watchathon film festival for me!

Well, it's been exactly twelve hours since my fourteenth film ended!
My thanks to Xfinity Comcast for hosting the Watchathon Film Festival at my house.
What a magnificent early gift for my birthday62!
Of course, it took me a couple of days to figure out how to open it...
as it had been given to me last Monday and I first used part of it Wednesday...
but, boy howdy!
I have certainly gotten plenty from it since Thursday!
The tv portion was the first part I 'opened', allowing me to test drive the shiny new Showtime vehicle with Nathan Lane.
I had expected to really like it, as it is a new-noir detective series set in 1938 Los Angeles.
But, as I said in an earlier post, "Penny Dreadful: City of Angels" had a serious flaw in its casting of the Devil of Death.
At least I viewed those first two episodes for free.
And by the time I had done so, I'd figured out how to 'open' the movies -
now I had a birthday62 viewing party going on!
I made sure mi tres amigas - Barbara, Sandy, and Carolyn - knew about the gift, too, so we could all watch some favorites 'together'.
Of course, I didn't start out with those...
I wanted some surprises!
The first three I watched were certainly that!
I consider this the "Teens in Love" portion of the gift.
The first was "Wet Hot American Summer", from 2001, an attempt to follow in the footsteps of 1979's "Meatballs".
Although it was cool to see twenty-years-younger Paul Rudd, Bradley Cooper, and Amy Poehler going through their paces, what I liked most was Christopher Meloni as the Vietnam vet cum camp cook - funny and unrecognizable except for those lovely eyes!
That one was from STARZ.
The next two were both hosted by HBO.
"Crazy, Stupid, Love" of 2011 had pulled me in with Steve Carrell and Ryan Gosling on the marquee, but Julianne Moore and Emma Stone were also there, as were several kids.
What a tangled up mess, with her loving him and him loving the other chick, and so on, but still nicely entertaining.
My favorite part?
The onscreen romance between playboy Gosling and stand-off Stone, foreshadowing their pairing in "la La Land" - what delicious fun to see!
Right place, right time for me, for sure!
"Good Boys", from last year's films, was all about the tweens, aging out of "girls are icky" and into "girls are fun to kiss" stage.
Its premise reminded me of that from "The Sandlot", but it was Dad's expensive drone, not a priceless autographed baseball, that had to be replaced.
Ah, good times!
I can't say I'd ever watch them again, but it was good to watch them for free, so...
thanks, STARZ and HBO for that birthday62 new-to-me trio on Thursday!
(smile!)
HBO alone provided Friday's "Malik" doublet and the "Malek" singlet on Saturday morn.
Pretty enjoyable they all were, too, even though I'd already seen all three.
Still, it had been quite a while since I saw "Slumdog Millionaire", featuring Dev Patel as Jamal Malik, a young man who goes on "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" just to find his lost lady love.
I just loved the Bollywood number at the end of this 2008 film!
Honestly, I think it may have started my crush on that genre... yep, I believe it did!
(smile!)
I followed that up with last year's "Yesterday" - which sounds like a joke, doesn't it?
But it'd be no joke, for sure, if the Earth had a reboot and lost all traces of The Beatles...
all, that is, except for those in the memory of Jack Malik, who happened to be mid-air from a biking accident during the blackout.
Such sweet dreams I had after that romantic comedy!
Ready for more, I brunched with Rami Malek and Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody", both the 2018 film and the music!
Such a good way to get in a workout!
I got up and danced nine times during the movie -
even during the credits!
"Don't Stop Me Now", Freddie would say!
What a grand trio for an early celebration of my upcoming birthday62!
I finished up Saturday with another semi-musical from 2019, "Blinded By The Light", then one I'd never seen, "In Her Shoes", from 2005.
Those were from STARZ and Cinemax, respectively.
And, although I enjoyed the music of Bruce Springsteen, I loved the interaction between Toni Collette and Cameron Diaz, as estranged sisters with a shared love of footwear.
I'm going to recommend that one to my first niece!
(smile)
Sunday, I had thought I'd do one more music-based film, maybe get in a bit of dancing -
I mean, exercise - to start the day.
Nothing doing, as EPIX only offered "Rocketman" in a Spanish format.
Next!
Time to move 1989's "Field of Dreams" into the batter's box with my brunch!
i thank You, God, for that change in line-up!
Folks, read all about it - and my baseball memories - in yesterday's post.
I followed that award winner with another: 2019's "Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood".
What a sweet, how-it-should-have-been, fairytale...
with a shirtless and muscular, 55-year-old, Brad Pitt for sensuality...
and mighty fine music and cars from the 1960's...
and a shirtless and muscular... oh, I already said that.
(smile!)
Thanks, STARZ, for that one, and even for the 2012 "21 Jump Street", which had its moments.
The best of those was when Johnny Depp and Peter DeLuise both made surprise cameos from their 1987 tv show.
Oh, yes, I always enjoy getting a little Depp in my day!
(smile!)
That last one was sandwiched between two I'd seen before: the sweet "Detective Pikachu" from last year, and the zany-crazy-funny comedy from 1992, "Death Becomes Her", with Goldie Hawn and Meryl Streep vying for the attention of Bruce Willis.
I don't know which brought me more joy - the rumpled Ryan Reynolds or the browbeaten Bruce Willis!
My thanks to HBO and Cinemax for giving me those options for birthday62!
My thanks to Comcast, too, for granting this charge-free gift to me and my friends!
Happy - early - birthday62 to me!
(smile!)