ANYONE BUT YOU

PLOT SUMMARY: After an amazing first date, Bea and Ben’s fiery attraction turns ice-cold–until they find themselves unexpectedly reunited at a wedding in Australia. So they do what any two mature adults would do: pretend to be a couple.

WHERE TO WATCH: Netflix

JAIMEE’S NOTES: It’s time for a rom-com! But new! Probably the newest rom-com there is. We have the two new big stars of Hollywood, Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell and a movie based on Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing.” Classic. This movie was also directed by the same man who directed Easy A, so watch out for a small reference to Olive Pendergast! We meet Bea and Ben and they meet in a coffee shop. They spend one magical evening together until it goes awry… They coincidentally meet again when Bea’s sister starts dating Ben’s friend and now they hate each other, instantly, they don’t even try to dance around it which I think is a little insane but it is, after all, a movie. Some time later, Bea’s sister and Ben’s friend, Halle and Claudia, are getting married….in Australia! And now they have to hang out together at this beautiful house for what seems like two weeks. Movie weddings are the best, always in a cool ass location and everyone comes for sooooo long and just hangs out and does multiple activities and dinners and such before the actual wedding. What a dream vacation, how come I never get invited to weddings like that? Probably because they don’t actually exist, unless you’re like a millionaire. Anyway, Bea is going through a rough time, she ended her engagement and dropped out of school. And Ben’s ex-girlfriend, his friend’s cousin, Margaret is here…with her new boyfriend. Ben and Bea apparently hate each other so much that everyone is worried about them ruining the wedding. They could just tell them to grow up and get over themselves, but no, they are going to devise a plan to try to get them together instead…much simpler I’m sure. Bea’s parents are obsessed with her ex-fiancé, Paxton Hall-Yoshida (what up, Never Have I Ever fans!), just kidding, in this movie his name is Jonathan. And her parents invite Jonathan to Australia for the wedding, yikes. This forces Bea to ask Ben if they can pretend to actually be together, to get her parents and Jonathan off her back and also so Ben can make Margaret jealous and want to get back together with him. There are so many butts in this movie, they must have had a quota to hit. Overall, I’m sure you have a general idea of what happens, I mean, it’s a rom-com, it’s predictable and it’s cute. I chuckled but it’s not groundbreaking or life changing. I guess it’s probably just what you want a rom-com to be! But I’ll tell you what, I had one major problem with this film. Something they are not going to do is use Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield with no mention of the Hills. It just doesn’t hit the same….I object.

THE JINX & THE JINX-PART TWO

PLOT SUMMARY: Filmmaker Andrew Jarecki examines the complicated life of reclusive real estate icon Robert Durst, the key suspect in a series of unsolved crimes.

WHERE TO WATCH: Max

JAIMEE’S NOTES: All the way back in 2015, there was a little documentary about the life and deaths of Robert Durst. Deaths meaning, he was accused of killing three people all in separate situations. Robert was a real estate heir who was thought to have killed his wife in New York, his friend in Beverly Hills, and his neighbor in Galveston, Texas. The disappearance of his first wife, Kathie, was talked about in depth in New York City at the time and a filmmaker, Andrew Jarecki, made a film based on the events with Ryan Gosling and Kirsten Dunst called All Good Things, which will definitely be a movie of the week sometime! Then, Andrew started making this documentary and Robert, stupidly, agreed to be interviewed several times for the documentary. I can’t think of many other documentaries where the accused person so willingly chose to be involved when it was about murders he may have committed. It’s like OJ writing If I Did It, like sure, just put yourself right in the middle, no one will suspect a thing! Robert is an odd man so this made the documentary very interesting and the finale of the first part is riveting, maybe one of the most compelling documentary episodes I have ever seen. I mean, talk about a bombshell! And now, nine years later, we get to see the ramifications of that first part. Because, trust me, there were ramifications. I have been excited about this part two coming out since I heard about and re-watched part one in anticipation. This is probably one of my top five documentaries and I do recommend it quite often. It’s kind of just insane to see how Robert Durst’s brain works and how smart he thinks he is. Also the way he kept people around himself, whether it was because he was rich or known to others is fascinating. I’ve watched the first episode of part two and I am already so into this next installment! I highly recommend tuning in. There is a short recap at the beginning of part two, but I think it’s worth it to watch the first part if you haven’t seen it. The remaining episodes come out every Sunday night at 9 PM central time. Let’s all watch and discuss, people. I love to discuss some true crime!

ROMY AND MICHELE’S HIGH SCHOOL REUNION

PLOT SUMMARY: Two dim-witted, inseparable friends hit the road for their ten-year high school reunion and concoct an elaborate lie about their lives in order to impress their classmates.

WHERE TO WATCH: Hulu

JAIMEE’S NOTES: HEY EVERYBODY, SANDY FRINK JUST LANDED IN A HELICOPTER! Grab a business woman special and get ready to watch this absolute masterpiece! This movie is definitely in my top ten, maybe my top five. You know I love a movie about female friendship and Romy and Michele have one of the greatest friendships of our generation. This movie has perfect outfits, perfect music, perfect actors, perfection EVERYWHERE! Romy and Michele are 28 year olds living in Venice Beach together when they learn about their ten year high school reunion, from their old classmate, Heather Mooney. Side note, Janeane Garofalo is so fucking funny, she is the best. Romy realizes when they are filling out their questionnaires that their lives don’t sound as impressive as they think, so they decide to get boyfriends, jobs, and get skinny in two weeks. As much as they try, it doesn’t really pan out. So they decide to do the next best thing and lie. Romy comes up with the idea that they should say they invented post-it’s and her and Michele end up having a fight about their cover story lie. Everything comes to a head at the reunion in Tucson where they run into the A group, Romy’s crush Billy, and Sandy Frink, the boy who was obsessed with Michele among others! You don’t know how many times I’ve said, “If anybody needs to make a call, I’ve got a phone.” Anyway, everything works out for the best when Romy and Michele just decide to forget about everyone else and just be their true authentic selves. The dance at the end of the reunion is incredible, if I ever get married I am making my groom and my maid of honor learn and perform that dance with me. What a treat. This movie just makes me so, so happy and full of joy. Please enjoy watching! ….would you excuse me, I cut my foot before and my shoe is filling up with blood.

HONEY, I SHRUNK THE KIDS

PLOT SUMMARY: The scientist father of a teenage girl and boy accidentally shrinks his and two other neighborhood teens to the size of insects. Now the teens must fight diminutive dangers as the father searches for them.

WHERE TO WATCH: Disney+

JAIMEE’S NOTES: I was not enjoying my structured Disney order prison that I put myself in, and then I remembered I can do whatever I want! I make the rules around here! And I want to go on a journey, a journey…..with Rick Moranis. This was definitely my favorite trilogy as a seven year old. What a concept to think what would happen if I was thiiiiiisss small. And why was Wayne Szalinski even inventing this machine? Did we ever even figure that out? What was his end game? Guess what, in this movie, it doesn’t matter. I feel like the job of inventor was popular in the 80s and 90s, what happened to all of the inventors? I need to get in the field and resurrect that one from the dead, then I can have a Pee-Wee’s Playhouse house like they all seem to have, like she has to pull off a receipt paper to get a message from her dad who is upstairs? Cell phones really solved so many 90s problems, it’s not even funny. Poor little attention seeking Nick and older sister Amy live with their inventor dad, Wayne, and their mom, realtor Diane. Wayne and Diane have an awkward thing going on? Like do they hate each other? Why are we mad? Is it because of all the inventing? Wayne seems to be having a rough time trying to make his new machine work, it won’t shrink stuff, it just blows it up! Damn! The next door neighbors who have seemingly the exact same house….are the Thompson’s! We have dad Big Russ, mom Mae, and brothers Little Russ and Ron. Little Russ is so cute, I remember having a crush on him, how could you not after this movie!? Amy, on the other hand, has never noticed her neighbor and is waiting for some other boy to call her and ask her to go to the dance. She’s practicing her dancing while she is cleaning their filthy house. Big Russ and fam are packing for a camping trip and Ron decides to hit a baseball through the Szalinski’s window. Amazingly, it hits Wayne’s machine and makes it instantly work. Would you look at that! Little Russ makes Ron go to the house with him to tell the Szalinski’s that he broke their window and to get his baseball. Ron and Nick go upstairs and ope, the machine gets ‘em! Amy and Russell go upstairs to look for the boys and the same thing happens to them. The machine shrinks them I mean, they don’t blow up. Wayne comes home frustrated and starts to hit the machine, he then sweeps up his mess and his kids and neighbor’s kids and puts them in a garbage bag waaaay back by the garage which is the other side of the yard. The only one that really knows what’s going on here and is the hero many, many times throughout the movie is their dog, Quark. I thought they were calling him Cork the whole time, I had to look that one up. The two sets of parents realize their kids are missing but it takes Wayne awhile to figure out what exactly happened and then he has to break the news to the rest of the parents. The kids have to make their long journey through the jungle that is their un-mowed lawn. They battle multiple bugs, the sprinkler, the mower, and they almost get eaten! But they also make new friends and maybe fall in love? Get it, Amy! This is such a great movie and I cannot wait to continue on this journey…..next month!

ELECTION

PLOT SUMMARY: A high school teacher meets his match in an over-achieving student politician.

WHERE TO WATCH: Max

JAIMEE’S NOTES: What a chain reaction of terrible events for Jim! This is the story about a boy named unlucky….lol, Britney Spears song joke. Jim McAllister is a high school government teacher in Omaha, Nebraska and he loves his job. The students at his school have an upcoming student body president election! How fun! Tracy Flick, an overachiever in every way, is running unopposed. Jim and his wife, Diane, become good friends with one of his fellow teachers, Dave, and his wife Linda. Dave’s marriage soon ended when he had an inappropriate relationship with Tracy and thought he was in love with her, icky. Dave eventually got fired and divorced. Jim is annoyed of Tracy’s eagerness and know it all attitude. He also does not want her to win this election because then he has to supervise and spend lots of time with her. To combat this, Jim convinces another student, Paul to also run for student body president., Paul is an athlete who broke his leg and feels like he has no purpose anymore because he can’t play sports. Paul is also not the brightest bulb and very different from Tracy Flick. Tracy is pissed. Paul’s younger sister, Tammy is also a main character in this film. Tammy has a crush on her friend Lisa, but Lisa decides she doesn’t want to “experiment” as she calls it with Tammy anymore and leaves. Lisa goes on to start dating Paul and becomes his campaign manager! This is like a comedy soap opera! Tammy is pissed, so she also decides to run for president. While all of this is going on, Jim also starts helping Linda out with things at her house since her husband has moved out and he develops a little crush. There is a lot of scandal and drama leading up to Election Day and Jim has a couple of the worst days of his life during this time. The election is heated and some shit goes down. A memorable election for sure. A year later, everyone is where they are supposed to be…maybe. But Jim’s disdain for Tracy Flick still haunts him. This movie was funny, a little dark, and very entertaining. Reese Witherspoon plays such a great obnoxious student and Matthew Broderick, I love in anything. Buckle up your automatic seatbelts! (Remember those? I loved seeing one) You’re in for a ride!