No Kings on This Saturday

In partnership with

Good morning to all my wonderful Saturday Matinee friends. Thanks so much for being here.

This is not a political newsletter, and I hope over the past 18 months or so that I’ve been doing this that I’ve provided some enjoyment, or at least a brief distraction from what’s going on in the world. But today is extraordinary, so I wanted to touch on it briefly before heading into movie reviews.

Nic and I are planning to attend the No Kings protest in Downtown Los Angeles. These are happening all over the place, and there are much closer events planned in Torrance and El Segundo. Several of my friends are going to the West Hollywood protest. There’s one outside the mall in Woodland Hills where I took ice skating lessons as a kid, got my ears pierced as a tween and worked at the B. Dalton bookstore as a senior in high school. But Nic wants to go to the big one. He wants to see it, he wants to photograph it, he wants to participate in it. This is very much his idea. I guess it shouldn’t surprise me that he keeps up with news and politics as well as pop culture — he is our child, after all — but I’m really proud of the fact that he cares, that he’s angry, that he wants to be a part of something larger than himself at age 15.

I’ve never protested anything in my life. I’ve been a journalist for so long, and I’ve been married to a journalist for so long, that I’ve never wanted to create the impression of bias. This was especially true during the 15 years I was with The Associated Press, where they strive to remain fact-based and neutral and totally above board. We couldn’t donate to political campaigns or place bumper stickers on our cars, for example. I admire that kind of integrity — it seems increasingly rare.

But these are unusual times, to say the least, so Nic and I will head downtown with tens of thousands of other people to fight for our democracy. (Los Angeles is not a war zone, by the way. There was absolutely no need for the overwhelming show of force our city is experiencing. What’s happening to the many immigrants who make LA such a diverse and vibrant place is horrifying.)

Anyway, if you’re also heading out to protest today, I’d love to know about it. Thank you for taking the time to take to the streets, and please stay safe. And if you’re heading out to the movies, here’s what we reviewed on our Breakfast All Day YouTube channel and podcast.

• MATERIALISTS. If you’re looking for glittery escapism this weekend, here it is. But writer-director Celine Song’s follow-up to “Past Lives” is more substantial than its rom-com trappings would suggest. Dakota Johnson plays a New York City matchmaker who must choose between Chris Evans and Pedro Pascal. It’s the eternal conundrum. In theaters.

(I loved this movie, and had the pleasure of writing about it at length for RogerEbert.com if you’d like read my thoughts there.)

• HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON. This is yet another live-action remake of a beloved animated film, and it’s pretty much exactly the same as the original. Our good friend William Bibbiani fills in for Alonso, who’s friends with writer-director Dean DeBlois and had to recuse himself. It’s … fine. In theaters.

Also this week, I talked about these movies and many others on FilmWeek on LAist. Always a delight to share the air with the legendary Larry Mantle. My friend and fellow critic Manuel Betancourt and I disagreed about a lot. This was a fun one, so tune in.

• ROGUE ONE (2016). Now that the prequel “Andor” is over, we wanted to go back and re-watch “Rogue One,” the “Star Wars” film about the mission to steal the Death Star plans. We hadn’t seen it since it came out and wondered whether we’d feel differently about it after watching two seasons of phenomenal television. Have you seen “Rogue One” lately? I’d love to know your thoughts on it now. And if you missed any of our “Andor” recaps, they’re all here on our Patreon.

Who’s got an EGOT? It’s a rare and prestigious feat, being a part of the elite club of artists who’ve won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony. Only 21 people have earned all four awards, including the incredible bad-ass Rita Moreno above. (I love that she got her Emmy for an episode of “The Muppet Show.”) Here’s a fun list of all the people who’ve reached EGOT status, the kind of curated content 1440 provides every day. And now they’ve launched the 1440 Society & Culture newsletter, which takes a weekly deep dive into all the subjects you love. Check it out and subscribe below!

Finally, I wanted to let you know that Alonso and I have resumed our Table for One service. If you’ve ever wanted to review a movie with us, here’s your chance. You pick the movie you want to discuss, we meet up online to talk about it, then we send you the video to keep. This is one of our favorite things to do, and it’s been a great way to get to know our folks better. Details in the video above. And if you’d like to sign up, you can do that at my website, ChristyLemire.com.

Gonna wrap it up here and get ready to head out the door. We’re taking the Metro to Downtown LA, because there’s no way in hell I’m driving up there and trying to find parking. Thank you so much for sharing some of your weekend with me. I’m so thankful for the positive, decent-hearted community we’re creating here. If you’ve enjoyed my newsletter, I’d love it if you’d pass it along. Have a great week, and I’ll see you back here next Saturday.