November Movie Buffet: Pick and Choose!

Happy November everyone!

I am sitting here at my computer desk, chomping away at the last bits of Halloween candy. Okay that’s a lie, there is a pantry full of candy because we got overly-excited by the higher number of kids trick or treating this year and thought maybe we don’t have enough and no one should come to door and leave empty handed. The influx of kids dwindled though, and so here we are now, just me and the remains of a Swedish berries wrapper.

A bit out of the usual, but instead of just sharing some movies, I am also going to include a tv series that some of my readers might be interested in watching, as well as a comedy special that generated a lot of heat!

Mapleworth Murders - A hilarious 12-episode parody series that follows a murder-mystery writer named Abigail Mapleworth (played by Paula Pell) who solves homicide murders in her small town of New Woodstream, with the help of her socially-awkward, dry-humoured Aussie niece, Heidi, played by Hayley Magnus.

Think of what “Murder She Wrote” would be like in today’s world, if a young millennial Angela Lansbury posted her findings on Instagram Stories/Reels and had no filter in conversing with others. I’m not quite sure what drove me to check this out, but after the first episode, I felt compelled to watch all 12 episodes over two nights. 

Paula Pell is hilarious and such a fun character to watch. She’s a bit saucy, sassy, and bumbles around gathering evidence for the whodunit reveal, while suffering through many terrible double-entendre jokes that may not be everyone’s cup of tea. If you can get used to the screeching of “There’s been a MAAAHRDER!” then check this one out.

Driving Lessons - Definitely a different role for Rupert Grint, well-known for his role in Harry Potter. A coming-of-age story that offers also a slight coming-out-of-age feel as the young and the wise meet up to discover the world around them in unusual and unconventional ways. Julie Waters, who plays an eccentric alcoholic actress, is quite fantastic and I think really steals the spotlight for much of the movie.

Secret Life of the Long Haul Flight: A Qantas Experience - I've been watching these incredible documentaries on aviation and all the intricate details that go into a single flight experience and they are fascinating. This one was especially interesting showing behind the scenes of the 11,000 mile journey from London, England to Sydney, Australia. It also had a personal element of documenting a few of the passengers' stories on why they were going the long-haul route.

Overboard - Probably not new to any of my 80’s movie fans, but couldn’t leave out Overboard, the original 1987 with Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn, plus yes the head vampire from the cult classic; Lost Boys – Edward Hermann! Everything about this movie goes...well... overboard, but it’s delightful and sweet and fun, unlike the dreadful remake that I wish was never made.

  

The Closer - The stage is often known to be the safest place for a comedian because they have the mic and the power to say what they want, in the way that they want. There’s often no rules, so you either go in knowing that something is going to offend you, or you stay home (or in this case turn off the tv). Alike many in the show biz industry, especially at the level that Dave Chappelle is at, you never truly know what the comedian is really believing because after all, comedy is often just that...an “act” a performance to cause a reaction from the audience. There are of course exceptions where a comedian/entertainer behaves consistently the same on and off the stage.

After watching, I’ll say that I can see from various points of view of how the joking at the expense of certain demographics and making some comments takes a cheap shot at human decency in general. I think there is a really delicate line when someone says “so you can’t take a joke?”

I know groups that found Dave’s jokes to be spot-on hilarious and others that feel like as they put it to me “he made us feel like we should go back into the closet.” I think too much emphasis was just drilled into the audience on specific points Chappelle wanted to make, but delivered sloppy – in my opinion. Some of his other specials seemed to be crafted better and had more opportunities for laughs.

I didn’t find a lot of the jokes funny at all, in some ways, I was a bit exhausted after the hundredth glory hole joke, and felt he was really lashing out instead of generating some deep thoughts in a way that could be embraced with more heart - less crassness. The ending of course was a mixed bag of emotions and I’m still trying to process that.

Not knowing who Dave Chappelle is underneath the comedian portrayed on stage, from his behaviour since the show, I would still encourage him to seek some counselling. I think there are a lot of unresolved feelings brewing because we all know "tears of a clown, when there's no one around."

💜As always, I love to hear your comments, so you can leave a message below or e-mail me your thoughts!