Happy Saturday. So glad to see you at the end of this weird week (but then again, every week has been a weird week lately). January was an entire year, but we made it.
It seems sadly fitting that this month would conclude with some terrible news, and we got some Friday with the death of Catherine O’Hara at age 71. How can the world possibly go on without her? The comedy legend has been such a fixture for so long across so many genres and mediums that it seemed like she’d always be there. Her passing is a gut punch.
Catherine O’Hara, 1954-2026
Alonso and I took a moment to sing her praises and get to the heart of her talent. If there’s a through-line to her wildly varied work, it’s that she brought deep affection and humanity to the characters she played. They may have been crazy, but she didn’t think they were crazy. She was committed to the bit, no matter what. O’Hara was so versatile and consistent, from her early years doing sketch work on “SCTV” to classic movies like “Beetlejuice” and “Home Alone” to Christopher Guest mockumentaries like “Waiting for Guffman” to later TV work on “Schitt’s Creek” and “The Studio.” And she was incredible in an unusual dramatic role on season 2 of “The Last of Us.” It’s an impossible question to answer, but I’d love to know what your favorite performance of hers is. RIP to a Canadian icon.
As for this week, we had a pretty random cross-section of reviews at our Breakfast All Day YouTube channel and podcast. Take us with you as you’re running around on this quiet weekend before next Sunday’s Super Bowl.
Sharing a little snack in “Send Help.”
SEND HELP. Sam Raimi is back, baby! “Send Help” is a squirm-inducing return to the kind of bold horror comedies he made his name on, particularly “Drag Me to Hell.” There’s nothing like that feeling of laughing and screaming at the same time in a packed audience, and you get that here. Rachel McAdams goes to places you’ve never seen her go as a put-upon office worker stuck on a deserted island with her horrible boss (Dylan O’Brien). In theaters.
Brat summer had to end sometime.
THE MOMENT. Charli xcx IS the moment in this self-aware mockumentary. The pop star blows up her party girl image, and ends Brat summer once and for all, in this deadpan comedy that reimagines what a behind-the-scenes music doc should look like. This got mixed reviews when it premiered at Sundance last week but we really liked it. In theaters.
Oscar nominee “Arco” is mainly for kids.
ARCO. For some reason, this family-friendly adventure about a time-traveling boy in a rainbow cloak is nominated for an Academy Award for best animated feature. We both thought it was just OK. The French film has been dubbed into English with an all-star cast featuring Natalie Portman, Mark Ruffalo, America Ferrera, Will Ferrell, Andy Samberg and Flea. Yes, that Flea. It had a brief awards qualifying run at the end of 2025 but now it’s back in theaters.
Mel Brooks is a sharp as ever.
MEL BROOKS: THE 99 YEAR OLD MAN! Speaking of comedy legends, Mel Brooks is the subject of this entertaining, two-part documentary from directors Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio. Brooks is as sharp as ever as he nears the century mark, discussing his life and career and sharing anecdotes about such movies as “The Producers,” “Blazing Saddles,” “Young Frankenstein” and “History of the World: Part I.” A who’s-who of comedy greats touts Brooks’ influence, including the late Rob Reiner. Streaming now on HBO Max.
We skipped Movie News LIVE! this week to show our support for the national shutdown to oppose ICE. If you took the day off from work, or attended a protest, or just didn’t spend money to make an economic statement, thank you. It may not feel like much, but all these little actions add up. I have to believe that.
On Thursday, though, I recorded the latest episode of FilmWeek on LAist 89.3. We reviewed several of these movies and many more. I always love being on with my dear friend Lael Loewenstein, because she’s brilliant and insightful, but also because we get to have lunch and catch up afterward. And if you’re in Southern California and interested in attending our annual FilmWeek Oscar Preview on March 7, details and tickets are available here.
Who is this mysterious, masked woman?
“Bridgerton” is back for season 4, and we’ve begun recapping it over at our Patreon. The first four episodes are out on Netflix, but we like to take them two a time — so no spoilers, please, if you’ve already binged them all. Yerin Ha is a welcome addition as a new cast member, a young woman named Sophie who’s caught the eye of the rakish Benedict (Luke Thompson). But is this season seriously just going to rip off “Cinderella”? It is nice to be back amid the frothy, frivolous trappings of the ton, though. Watch along with us and share your thoughts.
This is going to be his big break.
Also this week on our Patreon, we started recapping “Wonder Man.” This is the Marvel series for people who don’t like Marvel. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II stars as Simon Williams, a struggling actor who doesn’t realize he secretly has superpowers. The great Ben Kingsley seems to be having a ball reprising his role as fellow actor Trevor Slattery. Destin Daniel Cretton (“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” “Short Term 12”) is the showrunner for this amusing, inside-Hollywood action comedy. We’re really enjoying this so far. All eight episodes are out on Disney+, but as with “Bridgerton,” we’re recapping them two at a time. Let us know what you think if you’re watching, too.
This was fun! (Thanks to the lovely Jen Yamato for the photo.)
Finally, I had the pleasure of ending this week at the Gardena Cinema, where I moderated a Q&A after a Friday night screening of “Dinner in America.” This dark comedy debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in 2020 but fell victim to the pandemic; it’s since become a cult favorite through word of mouth and social media. Many people the audience said they discovered the movie through the streaming service Kanopy. However they got there, they were into it, and that thrill of community has been a blast for the folks I chatted with: director/writer/editor Adam Rehmeier, co-star Emily Skeggs and producer Ross Putman. Kyle Gallner plays a self-sabotaging punk rocker who falls into an unlikely romance with Skeggs’ character, a shy young woman in suburban Detroit who’s obsessed with his band. Rehmeier finds an unexpected tone here: “Dinner in America” is grungy and aggro, but in a deadpan way, and it ends up being surprisingly sweet by the end. It reminded me of “Repo Man,” but it’s very much its own thing. “Dinner in America” is streaming in a variety of places if you’d like to check it out yourself. Thanks to the hard-working Judy Kim for having us — go support your local arthouse theater!
That’ll do it for me today. Thank you so much as always for spending some time with me over the weekend. If you enjoyed my newsletter, I’d be honored if you shared it. And if someone shared it with you, I’d be honored if you subscribed. Have a great week, and I’ll see you back here next Saturday.
