#i think i just watched lakeith stanfields scenes.

[skadream]

i need to consume more death note media than just the manga and anime. but first im gonna reread the manga sorry

[robinniko]

Since asks are on um what are your top ten movies to watch during Halloween season?

hello!!!! ive been slacking this month on watching spooky movies but my bf and i did try to watch a couple including the newest haunted mansion which i actually did enjoy mainly bc i have a fat crush on LaKeith Stanfield and also Danny DeVito and Owen Wilson were in it,

but okay this was my last over the last couple years when it comes to Halloween season in no particular order:

1. Halloween, it is a classic literally its in the name, Michael Myers is one of my favorite slashers as well!

2. Trick ‘r Treat, this movie when i was just a young child ABSOLUTELY TERRIFIED ME especially that one particular scene with like the kids, without spoiling it lmao

3. Scream, even though it is not my favorite horror franchise it is an iconic one and i have a lot of love for it, the meta of it all and Sidney Prescott being a bad bitch

4. The Purge, the entire franchise freaks me the fuck OUT, mainly because it is a goofy horror action plot with underlining realness like idk i remember someone told me they didn’t like how political The Purge got but like? it was always political and to me that is why a very interesting and compelling franchise under all the insane kills

5. The Conjuring, again another good franchise in my opinion, mainly because of the actors but i will admit the franchise does kind of get worse 😭 but i do love the first two films! and i am looking forward to the one that is coming out in 2025

6. The Shining, literally no words can describe how much i love this movie

7. Gremlins, it is also a good christmas movie too but its just such a fun goofy film that like you can just put on and have a good time, no need to worry about scares or anything, special shout out to the female gremlin in i think the second film

8. The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, listen Wallace and Gromit is literally always a good time

9. Shaun of the Dead, watched as a child and it stuck with me forever, it is still one of my favorite zombie movies and one of my favorite horror comedies, literally one of my favorite movies as a kid too

10. The Nightmare Before Christmas, ANYONE CAN FIGHT ME ON THIS BUT THIS IS BOTH A CHRISTMAS AND HALLOWEEN MOVIE 🗣️🗣️ no but yea its just such a good movie and it has such a nice memories of watching it in school as a kid

special mentions: 28 days later, Insidious franchise, Annabelle franchise, & Corpse Bride

Let me know your 10 top ten!! I actually need some good movie recommendations for Halloween but also i love spooky/horror movies overall so i always love recommendations!

[agentnico]

The Book of Clarence (2024) review

This film may be 2024’s biggest box office flop thus far, but that doesn’t mean it won’t get cult status, and especially Benedict Cumberbatch’s entire role is destined to be a meme, trust me on that. Just you wait.

Plot: Struggling to find a better life, Clarence is captivated by the power of the rising Messiah and soon risks everything to carve a path to a divine existence.

Going into this movie I expected to be super offended by it. Look, I’m not overly religious myself, but I come from an orthodox family and have been raised as such, so naturally I do have certain beliefs, and do think a lot of what happened in the New Testament is true. So of course when this movie came about I had my trepidations, however after watching it I found myself not nearly as offended or shocked as I expected. For one they don’t go against the fact that Jesus is the true Messiah, and in fact encourage that fact. I mean of course there are some blasphemous aspects to it as one would expect - the final act is a twist on the Bible that I am certain is going to pee off more than a few Christians. But as a whole The Book of Clarence is its own thing that doesn’t’ mess a lot with religion. For the first two thirds especially it’s more about Clarence and his buddies going on this adventure through Jerusalem and getting up to various shenanigans, and basically this being a stoner-comedy set in AD. And I have to say that generally speaking I enjoyed it.

The whole thing is absurd for sure. I mean, the flick is produced by Jay-Z, which speaks volumes in itself. But it’s got a great soundtrack, the direction overall is good from Jeymes Samuel, though stylistically I think he outdid himself more in The Harder They Fall - that western was just so cool! The humour was good in parts but in others not so much. It kind of depended on who was delivering it. For this movie features an all-star ensemble cast, however the performances I must say were a mixed bag. LaKeith Stanfield I truly believe is one of Hollywood’s current greats, as previously everything I’ve seen him in impressed me. However here as Clarence I feel like he was holding himself back a little. Don’t get me wrong, he does an alright job overall, but it was not anything special. A lot of other characters pop in throughout, but only a few really left an impression. Alfre Woodard as Mother Mary had me in stitches delivering lines such as “I was minding my own virgin business just being a virgin”, and David Oyelowo as John the Baptist was overly expressive and gave some solid Will Smith-level slaps. James McAvoy too as Pontius Pilate was both dramatic in that you can tell he didn’t really want to crucify Clarence as he liked the guy, but also delivered some hysterical laugh-out-loud lines like “Once you die from drowning, you’ll be free to go. Proceed.” I actually wish McAvoy was in the film more - his character was so sarcastic - I loved it. And then there’s Benedict Cumberbatch. Okay, so Cumberbatch’s 5 minutes of screen time are all for this one specific gag, and I do admit it was amusing and the batch of cumber played it fashionably over-the-top, but also what the movie does with his character…. Okay, so it’s funny. Can’t deny that. It’s actually bloody hilarious, especially as it comes out of nowhere. But also like it is offensive to the Church. I imagine many audiences would have been angered by his role, however I enjoyed it, even if it was a waste of Benedict Cumberbatch’s talents. As for the rest of the cast, they are serviceable, but not particularly memorable.

The movie does drag in a few places, and the writing didn’t always play out the best. Again, when you had the stronger actors delivering the lines, the moments of dialogue were really funny and definitely boosted the comedic value of the scenes. However at other times you could really tell the script writing just wasn’t up to par and felt lazy as it slugged along. Also, I feel like the movie wasn’t too sure what it wanted to be. Like it starts with a scene of these dudes smoking weed whilst floating upside down and a lightbulb pops up above their head, then in another scene there’s a random 80’s/90’s techno dance number, and then at the end there’s this really dark crucifixion scene featuring realistic detail with dramatic music playing. It’s a jarring mood swing, that really made me wonder what this movie was trying to accomplish. Like is it trying to parody the Bible, but also at the same time taking it seriously? It’s a shift that doesn’t really mix, and as such the ending does fall flat.

I ended up enjoying The Book of Clarence way more than I expected, and the moments of comedy that hit really do hit. Like I can easily see in a future someone doing a reel of “Book of Clarence funniest scenes” on YouTube, as there truly are some solid moments of slapstick comedies and banterous dialogue wit. But the third act with the heavily dramatic serious mood swing does question what the movie is going for, and also it does overstay its welcome. I’d say this is an interesting, thought provoking experiment that has its ups and down, however is very much worthwhile checking out. But also Cumberbatch’s….. like what the actual hell??

Overall score: 5/10

[abadpoet]

Guess who just watched They Cloned Tyrone?

(The answer is me)

Thoughts (and spoilers!) below the cut

The whole thing kinda reminds me of Sorry To Bother You? W LaKeith Stanfield?

Anyways, great movie, loved the soundtrack, the costumes, the whole aesthetic was brilliant.

I won't lie, I don't think Old Fontaine's reason for cloning folks and slowly turning black people white made much sense to me. Like, your little brother got shot by racist cops, so the solution is to change black people? Not the entire system that enabled Ronnie's murder? Ok weirdo, pop off ig

Onto a completely different track, I loved when Yo-Yo first pulled out her gun, idk man, just love it when women in media have weapons, I just think it's real fun. Tbh, ik it's a pretty serious film w some deep themes of existentialism, racism and oppression, but it was also just kinda a fun film. Like, there were some real fun scenes, the main trio talking about "What would Nancy Drew do?", the whole Glen showing up to destroy the secret lab, Slick's whole plan to sneak Fontaine back into the facility, whenever the elevator doors open and all three of them are posed, just cool little things like that.

That's about all I can think of rn, might say more later, but yh. Good film, glad I watched it

(Also John Boyega and Teyonah Parris are hot as fuck, my god)

[byneddiedingo]

Catherine Keener, Bradley Whitford, Allison Williams, Daniel Kaluuya, and Betty Gabriel in Get Out (Jordan Peele, 2017)

Cast: Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Catherine Keener, Bradley Whitford, Caleb Landry Jones, Marcus Henderson, Betty Gabriel, Lakeith Stanfield, Stephen Root, LilRel Howery. Screenplay: Jordan Peele. Cinematography: Toby Oliver. Production design: Rusty Smith. Film editing: Gregory Plotkin. Music: Michael Abels.

Jordan Peele's witty, scary Get Out seemed to have hit just the right nerve in Trumpian America. Jordan Peele not only won the best original screenplay Oscar, his film was also a strong contender for picture, director, and actor (Daniel Kaluuya). It was one of the sharpest films about race in the United States in years. That's because, I think, it's a genre film: a horror comedy. It's not so hard to make a statement about race in a drama like last year's Oscar-winner Moonlight (Barry Jenkins, 2016) or an earlier best picture winner like 12 Years a Slave (Steve McQueen, 2013), which white audiences could watch and feel satisfied that they've learned a lesson. But the essence of comedy, especially one that blends horror into the mix, is to make audiences feel uncomfortable: We laugh almost in spite of ourselves because we see people doing things that we recognize and feel embarrassed about in our own lives. I sometimes think the words "racism" and "racial prejudice" are inadequate depictions of what really afflicts most Americans today, which is race-consciousness: the constant awareness of racial difference that we carry around with us. It works both ways, as Peele demonstrates in the opening of his film. Chris Washington (Kaluuya) is as aware of the cultural differences between him and his white girlfriend, Rose Armitage (Allison Williams), as she is. They're about to visit her family in the deep affluent suburbs, and she jokes about how race-consciousness will manifest itself during their visit: Her father will try to establish his liberal, non-racist bona fides by telling Chris that he would have voted for Obama for a third term if he could have. And we laugh when, sure enough, he does. (That Rose's father is played by Bradley Whitford, star of that liberal feel-good series The West Wing, adds a touch of irony.) If Peele had stayed on this note, Get Out would have been just an amusing social comedy, but he introduces real tension with his opening scene, which shows a then-unidentified black man walking down a suburban street at night, muttering to himself about how disoriented he is. Suddenly a car appears, passes him, then makes a U-turn and begins following him. The man panics, and before we know it, the car stops and a man gets out and attacks him and shoves him into the trunk of the car. Then we're introduced to Chris and Rose while retaining the awareness that their relationship is shadowed: Get Out is not going to be an update of Stanley Kramer's Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. Eventually, as tension builds and comedy shades into horror with sci-fi touches, Get Out moves from race-consciousness comedy into an actual statement about racism, in which black people are valued for the services they can provide for white people. As a director, Peele has Hitchcockian gifts, though he sometimes misses: There's no need for an orchestral sting in the scene in which Chris is walking through the Armitage house at night and a figure passes behind him -- it should have remained almost a subliminal moment for the viewer, leaving a "did I see that?" impression. But the real strength of the film is in its screenplay and its performances. Kaluuya is near-perfect as Chris, at first preternaturally calm and self-possessed even in the awkwardness of meeting his girlfriend's parents, then showing his gradual uneasiness with the anomalies that manifest themselves. The ending of the film was reportedly, and smartly, changed: Chris was to be arrested after the violence that takes place. But in the context of the wave of headlines about police mistreatment of black suspects Peele felt that ending was heavy-handed and substituted a "happy ending" that still feels unsettling: What will happen to Chris when the cataclysm at the Armitage house is discovered and investigated? Peele has said he has ideas for a sequel, but I hope he doesn't make it. 

[lilhawkeye3]

Hawk’s Movie Rec List🦅🎬🍿

Okay y’know what I’m actually just gonna put together a movie rec list because why not😂 This list will include my summary, a list of starring actors that you’ll recognize in the film, and where to (legally) watch it.

What We Do In The Shadows

Hawk’s summary: a mockumentary about a quartet of vampires living in New Zealand. Also has a spin off show focusing on a group of vampires from Staten Island, NYC. Hilarious and also like... just some great supernatural content. You can watch the show without seeing the movie and tbh it’s just as amazing, if not better.

Starring: Taika Waititi, Jemaine Clement, Jonathan Brugh

Streaming on: Hulu (tv show), rental on Prime (movie)

Pirates of the Caribbean: the Curse of the Black Pearl

Hawk’s summary: look all the characters are great, the plot is great, zombie skeletons pirates are great, idk what else to tell you. It’s just a fun time.

Starring: Johnny Depp, Kiera Knightly, Orlando Bloom, and that cute monkey lmao. Also the dog with the keys.

Streaming on: Disney+

Young Frankenstein

Hawk’s summary: this film is a comedy and parody of classical horror films and yet manages to be the most accurate Frankenstein film to the original novel in terms of understanding the theme of man vs maker etc. And it’s Mel Brooks, the king of comedy tbh.

Starring: Gene Wilder, Mel Brooks, Madeline Kahn

Streaming on: Starz/Hulu/Prime, but... you can find the full film for free very easily.

Blazing Saddles

Hawk’s Summary: another Mel Brooks comedy, this time parodying old westerns! Watch if you’re tired of racist characterizations and in need of some no barred laughs. Fair warning: they use the N word a LOT, but like... to show the absurdity of racists. Idk I saw it first when I was 8 (questionable parenting move lmao) but it’s one of my all time favorites.

Starring: Gene Wilder, Mel Brooks, Madeline Kahn, and Mel Brooks still making fun of Nazis like he does best 🤩

Streaming on: rental on Prime and YouTube currently

Undercover Brother

Hawk’s summary: a parody of the spy genre and blaxploitation films. Follows Undercover Brother as he joins a secret Black organization that fights The Man, an unknown white dude who wants to erase the effect of Black culture on white America.

Starring: Dave Chappelle, Neil Patrick Harris, Denise Richards, Billy Dee Williams, Cris Kataan, and a great cameo by James Brown

Streaming on: Starz/Hulu/Prime

RED and RED 2

Hawk’s summary: watch a bunch of retired secret agents who are “past their prime” be total badasses. Lots of humor, some excellent and fun action scenes. Doesn’t take itself too seriously and is really just about having a good time.

Starring: Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, John Malkovitch, Brian Cox, Marie-Louise Parker

Streaming on: Amazon Prime & Showtime

The Man from U.N.C.L.E

Hawk’s summary: loosely based on a 60’s tv show about an American CIA and Russian KGB agent who are partners, but this time with a spunky German mechanic thrown into the mix as they look to stop nuclear launch codes from falling into the wrong hands. Guy Ritchie has a lot of fun with this OT3. Fun spy movie, great chemistry between the three leads, great action and humor!

Starring: Henry Cavill, Alicia Vikander, Armie Hammer, Elizabeth Debicki, Hugh Grant, and that one white guy who’s always some sus dude (Jared Harris! Lmao)

Streaming on: rental on Prime or Youtube.

Sherlock Holmes & SH: Game of Shadows

Hawk’s summary: another fun series by Guy Ritchie (imo the first is much better though). RDJ and Jude Law have a great time playing off each other, and I love Rachel McAdams as Irene Adler. Jared Harris is in these too so I think he’s friend with Ritchie lmao but he does a fabulous job being manipulative. And the MUSIC!! Love it.

Staring: RDJ, Rachel McAdams, Jude Law, Mark Strong, Jared Harris

Streaming on: HBO Max

Get Out

Hawk’s summary: okay tbh I see this more as a psychological thriller than horror but I think it just really depends based on your own life experiences. “I would’ve voted for Obama a third time” lmaooo yeah that boy should’ve turned his ass around the second he hit that deer. Jordan Peele really did a great job with this film and it’s always an interesting watch.

Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, Lakeith Stanfield (he was AMAZING), Bradley Whitfield, Allison Williams, Catherine Keener, Caleb Landry Jones

Streaming on: another current rental (how obvious is it that I use alternate sources lmao)

[no gif for this one bc I know the movie does freak some people out]

Knives Out

Hawk’s summary: this movie really lived up to the hype. A fun mystery film with a few really good twists! Tbh idk who let Daniel Craig do the accent but it just works for the movie lmao. Also a good movie for the family bc each age group can relate really well to a group of characters.

Starring: Daniel Craig, Ana de Armas, Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, Christopher Plummer, that girl from Netflix, and Lakeith Stanfeild is there too!!

Stream on: Amazon Prime

Galaxy Quest

Hawk’s summary: if you’ve ever watched Star Trek or been to a Comic Con... yeah you need to watch this movie. Good gracious it’s hilarious. A bunch of actors from an ended Star Trek show are abducted by aliens who took their episodes to be historical records... and they actually have to play their parts in real life to save the day.

Starring: Sigorney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Tim Allen, Sam Rockwell, Tony Shalhoub, Missi Pyle

Streaming on: HBO Max

Let me know if y’all want a part 2! Stopping here for the night bc I hit the gif limit 😂

[dawsonscreekwasalwaysbad]

season 6 thoughts

hey quick question why the FUCK did you start with that

like on the one hand i’m glad that now i know what happened right after the end of “that’s too much man!”. on the other hand… ow

the mountain bojack climbs is called “metaphor mountain” God bless Lisa Hanawalt

i LOVE the way the episodes are framed… like you get one flashback to bojack drinking and you think that was the first time then it’s like NOPE he was even younger

CINDY CRAWFISH AKSHDJDSF

AND BABY BOJACK SNUGGLING UP TO HIS MOTHER… TRYING TO FEEL AN EMBRACE SHE WOULD NEVER GIVE… CATCH ME CRYING IN THE CLUB

WHO THE FUCK CAME UP WITH THIS NEW INTRO

AND THE WAY IT HAS ALL THOSE FLASHBACK SCENES BUT IT STILL ENDS WITH HIM FALLING INTO THE POOL AND DIANE AND PEANUTBUTTER CHECKING TO SEE IF HES OK AND THEN HES JSUT LOUNGING IN HIS APPLE SHORTS;;; it’s just,, he’s going back home in the end, going back to the place where he started, as if everything will go back to the way it was before and he’ll find himself stuck in the same cycles he tried so hard to escape… all im saying is, i dont think this season is gonna end well

and how it dwells on his past, everything he did wrong, all the most heartwrenching moments, and there aren’t any changes to the intro (as far as i could tell) until episode 8… nothing changes if all you do is look back.

I am LOVING the Mr. Peanutbutter we’re getting this season. I was never really attached to him before; it’s not that I hated him, just that I liked all the other main characters better. and now that they’ve had him do something really bad and reckon with that,, he’s plumbing new depths, exploring those dark places, questioning if he’s truly as happy as he says he is

and bonding with bojack??? who would have guessed

bojack keeps giving advice that is, at best, the kind he doesn’t follow himself, and at worst, bringing others down into the well of self-pity that he’s been stuck in the whole series

Someone give Princess Carolyn a break…

SHE NAMED HER DAUGHTER RUTHIE IM CRYING

Guy seems like a cool guy but I feel like they’re setting him up to seem nice so that it’s more surprising when it’s revealed he’s not. I’m probably being too suspicious, but also we don’t know much of the details about his divorce, do we? Lakeith Stanfield's great tho

EPISODE 4 WAS COMEDY GOLD

The return of Queefburglar69

I WANNA WRAP PICKLES UP IN A BLANKET LIKE A BURRITO AND TELL HER EVERYTHINGS OKAY

Oh man Pickles talking about how her subscribers will always be there for her… like… it’s not one person, it’s a cloud of people, the contents and shape of which changes, might even be completely different and unrecognizable from one year to the next, but they’re all still there as this nebulous support system. and it reminded me of what bojack said to young sarah lynn about how her fans are the only things she can count on

Todd is babey.

Also him wearing the ace colors under his hoodie!!

I knew Diane’s rationale for going to chicago was bullshit. she said it makes her feel good, but “it doesn’t matter where you are, it’s who you are,” and she still dwells on her bad feelings and hates herself just as much in chicago as she did in LA. moving somewhere else isn’t necessarily gonna change those tendencies, she has to work on it herself.

OH MAN AND WHEN BOJACK GETS DR CHAMP DRUNK AGAIN… THROWING THE BOTTLE OUT THE WINDOW WAS A WAY TO AVOID RUINING ANOTHER LIFE AND HE ENDS UP DOING THE EXACT THING HE HOPED HE WOULD NEVER DO AGAIN

was honestly kinda hoping that Dr Champ was just pretending he got drunk to show how bad bojack could get if he relapsed but at the end when he was like “stay…” that’s how i knew that shit was real.

todd is so fucking stupid i love him

ngl am kinda disappointed that todd’s confirmed white, cause i’ve kinda been picturing him as latino for a long time and i know rbw said he doesn’t want to alienate latino viewers who relate to todd. but it makes a  lot of sense, cause he always gets away with stupid shit and gets to the top of things without even having to try just because he knows a guy. and maybe the reason he’s so positive all the time is because it’s so easy for him to be, he never has to worry about shit bc of the privilege his whiteness affords him. also I love that we got to learn more about his backstory

THE CONTRAST BTWN “all the shitty things I did that I can barely even remember because I was high or drunk or it was thirty years ago” and “I remember everything. I’m sober now.” !!!!!!!!!!!!!

sharona sounds like a cross btwn princess carolyn and margo martindale

I have… mixed feelings about the haircut

Oh man Mr. Peanutbutter had a moment… he finally got that crossover episode… I was kinda hoping for a joke that went “Mr. Peanutbutter and BoJack Horseman in the same room? What is this, Philbert?” or “What is this, a short-lived show on a streaming network that got canceled because the star got addicted to painkillers and strangled his costar in a drugged haze?” but this is SO MUCH BETTER. I've never seen him cry before and the way he reacts to himself crying suggests that maybe he’s never cried before at all, and that’s why he just keeps laughing, almost like it’s forced, cause this is supposed to be his happiest moment and it’s not supposed to make him so sad. fucking,, character development

and the cold open of ep 8… you can forgive yourself and move on from your past wrongs but it doesn’t erase the things you did, the effects they have on people, and the trauma they’ve suffered. and then like, how can you forgive yourself if they never forgive you? how do you maintain that balance? why should you move forward if they can’t?

its weird to have an episode consisting entirely of guest stars but it also illustrates the extensive world they’ve built and i applaud that… also where the fuck is ana spanakopita

GINA RETURNS!!! HELL YEAH

her quote about not wanting to be defined by what bojack did to her has always stuck with me, and i feel like now, that quote has sort of come true. like, her saying that made us avoid reducing her to what happened to her, and thats why i wanted to see her come back this season, hopefully moving past it. but she can’t. it traumatized her. and everyone can see the effects of it but she feels like she can’t come forward, cause if she does she’ll be punished. shit like that changes you.

and it’s another instance on the show where someone chooses to advance their career & preserve their reputation over doing the right thing (like what bojack does with herb & sharona), but bojack does it out of self-interest, and gina does it so she doesn’t have to relive her trauma every time she gets interviewed or recognized by a fan. but even when she keeps quiet about it she’s still reliving her trauma

noah fence but what a waste of the once-per-season fuck word. youre really gonna use it in an episode IN WHICH BOJACK DOES NOT EVEN APPEAR, and not only that, but RECYCLE AN OLD SENTENCE FROM A PREVIOUS EPISODE

netflix places no limits on a show’s use of the fuck word (i think), so… fingers crossed for something better in the second part?

OH MY GOD PETE REPEAT INTRODUCED HIMSELF AS PETER ITS ALMOST LIKE HES TRYING TO FORGET THAT TIME & THAT PERSON HE WAS (im probably reading into it too much, I’m sure it’s mostly so we wouldn’t figure out who it was immediately. maybe im just like the kid with the coffee cup.)

and just… ppl describe this show as “family guy or the simpsons except the protagonist faces consequences for his actions” but bojack has gotten away with everything.

you ever just like… you ever watch a scene and feel the cliffhanger vibes creeping up and you just know it’s gonna end there and leave you unsatisfied and begging for more but at the same time that’s what makes it such a good place to end it. that was me with this. (and also the ending of undone)

the thing about this show is, it illustrates what it’s like to be a toxic person. and sure, he has it hard, but the show never asserts that he has it any worse than his victims, even if bojack himself does so. and he only does it so he can feel better about himself. he deserves a reckoning, he needs to pay for his bad deeds. but then, when you know what made him this way and what goes on inside his mind and that he wants to get better, it makes you feel for him, and forces you to ask if he deserves to get better and forgive himself and move forward. but even if he does, it doesn’t change the things he did. it doesn’t fix the lives he’s ruined.

anyway sound off if you think bojack’s gonna die at the end. hopefully not by suicide

[regardezmoica]

The Harder They Fall - BFI London Film Festival 2021

The Harder They Fall

[London Film Festival 2021]

United Kingdom 2021

130 Min

Director: Jeymes Samuel

Producer: Jay-Z, James Lassiter

Cast: Jonathan Majors, Regina King, Idris Elba, LaKeith Stanfield, Zazie Beetz, Danielle Deadwyler, Delroy Lindo, Deon Cole.

Gunning for revenge, outlaw Nat Love saddles up with his gang to take down enemy Rufus Buck, a ruthless crime boss who just got sprung from prison.

For his debut film, Jeymes Samuel shows vision by creating his own kind of western, a modern western where equality between sex and genders is a fact with an outstanding all-black cowboy cast.

"Praise be the Black Queen" said Jeymes Samuel during the conference about Regina King and I agree. The whole cast is royalty with Jonathan Majors, Regina King, Idris Elba, LaKeith Stanfield, Zazie Beetz, Danielle Deadwyler, Delroy Lindo, Deon Cole, all playing fiction characters based on real-life figures from Afro-American history like Stagecoach Mary (Zazie Beetz).

I love westerns, I've been watching them since I was a child but none of them ever gave women a real character to play on their own, to exist on their own.

Talking about their roles and why they got involved in the project, Regina King said it herself during the press conference: "The three women of the film are so different and their existence is not based on any men, child or parent. They exist for who they are". The film gives a place to women that they never had in this genre with fierce characters which spread the message and vision of the film even more.

The other casts members are also on the top with another key role for LaKeith Stanfield. Versatile actor and always choosing projects wisely, he is captivating in all of his scenes playing Cherokee Bill.

What's smart with The Harder They Fall is that Jeymes is keeping the western codes while shaking them up to create a new kind of western. In the end, you'll get real entertainment with modern values, strong characters, bloody scenes with a hint of Tarantino and music that pops.

Regina King said during the conference "Jeymes thinks music". The soundtrack has its own character in the film. With Jay-Z as a producer and long-time friend of Jeymes, The Harder They Fall has the soul and the swing to keep you entertained and smiling.

With a first film like that, redefining the western genre with such vision, power, talent, The Harder They Fall is just the beginning for Jeymes Samuel.

Saddle up, the ride is worth your while.

Grade: B

Available on November 3 on Netflix worldwide.

[bellamysgriffin]

oscar best picture ranking

bc i like to pretend that ppl care about my opinions (some hot takes ahead so beware!!) also not that this is not necessarily my ranking based on the film’s quality/merit, but mostly on my personal enjoyment.

1. sound of metal

alright, this one jumped around in my rankings a lot before i finally settled on having it at the top. the best performance i saw all oscar season was delivered by riz ahmed. so much of the movie rests on his back but he killed it. the sound mixing is obviously incredible, but the movie’s merits extend far beyond its technical/acting feats. it’s an incredibly cerebral, intimate film about an extraordinary change in the protagonist’s life. it handles that change with such care and attention and love and fondness that it feels painfully real and authentic. i could write paragraphs and paragraphs about why i think it’s so spectacular, but take my word for it, this is worth a watch. (i also want to note olivia cooke’s incredible performance. there’s a scene with her in this movie that i have not stopped thinking about, and it’s one of my favorite scenes i’ve ever seen)

2. the trial of the chicago 7

i said there would be some hot takes! so, let’s get it out of the way: aaron sorkin wrote this, and he’s a great writer, and one who i particularly enjoy. he’s super witty and the dialogue is fast-paced and compelling and i think the screenplay is great. i think, if you view this movie through a political lens, you’re bound to find a lot to criticize -- i certainly don’t love every change they made. but i truly (controversially) think it wasn’t particularly politically motivated. it’s about a political event, so politics is bound to come into play, but i think the situation is inherently interesting. 7 people who all believe in the same thing but want to achieve it through very different methods forced to work together to save themselves? i’m on board. this also particularly resonated with me because i live in chicago and i am not immune to outrage porn. i also really loved the touch of incorporating found footage of the real event with their re-enactments and i think it should snag the oscar for best editing. 

3. minari

i LOVE a good family drama, and this delivered on everything i like about good family dramas. the grandmother is as lovable as everyone hypes her up to be, and the kid actor does a great job (which i suspect has a lot to do with the directing). steven yeun is super sexy and talented, like we’ve all been saying. however!!! i think the mom did the best job, had the most interesting/difficult part to play, and the fact that that actress was not nominated for her role is a travesty.

4. promising young woman

this movie is SO divisive, but i really enjoyed it. without any spoilers, i understand some of the criticisms, again -- i don’t think this movie is trying to make any bold political or feminist statement. it obviously deals with feminism in a major way, but in general, i think it’s just an interesting character study. not to mention, a super glitzy aesthetic, a knockout performance from carey mulligan and the great inclusion of bo burnham as a romantic lead. please cast him in more rom coms, because i am in full support of that shit!

5. nomadland

for some reason, this didn’t do it for me as much as it did it for other people. i have no criticisms. i think it was lyrical and lovely, good for anyone who likes road movies. a really compelling performance from frances mcdormand who will likely take the oscar. this movie had great visuals and really intricate characters. it was about a subculture that i did not know much about, and it did a good job at getting me invested in how that works. it’s also an interesting look at aging and poverty. i think it’s got a great chance at best picture. 

6. judas and the black messiah

SO GLAD to finally be living in the lakeith stanfield oscar nominee era!!! i was really excited to watch this just for him, because i really love him. this movie had a really great in-depth look at the black panther party, and i also want to shoutout daniel kaluuya who killed it as fred hampton. this is only so low on my list because it’s not really my kind of movie. personally, it was a little too violent for me at times, and that’s not usually my thing. however, i really liked ALL the movies this award season, (EXCEPT FOR ONE), so this being so low is truly just personal taste, but i did really enjoy watching this film. 

7. the father

so olivia coleman killed it once again. i DID like this movie, let’s be clear on that. however, while anthony hopkins did a good job, i was also constantly aware that it was anthony hopkins. truly i think i would have enjoyed this movie much more had i watched it before i watched the documentary the mole agent. that was a chilean documentary nominated this year that deals with similar issues of aging and dementia, but because it’s a documentary it provides heartbreaking authenticity that the father, in some inherent way, lacks. i don’t actually see this as a huge criticism -- the father is a heavily stylized movie, and it’s trying to do something different. i think that’s fine, it’s got a very different goal than the mole agent. but because of how intimate and authentic the mole agent’s take on aging and dementia was, the father rang false for me in ways it might not have had i seen it first. 

8. mank

the worst thing i can say about a movie is that it was boring. and this was very boring. gary oldman gave a very gary oldman performance. the women were the best thing about this film by far. it’s one of those movies in which hollywood is obsessed with itself and assumes the rest of the world is too. usually, it’s not. also, it’s constantly homaging movies from the forties, but their homages were cheesy at best and patronizing at worst. it’s a bad look when the movie clearly finds itself superior to the films that it’s trying to pay tribute to. sorry mank, but you can’t even kiss the floor the philadelphia story walks on.

[ciegeinc]

Movie Review...Judas and the Black Messiah

(No Score…just thoughts) Tragedy, continued tragedy…seems to be the way all these stories end.  My first thought and reaction, all though overall speechless, was simply thank you, thank you Fred Hampton. What the film decided to depict, the story they decided to tell made me initially upset. These frustrations no doubt came from my own biases, lack of knowledge and naïveté. I’m constantly in the middle, constantly grey…yelling why can’t we all just get along. When I am constantly shown why (we are still singing we shall overcome in 2021). 

I found myself getting upset with Hampton simply because this depiction seemed one dimensional.  Then I had to step outside of myself and think for a second.  What if that was really him, at least at this point in his life. What if at his young age he found his purpose undoubtedly and lived just that? And then there was the moment, or a scene, where I felt a different facet of him just for him to be later murdered. Even though his legacy is living on you can’t help but wonder beyond the years of 21 how he would have evolved?  The other two characters I want to talk about is William O’Neal (“Judas” played by Lakeith Stanfield) and the FBI agent (played by Jesse Plemons).

I have been checking for Lakeith for a minute now, ever since Crown Heights. He is one of our best.  The last scene In the movie, where they display the actual footage of the O’Neal PBS interview is proof of Lakeith’s skill in his portrayal. In the short clip, O’Neal’s character can instantly be described as “dodgy.”  The way his moves his eyes, his movement in the chair, the vague and unsure way he answers the question asked.  As mad as I want to be at this man; after learning about his suicide it hurt my heart just as well.  We were introduced to O’Neal lying and stealing so his integrity is probably something he never had allowing him to do the things that he did.  Integrity is something that the last character I want to mention, traded in or used as currency for advancements in his career.  The FBI agent was initially doing his job but once confronted with circumstances that went against his oath and integrity, he was easily swayed to maintain the status quo whether it was legal or not.      

I am heartbroken to be honest after watching this movie.  There has to be something beyond, in this world, being a prisoner of duality.  Us vs Them, Black vs White, Peace vs War…etc. It still feels like all of our stories whether we our revolutionaries or sleeping paramedics still end with a bullet.

 FBI informant William O'Neal infiltrates the Illinois Black Panther Party and is tasked with keeping tabs on their charismatic leader, Chairman Fred Hampton. A career thief, O'Neal revels in the danger of manipulating both his comrades and his handler, Special Agent Roy Mitchell. Hampton's political prowess grows just as he's falling in love with fellow revolutionary Deborah Johnson. Meanwhile, a battle wages for O'Neal's soul. Will he align with the forces of good? Or subdue Hampton and The Panthers by any means, as FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover commands?          

[stereogeekspodcast]

[Transcript] Season 2, Episode 3. Best Picture Nominations - Academy Awards 2021

It's awards season in Hollywood! In the first of our two-part series on the Academy Awards 2021, the Stereo Geeks team review the Best Picture nominations, make some predictions, and share some harsh truths about which films don't deserve their nominations. Do you agree with our picks?

Photo by Engin Akyurt from Pexels

Listen to the episode on Anchor.

[Continuum by Audionautix plays]

Ron: Welcome to a new Stereo Geeks Special! This week, we’re previewing the Academy Awards 2021. I’m Ron.

Mon: And I’m Mon.

Ron: Let's jump into it. Best Picture. And the nominees are The Father. Judah and the Black Messiah. Mank. Minari. Nomadland. Promising Young Woman. Sound of Metal. The Trial of the Chicago Seven. That's quite an interesting list. Mon: It's probably the most diverse and varied that we've had at the Oscars in a while. One could argue that it's probably down to the fact that in 2020, a lot of films weren't able to be released, they weren't produced, and it's given us a different flavor. But I don't know how to feel about it. Ron: I feel like some of the films on this list don't belong here. I know that sounds harsh, but the quality is so varied. Mon: I agree. Ron: And that's kind of how I'm feeling about all the nominees this year. I can't understand what the criteria was for the nominees. Mon: I think it's based on who campaigned the hardest. But at least it's not as bad as the Golden Globes. That was a shocker.

Ron: Let's not even talk about that. You can definitely see that it's much more diverse, on the Oscars side, at least in terms of race, I guess. We still have very few female directors and writers and producers. The ratio is extremely unbalanced, but some how it's better this year than it was in previous years, so I guess we should be happy?

Mon: I guess we could say it's baby steps. Though, this is the 93rd Academy Award. So, wow, this is a very old baby. [laughs] But you know what, despite it all, I'm pleased to see that there's such a variety of storytelling, storytelling styles, and the kind of characters and actors who have been recognized this year. I really hope it's not just a case of, oh, we couldn't find anything else because there wasn't as much being put out there, and that we go back to square one next year. I really don't want that to be the case because we now have a taste of just how different it can be. The Academy has been trying, but it hasn't been trying hard enough. And that's very obvious with the Best Picture selections. Why are they there just eight? What happened to Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom? Why isn't that here? Or even One Night in Miami?

Ron: I have such a bone to pick with the Academy, about One Night in Miami because, why is that not here? And I had the same feeling about The White Tiger. I think those two films should have rounded off this category.

Mon: And when you will have the potential to reach ten, why do you keep stopping before that?

Ron: Then why have ten at all? So, we have a lot to say already and it's just the first category.

Mon: And we haven't even talked about the films yet! Ron: Okay, so let's just start off with my pick for this category, Judas and the Black Messiah. I think that's a lot of people’s pick, to be honest. This is a really well-put-together film. It's got tension. It's got these moments which break the tension. It has probably the best performances this year, amazing music, and a message that unfortunately is still resonant in 2021. I think this is the complete package.

Mon: Okay, so I'm not an 11 out of 10 with this movie, as much as you are. I do feel like it had an issue in the middle. And the issue was that we didn't have Daniel Kaluuya on screen.

Ron: Okay.

Mon: And I felt his absence, and I felt like the story felt his absence as well. The first act and the third act? Wonderful. The second act, definitely sagged for me, anyway. So it's probably not as accomplished as I hoped it to be.

Ron: Oh wow, that's not how I felt, at all. Yes, I feel like the second act could have done with more of Fred Hampton’s story, but LaKeith Stanfield’s performance is just so powerful that it had me invested throughout. And I actually kind of felt like there were times when I had to look away from the screen, because the intensity, not from the action, but from the emotion, was so powerful. I just couldn't keep watching it.

Mon: No, I agree with you. LaKeith Stanfield is outstanding and at times I felt like he was even better than Kaluuya, which is saying something because Daniel Kaluuya’s performance is such a scene stealer. But I think, for me, in the middle, after we had these instances of meeting the rest of the Black Panthers, and there are these side characters, especially the one played by Algee Smith, I just felt like we needed more. We needed to build these characters up more because whatever happens to these characters, you definitely feel the impact.

And these are real people, they’re fictionalized versions of these real people. And you definitely feel that tension, the suspense, the fear, the injustice of it all. But had the film structured it so that we could have spent a little bit more time with the side characters more, maybe I wouldn’t have felt Kaluuya’s absence that much in the second part.

It just felt like they were trying to fill that hole with the side characters. Well, those people are just as important, and have just as compelling stories, but we just don't get to see it on screen.

Ron: You know what, that's why we have these conversations because I quite liked the kind of time that we spent with the other characters. I felt like it fleshed out the entire Black Panther movement, what was happening at that time, and it set up the third act for me because we took that time away from Fred Hampton, and we spent it with these people who are kind of struggling without him. They have a mission, they know what they want to do, but they don't have a leader, they’re kind of living off his letters, and it's difficult because you basically don't have a head, the rest of your body's trying to figure out what to do. I thought that that actually worked quite well, and it gave the third act that much more gravitas. But as a whole I think this film was really good. And that's why it's definitely our top pick. That final scene, though?

Mon: Yeah. And the way it's shot? It's not shot in this gratuitous fashion, which you know, most other films, most other directors would have gone down that route. It's so emotionally powerful. And I was listening to the NPR PCHH podcast, and they mentioned that a lot of this story is based off of the recollections of Fred Hampton’s wife, which explains the viewpoint that we see in the last scene.

I'll just point out one more criticism, and it's easier to criticize a film which is very good and which you like a lot, because you will always see the niggling points that could have been better. And I think this, whatever we’re saying about it, is more a testament of how good this movie is, rather than how bad it is. Okay, so this is just my last criticism.

The two actors playing the leads, which is LaKeith Stanfield and Daniel Kaluuya, they are so much older than the characters that they're playing. And I think when you realize just how young these boys were when these events took place, it makes you perceive the actions of these characters in a very different way. A 17-year-old making the decisions that this “Judas” was making is very different from a 29-year-old. And the power of a 21-year-old Fred Hampton, as opposed to the very powerful presence of the 30-odd year-old Daniel Kaluuya, is completely different. So, I wonder how this film would have been perceived had they chosen actors who were age appropriate.

Ron: That's a really good point. I was shocked at the end when the title card came up, and it said Fred Hampton was actually killed when he was 21. Oh my gosh. Like, he managed to accomplish a lot in such a short time. But his nemesis was a child, and very easily manipulated. I understand where you're coming from with that. I think the movie still has a lot of strengths, despite the inaccuracies with the ages. But yeah, I feel like that would have been putting a lot on young actors. I'm sure there are some young actors who could definitely pull this off, but for that length of time, like the entire film really, it's a lot.

Mon: And it's probably not a burden we need to put on young actors.

Ron: Exactly. But yeah, our pick for this category is definitely Judas and the Black Messiah. Now let's talk about the others.

Mon: Okay. Shall we get the stuff that we didn't like out of the way and then talk about what we did?

Ron: Okay. So, let's talk about the Trial of the Chicago Seven, because that kind of happens at the same time as Judas and the Black Messiah.

Mon: In fact, there is a tiny cameo by an actor playing Fred Hampton.

Ron: Exactly. I don't know why this movie is here.

Mon: Yeah, me neither.

Ron: So, that's a good start.

Mon: Let me put it this way, with a story like this, which, again, it is a real, true life story about a very, very difficult time for all the people involved, and you make it into this slick, witty, repartee-fest. It just doesn't work. Because this story, irrespective of how jocular or irreverent the actual events were, there was emotional heft that these people were feeling. This movie is a joke. And it made be very angry to watch this film because it treated events at the superficial level. If I need to replay all those things, then I’ll just read about it. But to be with these characters in the room, in the courtroom, to suffer with them. We needed that emotional impact of what they're doing. We don't get that. We don't get that from the first scene, and it continues in the same way, and it just made me angrier with every scene. Ron: I feel like any movie that, once you watch it, you have to do like a ton of research to understand why or how things are accurate or inaccurate. That's not a good film. It's the same problem that we've had with a lot of blockbusters over the years. If you have to tell us why this scene was included, or what dialogue you didn't include in a Star Wars film or a Marvel film, then you haven't done your job. And this movie, we had to do a ton of research afterwards.

Mon: And there's one thing to be said about the fact that you watch something or you read something and it inspires you to find out more about these incredible people involved in the story. It's a completely different matter that you go in wondering, what is this? Is this actually a joke? Is he making fun of these people? And then you find out the real events, the real stories and how it impacted them, and you come away wondering, so this was a vanity fest? And there it is, nominated for Best Picture, as opposed to so many accomplished stories. I'm a little bit outraged.

Ron: If you compare this to One Night in Miami, which really was fictional, that movie made so many statements about the four people involved, and this movie didn't try to do that at all.

Mon: No, but after the fact, Sorkin kept on saying that he was making a film which was ‘of the time’.

Ron: Of what time?

Mon: Exactly. I think the problem with the fact that Aaron Sorkin created this film comes down to the fact that he has often, in his interviews, blatantly been aware of how ignorant he is, and then doubled down on it. And it seems like this film just continues in the same vein. Yeah, you might chuckle during some of the scenes, but then, where is that impact? Where is that emotion? The performances are so good. They're all good. I mean, even Eddie Redmayne is good, and that’s saying something because he's always Eddie Redmayne. But like, I need to feel something. And he throws in this scene where this person is saying that he's basically putting his life on the line for the cause that he believes in. And I’m like, it just feels like a line, irrespective of what the real person did. That to me is not a good film.

Ron: This felt like a movie.

Mon: [laughs] Yeah.

Ron: Judas and the Black Messiah felt like a story. This felt like a movie. I think one of my biggest problems is I don't like Aaron Sorkin’s writing. I don't like his style. It’s very particularly him. It’s very manufactured. People talking over each other; people bantering all the time. It feels so fake. And it kept taking me out of this movie over and over again. And it brings me back to the same point: what is the criteria for these films to get nominated?

Mon: Films like this getting nominated just to remind you that marketing is very powerful.

Ron: Absolutely. Because there's no way that this is of the quality that some of the other films on this, just this Best Picture list are.

Mon: I agree with you. And the problem is that when I finally got around to watching this film, I had somewhat forgotten who the creator was. And then like a few scenes in I was like, this is Aaron Sorkin isn't it? [laughs] And then I went and checked, and I found it out, and then I was like, you know what, maybe my internal biases are making me hate this film, but it’s not true.

Ron: I didn't know Aaron Sorkin had created this. Mon: Oh?

Ron: And I was watching it and I was like, why is everything so weird? Why does the language of this film feel like a film? And then I saw who created it and I was like, oh, this makes so much sense now. Mon:  And it upsets me because I feel like you can overcome some of your own prejudices, your own style and make something which is really powerful. But this film is not it.

Ron: This is definitely not winning anything, if it wins something, I will riot.

Mon: I really hope it doesn't win anything.

Ron: Okay. So, let's talk about Mank.

Mon: Well, we just talked about Aaron Sorkin, so we're gonna talk about his frequent collaborator, David Fincher.

Ron: Look, I understand that Mank has been a passion project for David Fincher. He has been working on it for years, and I'm very happy that he's managed to make this. Unfortunately, this is not a good film. Even by David Fincher’s standards. I'm not a Fincher fan, I’ll just say it now. Like Aaron Sorkin, Fincher has a very distinct style. Some of the stylistic elements are actually quite engaging.

Mon: I like Fincher’s Zodiac. I enjoyed that film a lot. But a lot of Fincher’s other stuff? No, thank you.

Ron: And I think my biggest problem with Fincher’s work is that he should not have anything to do with female characters. I just can't. I just can't with him.

Mon: It's actually funny that we're talking about these two films back-to-back, because there is a very distinct pattern in both these films which is that you have these waifish, nubile, coquettish women in both films. In Trial of the Chicago Seven, they literally make up a beautiful blonde detective just for the purpose of fiction. Ugh. And she has no characteristics aside from being somebody's love interest. And there's also one secretary who is outstandingly good looking, and I'm like, you can't get a normal looking person? And we have the same issue with Mank. Mank’s assistant is this extremely emaciated looking girl. His wife is this dead looking woman. Then there’s the very young Amanda Seyfried. And Mank is being played by Gary Oldman, who is a very good actor, but this role in this film just does justice to no one.

Ron: What bothered me so much was the difference in the ages of the characters versus the actors playing them. You have Gary Oldman playing Mank at a time when Mank was way younger than Oldman is now. But you have Seyfried, and you have Tuppence Middleton, who is pretty much the same age as Seyfried, playing Mank’s wife. And I'm just like, she looks like his granddaughter. And it's not even accurate to the actual characters! It was just so disorienting. And it took me completely out of the film.

This is again another film that felt like a film. The problem is a Hollywood loves movies about Hollywood, and that's what Mank is. It’s literally about the screenwriting process. So, I can see why people will love it. I just found that for me, the things that didn't work in this film, outweighed the very few things that did.

Mon: I struggled from the very start with the fact that it's in black and white. It echoes a lot of the cinematic techniques that Orson Welles used when creating Citizen Kane. At the same time, there is this polished veneer over the film that just doesn't work. There are ways to fuzzy it up a little bit with filters, or whatever. There are technical ways to do it, which makes it feel ‘of the time’. I really struggled with feeling any sense of place with this film. As you said, it felt like a film. It felt like an homage to filmmaking and screenwriting, but it fell flat on both, because we don't like any of these characters.

And this weird obsession with creating these fast-talking, beautiful women, who are there just to be observed and admired, but they don't have any personality. It was old when it started, it is supremely old in 2021.

Ron: I think this has been my problem with Fincher’s female characters for a very long time. They literally only exist for the male characters’ plotlines. They don't have any inner life, and I just don't understand how they keep making films like this over and over again, and they keep getting recognition. How's that possible? I feel like Mank has a chance, but it'll be silly.

Mon: I feel like it will be disappointing if Mank wins, but at the same time, it’s probably the frontrunner simply because the Academy loves film about films.

Ron: So, let's move on to The Father. Why is this movie on this list?

Mon: Because it's cinematically brilliant.

Ron: So, this is yet another film on this list that feels like a film. The problem is The Father was based on a play. And this film feels very much like a film that's based on a play. Throughout the entire runtime I was like, this was a play, wasn't it?

Mon: I loved The Father, up until the last scene.

Ron: Interesting.

Mon: I loved how slick the cinematic techniques were. My problem is that the subject matter deserves far more heft, and a lot more nuance than direction like this can give it. And I was on board, I was seriously on board with this film for its entire runtime, until that last scene happened where I felt like Anthony Hopkins was really trying hard for that Oscar. I think that last scene was so melodramatic. It felt completely out of place from everything else that had happened before. We are not going to spoil what the subject matter is. But the way it plays out; it's suspenseful, it's tense, and it's a novel way of handling the subject matter. But again, there's no emotional core. And that's what disappointed me. Because the emotional core is brought in literally at the end. And that's when it fell flat. But I didn't hate it as much as you did, that's for sure. Ron: I’m really intrigued by this because I didn't like this movie at all.

Mon: Wow, really.

Ron: I liked what it was trying to do. I hated the slickness. Like you said, it didn't fit with the subject matter. It’s just that it took me out of it so completely, that it made me dislike the movie intensely. I was like, this is just the wrong treatment for this film. It's so bad. And it's so disrespectful. You're trying to tell people about something that is horrifying. That is something that people are living with, that people will be living with. It made me feel very angry.

Mon: And I'm completely on board with what you're saying, and I completely agree with you. I'm actually in two minds about it because as much as I hate the subject matter that they use to make this very slick film, I can't get over how brilliantly, cinematically technical it is.

Ron: Okay.

Mon: And that's probably what the Academy is seeing, which is why this film, of all films, is one of the nominations in the Best Picture category.

Ron: Wow, that's… I'm really surprised that we’ve had such different interpretations of this. I was kind of hoping that it would be a horror film, because it's treated that way. It kind of works as a horror film, but I just feel like it doesn't do justice to this extremely important, difficult topic. And I don't think it's correct. We'll come back to the performances later when we do talk about those. But I'm surprised that we had such different interpretations but it's interesting that we do.

Mon: No, I agree with you, but I can definitely see it from the Academy's point of view.

Ron: Okay.

Mon: But I'm worried that this film will win.

Ron: Oh no.

Mon: Because, you know what that does, right? It’ll just set a precedent and suddenly we'll see a spate of these with diminishing returns, and even less respect for subject matter. Well, let's see.

Ron: Yeah. Mon: Okay, so the biggest surprise for me is definitely Sound of Metal. Because I don't think a film like this in any other year would have got a shoo-in. Even for like, performance-wise, it may have been ignored in another year, but the film getting a Best Picture nom? Surprised. Supremely surprised. But very, very happy.

Ron: Me too. I have been hearing about this film for so long, and I was really surprised that the Academy actually looked at something that was kind of small, and said, yep, this deserves it.

Mon: What I like about Sound of Metal is that it's bold in its take on a subject matter which has been done to death in Hollywood, but it's done in a very respectful way. Which is funny because we just talked about The Father which is disrespectful to its subject matter. But here with Sound of Metal, I feel like it's the complete opposite. And I feel like it's been a long time coming.

So, the film was shot chronologically, and you can tell how that impacts the actual film and the characters, because you see an evolution of how they meet, and how they end up, and I really like that. It's hard to talk about this one because I think we all know the subject matter. But it's such a small contained personal story. It's a real surprise that it’s not doing anything huge and massive and cinematic. The performances aren't over the top and larger than life. It's just the little things. It's like the natural feeling of this film. And that's what’s got me really excited about it being on the nom’s list. Hopefully setting a precedent for these films which feel like they're of the earth and of the people. I hope we get to see more of them.

Ron: As far as I'm concerned, The Father should have done what Sound of Metal did. Pitting these two against each other, my choice would be Sound of Metal because it is right there with the characters. There's nothing flashy about it. I don't think films like this about people, families, your inner life, they don't need to be flashy. The Father doesn't work because of that. Sound of Metal works because it stays contained. It's one person, his journey, his realizations, his evolution as a person.

All of that through a simple lens, and I mean that not just from the storytelling angle, but from the camera point of view, because there's nothing slick about this film. You don't see that… you know that filter that films have that tell you that it's ‘a film’. No. You feel like you're there, in the middle of that stage, next to him, listening to the drums or you're there in that dining room with all these people, just signing to each other. You're there in the story throughout. And that's what I really, really loved about Sound of Metal.

If it wins, which I don't think it will, but if it does, that will be amazing. Because this is a really quiet, personal and impactful film. There aren’t grand messages here. It's just about people being people. And I think the Academy needs more films like this.

Mon: I also think that one of the boldest moves of this film is really to have this positive message at the end, which, for a story like this, when it comes to Hollywood, doesn't usually end with. And it's not a spoiler to say that's how the film ends. Riz Ahmed himself has been very, very vocal about the message of this film. And I think the whole package, it may not be as polished as The Father, or Mank, but you don't want it to be, because it will take you out of the film, it will take you out of being with this person, with these people. I'm so glad that it's getting this kind of recognition. It may have slipped a lot of people's radars, but now that it's on the noms list, hopefully a lot more people will see it and will open their mind to watching different kinds of film.

Ron: Yeah. Sound of Metal, it really didn't feel like a film. It felt like you were with these characters, and you were just experiencing life. And I think that's basically because the sound editing is probably the best.

Mon: It's phenomenal. I don't think the average viewer will notice a lot of the technical aspects of a lot of films, but it's hard to miss with Sound of Metal, which really utilizes the sounds beautifully throughout the film. And sound itself is a character in the film. Just for that, I think, okay, the technical award, yes, please give it to them. But also, just the use of it could be enough for it to get the Best Picture nod, who knows.

Ron: The thing is that the more I talk about it, the more I want this film to win, because it's just really good.

Mon: And the fact that they cast actors who are from the Deaf community, who do know ASL. The fact that they went out of their way to make sure that their lead actor knows ASL. He's not the only one who is going around talking to people, when everybody around him is Deaf. They really put a lot of thought into making this feel as natural, as real, as possible. And I think that's the beauty of this, it feels real.

Ron: Absolutely.

Mon: And we could go on about some of the nuances that they include, which makes it even more natural, but we'll let you enjoy that.

Ron: Yeah, definitely. This is one of the most immersive films this year, and you should definitely check it out. So, Minari. I’m going to put it out there that I don't think this film will win because Parasite won last year, and oh my god no. The Academy can't do that.

Mon: You have to read two films in a row? [laughs] Considering the amount of controversy surrounding this film, for no reason. Because the Golden Globes decided that it was only a foreign film, even though the majority of it is shot in America, with American actors and producers. I'm glad the Academy put it in Best Picture.

Ron: Because that's where it deserves to be. I mean, what were the Golden Globes thinking? Mon: This is a very American film.

Ron: Yes!

Mon: I understand that they’re talking in a different language, and they’re eating different food, and the characters don't look “American”. But this is an American film. This is the American dream.

Ron: This is exactly what a lot of Americans have lived through. But the thing is that it's about American immigrants and way too many people apparently think that that's not American. Okay, so tirade aside. This is such a beautiful film. Again, like Sound of Metal, I just felt so immersed in it from the moment it began. The thing is that with family films, you don't have to have these huge events. It can be these little moments that keep adding up, and they make you think, okay, my family has their issues, I can get through it, or my family is really great, but these little issues are becoming too much. And Minari, is all about that. It's about this family coming together under very weird circumstances that some of them have got them into.

Mon: And it's really about the four of them, and then the five of them, coping with this unfulfilled, unrequited dream, and trying to fit in. But it doesn't require any of those cliches, any of those tropes, any of those stereotypes to actually take that story forward, to actually make these characters grow and evolve. It’s really heartfelt. It’s really distressing. It's very sad, but again it's very real, because these are the ups and downs of being alive, being human, having a goal, trying to achieve that dream and trying to be supportive of the people in your life who may not be thinking straight.

Ron: What Minari says, really quite beautifully, is that you can want something, you can work towards it, sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't. But you can still keep trying to do your best.

Mon: Plans change. There are circumstances out of your own hands which will change how you live life. But despite it all, try and look on the bright side. And I really like this message from this film.

Ron: What I love about the central family is that they give each other chances, but they also know when you can't give any more chances. They have the boundaries, they have the barriers, they allow each other to grow and evolve, make mistakes, and just be real. I think that's what really made me love Minari because it's a very real film.

These are not circumstances that we’d find ourselves in; we're hardly gonna be farmers. But I could still see a lot of our story. And a lot of immigrants are going to see themselves in the family in this movie.

Mon: Anybody who's moved out of their regular circumstances into something completely different, be it moving from the city into the suburbs or moving from the suburbs to the farmland, you are going to understand these characters, you're going to understand just how different it is to cope with a new circumstance. And the feeling of constantly reaching for a dream that is always moving its goalposts, is completely understandable to all, it is a universal feeling. If you're going to let the fact that you have to read most of this film stand in the way of you realizing what a resonant film this is, you're doing it wrong. Give this film a chance.

Ron: Yeah, I think a lot of people have really enjoyed this film. I think the small population who refuse to read films have not seen it, but I don't think this film is made for them anyway. This is just a very well-accomplished experience, and I'm really, really glad that it's getting the recognition it is because I loved it. Again, this is a very quiet film like Sound of Metal. Nothing huge happens. It's just these little moments that you feel as a human being.

Mon: Look, if a film is gonna resonate with you emotionally and it's gonna make you feel happy or sad or makes you cry at the right moments, then it's doing it right.

Ron: And everybody in this film has an important part to play. What I really loved about the way Minari is put together is that it's not too expansive. It's just the five of them; from time to time, we get to see a couple of people here and there, but it’s self-contained the same way Sound of Metal was contained with one character and the circumstances around him. And that's why these films really work because they don't aim for something that they can't reach. That's really accomplished filmmaking in my book. I think Minari has a really good chance of winning. I don't think it will, because people are gonna keep equating it with Parasite, but…

Mon: The two films have nothing in common.

Ron: No.

Mon: Just the fact that you have to read them.

Ron: Actually, what I really felt about Minari was this connection with The Farewell, because they both have grandmums. And I'm a sucker for a great grandmum.

Mon: [laughs]

Ron: And both the films have this feeling, you know, like this grandmom is just so important to everybody's life, and the way they were actually navigating the world. I'm still really angry that The Farewell did not get nominated for anything because it should have won it. It was such a good film. In that sense, I hope, Minari can actually give The Farewell, its day in the sun, because there's a really cute grandmom in it, and it's a really sweet story. And it's very affecting, so yeah, hey, here’s hoping! So talking about wildernesses, Nomadland really takes us out there into the wilderness. I really didn’t know what to expect with this film but, wow, what an experience.

Mon: Nomadland really is an experience. What I like is that this film follows a very favoured category of films, not only beloved by the Academy, but by film viewers in general: a love of Americana. But  Nomadland looks at America from a completely different point of view. And it actually makes me wonder why we haven't seen this before? The circumstances that Frances McDormand’s character finds herself in, in the places that she visits, that she lives in, the people that she meets. This is really part of America and has been for a really long time. But we're only seeing it now.

It's not really a celebration of America, of the people, it's just life. And I really like that because this is one person who's not trying to make waves. She's just trying to get through life, and I love that about this film.

Ron: I totally had an existential crisis watching this movie. I was just like what have I done for my retirement? Because this is what this film is about. We don't get to see movies or stories about people after they reach a certain age, and definitely don't get to see stories about women after they reach a certain age. This movie is exactly about that. It's about people who’ve finished working, who can no longer work within the very corporate structures of our daily lives. How do they continue on?

Especially when, for the main character, everything's gone. Like, literally, the town that she called home is gone. And somehow, she has to keep continuing. It's really disconcerting when you think about the circumstances, but it's also very positive in the sense that she still finds a community, she still finds things to do, she still keeps on keeping on. This is such a great movie.

MonL One of the things you've heard a lot of recently has been found family and how a lot of communities, how a lot of people from different communities engage more and are more fulfilled, from their found families rather than their own families, for a variety of reasons. With Nomadland, and to an extent even with Sound of Metal, it really is that sense of finding your place within a found family, being accepted within a community. In Sound of Metal, the main character has to go out of his comfort zone, and eventually he needs to find himself in a new community.

Same with Nomadland. She had a life, she had a family, she had a town. Now she has none of that. So how does she navigate life? And we see her being so resistant and hesitant about this new journey that she's taking, the people that she's meeting and how different everything is by the end of it. It's this wistful, almost aspirational feeling, but not aspirational in the sense that we want to emulate her life, but aspirational in the sense that she's looking at it from a very positive point of view.

Previously, films that are very much about American landscapes, American wildernesses, there’s a very glamorous lens through which these stories are told. Nomadland is the opposite. This is not glamorous. Because let's be honest, you're living in a van and traveling from place to place, getting seasonal jobs, there’s nothing glamorous about that. But it's a job, you're making money, you're meeting people, some experiences are great, some experiences aren't. Yeah, that sounds more like life. And I really like that this film is trying to celebrate the ‘uncool’.

Ron: That's a really good point. But again, like Sound of Metal, Nomadland also involves people from the actual community that it was about. And I think that really made a difference to how this story feels. Because if everybody was an actor, I don't think we would have got that authenticity. There would have been something artificial about it.

Mon: It's that authenticity that I loved. The way the characters talk, because they’re literally talking about their real lives. It feels like you're watching a documentary, and you're learning about these fascinating people who are so interesting in their own ways, and it's almost a detached way that they're talking about these quite traumatic incidents in their lives, but at the same time, it's a part of their life so they're just telling it as it is. And I think if an actor was doing it, there’d be a lot of drama and melodrama, you’d have to tone it down. And because these people are so natural and authentic as you said, it makes it feel so real.

Ron: This film could have easily devolved into histrionics. You don't get that, even once. It's as quiet as the landscapes that it shows us. Nomadland might actually have a really good shot. Because it's telling a story that is very much American, but slightly different from what we usually see. So, it may just win.

Mon: I hope so.

Ron: I think it has a good chance. So finally, Promising Young Woman.

Mon: I'm shocked. I'm shocked this made it this far, seriously. There was so much controversy around it from like the get go. It aired at Sundance, 2020, and after a bunch of rather positive reviews, there was suddenly a lot of negativity. I don't think I would have watched this film, especially after the discourse, I definitely did not want to watch this. So, I kind of got all the spoilers of this film before I watched it, because my thought was that I'm not going to watch it, so I don't care. And the more I know about it, the better because I'll be informed.

And I think, in a way, I'm still glad that I did spoil it for myself because I don't know if I could have got through the tension without the spoilers. But at the same time, I'm like, oh, you know, past me will be kicking myself.

Ron: You know, I did the same thing. In fact, I read an entire Twitter thread about the ending. So, I knew exactly what to expect. Or at least, that's what I thought when I started watching the movie and then I was like, this is not what I thought it was going to be at all. It's so different from everything that has been said in the reviews. What is happening?

Mon: I'm also surprised because there has been a lot of discourse about that ending and especially about the ending. I think a lot of people were on board with this film till the last act. In a way, I understand. But I also feel like they weren’t watching it properly. In the sense that I feel like a lot of people, with that final act, have imprinted what they thought on to what the director was doing. I guess films are open to interpretation, so it's fine. But it's been sort of tarred and feathered when I don't think the reading is correct.

Ron: Okay so that was my impression as well, because, from everything that I read about the ending, it felt like it ends at a very low point for the people that we care about in this film. And I was like, that's not fair. But it doesn't end there. I actually feel like Promising Young Woman takes the time to give viewers catharsis, when a lot of other films would not have done that. So, I think what's happening is that what people are calling the end of the film is not the end of the film.

Mon: I feel like a lot of people are reading the actions of the character in that final act as premeditated and intended when, in all honesty, she didn't foresee what happened. The final scene is completely different. That's forethought, foreplaning, good on our protagonist for thinking that. But what actually happens, she didn't foresee it, and it's hard to explain without spoiling it so we’re not gonna spoil it for you. But what we want to say is that the hate towards that final act, it seems uncalled for. Because, as you mentioned with Minari, sometimes you have a plan, and that plan goes to hell because of circumstances out of your control. And that's what happens to our main character.

Ron: So, moving on from the ending, because that's the controversial part, let's move to the rest of the film.

Mon: Yeah.

Ron: My gosh, the tension. Too much tension. I was like, whoa, slow down, but you can't slow down. That's what this movie is about.

Mon: It's hard to talk about this film because it's disturbing and distressing from the very first scene, but because it's directed by a woman, it's not gratuitous. It centers our protagonist in a genre which has often sidelined the actual people who are suffering, the actual victims.

Ron: Promising Young Woman makes you realize what a difference the person behind the camera can make. The subject matter of the story? We've seen it before. The way Promising Young Woman has done it. We have not seen this much. There are a lot of really horrid things that happen and we don't see any of it. But a lot of people watching this movie will be like, I know exactly what happened.

Mon: It goes back to why we loved the Birds of Prey movie from last year so much. Because it’s viewed from a completely different lens, it makes you feel differently about it, as well. It isn’t there to titillate or sensationalize something which is a real horror. It’s looking at this subject matter from the perspective of somebody who's suffering a loss, but it centers that loss, it centers the horror, without actually showing it. And I really appreciate the fact that a), we have this film, and b) it’s up for a Best Picture nom.

Ron: Totally. I was not sure what to expect when I went into this film because of everything that I had read about it and still this film managed to surprise me every single step of the way. Even the ending scene that I knew was going to happen, even that I was like, oh, whoa, is this really happening? And it's a really well-made film.

We keep talking about the slickness of films like The Father and The Trial of the Chicago Seven and Mank. And this film doesn't have that kind of slickness, but it's still so, so polished. It feels like a suspenseful narrative, and it was shot in 23 days! I honestly don't know how they managed to pack in that much story in less than a month. But it is so well done.

Mon: I completely agree with you. It's got this vibe of being colorful and peppy. She works in a cute little coffee shop which is so vibrant, and her manager, played by Laverne Cox, is the most amazing side character ever. She's such a sweetheart! And the main character’s parents are against type? But also, they are just so concerned and involved, and they’re so earnest in their wish for their daughter to have the best life that once was headed towards.

But the darkness that this film has is completely understandable because the main character is facing an injustice, an injustice that she can't correct, so she's going about it in the only way that she can. It's a revenge flick, but it's a very realistic kind of revenge flick, which is weird to me. Which is weird because we watched it, but also that it is getting some recognition.

I will say that this film may not be for everyone. And it's completely understandable if that final act really does disturb you. That it does anger you. You are not wrong in that feeling. I think, go into that third act with an open mind. Don't let the biases of the discourse that you read or come across change how you perceive what is happening. I would not have given this film a shot had it not been nominated for the Oscar noms. Really I was like, I will let it slide. I don't care. But I would have missed out.

Ron: I felt like I needed some fortitude to actually watch this film. And you definitely need that because the tension is ratched up to 20, but not for the reasons that you think it should. I definitely feel like if there was a male director and a male writer, this movie would have been a really, really awful experience, but it wasn't. We had women behind the screen, women on the screen. And that's why this film, for me, really worked.

Mon: It's definitely not going to win. [laughs]

Ron: It's a very accomplishment film, though.

Mon: Yeah, this film is cohesive in a way that Trail of Chicago Seven and Mank feel like they are, but they're not, because they've tried too many things at the same time. This one is very, very clear in its subject matter and in its central story and it goes with it. This is a story first and a film second.

Ron: So yeah, those are the Best Picture nominations. Our pick is Judas and the black Messiah. We have made it very clear which ones we don't want. But let's see who wins. So, who do you think should win Best Picture at the Academy Awards 2021? Let us know. We'd love to hear from you.

You can find us on Twitter @Stereo_Geeks. Or send us an email stereogeekspodcast@gmail.com. We hope you enjoyed this episode. And see you next week!

Mon: The Stereo Geeks logo was created using Canva. The music for our podcast comes courtesy Audionautix.

[Continuum by Audionautix plays]

Transcription by Otter.ai, Ron, and Mon.

[amphtaminedreams]

Film Tier Ranking 2019: A Bad Year for Bird Films

Hi to anyone reading,

I’ve finally put it together: my 2019 film tier ranking! I know tier rankings are a bit 6 months ago but seeing British crisps sorted into god, good, mid and shit tier all over Twitter, the format really resonated with me and I was like I MUST USE THIS AT SOME POINT! And I guess since there probably isn’t much of an audience for crisp tier rankings on Tumblr, it makes more sense for me to do it with films instead, especially as doing a 2019 year in film review was something I previously claimed I would do; here’s to 2020 and following through on my proposals.

I think 2019 in general was an okay year for film, with the end of the year definitely outselling the beginning. One thing to bear in mind is that a lot of films that I would’ve been able to see in 2019, I.E Little Women and Parasite, didn’t come out until 2020 in the UK so they won’t make it onto this year’s list. It’s not a snub by any means. I more fall in line with the Elsie Fisher Film Awards school of thought than the Oscars, which have yet again disregarded several incredible performances this year: Florence Pugh in Midsommar, Taron Egerton in Rocketman, Lupita Nyongo in Us, and of course, Greta Gerwig’s direction of Little Women. I’m sure there are many more but those are the first few that come to mind. Oh to be in 2017 when nominations made fractionally more sense.

This list also includes films that weren’t necessarily released this year, but that I just got around to watching; there were a couple of disappointments but also a lot of films I can’t believe it took me this long to finally watch and have definitely made their way into my favourites. My goal for this year is to get through even more of the films on my verrrry long Letterboxd watchlist, and more specifically, watch said films without going on my phone, which is a really bad habit of mine. I find it hard to sit still! Let me live! 

I also want to try and put aside my prejudices about visual quality and watch more pre-2000s movies this year; it’s really bad but I never managed to get more than half an hour into Psycho, of all films, solely because I couldn’t deal with the black and white. In 2020, I am going to stop being a whiney Gen Z/cusp millenial-er and give older films the chance they deserve.

So, without further ado, here is my film tier ranking of everything I watched in 2019! If you make it til the end and have any thoughts or disagreements, let me know. I love to hear other’s opinions and get new perspectives on things and am totally open to any criticism. Happy reading:-)

God Tier

Knives Out (Rian Johnson, 2019)

Knives Out. What a film.

I feel like I waited forever to see this at the cinema. They must have started showing trailers for it in, like, August, and I had to wait til mid-November to see it. How are you gonna just dangle a film with Toni Colette and Lakeith Stanfield in my face and then make me wait 3 months? Totally unethical.

But that being said, when it finally came around and I did see it, as much as I love Toni and Lakeith, there was one stand out and it wasn’t either of them: ANA DE ARMAS. I have to admit I’d never heard of her before but she acted the shit out of a role I feel I’d ordinarily find irritating and gimmicky. Daniel Craig, whose character seemed annoying as fuck in the trailer, was actually surprisingly funny.

Stylistically, it was a very cool film and I liked the subtle commentary on class that was running throughout. Also, I thought the ending was very clever. My issue with a lot of whodunnits is that they just pick someone who doesn’t make sense for shock factor *cough, Bobby Beale in Eastenders, cough* but the shocks here were more in the details. 

Hustlers (Lorene Scafaria, 2019)

There wasn’t one single moment of Hustlers I didn’t enjoy and it’s quite amazing that there wasn’t one single point in this film about strippers that I felt gratuitously sexualised women. THAT is why you fund female directors. It made the whole thing look like a calculated art form, which I think the unsexy amongst us can all agree that it is. Constance Wu was a fantastic lead, J-Lo was kind of robbed for a supporting actress nom, and Keke Palmer and Lili Reinhart were hilarious too. 

Midsommar (Ari Aster, 2019)

Midsommar was such an experience that it took me a good few days afterwards to decide whether I actually liked it. I saw it the day it came out because I loved Hereditary so much and I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I kind of had an idea of the way it was going to go, we could all kind of guess evil cult was the route that was being taken from the trailer, but I just didn’t realise quite how weird it’d get. 

The gore was great, the visuals were stunning and the character arcs were surprising and for that reason, I think this is another game changer for horror from Ari Aster. I didn’t love it like I loved Hereditary but it continues to play on my mind and 7 months later I still can’t resist a good “Things you Missed in Hereditary” or “Hereditary Themes Explained” Youtube video essay. That’s how you know a film fucked with you and that’s the ultimate goal of going into a horror for me. Put that on my headstone after I inevitably get myself into some mortally dangerous conflict because I want to “get fucked with” a little bit.

Booksmart (Olivia Wilde, 2019)

So here’s the thing with Booksmart: I was getting progressively more and more drunk throughout it so I might be a little biased when I say I loved it. That being said, worth revere seems to be a commonly held opinion so I’ll stick to my guns. Plus, movies like this, which just focus on girls living their lives, are few and far between. Why have we had to wait THIS long for the female Superbad?

IDK. But Kaitlyn Dever, Beanie Feldstein and Billie Lourd proved it’s definitely a genre worth investing in so hopefully we see more lighthearted female-led coming of age comedies. One Ladybird per year isn’t enough for me.

The Favourite (Yorgos Lanthimos, 2018)

I included The Favourite in my 50 Films You’ve Got to Watch that I made earlier this year so I don’t have all that much to say about it that I haven’t said already. To summarise, it’s an instant classic: the cinematography, the cast, the lines, it’s all perfection. 

Suspiria (Luca Guadagnino, 2018)

I also included Suspiria in my 50 Films You’ve Got to Watch list so sorry if I’m repeating myself, but I adored everything about it. If I had to sum it up in one sentence I’d say divine feminine energy, but inverted. Plus ballet. That dancing scene in the mirrored room will probably never leave my mind (if you’ve watched it, trust me, you’ll know the one I'm talking about), and if there were awards given out for creepy montages in horror, this would win all of them. It still blows my mind that Tilda Swinton played 3 characters in this film; 2 of them are so distinctly different, if anyone put two and two together without prior knowledge of this fact then I’ll blow my own head up too. This is why I got so mad when there was all that discussion around her being the new female Doctor Who and there were people asking who she was. How can you not know who Tilda fucking Swinton is!? She’s a legend! 

Sorry, is the wannabe film snob in me showing?

Annihilation (Alex Garland, 2018)

Though I initially watched it because it’s branded as a horror, Annihilation ended up being a surprisingly introspective take on human nature and our self-destructive tendencies. Nothing really went the way I expected it to, even though I was constantly trying to guess that trajectory from beginning to end. 

Visually, Annihilation is magnificent. Like, it’s tense, and where exactly the plot is going is shrouded in mystery, but most importantly, it’s super fucking pretty. Sure, the only thing that was mildly horrifying was the *SPOILER* end result of that bear scene but I didn’t mind too much because there was always that edge-of-your-seat possibility something like that would happen again. 

Also I realised that Gina Roduriguez is really hot in this! I would just say in general but that video of her saying the n-word kind of took away shot at real world magnetism. WHY SUCH A SHITTY APOLOGY VIDEO!? WHY?!

Assassination Nation (Sam Levinson, 2018)

So I didn’t clock until I was looking up directors that Sam Levinson, Euphoria director, also directed this, and suddenly everything makes sense in the world. They both have that dreamlike, exaggerated feel that perfectly captures the emotional rollercoaster that is being a teenager, only in Assassination Nation obviously the threats are a bit more...tangible. As in its actually other people trying to kill our protagonists this time round, not just angst. 

Not gonna lie, it’s not a patch on Euphoria because that show is probably the best thing I watched all year, but I did thoroughly enjoy it, even if I did feel the social commentary, despite how in your face it was, got a bit lost in translation at times. I think it’s the kind of film that, once again, would’ve felt more genuine coming from a female director, however that’s not to take away from how witty, modern, and completely relevant it still is as we move into 2020.

Sorry To Bother You (Boots Riley, 2018)

Right. WHAT THE FUCK!?

Why don’t more people talk about this film? Like it has Tessa Thompson and the world’s best earrings! Lakeith Stanfield getting more than 10 cumulative minutes of screen time! Armie Hammer being that bitch we all knew he was irl (probably)! Scathing critiques of late stage capitalism! It’s insane, in the absolute best way.

SPOILERS AHEAD: I had a mini paragraph written about the last hour of the film and the descent into pure unadulterated chaos, and how it’s like, the internet’s best kept secret, because ordinarily you lot can’t keep your mouths shut about a film or TV’s shows most crucial reveals for more than 5 minutes and THEN...My FBI agent must be feeling real cheeky because THIS tweet pops up on my Twitter timeline. 

Fuck this shit, I’m out. Onto the next film. MI5 stop peeping my drafts. 

Eighth Grade (Bo Burnham, 2018)

I don’t want to repeat what I said about Eighth Grade in my 50 Films you Should Watch list but Elsie Fisher’s performance in this is why I wish the Oscars also had some kind of rising star award category à la the BAFTAs. Honestly, every 13/14 year old should watch this; it’s a reminder that although feeling like an outsider is by its nature quite isolating, it’s prolific enough that a 29 year old man, 10 years out of “high school”, gets it.

American Animals (Bart Layton, 2018)

My sister and I absolutely loved this film so you can image our disappointment when we turned round to our parents at the end and our enthusiasm wasn’t matched...as in, I’m pretty sure they were both asleep for a lot of it. WHICH I DON’T GET. Because to me, there wasn’t a dull moment. American Animals is what happens when a group of university age boys with the finesse of the American Vandal Turd Burglar try and apply that to an Evil Genius stye heist, part Netflix, talking head abundant documentary, part live-action film. Splicing a stylistic reenactment with interview footage of the men who really attempted to commit the crime elevated what I probably would have put in the Good Tier™ to the God Tier™; seeing the guy Evan Peters is playing alongside Evan Peters playing him, now only the remnants of the arrogance we see in the reenactment left behind, sharply reminds you of the fall from grace these boys deservedly went through. Plus Barry Keoghan from The Killing of a Sacred Deer is in it, proving that unsettlingly stiff is NOT in fact his natural state. 

Gerald’s Game (Mike Flanagan, 2017)

I wish there was a shorthand way to say I wrote about this in my 50 Films You Should Watch list so I’m gonna keep it short but here we are! This was great! If The Haunting of Hill House isn’t proof enough, Gerald’s Game (not to take away any credit from Stephen King) is a reminder that Mike Flanagan is the king of subtle, niggling sensation in your stomach that something is about to go very wrong horror. I hear he and Ari Aster have a timeshare situation going on with the crown.

The Ritual (David Bruckner, 2017)

Okay, so this is the film that made me realise we should all be very scared of forests. Nope, all the documentaries into the Aokigahara Forest weren’t enough, apparently. I subjected myself to this too, as if my unfit, cold-blooded, bug-fearing, scared of the dark ass doesn’t already have enough concerns about my survival odds in the great outdoors. 

Really though, setting aside, this film maintains the sense of dread throughout and keeps you guessing what’s going on until the very end. Much like The Descent, the group dynamic and characters are realistic enough that it adds to the believability of a scenario I, in principle, know would never happen to the extent that I might keep away from vast, wooded spaces for a while just in case.

Dumbo (Tim Burton, 2019)

If film Twitter came across this post and saw I’d placed Dumbo in a higher tier than If Beale Street Could Talk I can only imagine the outrage. And sure, the latter is probably a much higher quality film. But sometimes a movie, for reasons you can’t quite put your finger on, gets you right in the sweet spot, and Dumbo did that for me. Maybe it was that the CGI elephant reminded me of my cat (I know, leave me alone), maybe I was emotional that day, I don’t know, all I know is that I cried like 5 times and was smiling for the rest of it-to be fair, the exploitation of animals for our entertainment is something that is still very much going on and that was something that was playing on my mind a lot whilst I was watching it. IRL Dumbos should be free too. Dumbo rights.

The VVitch (Robert Eggers, 2016)

This film taught me that there’s nothing wrong with joining a coven of young witches and getting naked and levitating around a fire. And that’s an important life lesson. Plus it gave us the quote “wouldst thou like to live deliciously?”, which is not only so perfectly creepy and simultaneously empowering that I had to get it tattooed but also, created ASMR. I just made that last bit up obviously but Black Philip getting his own ASMR Youtube channel?

The Descent (Neil Marshall, 2006)

For me, much like The Ritual, The Descent is a perfect horror film: it’s got the ghouls but the situation the characters find themselves in is also terrifying by its own merit. The reason The Descent made it onto my 50 Films list and the Ritual didn’t is because, let’s be honest, it’s 2020 and you can get mobile signal in most places. You could probably at least make a 999 call if you got lost in a forest. If you DID get stuck in an underground cave and it collapsed in on itself, you’d be pretty fucked; the idea of it makes me shudder and I will never set foot in an underground tunnel at any point in my life for any amount of money EVER after seeing this. Also, the women in this are great and the creatures in this are genuinely quite terrifying, especially the first time you see them. 

Chicago (Rob Marshall, 2003)

Ah, Chicago, the last film on the God Tier™, proving that this list is in no particular order. Because WHAT A FIM. WHY DON’T PEOPLE TALK ABOUT THIS MORE?! Like don’t get me wrong, I know it deservedly won Best Picture in 2003 but I’m talking about right now! I mean, fucking Titanic is still out here getting referenced left, right and centre and yet Chicago gets paid dust! Can you tell I’m mad and that I think Titanic is hugely overrated?! Is that maybe coming across?!

ALL the songs are bops, Catherine Zeta-Jones is hot (I saw someone on Letterboxd say that Catherine Zeta-Jones in this film was their bisexual awakening and honestly, if I hadn’t already known I was a raging bisexual, same, because I FELT things in that All That Jazz opening) and Cell Block Tango is the revenge fantasy anthem I never knew I needed. Smart, tongue in cheek, beautifully shot and makes men look like little bitches which is probably why my dad hated it but what did I expect.

Good Tier

Zombieland: Double Tap (Ruben Fleischer, 2019)

Onto the first film of the good tier, Zombieland: Double Tap definitely exceeded my expectations. I was super worried about the prospect of a sequel as I love the first one so much and assumed it would be crap. Obviously, it doesn’t match up to the original because the original WAS so original, but it was still a fun, easy, witty ride. And I was SO glad they didn’t *SPOILERS AHEAD* kill off Tallahassee at the end because I really thought that was coming and it seemed so predictable and unnecessary. Highlight was the introduction of the lookalikes at Graceland.

Judy (Rupert Goold, 2019)

So, this is the first of two consecutive rants I’m about to go on about Oscar nominations and people’s reactions online. Prepare yourself.

I’ll start with the underlying message: just because you think something else deserves the praise more, doesn’t mean the film/album/*insert whatever artistic medium you wish here* that IS getting the praise is shit. 

Like people are angry that Lupita Nyongo wasn’t nominated for best actress for her performance in Us which is COMPLETELY valid as she carried that film on her back. In the same vein, people are also angry that more women of colour haven’t been nominated for best actress. Also valid; I’ve yet to see The Farewell but I’ve heard great things about Akwafina’s performance and I love her so even though I haven’t seen it, I’m gonna take the general consensus that she should’ve been nominated too. The Oscars definitely has a problem with recognising the work of POC. BUT, because of this, people are angry that Renee Zellweger has been nominated for her performance in Judy, saying that it’s typical “Oscar bait”. I agree, it is typical Oscar bait. However, a lot of the people saying this will in the same breath say (or tweet rather) that they haven’t actually SEEN Judy. 

How can you possibly say that Renee Zellweger doesn’t deserve any of the praise she’s getting when you haven’t even seen the film? Don’t get me wrong, the film itself is good but not outstanding (hence its place in this tier), but you can see Renee genuinely put her heart and soul into this film; it was powerful, and it was sympathetic but it was also nuanced and subtle where they could’ve just capitalised on all the sensationalised stories of the actions of a woman clearly deeply suffering in her final years and had it be full of shouting and screaming. The Wizard of Oz has always kind of felt like home to me because of the childhood nostalgia factor and so I’ve always been interested in Judy and I think Renee captured her heart and her spirit in a way she would be deeply honoured by. Maybe the film itself doesn’t deserve the acclaim it’s getting but I think Zellweger definitely deserves the nom and I think most people who’ve actually seen it wouldn’t contest that. 

Joker (Todd Philipps, 2019)

Okay so second rant. I’m sorry. I have a lot of feelings. Most of them aimed at the annoying tendency of internet users, Film Twitter™ and Letterboxd users I’m looking at you in particular, to be wildly exaggerative. 

There just seems to be no nuance online. It’s not just yeah, I didn’t like the film personally and the message could be perceived in a certain way by certain individuals, it’s I HATE THIS FILM AND IT’S DANGEROUS AND THE DIRECTOR FUCKING SUCKS. I noticed this trend when La La Land came out (which if I had watched last year would certainly be in God tier for me). It’s like, if a film initially receives a lot of praise and buzz, there’s almost this wave of compensatory vehement criticism in response that’s usually disproportionate to how controversial the film actually is. People didn’t like that Joker was popular because they didn’t like Joker so suddenly it’s the worst film ever and the possibility of it getting any critical acclaim is wrong. I even saw people berating Todd Philipps for channelling Martin Scorsese as he’s the only person to ever be influenced and take direction from one of the most dominant figures in film of the 20th and 21st century. I mean, what’s wrong with that?! If it was any other director, it’d be called homage. But because everything has to be seen through this malicious lens, its copying. 

I think one of the few very valid criticisms about Joker was that it further perpetuates the idea that psychotic people are dangerous, and I can totally see where they’re coming from. At the same time, we have to accept that whilst the majority of people who are psychotic aren’t a danger to anyone apart from themselves, most “dangerous” people don’t just become dangerous because they thought, fuck it, why not? A lot of people in the prison system ARE suffering with some kind of mental illness. The character’s psychosis doesn’t make him dangerous, it’s his underlying resentment and sense of entitlement that grows throughout the film that makes him dangerous, and I think a lot of people seem to miss this point. They say that the way the film ends implies Philipps is justifying the actions of the films protagonist. However, we KNOW the Joker is an unreliable narrator, he’s one of pop culture’s most infamous villains and that being said, both in film and in the real world, few villains see themselves as the villain. Joker is about why HE thinks he’s justified in doing what he does, not why he IS justified in doing what he does because he’s not, and that’s pretty clear from the moment he shoots someone in the head on live TV. Honestly, I think there’s a bit of wilful misinterpretation going on because people don’t like that film

I liked Joker. It was gritty, it was interesting, and sufficiently dark. I didn’t think it was the best film of the year but I understand why it got the praise it did. Obviously, it’s okay that people disagree and DON’T like it. But can we please get a bit more well-acquainted with the middle ground?

It: Chapter Two (Andres Muschietti, 2019)

Okay, essays over. Back to regular scheduled programming of less impassioned reviews. Though I will say I deserved better than my Letterboxd comment of “so you can just fucking roast Pennwyise to death?” getting absolutely 0 traction. One day my grand total of 5 followers, one of which is my sister, will recognise my brilliance (lol).

It’s hard to say how much I really liked this as I think my perspective of how much I did enjoy it is warped by how much I disliked the first one. Child actors really aren’t my thing and the only cast members I warmed to in the first one were Finn Wolfhard and Jack Dylan Grazer whereas the cast here were a lot more likeable, imo. Bill Hader, Jessica Chastain and James Ransone were all great, with the only let down being James Mcavoy; I love him, don’t get me wrong, but I just think he was really miscast in this role. 

Another thing I enjoyed a lot more about this instalment was that due to the more episodic/anthology-like/Creepshow-esque structure with each character conquering different monsters from their past individually, the narrative felt like it had a lot more direction, and it didn’t drag as much despite it having a significantly longer runtime. I haven’t read the Stephen King novels and I don’t know much of the pacing issues are down to them so this is me coming at it from a screenwriting angle but it felt as if the climax of the first film just kept going on and on. Every time I thought it had finished there’d be another confrontation between the kids and Pennywise whereas Chapter 2 seemed to have a more definitive third act and I appreciated that.

Rocketman (Dexter Fletcher, 2019)

So, here’s one where I WILL agree with the general online consensus: if Rami Malek got nominated for playing Freddie Mercury last year and Renee got nominated for playing Judy Garland, why the fuck didn’t Taron Egerton get one for playing Elton John? Why didn’t Rocketman itself get a nomination when Judy did? Though I personally preferred Judy because I’m more interested in her story, technically and narratively Rocketman is the better film in my opinion.  This was so cleverly edited and sequenced and told with such a brutal honesty on Elton John’s part (it was co-produced by his husband David Furnish and he was heavily involved in everything from the set to the script), that I can only come to the conclusion that the obligatory biopic nomination only comes when the focus of said biopic is no longer with us as a kind of honorary thing. Whilst something like Bohemian Rhapsody was much more of an easy watch (which just goes to show how glossed over Freddie Mercury’s life was in the film), the way the story was told, by the time we got to I’m Still Standing that happy ending felt so earned.

Aladdin (Guy Ritchie, 2019)

You can hate all you want, Prince Ali and Never Had a Friend Like Me are fucking bops and somehow they were even better in this incarnation of the film. I was initially hesitant about Will Smith being cast but rather than trying to impersonate Robin Williams he went his own route and it really worked. He was the highlight of the film. It was undeniably visually stunning too. Madonna’s ex did good.

Us (Jordan Peele, 2019)

Ah, I feel so conflicted when it comes to Us. Like, there were some really strong points and it’s definitely a good standalone horror movie. It’s just you can’t help but compare it to Get Out, and with that unsatisfactory exposition dump ending, I left feeling so disappointed. It seemed to me that Jordan Peele got in a bit over his head here with trying to tie such a vague social metaphor and the actual in-universe plot together, and so ended up leaving both a bit half-baked. He tried to OutPeele himself and for me, it didn’t work. 

The doppelgängers were so scary as this ambiguous, vaguely threatening presence that if you are gonna give us a full blown, sit down explanation of why they exist it needs to be really bloody good. And this explanation didn’t make much sense. For example, *SPOILERS AHEAD* I imagine that the tethered just not being able to walk up the escalator into the “real world” was supposed to be some kind of metaphor for social mobility but it’s not fleshed out enough to work. In our world, there are REASONS why the idea of social mobility is flawed. In the film, it’s just like gee, if they chose to just walk up the escalator and go on this murderous rampage now, why couldn't they have decided to do it years ago back before they all lost their fucking minds? Why were they just copying the originals for all those years? HOW did they know what they were doing? See, the metaphor as I understand it is supposed to be that we depend on the oppression of others like us in order to maintain our social status, but not only is this kind of too general a statement to try and use a feature length film to make, I don’t really understand how this dynamic works within the narrative of the film. Technically, there's nothing to stop the tethered and the originals co-existing apart from the tethered deciding not to walk up the fucking escalator. We’re not talking a bourgeoisie-proletariat relationship here. The explanation of it all just being a “government project gone wrong” was too vague seeing as the plot working seemed prior to this to hinge onto something vaguely supernatural and the eventual plan of the doppelgängers seemingly had no purpose or application to the real world like the climax of Get Out did. It just left me feeling kind of like...why? Why did this all happen? When the ending and the twist was that predictable (the old Pretty Little Liars finale style twin switcheroo was blatantly obvious from the mother’s “it’s like she’s a different person” line near the beginning, let’s be real), I was expecting some final revelation that flipped my expectation on its head or at least felt helped things click into place. Instead, it seemed a bit hamfisted and like I was supposed to feel things were deeper and more significant than they actually were.

All that being said, I appreciate that if anyone other than the writer of Get Out had come out with this movie, I probably wouldn’t have these issues. Us was funny, it was fresh, and the concept of doppelgängers is something I’m so glad to see brought back into our modern pop culture database. The people are right, Lupita was incredible in this and it is a travesty that she didn’t get nominated. My sister, who was so creeped out by her vocal performance that she had her fingers in her ears every time Red spoke, still won’t let me attempt an impression of it. And that Fuck the Police sequence? Iconic. 

On the Basis of Sex (Mimi Leder, 2019)

I apologise in advance for the shittiest “review” I’ll ever write, but honestly I can’t remember all too much about this film other than it being good. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, I’m sorry. You’re a cool lady.

If Beale Street Could Talk (Barry Jenkins, 2019)

EURGH, THIS WAS SUCH A BEAUTIFUL FIM. The score, the shots, the rawness. I imagine it’s devastatingly real. Like, *SPOILERS AHEAD* you think there’s going to be a happy ending but there’s not. It should be disappointing but it’s an honest choice. And side note: fuck those annoying middle aged white ladies in the seats behind me and my friend who lost their shit and started giggling every time the N-word was used, JFC. I hate living in a Tory stronghold. 

Cam (Daniel Goldhaber, 2018)

So, as I said, I’m a fan of the whole doppelgänger thing. It freaks me out. The point in this film where the protagonist is approaching her bedroom door whilst she watches HERSELF livestreaming from inside that same bedroom had my heart in my mouth wondering what she was going to encounter on the other side. And you see, the ending of this was a lot more ambiguous than the ending of Us, so I should’ve had less questions. Whilst I’ve seen other people saying it WAS unsatisfactory and that they felt like we were owed more of an explanation, I liked the simplicity of the answer we got and the wiggle room it leaves for our own interpretation. The way I see it, given that we were told by the fan the protagonist meets with in the motel room that *SPOILERS AHEAD* it was a case of some kind of software copying these women’s likenesses to steal their viewers and thus their profits, is that Cam is a kind of a commentary on the capitalist exploitation of women’s bodies and the demand for (and desensitisation towards) sexually violent content; we don't necessarily need to know who is behind the virtual cloning, which is terrifyingly believable given how realistic some of the deepfakes I’ve seen are, because it doesn’t matter. We're basically told money is the motive and we know the kind of lengths some people will go, and someone DID go to in Cam, to in order to make a shitload of money and that’s as true in real life as it is scary. On the other hand, if you want to believe there’s a more supernatural presence behind the events of the film, there’s enough left to the imagination that you can go down that route too. Some films are better left un-exposition dumped and this is the proof. My one criticism, is that, like many films, it would be even better if directed by a woman; I’ve seen people say that its portrayal of online sex work isn’t entirely accurate and though I can’t say with certainty that women working in this industry weren’t consulted in the first place, I imagine a female director would not only be more likely to listen to their concerns but could translate the confusion and fear that comes with being expected to makes oneself sexually desirable to get ahead in the world but then shamed and used for doing so even more viscerally. A few tweaks and it’d be God Tier.

Colette (Wash Westmoreland, 2019)

The costumes, sets, and Keira were so, so stunning. Also it was just an inspiring, beautiful story. The navigation of womanhood, so called “deviant” sexuality and self-expression against the backdrop of early 20th century Paris with a load of Edwardian era tailoring thrown in, it’s everything I could possibly want and more; 10/10 moodboard content. 

The Boy (William Brent Bell, 2016)

I can’t believe this film was made in 2016, and it almost makes me move it down to mid tier based on the fact that a lot of the allowances I made for cheese factor I made on the assumption it came out earlier in the decade. BUT, that being said, I was creeped out for a good portion of this film. Most horrors I watch and I’m probably a bit too chilled (a head comes off or some witchy ass ghost screams into the camera and my only thought is some kind of judgement of the SFX), and yet I felt like watching this behind my hands. I don’t know what it is about dolls and puppets, Chucky was my childhood fear even though I never actually watched the film, but something about the uncanny valley of it all makes me just spend the whole time they’re on screen silently praying they don’t start moving or talking. So in a way, given the resolution of the film *SPOILERS AHEAD*, the premise of The Boy was actually a lot scarier to me than the reveal of what was really going on. Someone hiding in my walls? NBD. That demons are real and that they live inside creepy old dolls? Terrifying. Why does everybody I debate this with disagree!? You can't call the police on a demon! At least with a human being you can stick them with the pointy ending of something! Regardless, I enjoyed the journey and trying to work out how things would end and if there IS anybody secretly living inside my house right now, even if you are a supposedly dead murderous family member (last time I checked I didn’t have any of those so I should be all good), kindly vacate. Thanks.

Oprhan (Jaume Collet-Serra, 2009)

So the fact that this film is based on a real life case makes this all the more terrifying. It was a bit campy and tacky at times but the shot of *SPOILERS AHEAD* Esther taking off her makeup in the mirror and revealing her true age will always be iconic. Plus I love Vera Farmiga, even though I did struggle to see her as anyone other than Norma Bates. 

First Reformed (Paul Schrader, 2018)

A hauntingly beautiful film with a lot of room for interpretation. There were so many gorgeous shots and so much subtext, this is proper 10/10 media studies essay material.

The Invitation (Karyn Kusama, 2015)

I would say the concept and implications of this film, which don’t fully hit you til the final shots, are a lot better than the film itself. It feels very realistic though and is definitely tense.

As Above, So Below (John Erick Dowdle, 2014)

I was so stoned when I watched this that a lot of the allegory and Dante’s inferno references went straight over my head, and it just seemed absolutely balls to the wall wild. I couldn’t buy that the characters would just KEEP GOING either when things began to get terrifying, like people in horror films really out here making the most nonsensical decisions and it drives me mad. But anyway, it was definitely entertaining and there’s a lot more to it in terms of plot and mythology than most similar quality horrors and I appreciate that 

Climax (Gaspar Noe, 2018)

Climax is an interesting one that I think I’ll have to watch again to judge how much I truly like it. As with Us, I know it’s a good film, but I think my expectations of what it was going to be left me slightly disappointed. See, when I read about the premise I assumed that the horror was going to come from seeing the perspective of the characters on said acid trip and that leaves so much room for any kind of terrifying visuals you want whether that be something based in realism or fucked up creatures of the imagination. Buuuuut, it wasn’t that at all; at no point does Climax take place from the first person perspective of any of the characters. Similar to Darren Aronofsky’s Mother, the horror comes from not being able to do anything but watch as everyone starts losing their minds and the situation gets increasingly more dire. It’s pure stress; the acting is so unnervingly good that you really do feel like you’re watching some unintentionally horrific incident take place. That’s not a bad thing-I like it when films make me feel something intense, whether that emotion be positive or negative. It was just a different viewing experience to the one I had precipitated. 

Mid Tier

Nativity (Debbie Isitt, 2009)

I find Mr.Poppy hilarious. Does that make me a child? Probably. I’m not really one for Christmas movies but this one’s alright.

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (André Øvredal, 2019)

I get that it’s based off a book so it’s not exactly like the “monsters” were a secret in the first place, but for those of us who didn’t read the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark books as a kid, my main beef with this film was that they basically revealed all of said monsters in the trailer. Like how It: Chapter 2 spoiled the scene with Beverly in the old lady’s apartment but with EVERY. SINGLE. CREATURE. The only one that wasn’t was the “jangly man” and the only takeaway I have from him is the “jangly in the streets, but is he jangly in the sheets?” Letterboxd comment I read afterwards. Like the creature designs are the selling point of this film and by showing us them all before we’ve even seen it, any anticipation that would’ve built up from their reveal was kind of gone. Plus, it definitely felt like the writers were trying to ride on the hype train of “It” when they wrote this-only they made it even more childish. I mean, I know it was classed as PG-13 in the US which is maybe part of the reason it was so tame but the Woman in Black was a 12 when it was released here and it could be the bias of my 13 year old brain but I remember that being terrifying to watch in the cinema.

Also, I found it weird how *SPOILERS AHEAD* a couple of the main characters died and there didn’t really seem to be any consequences? Idk, maybe that’s because I found them all a bit one dimensional but I’ve seen others make the same criticism so I don’t think so. 

Don’t get me wrong, this wasn’t a BAD film. It just wasn’t super good.

Charlie’s Angels (Elizabeth Banks, 2019)

I’ve never seen the 2000s Charlie’s Angels so I really don’t have anything to compare to, but I don’t think this was THAT bad. I was fairly entertained throughout and I enjoyed Naomi Scott and Kristen Stewart’s characters. My main issue was the unnecessary inclusion of Noah Centineo, and that weird ass montage at the beginning of stock video shots of girls just...doing miscellaneous things. Why, Elizabeth Banks, why!?

Toy Story 4 (Josh Cooley, 2019)

In some ways, I see why Toy Story 4 was narratively necessary: co-dependency had been a running theme throughout and we needed to see Woody (I feel stupid saying this considering he’s a fucking toy but allow it) realise that he can exist independently of Andy, and that there’s more to life than pleasing somebody else. The way Toy Story 4 ended felt like a satisfying conclusion to his character arc, and as well as the animation being top tier, Forky was a hilarious addition to the cast. However, I don’t think it carried the emotional weight of the 3rd Toy Story, which I think people had accepted as the last instalment and had used to say goodbye to the franchise, and therefore the sceptic in me thinks that the obvious purpose of this addition was a cash grab. I don’t doubt that a lot of people worked incredibly hard on it-I’m just saying that the propelling force behind the film probably wasn’t “the people need to see Woody’s character growth” and that was quite apparent throughout.

Doctor Sleep (Mike Flanagan, 2019)

There were some really beautiful scenes in Doctor Sleep; the astral projection sequences in particular were magnificent and I loved Rebecca Ferguson as the villain. Stylistically, though I didn’t find out he was the director until I was writing this up, you can definitely tell it’s Mike Flanagan, and like I’ve said, he does horror very tastefully. Unfortunately, I just wasn’t all that interested in the premise and I wasn’t hugely invested in grown up Danny Torrance either. The execution was great and the return to the Overlook was brilliant, of course, but the story just wasn’t for me and nothing much sticks out as being a particularly intriguing plot point.

Mary Queen of Scots (Josie Rourke, 2019)

What to say about Mary Queen of Scots other than...yeah, it was alright. I mean, I really should’ve liked it more than I did, because these specific events were part of the Edexcel A-Level history curriculum (Can I get some Rebellion and Disorder Under the Tudors students representation up in here!?) and I usually love seeing history translated onto screen, plus it centred around Margot Robbie and Saoirse Ronan. It was just very...meh. I feel like there’s so much more complex a story here than was told. Both women were undoubtedly a lot more complicated than this film made them out to be and I think to reduce Mary Queen of Scots to a Mary Sue-ish heroine was a disappointing choice. Plus, if we’re gonna talk historical accuracy (which all the racists came out of their caves to discuss at the time), Mary and Elizabeth never actually met; I’m sure there was a more creative way to explore their dynamic than by forcing an interaction that never actually happened.

Apostle (Gareth Evans, 2018)

There were elements of this film I really liked; the mythology behind the cult, I.E what the townsfolk actually worshipped when you stripped away all the secrecy was pretty interesting. However, I felt it depended too much on atmosphere and not enough on plot, and I didn’t warm to any of the characters.

Searching (Aneesh Chaganty, 2018)

It’s difficult because technically, Searching is obviously an ingenious film. My issue is the way it ended, which was imo, super anti-climatic, and honestly pretty predictable in that it seemed like the writers just went out of their way *SPOILERS AHEAD* to make the culprit the person viewers would’ve ruled out by default for shock value, and then work out WHY that person was the culprit from there. I was expecting something a lot darker to be behind the protagonist’s daughter’s disappearance-irl, these situations usually are-and so maybe it’s just me being a bit of a sadist but I was disappointed by how things resolved themselves.

Deliver Us from Evil (Scott Derrickson, 2014)

So, this isn’t boring. It’s interesting to have a horror navigated through the lens of something as procedural as a police investigation. But ultimately, the acting isn’t great, there’s very few scary moments, and it’s a little cheesy. As horrors go, it’s pretty shallow-it is what it says on the tin.

Dumplin’ (Anne Fletcher, 2018)

I watched this right at the beginning of the year and I can’t remember all too much about it, but I remember not hating it? See, looking at the cast, Odeya Rush and Dove Cameron are both in it which would suggest I’d come away hating MYSELF instead but yeah...I got nothing. 

Lights Out (David F.Sandberg, 2016)

The concept is very scary, the execution not so much, and the actual storyline is a little cheesy. I found myself just being like OH MY GOD, IT’S BELLA’S DAD FROM TWILIGHT! And then *SPOILERS AHEAD* getting mad that they did Charlie Swan dirty like that by killing him off in the first 10/15 minutes.

The Goldfinch (John Crowley, 2019)

So I LOVED the book of The Goldfinch. I read it after the Secret History and even though most people seem to prefer the latter, the former hit me right in the sweet spot. The length was almost one of my favourite things about it; I felt by the end that I came to know the character so well he felt like someone I knew in real life. When I heard Ansel Elgort was cast as Theo, I was really happy; I’m not necessarily a huge fan of him as an actor, I've only ever seen him in shitty teen-y dramas which I forced myself to like at the time E.G. The Fault in Our Stars and Divergent, but he looks kind of exactly how I pictured Theo looking. Almost like an Evanna Lynch as Luna Lovegood situation. And then honestly, the actual film came around, and I found myself much preferring the young Theo sections. I get that Theo is quite a muted character and I hate to properly slate anyone’s performance, but Ansel as him felt a bit flat. The casting in general was pretty whack; I love Nicole Kidman but she didn’t feel right as Mrs.Barbour and it seemed that they added a lot to her character to the detriment of Hobie’s character who was a much bigger part of Theo’s life in the book. Also, can we talk about Finn Wolfhard as Boris? I’m sorry, but that accent was godawful. Really bad. Boris’ accent was always supposed to be kind of ambiguous but this was just butchered Russian. Another gripe that my friend and I, who also read the book, had with the Vegas section of the film (which was otherwise probably the best part) was that they never properly explored the complexity of Boris and Theo’s relationship. Obviously I’m not saying that I want 2 minors to shoot a sex scene but it could have been referenced when they reunite as adults because the kiss on the head when they part in Vegas seemed misleadingly platonic. It was heavily implied in the book that there was some kind of love that went beyond friendship between the two and I didn’t get that in the film at all. 

Ultimately, when you try and adapt a book as long as the Goldfinch, you’re always going to have some pacing issues and people complaining that things were left out or that X or Y character didn’t have enough screen time. But in ways, I think the fault here was trying to stay TOO faithful in the limited time available. They definitely could have focussed less on certain relationships and more on others, and when it comes down to it, I think we lost a lot of the grittiness of the original book for the sake of pretty visuals. 

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino, 2019)

Don’t get me wrong, this would 100% be in shit tier if it wasn’t for the last hour or so of the film and all the Manson lore which is so disappointing because I love Tarantino films and I love that era. As for the first couple of hours, I loved the vibe and I love Margot Robbie, and I think it was very respectful towards the Tate family (if anything radiated through the screen more than anything else it was Sharon Tate’s sweetness), but I just wasn’t that invested in Leo or Brad’s characters-it all just felt a bit pointless. I really like Brad Pitt and even that couldn’t really save it for me. Maybe if you took away the remaining 2 hours and 20 minutes of Leo DiCaprio making vague allusions to his own career to a girl only slightly younger than the combined age of all girlfriends past I’d enjoy it more but then I don’t think there’d be much footage left. I guess we should just be grateful that Tarantino managed to refrain from unnecessarily sprinkling the N-word into every other line of his script this time, right?

Also.

SO. MANY. FEET.

But then again, this did result in Brad publicly mocking Tarantino’s foot fetish during his speech at the SAG awards so...I’ll allow it. Sometimes kink shaming is okay. Especially when it’s this guy:

Isn’t it Romantic (Todd Strauss-Schulson, 2019)

I guess as romantic comedies go it wasn’t AWFUL because it was self-aware but still just not my cup of tea and it didn’t really make me laugh. Plus, I feel like it did just follow the plot of a conventional rom-com in the end so...what was it all for, you know?

Green Room (Jeremy Saulnier, 2016)

I think my disappointment with this film was a case of too high expectations. It wasn’t as gory as I hoped, in fact, there was very little on screen gore at all. I was just expecting something very messed up and I didn’t get that. But then again we did get Maeby from Arrested Development singing a fuck Nazis song so I guess that was a nice surprise?

Shit Tier

Birdbox (Susanne Bier, 2018)

First the disappointment of the Goldfinch, and now Birdbox (although they were chronologically the other way round but for the sake of this review, let’s just ignore that). It really is a bad year for bird films. 

It’s weird because when this first came out I remember everyone hyping it up and making memes about it and stuff and then I actually watched it and dear god, it was boring. Honestly, who paid you lot to pretend you cared enough about it enough to make content? And where can I get in on this action?

I mean it didn’t start off terribly but then they killed off SARAH FUCKING PAULSON and somehow managed to make SANDRA FUCKING BULLOCK unlikeable. How does one do that? The mind baffles.

Pet Sematary (Kevin Kolsch & Dennis Widmyer, 2019)

The kid acting was bad, the leads were meh and there wasn’t one creepy moment. This should be SO MUCH MORE hard hitting than it actually was given the subject matter and it just fell completely flat. I will say, though, *SPOILERS AHEAD* that the ending was appropriately doom and gloom and even though I’ve seen lots of others say they hate it it was probably the only thing I actually liked.

The Lion King (Jon Favreau, 2019)

Seth Rogen and Billie Eichner were the only good things about this which is sad because I fucking love Donald Glover and I was so excited when he was cast as Simba. Like, it was pretty but empty and unnecessary and I’m not one of these people who think CGI remakes always have to be this way-I loved Dumbo and I liked the live-action Jungle Book too! I just think the people who made this cared too much about good CGI and realism and less about heart. There was no personality whatsoever and it’s such a waste when you think about the fact that they had Donald and Beyonce on board. 

Red Sparrow (Francis Lawrence, 2018)

Eurgh, I hated this. I think Jennifer Lawrence is stunning and I usually love her films but every shot of her in this felt so male-gaze oriented, even the ones which were sexually violent, which I found to be completely unnecessary in the first place. At times it felt almost torture-porn-y which was not what I expected at all seeing as the marketing made it seem like some kind of female empowerment movie.

It Comes at Night (Trey Edward Shults, 2017)

I literally can’t remember fucking anything from this film. Clearly there is a very, very fine line between atmospheric and boring.

Warm Bodies (Jonathan Levine, 2013)

Maybe it’s because I watched this about 6 years too late and the whole human-girl-falls-in-love-with-supernatural-creature hype train has long since left the station but I couldn’t even finish it. Cutesy necrophilia ain’t for me, sorry Nicholas Hoult. Still love ya. You’ll always be Tony Stonem to me xoxo

Million Dollar Baby (Clint Eastwood, 2005)

I’m pretty sure this movie won a lot of awards so I’m sure this is a very unpopular opinion but the way this film ended was so...depressing. SO depressing. Did it have to be THAT depressing? The Always Sunny in Philadelphia episode outsold.

This is the range Oscar winning actress Hilary Swank wishes she had.

Would You Rather (David Guy Levy, 2013)

Started off well but became cheesy and predictable as it went on. The acting wasn’t great either plus there was another unnecessary attempted rape scene here too. 

Christmas with the Kranks (Joe Roth, 2004)

So I watched this movie in the run up to Christmas because my best friend and her mum were referencing it like it was this cult classic (which I guess for some reason it is?) and I’m sorry to her and her mum but what the hell is this shit?! It’s not even so bad it’s good. It’s just bad.

The plot, the characters, EVERYTHING, it’s ridiculous on every level. I wasn’t into it enough to suspend my disbelief that anyone’s neighbours would actually care THAT much that they weren’t celebrating Christmas. Go on your damn cruise, take me with you whilst you're at it, ease my seasonal depression! I wouldn’t mind so much if it was funny or if the protagonists were likeable but it wasn’t and they’re not. Nobody’s actions made any sense. It didn’t put me in the Christmas spirit at all it just made me angry that Jamie Lee Curtis’ agent made her do this shit. She’s a scream queen goddess and she deserves better.

ANYWAY.

I’m now realising that I should have started on shit tier and worked my way up to god tier because now this post has ended on the rather sour note of me getting worked up over Christmas with the Kranks, lol. As always, these are just my opinions and I love to hear other people’s; when it comes to something like this, it’s all a matter of preference and there really isn’t a right or wrong answer, so I’m open to discussion!

With the Oscars less than a week away now I rushed a little to get this out on time, so apologies in advance if anything doesn’t make any sense or there’s any typos, I will look back over it at some point over the next couple of days to check. 

But if you read to the end thank you! And stay tuned for my overview of Paris Haute Couture Week S/S 2020 if that’s something you’re interested in as that will most likely be next post!

Lauren x

[burritodetodo]

Burrito’s Guide To Survive Coronavirus Quarantine

We got to keep social distance (1 or 2 meters each other) or stay home during coronavirus outbreak so I thought I can share with y’all some things I’m gonna watch or do doing quarantine (this is a very long post, REBLOGS ARE VERY MUCH APPRECIATED!).

BUT FIRST SOME RULES:

Wash your hands: do it for 20 seconds or a while, but ALWAYS do it. It prevents the virus from spreading. If you don’t have sanitizer, water and soap! The cheapest and best ally against the disease.

Buy everything you need: if you can, try to buy stuff so you can stay some days at home. If the place is crowded, go back home and come later when it’s more empty. Same as medicine.

You can go for a walk: stay at home all day can be overwhelming for your mental health, but unless the goverment puts a curfew or gets strict about it you can go walk outside for a while always respecting the 1 or 2 meters from other people and without making contact (chatting) with other people. This ain’t my rule, a CDC professional says. DON’T go visit your friends or to crowded places such as bars, restaurants, shoppings, etc. If you want to buy something, ask for delivery or take away.

If you have coronavirus sympthoms (high fever, diarrhea, cough, feeling tired, breath difficulties) DON’T GO TO THE HOSPITAL YET, CALL TO YOUR PUBLIC HEALTH ORGANISATION OR WHATEVER YOU GOT AND THEY’LL TREAT YOU.

(credits to whoever made this meme)

SO YOUR LIFE IS ON QUARANTINE

Let’s say your boss or your school told you can stay at home. Okay then, you gotta prepare for some days inside *Isolation by John Lennon plays in the distance*. The first thing you think is you have to prepare a batch of series and movies to watch in order to kill some time. I’m gonna recommend you some you can find on VOD or cable, if you don’t have it don’t worry because I got you covered!

Infinity Train: a yet two seasons saga about people who got to face their problems aboard an endless train. The protagonists are joined by creatures who have different nature and help them, or not, to acknowledge their issues and leave the train. It’s on CN, it will continue on HBO Max.

The Owl House: a teen girl who daydream a lot was going to be sent to a down-to-earth camp but then she crosses a portal to the Boiling Isles, a magical world where she is taken care by a powerful Owl witch/saleswoman and her adorable demon. Lots of fantasy, some action scenes and many many puns. It’s on Disney Channel, it’ll be on Disney+ in some weeks.

Primal: Genndy Tartakovsky delighted us with the alliance of a caveman and a dinosaur, two rivals in a wild world who ally after facing a devastating event. It IS brutal and beatiful, has no dialogue and keeps you watching closely. Five final episodes are set to premiere this year. It’s on Adult Swim, maybe on HBO Max.

Tuca and Bertie: for the critics, one of 2019 best shows. For Netflix, a show that had to be cut off because the studio unionized. Two friends in their late 20s face changes in their lives: from living with a boyfriend and plan a life to look a way to stay sober and get a job. Deals with trauma, ptsd, anxiety and more harsh moments very well. In fact, the creator is a vital part of Bojack Horseman! It’s on Netflix.

Aggretsuko: red pandas are cute eh? But what about a antopomorphic red panda who releases her anger and frustrations by singing at a karaoke? This awesome comedy by Sanrio & Netflix is one of anime’s big hits lately. Like T&B, has a good handle of adult problems but not going too deep just to not break the comedy. You can watch it on Netflix.

Regular Show: yeah-uuuuhhhh! Eight seasons, a movie, five Halloween specials and some others. The adventures of a racoon and a blue jay with their co-workers/friends that relies on psychadellia and 80s and 90s nostalgia. It begins good, gets better, then lowers the quality (they were producing the movie at the same time tho, give some credit) and with and after the movie ends awesome. It’s on CN web, dunno if on Hulu (US only) and proably on HBO Max.

Evangelion: it’s a classic at this point, but addictive to me because I end rewatching the series or the final movie many times. A post apocalyptic future where the world has to deal with strange creatures known as the Angels and a boy with lots of traumas has to get on a mecha to save the humankind. All the characters have traumas and issues, the interaction between them or the action makes it worth. The End of Evangelion is a movie that ends the unfinished series. Warning: at some point it becomes very twisted and there are scenes which are too much violent. Viewer disclosure etc. It’s on Netflix worldwide.

Steven Universe & SU Future: this is the tale of the gem boy who ends a galactical tyranny and brings democracy to the universe. A acclaimed show that broke through many topics like gender, identity, ptsd, relationships and many more. Besides it’s got the best scores of the Milky Way and beyond thanks to the talent of Rebecca Sugar, Aivi Tran and Surasshu. And the actors and acrtresses! I don’t forget the movie, a musical that is an introduction to the epilogue: Shippuden Future. The show is available on CN and will be on HBO Max. Worldwide? No news.

Adventure Time: something that began as an innocent boy and a magical dog having adventures in a post apocalyptic world turns into the journey of Finn Metens from childhood to almost adulthood. There is a lot of fantasy and comedy you enjoy, but there are dark moments and serious ones through S6 that find a balance with early seasons form S7 to the finale. It also has great music, memorable moments and colaborations. And guess what? There is going to be a special set to premiere on HBO Max in some weeks! You got plenty of time to catch up or rewatch before that on CN or only (!!) S5 on Netflix.

Final Space: a dude tries to save the universe with their friends, where we can find his love interest, a cat-man and his kitten son, a intersexual alien, an AI then robot that is the best of them, two particular siblings and an annoying bot that prevents insanity that makes you insane. Crazy adventures in space, lots of situations, sadness, an evil smol bean who is a space emperor, a dude who looks for revenge, space deities that can destroy the universe. Is this a lot or info? It is not, because there is more and you can watch it on TBS, Adult Swim and Netflix (the world except US).

Rick and Morty: the most powerful, smartest human in the universe has adventures with his grandson. It’s awesome, but has a very toxic fanbase. Anyway, you can enjoy it on Adult Swim or Netflix (which is up to date!) and the rest of S4 is set someday.

Bojack Horseman: a Hollywood satire about human relationships, fame, traumas with a pour of comedy. Alongside the previous series, the best adult animation of the decade. Sadly cut by Netflix because the studio unionized (see T&B), said by both the creator and Aaron Paul. You can watch the six amazing seasons on that platform.

I’m not an animated movies guy, but here are three I really like and you can watch:

Porco Rosso: a handsome Italian combat aviator turned magically to a pig has a face off with an American pilot hired by pirates to get rid of him before WWII in Fascist Italy. It’s entertaining and, like every Ghibli movie, nice to watch. It’s on Netflix and will be on HBO Max for US.

Lego Batman Movie: Batman is depressed and has to get over it. It’s wacky and has lots of comedy. Plus Will Arnett is top 3 Batman. On Netflix (Latinamerica).

Spiderverse: Oscar winner movie about your friendly neighbour Peter Parker Miles Morales. Miles sees Spiderman die and feels bad after being transfered to a private school. Then a radioactive spider from a Fisk compound bites Miles and he’s Spiderman... among other dimensions’ Spiderpeople: Gwen, Peni, Peter Parker, Noir and Peter Porker. It’s visually amazing. On US it’s on Netflix (I guess), on Latinamerica on HBO.

Some interesting live actions I watched lately

Atlanta: Donald Glover is Earn, a dude who struggles to find a job for her baby girld and sees an opportunity when his cousin, Paper Boi, has a hit and uses him to make his cos famous. Sometimes a comedy, sometimes a social satire with touches of drama. And all protagonists are now big shots, like Zazie Beetz, Brian Tyree Henry or Lakeith Stanfield. There are two seasons and two seasons set for 2021 (2022 possible beacuse of coronavirus). It’s on FX, Hulu (US) and Netflix (world)

Avenue 5: this is brand new. On 2060 space cruises are a thing, and one cruise (the Avenue 5) has an accident that leaves the crew and passangers stranded for years. The captain (Hugh Laurie) has to solve this shit with a bunch of incompetent crew, bosses like Judd (Josh Gad), except one female engeneer who is very smart. Lots of crazy things happen in this series from the creator behind Veep. It’s on HBO (it’s free in the US!).

Peaky Blinders: it has some years but damn it’s epic. A gang from Birmingham makes their way to the top during the late 1910s after the Great War and extends through the 1920s. S5 is right in the ascension of fascism in Britain. ALL THE CAST acts spectacular, names like Cillian Murphy, Tom Hardy, Anna Taylor-Joy and a long etc. But my fave is Paul Anderson, that ultra violent junkie Arthur Shelby is splendid, then is Tommy and aunt Pol, the baddest badass woman in Britain. Blinders is going to have seven seasons, there are two left. You can watch it on BBC or Netflix.

Sex Education: speaking of Britain, excellent teen comedy. Horny, doubtful teenagers going through those hard years. Stories of sex (duh!), abuse situations, abortion, there are gay relationships either, Gillian Anderson! It’s on Netflix, go go go!

Watchmen: despite not having Alan Moore on board, Damien Lindeloff did a tremendous job with the comic. Way better and less misleading than Zack Snyder’s 2009 film, Watchmen is again at the gates of the world’s end (like today) and handles the problem of racism and white supremacy quite well. Just 9 episodes, but worth to watch. On HBO.

CAOS: Sabrina the Teenage Witch is over. Warner and Netflix made a revival of the Archie Comics character and brought her to XXI Century. But gorier, hornier, dark and magical than the nice 90s sitcom. Sabrina Spellman goes from a doubtful teen who has to decide if she has to be a witch or a powerless woman to rule Hell. How she does it? Find out on Netflix! Note: S1 and 2 take some episodes to start properly. Don’t get bored too easy.

There are A LOT MORE to recommend and I make a list: Harley Quinn (DC Universe), OK KO (Hulu -US only-), House MD, Young Justice (DC Universe/Netflix), Ken Burns’ documentaries (Netflix), Titans (DCU), Over The Garden Wall (CN), Seis Manos (Netflix), Thundercats Roar (CN), Easy (Netflix), GLOW (Netflix), Star Trek Discovery (CBS, Netflix) and Picard (CBS, Amazon Prime), etc.

- You named cool shows, but I’m not from the United States or I don’t have a subscription to (insert VOD here) because I can’t afford it

- Glad you asked, I have the answer here

Introducing Stremio. It’s an open source platform where you can watch shows, movies or even live TV on Windows, Linux, Apple or Android. You create an account, install some addons and start looking for what you want to watch.

Stremio is based on torrents, you should install addons from many known torrent sites. So maybe you find an old show, but there aren’t many seeds to watch. And it could be frustraiting, so make sure there are people sharing so you can watch it.

You can download Stremio here and check the FAQs which is very clear.

NOTE: Stremio is note quite “clean” way to watch, but if you do please support the shows you watch by posting, commenting about them, making memes, thanking the creators and crew for their work, buying merchandise if you can. They put a lot to make the shows we love, let’s give ‘em back that love and effort.

You’re tired of the same music, the same movies or need to leave something to make company? There is Vaughn Live, a streaming page where are lots of channels with movies and series on strem (not VOD). For example, there is a channel that streams Adventure Time, other Regular Show, other Sci-Fi shows, another with DBZ and so on. Take in count that if the channel has +70 viewers, the free access is cut and if you want to watch it you have to pay.

En Vaughn también hay canales en español, como Simpsonmanía, Dragon Ball, Futurama, dibujos viejos y muchísimo más. Anyway, go to https://vaughn.live/ and enjoy yourselves!

Y hablando de canales en español, pueden ir a SeriesLan donde está el mayor reservorio conocido de series animadas de entre 1960 a 2010 en español latino. Pueden encontrar tesoros desde Don Gato, los Halcones Galácticos o Street Sharks a Flapjack y Mechas XLR. Otra alternativa para que pasen el rato.

Some interesting facts:

Epic Games releases a free game per week in their store. This week will be two games. You can check in https://www.epicgames.com

Steam has good prices on games and some free ones. There even is the latest Football Manager for free until March 25th. Check on https://store.steampowered.com/

If you’re interested,

I got this playlist I made on Spotify

with songs I liked in more than one year. More than 1200 songs.

And that’s pretty much it! You got resources for a lot of days, 14 initially since that’s the quarantine time in my country. Remember: obey the indications of the Health authorities, this is no time to play the “fuck the goverment” game. We will overcome this pandemy together, helping and caring for each other. That’s why I did this guide, to keep your minds busy in these tough times! Wash your hands, keep social distance, stay at home, go outside if necessary and have some patience please. This has been a PSA.

Stay strong!

Burrito

[tigerlilyhasablog]

What I’ve Been Watching

Hello everyone! If you read my comeback post, you know that I promised a round-up of  the movies I’ve seen so far in 2020. This post has taken WAYYYY too long for me to get around to writing, but now I’m self-isolating and have plenty of time on my hands, so hopefully I should be writing more! So let’s get into it. Before I talk about films from this year, I’ve got to sneak in my thoughts about my absolute FAVORITE film of 2019…

Knives Out – 5/5

I cannot tell you how much I love this movie. I’ve seen it three times in the theater since it came out! I knew that I wanted to see it the moment that I saw the trailer, and I had heard good things about it, but I was worried that it wouldn’t live up to the hype. Turns out I had nothing to worry about. Everything about this movie is just so. Damn. Good. The characters, the storytelling, the aesthetic setting and costume design… perfection, perfection, perfection. The cast, of course, is incredible. This movie is just so much FUN, and I’m obsessed. If you haven’t seen it already, GO SEE KNIVES OUT GODDAMMIT!!!

Now for 2020…

Richard Jewell – 4/5

I went back and forth on whether to give this a 3.5 or a 4, because its been a minute since I watched it, and honestly, I had kind of forgotten about it. Upon reflection, I’ve decided that is because of how many really good films I’ve seen so far this year, not because Richard Jewell is a forgettable movie. I really enjoyed it at the time… it has just gotten overshadowed by things I’ve watched since. The performances are great; Paul Walter Hauser was not someone I was super familiar with before this film, but he seriously impressed me as the titular character. It is just a very solid film about an important story that I really should have known more about since it happened in my home state.🤷‍♀️

Just Mercy – 4/5

Oh boy, bring some tissues for this one. What can I say, this is just a really good movie: its a well-told story of a real-life issue, its hard-hitting and tear-jerking af, the performances are great (Michael B Jordan, man🙌🏻), its just super solid all around. If you don’t cry your eyes out watching this, then sorry, you have no heart.

1917 – 4.5/5

Whoa. Okay, this is an absolute must-see. Holy shit, this movie is something else. As you have probably heard, this movie is shot and edited in a way that makes it look like it was one long take. Not only is this seriously impressive, but it is also effective as hell. There is never a break from the intensity of the film, and you will be on the edge of your seat every second (I’ve seen it twice, and I was completely on edge the entire time even during the second watch.) That’s not the only thing that makes ‘1917’ super impactful, though. The actors are fantastic… I was really impressed by George MacKay. This movie really doesn’t hold back; it is an honest, horrific, emotional depiction of war, and wow, it really isn’t like any war movie I’ve ever seen before.

Like A Boss – 3/5

Okay, time for a drastic change of tone from the last few movies! Not gonna lie, I went into this movie with basically no expectations, as I had heard nothing good about it. But you know, I liked it better than I thought I would. It was funnier than I expected, though not all the jokes hit, and it was overall incredibly silly. But it’s also a fairly sweet story about female friendship. I went to see it with one of my own female friends, we had the theater to ourselves, we laughed at all the stupid parts and we had a good time. So yeah, I didn’t hate it.😅

Dolittle – 3/5

This movie was… weird. Not necessarily a bad weird, but like, really, really bizarre. It’s hard to explain exactly why without giving plot points as examples, but I’ll tell you that there were numerous times throughout the movie where I turned to my sister and said “what the fuck??” I think that there were some drugs involved in the making of this film. On the plus side, I kinda enjoyed it. There were some parts that were genuinely funny, and overall it was something fun to watch with my younger siblings. My 12-year-old brother loved it, and that’s the real test, isn’t it?

The Gentlemen – 4.5/5

Ok, this movie was fucking GOOD. Not gonna lie, when I first saw the poster and trailer for this film, my first thoughts were, god, do we really need another cool-guy crime comedy with an almost entirely white male cast? The answer is no, no we don’t. But damn, if this isn’t a great movie anyway. It surpassed my expectations in every way… I loved it. The humor is not going to be for everyone; it is very British and often extremely crude, but I fucking cried laughing, it was hilarious. The laughs alone were enough for me to like this movie, but there is more to it than that. The plot is engaging, and although I’ve heard some people complain it was slow or too hard to follow, I liked it and enjoyed the story-telling elements. I also found myself caring way more about the characters than I thought I would. Oh, and there are some gorgeous cinematic elements to it as well. Overall, great movie. I guess I need to go and educate myself on some other Guy Ritchie films.

Birds of Prey – 4/5

So, I’ve given this a 4, but this is another one that I debated giving a 3.5. I had wanted to see it again before I reviewed, but the coronavirus screwed that plan up. I decided to round up, however, because my overall feeling about this movie is that I enjoyed it. It isn’t perfect… There were some odd plot decisions, and some so-so action, but you know, I liked it. It’s just FUN. The characters are all bad-ass, the music is on point, it’s funny, it’s colorful, it’s just really enjoyable. The cast are all great, and I thought Ewan McGregor made a great villain. Also, in amongst the mediocre action there were some really great scenes (small spoiler: I’m obsessed with Harley breaking people’s legs.) Like I said, I feel like I need to watch it again to really decide how I feel about it, but overall it’s a thumbs up from me.

The Photograph – 3/5

Huh, this movie was an odd one. I really wanted to like it, and I mean, I didn’t dislike it, but I just wasn’t feeling it, you know? I confess, romance is not really my genre (I like a good rom com, but just straight up romance? Meh), but I just found myself completely uninterested in the main couple. If you haven’t seen this movie, the plot is split between the relationship between Michael and Mae (LaKeith Stanfield and Issa Rae), and flashbacks to the 80s that focus on the relationship between Mae’s mother, Christina (Chante Adams,) and a man named Isaac (Y’lan Noel.) When it came to Michael and Mae, I just did not care at all whether or not they ended up together. I didn’t give a shit about their relationship throughout the entire movie. I liked their characters individually, but together I just wasn’t feeling the chemistry. Now, with the other couple, Sara and Isaac, I actually cared a lot more. I looked forward to the parts that would focus on them, and was annoyed when the film would jump forward to the present day again. I dunno, I mean, I didn’t hate it. It was funny in places and moving (to an extent) in others. The storyline outside of the romance was alright. I just didn’t love it.

Parasite – 4.5/5

Ok, usually I only do reviews for films I see in the theater, but I had to make an exception for this… I had some friends came over and we watched it from my couch, but only because nowhere nearby was showing it. If you haven’t heard of Parasite, you’ve probably been living under a rock. After it scooped up 4 Oscars, everyone was talking about it, and rightly so. Honestly I’m not gonna give it a proper review, because you just. Need. To. Watch. It. Basically, the first half is genuinely really funny, and then it slowly gets darker and darker, and holy fuck, I did NOT see that ending coming. The story, the acting, the symbolism, the cinematography, the setting… All fucking amazing. Watch Parasite, people. Just do it.

[ouranimeyeah]

Lesean Thomas’ Yasuke- Concerning yet Invigorating.

Note: I am a long standing supporter of Lesean Thomas’s work and I bear no ill will to his production but I felt I needed to say something. Take it as you will, it’s more so the ravings of fan exploring their opinions and ideas not a direct attack on Thomas or his work which are all note worthy pieces of art with their flaws and all!

Okay It’s no surprise after my thoughts on Cannon busters were laid bear and my extreme excitement for Children of the Either readily apparent, that I would have something to say about Thomas’ new project coming to Netflix “Yasuke”. There isn’t much known or needed to be said about the project other then it’s going to be awesome to get a new project by Thomas, and that there are Black samurai involved. Cool right? Well yes and no.

Lesean Thomas is a creator that I respect and empathize with. Being the only black guy in the anime industry pumping out his own content i’m sure there has been tons of red tape in the realm of production that gets in the way of everything he makes. And yet he still managed to release 2 projects. I have been following Thomas’ for quite some time and his work has been exciting when it comes to the build up of hype, but sadly don’t deliver fully on the promises made in promotional material.  Which could be considered my fault on account of me putting my expectations so high with him being the first black animator in years to formulate his own projects and get them green-lit (as far as my knowledge is concerned). It makes sense to have clear issues with his other works if I do because they have already been released and possibly even finished. Of the two works he actually managed to get on the big screen one is a completed project while the other is a pilot that seemingly died in production hell. I had a preference for his Children of the Either series (over Cannon Busters)because it showed an incredible understanding of character animation and had some really interesting concepts that I was hoping to see fleshed out more. All the while managing to have an aesthetic very reminiscent of my favorite anime while not 100% feeling liking a bone dry rip off. Cannon Busters by contrast was a hodge podge of different anime references with some very in your face and hand fisted themes which broke my immersion from time to time. It’s aesthetic was inconsistent, at times the animation would relatively nice and then be followed up by what would look like a bad episode of teen titans. I never found it in my soul to find the series as lazy, just slightly misguided in it’s production. Ineffectively allocating skillful animation and art design for scenes less relevant to the plot; having dialogue sequences that very blatantly explain things with no form of nuance; and a handful of other minor attributes that made the series kind of a slug through most of the central part of the show and even had slower elements carry onto the the end.  All in all it was a decent series however, and had enough charm and pazaaz to it to the point where i could never in my right mind give the series a lower score then a 6/10, I gave it a lucky 7. Which brings me to my pre existing fears and concerns when it comes to Yasuke. 

The fundamental element of Yasuke’s promotional information that strikes me as daunting and a little cynical is the fact that the show is going to be a quote: “Magic Samurai Robot Anime” (according to vice: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/vbammy/new-netflix-anime-lakeith-stanfield-pacific-rim-altered-carbon-yasuke-vgtrn). Now before anyone comes yelling at me to ring my neck I must first start out establishing something. For one, a Mecha magic series has already been done by Thomas in Cannon busters, which I would argue was his weakest element of the series. The technology and magic system of his story never was fully fleshed out in an interesting way and while there is a lot of mystique I feel like those elements would take away especially when it comes to the samurai/chanbara genre. Which leads me to my second point, samurai anime are surprisingly rare! AAANNNNDD I am talking about strictly samurai. Hardcore, balls to the wall, classic samurai political drama stories being depicted in anime. The last I checked the only popular samurai anime have been Rurouni Kenshin, Samurai Champloo, Dororo, Sengoku Basara, Afro Samurai (which is good but relies heavily on modern sensibilities) and Gintama. Among these the only one that truly explores the culture of samurai in any way is Dororo, and that element takes a back seat in favor of the supernatural elements. MECHA SAMURAI HAVE ALREADY BEEN DONE BEFORE, and i would argue that those two genre’s should stay separate until we get enough anime depicting samurai authentically. Or at least like an old Japanese samurai film the likes of Ran or Kagemusha! Samurai 7 is a thing guys and while it had it’s interesting elements by in large it lacked one of the fundamental elements that made samurai stories exciting and that was one on one samurai fights (outside of the fight between Kanbei and Kyuzo). Samurai have become a novelty, people assume the genre is generic for japanese culture, but it’s rare in the medium of animation that they are depicted with the same level of reverence and relevance as they are in live action film and T.V. shows. I am disappointed  that the next samurai series that is going to be green-lit by an individual I look up to so much is gonna play it safe by making another novelty samurai series with giant mechs and magic. In the time were Yasuke ventured to Japan the actual political climate is so invigorating that you DON”T NEED GIANT MECHS TO PUSH THE ENTERTAINMENT VALUE. I know mechs are an aesthetic choice I get it. But honestly, they take away some fundamental attributes so integral to the entertainment value of the samurai genre and I would think that is something that is important. All in all foregoing an interesting historical war drama with the potential to have slight supernatural elements in favor of sci fi feels like something that is starting to become boring and slightly overdone when it comes to samurai. The amount of anime that are actually about samurai that are popular in the west are few and far between and there are very few samurai series being produced now that cover Sengoku period japan. If Lesean Thomas sees this know I mean no ill will, I am only stating my personal opinion as a fan of your work. Please try something else. you can still have the hip hop aesthetic with flying lotus, you can have Lakeith Stanfield play his voice actor. But please, make an authentic samurai experience that placates to the trappings and best attributes of the genre. Because we as a society are in dire need of something of that calibre. We have gotten to a point were so many anime that are being produced stray far away from the source of what makes samurai so fascinating and entertaining to watch. And if you don’t want to draw on that fine. But don’t stop me if I want to create my own Yasuke anime. 

@leseanthomas

Love you work

Keep it up !

[pigballoon]

Uncut Gems

(Josh & Benny Safdie, 2019)

Like their break out effort Good Time, Josh and Benny Safdie’s latest is another balls to the wall thrill ride. Unlike Good Time, this thrill ride lasts for over two hours, like Good Time it doesn’t feature particularly strong writing. Character arcs, nor strong plotting of much interest to the Safdie’s in their screenplay, penned in collaboration with their regular writing/editing partner Ronald Bronstein. 

Thankfully, that doesn’t really matter, because as middling as they might be at the writing, they are mighty filmmakers. Having born witness to one too many movies recently that just shift from scene to scene without a lick of pace, their immobility exposing whatever weaknesses lie within them, or betraying whatever of interest they capture on account of their debilitating crawl, watching this movie that hurtles along for 2 hours, that on even the one or two occasions when it does slow down feels only like momentary respite, a chance to catch your breath, before it sends you hurtling headlong down a new rabbit hole is a pleasure.

Leading us on that journey is Adam Sandler. To say this is Sandler in serious mode would be misleading, the performance is not a million miles away in the way it captures the man child tendencies seen in his most famous turns down the years, the way he takes nothing seriously, plays almost everything for laughs, the way in which he makes his character, so abrasive, so obnoxious, so downright self destructive through his natural movie star charms... Bearable. It’s a tremendous turn from a true star, a sort of cross between Dustin Hoffman’s Ratso Rizzo and Warner Bros. Road Runner. His performance is absolutely key to the movie working, through all the screaming, and the constant chatter, and the thunderous pace, and the bewilderingly stupid decisions, he carries you through with his presence, with his making light of every situation he finds himself in. 

That irreverence for each predicament is the movies point, Uncut Gems is a staggering and relentless portrait of addiction, of vice, it’s a movie about self destruction that looks into a mirror and sees undying optimism. We don’t need monologues (though we get minor declaration in the final act), everything we need to know about what this movie wants to say is there in the central character. He’s ably supported by a cast of faces so vivid, and real, and unforgettably true to life - from larger names like the great Judd Hirsch, Lakeith Stanfield, Idina Menzel, Eric Bogosian, and Kevin freakin’ Garnett, to the lesser known Keith Williams Richards, and Julia Fox, Noa Fisher, Wayne Diamond, and on the telephone Tilda Swinton. They’re the ones with larger roles, but literally every role is filled out pretty vividly, sickly true to life and free of glamour that the person I watched the movie with turned to me early on and asked “Is this a movie or a documentary?”

It’s not a pretty movie, to be sure (save for Daniel Lopatin’s gorgeous, cosmic score), but so quickly does it move, so effectively does the up close and personal photography of the great Darius Khondji and that life lending energy of Benny Safdie and Ronald Bronstein’s editing drop you into the experience of this world first hand, so non-stop is the incident Sandler’s Howard works his way into again and again that you’re never really left too long to think too much about the unpleasantness of it all until the whole thing comes screeching to its final halt, and the Safdie’s leave you with a moment to reflect upon all you’ve beheld, all they’ve subjected you to, the race to make it, and the way that race is so relentless nobody pays much attention to the fact that it’s not a race because there’s no finish line, it’s just an endless hurtling into the abyss.