Film Log July-Sep 2022

New in 2022

-Turning Red, 2022, PG

Okay I will be entirely honest. I knew the hype about this film as a therapeutic tool for kids was real. I knew that people were saying it's a representative take on hiding emotions especially in Asian cultures. And yet, I was not really looking forward to watching this film. I put it off for a while because I thought it would be too much of Pixar "force-feeding" its themes down our throats, leaving no room for actual depth. I was wrong, and should have given Pixar more of the benefit of the doubt considering how much I have loved its other contemporaries like Soul. This film made me cry multiple times over, and was extremely relatable for someone who once used to be an obsessive tweenage fangirl (ahem, still kind of am, minus the tweenage). Force-fed and capitalistically generated or not, the themes of this film hit hard. And I do think it's good to reference therapeutically for kids. I've already had a client bring up the film on their own when discussing their own emotions.

-Downton Abbey 2: A New Era, 2022, PG

This was another film I was nervous to watch because of how much I enjoyed the first film as what I thought would be a final sendoff to the Downton Abbey universe. What irks me is that there is no plan for when to end the series. The final episode was treated like the final episode. Then the Christmas Special was treated like the final episode. Then the first film. Now the second film. It's like whiplash. I understand the need to always keep the door open for more content, because it generates money. And people love these characters, including myself. But I want to be at peace with it. I found the film to be overstuffed with plot, rushed to give additional closure to the characters (beyond what we already had), and unnecessary. But, hell. I enjoyed it a lot because I love these characters and I love this universe, and I will keep buying the content if more is made. So I'm part of the problem.

-Nope, 2022, R

Best new film I have seen in a movie theater in a long time!! There is so much to thematically unpack... so many visual and character-driven motifs, so much key dialogue, and so much sociopolitical context, that I spent hours after watching this film analyzing and dissecting my own thoughts, followed by hours of reading up on other people's interpretations. There's too much to reasonably mention in this small space, but overall I detect themes of human arrogance/domination/being the center of the universe (and resulting White Supremacy), exploitation of both humans and animals seen as lesser, obsession with attention/media/spotlight at the expense of others and the world... and most importantly non-compliance to authority of those at which historically have been exploited. It goes beyond the typical Black/White dichotomous White Supremacy themes of Get Out, and even beyond the widening socioeconomic scope of Us, to a far more existential commentary on human nature.

Older Films I Watched for the First Time

-I Care a Lot, 2021, R

 Do you want to know how to make a geriatric social worker build up so much cringe it turns to rage? Watch this film. My friend works in geriatric social work and she couldn't stand it, because of how accurate it was despite being clearly Hollywood-ized. I've heard similar comments from others who work in adult social work, especially in psychiatric residential settings, and talk about conservatorships and guardianships as the bane of their existence. This is a real thing. Late-stage capitalism, a corrupt medical system, and a corrupt legal system are all contributors. I think that this is the best acting I have ever seen from Rosamund Pike, a role that was made for her, as this complex and unforgivable villain.

-Don't Look Up, 2021, R 

I remember when this film came out there was quite a bit of... mockery around it? Especially from millennials and Gen-Z? But it was also nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars, so there must have been something reputable about it. I don't understand the hate. To me the hate feels like it's bandwagon-y. I understand the criticism comes from the idea of "force-feeding" themes, that I criticized above. I guess the satire felt "too on the nose." But I think that's what makes it... good? It's like a "truth-is-stranger-than-fiction" kind of deal because this is the most ridiculous fiction ever, and yet still spot-on accurate to real life. I respect the film, but could not watch it in one sitting. Despite it being a comedy, its satire was so... real... that it felt like the most disturbingly existential tragedy I have ever seen.

 -Hereditary, 2018, R

This might be the scariest film I have ever seen. And that's saying something, because the very first scary films I ever watched, Insidious and Insidious 2, have since then always remained the scariest films for me. Nothing has ever surpassed those since I watched them about a decade ago. I figured, in some sense, the Insidious movies must have been the scariest purely because it was my first exposure to R-rated horror, and I was extraordinarily sensitive. I have since seen many, MANY horror films and have become slightly desensitized. But this film... oh my god. I had to keep my eyes closed for good chunks of it, and when I did open my eyes during some of the climactic scenes, I regretted it. This movie is haunting my mind. It has a combination of both demonic horror but also just a horrifying and disturbing freak accident that actually could (and has) happened in the real world. I watched Midsommar by the same director and was not all that frightened, so I did not listen to the warnings not to watch this film. I should have listened. I am scarred.

Rewatches

-Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey, 1993, G

This is a film I watched so many times as a kid that I feel like it lives in a very unconscious realm of my brain where every single line, even if I can't predict it before it happens, gives me intense deja vu. My soul knows this film. It came out before I was born, so I probably saw it before I even could form conscious memory, but the memory sure does live there. It is one of my favorite childhood films, and still remains one of the greatest films of all time. It's also one of the most emotional films of all time, and can make me bawl my eyes out every time (I remember my 5th grade class had to watch this film and I was embarrassed for crying in class haha). It's odd that I rewatched this as an old comfort film when, really, it emotionally destroys me. It makes me want to give every animal I have ever had, especially the ones that have passed away, a big hug and reminder that I see them for who they are - they have souls - and tell them I love them.