We saw three movies and one video this weekend:
Christopher Robin: Meh.
Won't You Be My Neighbor: Really came away from this thinking Mr. Rogers was a really, really good person. Still a cruddy TV show that even I found boring as a kid, if sweet. But definitely a good guy and had the best interests of children at heart. As far as the movie goes, it was a typical documentary in terms of style and pacing: lots of interviews with people who knew him, lots of bad quality video from the old shows. For me the highlight was Mr. Rogers testifying before Congress to increase funding for PBS, and of course Mr. Rogers kicking Nazi ass on D-Day. Well the actual real highlight was seeing it in our local theater-pub with a couple of Widmer Hefeweisens.
Eighth Grade: Was a lot more low-budget than I was expecting, but a good movie and extremely realistic look at being a middle schooler, at least a middle school girl, that is. I took my middle schooler boy to see it and he said it was pretty good but it made him feel kind of sad. As an adult with memories of middle school, it made me glad to be through with that experience, and reinforced my impression that middle school is THE worst time of life.
12 Years a Slave: Finally got around to seeing this on Amazon. Brutal. I've been on a Lincoln kick lately: watched 'Lincoln" and am currently half-way through Doris Kearns Goodwin's Team of Rivals. This was an excellent addition to both of those. I had to reassure my wife at several points during and after the movie that not all white people were that terrible.
