A Good Goodbye Funeral Planning

02/24/2026

The Big Lebowski is a .6 Mortality Movie. Death, funeral planning and the finer points of ash scattering sneaks in through this absurdist comedy.

02/17/2026

Being There is a Mortality Movie that provides important lessons about estate planning. It powerfully shows what happens when someone dies without a plan.

02/10/2026

Gail Rubin's new book, 98.6 Mortality Movies to See Before You Die is coming soon!

02/03/2026

The "Chuckles Bites the Dust" episode from The Mary Tyler Moore Show: A way to talk about death without ruining dinner.

Watching The Mary Tyler Moore Show's episode "Chuckles Bites the Dust" is the perfect conversation starter

01/27/2026

The Mortality Movie Critical Care illustrates what happens when the ICU meets Kafka (and the Billing Department). It will be shown on February 7!

Critical Care is the next Mortality Movie Night selection on February 7. It's a comedy that skewers medical care, insurance, and difficult decisions in the ICU.

01/20/2026

Big Hero 6 is an animated action adventure film that is really all about how we deal with grief. I'm showing it this Saturday for my next Mortality Movie Night.

Big Hero 6 is an animated action adventure film that is really all about how we deal with grief. The marshmallow robot Baymax gently guides the conversation.

01/13/2026

Gravity: A Film about Grief, Survival, and the Courage to Re‑Enter Life

Gravity (2013) may look like a white‑knuckle sci‑fi disaster epic, but it is a profoundly human story about loss, mourning, and choosing to keep living.

01/06/2026

Here are my Top Three Mortality Movies of 2025: The Life of Chuck, Hamnet, and Sinners.

Here are the Top Three Mortality Movies of 2025, as determined by Gail Rubin, The Doyenne of Death and Mortality Movies Maven.

12/16/2025

Remembering Rob Reiner: Love, Laughter, and the Movies That Made Us Feel Alive - a few thoughts from the Doyenne of Death.

Rob Reiner gave us memorable films with even more memorable lines in The Princess Bride, This Is Spinal Tap, and A Few Good Men.

12/09/2025

Medical Aid in Dying: We offer our pets a good death, why not our people? TEDxABQ talk by Gail Rubin now online!

Medical aid in dying is misunderstood. This TEDxABQ talk presented by Gail Rubin on September 27, 2025, helps dispel myths and misconceptions.

11/18/2025

Check out this list of holiday Mortality Movies: festive films that stare down the Grim Reaper.

These holiday Mortality Movies offer structured meditations on death, regret, and the radical possibility of change, just in time for family gatherings!

11/06/2025

The Chicago Tribune just did a story about the convention last week. And the first photo features Gail Rubin, The Doyenne of Death! Companies featured include Passages International, Inc. - Green Funeral Products, Parting Stone, The Natural Burial, Bio-Response Solutions, and Loop Bio-Tech. Here's a gift link to the story:

You can learn a lot about your options for the afterlife at the annual trade show, which recently ended at McCormick Place. It was not a solemn gathering.