Miscellaneous Movie Moments LXXXVI (July/August 2022)

While I didn't watch all that many movies these past couple of months, the ones I did watch were pretty excellent. Action galore! #RepresentationMatters!



Thor: Love and Thunder | Everything Everywhere All at Once | Space Sweepers | Vengeance | Easter Sunday | Prey

Could You Repeat That? CXCV: Quarantined Globetrotter Edition

Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake, Alexis Hall
Oh God. Oh help. He was doing kindness at her. Rosaline couldn't cope with people doing kindness at her. It made her feel like she'd shoplifted a lipstick. Except the lipstick was made of time and emotional energy.

Give Unto Others, Donna Leon
'I've always thought the people who want to help save the world are probably the worst people to be in charge of a charity.'

The Secret History of the Pink Carnation, Lauren Willig
"Look, if it makes you feel better, I promise to do a very bad job hiding your body."

Boyfriend Material, Alexis Hall
This was why relationships sucked: they made you need shit you'd been perfectly happy not needing. And then they took them away.

Sea of Tranquility, Emily St John Mandel
There's a low-level, specific pain in having to accept that putting up with you requires a certain generosity of spirit in your loved ones.

The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever, Julia Quinn
Good God, the butler had punched him in the jaw. Stunned, Turner stroked his tender flesh. "Are you mad?"
"Not at all, my lord. I take great pride in my work."

Upright Women Wanted, Sarah Gailey
She knew that they weren't an oasis--no cool shade or sweet water was waiting for her there. But they weren't a mirage, either, and that hope felt like just enough to fit in her fists.

A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking, T Kingfisher
I wondered if having a baker save the city would have any political repercussions.

Across the Green Grass Fields, Seanan McGuire
"Civilized people don't know how to listen," said Gristle.
"All their magic goes into the places they believe it belongs."



Calculated Risks, Seanan McGuire
"It's nice how you remember dissecting cuckoos without remembering me," I said mildly. "It makes me feel very special and not at all like you're going to slit my throat as soon as I fall asleep."

Miscellaneous Movie Moments LXXXI (January 2022)

It's Oscars season, y'all!

Venom: Let There Be Carnage | No Time to Die | Respect | | The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love | Flee | The Worst Person in the World | Encanto | The Power of the Dog | Passing | Simple as Water | The Eyes of Tammy Faye | The Lost Daughter | Procession | Don't Look Up | Faya Dayi | Being the Ricardos | tick, tick...BOOM! | Swan Song | 892 AKA Breaking

Miscellaneous Movie Moments LXXX (December 2021)

Marie Antoinette, 05 December 2021, DVD via university library
When, close the beginning of the movie, the titular protagonist crosses over from her native Austria and into her new home, France, then hugs the mistress of her household, bids goodbye to all her friends, is stripped of her clothing, and is robbed of her Austrian puppy (You can have as many FRENCH dogs as you want, they tell her), you sort of see how everything is already going to go wrong for her.

Miscellaneous Movie Moments LXXIII (November 2021)

Free Guy, 02 November 2021, Blu-ray via Redbox
I wonder what it would have been like to watch this movie without knowing its central conceit: That is, Ryan Reynolds plays an NPC in an FPS named Free City and, one day, he becomes aware.

Movie Moments XXVII: May 2020 (Hunger Games edition)

A dystopian action series that features a collection of uber-competent people and focuses almost entirely on rhetoric? It is, one might say, the entirety of my jam. I have many thoughts.

I did mean to watch the Aliens series next, but I’d forgotten the Hunger Games prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, came out on the 19th!

(Yes, I did read it. I had completely forgotten how clunky Suzanne Collins’s writing is. Like, she’s a decent storyteller, but that prose just thuds onto the ground. I also, like many others, felt pretty skeptical about having something told from the point of view of the villain of the trilogy, Corialonus Snow, because who cares? But I think Collins managed to give us a decent psychological exploration of him--short version: PTSD and a ton of thwarted privilege--and play a little bit with the origin of the Games themselves. I was actually impressed she resisted the urge to throw in tons of Easter eggs--there are a few, but largely they make sense. Anyway: Worth reading, but set your bar appropriately.)

Movie Moments VII: September 2017

Fourteen in September! Not too bad.

Baywatch, 01 September 2017, DVD via RedBox
Look, I'm not proud that I've watched this movie, but I think we can all agree I would never not watch it. The first ten minutes is folks talking about how the Rock changed their lives & comparing ZEfron to boy bands...so it's possibly a documentary? I’ll do some research and get back to you.

Patti Cake$, 02 September 2017, Riverdale 10 VIP Cinema
This is an entirely predictable musician’s rags-to-less-ragged narrative, but it's played sincere. My heart grew three sizes, etc, etc. It's charming, the band is offbeat and diverse, and Anthony Ramos has, like, a five-minute scene straight out of a funhouse.

Girls Trip, 03 September 2017, McCain Mall Regal Stadium 12
If knowing that Queen Latifah gets into a dance battle doesn't convince you to watch this movie, you and I are looking for very different things in the universe. Also, Jada Pinkett Smith is the tiniest human.

Spotlight, 04 September 2017, DVD via university library
I didn't know a ton about the details about the case, but I thought the way the movie got rolling was fascinating. In the back of my mind I’d pictured a room of reporters champing at the bit, when instead we see a team of competent investigators slowly growing horrified as they dive deep into an issue that’s been washing around their toes for a while. This is written true and acted twice as well. And that coda, nine columns of cities where there were cover-ups of Catholic priests molesting children, hits like a knee to the kidneys.

And I want to say how it's great to see journalism at work, and why, yeah, we need local newspapers, newspapers that need subscribers to keep the lights on, because that's the only these things come to light, but. It's hard not to be demoralized, thinking about the way news happens, or has to happen, now. Are we doomed? Maybe we’re doomed. Power feeds on silence.

National Treasure, 04 September 2017, DVD via Netflix
What rollicking nonsense this is! I could have done without the initial smug male condescension towards Abigail, because SERIOUSLY, dudes, she is entirely within her rights to be pissed and skeptical after being kidnapped and threatened by two separate groups of variably armed thieves. But otherwise! Rollicking! Nonsense!

In Time, 06 September 2017, DVD via public library

• Why would you engineer folks to stop aging at 25? You’re missing out on at least 35 more years of productivity before most major health issues start being an issue. And, uh, couldn't you genetically engineer away the infirmities, too? WHO APPROVED THIS. I HAVE QUESTIONS.
• Matt Bomer is excessively handsome, but he in no way can pass as a 25-year-old. Same for Cillian Murphy.
• Kudos to Olivia Wilde and Vincent Kartheiser on managing to project years into their cadence.
• I am amused that part of Will’s ability to evade authorities is because rich folks don't know how to power walk.
• Why are these time trackers so frickin’ easy to hack? This is horrific infrastructural work.
• They...seriously keep time on portable, material devices? WHO DESIGNED THIS SOCIETY. WTF.
• This is an excellent indictment of capitalism, but it's also a world made up almost entirely of white folks, so. (Not for nothing did they make the most sympathetic timekeeper a Black man. I see you, casting director.)

Allied, 07 September 2017, Blu-ray via RedBox
I got this on Blu-ray because that's what was available, but daaaaang the first scene looked spectacular in HD. Which is weird since the desert and the costumes and all were simply variations of beige, but it looked hella crisp. (Brad Pitt, on the other hand, looked kind of plastic.) The costuming team got an Oscar nomination and, boy howdy, they deserved it. Marion Cotillard glowed, as per usual, and the rest was…telegraphed. And fine. But seriously, the love scene in a sandstorm was perfect and doom-filled and it's worth watching this movie for that scene alone.

All Saints, 09 September 2017, UA Breckenridge Stadium 12
This was a thoroughly wholesome movie, but somehow not too sweet. I was mighty worried about the story of a pastor in Tennessee enfolding a flock of Burmese refugees into his congregation. What's fascinating, I found, is how the movie subverts the “White saviour” trope. Instead, the narrative ends up:

1. White dude is flawed but big-hearted
2. Everyone questions White dude’s ego because he has no idea how farming works
3. White dude works hard with the team, but setbacks occur; manpain happens
4. Everyone tells White dude to suck it up and keep working
5. Everything turns out pretty okay

In any case, I came to this movie because YEAH Southeast Asian folks! Nelson Lee, as lead character Ye Win, was marvelous in some incredibly tough scenes. And all the other Asian characters? The actual Karen refugees upon whom the movie is based. #RepresentationMatters

Their Finest, 09 September 2017, DVD via RedBox
Sam Claflin is rather attractive when folks aren't trying to make him look pretty. Also, this is lovely and I cried, and also the star and a significant secondary (queer) character are women who write, and to whom others listen, and we don't have enough of that, even now.

After Earth, 10 September 2017, DVD via university library
The reviews of this movie were pretty dire, and I’ve got to say, it's hard to defend a film that doesn't let Will Smith really smile. (Why leave that in your back pocket?!) And I think we're supposed to feel sympathy for Kitai’s lack of promotion, but it's almost immediately obvious that he’s pretty unfit for ranger duty.

That said, all the tiny details, the everyday feel of the sets--the spaceship especially, and that steady membrane twitch after the crash--and eerie threat of posthuman Earth, are kind of entrancing. I kept rewinding bits to just dwell on what design or biology implied. Overall, it's not quite as bad as the reviews suggest, but I suspect we just expect more from a Will Smith movie? And, possibly, aren't any longer predisposed to giving Shyamalan the benefit of the doubt.

NGL, though: even with all its problems, I would totally watch a sequel to this movie.

Infinitely Polar Bear, 19 September 2027, DVD via public library
Having family members and close friends who are bipolar--some who went undiagnosed for a while--it’s both soothing and anxiety-inducing to watch movies in this oeuvre. It's complicated. Also, I can't decide if the children's acting is horrible or if the writing is horrible. Maybe both? But anyway, I love Zoe Saldana and Mark Ruffalo is a wonder, isn't he?

Attack the Block, 22 September 2017, DVD via public library
Never leave me, John Boyega. That final run was shiveringly perfect.



A Monster Calls, 26 September 2017, DVD via public library
This is quite lovely. While I started out inclined to make Groot jokes, the titular monster is more like Tiresias the Ent. It's didactic, but only so much as all fairy tales are.

Assassin's Creed, 29 September 2017, DVD via public library
It's possible I believe Fassbender might actually wield the power of Magneto. Srsly, though, I have almost no idea what happened in this movie because I was literally reading a cookbook the entire time.

So it was a mixed bag this month. FYI, the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival is happening in October, so expect a TON of documentary reviews from me. (And absolutely ZERO horror movies.)

MOVIE: Source Code (2011)

So it hasn't even been a week into summer vacation, and I've already gone mad with formlessness. I tried making plans for all sorts of things today, but APPARENTLY people have lives that do not consist of things that have to do with me. (I was feeling a bit of pique this morning; I got over it.) ANYWAY. I lazed about in the morning, I ran some errands, and then I thought, screw it, I'm going to go see a movie. And I arrived at the theatre just in time to catch Source Code. I wouldn't have considered it, originally, because there was no press on this movie--aside from Gyllenhaal doing an interview on The Daily Show, I think--and I'm not a huge Gyllenhaal fan in the first place. (Nothing against him; I'm just generally uninterested.) BUT somebody--I forget who, exactly, sorry--blogged about how this was one of the few totally original, non-sequel, non-adaptation science fiction things to come out this year, and maybe people should support it. Hey, I'm people! And so was the other lady that came in about twenty minutes into the movie. I almost leaned across the aisle and told her what she had missed, but I managed to restrain myself. ANYWAY. About the movie: if you've simply looked at the IMDB page, or maybe just read a blurb, you know that Gyllenhaal plays a soldier, and somehow he's living and reliving eight minutes of somebody else's life right before a bomb explodes in order to figure out who's responsible. If you're a science fiction sort of person, you can already start to see what kind of tropes will crop up. It's a little Run Lola Run, a little Speed, and a little Quantum Leap. There are a couple of "twists," but you'll probably see them coming. And that makes it sound like the movie is trite, but it's actually a nice blend of a lot of science fiction, reliving eight minutes, sort of things. Nowadays it's hard, almost impossible, to come up with stuff TOTALLY new. Also, the actors turn in solid performances. Gyllenhaal throws himself into the role--my ambivalence towards him has nothing to do with his talent or, well, handsomeness. He's playing opposite Michelle Monaghan (who is quickly becoming the go-to gal for generic science fiction action movies) as Christina, one of the commuters within his eight-minute loop. He also plays opposite the spectacular Vera Farmiga, who Scullies it up with the best as the Air Force officer guiding him through the process. There's not a lot of nuance to this film, and the ending is a little cheesy, but also a neat way to build a universe. While Source Code isn't original, it's taking a lot of things and using them in interesting ways. It's a seaworthy movie; not spectacular, but one that's worth snuggling down with a bowl of popcorn for an entertaining ninety minutes.

MOVIE: Inception

HOLY CRAP, Y'ALL. That was awesome. Even Leonardo DiCaprio, who I respect and admire but towards whom I harbor much apathy, did not detract from the awesomeness! Or the creepiness, which I fully expected from Christopher Nolan and all, because that man likes to creep me out a lot? Anyway, great cast, well done! SPOILERS AHOY!

• So when the credits rolled, a woman behind us gasped, "Assholes!" I feel that was an appropriate response, though honestly, you had to see it coming, right? Right?
• I don't think this is a movie that necessarily needs rewatching in order to be more understandable (or explaining EVERYTHING to each other AS THE MOVIE RUNS, jackass couple behind us, UGH), but the detail is insanely impressive.
• Every corner I turn, every doorway I pass by, for the rest of my life Marion Cotillard will be there, waiting. With a gigantic sharp thing in hand.
• I think the movie got two laughs from our audience: "It seemed neater" and "Worth a shot." LOL. Oh, and the "dream a little bigger" bit. Obviously.
• I'm not the only one with post-movie thoughts about Arthur/Ariadne, am I? Am I?
• HOW DID YOU DO THAT, JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT? With the monotone, and the suits? Impressive!
• Seriously, that fight in the hotel in which they just, like, scrambled up the wall and hopped onto the ceiling? I could watch hours of that, for serious.
• Ariadne? Like, I get the reference, but really, Nolan? (Also, my friend and I were trying to figure out how she was supposed to be even better than Cobb with the dream architecture, but was still totally shocked by the shared dreaming.)
• I think the world-building is done well, but I would have liked to see a lot more of it. What is the status of this dream-jumping stuff? Is it totally illegal? Shiftily-legal? Legal but totally abused in France?
• I'll admit, I got a little teary-eyed when Fischer opened the safe and found the pinwheel. AWWWW. Positive emotion for the win! Even when we use it for dubious moral reasons! Which, ha, Saito, you should have led with the "break up energy monopoly" instead of "they are in the way of my profits," probably.
• I liked the tokens. I loved the shared-chants-as-tokens.

Even though I don't feel the need to re-watch it, I kind of want to own the DVD and just revel in the details once in a while.