#June was a fantastic month for film watching my summer has kind of sucked in many ways

[cinemaocd]

Jenny's June Movies

Portrait of Jason (1967) Furiosa (2024) Beijing Watermelon (1989) Jubilee (1978) The Player (1989) Oliver Twist (1948) Ugetsu (1953) Mank (2020) Living (2022) The Wonder (2022) Summertime (1955) Don't Look Now (1973) The Elephant Man (1980) Klute (1971) The Man Who Laughs (1928)

Portrait of Jason: (***) Fascinating documentary that is just a talking head interview. Film making doesn't get any simpler than this, but Jason Holliday is such an interesting subject that it doesn't matter. Director Shirley Clarke brings us along for the wild ride of a long conversation with this gay, black hustler and cabaret performer living in the Chelsea Hotel in the 1960s.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (***) My favorite so far in the Mad Max saga, the story is rooted in a terrific performance from a child actor (Ayla Brown) melded digitally with Anna Taylor Joy's portrait of the young Furiosa and her rise to the exalted position of Praetorian in the brutal world of the citadel. Containing Easter eggs from all four of the previous outings as well as a confirmation of the mutability of the Mad Max Universe (narration at the end describes the story as a legend whose telling may change depending on the teller), the biggest joy was the quiet, heartbreaking romance between Furiosa and Praetorian Jack (Tom Burke).

Beijing Watermelon (***): After watching Nobohiko Obayashi's House, earlier this year, I was expecting something far crazier than this relatively quiet portrait of a man consumed by helping a group of Chinese students by feeding them from his market stall, to the detriment of his own family and eventually his own health. A memorable fable about the way in which simple acts of care can transform a community, as well as the ways in which ego can play a part in generosity. The movie only gets as experimental and strange as the director's previous work, toward then end, when filming the ending set in China was impossible due to massacre of student protestors in Tianamen Square. Obayashi turns the story into a meditation of film making with a fourth-wall breaking technique to address the difficulties with the viewer. The movie leaves you feeling an ache of sadness especially when you remember the actual history behind it.

Jubilee (**) Derek Jarman directs this violent, bleak look at dystopian Jubilee Britain, featuring a host of punk icons from Adam Ant to Siouxsie Sioux and the Slits. There is also some nonsense about Queen Elizabeth I time traveling into the film. Honestly the most interesting part of the film for me were the glorious aesthetics, with clothes and make-up by Viivan Westwood, who later disowned her work in the film. Adam Ant is the biggest surprise in the movie, he is always charming and watchable, a stand out among the rest of the cast.

The Player (***) Not my first time through this movie, but another viewing solidified it as the top of the pile for 90s Altman. A wonderfully meta film about film making that is so loaded with jokes about film history and industry insider details that it impossible to catch them all on the first viewing. All of this in a tidy film noir package, led by Tim Robbins who plays a souless film executive being pursued by a disgruntled screenwriter.

Oliver Twist (***1/2) Stands out as the best and most memorable new to me film of the month, with a painful caveat. One of the major milestones in director David Leans estimable career, Oliver Twist is marred by his insistence on keeping the character Fagan as he is depicted in the novel, a hateful Jewish stereotype.. The visual look of this film, with its grimy, slicked cobble streets and rooftops of London nightmare fantasy set, would go on to inspire so many movies, but most notably, Carol Reed's The Third Man which came out the following year. Robert Newton is a standout as a terrifying and nuanced Bill Sykes and John Howard Davies ably carries the film as Oliver. Lean beefed up Oliver's role in the last third of the novel, setting up a chilling and dramatic conclusion to the action.

Ugetsu: (***) Another immediate post war film, that is set is Japan of the past in the time of warlords. A pair of couple navigate the coming of war in different ways, leading to devastating unforeseen consequences. A haunting--quite literally--film about war and the inability to ever fully return from it.

Mank (***) This was my second time through David Fincher's dreamy movie, inspired by real life story of writer Herman Mankiewitz, screenwriter of Orson Welles' Citizen Kane, told in a style that closely mimics that classic. While all of it is pretty to look at, and the ensemble cast is up to the task of creating William Randolph Hearst's inner circle, attempts to make real life into too much of a movie, make the whole thing creak at the hinges a bit. Tom Burke stands out as Welles, Amanda Seifreid who I'd previously only seen in Mamma Mia, gives a lovely performance as Marion Davies, Hearsts mistress, while Gary Oldman is transformed through make-up and accent work into Mank. I wish I wasn't so aware of the stage craft, but that too is like the original I suppose and there is enough insider stuff in this movie to make a film nerd like me happy through any number of screenings.

Living (**1/2) a remake of an Akira Kirosawa film, about a dying bureaucrat who does his best to make an impact before he dies, features Bill Nighy in the lead role. Nighy creates a subtle portrait of a man who is practically fossilized in his desk at work, slowly coming to life as he takes on the project of getting a playground built in the post-Blitz London.

The Wonder (**1/2) One can be forgiven for confusing this movie with Lady MacBeth, which also stars Florence Pugh as a young woman in rural Britain, getting involved in a deadly web of intrigue. Like that film, The Wonder features a lot of scenes of Pugh in Victorian dress walking in the windblown landscape, and staring into the camera while she is seated quietly in a room. The setting here is rural Ireland twenty years after the Great Hunger. Pugh plays a nurse who is sent from England to watch a young girl who has supposedly survived months without eating. Hired by the village to either prove or disprove the so called Wonder of the title, the film slowly builds into almost unbearable tension in the final acts. Lovely performance from the whole cast, including, once again, TOM BURKE. (Are you seeing a theme in June Movies????)

Summertime (****): Classic David Lean, classic romance. Is it gay? Well yeah, I think Hepburn's character is a lesbian who has finally met the one dude who does it for her and he fancies her too and it foments a complete crisis of identity. Also it's an ode to women traveling alone and living their best life and having fun and doing walks of shame for the first time and oh I just love seeing this middle aged woman get to be 20 something!. Rosanno Brazzi is so cute and this is the movie that made me fall for him.

Don't Look Now (***): So I watched this and Summertime back to back and wow you could not get two more different views of Venice While Lean's film is more of a straight forward travelogue it's not excessively gritty or excessively pretty. It's balanced and though it is a tourists view it still takes on stuff like throwing garbage in the canal or getting lost. All of those things are present in Don't Look Now but they take on a darker edge. This is a city designed to hypnotize seduce and confuse you and you'd better be careful or lose your life. Features a great twist and absolutely top tier 70s psychological horror with lots of creepy vibes.

The Elephant Man (***): I had not seen this since it was in the theaters and I was so blown away by it. It's every inch a David Lynch film...it's like Eraser head with a big budget in many ways. I seriously can't believe someone watched Eraserhead and said: yeah lets give this guy millions to make our studio film. Even more amazing that the final product is so fucking successful as both a studio film and a distinct piece of Lynchian art. Johnny Gielgud and Wendy HIllier are both in this and both fabulous and Anne Coates is the editor. It's like an ode to British Noir films like Gaslight and The Lodger and especially Oliver Twist--and even a little Pygmalion callback in one scene that HIllier is in. John Hurt plays John Merrick and is heartbreakingly human when those around him can only see a monster. Lynch makes the choice to reveal his face about 45 minutes in and it's so impactful. The makeup is incredible, but also he lets the character exist for a long time so he isn't just the makeup. Anthony Hopkins is amazing playing the Victorian doctor who "rescues" Merrik and ends up exploiting him as well. The real horror of this film is in the realization of his own culpability/responsibility that gets shifted onto the audience.

Klute (***): Part of my Donald Sutherland memorial minifest, this movie really belongs to his female costar. Jane Fonda plays Bree Daniels, a Manhattan sex worker who is being stalked by a former client. There is nothing in The Conversation that isn't done first and frankly better in Klute, using modern technology and paranoia about it to maximum effect. Sutherland plays the titular cop, Klute who has assigned himself to the cause of protecting Daniels. An interesting love story develops between the hardened and wary Daniels and the hardened and wary cop.

The Man Who laughs (***): I got to see this for the first time on the big screen with a new original score performed live, which is the best way to see silent films. Veidt is incredible acting through and over and around this makeup, expressing so much with his eyes. Like The Elephant Man, this is a movie about the way society perceives difference as monstrous. A beautiful love story and a revolutionary social justice vibe tie the room together.

[emilycl-aire-blog]

amazing things i discovered in june 2017

Goodbye, June. It was a sweet, emotive month for me. I found myself actually celebrating Summer Solstice, noticing the fireflies on the road, loving the warm rains that come from the Gulf to my own little place. Usually, I find my Junes hot and sticky with nothing to do, but this year my June was a beautiful time. Here’s some of the amazing things I discovered back in June!

1. Wonder Woman

I was excited about Wonder Woman when it was announced and every time a trailer dropped, my sisters and I would totally freak out. Personally, I prefer DC over Marvel films, DC comics over Marvel comics, etc. so I stood with Wonder Woman through the thick and thin of overreacting critics and hateful fans. And I was certainly not disappointed.

I went with my family and my boyfriend (it was his birthday so that made it even more special). And throughout every second, we all were totally delighted with Gal Gadot’s incredible performance as the Amazonian princess I’ve always been such a big fan of. The messages about love and compassion were powerful and really inspired me. Plus the general art of the film was so stunning – we walked out of the theater still saying, “Wow,” over and over again. 13/10, would recommend.

2. Edible cookie dough

This recipe was incredibly simple and delicious! I found it on Pinterest and did some adjustments to it to make it a little bit easier – you know, one of those “you know I can’t really think about this because I’m stressed out and that’s why I’m actually making edible cookie dough!” kind of recipes. If you wish to allow me to wreak emotional eating havoc on you, keep reading. If not, start scrolling now.

Edible Cookie Dough

2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup brown sugar

¼ cup granulated sugar

2 ½ tsp vanilla extract

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup butter

2 ½ tbsp milk

Make sure the butter is softened. Put flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar all in a mixer bowl. Add vanilla extract and butter. Start mixing until it starts binding together. Add the milk (and you might want to put in a little bit more if you like your cookie dough a little more sticky). Add the chocolate chips. This makes 3 cups of cookie dough. It’s also really good with vanilla ice cream and some Hershey’s chocolate fudge stuff but it’s super rich so you might want to skip it. I myself had PMS the day I made it so I made sure to have two helpings.

Because it’s so rich, 3 cups is actually a lot. I doubled it and made 6 cups, thinking that it wouldn’t be enough, but between me and my boyfriend’s family, we only ended up eating about 2 ½ cups I guess. But then again, if you want a stash in your refrigerator for the hard days, be sure to double it. It’s good when it’s cold.

3. Skincare is super important

How could I say that after declaring my undying love for cookie dough? Ah, alas my hypocritical self.

Makeup and I have had a long relationship with each other. Some days I want to totally cake my skin and some days I want to go “naked-face”. I have oily/combination skin and it’s very sensitive to weather, what I’m eating (cough, don’t look at the cookie dough above), or even my cleansers. Lots of people have recommended to me using cleansers and toners that contain salicylic acid which is supposed to be good for acne prone skin. I actually find that it either burns my skin or dries it out so much - my skin feels it has to make up for lost oil. Cue the breakout and my frenzy to cover it up with BB cream and NYX.

But I think there’s a balance to everything, including cookie dough and makeup. So I’ve started using less makeup and more actual skincare. Instead of covering up blemishes and struggling to airbrush my face, I’m finding it more important to naturally clear them and prevent breakouts in the first place.

Introducing my new favorite facial mask:

Apple Cider/Baking Soda Mask

2 tbsp baking soda

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

Mix well and apply to your face. After 5-10 minutes, rinse off with cold water.

Watch out because that baking soda sure does fizzy up at first! You can adjust the amount of apple cider vinegar if you want it to be a bit less thick or even add a little water. Find what works for you!

4. Second drafts must and WILL be embraced

Throughout all of June, I struggled with Project Meior. I reread my outline and found that it kind of sucked and I was pretty disappointed in myself and in the story. It froze me up. I ignored the pain I was feeling about it, the embarrassment I felt that my family had read this (and it sucks!) and the helplessness about what I should do next. But being able to write a blog post about it was kind of like giving myself a TED talk about how and why I should keep going with it. Acknowledging the fact that I have felt ashamed and disappointed with it is the only way up and I have done it and I will continue to do it.

So I’m going to find that new angle. That’s what new months are for.

5. Sometimes things change – for the better – and you never see it coming

At the beginning of 2017, if you told me that I was going to get the most fantastic digital painting program in the world (Paint Tool SAI that is) after being stuck in an artistic hole, I would not have believed you. If you told me that my family’s dog would have to be sent back to his breeder for being too aggressive with us – but that we would get the sweetest puppy right afterwards, I still would not have believed you.

If you told me that I wouldn’t be able to see my best friend at the end of the year like I planned – I would not have believed you.

If you told me that I would start dating a guy who was in my Sunday School class all along and that we would fall in love – I would not have believed you. In fact, I would have laughed at you when you said that, even after all the other things you’ve said. I would have hit you over the head with a pillow and say, “Are you crazy? We’re just friends and anyway, who would want to hang out with me???”

And yet all of these things have happened. Sometimes I only see hard times coming and never that good things will follow them. I know my Scripture pretty well, “God works all things for the good for those who love Him.” (Romans 8:28) But I never really believe it, grasp it with both hands, live on it until God starts showing it, playing it out in my life.

It’s like my guy told me, “It’s like God is looking at you and saying, ‘Um...sweetheart, actually...!’”

So I’m done trying to figure out God. I’m done living in my tiny little moment and thinking He can only fit in my box, where I am, right here. I’m done trying to look into the future and despairing at the fear that everything beautiful will fail.

When I’m afraid of losing everything around me, I’m looking more at me and the gifts and not at the all-powerful, all-loving, freeing Giver who has never failed me before. A Giver Whose gifts are not given in expectation of my failure.

This is a God who does not know reluctance.

Wherever you are right now, whatever situation you're in - know that God is blessing you and He will continue to bless you. No matter what you fear in your future or what you're dealing with from your past, there is nothing God cannot do, no situation He cannot heal.

Nothing is impossible with God and your current moment is not your forever.

This is a Giver who gives unconditionally because He just loves me – and you - like no one ever ever will.

I have no reason to fear the coming months because my God will never abandon me – even when times are hard. I will always be blessed no matter what. And that’s amazing grace.

What are some of the amazing things you discovered in June?