The One With No Other Choice

 

 

Earlier tonight, Kiff and I made a voyage into the Coolidge Theater to see No Other Choice, a foreign movie with subtitles (my favorite) that Kiff wanted to see. I found the premise - a guy loses his job and will do everything he can to provide for his family - intriguing. So, I went along.

Overall, the movie was okay. I'd give it a B. The acting was solid and the lead's wife was amazing, trying to hold the family together. Part of the premise was a bit ludicrous - the lead was trying to eliminate any of his potential competition for a future job at a South Korean paper mill. And indeed, he does eliminate three. In the process, he sees a bit of himself in all of the victims.

Their is subtle humor that helps the viewer overcome the darkness of the movie, which helps during some of the disturbing parts. And, some of the visuals were stunning, including the opening sequence where the family is seated outside their house with red cherry blossoms falling down from trees. Exquisite!!!

The One with Six and Carmines

 

 

 

 

We went to NYC for what now seems to be an annual family visit. And, on the way, Emmie found a good deal on tickets for the musical SIX. I know Emmie had been interested in seeing it, so we decided to give it a go.

 And what a go it was. We went in knowing it was going to be about Henry VIII's six wives. However, instead of being about his wives, it was an upbeat, music pounding story about six women who happened to also be married to the king.

 While the musical starts as a competition for the audience to see who is the favorite queen, by the end, they make it clear that they should not be known as Henry's wives, but that they each have their own individual experiences and lives. And sure, two were divorced, one died, two were beheaded, and one survived....but they all share their individual stories so well. Not to mention, it was a short musical....about 80 minutes with no intermission.

After that, we went to Carmines, and actually sat upstairs. There we had the chicken parm and rigatoni with white sauce (garlic sauce), and talked about the musical and the movies we wanted to see. It was quite a night. 

  

The One With 2026

 

 

 

 

Today is the first day of 2026....who knows what it will have in store, but I am hoping it is amazing.

 We actually took down our tree today (which is a little early for us). We all seem to have developed an allergy to it, and Emmie was totally wiped out by it. She needed some antibiotics for her sinuses.

We did have a dusting of snow overnight, which was nice. Emmie and I watched Family Plan 2 and From Russia With Love to ring in the new year....though she felt lousy. She just took off to go see the final episode of STRANGER THINGS in the movies with Kiff, Adrian, and Adrian's mother

Here is wishing everyone an amazing 2026.