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rosereview · 5 years ago

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Ketch-Up: Jan - Mar 2020

Okay so I’ve been terrible at this blog thing, only posting sometimes, but I guess that’s why I have it, it’s just for me to post shit when I feel like it. So I decided to do this new Ketch-Up series for whenever I want to talk about a bunch of stuff at once. So a lot has happened at the start of 2020, musically, in the book world and with TV. So my plan is to just talk about certain things in each category and see what happens.

Movies:

Since getting Netflix for Christmas, I have been watching a lot of stuff. There are five movies I’d specifically like to talk about, which I watched from January till the beginning of March, but these are by no means even half of the amount of movies I watched, just the ones I need to write about.

6 Balloons

So I started watching this after I finished Now You See Me 2 and I just wanted more Dave Franco because I love him, so 6 Balloons popped up as being one of his recent films and I decided to watch it after being intrigued with the synopsis. Firstly, I was not expecting it to be scripted and filmed the way it was. It was super emotional and I have mixed feelings about it, although I do not regret watching it. It’s major theme is addiction, so if you're not into that, or it may trigger you, don’t watch it because that’s all it’s about. I really did like the brother and sister dynamic that it had, but the whole journey that the main character goes through to help her brother is stressful and it had this creepy stress reliever audio going on in the sister’s head which really put me off, but was powerful at the same time.

Miss Americana

This one is the documentary of Taylor Swift and I loved it. I thought it was so interesting and even watched it again with my mom because I thought that Taylor’s story was such an intriguing one. I really understand now where she was at with the Reputation album and the reason for the song choices she had. At first I was not a big Taylor Swift fan except for the occasional song, but now I gotta say that with this Lover era and Taylor being more open and using her voice for what she believes in, I may become a full blown Swifty.

P.S. I Still Love You

The sequel to To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before is a rom com, based off of the YA book series, which I have read and enjoyed. The first movie was really great which I have watched more than once, so I was expecting good things from this next movie. And it definitely wasn’t bad, but I did not fully enjoy the second book, so it’s not surprising that I didn’t love this movie. I’m just a big Peter Kavinsky fan and when John Ambrose McClaren shows up, I just cringe. Also Lara Jean is more cringy in this movie because of the way she plays both John and Peter and is practically running away from her problems with Peter, and reliving baby school romance with John Ambrose. I just think the idea of liking a guy that you had a crush on when you were ten is so stupid because no one is the same person from when they were ten, and all those “moments” that you had were really nothing more than two kids hanging out! I would rather have just had the first book be a standalone I think.

Marriage Story

This movie is really sad. It won an Oscar so I thought I should look into it. I saw it on Netflix and really liked the plot so I watched it and boy was it ever sad. The whole plot is about divorce and the whole experience and journey to actually getting a divorce and how it is so easy for it to get messy even with two adults who are still friends. I thought it was a very well made movie and I loved both Scarlett Johanson and Adam Driver in it. They did so well.

Crazy Stupid Love

This was one of my more recent watches and I was pleasantly surprised with the way the story went. I really liked a lot of the elements of the story, but some parts did make me feel uncomfortable. Like the babysitter having a crush on the dad and was going to send him nudes, while his son had a major crush on her. It was just really weird, but the overall themes of family were really sweet, and the same goes for the friendship the dad had with the young guy in the bar who started to date his oldest daughter. But overall it was really good.

TV Shows:

Formula One: Drive to Survive Seasons 1 & 2

As our first real Netflix watch, my family and I got addicted to this docuseries. I thought it was interesting and amazing for the whole first season and when the second season came out, it just got better. In the second season we got to see the bigger formula one teams as well as all of the drama with the smaller teams and see the totally different worlds with the ones with money and the ones without. It was honestly an amazing ride and I can’t wait for the next season.

Sherlock Season 1

This is the other full season that I watched in these three months and I got to say that I really enjoyed it. Honestly some parts freaked me out, but overall I loved learning and seeing Sherlock and Watson grow together. The mysteries were all very intriguing and made me want more and I will definitely continue watching through the next seasons.

Books:

This list is without my most recent read, Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare, because I have a whole other post/review for that one, so if you want to hear my thoughts, check it out, either on my post list, or scrolling down to the post before this one!

Beartown by Fredrik Backman

This book was amazing! The way it was written was literally the most powerful thing I have ever experienced. This book does deal with heavy subjects, but the way it is told is so cool, showing everyone’s perspective. If you get the chance to read this, then do it because it will change you.

Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

So this book I had heard so many good things about so I was excited to read it, but the problem was that I have been in kind of a reading slump, and starting a new fantasy series is never the smartest thing to do when that happens. But I had heard great things, so I thought that this book would get me out of that slump, but it epicly failed. It was a good book and I enjoyed the plot, but there was nothing supper exciting or special about it. I think I’ll still read the second book, but it’s not high on my priority list. It just wasn’t the best time for me to read it I guess.

China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan

This book was fun to read. I had been wanting to read it ever since I finished Crazy Rich Asians, but just hadn’t gotten the time to, but I’m glad I finally have because it’s such a nice fluffy read, filled with drama, but you don’t really have to think during the read. It’s a perfect reading slump read. Definitely recommend the series, it’s a ride in a good way.

Catharsis: Pain by Rowan Dugray

This book is actually all poetry which is very outside of my comfort zone, but a girl I knew in high school wrote this so I had to buy it and read it. I got to say that I was really impressed and I really liked a lot of the poems. Lots of them were very thought provoking and relatable, while others were just very sad and painful. But that’s the beauty of poetry, it’s pure emotion and abstract feelings put into words.

Romanov by Nadine Brandes

This one was also a slow read, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t enjoyable. It was actually very educational and I loved seeing the way that Russia was during the revolution. It was a slow burn type of book, but the characters were fun people to read about and see interact, so that made up for the lesser plot points in the book. I loved the end and thought it was a very good book overall.

Music:

These are just a few of the songs and artists that I had a lot of feelings about and which came out during these months.

Faouzia- The Road

The Road was Faouzia’s first song out in 2020, but I also want to talk about her many singles that came out in 2019 as well because wow! I love Faouzia and all of her songs are just so powerful and beautiful. I need an album from her ASAP because I get literally too excited for new singles to come out and it’s almost toture waiting. She also posts her ‘work-in-progress’ snip-its and I literally just keep relistening to them when I get a craving for Faouzia and new music. When she comes out with an album, I will definitely listen to it on repeat.

Olivia O’Brien- The Results of My Poor Judgement

So at first I wasn’t sure about these mixtape things Olivia was starting to come out with, especially with the first one that was released at the end of last year. It was called “A Sad Fucking Summer” I think, and I wasn’t like really impressed, until this next mixtape came out. This mixtape, “Results of My Poor Judgement” has three songs on it, unlike the first one that only had two, and I am in love with all three! Literally they are just so good and I can’t stop listening to them. Josslyn is a literal bitch fest that makes me so happy, while the other two just hit hard in the emotions while they are still great bops. I don’t know how she does it!

Katy Perry- Never Worn White

For this one, I saw the video first when it was released and the number one viewed video on YouTube. At first I was confused because I didn’t know Katy Perry was engaged, and I was like this is for sure a wedding song. And then I got to the end of the video… and she’s pregnant! It was her pregnancy reveal, and I thought it was the most beautiful thing ever. I am a sucker for personal songs that show the singer's personal life and obviously have a lot of meaning to them. That’s probably why I never really liked Katy Perry’s newest stuff before, because it’s never felt really real to me and more just to make a pop album. But to see Katy Perry in this video, singing this song, made me so happy, especially since she was like my idol when I was little and now she’s growing up and moving on in life and it’s just really nice to see.

Julia Michaels- Heartless

I am a big Julia Michaels fan. (Not as big as a Halsey fan, but I do love Julia!) So until Julia starts releasing her own projects again, like hopefully a Inner Monologue Part 3, I will have to settle for collabs like this one. Honestly though, I really like this song and it’s got a lot of feeling to it while still making you want to get up and dance. It’s just a really good country number and I hope Julia does more country, because she sounds good in it.

Alec Benjamin- Narrated for You and These Two Windows

So the newest favourite artist I found these three months was Alec Benjamin! I love the newer music he’s releasing right now and can’t wait for his new album to come out in April, but also I discovered his debut album, which I was really impressed with. Lately I’ve been feeling like I haven’t had any good male artists in my phone that I’m supper obsessed with, like Ed Sheeran. But I’m hoping with this new year that changes and I already see it starting to, especially when I find good ones like Alec Benjamin.

Noah Cyrus- I Got So High That I Saw Jesus

I feel like this will be a good year for Noah Cyrus. It’s high time for a debut album from her, or even another EP, but I just need something because her newest music has just been stellar. I was worried at first that her brand would be more in the rap or emo stuff, but her music has been more my kind of music, slower and softer tunes with lots of feels. This song definitely shows that side of her and I love it.

If you made it to the end, thanks for reading my thoughts! I know it was long and probably boring, but oh well.

Until next time!

~Rose Reviews

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nostradamousse · 6 years ago

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💫 2018 YEAR IN REVIEW 💫

Rules: Answer the questions about 2018 and tag some people!

Tagged by: @snapbackdad Thank you for tagging me!

Top 5 films you 👀 in 2018:

I’m not a big movie goer nor do i have the attention span to actually finish watching something so this is the list of all movies i remember seeing in 2018

deadpool 2

To all the boys I've loved before

crazy rich asians

hotel Transylvania 3

incredibles 2

Top 5 📺 shows in 2018

friends (for about 3 months this was the only thing i watched. on repeat)

doctor who (in second place only because I’m in love with Jodie)

the good place

queer eye

brooklyn nine nine

daria (another one that i keep coming back to)

Top 5 songs of 2018:

morph - twenty one pilots*

in the middle - doddie

stay frosty royal milk tea - fall out boy

l’altra dimensione - maneskin*

make me feel - Janelle Monae

successful - Ariana Grande*

*I've included just one song but I’m high key living for the whole album

Top 5 📚 you read in 2018:

pride and prejudice (this time in english) - Jane Austen

good omens - Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

the yellow wallpaper - Charlotte Perkins Gilman

l’amore e un dio. il sesso e la polis - Eva Cantarella

I like to think that the reason i don’t read anymore is because i read a shit ton of uni manuals but honestly.. I'm just on my phone too much to read actual books (i read a lot of good & book long fics this year that i would have added to the list if i was able to actually remember the titles)

Five Good/Positive things that happened to you in 2018:

my self esteem got a lot better & i like and accept myself more now

bought a bike! finally!

met a lot of new people & consolidated (hopefully) some great friendships

reconnected with my old best friend (the jury is still out on that one (the jury is me and I’m both judgy and scared) but it’s been nice so far)

broke up with my ex-girlfriend (not necessarily a good thing but I’m positive that it was for the best)

went to Milan for the first time on my first ever solo vacation

planned & organized for some nice stuff to happen in 2019

just generally... 2017 me was happier but 2018 me is a more positive person that i enjoyed being more so hurray to growing and glowing up and lets hope 2019 me will get his shit even more together

I tag: @iuliaolmeda (you tagged me in a get-to-know-the blogger post some time ago but it got buried somewhere in the notifications and this is my way of saying sorry (also i just wanna know how your year has been) @rubbitchh @mysecretstudyblr @livingdeadpoetssociety @fearfulwonderfulmonster @bluishtrashcan @urgentconfusion @stillsmellingtheroses I would write a long ass explanation on why I tagged each and every one of you but I’m not that chatty. i’m kidding, i totally am, but it’s 1.30 am so like... no

#tag meme #2018 in review

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weekendwarriorblog · 5 years ago

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The Weekend Warrior Jan. 24, 2020 – THE GENTLEMEN, THE TURNING, THE LAST FULL MEASURE

If you read last week’s column, you’ll already know that I’m no longer with The Beat, so I’ll more than likely be doing all of my box office stuff here for a while. I just won’t promise to write so much about each movie as I did in my Box Office Preview, because a.) I don’t have time, and b.) I’m not getting paid to write this. Sorry if that’s a bit too blatantly honest, but getting paid for my writing matters to me, especially having done it for 25 years.

Before I forget, tonight, Wednesday, January 22, I’m hosting a 30thanniversary screening of Brain Dead, the freaky thriller starring Bills Pullman and Paxton, Bud Cort and George Kennedy. If you’re looking to check out crazy mind-fuck of a movie from 1990, there are still a few tickets left.

Anyway, it’s probably a good thing I didn’t get paid for last week’s column cause I way, way, WAY underestimated the power of Will Smith and Martin Lawrence to bring in audiences after 17 years since Bad Boys II. I thought the movie would make somewhere between $35 and 40 million over the four-day weekend, but it ended up making almost $60 million just over the three-day weekend, and $73 million for the four day, the second best after American Sniper. Obviously, Sony is already developing a fourth movie in the series and presumably they won’t wait another 18 years. Personally, I really liked Bad Boys for Life, as it was way better than Bad Boys II and it was a generally enjoyable and entertaining action-comedy.

Universal’s Dolittlealso did more than I predicted, but it wasn’t as vastly different, just closer to my original prediction last Wednesday before I thought I might be overestimating and lowered it. Waugh, Waugh…

Let’s get to this week…

The movie I’m most excited about this week is THE GENTLEMEN (STXfilms), which is Guy Ritchie’s return to ensemble crime comedy after his foray into large-scale Disney adaptations like Aladdin, which I quite liked, and his “Sherlock Holmes” movies, the first of which I also loved. Ritchie has a great cast for this one including Matthew McConaughey, Charlie Hunnam, Colin Farrell, Hugh Grant, Henry Golding (from Crazy Rich Asians and the underrated 2019 film Last Christmas), Michelle Dockery (from Downton Abbey) and one of my favorite character actors, Eddie Marsan! Honestly, I don’t know very much else about the movie (as I’m only seeing it on Monday night) but I loved what I saw at CinemaCon last year, and I’ve just been such a huge Ritchie fan going all the way back to Lock, Stock and Two Smokin’ Barrels. (Sadly, I wasn’t able to interview him for this movie due to my other part-time job, but you’ll get an actual review instead!) Also, I think the movie will do decently but probably not more than $10 million since STX is dropping it into around 2,000 theaters, which isn’t particularly wide.

Mini-Review: Back in the late ‘90s, when Guy Ritchie first made his big debut with Lock, Stock, he was coming on the tail end of a new breed of directors like Tarantino and Smith who proved that screenplay-driven ensemble movies could deliver big audiences. In the time since then, Tarantino has gotten bigger and bigger for that feat, while Ritchie has tried a lot of different things, including last year’s Aladdin.

It’s pretty exciting to see Ritchie returning to the world of crime and to jolly old England with the addition of a few Americans like Matthew McConaughey as mega-wealthy drugdealer Mickey Pearson, who has turned his upper-class connections quite literally into a farm industry. Mickey is ready to sell the business, hoping to get $400 million from Jeremy Strong’s interested investor.

The story is told through a framing sequence involving a strange character named Fletcher, played by Hugh Grant, having an extended conversation with Charlie Hunnam’s Ray, Mickey’s “fixer,” of sorts. It’s another fantastic performance by Grant that really allows him to push the envelope with a heavy cockney accent. Another great performance comes from Colin Farrell as the coach of a group of young and bratty MMA fighers who break into one of Mickey’s farms.

Using this storytelling method, Ritchie doesn’t give his entire hand away at once, instead revealing just what’s necessary to keep the viewer tuned in. The film features another witty script and it’s thoroughly entertaining, although it’s also somewhat confounding at times trying to keep track of all the characters and how they relate.

In that sense, The Gentlemen is slightly flawed, but it’s also a welcome return for Ritchie to do what he does best, and there’s no denying that there’s quite a bit to enjoy here. Rating: 7/10

The third horror movie of January (with another one next week!) is THE TURNING (Universal), a horror take on Henry James’ novel “The Turn of the Screw,” starring Mackenzie Davis (Terminator: Dark Fate), Finn Wolfhard (It) and the adorable Brooklynn Prince from The Florida Project. The basic premise involves a nanny played by Davis, who is brought to an enormous mansion to care for two kids. Once there, she is told by the kids that there are dark forces in the house, and she starts to believe them. I had a chance to speak to the film’s director, Floria Sigismondi, an amazing visual artist whose only previous feature film was The Runaways, starring Kristen Stewart. The movie is also written by the Hayes Brothers, who wrote the original The Conjuring, and produced by Roy Lee (The Conjuring and It), so there’s quite a decent pedigree for this movie. I also conducted a great interview with Ms. Sigismondi that you can check out on Next Best Picture.

As the third horror movie this month, I’m not sure this can deliver where the previous two (The Grudge and Underwater) failed, especially without much star power, but because it’s January, and there’s very little else to do, it can probably make $8 to 10 million in its 2,500 theaters.

Opening in moderate release this weekend (theater count TBD) is filmmaker Todd Robinson’s THE LAST FULL MEASURE (Roadside Attractions), a military drama that the director has been trying to make for a decade. He’s pulled together an amazing cast that includes Christopher Plummer, Samuel L. Jackson, Ed Harris, Diane Ladd, Sebastian Stan, Bradley Whitford, Peter Fonda, William Hurt, Jeremy Irvine and Michael Imperioli. I still remember Robinson mentioning this project when I spoke to him for his excellent movie Lonely Heartswhen we spoke for ComingSoon.netway back in 2007, having seen that movie at the Tribeca Film Festival.

It involves a group of Vietnam vets trying to get a brave soldier, Airman William H. Pitsenberger Jr. (played by Irvine), the Medal of Honor for his actions on the battlefield to save them 34 years after his death. It sounds like a terrific premise, so it’s a movie I’ve been waiting to see for a very long time. I’m not sure exactly how many theaters Roadside Attractions will release the movie into, but I doubt it will be enough to get it into the top 10, as I think it will end up making $2 to 3 million at best. (This probably would have been a good movie to release over Veterans’ Day, but I guess it was afraid of Roland Emmerich’s Midway, which did end up winning that weekend.)

Mini-Review: It’s pretty obvious what a passion project this must have been for filmmaker Todd Robinson from the time it’s taken for him to get this movie made, but once watch how this story plays out, it’s much more obvious why he was so driven. Even fifty years after the events depicted in the film’s Vietnam War flashback

It’s 1999, and Sebastian Stan plays Scott Huffman, an Air Force attorney working at the Pentagon who is assigned the duty of investigating the heroics of Airman William H. Pitsenberger Jr., who dropped into one of the bloodiest battles of the Vietnam War to save a number of soldiers. William Hurt plays Tulley, the soldier that comes to Huffman, although the lawyer tries to put him off due to the upcoming regime change. Against his will, Scott has to pursue this endeavor, so he goes to interview a number of the living men who were there on that fateful day.

What’s amazing about Robinson’s film is that while it focuses mainly on Stan’s character, the various actors he meets on his journey deliver some absolutely amazing performances, from Christopher Plummer (as the dead airman’s dying father), Samuel L. Jackson, Ed Harris and the late Peter Fonda.

At its worst, The Last Full Measure veers into TV movie melodrama, so it takes some of the stronger actors to drag it back. The worst example of this are the scenes between Stan and his ersatz family, which seems the most like needless scenes added to create some sort of artistic license. It probably will be little surprise that many of the names and circumstances have been changed for similar reason.

It’s a shame that Roadside Attractions doesn’t have enough faith in this movie to give this a bigger push, instead dumping it into a January weekend with little fanfare. Sure, this is certainly the type of movie that cynical film critics like tearing apart, trying to find faults over the good…. And there’s a lot of good to be had. There’s no denying that this is an important story that needs to be told, and hopefully, the audiences that might appreciate it will be able to find it. Rating: 7.5/10

What should be interesting to see if the horror film The Turning does well enough to surpass Dolittle for third place or falls just short. Either way, Universal will have three movies in the top 5, which is quite remarkable considering what a horrid December the studio had.

This week’s Top 10 should look something like this…

1. Bad Boys for Life (Sony) - $29.5 million -53%

2. 1917 (Universal) - $13 million -41% (up 1 million)*

3. Dolittle (Universal) - $10.1 million -54%

4. The Turning (Universal) - $9.3 million N/A (up .2 million)*

5. The Gentlemen (STXfilms) - $8.6 million N/A (up .1 million)*

6. Jumanji: The Next Level (Sony) - $5 million -48%

7. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (Lucasfilm/Disney) - $4 million -52%

8. Little Women (Sony) - $3.5 million -45%

9. Just Mercy (Warner Bros.) - $3.1 million -47%

10. Knives Out (Lionsgate) - $2.6 million -40%

- The Last Full Measure (Roadside Attractions) - $2 million N/A (down .5 million)*

* UPDATE: Not a ton of changes but mainly a little bit of tweaking due to revised theater counts

LIMITED RELEASES

Not a ton of limited releases of note that I’ve seen, although I did see Richard Stanley’s sci-fi thriller COLOR OUT OF SPACE (RLJE Films), starring the one and only Nicolas Cage, and I even spoke to Stanley, an interview you’ll be able to read on Next Best Picturehopefully later this week. It’s based on HP Lovecraft’s short story, and in the movie, Cage plays an Alpaca farmer whose family is affected by a meteorite that falls on the property, causing all sorts of bizarre changes both mentally and physically. It’s another movie where Cage can go a little nuts, but I also liked the performances by Madeleine Arthur and Joely Richardson, who ALSO appears in The Turning this weekend. There are also some smaller roles from Q’orianka Kilcher (from Malick’s The New World) and the great comic, Tommy Chong. There will be a special screening tonight in select cities with a satellite QnA with Stanley and Cage, and then it opens for real Friday. Being RLJE, it should be On Demand shortly afterwards.

Oddly, I haven’t seen any of the movies in the franchise that brings us DETECTIVE CHINATOWN 3 (Wanda Pictures/WB International), but the previous installments of director Sicheng Chen’s police action-comedy must have done well enough for people to want to see more of detectives Tang Ren (Baoquiang Wang) and Qin Feng (Haoran Liu) to get a third movie. The first movie made $120.6 million worldwide while the sequel made $544 million, so yeah, a third movie was inevitable. The sequel made less than $2 million domestically but one can expect that Chinese audiences in America will help the third movie do similarly. For comparison, the latest installment of the Ip Man franchise, starring Donny Yen, has grossed $3.5 million in North America. This will open in about 150 theaters.

Sadly, I also didn’t get a chance to see Dante Lam’s The Rescue (CMC Pictures), the Chinese filmmaker’s follow-up to his global blockbuster Operation Red Sea, before writing this column, but this is clearly one of the major Chinese tentpoles being released for the Lunar New Year movie season. It stars Eddie Peng from Operation Mekong as the captain of an elite rescue team, and it’s shot by Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’s Oscar-winning cinematographer Peter Pau. I’m hoping to see it this coming Friday.

Terry Crews stars as John Henry (Saban/Paramount) in Will Forbes, in this case Henry being an ex-gang member who puts aside his life of violence to take care of his aging father (played by Ken Foree from Dawn of the Dead )in South L.A. where he meets two immigrant kids on the run from his former gang leader (Ludacris), putting him in a tough spot. It will open in select cities and On Demand this Friday.

Bertrand Bonello, who made the excellent Nocturama a few weeks back, returns with his eighth feature Zombi Child (Film Movement), which is a very different take on the genre. It draws from the true story of Clairvius Narcisse, who was reportedly zombified in 1962 Haiti, this one centering around Narcisse’s (fictional) orphaned granddaughter who is trying to fit in with the mostly white girls at her boarding school. It will open in New York at the Quad Cinemaand at Lincoln Center.

Lastly, there’s the Bollywood film Panga (FIP) from director Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari, starring Kangana Ranaut as a middle-class Indian woman and former kabaddiworld champion looking for new meaning as a wife and mother, who decides to return to the sport despite her age and responsibility to family. It will open in roughly 100 theaters.

REPERTORY

METROGRAPH (NYC):

Opening Friday at the Metrograph is the 1stU.S. release of the director’s cut of Jia Zhangke’s 2010 documentary I Wish I Knew,which looks at the past and present of Shanghai in a documentary full of interviews with people from all different walks of life including local actresses and fellow filmmaker Hou Hsiao-hsien. It also follows Zhangke’s favorite actress Zhao Tao, who was amazing in last year’s Ash is Purest White, as she explores the site of the Shanghai World Expo Park as it’s under construction. It’s a great film to learn more about the history of mainland China, something I greatly appreciated having been such a longtime inhabitant of Chinatown.

Even more exciting is that the Metrograph is starting a retrospective series for indie filmmaker Hal Hartleythis Friday, which is exciting since I’ve been such a big fan but haven’t seen nearly as many of his films as there are out there, having only seen his debut The Unbelievable Truth (1989) a few years back, also at the Metrograph. Hal Hartley will be at the Metrograph this Friday night, January 24, and then back on February 1 for screenings of Henry Fool (1997) and its 2006 sequel, Fay Grim. This weekend, you can see Trust from 1990, Simple Men (1992), 1994’s Amateur and more.

With the nomination of Julia Reichert and Steven Bonar’s American Factory receiving an Oscar nomination, Metrograph has put together a last-minute series, “The Academy-Nominated Films of Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar,” a program of three shorts including the 2009 short The Last Truck(shown with American Factory), 1976’s Union Maids and 1971’s Growing Up Female, and the 2006 miniseries A Lion in the House.

This weekend’s Late Nites at Metrograph is the Jackie Chan action classic Police Story (1985). Oops, I made a little error as Playtime: Family Matinees, was supposed to be Taika Waititi’s 2016 film The Hunt for the Wilderpeople, but it got changed to Peter Weir’s 1989 movie Dead Poets Society, starring Robin Williams, which is also quite good.

ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE BROOKLYN (NYC)

Besides tonight’s “Weird Wednesday” of Brain Dead (1990), they’re doing a Troop Beverly Hills “Quote-Along” tomorrow night. If that isn’t good enough, on Monday, you can see the Lonely Island’s amazing Popstar: Never Stop Stopping either as part of the monthly “Out of Tune” hosted by my pal Jeremy Wein at 7pm or at 9:30 as a Sing-Along, well except that both are very close to sold out. Next week’s “Terror Tuesday” is the Japanese horror classic Ringu (1998) (I’ll be there) and then “Weird Wednesday” is 1979’s Killer Nun.

THE NEW BEVERLY (L.A.):

Wednesday’s “Afternoon Classics” is Ernest Borgnine’s 1955 film Marty, and then Weds. and Thurs’ night’s double feature is Bob & Carol & Ted & Aliceand Jacques Demy’s Model Shop, both from 1969. Friday’s “Freaky Friday”… um… “Afternoon Classics” is the 1985 vampire thriller Fright Night, and Friday night’s midnight screening is Tarantino’s Django Unchained. (The Saturday midnight screening of Scorsese’s Goodfellasis already sold out.) The weekend’s “Kiddee Matinee” is Miyazaki’s How’s Moving Castleand then the Monday Matinee is the 1971 thriller Klute. (Most of the weekend evening slots are taken up by Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood, just to make sure all the Oscar voters have a chance to see it in the next couple weeks.) Monday and Tuesday night is a Henry Hathaway double feature of The Lives of a Bengal Lancer(1935) and The Trailer of the Lonesome Pine (1936).

FILM FORUM (NYC):

While the “Black Women: Trailblazing African American Performers & Images, 1920 – 2001” continues this weekend with the 1934 and 1959 iterations of Imitation of Life, as well as screenings of What’s Love Got To Do with It, the Tina Turner biopic starring Angela Basset, who received an Oscar nomination for it, and then the Film Forum Jr. screening is The Wiz, starring Michael Jackson and Donna Summer. Other movies in the series include Cleopatra Jones, Gone with the Wind and Spike Lee’s debut She’s Gotta Have it. Film Forum is also doing a special Homage to Anna Karenina, the late Jean-Luc Godard muse who starred in many of his classics including Band of Outsiders, Alphaville, Pierrot Le Fou, plus six other films will be screened beginning Wednesday and through January 30. On Sunday, Film Forum is showing Lee Grant’s 2005 documentary A Father … a Son … Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which is about Kirk and Michael Douglas with Grant in person doing a QnA. The theater will also screen William Wyler’s 1951 film Detective Story, which stars Grant on Sunday and next Tuesday.

EGYPTIAN THEATRE (LA):

This weekend begins “Cinematic Void 2020” with the Friday selection being Dario Argento’s The Cat O’Nine Tails (1971), followed on Saturday by a 5-movie Giallo Marathon, including Argento’s Opera(1987), Bava’s A Blade in the Dark (1983), Fulci’s The Black Cat (1981), and two more. Joe Dantewill be on Sunday for his 16mm Spotlight, showing 1972’s Richard. This week’s “Sunday Print Edition” is Carol Reed’s Night Train to Munich(1940) in 35mm in the afternoon and then Richard Benjamin and Dyan Cannon will be on hand to discuss the amazing 1973 thriller The Last of Sheila, one of my favorite movies.

AERO (LA):

Besides a matinee screening of Scorsese’s Goodfellas on Thursday (free to Cinemateque members), the AERO begins a “Ford Vs.” series with a double feature of John Ford’s The Quiet Man (1952) with Sam Peckinpah’s classic Straw Dogs (1971). Friday is Ford’ sStagecoach(1939) with Kelly Reichardt’s Meek’s Cutoff (2010). Saturday at 9AM, you can watch a triple-feature of Toy Story, Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3, and then in the afternoon, the AERO will show Toy Story 4 with guests. That’s a full day of Toy Story viewing! Saturday night’s “Ford Vs.” is Ford’s The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance with Akira Kurosawa’s Sanjuro, both from 1962. Sunday night’s double is Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) with Ford’s My Darling Clementine (1946). Tuesday’s Scorsese matinee is his debut Mean Streets.

QUAD CINEMA (NYC):

You can still catch a few of the movies in the lead-up to Bonello’s Zombi Child with another screening of I Walked with a Zombie on Weds. night, as well as De Palma’s Carrie and the Extended Director’s Cut of The Exorcist on Thursday.

MOMA (NYC):

Modern Matinees: Jack Lemmon will present the classic Billy Wilder film Some Like It Hot (1959) on Wednesday, Black Edwards’ The Great Race (1965) on Thursday and 1968’s The Odd Couple on Friday.

IFC CENTER (NYC)

This week’s Weekend Classics: Luis Buñuelwill screen a double feature of the classic short Un Chien Andalou (1929) with the doc L’Age D’or (1930) while Waverly Midnights: Hindsight is 2020s will screen Alfonso Cuaron’s Children of Men and Late Night Favorites: Winter 2020goes with Argento’s Suspiria… again.

MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE (NYC):

On Saturday, there will be a “Texas Chainsaw Double Feature” of the first two movies from 1974 and 1986 as part of the “Disreputable Series.” Also, the museum continues to screen Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey as part of its exhibition.

ROXY CINEMA(NYC)

The Nicolas Cage love continues on Weds. with Martin Scorsese’s 1999 movie Brinigng Out the Dead, and then on Saturday, Bottleneck Gallery will screen 1987’s The Monster Squad and 1986’s Night of the Creeps.

LANDMARK THEATRES NUART (LA):

Friday’s night’s midnight movie is John Carpenter’s adaptation of Stephen King’s Christine (1983).

FILM AT LINCOLN CENTER (NYC):

The New York Jewish Film Festival continues through next week so no rep stuff.

STREAMING AND CABLE

On Sunday, Netflix will stream the first season of Fast and Furious: Spy Racers, which I have little to no interest in. I have a little more interest in Star Trek: Picard, which will begin streaming on CBS All Access on Thursday.

That’s it for this week. Next weekend is the Super Bowl, but that’s not gonna stop the releases of Gretel and Hansel(U.A. Releasing) and Blake Lively’s The Rhythm Section (Pararamount).

#TheWeekendWarrior Movies Reviews TheGentlemen GuyRItchie TheTurning TheLastFullMeasure BoxOffice

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thisislizheather · 6 years ago

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April Activities

April is one of the best months. It’s still cool enough to have my winter blanket on the bed, but warm enough to maybe go out without a coat. Nothing is better. Sorry about the weather-talk, but it’d be insane of me not to mention it’s so beautiful out. Onto this month’s happenings! So many things took place!

Firstly, the big news. We’ve moved! Only a few streets away, but into a waaaaay better apartment. It’s almost a joke how much better it is. We were coming from a basement apartment, so pretty much anything above ground floor would impress us, but there are a hundred little details about our new place that I’m in love with. So crazy thankful and happy with it all. We’re still getting settled into the place, but I’m planning on doing a post about all the little things I’m doing to it with the decor and storage and boring things (but oh so fun to me) like that, so keep an eye out for that post coming out most likely before the end of the month. So excited to get this place homey and lovely.

I went to a Rapters game at the Barclays Center and whoa, it was a dumb amount of fun. Nathan met someone in the audience at one of his shows who works at Barclays and got him a few VIP tickets (fifth row from court side!) and it was pretty incredible. There was tons of free food (shriiiiimp!) and soft serve ice cream and beef tenderloin and fancy water and free snacks, it was the best. I could list all the food specifics here, but I don’t want to seem like a dick who thinks she’s better than you (but might be?).

I went to the Glossier flagship store again to try this highlighter aaaaand it was pretty basic, so that was disappointing. I also tried their Boy Brow again and I think that yes, it is a good product. Although is it worth $16? Not sure. I’m still considering Benefit’s mini version for $12, so that’s likely the next eyebrow product I’ll buy/try.

I treated myself and bought the full size version of Laneige’s Lip Sleeping Mask (which is HUGE and should last me eight hundred years) as well as a new Fenty sponge because my old sponge was beginning to look nasty.

I tried the new basil foaming hand soap from Trader Joe’s because that’s an amazing idea for a scent. But the quality of the bottle itself is so cheap, it makes an awful squeaking sound when you use it. Don’t buy.

Loving these two songs lately.

Yes, I hate receiving foundation samples. You know this. That being said, I tried the one from Yves Saint Laurent and even though it was the wrong colour for me, it felt crazy nice and moisturizing on my skin. I can see why people go so crazy for this product. I still won’t buy it because I don’t really love wearing foundation, but maybe one day when I believe that foundation makes a difference?

I tried the Smile Foot Mask from The Face Shop and HOLY SHIT. It’s good enough that you can ignore the creepy baby feet on the packaging. And I mean, my feet are pretty well taken care of already, but this was some next-level shit. Definitely keeping this one in the rotation.

I know that I told you I was going to start taking collagen, but with the move I slacked a little so I don’t want to comment on it yet. I’m gonna start it again and take it on a daily basis starting tomorrow so I will definitely have thoughts on it this time next month.

Love this meme.

I went to Niagara Falls with my family and it was the best. Just a ton of fun.

Above Photo: At the Healing Salt Caves with Mom

Above Photo: We’re missing Tianna & Amanda!

Above Photo: Camden’s first Shirley Temple!

Above Photo: Sweet Jesus

Above Photo: Mom & Dad

I started watching Schitt’s Creek and it’s pretty good so far. I only saw about five episodes, but that’s enough to have an opinion, yeah? I want to watch more, but those Frasier reruns aren’t gonna watch themselves.

Watched The Bye Bye Man and wooooooof, it was rough.

I also watched Crazy Rich Asians and it was great! I’d wanted to see it for awhile and it was just a fun movie. A friend of mine accidentally called it Crazy Sexy Asians and it made me laugh, but that’s a way better title. I love, love, love Elvis’ version of this song, so whenever it gets covered, I’ll love it to pieces. Also, the wedding scene? With the water? Jesus! So nice. Even watching it now makes me teary, it’s so beautiful.

Ate at The Cactus Club with the lovely Marla for her birthday (!) and it was goooood. The short rib pappardelle? Heavenly.

One of my favourite recipes that I haven’t been able to make for awhile since I used to live in a place WITH NO OVEN is this baked pickles one. Just made it last night and still holds up. So tasty.

There’s an upcoming lantern festival in Mississauga that I just heard about on August 10th that seems pretty lovely.

Have you ever tried chocolate mint coffee before? We just got some beans from a place near us and made some this morning and I was jacked for about three hours. Really tasty, I just don’t understand how a person could drink coffee every day.

I was in need of a fancy dress so I went to Burlington in Union Square and was shocked at how nice/inexpensive everything was. I got a Calvin Klein dress (that I later returned because I’m CLASSY) for $40! Such a great place. Easier to browse than Century 21, for SURE.

The reason I needed that fancy dress? I WENT TO THE OPENING NIGHT OF THE BEETLEJUICE MUSICAL! And it was incredible. I have a friend who’s in the ensemble and graciously invited me and it was everything. I’ve never been to an opening night before and the air was electric. Such a fun time. I met Richard Kind at the after party and gushed about Clifford for approx. two minutes before he ran away.

Really enjoyed the new Lizzo album, the best songs are definitely Like A Girl and Soulmate.

I tried the relatively new chicken pieces from Shake Shack and there’s literally NOTHING DANNY MEYER CAN DO WRONG. They’re delicious, obviously.

I had no idea that The Strand will buy your old books. Amazing.

There are no Home Sense stores in the States (as far as I know), which sucks. But I came across Home Goods on the Upper West Side (thank you for the suggestion Harmeet!) and even though it’s really not as good, it’s actually okay. I appreciate the attempt of them trying to be a Home Sense.

I went to the new Rec Room in Square One and it was pretty good, I thought. Obviously you need to walk in with a full wallet, but I mean… it’s something to do? It’s pretty much Playdium with better food.

And that was April! Some things to look out for in next month’s roundup: highlights from Tianna’s visit to NYC, I’m going to a screening of Booksmart, and I swear I’ll do that apartment post. Honestly that’s the only thing I’m really, really looking forward to - I love this new place so much. Thanks for reading!

(If you have any interest in past monthly roundups, they can be found here: March 2019, February 2019, January 2019, December 2018, November 2018, October 2018, September 2018, August 2018, July 2018, June 2018 & May 2018.)

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oscar-isaacs-number-one-bitch · 6 years ago

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The 3rd Annual Redford Awards - Winners

Hello, everyone, and welcome to what I’m calling “The Redfords,” named so because (as of this posting) the great Robert Redford has retired from acting, and naming these after him this time around felt like a decent way to honor that screen legacy, even though the name for what is basically the awards show I would run if it were my Oscars changes every year anyway, and it will likely change again for the 2019 awards (though definitely into something more permanent, I promise this time). It has been a long and arduous road getting here, so much so that I actually had to push back the announcement of these winners from the intended date by a day due to both scheduling issues and the greater context of what truly deserves Best Picture being really, really hard to parse out this time around, especially considering that the actual value of Best Picture has come to mean substantively more to me this year than in any year past what with the presence of Black Panther in the category at the actual Oscars and all that that means going forward for the broader culture. Still, I did manage to choose one; the awards have been completed, the winners have been chosen, and it is now finally time to announce the winners for the third annual Redford Awards.

Best Sound Design: First Man

Usually when I do these things, I tend to just capitalize or italicize who the winner is as I post the nomination list a second time, but the fact is I already posted the nominees once (if you need a refresher I will post a link to them with this announcement) and I don’t want to take up a bunch of space being redundant when I could instead say something nice about the winners and explain why I chose them specifically. Suffice it to say even though First Man didn’t rake in what it should have at the box office relative to quality, its sound design was undoubtedly the most impressive thing about it apart from every element of the lunar sequence coalescing into a truly jaw-dropping stretch of filmmaking. The sound design, yes, did also contribute to that stretch, but First Man is also the movie of 2018 that did its sound the best all the way through, even considering that while A Quiet Place’s whole thing is pretty much built around sound, it’s more about the sound editing than the sound mixing, and one half of a victory won’t win you the whole thing.

Best Visual Effects: Avengers: Infinity War

This one is generally pretty self-explanatory, but basically the central conceit behind picking a winner is not necessarily that it has the most visual effects, but that it has the ones you either don’t see or forget are visual effects during the movie because they make it believable that any of what’s happening is even possible. This year, sure, that happens to be the same movie, but what can you say? It deserves the prize, and I’m more than happy to give it out.

Best Screenplay: Daveed Diggs & Rafael Casal, Blindspotting

The Oscars had a decent line-up of screenplay nominations this year, but considering the sheer volume of immensely creative scripts they had to choose from, most of them are fairly mediocre choices, with the likes of Sorry to Bother You and even Bo Burnham’s critical hit Eighth Grade being left out of the conversation, which is a real bummer considering Original Screenplay was Eighth Grade’s best shot for any Academy Award nomination. Perhaps the most overlooked, though, even in terms of what people were saying should be nominated in the Original Screenplay category, is absolutely Blindspotting. This script is about as sharp as they come, with witty, insightful commentary on socio-political issues, characters that you grow to care about, enough comedy to keep the whole thing going without feeling too much like a drag, and one of the most creative, original, and tense climaxes to a movie not only of 2018, but of the past decade.

Best Original Score: Justin Hurwitz, First Man

Future film lovers, and specifically film music lovers, will not look back kindly at the Academy’s decision to not even nominate this at the Oscars in this category. Justin Hurwitz’ score for first man is, both paired with the film and taken on its own merits, the most bold, unapologetic, and strangely unwieldy score of all of 2018, and while I do love Nicholas Britell (who should have won for Moonlight, by the way), this is the year that Hurwitz proved to all of us that yeah, he actually is the real deal.

Best Cinematography: Alfonso Cuarón, Roma

Just about anyone in my immediate sphere (in fact, even most people out of it) is already aware of the Academy’s decision to air this category (as well as editing, makeup, and short live-action film) during the commercial breaks at the Oscars, how stupid a decision it was, and how it’s been reverse due to film professional, critical, and general audience backlash, so I’m not going to get into those here because it’ll take too much time, and other people have ways of explaining it better than me anyway, so I’d recommend reading one of those posts/twitter threads/whatever. But yeah, let’s not play too much with our food; by far the best shot movie of the entire year is the one the writer and director of Children of Men and Gravity shot himself without the assistance of his usual go-to guy, Emmanuel Lubezki. The black and white brings a sharpness to the picture not often seen, the long, sweeping shots of life for Yalitza Aparicio’s Cleo as well as the city she lives in are well-staged and executed, and it’s all handled so smoothly you’d be forgiven for thinking this one was shot by an actual perfectionist A.I. or something. Seriously, folks, it’s stunning to look at.

Best Editing: Barry Alexander Brown, BlacKkKlansman

Studying film more and more over the years of doing this movie critic thing just because I want to and enjoy it has given me a lot more appreciation for the nature of film editing. A perfectly time cut or a long, unbroken sequence that’s well-shot will sometimes do the trick, and occasionally it’s more about what you don’t notice, but sometimes the best editing is just in how it feels to watch a movie strut its style and stick in your memory, and no film in 2018 did that like BlaKkKlansman.

Best Character Design: Ruth E. Carter, Black Panther

This category is really a combination of the Makeup & Hairstyling and Costume Design categories at the Oscars, made so in large part because I don’t understand enough about how much make-up and hairstyling impacts an overall movie (unless it’s like, really drastic, like Shape of Water fish suit drastic) and they’re both extremely important elements contributing to an audience’s overall impression of a character without said character even talking or doing anything. Presenting the whole package as one unit also acknowledges the aesthetic choices involved in a character’s overall look, and I like that, so that’s how I made it. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse very nearly took this category for how beautifully and differently rendered most of its characters were (especially the titular ones), but ultimately I think this one should go to Black Panther, not just because African tribalism and the clothing therein is a refreshing thing to see presented on screen in such vibrant and prideful fashion, but also because adapting costumes from comics into live-action is far more challenging than it sounds, and the fact that they pulled it off this well is something to commend.

Best Production Design: Eugenio Caballero, Roma

I was really tempted to go with Crazy Rich Asians on this one, but I soon realized that I was continuously thinking of this the same way most people probably think about visual effects: that the best production design meant the most production design. And while the production design in Crazy Rich Asians is beautiful and vibrant and deserves praise, it didn’t necessarily give the audience a whole lot of information about the characters beyond how rich Nick’s family actually is. Roma, on the other hand, had five entire blocks of Mexico City built from scratch based solely on its director’s memory, with not a single misplaced building, prop, or set piece in its entirety. Maybe there’s just something special about that that hits me harder than the design for Crazy Rich Asians did, but I also think it was the best production design in service of its story (both thematically and narratively) in 2018.

Best Supporting Actress: Rachel Weisz, The Favourite

And now we’re into the acting categories, the final stretch of road on the way to crowning that Best Picture winner I agonized over for almost an entire month. Marina de Tavira’s fantastic turn in Roma almost stole this one out from under Rachel Weisz, but like the viper she is in The Favourite, Weisz bit down hard and came out the other side with a Redford in her hands. It’s honestly astound how well she commands the screen in this movie (and a little bit scary), but it is all the more impressive when put next to the caliber of performances her co-stars are giving and allowed to shine just the tiniest bit brighter.

Best Supporting Actor: Ben Foster, Leave No Trace

No one except critics online talked about Leave No Trace during awards season, and I’m sad about it. That’s not the reason I’m giving it an award, but I just wanted to put that out there for good measure. Truthfully though, this is a fantastic performance once again from an increasingly underrated and undervalued actor (perhaps the best he’s ever been), and the best supporting performance from any male actor in 2018. I really do hope that sometime soon, the Academy and everyone else will finally give Ben Foster the recognition he deserves beyond his Hell or High Water nomination a few years ago.

Best Actress: Olivia Colman, The Favourite

Most, if not all, critics and general audiences (including myself) peg this award as going to Glenn Close at the Oscars this year for her performance in The Wife; however, I haven’t seen that movie, so I can’t nominate her for an award in an awards package that I personally put together, but best of luck to her at the ceremony. Despite her absence, there’s still an absurdly strong field of nominees, and none stronger than Olivia Colman’s performance as Queen Anne in The Favourite. She genuinely makes every single moment she’s on screen feel like something she, and only she, could believably do, wordlessly running the gambit from hilariously emotional to genuinely terrifying and making it all seem true.

Best Actor: Christian Bale, Vice

I don’t love this movie nearly as much as the Academy does, but the one thing we do both agree on about it is that Christian Bale absolutely stuns as former VP Dick Cheney, though a little help from the makeup department didn’t hurt and they’re sure to win that award at the actual Oscars ceremony. Plenty of other actors gave admirable performances in 2018, especially Bradley Cooper and Rami Malek (who also happens to be the best thing about his mediocre movie that no one seems to recognize is mediocre), but none of them ever truly became their characters quite the way that Christian Bale did with this terrifyingly accurate portrayal of perhaps the most powerful vice president ever to set foot in the White House.

Best Director: Spike Lee, BlaKkKlansman

Yes, absolutely, Alfonso Cuarón will be winning this one at the Oscars and probably deserves it more from the Academy’s perspective, but Roma relies on more than just the direction to keep it going. So does BlaKkKlansman I suppose, but the point is that the latter is fueled by its direction while the earlier is more guided. Both are spectacular feats and truly fantastic jobs done by both Cuarón and Spike Lee, but if BlaKkKlansman doesn’t have Lee’s fingerprints all over it, the entire thing could cascade and fall apart as a movie, whereas Roma might be okay but just might not look as pretty and feature a few more cuts; and that is why I’m giving Spike Lee Best Director.

Best Picture: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

When people typically think “okay, what is the best movie I saw this year,” they’re usually actually thinking about their favorite because art is a subjective medium in and of itself and there are only so many things you can study and observe about filmmaking and how it all comes together that aren’t subjective inherently, so they can’t really be blamed for it. What’s the best to you may not constitute what the best is to someone else, and it plays out like that with most people, and generally always will. Best Picture in the context of something like the Redfords, then, owes its justification to a few key beliefs I have about what a film I want to call the best of the year might look like; namely, these beliefs are that it should have something to say (whether positive or negative) that resonates with the audience it’s trying to reach, tell its story in an innovative and unique fashion, and set the stage for whatever corner of the medium it occupies to engage in an acceptance for change going forward. The change doesn’t have to be big or even particularly important necessarily, but it should be there nonetheless. This awards system and set of beliefs is often why what I consider the Best Picture of the year for an awards package like this doesn’t usually line up with what my favorite movie of that year actually is. That all being said, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is what I truly believe to be the best example of this from 2018. It reformed and re-shaped the genre it was in to such a degree that it elevated the status of the animation medium, the message about anyone being able to “wear the mask” of one of the most popular and beloved pop culture icons of all time also being a metaphor for facing fears, accepting yourself, helping others, and being an inspiration to people as you lead by example is a genius move that I can’t believe a theatrically-released, feature-length Spider-Man movie hasn’t attempted before (but is so perfectly suited to animation I guess I understand the hesitancy), and the method by which it told its story was so incredibly unique and innovative that every subsequent attempt to animate the same way this movie does to adapt anything will inevitably be compared to Into the Spider-Verse for the rest of time. That, and the fact that it’s also probably the most widely accessible movie of the three I had running for this award (the other two were Roma and Won’t You Be My Neighbor? for context), make it not only the ideal candidate, but the appropriate choice for the Redford Awards’ title of Best Picture.

And there you have it, the Redford Awards are now officially complete. I’ll forgive you if you saw the length of this post and just “nope”-d outta there, but for the rest of you who stuck around and read to the very end, thanks for sticking with me all this way, and I hope you enjoyed your read. See you next year!

Link to nominees: https://thefriendlyfilmfan.tumblr.com/post/182203750531/the-3rd-annual-redford-awards-nominees

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vitaevictoria · 6 years ago

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Every Book I Read in 2018: Part 2 http://bit.ly/2Fr2swN

Let's finish this list! It's already 2019, baby! Here are the rest of the books I read in 2018. I read SEVENTY (70!) in total, which is the most I've ever read in a year. Make sure you follow me on Goodreads to see what I read this year! 36. The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth Read in Sarande, Albania. Had this on my Kindle for years but was saving it for when I ran out of physical books to read which was easy to do since ALL of the books on hostel shelves were in German. The writing is nothing to write home about (lol) and it could've easily been shorter. I'm sure the movie is better. 37. The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood Read in Greece. This is the third Atwood book I've tried to read but the only one I've actually succeeded in reading. It was alright. 38. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald The only book in English at the last hostel on my last stop in Greece. Finished on the plane going home. Read it once in high school but also enjoyed it this time! 39. Upstream by Mary Oliver Read in my bedroom. My first book back on American soil! It's been on my to-read list for a while so I was excited to read it. There are some really good passages but Oliver might be too smart for me. 40. The Witch Elm by Tana French I gasped when I saw this on the shelf at the library. French is one of my favorite authors and this is her first standalone book. Compared to her other books it wasn't her best, but not-her-best is still better than most people's greatest. 41. Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan Read at my aunt's beach house. Read for bookclub. I probably wouldn't have finished this book if it wasn't a bookclub pick. It just...wasn't good. Would be more bearable as an audiobook. 42. Buffering by Hannah Hart Also read at my aunt's beach house (I had nothing to do there but read). I'm not big into YouTube but I enjoy memoirs and this one blew my socks off. Hannah has been through A LOT and discusses the complexity of love and family. 43. Braving the Wilderness by Brene Brown [AUDIOBOOK] Listened to in my car. Not good. Hard pass. 44. The Inexplicable Logic of My Life by Benjamin Alire Saenz Read on my couch. I loved Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe but this was a big disappointment compared to that one. 45. My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh Read on my couch. Definitely wasn't what I thought it would be but I still loved it. I LOVE self-absorbed, unreliable female narrators. 46. Lethal White by J. K. Rowling Read at my grandma's house. This is the fourth book in her Cormoran Strike series and wasn't the best. I'm looking forward to the next one since I have a feeling it will be better. 47. The Power by Naomi Alderman Read half on my friend's couch in the Scottish highlands, finished it at home. Loved this book and would be a great one for kids to read in high school. 48. Talking as Fast as I Can by Lauren Graham [AUDIOBOOK] Listened to in my car. Covers a bit of Gilmore Girls and a bit of the rest of her life. Listening to this feels like a big sister giving life advice. Some bits could've been cut out but I mostly enjoyed it. 49. Paper Girls vol. 1 by Brian K. Vaughan Read at my aunt's. I've never read a comic before and I think I need to read a few before my brain gets adjusted to the rhythm of them, but this was good! 50. They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera Read on my aunt's front porch. Very disappointing. I really wanted to like it but the writing has no pizzazz. 51. Carve the Mark by Veronica Roth

Read in my room. It was alright! Not as good as Divergent but one of the better YA books I've read. I've heard the sequel is better so I'll read that. 52. Heartburn by Nora Ephron Read in my childhood bedroom. I read this in one day, it's that good (and that short). No one can write like Ephron. She is so smart and so funny and I'm so sad she's gone. 53. Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit by Jaye Robin Brown This is about a lesbian pastor daughter's in Georgia and I was so excited to read it and yet I was so disappointed! The writing was bland and it just felt like a lot of wish-fulfillment and didn't really reflect evangelical Christian culture at all. 54. Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney A breath of fresh air after a lackluster book. There are no quotation marks which annoys me when Cormac McCarthy does it but is smart when done by Rooney. This book is weird and a little fucked up and none of the characters are perfect and I LOVED it. Can't wait to read more by Rooney. 55. The Diviners by Libba Bray [AUDIOBOOK] My first loan using the Libby app, which I highly recommend! Your library probably has it, or something similar! The narrator, January LaVoy, is very talented and can do lots of different voices. Can't wait to listen to the other books in this series. 56. The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue Mackenzi Lee Gay and fun and cute! Definitely want to read the sequel in 2019. 57. An American Marriage by Tayari Jones I wish I loved this as much as everyone else does. 58. I'll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara [AUDIOBOOK] Brilliant and chilling to listen to. Usually, I would never want to re-listen to an audiobook but this one was so good. 59. We Are Okay by Nina LaCour Probably would've like this more if I read it in high school. Decent and quick. 60. Truth and Beauty by Ann Patchett [AUDIOBOOK] I loved Commonwealth by Patchett and she narrates this one. It was alright! And probably very therapeutic for her to write. 61. Just Kids by Patti Smith I love this and her! M Train is next on my list. She sings a song called "Because the Night" written by Bruce Springsteen and it's an honest to goodness bop. 62. By Nightfall by Michael Cunningham [AUDIOBOOK] Read by Hugh Dancy who does a HORRIBLE Virginian accent but I loved every second of this book. Over the top introspective which is right up my alley. 63. How to Be a Person in the World by Heather Havrilesky Alright! Better to read slowly over time. Or just read Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed. 64. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman During all the hype of this book and no ONE EVER BOTHERED TO MENTION THAT IT'S SET IN GLASGOW!!! Loved this book so much and will definitely read again in the future. It's just so soft and kind and honestly a great guide on how to be an adult??? 65. The Perfect Nanny by Leila Slimani Beautiful and creepy and artsy and probably even better in the original French! Must learn French! 66. We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie [AUDIOBOOK] Always been meaning to read this. A great starter to feminism and something that every gender should read (would be a great high school or middle school read). 67. Women & Money by Suze Orman [AUDIOBOOK] Trying to up my financial literacy. This book was alright. It's definitely aimed at a middle-aged woman freshly out of a divorce who doesn't even know the passwords to her bank accounts. Suze is brutally honest and I respect her for that. 68. Gmorning, Gnight! by Lin-Manuel Miranda Cute and quick and definitely want to buy for my nightstand so I can annotate it/read it whenever I need a pick me up. 69. On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder [AUDIOBOOK] Not as much fearmongering as I thought there would be. This reads like a to-do list to be a good citizen. Take this book with a grain of salt and a pinch of optimism. 70. Talking to Women by Nell Dunn Started reading in Sweden when I borrowed Poppy's copy and was able to buy my own when I was unexpectedly stranded in London for a few days, so yay, silver lining! It's a transcript of Dunn's conversations with her friends in 60's London and it's mindboggling how so much and so little has changed about women's lives since. My goal for 2019 is to read at least 50 books! Let's do this!

#Travel #solo travel #solo female travel #backpacking #travel blogger #budget travel

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omniwriter-blog · 6 years ago

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I’ve been getting real into New Adult romance novels lately as my taste in books–to my surprise–have shifted from Young Adult (???). Never thought that would happen and yet, here we are. That being said, I’ve compiled a list of romance novels that I’m so excited to read over the summer. Know that none of the books are Fifty Shades of Grey-ish, no CEO meets poor girl scenario. And thank goodness for that, cause some books just wasn’t catching up to FSOG or the Crossfire series, try as they might. But that’s a debate for another season.

Moving along…

This list includes POC’s and regular people problems that I can actually see myself being in. They are hilarious while being sincere and sensitive. At least, that’s what I’ve gathered from the reviews anyway. Lol. I seriously can’t wait to read all of them.

The Bride Test by Helen Hoang

I am a new fan of Helen Hoang, and after being taken away by her first novel, The Kiss Quotient, I am more than confident that this book will be just as good!

Again, But Better by Christine Riccio

I’ve watched Christine’s YouTube channel, polandbananabooks for years when I was really into YA novels and I saw her video when she said that she was making a book. Christine is so sweet and her reviews had always been so complex an honest that is matched my own, so I’m hella excited to see the book she worked so hard to create. I’ve heard some mixed reviews ,but all in all, I’m reserving judgement for after I read the book.

The Hating Game by Sally Thorne

The “hating you first but then loving you” romance trope is something that I’ve always found cute and adorable but one I know will never happen to me. Still, I’m looking forward to laughing my ass off reading how these two try to sabotage each other in the corporate world before they finally catch feelings.

Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams

I wanted to read this because it got so many reviews for being a mix of Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie’s Americanah and Bridget Jones Diary. Plus, Jojo Moyes says it’s funny. And that’s all I need.

The Wedding Party by Jasmine Guillory

Honestly, I wasn’t in love with the first book. Guillory’s approach is amazing, but the execution didn’t live up to the books overall potential. Regardless, if you love romance and aching to read a book with POC with a funny lighthearted plot, then this book is always a good option.

China Rich Girlfriend & Rich People Problems by Kevin Kwan

I loved the book and the movie. At first, I thought I would just stop with Crazy Rich Asians, as that could serve as a stand alone novel just fine. But now, maybe it’s time to continue on with the next couple books in the trilogy. Just curious to see what happens after the supposed “happily ever after”.

The Deal (Book #1) by Elle Kennedy

For anyone feeling like they could use an erotic novel right now. 😉

Meet Cute by Helena Hunting

A celebrity romance novel with a proper meet cute moment that lives up to it’s title.

The Matchmaker’s List by Sonya Lalli

I could easily see this as a hilarious rom-com, like the movie is playing vividly in my head. What would it be like for a woman to entertain her grandmother’s blind dates. I’m just thinking of how every blind date is leading towards a disaster.

One Day in December by Josie Silver

I’ve been seeing this in all the bookstores and from the synopsis, it seems like the kind of romance Christmas/winter story, you’d catch in the Hallmark Channel. But, somehow, it carries a weight of sincerity on the topic of true love. Let us hope.

Funny how most of these book covers look so similar. Is that the style with romance novels now? I mean, I’m not complaining.

Romance Books to Read in 2019 I've been getting real into New Adult romance novels lately as my taste in books--to my surprise--have shifted from Young Adult (???).

#2019 #Book List #New Adult #POC #Romance #Summer

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deargoditsgrace · 6 years ago

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2018 WRAPPED.

Just finished reading 2017′s recap and even though it’s only been a year, a lot has changed. In 2017 I grew a lot spiritually, which led me to the Philippines, struggled with relationships, but ended up finding someone even more amazing. My family dynamic got better, and we learned to trust each other and support one another in our struggles, and my friends remained my constant. I started 2018 with my friends who, in my opinion will be my friends to the end. We might not catch up regularly, but often enough to know the importance of the relationship. And I’m not just talking about Ekim and Eyang, but everyone else too. I also started and ended the year with Andrew, mi amore. Thinking back, the year felt so short, but a lot has happened in a year.

I’m definitely not the same person I was in 2017, and prior years. I’ve grown in ways I haven’t before and was tested in even harder ways. In terms of faith, I face planted, took an L, dove straight into the deep end, complained, and almost straight up gave up. It was hard. It’s hard not being in the home environment that cultivated your faith from the start. It’s hard to share with faith with people who haven’t been there for the worst times, and it’s hard to open up. It’s hard to meet people on the same wavelength and even then, its hard. It’s hard to stay faithful when the world drags you into the mud and gives you enough reasons to leave it behind. My faith suffered a lot this year. I forgot to trust God with everything..my life, my relationships. But in the silver lining of it all, I know he still showed me grace, because he allowed me to have grace for CCPC. He allowed me to give it a chance and find people, women who lift me up, who encourage me and one another to fight the good fight and remind me that I’m not doing this alone. I found a women’s ministry group that meets every Wednesday. It’s not the deepest bible study, but the women in the group make it worth going to every week. We’re all at different places in our lives, yet we still can all relate and pray for one another. And through it I was able to get closer to Esther mainly but also Shalom.

Our CG last year also ended in pieces. People, including myself, not caring anymore. But Andrew, my Andrew, stepped up and became a CG leader. Woah.. never did I think he’d be one so soon in our relationship, but it was pretty amazing to see his courage throughout it all. I know it stemmed from wanting to contribute since he’s been a member for a while now, but he’s really taken on a lot of responsibility and hasn’t complained about it once. Our CG is definitely something special and feels so different from last year. I feel like we all genuinely want to get to know each other and encourage one another, and I hope we continue to keep that energy going into the new year. I’m looking forward to all the adventures our CG will take, especially the ski trip coming up in a few weeks.

Moving on to Andrew and Relationships. It’s been a ride, for sure. Never in my life did I dream of dating someone so seriously .. just kidding I did, but I never really dreamed of the reality of it all. The first six months were challenging and a whirlwind. I started working, I was working the weirdest hours, which was tough on both me and Andrew, we went to a wedding, and we did cool things. But during it all, I don’t think i let myself be 100% with him knowing that he could leave at any moment, that his attraction for me could disappear at any moment and that it wouldn’t last. Thinking of those things kept me on my toes and didn’t let me fully enjoy the person I was with. I’m not sure when that all changed, but when my mental state changed, it felt like all the weight and pressure of just being in a relationship also completely disappeared. So now, I love it. I love spending time with Andrew, and probably enjoy his company more than he enjoys mine. We got a routine and I like it. But i really do love spending the time I do with him, and everything just feels right. We argue, but we always try to talk it out, we’re sensitive to each others’ feelings, and yeah... I honestly can’t wait for what the future holds, but I imagine it’s really bright.

For all the Esthers and I, we all got into relationships all around the same time. WEIRD. It’s weird to think that even happened but also weird to think that a couple years back we were all thinking about totally different guys. Like our boyfriends now weren’t even in the sphere. AT. ALL. But i think it worked out perfectly... wow. There were definitely some testing times in our relationship, but I’m kinda glad we all disappeared at the same time so that we can all reappear at the same time. I’m grateful and blessed to have friendships like these... and I really do hope to continue to foster them in any way that I can.

OH CRAP. A huge thing for me in 2018 was traveling. I got to travel a lot and to opposite ends of the earth. In March I got the opportunity to go to Singapore with Addie and Syd. Eat at some amazing places, and stay at even greater places. Honestly the food wasn’t as good as the hype, minus the soup dumplings, but now I gotta go to Taiwan for the real deal. But I got to travel to Malaysia, stay at an amazing hotel and an even better spa program. See the hustle of Singapore and how the crazy rich live, and even stay at Marina Bay Sands- the kind of hotel people shoot documentaries of. The experience was so rich and never in a million years would I have imagined going to a country like that so soon. But like something Andrew said was, well if you wanna go, just make it happen instead of making excuses for a while and never going.

In April I got to go to Chicago for Hannjoo’s wedding. The wedding was so sweet and even though I never met Dan before it was so palpable how much they loved each other and that was the best sight to see. I hope whenever I get married, the man I marry loves me as much as I hope to love him. But before and after the wedding we got the chance to explore Chicago and all it’s offerings. We tried the best burger I’ve ever eaten at Au Cheval, played ping pong at a ping pong bar, and even watched a movie. For a city, I was so pleasantly impressed by everything, the architecture, the history, and all the things that make it a “cool” city.

In May, I went to Vancouver/Whistler with my parents for my graduation trip. I finally grew up to realize hiking aint so bad, then we hiked the hardest and most exhausting hike ever. The snow hadn’t melted all the way so we walked half the trail on snow. And it wasn’t even just a layer, it was ... i don’t even know how to explain it, but it was rough. It was a lot of fun traveling with my parents though. We rented this sick Jeep, and it felt so right to be in it. ahhh the dream car for me and mom. But we didn’t even fight! Appa had to leave early but his flights kept getting canceled and/or delayed so me and mom stayed in our AirBNB to make sure he got home okay. Even with that, the whole trip was really nice and relaxing. But I never knew there were so many rich Asians living in Vancouver.

In late September, Andrew and I went to Colorado for his birthday. The day we got there we drove up to Boulder so that we could hike the Rockies in the morning and dayumm that was tough. The altitude got us, but the views were incredible. All I remember is that I couldn’t stop talking about how beautiful everything was. And it’s not like I haven’t seen mountains before, but the mountains there weren’t like the mountains back home. The rocks are grander and because of the altitude there aren’t a lot of trees. We also fought, and made up. I also realized we are compatible traveling buddies, and we ate the best croissants in the whole wide world.

That’s it on travel, but I’m not done cause the FOOD of 2018 was pretty epic. We tried our first Michelin star at Rose’s Luxury, our second in Chicago, and our fifth back home at the Inn. I ate more than this, but it was a pretty epic year in terms of the Michelin guide. Now, back to eating 2 for $5 at McDonalds, and scraping our monies together.

I ALSO GOT MY FIRST OFFICIAL JOB. like it’s legit and I get paid via direct deposit every Saturday. C R A Z Y. The job itself is in the industry I wanted, and I honestly got everything I thought I wanted, but a couple months in, I can kinda tell this isn’t where I see myself in the long run.

So now, onto my 2019 dreams, wishes, desires....

1. I hope to CONTINUE on my faith walk with Andrew. We had some ups and even some downs, but all in all, God was gracious to us. I hope that we can reflect on his faithfulness going into the new year in hopes to seek Him even more than we did in 2018. In addition, I hope to create bonds within our own church to help us grow and mature in every way that we can, that we can lean on our brothers and sisters so that if we falter we have people to continue to encourage us to keep fighting.

2. I want to take this real estate situation seriously. I’m not sure if I’m even meant to be a realtor, but I should try.

3. I want to be a better daughter to my parents. I want to honor them better, think of them more, and care for them in ways i haven’t been able to

4. In the same way I want to be a better sister to my friends, especially the Esthers but also to everyone in my life.

5. I want to live in the present but be aware of what I do and the implications of it. I want to be more self reflective and more often. So through that I want to be more accountable for my actions and change if i need to.

6. Grow. In any way. aka go to the gym, create discipline.

2019, I don’t know if you’ll be easy or challenging, but I hope this year is another good year for me. If not, I hope to really grow from these experiences.

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weekendwarriorblog · 5 years ago

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WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEKEND November 8, 2019 – DOCTOR SLEEP, MIDWAY, LAST CHRISTMAS, MARRIAGE STORY and more

Well, last weekend was a thing, wasn’t it? The movie I liked the most didn’t do great, the movie I really wasn’t into did better than expected, and Terminator: Dark Fate? Yeah, that’s the end of that franchise… hopefully?

This week, there’s some good, some bad and some okay to decent. I’m probably under embargo on the two bad movies so you’ll just have to guess which is which.

Actually, I already reviewed Mike Flanagan’s DOCTOR SLEEP (Warner Bros.) over at The Beat, and my review of Roland Emmerich’s MIDWAY (Lionsgate) will probably havegone up over there by the time you’ve read this. That just leaves Universal’s holiday rom-com LAST CHRISTMAS and Paramount’s PLAYING WITH FIRE.

Doctor Sleepis the latest Stephen King adaptation, this one based on his 2013 novel that is a sequel to The Shining, the movie starring Ewan McGregor as the older Danny Torrance, Rebecca Ferguson as “Rose the Hat” and newcomer Kyliegh Curran as Abra Stone, a young girl with powers who turns to Danny to help her face Rose and her gang of roving power vampires. As you can read in my review, this one isn’t so bad, and if you’re a fan of The Shining, there’s stuff for you to enjoy even though it’s not nearly as scary.

Not sure what more I can say about Midway, other than it’s Emmerich’s version of the WWII Pacific battle with a mostly-male cast that includes Woody Harrelson, Patrick Wilson, Aaron Eckhart, Randy Quaid and many more, most of whom have done better work. Basically, I wasn’t a fan, and I’m not sure how well it will do even with Monday being Veterans Day. I’ll be curious to see how others feel about the movie.

Also, not much to say about Playing with Fire other than its John Cena doing a family comedy with director Andy Fickman, Kegan Michael-Key, John Leguizamo, the wonderful Judy Greer, and honestly, I doubt anyone who might read this column would have any interest. Put it this way, it’s no Instant Family, one of my favorite movies from last year.

In many ways, my favorite movie of the weekend is Last Christmas, directed by Paul Feig from Bridesmaids and Ghostbusters, which is indeed based loosely on the George Michael song of the same name, but it brings together Emilia Clarke with Henry Golding from Crazy Rich Asians, as well as Michelle Yeoh from Crazy Rich Asians, and Emma Thompson, who co-wrote the film.

I’ll have an interview with Feig over at Next Best Picture very soon, but here’s my short review…

Mini-Review: You know you have to be doing something right if you make a Christmas rom-com that’s able to get a Jew into the Christmas spirit while watching your movie even before Halloween, but that’s the case with this great collaboration between Paul Feig with Emma Thompson.

I’m not sure what I was expecting, but I was definitely surprised by how much I liked Emilia Clarke in the role of a fuck-up who can’t seem to find a regular living place since her roommates keep kicking her out. She works at a Christmas shop in London’s busy market owned by Michelle Yeoh, who is lovingly known as “Santa.” One night, her character Kate encounters a handsome and mysterious young man named Tom (Henry Golding), and the two become friends and then get closer.

It’s pretty amazing to see Clarke doing something we really haven’t seen her do before and that’s being funny, but she also sings in the movie and has a nature that some might deem “Manic Pixie Dream Girl”-ish. In fact, she plays an elf. (rimshot) It’s hard not to think of Zooey Deschanel in Elf as you watch Clarke spend time in her work costume but Kate is very likable and nothing like Clark’s previous roles. Golding is as charming and handsome as ever, making him come across like the new Hugh Grant, but their scenes together propel Last Christmas into a place where you really feel for both of them.

There are aspects to Last Christmas that are predictable, including a twist that’s literally spoiled in the first few minutes of the movie, but the movie is just so enjoyable overall that this can be forgiven. Even if you’re the worst Scrooge about the holidays, it’s hard not to enjoy all of the Christmas spirit permeating this movie, particularly Yeoh’s character, but it also finds a way to make you feel good about helping others during the holidays, something that I hope rubs off on anyone who sees this.

Basically, Last Christmas is a romantic comedy that’s actually romantic and very funny, as well as a great way to kick-off the holiday movie season! It’s taken some time, but Love Actually finally has a worthy successor.

Rating: 8/10

You can read more about the new wide releases over at The Beat.

LOCAL FESTIVALS

The big festival hitting New York this weekend, today in fact, is this year’s installation of DOC-NYC, which boasts 300 films and events circulating around the world of documentary filmmaking, including many World Premieres, as well as screenings of some of the year’s biggest commercial and critical hits in terms of docs.

Oddly, tonight’s Opening Night is Daniel Roher’s Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and the Band, which was also the opening night gala of TIFF this year. I still haven’t seen it. Closing night is the NYC premiere of Ebs Burnough’s The Capote Tapes, which I also haven’t seen. The festival is giving Visionary Tribute Lifetime Achievement awards to Michael Apted, who will screen the latest in his ongoing doc series, 63 Up, as well as to Martin Scorsese, whose Netflix film Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story will screen. I actually haven’t seen too many movies in this year’s festival just cause I’ve been busy with other things, but I have seen Joe Berlinger’s The Longest Wave about windsurfer icon Robby Naish and Keith Fulton and Lou Pepe’s He Dreams of Giants, a great follow-up to Lost in La Mancha, which follows Terry Gilliam’s efforts to finally make The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. Other movies include the World Premiere of Beth B’s Lydia Lunch: The War is Never Over on Saturday night, the NYC Premieres of Oren Jacoby’s On Broadway, Beth Kopple’s Desert One, Kristof Bilsen’s Mother plus many more. (On top of that, my own group, the Critics Choice Association will be announcing its own Critics Choice Documentary Awards this Sunday.)

LIMITED RELEASES

There are two can’t-miss movies this weekend, the first of them being Noah Baumbach’s latest Marriage Story, which in my opinion is the best film he’s made in his entire career, and that’s saying something. This one stars Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson as a couple going through a divorce, and if this sounds familiar, it might be since Baumbach’s 2005 movie The Squid and The Whale was also about a divorce, that of his parents. It’s hard not to think that at least some of Marriage Story might be based on Baumbach’s own divorce from actor Jennifer Jason Leigh as Driver plays a theater director and Johansson plays an actor who appears in many of his plays. The real sticking point is their 6-year-old son and the fact that Johansson’s character wants to put him in school in California where she has an upcoming job, but his father, who is about to bring his play to Broadway without his wife, wants him in New York. At first, the couple plan on divorcing without lawyers and remaining friends, but as lawyers are brought on board – played by Laura Dern, Alan Alda and Ray Liotta – things just get more vicious. Not only is this one of Baumbach’s best-realized screenplay but the performances he gets out of his cast are indelible, particularly Driver and Johansson who have a number of highly charged scenes together, including one that’s absolutely unforgettable. It’s easily one of the best movies of the year, and it will be very much in the awards race. Marriage Story opens on Wednesday (today!) in New York – at the City Cinemas (formerly the Paris Theatre) and IFC Center – in L.A. and a few other cities. It won’t debut on Netflix until December 6.

Another movie that definitely needs to be seen is HONEY BOY (NEON), written by and starring Shia LaBeouf and directed by Alma Har’el, who has previously directed documentaries and music videos. It’s loosely based on some of LaBeouf’s own experiences as a child actor dealing with a turbulent relationship with his father with Noah Jupe from A Quiet Place and next week’s Ford vs. Ferrari playing the young actor “Otis Lort” who later in life (played by Lucas Hedges) is dealing with the repercussions of an alcoholic father, played by LaBeaouf, apparently based on his own father? It’s a really amazing film that obviously was extremely cathartic for LaBeouf to write while he was going through his own rehab therapy, plus he also has singer FKA twigs making her feature film debut as an amorous neighbor of Otis who lives at the motel where he stays with his father. I’m not going to say too much more about the film other than it’s extremely powerful and emotional

There are a couple decent docs opening this weekend, the one I recommend first and foremost being Roger Ross Williams’ THE APOLLO, which will open at the Metrographafter opening this year’s Tribeca Film Festival. It’s an amazing look at the landmark Harlem theater that’s made so many careers over the years from performers like Aretha Franklin and James Brown, combining amazing archival footage with new interviews.

I haven’t gotten around to seeing Lauren Greenfield’s new documentaryThe Kingmaker (Showtime), which will open at the Quad Cinema in New York before it airs on Showtime, but this one is about the political career of Imelda Marcos, the Philippines’ first lady who became almost more famous than her President husband Ferdinand, mainly for her collection of shoes.

Samuel Bathrick’s doc 16 Bars opens at New York’s Village East Cinema and in L.A. next Friday. It follows Arrested Development’s “Speech” Thomas as he works with in mates in a Virginia jail to write and record original music as part of their rehabilitation.

Netflix is also releasing Despicable Me co-creator Sergio Pablos’ animated film Klaus in theaters this Friday in advance of its worldwide streaming debut on Netflix on November 15. It features Jason Schwartzmann as the voice of Jesper, a spoiled rich kid son of the postmaster who is sent to a frozen island in the Arctic circle where he finds allies in a local schoolteacher (voiced by Rashida Jones) and meets a mysterious carpenter named Klaus (voiced by J.K. Simmons).

Opening at New York’s Cinema Village is Joel Souza’s CROWN VIC (Screen Media) starring Thomas Jane as a veteran cop with Luke Kleintank (also in Midway) as his rookie cop who are looking for a missing girl and hunting two cop killers in Los Angeles. It also stars Bridge Moynihan.

Nicolas Cage stars in PRIMAL (Lionsgate) as Frank Walsh, a hunter and collector of rare and exotic animals who catches a rare white jaguar, except that the ship taking his cargo also includes a political assassin being sent to the U.S. who breaks free and lets the jaguar loose. So this is like Life of Pi only with more Nicolas Cage? It also stars Famke Janssen, Kevin Durand and Michael Imperioli and opens in select cities asnd On Demand.

Similarly, Danger Close (Saban Films) will be in theatrs, On Demand and Digital, this one starring Travis Fimmel (Warcraft) as Major Harry Smith in Kriv Stenders’ war movie, written by Stuart Beattie. It follows Smith as he takes a group of 108 young soldiers from Australia and New Zealand into the Battle of Long tan against 2,500 Viet Cong soldiers. I guess this is an alternative to Midway for Veterans’ Day?

STREAMING AND CABLE

Debuting on Netflix is Luke Snellin’s holiday rom-com Let It Snow, starring Isabela Moner (Dora and the Lost City of Gold), Odeya Rush, Shameik Moore and Liv Hewson as a group of high school seniors in a Midwestern town who are snowbound on Christmas Eve. It’s based on a book by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle.

REPERTORY

Let’s get to some old(er) movies, starting with the Metrograph in New York, who begins a series with filmmaker Noah Baumbach in Residence in conjunction with the release of Baumbach’s latest and greatest, Marriage Story. Besides screening Baumbach’s own 1995 film Kicking and Screaming, 2005’s The Squid and the Whale and 2007’s Margot at the Wedding, Baumbach will present screenings of Spike Lee’s Crooklyn (1994) on Saturday, Eric Rohmer’s Pauline at the Beach (1983), which inspired Margot with more movies to come between now and November 22. The Metrograph also continues its Welcome To Metrograph: Redux series with Shunji Iwai’s 2001 film All About Lily Chou-Chouon Thursday and again on Saturday. This weekend’s Playtime: Family Matinees is Steven Spielberg’s 1981 classic Raiders of the Lost Ark, while Late Nites at Metrograph will screen Bong Joon-wo’s The Host on Thursday through Sunday, way too late for this old man. You’ll also have another opportunity to see Hitchcock’s 1971 thriller Frenzy on Thursday night.

TheFilm Forumwill be screening Yasujirô Ozu’s 1957 film Tokyo Twilight in a new 4k restoration starting Friday, as well as bringing back his 1953 film Tokyo Story, as well, continuing from the Shatamachi series which ends Thursday. The Forum is also screening Henry King’s 1949 movie Twelve O’Clock a few more times this weekend, and on Sunday and Monday, it will screen Rowland Brown’s 1933 film Blood Money. This weekend’s Film Forum Jr. is George Lucas’ American Graffiti.

The IFC Center is gonna be pretty busy with Doc-NYC (see above) but its Waverly Midnights: Spy Games offering will be Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997) and Late Night Favorites: Autumn 2019 will screen Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange (one of my favorites).

Opening at the Quad on Friday is a 4k 20thAnniversary restoration of Joan Micklin Silver’s A Fish in the Bathtub, starring real-life husband-wife comedy duo Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. The 1999 comedy from the director of Hester Street and Crossing Delancey is about a woman who finally had enough with her stubborn husband so she moves in with her married son (played by Mark Ruffalo!!!), driving him crazy enough to convince his sister (Jane Adams) to try to repair the relationship.

The Roxy Cinema will be screening Valley Girlo n Weds and Alan Parker’s 1984 film Birdy on Thursday, both starring Nicolas Cage, and the 1979 film Draculastarring Frank Langella on Saturday.

Uptown at Film at Lincoln Center, they’re kicking off a short series called Jessica Hausner: The Miracle Worker, including a sneak preview of her sci-fi thriller Little Joe, and showing her earlier films Amour Fou, Hotel,Lourdes, Lovely Ritaand a bunch of shorts.

MOMA continues Modern Matinees: Iris Barry’s History of Film and Vision Statement: Early Directorial Works, the latter showing Sebastian Silva’s The Maidon Wednesday evening, Jane Campion’s The Piano on Thursday, Debra Granik’s Down to the Bone on Friday, John Cassavetes’ Shadows(1959) on Saturday and Kelly Reichardt’s Old Joy (2006) on Sunday, as well as Cristian Mungiu’s 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days.

The Alamo Drafthouse in Brooklyn will show Tom Hanks’ The ‘Burbs on Thursday night in conjunction with Rotten Tomatoes, then next Monday’s Fist City is America Ninja 2: the Confrontation from 1987, Terror Tuesday is one of my favorites, Final Destination 3 (2006) and Weird Wednesday is the 1984 film Decoder.

Out in Astoria, the Museum of the Moving Image will screen Paul Verhoeven’s Starship Troopers (1997) on Saturday as part of its ongoing “No Joke: Absurd Comedy as Political Reality” series. Friday night, its showing Godfrey Reggio’s 1982 classic Koyaanisqatsi, introduced by Ramell Ross as part of his “Some Other Lives of Time: Subjective Spaces for Nonfiction” series. I have no idea what that means. MOMI is also showing Vassilis Douvilis’ The Homecoming as part of “Always on Sunday: Greek Film Series,” which apparently has returned after a six-month hiatus.

Out in L.A., Tarantino’s New Beverly has been showing double features of Jackie Brown with Lewis Teague’s 1980 film Alligator, and no, I don’t know the connection either. Friday’s horror matinee is David Cronenberg’s The Brood while the midnight movies are Pulp Fiction on Friday night and Maniac Cop 3: Badge of Silence on Saturday night. The Kiddee Matinee is one of my faves, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad and then Monday’s matinee is James Mangold’s Cop Land, starring Sylvester Stallone. Next Tuesday’s wacky triple feature is Stunts, Walking the Edge and The Kinky Coches and the Pom-Pom Pussycats. Now THAT is what I call a triple feature...

The Egyptian Theatre is showing Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman in a limited engagement but on Saturday, it will show Raoul Levy’s Hail, Mafia! (1965) as part of “Joe Dante’s 16mm Spotlight” with Mr. Dante in person. Over at the Aero, they’re having a series called “All the Right Stuff: The Artistry of Phillip Kaufman with the director in person and double features of Raiders of the Lost Arkand The Wanderers on Friday, Invasion of the Body Snatchers/The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid on Saturday and The Unbearable Lightness of Being on Sunday (with Juliette Binoche)!

The Friday midnight at Landmark’s Nuart Theater is the anime classic Akira.

Next week, James Mangold’s Ford vs. Ferrari takes on Elizabeth Banks’ Charlie’s Angels and Bill Condon’s The Good Liar, starring Ian McKellen and Helen Mirren.

#WhatToWatchThis Weekend LastChristmas DoctorSleep MarriageStory MoviesReviews Midway

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weekendwarriorblog · 5 years ago

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WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEKEND July 12, 2019 - SWORD OF TRUST, THE FAREWELL, SEA OF SHADOWS, STUBER, CRAWL

The 4thof July is over and we still have about six or seven weeks of the summer, but I’m particularly excited this weekend for two movies that aren’t the two wide releases but are movies that played at festivals that are currently among my favorite movies of the year.

I’ve been a Lynn Shelton fan ever since seeing Humpday at Sundance, and I’ve spoken to her many times for her most of her movies since, including one of my faves, Your Sister’s Sister. Shelton’s latest comedy SWORD OF TRUST (IFC Films), opening in New York this weekend and in L.A. on July 19, may replace Your Sister’s Sisteras my favorite movie of hers as she returns to improv-driven comedy filmmaking after spending years directing fantastic shows like Fresh off the Boatand G.L.O.W. In fact, the star of the latter show, Marc Marron, stars in the movie as Birmingham pawn shop owner Mel, holding the fort with his dopey assistant Nathaniel (Jon Bass). One day, life partners Mary and Cynthia (Michaela Watkins/Jillian Bell) show up with a Civil War sword that might help prove that the South won the war, not something that the liberal Mel or either woman believes but they realize they could probably sell the sword for a lot of money. That’s the set-up for a movie that’s so funny and moving as these four great actors interact and try to figure out what the truth is behind the sword and how to get the most money for it, while dealing with some really awful (and potentially dangerous) Southern racists.

Marron is just fantastic in this movie, worthy of an Independent Spirit award if nothing else, as he combines his cynical snarky humor with some truly moving moments, particularly when talking about his ex Deirdre (played by Shelton herself!) There are many great moments between the various castmates but none more than Bell and Bass discussing ghosts and flat earth theory – there’s something so adorable about their innocence even if their characters may sound like idiots.

I’ve seen the movie twice, and I enjoyed it both times, mainly due to the cast but also the way Shelton uses her “scriptment” way of filmmaking that she used to great success in earlier films like Your Sister’s Sister and Humpday.

Sword of Trust is a true joy, and it’s why independent filmmakers like Shelton are still so important in this day of big budget remakes, sequels and focus on franchises… which I honestly think she would kick ass directing as well. Maybe that will happen someday soon.

Rating: 8.5/10

(Also, I hope to have another interview with Shelton over at NextBestPicture sometime next week so look out for it.)

Another great film that premiered at Sundance is Lulu Wang’s THE FAREWELL (A24), and I actually wish I had a chance to see it a second time before writing about it… but honestly, this has been par for the course with A24 this year. I actually saw a press screening of this for the BAMCInemaFestlast month but haven’t had a chance to see it since, which is a shame as it’s one of the year’s best movies.

It stars Crazy Rich Asians’ Awkwafina as Billi, a Chinese-American woman, struggling with her life in New York, when her parents tell her that her grandmother is dying and the entire family has planned to go to China under the guise of her brother getting married. The thing is that they haven’t told her grandmother that she’s dying, due to some odd family tradition, something that

This movie is not Crazy Rich Asians 2, by any means, as Awkwafina plays a very different role here, definitely one that’s lower key and not particularly comedic, although there’s still a good amount of situational humor. Still, at its core, it’s a really emotional family drama that keeps you invested in the lives of these characters in a way that doesn’t happen much with studio-based dramas.

I’ll be curious to see how well The Farewell does, because it’s very Chinese, mostly taking place in China in Chinese with subtitles. In some ways, it reminds me more of The Joy Luck Club in the way it looks at Chinese life and traditions, and it’s very different from some of the other Sundance breakouts like Late Night.

As someone who has lived in Chinatown for 26 years, I feel I’ve absorbed a lot of that culture through osmosis, so I can definitely relate to a lot of what Wang is exploring in this film. I’m not sure if A24 had this before Sundance (which I didn’t attend), but it’s certainly a gamble for the studio, one that I hope pays off.

Either way, Wang’s film is a must-see, and I’d be shocked if Awkwafina wasn’t in the Oscar discussions by year’s end, because she really delivers an unforgettable performance. I’m looking forward to watching it a few more times this year.

Rating: 9/10

Now, let’s get to the two wide releases, which I’ll also be covering in more detail over at The Beat, although I don’t have too much to say about them otherwise.

The pairing of Dave Bautista from Guardians of the Galaxy and Kumail Nanjiani from Silicon Valley in a straight-up buddy action-comedy seems like the type of high concept sell itself movie that could bring in the curious. That’s exactly what STUBER (20thCentury Fox) is right down to the title referring to Nanjiani’s character Stu, who, you guessed it, drives an Uber. You can read my review below, and you’ll see that it’s not particularly groundbreaking, and at times it’s also pretty bad… but these kinds of cheesy action-movies tend to do well since people just want to go to the movies to be entertained. I can’t say this is much better than the recent Men in Black International(featuring the voice of Nanjiani)… I guess it’s just not that original despite being based on an original script.

Mini-Review: It’s hard to completely fault Stuber for not trying very hard, as it was never meant to be anything more than a high concept buddy comedy pairing the odd couple of Dave Bautistaand Kumhail Nanjiani.

And that’s basically all that it delivers -- nothing more, nothing less.

Bautista is L.A. cop Vince Manning, who has been on the trail of a drug smuggler named Teijo (The Raid’s Iko Uwais). After Vince’s partner is killed, he’s sidelined and decides to use his time off to get much-needed eye surgery. It just so happens that he suddenly learns of Teijo’s whereabouts and being unable to see, he calls an Uber, an electric Nissa Leaf driven by a nerdy but genial guy named Stu (Nanjiani)… get it? STUBER.

That’s about the level of intelligence required to get through this movie, as Nanjiani’s Stu spends the entire making cracks and it’s obvious that this material is below him – his snarky humor not always connecting and his character not being nearly as lovable as his alien in Men in Black International.

The thing is that Bautista is only as good his material and the best this movie does for him is having him stumbling around blindly, doing pratfalls, and yelling at Nanjiani. It’s a weird and sometimes awkward relationship, as Nanjiani is constantly mouthing off to someone who could probably floor him with one blow. (At least that’s probably what would happen in reality.)

There are also some good fight sequences between Bautista and The Raid’s Iko Uwais that should sate most action fans, as well as a couple car chases, but nothing that groundbreaking. Canadian filmmaker Michael Dowse (Goon) does a fine job working with a bigger budget as a studio comedy director… but that’s not really saying much after making much more satisfying and personal smaller films.

Stu just wants to end this adventure and get to his friend Becca (Betty Gilpin from GLOW) who is in desperate need of “companionship” after a bad break-up. Honestly, the way this movie wastes Gilpin might be its biggest offense, using her merely as a sexual lure for Nanjiani’s character and playing a woman who clearly doesn’t have a clue. In some ways, it’s kind of sweet for Stu to want to hook up with his long-time friend and confess his true feelings, but I’m not sure I should have expected more from a movie that kills Karen Gillan (playing Vince’s previous partner) in the first ten minutes.

On top of that, it tries to shoehorn in a touching relationship between Vince and his daughter Nicole (the very good Natalie Morales) but it also feels awkward and obvious, much like the general conceit of the film.

Stuber ends up being so predictable and by the books, while also being kind of offensive to its own characters, you leave the movie wondering if it was worth it for the little bit of entertainment it provides.

Rating: 5.5/10

The other new movie in wide release this week is Alexandre Aja’s new horror film CRAWL (Paramount), produced by the great Sam Raimi, and starring Kaya Scodelarioand Barry Pepper, both from the “Maze Runner” franchise. It involves a Category 5 hurricane that leaves an area of the South underwater and a woman trapped in a flooded house with alligators. I generally like these types of movies, which are in the vein of shark movies like The Shallows and 45 Meters Down with people at threat from nature’s most dangerous creatures. In this case, it’s alligators. Sadly, Paramount isn’t confident enough in their movie to bother screening for most critics, so I won’t be able to see it until Friday, but look for my review over on The Beatprobably sometime Friday afternoon or evening.

LIMITED RELEASES

We had such a nice, easy weekend last week with not too many limited releases but that’s not the case this weekend, as all the smaller studios try to catch up after the holiday break. Fortunately or unfortunately I haven’t seen that many other movies besides the ones mentioned above and a few below.

Before we get to the usual releases, I want to draw attention to a special one-night only event from Trafalgar Releasing, actually the first of four this summer, and that is The Cure - Anniversary 1978-2018 Live in Hyde Park London. It’s pretty self-explanatory but basically, the British emo-rock band celebrated its 40thanniversary last year with a special concert. That concert was filmed and a film has been put together by long-time Cure videographer/collaborator Tim Pope. This specialone-night-only event will screen WORLDWIDE on Thursday night, and if you’re a fan of the band you’ll want to check it out.

Another great film coming out Friday is SEA OF SHADOWS (National Geographic), the new doc from The Ivory Game’s Richard Ladkani, which won the Audience Award at Sundance. Executive produced by Leonardo Dicaprio’s Appian Way, it’s an amazing film that deals partially with trying to save an endangered species of whale, the vaquita porpoise in the Sea of Cortez where Mexican cartels, Chinese traffickers and local fisherman are using nets to try to capture the rare totoaba fish, whose swim bladder is worth of tens of thousands on the black market. It’s a complicated situation that involves government corruption and honest fisherman just trying to survive, while the cartel illegally mines the sea unconcerned with the fact that the vaquitas are dwindling at an alarming rate. Currently, there are only 15 left on the entire planet, all in the Sea of Cortez. Ladkani’s film follows a wide array of individuals: scientists, conservationists, journalists as well as the Earth League International, an amazing group of eco-mercenaries made up of intelligence and law enforcement using those methods to out the totaba cartels in that area of Mexico, as well as Sea Shephard, who are pulling the illegal fishing nets and trying to work with the Mexican Navy to stop the poachers. Although the film’s multi-pronged attack on the subject might dilute some of the stories -- like the attempts to preserve the vaquita -- this is also not your typical DisneyNature film and definitely not for kids, although the scenes with the vaquitas show them to be beautiful animals with true intelligence and soul, which just makes their plight that much more heartbreaking. Then on top of that, you have this real-life thriller full of intrigue, conspiracies and corruption, just a terrific doc from Ladkani and NatGeo. It’s very obvious why it won the Audience Award at Sundance, and it will open in select cities and then hopefully expand wider similar to last year’s Oscar winner Free Solo.

Another interesting doc for those who wondered where those smartphones they’re looking at all hours of the day came from might want to check out Sarah Kerrush and Matt Maude’s doc GENERAL MAGIC (Gravitas Ventures), a doc about the company General Magic, made up former Apple employees from Silicon Valley who formed a brain trust in the early ‘90s to try to create the first PDAs I.e. palmtop computers, not “public displays of affection,” although there’s some of that in the movie, too. With amazing archival footage, it shows how these brilliant engineers and technicians came up with ideas while trying to bring the “Magic Hat” to market that would eventually become part of the iOS and Android systems we know and love. Some of the team also goes on to form the likes of eBay and other tech giants, so it’s amazing to watch these early days with reflections from those involved. Apparently, General Magicalready played in a lot of places but it’s opening at the IFC Center this Friday.

Jesse Eisenberg stars in Riley (Faults) Stearns’ dark comedy THE ART OF SELF DEFENSE (Bleecker Street), playing a nerdy bookkeeper named Casey who is attacked on the street at night by a motorcycle gang. In order to protect himself, he decided to take karate lessons, where he meets the charismatic Sensei (Alessandro Nivola) whose tough training gives Casey confidence until he learns there’s a darker underpinning to the dojo. I was generally mixed about the movie, because it had serious tonal issue where it was never as funny as it seems from the trailers, and then it gets dark… VERY dark. I did like Imogen Poots as a long-time teacher at the dojo, and like with many of Poots’ previous roles, I didn’t recognize her at all in the role, and frankly, I thought she was the best part of Stearns’ movie. Bleecker Street plans to expand this fairly wide next weekend, so we’ll have to see how it does in limited release.

I’m not sure releasing Orson Oblowitz’s TRESPASSERS (IFC Midnight) so soon after Ari Aster’s MIdsommar was such a great idea, as it seems to be in the similar vein dealing with two couples with relationship issues who rent a house in the desert for a drug/sex romp. Angela Trimbur and Janel Parrish play long-time friends whose boyfriends (Zach Avery, Jonathan Howard) aren’t as friendly towards each other, but their night of debauchery is sidelined when a woman (Fairuza Balk) shows up claiming to be a neighbor with car trouble. As people start dying, they start realizing maybe she’s not what she seems. No, ya think?

Matt Aselton’s LYING AND STEALING (Vertical/DirecTV) stars Michael Costigan as art thief Ivan, who hopes to break free of his criminal life when he meets Elyse (Naomi Despres), a con woman and actress trying to escape her past. They team together for the perfect heist because one is LYING and one is STEALING… see how these high concept titles work, people who think Stuber is too high-brow? After a month-long run on DIRECTV, it will open in select theaters in New York and elsewhere Friday.

Jeanine and Catherine Butler’s doc American Heretics: The Politics of the Gospel (Abramorama) looks at a group of Oklahomans looking to bridge the divide between their communities, separated by religion, race and politics, showing how the area’s conservative Christian movement emerged.

Also opening in theaters is Aaron Lieber’s Bethany Hamilton: Unstoppable, which is about professional surfing world champion Bethany Hamilton, who survived a brutal shark attack in 2003, which was the basis for the 2011 film Soul Surfer, based on her book. The film covers Hamilton’s return to surfing while also trying to raise a toddler.

Opening at the Film Forum Wednesday is Richard Billingham’s debut feature, the British drama Ray & Liz (KimStim), an autobiographical look at growing up in the Midlands in the working class. I haven’t seen this yet but I love the work of Ken Loach, which this definitely resembles.

Argentine filmmaker Benjamin Naishtat’s Rojo (1844 Entertainment /Distrib Films), winner of the Silver Shell Awards for Best Director and Actor at the San Sebastian Film Festival, which opens at the Quad Cinema and Film at Lincoln Center Friday and in L.A. at the Laemmle Royal on July 19. Set in Argentina during the Dirty War of the mid-‘70s, it follows a middle-age lawyer named Claudio, who is insulted by a stranger in a restaurant, which begins a night of secrets exacerbated by the arrival of a Chilean detective. It stars South and Central American actors Dario Grandinetti, Andrea Grigerio and Alfredo Castro.

Also this weekend, Tenzing Sonam and Ritu Sarin’s drama The Sweet Requiem (Juno Films), opening at the IFC Center in New York, looks at the refugee crisis in the Himalayas with Tenzin Dolker making her acting debut as a 26-year-old Delhi exile who is reminded of when she was brought there by her father at the age of 8 in order to escape their Tibetan home.

From Bollywood and Reliance comes Vikas Bahl’s Super 30, based on the life of Indian mathematician Anand Kumar who comes from a poor family in Bihar but who puts together a group of 30 underprivileged but bright students for a program to help get them into the illustrious Indian Institutes of Technology.

Actor Joseph Cross from Big Little Lies makes his directorial debut with the musical rom-com Summer Night (Samuel Goldwyn Films), starring Victoria Justice, Lana Condor (To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before), Callen McAuliffe and other young bright stars will open in select cities Friday. It stars Ian Nelson and Ellar Coltrane (Boyhood) as Seth and Jameson, who are getting ready to perform with their band at The Alamo until they receive life-changing reality checks including news from Seth’s girlfriend (Analeigh Tipton) and Jameson has to choose between two girls (Justice and Elena Kampouris). The film deals with a single night in the lives of this group of friends… so I guess it’s kind of like Scott Pilgrim vs. the World? Just check out the trailer and decide for yourself...

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Lastly, opening in select cities Friday is Jasmin Mozaffari’s Firecrackers (GDE), starring Michaela Kurimsky and Karena Evan as teen friends trying to leave their small town, who run into problems.

STREAMING AND CABLE

Anthony Mackie and Frank Grillo star in POINT BLANK, the remake of the French action-thriller of the same name, this one directed by the great Joe Lynch (Everly, Mayhem). It follows a similar storyline about an ER nurse named Paul (Mackie), whose pregnant wife is kidnapped and held as collateral forcing him to team with an injured career criminal under his care to get it back. I haven’t seen the movie yet, but I have confidence in the teaming of Lynch, Mackie and Grillo to do Fred Cavayé’s fantastic film justice.

More notably, Netflix is getting into a pattern of releasing two or three foreign films every couple weeks, and this week, we have three foreign films from different countries.

First up on Thursday is the Chinese dystopian film Cities of Last Things from WI Ding Ho starring Jack Kaoas a man who has extraordinary events happen to him across three different eras told in reverse chronological order.

From Spain comes 4 Latas (i.e. 4L), Gerardo Olivares’ road comedy starring Jean Renoand Hovik Keuchkerianas two friends who take a road trip from Spain to Mali to visit a dying friend with his estranged daughter (Susana Abaitua) along for the ride.

Also on Friday is Kidnapping Stella, Thomas Sieben’s German drama about a woman (Jella Haase) taken from the street for ransom and trying to derail her abductors’ plans. This one seems a lot like theGemma Arterton’s The Disappearance of Alice Creed, an amazing and underrated thriller that I loved.

REPERTORY

METROGRAPH (NYC):

While the new restoration of Takashi Miike’s Audition will continue through the week, this weekend sees the latest installment of The Academy at the Metrograph, on Saturday afternoon showing the Director’s Cut of Michael Wadleigh’s Woodstock to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the upstate New York music and arts festival.

Also, the series Secret Histories: The Films of Kevin Rafferty & Friends runs through the week showing five of Rafferty’s docs, but honestly, I know nothing about these films. I only know a little bit more about Italian maestro Pier Paolo Pasolini,whose series A Future Life Part 2 also runs through the remainder of the week.

This week’s Late Nites at Metrograph is Nagisa Oshima’s 1986 film Max Mon Amour, written by French screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière – whom you might remember, had a retrospective at MOMA recently. Playtime: Family Matinees is Niki Caro’s Wave Rider (2002), a fantastic Oscar-nominated film that I highly recommend seeing. Jack Hazan’s David Hockney film A Bigger Splash (1974) also continues as does Les Blank’s Tex-Mex music doc duo mentioned in last week’s column.

THE NEW BEVERLY (L.A.):

Wednesday’s matinee is an IB Tech Print of the James Bond classic Goldfinger(1964), and apparently, this Bond series will continue through the month on Wednesday afternoons. Weds. and Thurs. sees double features of Roger Corman’s The Secret Invasion (1964) and James Garner’s Darby’s Rangers (1968), while Friday and Sat. is a Jane Fonda double feature of Cat Ballou (1965) and The Chase (1966). Following last week’s KIDDEE MATINEE of The Love Bug, it’s followed up this weekend by Disney’s Herbie Rides Again (1974). Tarantino’s own Django Unchained plays Friday night at midnight while Jane Fonda’s Barbarella (1968)plays Saturday night.The Sunday/Monday double features are Gunman’s Walk (1958)and They Came to Cordura (1959), as the New Bev stays on its Western kick with The Quick and the Dead (1995) screens in the Monday matinee. Tuesday’s Grindhouse double feature is 1970’s A Bullet for Pretty Boy, starring teen idol Fabian as Pretty Boy Floyd, with the 1969 screamer Horror House, starring Frankie Avalon.

EGYPTIAN THEATRE (LA):

This weekend begins on Thursday with a “Highballs and Screwballs” double feature of Billy Wilder’s Double Indemnity (1944) and Howard Hawks’ 1941 film Balls of Fire, starring Barbara Stanwyk. Alfred Hitchcock’s classic Vertigo screens on Friday as does Herbert Blaché’s 1923 film The Untameable (on 8mm!) with live music. Saturday night’s “Tiki Night 2019” (celebrating the 60thanniversary of Hawaii becoming a state) is a double feature of Gidget Goes Hawaiian (1961)with Elvis Presley’s Paradise, Hawaiian Style (1966). Sunday is a Jack Nicholson double feature of Roman Polanski’s Chinatown (1974)and its 1990 sequel The Two Jakes. (Note: its sister theater theAERO seems to be taking a break until August.)

FILM FORUM (NYC):

Francesco Rossi’s Christ Stopped at Eboli (1979) returns for another week! Mikhail Kalatozov’s Cannes Palme D’or winning Russia-based The Cranes are Flying (1957) is also getting a one-week 2k restoration release. Elaine May’s A New Leaf and Mikey and Nicky continues through Thursday.

QUAD CINEMA (NYC):

The 4k restoration Director’s Cut of Daniel Vigne’s The Return of Martin Guerre (1982), starring Gerard Depardieu (and written by that French writer Jean-Claude Carrière!), should continue at least through Thursday, as will 1984’s Before Stonewall.

MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE (NYC):

“See It Big! Action” series finally comes to a close with screenings of Kathryn Bigelow’s classic 1991 action movie Point Break (no relation to Point Blank) on Friday and Saturday. Next week begins a new family matinee program called “Summer Matinees: Fantastic Worlds.”

IFC CENTER (NYC)

The IFC Center is starting a new monthly program called “Artists Direct,” presented by former MOMI director David Schwartz and next Tuesday’s offering is a special screening of Philip Seymour Hoffman’s Jack Goes Boating from 2010 with some of the cast in person to play tribute to the late actor/filmmaker.

FILM OF LINCOLN CENTER (NYC):

On Friday, Film Linc begins a new series of free outdoor screenings on Governor’s Island beginning with Martin Scorsese’s 1985 comedy classic After Hours, one of my favorite movies and the very reason I moved to New York.

BAM CINEMATEK (NYC):

BAM is showing a double feature of Patrick Wang’s two-part 2018 independent film A Bread Factory on Sunday, July 13, a movie that has found a larger audience as arthouse theaters screen it.

UNITED PALACE (NYC):

The Washington Heights classic movie house is back with a special Sunday screening of James Stewarts’ Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939).

ROXY CINEMA (NYC)

Wednesday and Sunday night, the Roxy will present 35mm screenings of Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds (1963)

LANDMARK THEATRES NUART (LA):

Friday night’s midnight offering is James Cameron’s Terminator 2: Judgment Dayfrom 1991.

#WhatToWatchThisWeekend SwordOfTrust TheFarewell SeaofShadows Stuber Crawl Movies Reviews

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