Over the years I have added movies to my Netflix watch list. The list has grown longer and longer as I rarely sit down to watch any of them. Some of this is procrastination as the list also contains a few series, which would take forever to go through. Obviously, watching entertainment is a time killer. This is great when you have time to kill; but, it's not so great when you are busy.
However, I have been working out the whole time management thing. Essentially, you shape your schedule to do those things you want to do rather than have a schedule imposed on you. If you want to read a book, you set aside some time to read. If you want to watch a movie, you set aside the time to watch. If you need family time, you schedule time to spend with your family. And so on. So, I have created pockets of time to watch the movies I have been accumulating over the years.
One major factor for not watching the movies is that they aren't interesting to Mrs. Mata. She absolutely does not care for scary movies. And some of the movies I like to watch are sometimes a bit esoteric, too science fiction, or just not great productions. So, that means I would need to watch them on my own.
Smile was one creepy movie. It had a few jump scares, but it was mainly a psychological thriller. Ironically, the main character was a psychiatrist or psychologist I'm not sure as she was a Doctor, but that could go either way. In any case, it was a very straightforward story line. Even the "solution" was fairly obvious when the first survivor's story was mentioned.
I doubt Smile will have a sequel. It would be the same story, essentially, with different details. But, I suppose it could be like Final Destination movies where somebody figures out how to buy themselves time. But you know that, ultimately, everybody dies. And Smile is like that. The victims don't tend to have enough time to find a way to fight the evil that pursues them.
Bird Box and Bird Box Barcelona were different stories. One was a story from the perspective of characters who managed to stay alive and find a safe haven from the creatures driving everybody to suicide and the mentally unstable people who could see the creatures and helped them claim victims.
The Barcelona version was from the perspective of a mentally cracked character looking for victims. He went a bit nuts after his daughter died, which consequently protected him from their influence.
Both movies were also great psychological thrillers. They never show the creatures directly, only in drawings. The movies were great in keeping the audience in suspense.
I had seen great reviews for Pig when it came out in theaters. This is one of those esoteric movies I would have to watch on my own. I had forgotten about it until recently. It's a good change from the over-the-top Nicolas Cage you normally see. Going in, I expected the movie to be about a man on a mission who would destroy anything in his path to get his stolen pig back. But as it turns out, it's about a man who is grieving. I can't say that I was disappointed by the movie. Cage is able to evoke sympathy for the character he plays.
I still have a long list. There was a Chinese movie I watched about battles against the French colonizers. I can't remember the name. It wasn't a great movie for the story. It felt rushed and the acting was a bit wooden. The Mrs. would have stopped watching 5 minutes into it. In fact, she was reading a book whilst I watched it.
This review doesn't touch on the shows that I am also enjoying, such as:
Invasion
Slow Horses
Franklin & Bash
Moonlighting
Foundation
Blind Spot
I suspect that I'll always have a watch list longer than I can hope to watch. But at least I'll have curated a list of what interests me for when I have the time.
