My June in Media

I guess all I did in June was watch movies because I saw 18 for the first time, from allll over the map.

If you know me, please invite me to things – obviously, I need to leave my house more.

Always Be My Maybe
I was so excited to watch this movie, and it was cute! Sweet, sweet fluff, following the recent trend of rom-coms that are basically fanfic AUs (#romcomissance). Also wow, Keanu is truly perfect in this and also everything, including real life.

Destination Wedding
This movie wasn't as good as a movie starring Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder should be. But it wasn't bad, necessarily. Keanu and Winona are the only two people who speak for the whole film, which I think would be a much better set-up for a play. They also play truly insufferable characters, which stands as a testament to how good they both are because I still wanted to like them. Also, this movie has maybe the most horrible sex scene I've seen in a movie that wasn't intentionally super weird.

Hereditary
I heard nothing but good things about this movie, but...I didn't like it. It's really weird, and I just wasn't super into it. It seemed to me to be one of those films that goes for the "disturbing images" angle, but doesn't necessarily back it up with "good writing." That being said: Toni Collette is good (please watch United States of Tara, y'all – this film is just scratching the surface of what she's capable of) and Alex Wolff is, surprisingly, even better.

What If
Cute, basic rom-com! It was very nice to see my boy DanRad in something sweet and fluffy instead of intensely weird, and he and Zoe Kazan have good chemistry. Adam Driver and Mackenzie Davis (both consistently impressive) are also great in their supporting roles.

Landline
I'd wanted to see this one for a while, and I really liked it. A rare film where every scene is satisfying. Jenny Slate should be in more things.

The Florida Project
Wow wow wow. This movie is incredible. It filled me with an immense, unshakable sense of dread while also making me laugh a few times. I have known so many Moonees and Halleys, and Brooklynn Prince should have absolutely been nominated for an Oscar. Also, it's hard to describe, but I felt like I could feel so many of the sensations in this film. The humidity after the rain, the stickiness of the jelly, that panicky feeling in your chest when you cry really hard. It's truly something.

A Star is Born
"It's the same story told over and over, forever," Sam Elliott tells Lady Gaga. He's right – this story has (literally) been told time and time again. So, it wasn't exactly ~dazzling~ for me to watch a 2.5-hour Behind the Music episode. But! Lady Gaga is so talented and beautiful and her voice is glorious. And, having not seen any of the other three (3) iterations of this story, it was nice to see a female character call her loser partner out on his loserness.

Bad Times at the El Royale
I was excited to watch this one because I love The Cabin in the Woods. I wanted there to be more twists, but the aesthetics were great. It was also super fun to see Hemsworth the Hero play a villain, and he did a good job with it. We should also have Jon Hamm in more things.

Some Kind of Wonderful
If I had seen this when I was in high school, I'm sure I would've liked it almost as much as the other John Hughes movies, even if it is just a genderswapped Pretty in Pink. I would probably still be looking for gloves like the ones Watts wears or boots like the ones Amanda wears. But watching it as an adult, it just seemed like none of the characters actually liked each other? No one had any chemistry! I didn't believe any of the crushes! Watts' hair is super cool though.

School Ties
I'm pretty into the "prep school is bad" genre (I read all the Gossip Girl books in high school and remain #shook about A Separate Peace). This was a good entry with a great final line, even though it was unfortunate that the Jewish main character was played by an actor who is...not Jewish. Also: I don't know why we ever made Matt Damon an action star when he was so good at playing smirky, smarmy kids of various socioeconomic backgrounds (maybe he's a great action star, I don't know, I have seen zero Borne movies). And as an aside, my childhood crush on Chris O'Donnell still holds up. Good job, Baby Bee.

Nancy
A lot of movie trailers are bad, but it's pretty rare to come across one that's wholly misleading. If you watch the trailer for Nancy, it looks like a psychological thriller about a woman who decides to cruelly trick two mourning parents either because she feels nothing or because she's just awful. But that's not what this movie is. It is about a woman who tricks two sad people, but it's not a thriller. It's a gloomy film about loneliness. I didn't like it, but I wonder how much of that is because of my own expectations.

The Game
I didn't really set out to watch almost all of David Fincher's filmography, but I've just about done it. With The Game, I'm now up to seven out of 10 – so at this point, I've got to finish, right? Anyway, this movie was wild. It was engaging the whole time because I didn't have any idea how it was going to end and, blessedly, the ending was good. I also fully believe rich people are really weird enough to participate in something like this.

The Last Word
I really liked this one. It could've been a too-sugary story about "living before you die," but it ends up a just-sweet-enough story about unlikely friendships. Amanda Seyfried has been doing great work, quietly, her whole career (hello, she is in Mamma Mia! and Jennifer's Body). And Shirley MacLaine is...Shirley MacLaine.

The Dead Don't Die*
This was fine, I guess? Parts of it were funny and the zombies themselves were good (good gore, good zombie moves). But other parts were too heavy-handed, and the film overall left me with the feeling of, "Ok, but like, what was the point of that?"

Us
I still...can't believe this movie is the way that it is. It had so much potential! But overall, it just isn't very good. It's a testament to the success of Get Out, the talent of Lupita Nyong'o and the terrifying nature of the Santa Cruz Boardwalk (seriously, I've been there and dark energy abounds) that I was very anxious for the first half, but there was no payoff.

Hide and Seek
I remember being very freaked out by the trailers for this movie back when it came out in 2005 and that was when I wasn't even super into thrillers and horror, so I was excited to finally watch it. It ended up being pretty good! It had a big twist that I didn't see coming, but which also didn't feel like it came out of nowhere – something that's increasingly hard to come by.

Christopher Robin
I'm a sucker for Winnie the Pooh and that has never been more obvious to me than when I was already tearing up during this movie barely five minutes in. It's a delight, very sweet in ways that will make you laugh and cry (and laugh while you're crying and cry while you're laughing). How can you resist a bear of very big heart? Fun fact: I collected Eeyores in high school, and I have...so many.

Ralph Breaks the Internet
If you'll recall, I was basically a one-woman hype team for Wreck-It Ralph when it came out, so I was very excited about this sequel. It was a very nice follow-up, a little convoluted at the end, but mostly clever and bright.

After watching all six episodes of Good Omens in a weekend (so good), I started reading the book, which is delightful so far (I'm a little over halfway through). Next up on the reading list is Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston, which Maggie felt so strongly I needed to read, she got me my own signed copy. What a gem.

Another good thing I read this month: this article ranking Mary-Kate and Ashley movies by their level of surreality.

Aside from Good Omens, I also spent the month casually making my way through Netflix's Easy (good, for the most part) and Tales of the City (sweet, but soapy). I also finally started The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (which is like a musical without musical numbers), and watched a lot of Degrassi Junior High because I will always be who I was when I was 14.

It really wasn't all watching and reading things this month though! I also made it out of my apartment to go see synth-pop queens Aly & AJ at the Mohawk. It was pouring rain through the whole opening act and there was crazy lightning all through their set, so I was low-key afraid for my life (as were they: they didn't play their instruments for fear of being electrocuted). But it was so fun! You haven't lived until you've jammed to a live version of "Potential Breakup Song."