Fun fact: my spouse used to teach the aulos player who plays on the soundtrack (she didn’t teach him aulos - she taught other stuff). Reportedly not a particularly nice person to deal with but a helluva talented musician.
Although I did regret the omission of the movable-bed trick question dialogue at the very end, which I think really caps the poignancy of the Odysseus-Penelope reunion in a lovely way. Pasolini’s version in the 2024 The Return did that bit very well IMHO.
I had to Google that trick question, as I wasn’t familiar with that part of the story. (And is it really necessary to spoiler-box any element of this?)
Well, I didn’t know if readers might like to avoid advance knowledge of which specific bits are omitted from key events in the movie. Yes, I recognize that none of the events are in themselves going to be a surprise to anybody who’s been paying attention to landmarks of Western literature any time in the last 2500 years or so. 
Saturday night on our flight home my wife and I both watched Hamnet. She cried, I was bored. I probably shouldn’t have watched it after spending all day in an airport. Maybe I’ll watch it again when I’m in a better mood.
Last night I watched If I Had Legs I’d Kick You on HBOMax. Didn’t really get it, don’t understand the title, probably won’t watch it again to see what I’m missing.
The Odyssey - It was alright, the 3 hours flew by. My son had no knowledge of the story beforehand and we both enjoyed it. Not as good as Insomnia or Momento, but better than Nolan’s Dark Knight films and way better than Oppenheimer.
Obsession - It was alright. I get the appeal.
Project Hail Mary - I had not read the book and thought the story was scientifically weaker than The Martian until I came across some YT vids describing parts of the book the film didn’t cover. In particular Grace’s arrival and existence on Eridani is fascinating. Worth watching, probably well worth reading some day.
Ilya Muromets - My young son is an avid WWI plane enthusiast. The largest bomber of the war was the Russian Ilya Muromets. Turns out that’s a guys name and the title of a Russian folk tale similar to The Sword in the Stone. Ripe for propaganda, the Soviets released the film Ilya Muromets in 1985 and you can watch it free on Tubi. It was pretty good. Featuring fantastic landscapes and evocative costumes, it falls somewhere between the older versions of Lord of the Rings and Wizard of Oz. I was impressed with the camera tricks to make it mythical without CGI.
I’m watching Violent Night, a Christmas-themed comedy starring people who probably didn’t have anything to do. David Harbour is reliably funny as a boozy, fed-up real Santa. An over-the-hill Bevery D’Angelo looks to be trying to make some money off of her stint in Christmas Vacation. Her voice is shot from too much booze or cigarettes or both. John Leguizamo tries hard to be a vicious criminal and does well with what cards he was dealt. The laughs are few half-way through, with a couple of solid bits and several lame ones.
The Long Walk, HBO. Inna and I really enjoyed this one, Inna moreso than I as she said the set and costume design was very reminiscent of the Soviet Union.
Hell or High Water, HBO. We also enjoyed this Taylor Sheridan penned “modern western”. Inna noted that if the shot didn’t get him, the rattlesnake would have.
I remember some SD board discussion of this. I couldn’t figure out the appeal. “This is a real book? Was King tripin’ on Ambien?”
Aha! Years ago I saw a preview where some bad guys had Santa tied to a chair and he is looking malevolently POed about it. You can tell things will not go for the BGs. Unfortunately by the time I made it home the title had evaporated from my mind and I could not track it down. From the timing this has to be it. Was there such a scene?
From the wiki entry on the book:
While not the first of King’s novels to be published, The Long Walk was the first novel he wrote, having begun it in 1966–67 during his freshman year at the University of Maine, some eight years before his first published novel, Carrie, was released in 1974.
So not surprising. A writer I know estimated it literally takes about a million words before a novelist hits their stride, three generous books’ worth.
I’m only about halfway through it, but that sounds like a likely scene.
Correct, Not really a spoiler, Santa gets away or else the movie gets a lot shorter.
The movie is in my Christmas rotation along with Reindeer Games and Nakatomi towers.