Friday, May 1, 2020

My April in Media

I don't typically play video games (sorry, Animal Crossing), so what else is there to do but watch things?

Here's what I engaged with during one of the strangest months of my life:

Desperately Seeking Susan
I watched this for Madonna's clothes, which is as good a reason as any to watch something. It's not a great movie, but it's pretty fun and very '80s in the good way. Definitely better than Who's That Girl and nowhere near as good as A League of Their Own. Also, Aidan Quinn is an even bigger babe in this than Practical Magic.

The Lobster
Ok. So. Everyone said this movie was so weird and...it is but I honestly expected it to be weirder. The thing that annoyed me about this movie is that I was very intrigued by the concepts its trailer sold – and that's the movie you get for about the first half. Then it turns into something else, something way less interesting. If it had followed through with its original storyline, to really any ending, I think I would've liked the film more overall. As it stands, I was underwhelmed.

Young Guns
I'd always wanted to see this because it seemed like it would be fun and incredibly My Thing (Brat Pack-adjacent '80s stars in a western? I mean, c'mon). But it was mostly meh. The music, in particular, was a total mess. However, Kiefer Sutherland's hair was very good.

Lady Macbeth
This was pretty good! A simmering period thriller that's similar to a few others, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I also haven't seen Florence Pugh give an even mediocre performance. She's really very good.

It Chapter Two
LOL, this movie is awful. The first one is so good! This one is...I spent the entire time feeling like I was having a fever dream? Like, "What is this movie...even doing??" I felt like I was being Punk'd or something. The more I think about it, the funnier I find the whole thing, which I guess could have been the intention, but I really don't think it was. An entire mess.

It Comes At Night
Meh? There wasn't really anything wrong with this movie and it had me interested the whole time – but I wanted it to do more. I wanted more to happen. It's perfectly fine, but I think it had the potential to be really good. I also have no idea why the title is what it is.

Never Goin' Back
When it comes to A24 movies, I'm more of a fan of the coming-of-age half and I liked this one. After growing up with movies like American Pie and Superbad, I support media that lets girls be just as ridiculous and gross as boys (see also: Blockers, Pen15). This movie is raunchy, icky, funny and sweet – not unlike being a teenage girl.

Punch-Drunk Love
I'm still trying to process if I liked this movie. Story-wise, it's a little disjointed but mostly not bad. And performance-wise, Adam Sandler does a great job of playing a sadder, indie version of an Adam Sandler Character. But the "music" stressed me out so much. The effect is definitely intentional and anxiety-inducing music does appear to be a PTA Hallmark– but it altered my entire viewing experience. Without the "music" (calling it that is extremely generous), I might be able to definitely say "I liked that movie." Instead, I'm like, "I think I liked it? But it also made me feel like I was going to die."

Won't You Be My Neighbor?
I liked this so much. I'd heard great things and, obviously, everyone likes Mr. Rogers even if you didn't grow up watching him (I did not). But it was even better than I thought it would be. I think it was also a classic case of watching something at just the right time. I'd had this documentary in my HBO Now watchlist for years – but watching something about a compassionate man who wanted to make the world better at a time when the world feels especially bad was an extremely comforting experience.

The Ritual
Not bad! The ending is a little like they went "oops, the movie is over now!!" but otherwise, it was engaging and unique. Proof that slow and steady doesn't have to mean boring.

There Will Be Blood
Speaking of slow and steady, I made my boyfriend happy and agreed to watch There Will Be Blood – and I actually liked it a lot. A movie has to be really good to warrant being over two hours and while this movie could definitely be shorter, it utilizes most of its material. It's also just a good movie. Good screenplay, good cinematography, (mostly) good score and great performances by both Daniel Day-Lewis and Paul Dano. I don't like admitting when Filmbros are right (they rarely are), but I have to give them this one.

On to the short films. In March, Tim and I held a DIY SXSW Music Festival, where he curated a YouTube playlists of sets by artists he likes who were supposed to play at this year's festival. In late April, Prime and SX partnered to release some SXSW Film Festival selections, so this time, I curated our DIY festival. I watched the first four of these shorts by myself earlier in the day but we watched 14 together. (Bonus: 11/18 were directed by women! Good job, SX.)

Hiplet: Because We Can
This short focuses on a Chicago-based group of women who do hip-hop dance on pointe shoes. It's exactly as cool and complex as it sounds. I'd watch more about these ladies in a heartbeat.

A Period Piece
This short – about a couple that ends up fighting in the middle of period sex "because" blood gets on the woman's couch – is an intentionally uncomfortable watch that makes you question why you're uncomfortable. It's very well-acted and the tension between the couple, like a lot of small human moments, is about one thing on the surface and several others underneath.

Blocks
I really loved this weird film, which is ultimately about how all-consuming motherhood is. It made me laugh and also low-key terrified me. Plus, a lot of the men on Letterboxd don't seem like they enjoyed it, so bonus.

Single
I loved this short, about a woman with one arm who's pissed she's been set up on a blind date with a man who has one hand. It has a great opening, a great final moment and it made me laugh out loud more than once. It reminded me of Young Adult – a bit of a rom-com but not really, with a lead who's too mean to be pitied. In this case, that's exactly what she's going for.

Quilt Fever
This documentary short isn't bad and it was nice to see people doing something they really care about and to get a glimpse into a world I know nothing about. But I feel like it missed some good filmmaking opportunities – cool shots that could've been taken, digging deeper into characters, things like that.

Basic
This film's is described on Prime as a "very, very, very short film about a dumb lil' ho doing lil' ho things." At less than four minutes, it manages to tell a full story, complete with a twist. Not bad.

Modern Whore
In this film, a former escort sheds light on escort review board culture and its complexities post-#MeToo. It's an important story that would be worth a watch no matter how it was told, but it's done in a hybrid format unlike anything I've seen before. Definitely not your average documentary.

Face To Face Time
This film didn't do anything wrong necessarily, but I still didn't like. I think maybe a little more background on the characters would've helped.

Lions in the Corner
To decrease gun and knife violence in his community, a convicted felon created a fight club in his backyard where men can work out their differences in a controlled environment. It's a very intriguing premise that definitely lends itself to engaging visual storytelling. What's more visual than a physical fight?

Figurant
I have no idea what happened in this film. It hooked me, then lost me.

Vert
This one had some good things going for it, but it ultimately felt like a Black Mirror episode I've seen before (two, actually: a little "San Junipero," a little "Striking Vipers") and it needed more time to pack the emotional punch it wanted to.

Daddio
Even for a short, this felt too long. Casey Wilson (who also wrote and directed) and Michael McKean have good chemistry and there's a sparkle of something good in the story of a father and a daughter who have (bi)polar opposite reactions to their wife/mother's death – but I just didn't care enough.

Dieorama
Loved this one. A fascinating oddball story that could only be told in film – and the cinematography is killer (pun intended).

Broken Orchestra
Ugh, ok. This is the type of documentary short that wins awards because it tells a story in a super unconventional way. And the story is a good one, definitely worth telling. It'd make a great article (and it probably did). But if you're going to visually tell a story about broken instruments, an orchestra performance and children being literally handed the fruits of a labor of love, you need to show those things. This film doesn't and that didn't make sense to me. (It should be noted, I included this film because it's about Philadelphia, where Tim lives, and he really liked it.)

Soft
This one had a lot going on – too much for how short it is. There was something good in there, but I had too many questions.

Still Wylde
Oh, man. I felt all the emotions watching this film about a horrible and common situation that no one talks about. I'm not going to spoil it because you should just watch it.

Runon
I didn't care for this for personal reasons that prove it did exactly what it meant to: show what it's like to be young, living with an adult who does things you don't understand.

Waffle
It's very predictable, but it's also pretty fun. A tongue-in-cheek horror-comedy that wants you to know it knows you've seen Black Mirror.

This month in rewatches: Colossal (still like it a lot but a little less than I did). This month in attempts: Moonstruck (I wanted to be into it, y'all, but I just couldn't make it happen).

I've also been bingeing Schitt's Creek and trying to make it last because it's delightful; basking in the glow of High Maintenance and Better Things, two of the best shows on television right now; and occasionally comfort-watching King of the Hill and Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. I also finished all of Little Fires Everywhere and watched all of Netflix's Interior Design Masters in one evening because that's how things are going.

It wasn't all watching things. I raced through Saeed Jones' memoir How We Fight For Our Lives, which was quietly devastating (one line made me audibly gasp). I followed that with The Transcriptionist by Amy Rowland, an odd book about journalism, ethics and humanity. It made me feel weird and introspective, which I didn't really prefer experiencing right now but which is always good to experience. Currently reading: Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid, which reminds me a lot (maybe too much) of Little Fires Everywhere.

I've also been writing a lot this month? Not just my movie nonsense I write here and not just the writing I obviously do every day at work, but journaling regularly and even writing a little fiction. I wrote two short stories in one day. Quarantine Britny has more in common with 10-year-old Britny than I expected.

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