Exploring Food and Movies

 Friday: Young Woman and the Sea (2024)        This is based on a true story. Trudy was born in 1905 and raised in NYC by her parents who were German immigrants. She was tenacious from a young age. She was very ill as a child but pulled through. During that time women weren't taught to swim. But after a major accident on a ferry Trudy's mom was determined that her daughters would swim. Trudy loves to swim. Later after some obstacles she joins a women swim team. Through hard work she becomes a record breaking competitive swimmer. Even competing at the 1924 Olympics and medaling. Still no one took woman athletes seriously. So in an attempt to gain attention for them Trudy decides to swim the English Channel. It is a very difficult swim. Spoiler alert: she becomes the first woman to swim the channel. I thought this movie was alright. A very interesting story. She was an incredible woman. Trudy broke the men's record for crossing the channel by 2 hours. Saturday: Th...

 Saturday: Power Ballad (2026)        Rick is an American living in Ireland. He was in a band when he was young that never took off. Now he is the lead singer in a wedding band. At a big wedding Rick meets Danny Wilson. Danny is an American pop star who was part of a band now trying to go solo. He is friends with the groom. At first Rick is annoyed by Danny's presence at the wedding. But then they get to talking about music and get on well. They spend the night talking and playing each other their songs. After the wedding Rick returns to his life. Danny goes back to the US. He struggles to write songs. He ends up using a song that Rick wrote. It becomes a hit. Rick hears it and knows it's his song. No one believes him. He is determined to prove he wrote it and get some credit. I thought this movie was good. Nick Jonas is Danny. He is acting is alright. It's just hard to know with him. He is reserved. So most of the time he comes off as either not really committi...

 Friday: Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu (2026)         The Mandalorian (Mando) and Grogu are working for the New Republic. There are still many Imperial Warlords out there even if the Empire has fallen. Their new assignment is to find a warlord who is dangerous but not much is known about him. The Hutts have information on him. They will give it to Mando if he can rescue their nephew, Rotta. Rotta has been kidnapped and made to fight in nightly cage matches. Mando and Grogu set out to rescue him, but much more is at play than they knew. I thought this movie was good. It's a stand alone adventure. So if you haven't watched the tv series you'll be ok. Wish I had known that before I gave me parents (who went with me) a recap of all three seasons. Oh well. They still enjoyed it. Grogu is so cute. And that's all the matters. Saturday: WarGames (1983)          David is an intelligent teen who is great with computers. While trying to get ...

 Friday:  Mortal Kombat II (2026)          Shao Kahn is an evil warrior trying to take over all the realms. When Kitana was a young girl he took over her realm. Now as an adult she goes along with what he wants, but will never fully be on his side. He has his sights set on Earthrealm. A tournament will take place. Earth champions versus his champions. Earth is down one champion. The new chosen champion is Johnny Cage, a washed up action star. He is reluctant to join them, but has no choice. Earth's champions must fight to protect their planet. I thought this movie was ok. I should have skipped it. The acting and the story were not good. Some of the battles were entertaining. There are some funny moments. My only connection with the game this movie is based on is playing it at arcades. I always chose Kitana (mostly because she was one of the few female characters they had). So it was cool to see her in this movie. Saturday: Remarkably Bright Creatures (...

 Friday: Michael (2026)        This is based on a true story. Michael Jackson is a young boy living in Indiana. His father, Joesph, forces him and four of his brothers to be in a band. From a young age it is clear Michael has talent. Joesph is controlling and abusive. All that matters is that they are perfect and become famous. They become the Jackson 5 and are soon picked up by Motown. Once Michael reached his 20s he was ready to do his own thing. He wanted to go solo. But his father wouldn't let him. He could record an album he just also had to still perform with his brothers. Michael's first album was a hit and he started on his second. He needed to try and separate himself from family, especially his father. Even as his fame rose he struggled get out of the control of his dad. I thought this movie was good. It's definitely a sugar coated version of events. There is a lot they leave out. It does look like they are thinking of doing a second movie. So it will ...

 Friday: You. Me & Tuscany (2026)        Anna is a young woman who lost her passion for cooking after her mother passed. She's been housesitting, but it's not enough. One night she meets and Italian man, Matteo. They hit it off and he tells her about his empty villa in Italy that he never uses. Anna takes this as an invitation to use her pre-paid plane ticket and fly to Italy and stay at his empty villa. She gets caught by his family. They assume she is his fiancee and she goes along with it. Anna is introduced to the rest of the family, including Matteo's adopted brother Michael. Michael and Anna immediately hit it off, but can't do anything because she is engaged to his brother. When Matteo shows up things get even more complicated. I thought this movie was alright. It's cute and nice to have a new romantic comedy come out in theaters . It's just a little cheesy and over the top for me. Almost like a Hallmark movie or the like.  Saturday: The Bad Guys...