Film Log Apr-Jun 2022

 

 

 New in 2022

-The Lost City, 2022, PG-13 

Can you say DANIEL RADCLIFFE, SANDRA BULLOCK, CHANNING TATUM, and BRAD PITT all in the same movie?!?! Yes, I know I listed Daniel Radcliffe's name first even though Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum are the stars. I specifically seek out to watch every piece of media Daniel Radcliffe is involved in, but with or without him, I would have seen this movie because of freakin' Channing Tatum in a sexy rom-com. This is a classic adventure-comedy-romance that reminds me of the old days of loving shows like Chuck, but this film being far edgier with its humor. You see Channing Tatum's entire naked backside. Would watch over and over.

-Fantastic Beasts: Secrets of Dumbledore, 2022, PG-13

Ahh, yes, the Wizarding World runs a constant theme in my life and of course I had to see this film too, no matter the disaster I knew it would likely be. I know Crimes of Grindelwald gets a lot of hate but, to be honest, I enjoyed it more than this mess... it's a harsh truth to come to terms with how disappointed I was in this film's rushed and ever-changing plot points and character arcs, retcons, and just lackluster filmmaking. But I will deal, and I will make this story my own, because the Wizarding World is my own home and I deal with it as I like. 

-Dune: Part One, 2021, PG-13

This is new enough that I stuck it under the "new" category because it originally debuted in late 2021. I have taken years to try to finish reading the book (even though I thoroughly enjoy the book every time I pick up and read it - it just takes me so long to digest because of the rich lore, and I have NOT had the energy to digest complex, lore-heavy texts while I was in grad school). However, I had read enough of the book to cover the film, which only covers the first half or so of the first novel (hence the "Part One"). I began reading the book strictly because I knew a new film was coming out starring my bae Timothee Chalamet. And, of course, what I found instead was that the book was much better. I loved seeing the cast members like Timothee and Jason Momoa attempt to bring the richness of this series to life... but it falls flat for me. The book's brilliance is in the internal dialogue of the characters, which is missed entirely in the film. Without that humor and clever inner dialogue of each character, the characters are bland, and the story is just standard sci-fi in a manner that did little to captivate me. Impressive technology and visuals, though.

Older Films Watched for the First Time

-The Lighthouse, 2019, R

This is one of the greatest, most artistic films I have seen in a long time. It is made with a square ratio, and is entirely in black and white (which is unfortunate that I watched it on an LED screen where the blacks where never truly black - now THAT'S how you would visually enjoy this film with all of the juicy light contrast). It's bizarre and highly interpretable, yet also loosely based on historical events. It's scary and wondrous. It has oh-so-desired queer subtext between Robert Pattinson and Willem DaFoe. And yeah, Robert Pattinson masturbates heavily in this film and I'm weirded out but not complaining.

-Blade Runner 2049, 2017, R

Another one of the most artistic films I have seen in a long time! I knew that the film would have impressive visuals - where I was concerned was whether the story would be at all captivating, or rather be either too much of a spoon-fed sequel or, the opposite, a very ambiguous and intangible visual mess. What I found instead were both mesmerizing visuals and solid, philosophical storytelling. I adored it and it made me fall in love with Ryan Gosling all the more. This is how you do a sequel decades later - you maintain the solidity of your characters and your thematics, and you use modern technology for visual effects to supplement the use of practical effects that served the original film to begin with. Well done.

-Dunkirk, 2017, PG-13

I was never all that invested in the idea of watching this film someday. As a WWII film starring exclusively men, and directed by Christopher Nolan, I was not this film's intended audience. White males were this film's intended audience. The most feminine thing I could possibly say right now is that I was drawn to the film because of freakin' Harry Styles. Christopher Nolan, famous of a director as he is, often strikes me as intellectually praised, but emotionally... detached. And this film challenged my impression of him a little bit - yes, I was emotionally invested (as far as anxiety and stress goes, omg I was always on the edge), but I would have appreciated more of a central following and emotional investment in our main characters. Still, I was captivated by the film and enjoyed my time watching it.

Re-watched Films

-Jungle, 2017, R

I have already written my thoughts on this film years ago here: http://narrativemultiverse.blogspot.com/2017/10/jungle.html, except this was the first time I had watched the film since then and I think I enjoyed it more in hindsight for what it was. I still have my hangups about the emotional tone switches but, yes, I love me some Daniel Radcliffe and watched this to get my fix.

-The Bling Ring, 2013, R

I suppose I haven't rewatched this film in years either, because I don't have a review written! I have seen this film many, many times, which is odd considering I don't think it's very good at all. Back when I used to handwrite my reviews, I wrote down that "the things I liked were the story, the imagery, the characters, thematic elements, and just the 'look' of the film... the CONCEPT was so cool. The things I didn't like were the editing, the directing, the writing, and the 'feel' of the film. That sounds more negative than positive, but somehow I've come back to watch it several times because the elements about it that I did like were SO compelling." So that about sums it up.

-It Follows, 2015, R

This is the first time I have re-watched this film since it first came out when I was in college, and my college friends and I had a habit of watching nonsensical, low budget horror movies together. I thought this would be one of them, as it was essentially dubbed the "STD horror film" and the premise sounded ridiculous. Nonetheless, I remembered this as an actual high-quality film and was happy to rewatch it. It makes you think a lot about the interpretations of the demon (i.e. social stigma around sex, secrecy around sex, etc.), and also makes you think practically about, "What would I do in this situation?" 

-Lilo & Stitch, 2002, PG

I rewatched this when I was in Hawaii. My boyfriend and I had planned to go to a luau, and the show was cancelled due to heavy rain. So we stayed in and watched Lilo & Stitch instead, which had about a one-minute scene of a luau in it that we counted as our "at-home" luau. It had been years since I had rewatched this movie - long before I became a social worker - and it hits me now how powerful this movie is from an attachment theory perspective. It pained my heart to watch perhaps more than it made me laugh. The movie dealt with very realistic and adult issues of child custody, child protective services, child abuse/neglect, childhood grief/loss and attachment injuries, poverty... ooof it hurt me and I loved it.