The Rest - April 16, 2023

Baseball is a dignified sport.

A quick wrap-up of everything else I watched this week.

Aunty Donna's Coffee Cafe (2023) - If you're a fan of the Australian sketch trio, you know what to expect: unrepentant, transcendent absurdism. Its only available Down Under, so fire up the VPN and start Googling Brisbane postal codes if you live anywhere else. It will be worth your time.

A League of Their Own (1992) - "There's no crying in baseball!" Penny Marshall made the greatest sports movie of all time, with one of the greatest ensembles ever assembled, led by Geena Davis and Tom Hanks. And Madonna. And Rosie O'Donnell. And Lori Petty. I don't know why there are so many good baseball movies, but this one is so emotionally and comedically satisfying. I'm sure I'll watch it another time or two before the season is up.

M (1931) - Rewatched this Fritz Lang classic for Movie Club. An entire town bands together to reveal and capture a child murderer (played by the meek but menacing Peter Lorre). After 92 years, it's still oddly prescient, having a lot to say about justice, mob mentality, policing and community.

The Traitors UK (2022) - What if the party game Mafia lasted for weeks, had a lot more crying, and sometimes you went on little scavenger hunts? That's pretty much this reality game show. It's not quite as good as The Mole... But what is, you know? I'm hooked.

Wild Nights with Emily (2018) - Molly Shannon hosted SNL last week, and it left me wanting to see more of the former cast member. Despite being the lead, she's not in all that much of this comedy that does so much to bring Emily Dickinson's true self to light. It starts a little slow and stagey, but the way it ramps up its message and its passion in the second half is worth the setup.