At lunch time today, I watched the 1956 sci-fi Forbidden Planet. It stars Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis, and Leslie Nielsen and although corny in places, it was ground-breaking at the time. Plus, that classic robot that appears in so many movies and some episodes of Lost in Space (as an evil robot, I think) features in the movie.
Last month I watched movies that friends had a hand in. About 15 years ago, one of my students told me he wanted to work in movies, and I told him to dream big, work hard, and one day he'll send me a photo of himself with an Oscar. A few years ago he sent me a photo of him holding two Oscars for Hacksaw Ridge - he was on the small sound editing and editing team that won the Oscars. His team also worked on The Dressmaker and The Railwayman, so I watched them, too. Other friends worked on or in Red Dog, Australia, Racing Stripes, War Horse, Charlotte's Web, Storm Boy, Tomorrow When the War Began, The Great Gatsby (not the Robert Redford one), and some others, so, even though I'd seen them all before, I had an enjoyable time watching movies that somehow involve friends. It seemed as good a theme as any.