen icon of my heart, for being such rad Old Sophie

I haven't yet gotten around to seeing the 2 recent films that have been highly praised: The Wind Rises and The Tale of Princess Kaguya -- hope to catch them soon. And I'm saving the rewatch of my fave, Spirited Away, until I'm done with the rest of the collection.

Honestly, I'd probably keep paying monthly HBO subscription fee if even Ghibli films were the only ones I watch (and rewatch) on the service. What a treat.

Instead of watching stuff on Criterion Channel (I guess I'll catch up on Godard or Aguirre, The Wrath of God at some other time, haha)

My thoughts exactly. I started to watch Vivre sa vie and decided life was too short and watched The Big Country (speaking of Jean fucking Simmons) instead. What a glorious movie. Definitely going to be pretty high up on my eventual western rankings.

Probably will catch a few of the expiring Frances Marions later today.

Favourite Miyazaki unknown to me previously: Porco Rosso

Oh yeah, that's one of our favorites and most rewatched.

The one 14-year-old Vonnie would have liked the best had she seen it at that impressionable age: Castle in the Sky

Both of my kids really glommed onto this one on first exposure in their pre-teens.

I'll note that of the Miyazaki films I've gone back and gotten on Blu-Ray, Castle In the Sky is the most revelatory new print.