What did you see this week?
Monday, June 29, 2020 at 12:01AM 
I miss going to the movie theater so much that I ache sometimes. This week inbetween work and stress and social-distanced social activities (sigh), I finished Normal People and Love Victor. Then I made time for Hannah Gadsby's Douglas which was brilliant. Somehow she nailed the very tough follow-up expectations set by Nanette -- I'm still giggling hours later about "Karen's handful" and women's hobbies during the Renaissance.
Finally we screened Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga. Regarding the latter, my best friend and I had heard great things but save Rachel McAdam's usual magnetism and Dan "I've got range!" Stevens' pompous hilarity as a seductive Russian pop star, it was dreadful. About 40 minutes too long (no really), predictable at every turn, with death rattle pacing, and Will Ferrell continuing to be the least funny of the successful comic film stars.
What did you see this week?
Reader Comments (39)
I made the horrible mistake of watching The Hunt and Irresistible back to back. What a pair of insufferably smug so-called political satires that couldn't be more vacuous if they tried. At least, Betty Gilpin's assured performance makes the first movie vaguely watchable.
For the gay pride weekend I saw For a lost soldier (1992), a Dutch drama, it was nice, The child I never was(2002), a German drama and A mi madre le gustan las mujeres (2002), a Spanish comedy (not good, but entertaining).
Re-watches of Crimson Peak (more people need to see this!), The Running Man (fucking love that film), and a shortened version of a 2001 concert film by the Northern Irish band Ash (more people need to check them out as they're a great band) and a first-timer in Crazy Rich Asians. I saw the first 30 minutes of Eurovision Song Contest and please put Rachel McAdams in more comedies. She's a total natural.
Just watched "Do the Right Thing" for the first time in...30 years? I don't think I've seen it since it first came out, when my parents rented it on video - I had a memory of it being powerful but upsetting. Well, it's still powerful and upsetting - if anything, even more so? It hurts that it's still so damn relevant.
Also saw "Just Mercy," which was a bit more by-the-numbers but also still sadly relevant. Jamie Foxx drew most of the little attention the movie got, and he's good, but Rob Morgan was almost better. And I gotta give credit to Michael B. Jordan, who usually plays defiant, slightly cocky characters, for switching it up and really channeling Bryan Stevenson's quieter affect.
And also finished season 2 of "Pose," which had some annoying Ryan Murphy/Glee-esque wild character swings and ridiculous narrative hairpin turns, but was still so moving and full of joy I didn't care. That show always puts a smile on my face, and I can never get too much of either the ball scenes or the Pray Tell/Blanca heart-to-hearts.
Revisited WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION for next week's Smackdown. (Lancester for the win!)
Went back to THE TIMES OF HARVEY MILK for Pride Month.
Did new Netflix movies THE LOVEBIRDS (one of the worst films of the year) and WASP NETWORK (solid, even if it isn't really a typical Assayas movie).
Watched THE BACHELOR PARTY, SAYONARA, and re-watched PEYTON PLACE for the Smackdown.
In Season 13 of ER and can't believe I never thought of pitching FLOOR IS LAVA myself. I could be rich and famous!!!
Finished the whole series (so far) of Queen of the South - an oftentimes-riveting narco drama detailing the rise of a cartel queen-pin played by Alice Braga. The series is an Alice-in-Drugland adventure with colorful, scary and cruel characters, and the ordinaries who make possible the supply for the demand for drugs worldwide. Teresa (Braga) who clawed her way to the top was more exciting in earlier seasons when she started out and always on the run than in later seasons. But Queen of the South's four seasons flew by in a few days and I find myself waiting in anticipation for the next season.
I thought I'll give Russian Doll a try and despite being distracted by the character Nadia (played by Natasha Lyonne), I warmed up to it midway through. The first episodes I find to be self-consciously trying to be cool and hip by enabling Nadia with a lot of witty and clever zingers. When I got over that, and especially with the appearance of Alan (played by Charlie Barnett), the plot became less centered on the constant deaths and more about how to move past it. In a wildly imaginative and touching last scene when the two spheres collided, I was surprised at how it gave me goose bumps and I even got misty-eyed. It was powerful and joyous and celebratory without being cloying. With Love's "Alone Again Or" song being played, it was a wonderful season-ender. I'm totally ready for the second season.
The daughter of a famous Hollywood actress recommended I'm Not OK With This. It was a charming coming-of-age story of an "odd" girl in a small town. That she possessed telekinetic powers add to the excitement. While I usually shy away from teen dramas as a personal preference, I thought the delineation of the Sydney and Stanley and Dina characters were on-point most of the time without devolving into the cloying and cutesy. Instead, the flaws were portrayed sympathetically in simpatico with the innate charisma of Sophia Lillis, Wyatt Oleff and Sofia Bryant. The season-ender has a Carrie-like vibe that did not resort to parody, but I might still watch the second season if it gets the greenlight.
I watched Normal People a few weeks back. Such a beautiful piece of work. Each episode has a melancholy that is not depressing. It's all filigree storytelling, no forced push to move the narrative forward if it does not dwell deeply into the entangled lives of Marianne and Connell. The show is interested in showing meaningful moments rather what happens next, although it does that too. Oftentimes, the temporal dimension of the story is only highlighted in the depiction of places as another venue to stage the ever complicated relationship of Connell and Marianne, played sublimely by Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar-Jones. Normal People somehow reminded me of films like Never Let Me Go and The Sense of an Ending and the minimalism in Susan Minot's short stories not for their storylines necessarily but of the pace, mood and colours adopted in Normal People to frame the story. the last episode is basically an extension of the lives of two individuals hopelessly and fatally in love with each other but realise that maybe true love does not mean being together, nor it is to drift apart from each other.
I also saw "Eurovision Song Contest". Do you think "Jaja Dingdong" has a shot at an Original Song nomination?
Today: "One Cut of the Dead" ***** / A- A love letter to guerrilla, zero budget filmmaking. Essential viewing for anyone interested in making films... did I mention it is funny, too?
Yesterday: Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga *** 1/2 / C+ Not one of Ferrell's best but good enough to justify its viewing. It is better if you are familiar with the contest... there are a couple of scenes that made me laugh almost to tears, and McAdams and Stevens are awards worthy (handicap: they play in a Ferrell comedy) and it has solid chances in Costume and Song for the Oscars, if Netflix decides to campaign. It could very well win both, if lucky.
The Stratford Festival (Shakespeare in Stratford, Ontario, Canada)
Has been having free streaming of its recent past productions. They stream free for 3 weeks, then go to On Demand, with a different production starting every week.
This week, I saw “Pericles” which was surprisingly interesting. Last week I saw “Love’s Labour’s Lost”. I’m still struggling to get through “King John”.
I couldn’t make it through the first one, which was “King Lear” because I just couldn’t concentrate at that time.
The preshow discussions are also really interesting. I always marvel at how well run this festival is.
Babyteeth - what a fantastic movie
Best thing I watched was Beau Travail. Just as magnificent as many say.
I've watched Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga which was OK enough for some laughs, though it could have been way much better, the premise is so good, the actual eurovision is 10x more fun,
Also watched french movies At War and The Mystery of Henri Pick, both amazing and entertaining
The best thing I watched was Clotheslines, a documentary featured on Tell Me: Women Filmmakers, Women's Stories on Criterion Channel which examines how women were able to nurture their artistry through homemaking. I never thought laundry could be so thought-provoking.
I also watched Maurice for the first time and thought it was pretty brilliant, erotic and touching. But it does lose something when Hugh Grant is offscreen.
Other worthwhile watches this week:
Presumed Innocent: I suppose this would be a limited series now, but I'm not sure that would be better, as the movie was really compelling tight 2 hours and the type of thing I'd like to see in a theater if theaters were open (it made $200M+ at the box office!).
Athlete A: A difficult watch that goes beyond already-reported stories about the Nassar scandal; it's easy to imagine this being an Oscar contender for Best Documentary.
The Juniper Tree: If a Bjork album were a film....
I also rewatched Julie and Julia, In Her Shoes, and The Fits.
For someone reason I thought you disliked McAdams! I’m so happy you enjoyed her in Eurovision, she was so fun. So sad she has nothing in production after this.
Finally watched "Knives Out" thanks to Prime Video. I loved every moment, especially the ones with Christopher Plummer. It was delightfully corny at times, quirky at the appropriate moments, suspenseful from beginning to end, and immensely satisfying. And Ana de Armas's performance was totally underrated. My only issue was with Craig's southern drawl, it was a little distracting at times, taking away from, more than adding to the film.
I think it's been two weeks since Nathaniel asked us this question so I have to try and remember any/everything I've seen.
I'm still white knuckling it through the wonderful world of unemployment during the lockdown so I've been turning to comfort food watching. I DVRd The Unsinkable Molly Brown and Calamity Jane and swore to myself that I'd only watch the musical numbers and everything else on fast forward, but of course I watched both in their entirety. I hadn't seen Calamity Jane in, gulp, 40 years. I remember thinking it was kind of lame, but I thought this reviewing was pretty good. The songs are mostly negligible but Doris Day and Howard Keel were excellent.
I also watched a Dick Powell musical I'd never seen called something like Cowboy From Brooklyn. The story is all in the title, but the "find" was the secondary leading man who I think was called Pat O'Brien. I don't recall ever seeing him before but he seemed very modern to me. I'll have to look for him.
Shaun The Sheep Movie again. Excellent for a multi-lingual household because there is no dialogue,
So many Netflix clips and Asian gay soap operas that I can't even keep them all straight.
The Country Girl: Much like Annie Hall, it wound up being less about the titular character than I initially had expected. I have a hunch that if either film were to be released today, its leading lady would be placed in the supporting actress category. At any rate, the picture itself is a mixed bag with the misogyny jumping out in a way that I find somewhat appalling even by 1950s standards. Taken singularly, Grace Kelly's work actually is very good, even exceptional in places, but contextualized much of it is a head scratcher because the audience doesn't get a good sense of why this particular woman -- as embodied by Kelly -- would hollow herself out so much to accommodate such an insecure, manipulative man. I believe most of this is owing to the actress's age, as she was too young for the part by at least 15 years. For me Bing Crosby's performance is the real draw.
13 Reasons Why, season 3: I honestly don't even know why I started watching the series a few weeks ago, let alone continued viewing it when I realized that it is nothing more than trauma porn unfolding in a universe where nothing makes sense, everyone makes stupid choices, things just happen because reasons. I'm currently trying to talk myself out of diving into the fourth and final season.
Watched The Bachelor Party and started Peyton Place, I want to be up on the Smackdown for 1957! The former was ok I guess - it's very Chayefsky and very proto Mad Men - and so far really enjoying Peyton Place. Nothing like that 1950s cinema.
I saw "Cruising" (1980) in the excellent blu ray from Arrow films. The movie is still dark and disturbing but it serves a time capsule for a lost side of gay New York history. I've fascinated with the the idea that Richard Gere was the first choice for the lead.
I've binged the Australian dramedy Please Like Me (streaming on Amazing Prime, at least in the UK), which coincidentally had Hannah Gadsby in a supporting role. This show ran from 2013-2016 but I'd missed it. It's really fantastic. So funny, charming and heartbreaking. There are a couple of bottle episodes in particular that are up there with the best half-hour tv episodes I've ever seen. Would whole-heartedly recommend it.
Mostly revisits. I'm careful to keep it light during the pandemic, because I freak out easily.
Rewatched Diamonds are Forever. So much better than its reputation despite many really bad moments.
Watched Glass. Also much better than it's reputation, but not exactly good. Gave it a 6/10.
Watched 1939's Little Women (Hepburn). I'm slowly working my way through all of them. I don't even know why because I don't love it.
Just as Little Women ended, The Sixth Sense came on whatever channel I was watching, and it was irresistible. Still perfect.
Watched the magnificent Disclosure on Netflix, and followed it with The Trans List (a little too gawky) and then a rewatch of Celluloid Closet (still magnificent).
Finished watching the Bryan Fuller Hannibal on Netflix. Mads' effortlessly disturbing/alien quality makes for...probably my favourite Lecter? Show (which is very good) winds up more gothically stylized than the Michael Mann and the two post Jonathan Demme Hopkins features, but less so than Demme's Lambs. But, again: The conversations between Lecter and Clarice there were set in...basically Arkham Asylum.
My weekend was primarily the virtual Frameline FF this weekend. They did their best to recreate the elements online: The 5 minute organ recital by David in the Castro was the highlight- ending with his traditional round of "San Francisco" as the movie was about to start. It was nice to be able to fast forward thru the awful telecom ad. Peter Stein's intro was adorable and it almost felt like we were there. And the QandA were probably enhanced by the fact that more of the cast/crew could participate from around the world, and there was a lack of annoying "questions" from the audience- questions were read aloud by the guests. Over all, though of course I can't wait to be able to participate SAFELY in the Castro Theater again.
the movies were mixed:
Suk Suk (Twilight's Kiss): a sweet, well done Hong Kong love story of two gay seniors who had lived most of their lives in heteronormative families. The scenes of their gay senior group were really nice and interesting. As was the look into HK bathhouses- you can order a family style meal b/w cruising-- just put that order on your locker #!
Stage Mother: truly awful "comedy". despite the star casting it was a big disappointment. Texas Christian mom inherits a SF drag bar from her *estranged* son who she hasn't seen in years, comes to town, sees the light in under 24 hours and starts solving every single character's problems. Who knew you could solve a stranger's addiction problems in one night? Plus.. worst of all "set in SF" when clearly not filmed there.
Actually, really worst of all is that it just wasn't funny.
Parade: cool 30 min short of restored footage of the 1971 Gay Freedom Parade w/ lots of great interviews by participants.
Desperately binging 1957 in preparation for the smackdown, what else?
Throne of Blood and The Seventh Seal are sitting atop my favorites thus far, but I still hope to watch 15 more 57 films this week.
First I watched Linda Robstadt: The Sound of my Voice. I loved it. Then I watched Prisoners which I also liked but just felt depressed about afterwards.
We started DARK (SEASON 3) on Netflix and we watched THE AMAZING MR X (aka THE SPIRITUALIST), 1948, directed by Bernard Vorhaus. Not a pivotal flick but quite entertaining and with a very good b/w cinematography by John Alton. Besides it's nice to see a movie starring the charming TULHAN BEY, the Turkish Delight of many Unviersal extravaganzas
- The Shape Of Water (always great)
- Hatari! (John Wayne 1961)
- The Parent Trap (1961-always a great summer escape)
- (Documentary) Untouchable (2019 Harvey Weinstein)
- I’ll See You In My Dreams (Blythe Danner—-idiotic)
-Algiers (1938)
* for much needed laughter, ‘the dinner scene’ from Talledaga Nights :)
TOM: Algiers? Interesting!! What did you make of it? I'm a fan of Boyer's. And I thought Gene Lockhart was terrific - I don't think I'll ever forget him in this.
Owl: Your comments on Normal People make me reflect. I didn't like it much. The two leads were compelling but I just felt the tone was too miserablist for the material. And I'm not sure enough happened to warrant twelve episodes. But I can see that it is a striking show.
Deborah: I was thinking about Diamonds Are Forever today! Just when I think I've convinced myself it's a poor Bond movie, I have an urge to watch it again...
In the last week, I've only watched Broadway Danny Rose (one of my favourite Woody Allen's films) and Reversal of Fortune (always such an entertaining film - one enjoyable scene after another, and this time a nice new French Blu-ray edition). I started rewatching Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and hope to finish it tonight.
Kelly -- jeezus. your stamina. 15 more films? I wish i had the time :( *cries*
@nathanielr 13 more now! And thanks for posting your top tens for each year — a great source for recommendations!
@Edward L: I get what you mean about the tone of Normal People. I recommended it to a good friend who I frequently discuss movies and he said he couldn't get past Episode 1. So I thought maybe Normal People will/can work for you immediately and forever or completely not be won by it.
When you said that not enough happened to warrant 12 episodes, I think that's precisely why I like it a lot. It is not plot-driven (to be reductive about it) but more about ephemeral and meaningful moments that show different shades of Connell and Marianne's characters and what they mean to each other; about fleeting feelings exquisitely captured.
I have not seen Broadway Danny Rose yet but maybe I will this time around. I have a few more slow films to watch. How often to you rewatch a film in a year / 5 years?
Shudder's been coming through with exclusives. Scare Package is an over the top horror comedy paying tribute to the many subgenres of B-movies in horror. It's set in a video rental store where a new employee is being trained and tormented by horror fans. It's stupid in the best way possible and hit me deep in the memory bank.
I agree about Eurovision Song Contest! It was awful, Farrell was awful. Can we have a new version with Rachel McAdams and Dan Stevens as the leads and a new script?
Owl: Certainly I liked Normal People for its relative plotlessness. And I like stories that concentrate on small moments. But the small moments have to be worthwhile, and I felt that a fair amount of Normal People was just a bit slow and underpowered. It sustains its mood well...but to what purpose? The two main characters are both troubled...but was it anything more interesting than clichéd teenage angst? I know I'm being hard on it - but I did try with it! (I watched it to the end, missing only about 1.5 episodes overall.) But the fact that I did watch it to the end says something about its quality - largely to do with the two leads, I think. I'd watch both of them in something else. But I'm happy that people have liked it a lot and I suspect it just didn't click with me.
I hope you enjoy Broadway Danny Rose if you watch it. It's got zest and it's very warm-hearted. And it's so well-made. I see it every few years. This is always a (pleasant) dilemma: what to watch again vs. what to watch for the first time. I probably rewatch about half a dozen Woody Allen films a year, though some more frequently than others. Similar with other favourite filmographies. If I'm writing about a film I can watch it a lot in a short space of time, as one would expect. Are you working on a project with slow films?
Completely agree with "Eurovision Song." That would have been so good had anyone other that Will Farrell played the lead. He annoyed me so, so much, especially since McAdams and Stevens were so terrific.
There aren't enough superlatives for the brilliant "Schitt's Creek" (which I rewatch between binges), "Sex Education" (with the fabulous Gillian Anderson and a dynamite young cast), and "Normal People" (with absolutely heartbreaking performances by Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar-Jones.
My surprise find over the weekend was a little film called "Straight Up." James Sweeney wrote, directed and starred in this movie about a gay guy who doesn't like sex. It's available on Netflix and is a much watch for comedy lovers. I have seen it three times since Friday. It's hysterically funny, but grabs you by the heart when you least expect it. So good. Sweeney and his costar Katie Findlay are future superstars if there is any justice.
I have to admit that I have already seen twice "Eurovision Song Festival: The Story of Fire Saga" C+/***1/2
Few movies have so much heart and devotion for the subject material as this one, while never being shy to spoof it and point out how ridiculous it could be. First of all, give the Oscar for Best Original Song to "Hometown", which is one of the very best, most moving and also more essential to its film (the sense of the Oscar in Song) songs written for a film in decades. Also bear in mind that the songwritting team for this movie faced the monumental task of writting so many eurovision-like "contestants" that would be exactly in the key point between spoof and believable contenders.
Add to that the campy, glamorous Costume Design and Production Design, the cinematography (with some outstanding shots), the make up (even if the highlights are blink and you miss them) and the scene stealing performance by Dan Stevens and how wonderful and on-point Rachel McAdams performance is (GG comedy musical nominee? Pleease?)... just do not follow the reviews ... yes, it is not a perfect film, not everything lands, but in some way it is a must see, a cult film in the making, rewatchable as hell and with an excellent, catchy soundtrack... and I repeat it again, SO MUCH HEART AND SOUL, something so rare to find lately... Will Ferrell loves the Festival and did not want to just make fun of it, but also make a tribute to it, and its worldwide phenomenom.
Will probably see it a couple of more times this month, when I feel down, it's really uplifting.
P.S.: the harbor scene... that exchange of reactions by Ferrell and McAdams... I vote for it as one of the funniest scenes of the decade, already.
Lol, I did not remember that I already posted on this thread about Eurovision. Well, the second post is AFTER a 2nd viewing, along with a Russian friend (who was so GRATEFUL that the Russian contestant wasn't portrayed so much as a villain... he's gay and tells me - even if I konw this coming from other russian gay friends from mine - that the news coming out in our western world about Russia are SO manipulated, and that the homophobia in Russia isn't by any means as bad as portrayed (most of my russian friends, are out in public and in social networks and organize meetings and parties freely). Neither of them is pro-Putin, by the way, and some of them they joke about him calling him "the Zhar", because of his autoritarian profile. Summary: don't believe anything you hear from CNN, Fox, NBC and so on.
mmmm... and one extra little bit on Eurovision... people complaining about Ferrell as lead:
1) it is his project and his star power is necessary to get the film greenlighted
2) age accurate: the character is 7 years old in 1974, so he is 53 in 2020. Rachel McAdams character is supposed to be just 50 or about to, she's the one that does not look her age.
3) the whole point of the story is Lars being the big obstacle for Sigrit to shine. That is perfectly portraied by Ferrell, goofy enough but also talented enough to make believable that she would admire his talent, despite not being as good as hers.
so, overall, while Ferrell had a couple of cringe-worthy moments... the sensation is that I am happy he is the lead, because otherwise the film probably wouldn't have been made.