My husband and I love films and we have seen a great many of them. We avoid the bad ones, when we are aware they are going to be bad. Lately, “bad” has become such a relative term that even Rotten Tomatoes seems unable to warn us away from films we dislike. We wasted over $30 seeing Knives Out (or Up or In or whatever). The overpriced popcorn and Milk Duds were the best part. I hasten to assure you that everyone else in the theater seemed to love the film. They laughed a great deal more than we did, did not seem to mind Craig’s silly accent or the pathetic attempts at political pandering or the way the main character (vomiting on cue—that was only funny once and not the first time) was used as a cliché victim. The predictable plot twists even seemed to surprise people. Really? If you loved the newest version of Murder on the Orient Express, you will find a familiar scenario here. This is the cartoon version where everyone but the ingenue is despicable. If you thought that mustache on Branagh was ridiculous, well, consider yourself warned.

On the other hand, we had relatively low expectations for The Good Liar, the overall twist was expected, but, you know, Helen Mirren. That one was fun.

In the mean time, the single best film entertainment we’ve enjoyed recently has been on Netflix. Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories has two seasons (2016 and 2019), just twenty 28-minute episodes, and some are deeply touching and some are spectacular. A couple have been flat out sad, but mostly they are something more subtle. Newsweek declares it “the best show no one is watching.” As we near the end of the second season, we’re dolling them out one at a time to make them last. We never skip the opening sequence . . . and apparently others feel the same way about “Omiede.”

There have been many more shots and films we enjoyed this year. Gary credits me with finding Midnight Diner, and promising is was short and we could turn it off if we didn’t like it. He says it’s on the level with Detectorists, which is his all-time favorite. Its funny and dear to us both.

Joan Baez sings “Diamonds and Rust.”