What to Watch in the Theater:
The Wedding Year (R) is in theaters now. This comedy follows Mara (played by Sarah Hyland) as she tries to figure out what to do with her life. She’s in a new relationship, and suddenly their life is full of other people’s weddings. Can their love stand the test of meeting family, making toasts, and getting carried away to the next level? This is a funny/sad movie about people finding themselves and each other. It wasn’t a bad watch, with likable characters and a lot of close to real-life situations.
Our rating: 3.75 out of 5
Joker (R) opens today. People are going to love or hate this one. This villain origin story is definitely a dark and violent tale, following Arthur Fleck through his dismal life. He lives with and takes care of his mother, and works for an agency that hires out clowns, but he really wants a career as a stand-up comic. He’s frequently bullied (even as an adult) and beat up, and one day he cracks and kills his attackers. His actions spur a violent upheaval in Gotham. We have a little trouble with the Joker’s age and timeline of this story, as it relates to the Batman versions we know. Perhaps the Joker, through the movement he inspires, is more of a concept than a character that just one man inhabits.
Our rating: 4.25 out of 5
What to Watch at Home (Or Not):
Jeff Dunham: Beside Himself (TVMA) is streaming exclusively on Netflix. Jeff is now billing himself as a comedian, rather than a ventriloquist, and his material has gotten a bit edgier. Sure, the cast of characters (puppets) is the same, with one new addition, but their vocabulary has take a turn for the adult, and the jokes seem dirtier. Maybe he feels the family-friendly puppetry entertainment field is too crowded. We used to be big fans, but not so much anymore.
Our rating: ? out of 5
Perfect Harmony (TV14) is available on NBC and Hulu. This weekly comedy series is about a struggling church choir that lucks into a new director entirely by accident. He’s a retired music professor who ends up stuck in the small town after his wife dies. This show includes one of our favorite actors, Geno Segers, who has a phenomenally booming voice. He usually plays the heavy, so it’s fun to see him in a more shy role, testing his voice in the choir. This looks like a fun one.
Our rating: ? out of 5
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