The Misfits

And this week's Friday night movie has been... The Misfits!

Original image located here. Accessed 16th January 2026

It is impossible to discuss this film without mentioning the fates of it's three stars: Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe and Montgomery Clift. 
For Gable this was his final film: he would suffer a heart attack shortly after completion. Prior to that the one time King of Hollywood had a string of failures and was looking washed up. Similarly, this was also the final film for Monroe as she was in the middle of drug abuse during filming. And Clift would eventually suffer a car accident that ruined his good looks, derailed his career and led to five years of drug and alcohol abuse before his own passing. 
Because of this, I was reluctant to tackle this film: Sure nothing sells like a story to go with the product but would the tragedies surrounding the stars dwarf the film itself? I mean, it's right there in the title....

There's no way around this: This movie is bleak. Sure the three leads are at the top of their game here but this movie is effectively a musing on the collapse of both the American Dream and the Old West. 
Ultimately however I did find this movie somewhat directionless, as I was somewhat stumped as to where it was going and why I should care.
Granted the three stars are compelling to watch but perhaps there's a reason as to why their real-life fates seem more important than the movie itself. 

Rental Family

And this week's Friday night movie has been... Rental Family!

Original image located here. Accessed 9th January 2026

Well, Kiera wanted to see this so, as always, she dragged me along.

So what we have here is the story of an American actor who has been stuck in Japan for seven years. He manages to find work by being part of a rental service where he provides friendship to paying customers (and I have been reassured that this type of thing does indeed exist in Japan).
Of course this description doesn't really do any justice to the film itself: While this is an effective showcase for the Japanese cast and locales, the real meat here is seeing this movie as a meditation of needing connection, how it is found and what one will do to get it. And to that end, this movie is quite the touching one and a delight to see. 

Given that Brendan Fraser is credited as Executive Producer this is clearly something that he genuinely believed in and wanted to see through. Good for him but I have to wonder if this is a bid for the Best Picture Oscar....

Elio

And this week's Friday night movie has been... Elio!

Original image located here. Accessed 2nd January 2026

Happy new year! Here's to the next twelve months of watching movies - and what better way to begin than with a movie that was tossed out into the world with little to no faith in it.

Once upon a time, there was a little boy who had a keen interest in space exploration. He devoured every book he had on the subject and was very excited when the Voyager 2 probe reached Neptune. He was very keen on UFOs and dreamed of making contact with aliens. And despite his imagination, he was neurodivergent (although he didn't know it at the time) and he had trouble fitting in.

I think this movie was custom made for me. 

Last year I pondered on what could be the least of Pixar's impressive track record and one could make the case that this could be it. Even I will admit that some of the complaints of this movie - it's looking formulaic, has less heart and more manipulation when compared to it's brethren  - may have some legitimacy behind them. 

But what does it matter? This movie spoke to me and still has the sense of child-like wonder that Pixar does so well. Indeed, one look at this, you wouldn't think that this was the result of a troubled production and a poor marketing effort. But in the end, it's the idea of finding somewhere where we all belong that brings it home. 

Truly a superb movie.