Ah look at all the lonely people

 Movie: Rental Family. Brendan Fraser stars as an aspiring actor living in Japan who takes a job with a company that offers paying clients to hire actors to play family members or friends. Sounds like a strange concept, but it has been a real thing for a while. Hire a boyfriend to get one's family off one's back or as a needed plus one to an event. That sort of thing. At one point Fraser is given the job of being a young girl's father so she can apply to an elite school. He befriends the "daughter" and discovers some of what's like being a father, how strangers can suddenly become so important to you in a matter of meetings. The themes of loneliness and how vital connection with our fellow humans truly is are poignant and insightful. I loved this movie. Read other reviews if you think you might want to try it. They'll say it's: charming, appealing, well crafted, remarkable, beautiful, funny, wonderful, moving, tender, filled with warmth. They are right. 

They say it's your birthday

 Chart showing the most and least common birthdays.

There goes the sun

Movie: The Ballad of Wallis Island. A sleeper that I keep recommending to people because I found it sweet, sometimes bittersweet, lovely, funny, touching, well acted, and well written. Basically everything I was looking for in a movie. A double lottery winning eccentric Charles (Tim Key) invites his late wife's favorite folk musician Herb McGwyer (Tom Basden) to give a concert, unknowingly just for him. Herb was part of a famous duo before breaking up with his partner. I really wanted her name to be Peaches. Sadly, it was not. It was Nell Mortimer, played by Carey Mulligan. Desperately in need of money, the now washed-up Herb agrees to the deal until he realizes Charles has invited Nell for an historical reunion concert of McGwyer Mortimer.

At first Herb finds Charles strange, then annoying, then funny and ultimately endearing. For an actor to pull this off, not only with a character in the same film, but also with the audience, was amazing to watch. Lots of props to Tim Key. The original music/soundtrack of tremendous, soulful folk songs is extremely pleasing. Tom Basden wrote all the songs. I hope he's writing a lot more exactly like these. Look for the songs around the net. Worth every moment. The movie's ending was unexpected but seemed true to the way life works. Filmed in Wales in 18 days. 

 

The night the lights went out in Mass

Due to the latest massive snowstorm on the east coast, over 165,000 homes are without power in Mass. If you're wondering if and how your area has been affected, head on over to Power Outage to find out. From their maps, you can see the areas most affected by the storm, including where I used to live many decades ago. People had to climb out their windows in order to shovel the three feet plus high snow so they could open their front doors. 

Never listen to what people say. Just watch what they do.

 Found in my wanderings: the ratings of all the episodes of the SF show The Expanse.