Horses are good company -- The Witcher

I watched a few things that had minimal flashing lights, yay.

The Pez Outlaw is a delightful documentary on Netflix about a regular guy who got into selling rare Pez dispensers to collectors. He was a "gray market" seller, not quite legal but not quite illegal. Very funny, quirky people, a good time.

Where the Crawdads Sing, also on Netflix but leaving soon. Kind of heavy subject material, dealing with abuse, abandonment, sexual assault, but from the perspective of a woman who survived these things, and made a life for herself that she loved. The Carolina wetlands that she lives in sustain her materially, intellectually, and spiritually. Some beautiful wildlife scenes in this! David Strathairn plays a kindly lawyer who defends our heroine from murder charges, after her ex-boyfriend is found dead.

She Said, a BOATS (based on a true story) about the journalists who investigated Harvey Weinstein. Again this is heavy subject material, but it focuses on investigative journalism, truth telling, and the hard work it takes to bring the truth to light. I enjoyed this a lot. Ashley Judd stars as herself, in a minor role. I Loved Carey Mulligan, Zoe Kazan, and Patricia Clarkson, who all came across as very kind and competent.

I picked up "Wild," the movie based on Cheryl Strayed's memoir, from the library, mostly on a whim. I loved it.

Reese Witherspoon plays Cheryl, who decides to hike the Pacific Crest Trail solo. We follow her along the trail and also see, in flashbacks, what led her here. She was very close to her mother (played by Laura Dern), and her mother died fairly young from cancer. Cheryl in her grief descends into drugs and sex with strangers. She decides to hike the PCT as a way of finding her best self, and "putting herself in the way of beauty."

At the beginning, she can barely lift her pack, and she brings the wrong fuel for her camp stove. But things get easier. The landscapes were wonderful and I fell into this movie, transported into her journey across deserts, through forests and snow-covered hills. I appreciate films that rely less on dialog, and do their story telling visually, which this film does well.

I appreciated that Strayed self-identifies as a feminist. She's a reader and a thinker and is quite independent. We see some very interesting interactions with strangers, especially men. For instance, at a gas station early in the film, Strayed looks around for people to ask for a ride. Two adult men, bearded: her eyes keep moving. A man and his teenage son: likely safe. There's a farmer that she asks for help; he starts out creepy but gets less creepy as she gets a better sense of him. There were a bunch of these little interactions protrayed, moments that are so familiar to women, but that we hardly ever see in media.

The music was also excellent: Simon and Garfunkel, First Aid Kit, and others. Very recommended film.

Content notes: drugs, alcohol, semi-public sex, a creepy guy that Strayed has to run away from, a death from cancer, a horse is put down.