Happy Wet and Windy Saturday!

Stay safe out there this weekend

Hello to you on this weird, wild Saturday! We’ve had flooding, landslides and downed eucalyptus trees where we live, with more heavy rain coming — hopefully you’re staying warm and dry wherever you are. It’s the perfect opportunity to get cozy on the couch with a movie, and have I got a great one for you.

That’s right, Michael, we ARE the world.

If you’re a child of the ‘80s like I am, you will love the Netflix documentary “The Greatest Night in Pop,” which chronicles the making of the charity single “We Are the World.” This kind of pop culture time capsule is very much our jam over at Breakfast All Day; one of my favorite things about our channel is that Alonso and I frequently review documentaries. Director Bao Nguyen combines archival footage of that magical night in 1985 when the world’s biggest artists got together in a studio to record the hit, along with new interviews with the likes of Lionel Richie, Bruce Springsteen, Cyndi Lauper, Dionne Warwick, Huey Lewis, Sheila E and more. If you love process like I do, you will eat this up. You’ll also have “We Are the World” stuck in your head for the next week. I apologize in advance.

Dua Lipa was the only good part of this movie.

Also this week at our Breakfast All Day YouTube channel, we reviewed:

  • ARGYLLE. Or rather, Alonso reviewed “Argylle.” Because 20 minutes into Matthew Vaughn’s star-studded action extravaganza, the power went out in our theater Thursday night. Told you it’s been weird around here. But it sounds like I lucked out in missing it. What I saw was pretty bland and soulless, despite the terrific cast. In theaters.

  • SOCIETY OF THE SNOW. This harrowing depiction of the 1972 Uruguayan rugby team’s plane crash in the Andes is nominated for Academy Awards for best international feature and makeup and hairstyling. Spanish director J.A. Bayona’s film is visceral and intimate. It’s also extremely disturbing if you’re claustrophobic. Streaming on Netflix.

  • THE BREAKING ICE. This melancholy love triangle along the Chinese-North Korean border owes a lot stylistically to the French New Wave, but it also vividly captures the universal feeling of being adrift and in flux in your mid-20s. Writer-director Anthony Chen does inspired things with the chilly setting and ethereal lighting. In theaters.

  • Plus we did our MOVIE NEWS LIVE! again. It was so much fun chatting with our viewers last week, we’re probably going to do it this way from now on. We remember Carl Weathers and Chita Rivera, who sadly both left us this week, and discuss all those crazy Taylor Swift/Super Bowl conspiracy theories. Literally none of it makes sense. Hope you can make the next live chat — they’ll likely always be at Noon PST on Fridays, and we’ll send out reminders so you can plan ahead.

R.I.P. Chita Rivera

Speaking of Chita Rivera, The Washington Post has a beautiful appreciation of the original triple threat. She died this week at 91 following a legendary career that includes playing Anita in the original “West Side Story” on Broadway and Velma in “Chicago.” Among the praises for the D.C. native from longtime theater critic Peter Marks: “To watch Chita Rivera in her prime was to experience the rhapsody of theatricality in motion.”

While we’re on the topic of great writing, I’m thrilled to share the news that Justin Chang, longtime film critic for the Los Angeles Times and a dear friend, is heading to The New Yorker. Thankfully, he’s staying in L.A., so he’ll still be around at screenings. But he is the best of all of us, and so deserving of such a prestigious gig. What’s amazing about Justin is that he can do it all: He has great depth of cinematic knowledge and piercing insights, but he’s also a distinctive craftsman and the master of puns. Plus he’s a total sweetheart and gives great hugs. It’s a tumultuous time for journalism in this town, so I’m sure this transition is bittersweet, but he will absolutely thrive. Congrats.

Gonna pop a Valium and take a nap right after this photo shoot.

If you haven’t checked out our Breakfast All Day Patreon yet, now is a great time. We’re recapping season 2 of Ryan Murphy’s “Feud” on Hulu, titled “Capote vs. The Swans.” It follows the highs and lows of the decadent relationship between groundbreaking writer Truman Capote and the New York socialites he insinuated himself with in the 1960s and ‘70s. Alonso liked the first two episodes more than I did, but I appreciated the terrific cast, including Naomi Watts, Chloe Sevigny, Calista Flockhart and Tom Hollander as Capote. Basically, I’m just here for the clothes. We’ll recap over the next several weeks, so pull up a chair and join us — after all, we do have the best table in the place.

“Kiss Me Deadly” (1955)

One last thing! I’ve mentioned how much we enjoy doing our Table for One reviews with our viewers. Sometimes folks take that video or audio and post it on their own channels or podcasts, which is a fun way to share the experience with the rest of the world. That’s what Douglas Arthur did this week with our discussion of the 1955 noir classic “Kiss Me Deadly.” Doug has a podcast called Attack of the 2-Headed Space Mules!, and was nice enough to include our conversation. This was a lot of fun. You can listen here and in all the podcast places.

Thank you for reading and supporting my new endeavor! It’s been such a pleasure for me to write each week, and I hope you’re enjoying it just as much. As always, I’d love to hear from you if you have any thoughts or suggestions. Have a great weekend, and I’ll see you back here next Saturday.