Watch List Weekly Recap 2/11/22

This is the Friday recap of Ty Burr’s Watch List postings for the week. If you’d like to receive this weekly email ONLY, please go to your account page and under “Email notifications” uncheck every box except “Weekly Digest.” If you’d prefer to not receive it at all, uncheck just “Weekly Digest.”

On Monday, paying subscribers got to chime in on a fun fame-name game: Tell us five famous people you’ve met and we have to guess which one’s a lie. This led into some personal stories of my own encounters with Lillian Gish and Ike Turner (not at the same time, thank you) and a lot of great anecdotes shared by readers.

Lillian Gish, Ike Turner, and me

One for the paying customers while we wait for the Oscar nominations to land tomorrow morning. Twitter, as I’ve learned over the years, is good for three things: Stoking unnecessary rage, bragging about your Wordle score, and playing viral games about pop culture. The last can be mindless fun, with one person throwing out a burning question or topic, you…

Ty Burr's Watch List

On Tuesday I wrote a brief heads up about a Thursday night Zoom event that the Watch List sponsored and which allowed me to have a Q&A with two grandsons of screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz (“Citizen Kane”), author Nick Davis and Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz. A video recording of the event has now been posted, if you’re curious. A fun time was had by all.

Zoom Event: Manks for the Memories

I’ll be posting some ruminations on this morning’s Oscar nominations in a bit, but I did want to alert readers to what promises to be a highly enjoyable Zoom webinar happening this Thursday evening (2/10) at 6 p.m. EST. Herman Mankiewicz (above left) was the man who wrote or co-wrote (depending on who’s arguing) “Citizen Kane,” in addition to “Dinner at …

Ty Burr's Watch List

Tuesday was the day Oscar nominations were announced, and I had some thoughts abiut who made it in, who got skunked, and why.

And the Nominees Are...

Some general observations on this morning’s Oscar nominations before I get into the weeds of the individual categories. The push by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to diversify and youth-ify is not only paying off in numbers – 9,487 members, a jump of 3,000 in five years – but in the number of members who actually take time to vote. This…

Ty Burr's Watch List

And for New Release Friday, I reviewed a movie in theaters (the all-star Agatha Christie adaptation “Death on the Nile”), a movie on demand (“The Sky Is Everywhere,” a teen drama from a maverick filmmaker), and a movie that’s in theaters and on demand (the glitzy, silly Jennifer Lopez romantic comedy “Marry Me”).

What to Watch This Weekend 2/11/22

The Nut Graf: “Death on the Nile” (in theaters, ** stars out of ****) is a decent Agatha Christie adaptation that you may want to read in paperback (i.e., watch it on demand) rather than buying the hardcover (i.e., going to the theater). “Marry Me” (in theaters and on Peacock, **1/2 stars out of four) is a gloriously chowderheaded Jennifer Lopez romanti…

Ty Burr's Watch List

Thanks for reading! Feel free to pass Ty Burr’s Watch List along to your friends.

If you’re not a paying subscriber and want to sign up for additional postings and to join the discussions, here’s how: