What did you see this week?
Sunday, November 15, 2020 at 7:30PM Though theaters in LA and NYC never reopened, in places they did many are now closing again due to skyrocketing COVID rates. Sigh. This pandemic will be with us until there's a vaccine and not a day sooner because 40% of the country is insane and the GOP have politicized basic decency and believing in science as into bad things. WEAR A F'IN MASK. Jesus. Anyway. I personally had a heavy viewing week taking in The Life Ahead, Sound of Metal, First Cow, Mulan, The White Tiger, Pieces of a Woman, and Hillbilly Elegy. More on most of those soon.
On the internet, The Life Ahead hit Netflix and I Am Greta arrived on Hulu. Meanwhile in limited theatrical release The Climb and Ammonite opened and earned $103 and $85k respectively. What did you see this week?
WEEKEND BOX OFFICE (WIDE... SUCH AS IT IS THESE DAYS)
- Freaky *new* (serial killer comedy) $3.7 million
- Let Him Go (Diane Lane and Kevin Costner thriller) $1.8 (cum. $6.8)
- The War with Grandpa (Robert DeNiro comedy) $1.3 (cum. $15.2)
- Come Play (horror) $1.1 (cum. $7.3)
- Honest Thief (Liam Neeson action) $800k (cum. $12.3)
- Tenet (Christopher Nolan sci-fi) $735k (cum. $56.3)
Reader Comments (26)
Hillbilly Elegy created a civil war on twitter.
A mix of 2020, 1987, and older films: I’m thinking of ending things, Broadcast News, Fireball, The Vast of Night, The Heiress, Babyteeth, Monsoon; with The Heiress (Criterion Channel) and Babyteeth (Hulu) as clear standouts.
On Netflix I watched their new holiday offering Jingle Jangle which is a new Christmas musical and oh my goodness I adored every single moment of this movie. The songs are super fun, the costumes are beautiful, and the set design is wonderful all of which deserve some recognition at the Oscars, but I feel they won’t go for it due to it being lighter fare. Still it’s a new favorite and I can see myself watching it around the holidays for years to come.
I saw 'Hillbilly Elegy' and 'Ammonite' - my first (two) trips to the cinema since March!
It’s a strange world when my small Canadian city gets The Climb and Ammonite in theatres when ordinarily we’d get them two months from now. Going to see Ammonite on Tuesday. Watching Dash and Lily and think it’s super cute.
The Forty Year Old Version and Au Revoir Les Enfants were the standouts among a another dozen or so 1987 selections.
With all the mostly negative reviews surrounding "Hillbilly Elegy", I found this touching (to me at least) news about the real Mamaw, J.D., Aunt Bev and other characters in the film, written by JD's cousin. I am sure this will not sway those who hated the film and its association with conservative politics. I wasn't meaning to watch the film but now I am curious.
https://www.journal-news.com/news/hillbilly-elegy-is-my-familys-story-im-happy-it-shared-my-mamaw-with-the-world/LPASTNLKLVC4DACCQOQUCCZA2A/
In the last week I've watched Woody Allen's Alice, Broadway Meloday of 1938 and The Pajama Game.
With all my heart, I miss movie theaters, but I think I'm doing pretty well.
Hillbilly Elegy - I can't stop thinking about Amy screeching "my HEIRLOOMS my FAMILY HEIRLOOMS!" Critics are being a bit melodramatic - it's just average. Its reception/failures do remind me a bit of Mommie Dearest.
Freaky - AMAZING concept that should work much better than it does. Only good in fits and starts. Kathryn Newton is a lot of fun!
I did catch up with First Cow as well which isn't really my thing, but it's very well directed. Wish I saw it in a theater to really sink into it.
I had a heavy week of films too: HONEST THIEF, FREAKY, WHITE RIOT, HILLBILLY ELEGY, AMMONITE, LITTLE MONSTERS and MISBEHAVIOUR. AMMONITE and MISBEHAVIOUR were the best (and will both feature in my 2020 Best Of list).
A first-timer in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm which was funny but was also touching and had some heart as I'm pulling for Maria Bakalova for Best Supporting Actress. Re-watches in We Bought a Zoo (fine film but someone really needs to get Cameron Crowe away from his music collection) and The Five-Year Engagement (please have Chris Pratt and Alison Brie sing together more).
Doing all my viewing at home. This week, among other things, I've seen Jean Renoir's undercelebrated "La Marseillaise" from 1938. A stirring and beautifully filmed take on the French revolution as it affected all social strata from top to bottom. Fell in love with one of its actors Andrex, a performer I'd never even heard of before. And was delighted to find out he was a popular singing star of the 30's and 40's. Downloaded one of his albums from iTunes and have been enjoying it all week.
Rewatched one of my favorite Randolph Scott westerns, "Canadian Pacific" from 1949. It was magnificently restored a few years back to its original Cinecolor glory. That's a long gone color process highlighted by pine greens and reddish-browns and it's absolutely perfect for westerns.
Also watched the latest adrenaline blast from the Australian cinema, "True History of the Kelly Gang". Brutal but impressive. Highly charged on every level. George McKay, Charlie Hunnam, Nicholas Hoult and Russell Crowe all deliver but Essie Davis (of "The Babadook" and the Miss Fisher series) astonishes as the film's take no prisoners matriarch. Unforgettable work. Can someone explain to me why she doesn't seem to getting Oscar traction for this role (either lead or supporting)? Is the film not eligible for some reason?
I watched Gaby, a True Story for the smackdown. I was impressed that the film was very sex positive in the portrayal of Gaby. My Left Foot didn't go near that far.
I watched Housekeeping on the Criterion Channel. Has anyone else seen this? I’m absolutely obsessed, definitely a new favourite. I’ve been thinking about it nonstop. It’s so beautiful and sweet but with an undercurrent of sadness. I have so many feelings! It feels like a FilmExperience movie for sure. Please someone tell me I’m not alone in my new obsession.
Brevity -- you're not alone. It was mentioned in a few of our 87 overviews and it's on my top ten list for that year. top ten list 1980s
Was not impressed with BORAT, which I finally saw. No wonder people in "flyover country" hate "Hollywood liberals". The first one seemed to offer some surprising revelations and had some realy OH MY GOD moments. This one seems like all cheap shots followed by moments that make you just want to look away from the screen. Worse, SBC was constantly baiting conservatives into acting like pigs, and yet, for the most part, the MAGA types kinda sorta kept their dignity. Okay, he got a woman who owns a bakery to write "Jews will not replace us" on a cake. So what? I almost felt for those folks.
Finally caught PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE. Very strong. I think I'll add it to my LGBTQ Cinema course I teach in the spring.
A SNAKE IN JUNE, by TETSUO director Shin'ya Tsukamoto over on MUBI is pretty intense and stylish. A real gripping psycho-sexual mind f**k. I'm going to watch some of the director's other films while MUBI has them.
Again, I really enjoyed A RAINY DAY IN NEW YORK. A lot of fun. Yes, college kids today don't talk like the characters in Woody Allen movies. Guess what, people in 1940s America didn't talk like Humphrey Bogart or Bette Davis in Warner Brothers movies, either. I'm glad there are still filmmakers who aren't afraid of writerly, stylish dialog.
Rewatched THE HEIRESS since the BF hadn’t seen it, and it was just as amazing as my first viewing. Got the BF quoting it now too.
I've been attending DOCNYC virtually and have seen 5 films so far. My favorite is 9to5: The Story of a Movement, which Glenn reviewed earlier this year - it is Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar's follow-up to American Factory. It is not as compelling as American Factory, which I thought was a masterpiece, but it still sheds light on a part of the labor movement I didn't even know about - a group of women office workers (mostly secretaries) demanding better treatment in the workplace. I also found Romania's international film submission Collective really compelling.
I saw Contact for the first time (catching up with the Blank Check podcast series on Robert Zemeckis) and enjoyed it, though it could have been edited for time. I'm somewhat surprised Jodie Foster didn't get more awards traction for that performance; I would have preferred her to most of the nominees that year.
Finally, I finished The Good Lord Bird, which was great, my favorite limited series of the year along with Mrs. America. I'm also continuing to watch The Undoing, even though I'm aware it isn't very good!
I had the desire to watch You've Got Mail lol so I did.
Andy Sedaris'es "Hard Ticket to Hawaii" (1987) an exploitation masterpiece with topless women, sexy men, explosions, more topless women, deadly snakes, more topless women, kung fu fights, more topless women - I now must see every Andy Sedaris film ever made! The Criterion collection must do an Andy Sedaris box set
Introducing one of my kids to some of my favorite pre-1950 films, so BLOSSOMS IN THE DUST, NOW, VOYAGER, and THE ENCHANTED COTTAGE.
Also, a stupid movie on Netflix that made me laugh out loud (and miss working in restaurants), WAITING...
I saw The Train (1964) with Burt Lancaster and Jeanne Moreau. Its cinematography and editing and action set pieces were so sharp. I wanted to send it to a few current directors for them to study.
I also saw Dash & Lily earlier in the week when I was sick in bed. It was perfect for that: super cute without talking down to its audience in spite of its coincidence-heavy premise. Its huge, game cast gave it more charm than it probably deserved.
LET HIM GO--
Why is Diane Lane not in Oscar contention talk for this? She is brilliant!
Saw Ammonite and absolutely loved it. Winslet was great as usual. Ronan was wonderful too but we do not get much sense of Charlotte's inner life. Thought Fiona Shaw knocked her three scenes out of the park.
Bree -- These theater only films are having trouble getting attention this year (other than TENET)
Cash -- i also watched DASH & LILY this week.
Nathaniel -- Your brevity about Dash & Lily says it all. Ha!