The Judge (2014)

Perhaps the most notable thing about this flick is that it made Robert Duvall the oldest Oscar nominee yet, at 84. That record has since been broken. Of course, I was just as likely to have been drawn in by the lead actor, Robert Downey, Jr.

Hank (Downey) is an especially scuzzy lawyer, favoring guilty clients for profit, which may explain why he's getting a divorce and hasn't seen any of his birth family in ages. The latter changes when he attends his mother's funeral in her fictitious hometown of Carlinville, Indiana. He's eager to head back to Chicago -- until his father, Joseph (Duvall), a long-time judge, gets arrested for a fatal hit and run on an ex-con (Mark Kiely) Joseph might well have wanted to kill. Sensing how inadequate a local defense attorney (Dax Shepard) is, Hank reluctantly steps up to the plate, but Joseph, who can't remember hitting anyone, may prefer to be found guilty of second-degree murder if the alternative is to publicize his waning mental faculties. And the prosecutor (Billy Bob Thornton) is determined.

The Conjuring 2 (2016)

I browsed Netflix for a good end to the month and came across this title. Why wasn't it on my list already? After all, I liked The Conjuring, and the first sequel was reputed to be almost as good. I'm just not in the habit of watching horror sequels.

Around Christmas of 1977, shortly after their Amityville incident, paranormal experts Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) are invited to the London Borough of Enfield. The Hodgsons, consisting of mother Peggy (Frances O'Connor) and four kids, have lately had stressful domestic conflict and an abortive Ouija effort, both of which are said to feed into an unwelcome presence, and the ensuing events have been frightful enough to make them seek shelter with neighbors. These events, including apparent part-time possession of 11-year-old Janet (Madison Wolfe), are attributed to the hostile spirit of a prior resident (Bob Adrian). The Catholic Church won't authorize an exorcism without compelling evidence. That's where the Warrens come in, coordinating with convinced investigator Maurice Grosse (Simon McBurnie) and doubtful psychologist Anita Gregory (Franka Potente). But Lorraine, with her psychic connections, gets the feeling that this mission will be more dangerous than any they've tackled before....

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2008)

This film had sat on my streaming list a long time before getting dropped. When I learned that my dad had received the DVD, I decided to join him for it. It's probably for the best that I waited, because heavy dramas can be easier to watch with company.

Bruno (Asa Butterfield in his breakout role), age 8, isn't happy about having to move from Berlin to the Polish countryside because of his military dad, Ralf (David Thewlis), getting a new post. With little to do by day when not under a propagandist tutor, he decides to explore the strange "farm" he can see from his window, against his parents' wishes that he not wander in that direction. There he sees the "farmers" behind an electric fence and meets the titular boy his age, Shmuel (Jack Scanlon), who's hiding from work at the moment but doesn't dare play. You probably already know more about the situation than Bruno does.

The Conjuring (2013)

All month until now, I'd seen movies that end with a notice that the depicted characters and events are fictitious -- even Blade Runner 2049, for crying out loud. This one boasts a basis in true events, with only a few changes for entertainment's sake (e.g., compressing a decade into weeks). Such claims are especially common for horrors about exorcism, probably because more people today believe in ghosts and demons than in, say, werewolves. At any rate, we know that it is partly true, insofar as the major players (among living humans, anyway) have existed and had connections with each other; two served as consultants on the film.

The main setting is a rural Rhode Island mansion in 1971. I'm not sure why the Perron family moved into a home so old and disused without learning much about it ahead of time, but I guess two spouses and five daughters don't have many options both comfortably large and affordable. Perhaps their first warning that there are worse things in it than dust and cobwebs is that the dog adamantly refuses to enter. As phenomena get increasingly difficult to explain, the Perrons turn to demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren, perhaps best known for their part in the story that inspired The Amityville Horror. Despite their expertise, the Warrens remain apprehensive; not only do exorcisms (including those of buildings rather than people) end badly sometimes, but Lorraine recently had some unshared mental trauma that might compromise her ability. And one of the perceived entities herein threatens the Warrens' daughter elsewhere....