ending on a high note!

And tomorrow, I'll be doing it one more time!

I speak of my AMC A*List trio, which will be done for me until next year.

Of course, "next year" is only as far away as this weekend, so... no big whoop!

That title is a pun, by the way.

The second of the two movies seen today - and the one destined to be seen in the company of my first niece and her toddlers - was "Sing 2", and it was phenomenal, beginning and ending with two different musicals!

Seriously!!!

The first was "Alice In Wonderland", at the Moon Theatre, with them hoping to impress and win a slot in the competition at Redshore City, a Las Vegas-style place that only further encouraged my desire to go there in 2022.

(Hey, it's been four years and that's my periodicity for that locale.)

The second musical performed was a delicious bit of science fiction titled "Out Of This World" (though its flavor reminded me of "The Little Prince" opera).

That came complete with aerobatics and interstellar travel and Bono!!!

Yes! That famous singing Irishman, Bono!

(smile!)

Truly one of the best movies I've seen this month!

"Journal For Jordan" was also magnificent, tracking historical events from the first part of this century, as well as containing life lessons from a father to his son. I think Michael B. Jordan just may have already had a special place in my heart, and this cinched it.

So, that's 2 for this 4th week of December's A*List, with another "Sing 2" to close it out.

What about the rest of this month?

Well, that's been a lot of "miss", more so than "hit".

Sure, I've seen my trio of freebies for three of the four weeks.

Sure, I've seen some good ones that I might well revisit in the lean weeks to come.

But, for sure I've seen some that were hugely disappointing.

"House Of Gucci" and "Spencer" fall into that latter category, with both being utter failures in my book, giving their leading ladies naught more to do than pout and pose.

Seriously... what rubbish.

To add insult to injury, Kristin Stewart was in a movie that sounded and behaved like it was a horror fest, not a tale from the book of a Princess.

What a ghastly bit of nonsense.

As for Lady Gaga, all she did was show that she can act like Italian trailer park trash.

What a misuse of talent.

"True To The Game 3" was a soap opera, following the lives of a drug-dealing family - entertaining for one viewing, but not to see again.

"National Champions" was a bit of football fiction about college athletes - that would have been more compelling if it was based on fact.

Speaking of football, "American Underdog" was actually a very good film, tracking the rise of 'Pop' Warner, who had taken a break after college, losing his momentum toward his dream of going pro, but who managed to keep hope alive until the breaks came his way.

Hey, getting that Super Bowl XXXIV ring was a big deal... and I saw that game!

Well, on tv, of course, at one of several Super Bowl parties I attended, back in the day.

(smile!)

So, that's two fashion faux pas, two football flicks, and one drug family.

There was also "West Side Story", but I've covered that one.

That means there's only the third week of December remains for its tale to be told.

(smile!)

Well, that started off well, though quite dark, with "Nightmare Alley"... which has already had its space in this blog.

(I'm not adverse to seeing it again, mind, especially if my nephew Zach wants to go. We spoke of it at Thanksgiving, so I know he'll like it.)

The next one, "The King's Man", has also received words here, and I have zero intention of ever, ever, ever watching it again.

The third of that third week's trio was "Spider-Man: No Way Home", which is wrongly titled in several regards, not the least of which being that Peter Parker is just a teen boy and so should be called 'Spider-Boy', at least until he's 18.

Seriously.

It was pretty cool to have the multi-verse pulled into this live-action Marvel film, rather than just in the animated world, but that raised a lot of questions for the after-effects of the major changes made to people before they were returned to their home timelines.

The first part of the movie made me glad to have never had teenagers in my life, but it also made me a bit frustrated with the dumb decisions being made.

The last part of the movie was quite touching and showed the importance of surrounding yourself with people who know and love you... and the extreme loss when those people are no longer present in that capacity.

Nice touch to have Tobey Macguire in this one!

I'll try to see it again... but I may not.

It's another stupidly long movie, for no good reason.

I tell you what: give me the editing shears and I'll be glad to trim it up to a fair fighting weight, rather than the ungainly heading-to-3-hours mass it now has.

I've said it once and I'll say it again: movies don't need to be more than two hours.

Now, "Masters Of Illusion" is on and I want a bit of magic in my life!

(smile!)