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Klaus and the Boarding School Christmas

 Tuesday: Rustin (2023)

    This is based on a true story. Bayard Rustin was a civil rights activist who worked closely with Martin Luther King Jr. He was an important figure in the movement until he was outed as being gay. He spent a while working a job he hated. Bayard starts to notice how disconnected all the civil rights groups are. And how there are still many ways in which people of color are discriminated against in the U.S. He comes up with a plan to unite all the groups together in one large march, the March on Washington. Bayard and many others work hard to get ready for the march and get the groups involved. He is successful. I thought this movie was good. I had never heard of him before. I didn't know he was the one who orchestrated the march.

Wednesday: On Borrowed Time (1939)

     Julian and his wife become the guardians of their grandson, Pud, when his parents die in a car crash. Julian is a grumpy old man, but he loves his grandson and would do anything for him. After catching a thief stealing from their apple tree Julian puts a curse on the tree that he controls who can come down from it. The curse becomes real, even trapping Pud for a moment. Julian's health is failing. Death, taking the form of a man named Mr. Brink, comes to collect Julian. Not ready to die and leave Pud, Julian traps Mr. Brink in the apple tree. It works for a time, but has consequences. This movie was alright.

Saturday: The Holdovers (2023)

     As winter break is about to start Angus, a Junior at a boarding school, learns that he won't be going on vacation after all. His mother and her new husband decided to use it as their honeymoon. So he is stuck at school with four other students and Mr. Hunham. Mr. Hunham is hated by most students. He is hard on them and thinks they are all idiots. He also hates that most of them are entitled rich boys. Mr. Hunham didn't want to be given this duty either but had no choice. After a turn of events it ends up just being Angus, Mr. Hunham, and Mary (the cook) who are left at the school. They all learn to get a long and try to make the best of it. I thought this movie was good. It has a nostalgic feel. It's very 70s. Even the graphics and movie rating in the beginning look like the movie was made in the 70s.

Sunday: Double Feature- Past Lives (2023) and Klaus (2019)

      Past Lives is a Korean/ American film. Nora grew up in South Korea. Her best friend was a boy named Hae Sung. When they were 12 they started to become more than friends. Then Nora's family immigrated to Canada. She left without really saying anything to Hae Sung. Twelve years later they reconnect online. They start to become very close. Talking on Skype all the time. But it's hard for them to visit each other with him in South Korea and Nora now in New York. Nora says they need to take a break. Another 12 years go by and Nora is now married. Hae Sung comes to visit. They have to figure out what their relationship is. This movie was alright. It's slow.

      Klaus is about an entitled young man named Jesper. His father is the head of the post office system in their country. After failing to take postman training seriously Jesper is sent to set up a new post office on an island in the north. He must get a certain amount of letters in order to come home. The island is run by two feuding clans. The clans are constantly at war. They have no interest in sending mail. After many failed attempts to get letters sent Jesper learns of a man, Klaus, living alone in the woods. Klaus is a large intimidating man who happens to have a workshop filled with toys. He learns of an interaction Jesper had with a boy with a cruel family. So he forces Jesper to take him to the house, and has Jesper deliver a toy to the boy. It's a success. Soon all the children want to write letters to Klaus and get toys. Jesper thinks this could be how he gets the letters he needs. Jesper and Klaus form an unlikely friendship. Slowly they start to change things and the legend of Klaus grows. I thought this was a good movie. I wasn't sure at first about another Santa origin story, but it was good. Very well done.

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