Ongoing: January movies and TV

[rhiannonstone]

In January, we still watch movies.

And also TV...

January 1-4

• The Rook (2019 TV series) - This is an 8-episode Starz miniseries based on a book I kind of hated. It was one of the most recommended books on AskMetafilter for a few years, so I finally picked it up last summer and immediately wondered WTF everyone saw in it, because even getting through the first few chapters was a slog. How do you take a story about a secret government agency for people with mutant/magic abilities and make it boring?! But I half-hate-read my way through it anyway, because despite the terrible writing and bizarre pacing, I was hooked by the plot and really wanted to know how it shook out. And the last 20% of the book and bones of the overall story arc were pretty great! I just wish getting there hadn't sucked so much.
  
  I decided to try the series out of morbid curiosity, and even though the plot is very different from the books, the same thing happened: the dialogue is bad, the main character's acting is the worst sort of stage acting/little-kid-lying acting, the pacing is weird, the reveals are heavy-handed... but I was hooked on the story, stayed because I wanted to see it through, and was rewarded with a reasonably good ending. This is not a recommendation for either the book or the TV series--but a couple of you with very specific interests may appreciate a steamy scene involving one entity who shares 4 bodies in the penultimate episode of the show. :)

January 4

• The Stepford Wives (2004) - This movie could have been so much better, but it's still a charmingly self-aware remake of the beloved original.
  
  
• Small Soldiers (1998) - Unintentional but oddly appropriate double-feature with Stepford Wives. I hadn't realized before that it's a Joe Dante movie, but of course it is.

January 5

• Hustlers (2019) - Based on actual events. Not exactly a great portrayal of sex workers (one perspective here), but a fun, sweet, fairly satisfying story about socioeconomic struggle and female friendship.

January 8 - Bowiemas double feature at the Castro Theater:

• Labyrinth (1986)
  
• The Hunger (1983)

January 10

• The Shining (1980) 4K restoration at the Castro Theater

SF Sketchfest screenings

• Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) 45th anniversary screening with Barry Bostwick, Patricia Quinn, & Nell Campbell
  
• Clue (1985) 35th anniversary screening at the Castro with Jonathan Lynn, Colleen Camp, and Jonathan Lynn
  
• Re-Animator (1985) 35th anniversary screening at the Alamo with Jeffrey Combs