Watch List Weekly Recap 7/21/23

This is the Friday recap of Ty Burr’s Watch List postings for the week. If you’d like to cut down on in-box clutter and 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.”

Watch List Year 2: The Author Thanks You

Ty Burr • Jul 18, 2023

Two years ago this week, I left The Boston Globe, my place of employ for 19 years, to jump off a cliff and start a newsletter. I had a very good idea what I wanted to do with Ty Burr’s Watch List back then. I have somewhat less of an idea now. I think that’s probably healthy.

Read full story →

Good Movies 📽

"Barbenheimer" Weekend Part I: "Barbie" (⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 1/2)

Ty Burr • Jul 19, 2023

It's a silly-serious Pilgrim’s Progress through what James Thurber once called The War Between the Sexes, one that extends a comically profound empathy to the living doll at its center, the girls (and boys) who have played with her over the decades, the people they grow up into, and, yes, the men with whom they share the playroom and life’s stage. Even Ken. Sweet, dumb, conflicted Ken.

Read full story →

Good Movies 📽

"Barbenheimer" Weekend Pt. II: "Oppenheimer" (⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 1/2)

Ty Burr • Jul 21, 2023

Christopher Nolan has set out to make a moral epic, and he succeeds for the most part, or, rather, for the first two thirds of “Oppenheimer,” which contains some of the finest, most galvanizing moviemaking of his career. He captures the rapture and dread of perhaps the most critical moment in our species’ journey toward apotheosis and/or annihilation.

Read full story →

Thank you for continuing to read and support the Watch List! Feel free to comment

— or pass this newsletter 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:

Give a paid Watch List gift subscription to your movie-besotted friends —

or refer friends to Ty Burr’s Watch List and get credit for new subscribers! When you use the referral link below, or the “Share” button on any post, you'll receive special benefits:

• Get a 1 month comp for 3 referrals
• Get a 3 month comp for 5 referrals
• Get a 6 month comp for 25 referrals. Simply send the link in a text, email, or share it on social media with friends.

• There’s a leaderboard where you can track your shares, too. To learn more, check out Substack’s FAQ.