I thought this movie would be cute but underwhelming – but it really surprised me. The yearning! The depth! It had a lot going on, but it handled it well. Also, Leah Lewis' voice is really cool and they played "Flame" by Controller, so bonus points.
Rewatch: Everybody Wants Some!! Still love it but now I just tune out the Blake Jenner parts even more than before.
Juliet, Naked
I kept putting off watching this movie because I go back and forth about Ethan Hawke, but it was really nice! Rose Byrne is consistently delightful, no matter which accent she uses, and it had more going on than the average rom-com/rom-dram. I was surprised it brought up bigger things like the dangers of hero worship and whether art belongs to the artist or the fans once it's out in the world.
Disobedience
This film was undeniably raw and emotional, but it didn't quite hit me like I thought it would. Not really sure why.
Rewatch: Dazed & Confused. Iconic.
Kate & Leopold
This movie is about a duke from the 1800s who gets transported to "present day New York City," which at the time was 2001. I felt a bit out of time myself as I watched Meg Ryan desperately search for her Palm Pilot (but not know what a stylus is called) and send a fax. But listen: Hugh Jackman is literally always charming and perhaps never more so than as a bewildered British-accented nobleman in love with Meg Ryan and her Shane McCutcheon haircut.
Bad Education
This movie was so good! I'm a sucker for a movie about journalism making a difference, but even without my bias, I would've loved it. Fascinating story, great execution, Hugh Jackman is terrific. If we have awards shows (LOL), I wouldn't be surprised to see this at least get some nomination love.
Rewatch: Better Watch Out, Still liked but definitely not as much as the first time.
Rewatch: Phantom Thread. Liked it even more this time.
Patton Oswalt: I Love Everything
I've liked all of Patton's specials that I've seen, including this one. There was one joke that made me wince and brought my overall experience down a bit, but I laughed out loud a lot and one part was surprisingly touching.
Red Eye
I liked this movie so much! It's well-plotted, where every detail ends up important. It's extremely tense, Cillian Murphy is very creepy and Rachel McAdams is great as the heroine, a Final Girl of sorts with a little Sidney Prescott in her.
Whiplash
From the years 2013-2015, I would tell basically anyone who would listen that Miles Teller should be one of Hollywood's next leading men – and I hadn't even seen Whiplash! This movie just confirmed to me what I've always known: There's star quality in Teller. (And, obviously, J.K. Simmons is fantastic, all the time.)
Trevor Noah: Son of Patricia
This made me laugh a lot and, perhaps more importantly, Trevor’s voice is very nice.
Coherence
This was one of those movies where it's like, "Are these people friends though?? Seems like they want to murder each other." It was incredibly stressful, both because I was confused and because of some of the filmmaking and writing decisions. It was definitely engaging and not altogether bad, but I didn't enjoy watching it.
The Lovebirds
Meh, the plot of this movie is kind-of whatever, but Kumail Nanjiani and Issa Rae are charming as a couple who’ve been together long enough to know each other’s quirks, for better and for worse.
Children of the Corn
I thought this movie would be terrible, but it mostly isn't! For about 80% of the movie, it's actually pretty ok, nowhere near as corny (pun intended) as I expected. And then, suddenly, it was much cornier than I expected.
Rewatch: Hannah Gadsby: Nanette. Still one-of-a-kind.
Hannah Gadsby: Douglas
There was no way Hannah could do something else like Nanette because possibly no one every will. Douglas reminds you that before she tricked you last time, she made you laugh a lot. She does it again here – and also manages to teach you some more art history.
Rewatch: Easy A. A masterpiece.
Uncut Gems
I was told that this movie was going to be extremely stressful to watch but actually, in terms of "stressful Adam Sandler movies," Punch-Drunk Love caused me much greater anxiety. This is a unique movie, engaging and surprising. At times, Sandler completely disappears into the role.
River's Edge
I didn't really like this movie, but not for the reasons I expected. It was apparently very ~controversial~ when it came out because of how apathetic its characters are – but I thought it was pretty boring and try-hard. Keanu though, beautiful as always.
Mommy Dead and Dearest
Another fairly boring watch. I was curious if there was any reason to watch the documentary about Gypsy Rose and Dee Dee Blanchard having already seen The Act. The verdict: Nope. The miniseries tells the same story even more thoroughly.
This month in attempts: Intolerable Cruelty, which is intentionally screwball but I just couldn't deal with it. Phantasm, which I thought I could appreciate in a "LOL, '70s horror is silly way" but it was too silly.
Also, we're all just watching a lot of TV right now, right? This month, I...
- Watched all of Netflix's Never Have I Ever (Mindy Kaling, I love you) and HBO's Atlanta's Missing and Murdered: The Lost Children (horrifying).
- Rewatched season one of Dead to Me before devouring season two. I'm still obsessed with its dark comedy, Death Becomes Her-ish vibes. It reminds me a lot of my beloved Santa Clarita Diet (RIP).
- Started watching but fell off of Apple+'s Home Before Dark (comforting in a "kid mystery" kind-of way; think Goosebumps, So Weird) and Netflix's Hollywood (LOL, Murphy). Also watched the first three episodes of HBO Max's Love Life, which isn't actually very good but I intend to watch all of.
- Finished watching FX-on-Hulu's Mrs. America, which managed to make 1970s politics interesting and have a credit sequence you don't want to skip. I'm sad to see it end.
I also read a lot in May? It's amazing the media you consume when you only leave your house to go to H-E-B.
- I finished Kiley Reid's Such a Fun Age, which ended up more interesting than the first half would've had me believe. I blame watching the Little Fires Everywhere series for most of my comparisons (though I wasn't exactly wrong), and this book ultimately tackled racism on an even more microscopic level.
- I read my first Meg Cabot book, Size 12 is Not Fat, which was very silly and fun.
- I read Lock Every Door by Riley Sager in less than 24 hours and now intend to read all of Sager's books. (Final Girls was bananas.)
- Now reading: The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix. The book cover is even better than the title.
And here's my Spring 2020 playlist. It's been a horrible season, but at least there's music.
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