David Cronenberg lays it on thick in A History of Violence. For most of the movie every move that every character makes, everything that every character says, is dripping with “notice what I’m doing!” I found this distracting, (also distracting: the music over the end scene) but what made this good movie was one moment with Viggo Mortensen.
Verdict: Good
Cost: free from library
Where watched: at home in preparation for Filmspotting’s March Madness 2019
Never has the Male Gaze been so thoroughly applied to men (by a woman director*) as in Beau Travail. “This movie has not plot,” I whispered to my cat halfway through and while it does have a loose plot, most of the movie consists of languid observations of a small band of French Foreign Legion solders in Djibouti. To reach full mesmer, it’s probably best watched in a dark theater on a day with not much else to do.
Verdict: Good
Cost: free from library
Where watched: at home, in preparation for Filmspotting Best of the 2000s March Madness
*Young, fit military men are rather mesmerizing.
Nicole Holofcener’s The Land of Steady Habits left me unfulfilled, which is a rare for this director. As usual, the plot told the story of a rich white, person, but this time it was a rich white male person.* The acting was good (especially Ben Mendelsohn and Edie Falco) and I enjoyed the small intersections of people, but ultimately the movie left me cold.
Cost: Netflix monthly subscription ($7.99)
Where watched: at home
*There are a million movies from the rich white man point of view, but this is Holofcener’s first movie featuring a male main character.
I’m not familiar with the slums of Rio de Janeiro,* and the City of God transported me to that location and aptly illustrated Rocket’s (Alexandre Rodrigues) brutal life. The film left me unsatisfied due to unanswered questions** but quite satisfied with interesting camera stuff. I will say that City of God is worth watching for its opening scene.
Cost: free from the Multnomah County Library
Where watched: at home, in preparation for Filmspotting’s March Madness 2019: Best of the 2000s
*My total experience with Rio is Romeo + Juliet.
**The transition from child to teenager comes with houses increasing from one story to multi-story. Did he move, or did the slums grow up? It was never really clear. Also, once Rocket became a teenager, what happened to his parents?
George Tillman Jr.’s The Hate U Give is full of love: between family members, between people, between friends. It’s also grounded by incredible performances by Amandla Stenberg as Starr Carter and Russell Hornsby as Maverick, Starr’s father. Based on the book I picked as last year’s zeitgeist read, this is a worthy adaptation and worth watching for the performances, for the loss, and for the love.*
Cost: $5.55 (though actually $11.90 because I watched it twice, though actually actually free due to a gift card.)
Where watched: Regal City Center Stadium 12, by myself, and then with Matt. Because when a movie is this good, you come back with someone else.
*It’s also funny in parts.
Taika Waititi is a fabulous director of children* and his talent is on full display in Boy, the story of a Alamein, a boy living in New Zealand in 1984. Alamein tells his friends a lot of stories about the adventures his father is having, and then must reckon with the reality of who his father is, once he appears. Boy contains 80s touchstones, abounds with the earnest/slacker New Zealand accent, includes really great fantasy sequences, and is a movie that is a masterpiece of the wonder and fantasy of childhood, while also doesn’t spare childhood’s dark places.
Cost: free via the Multnomah County Library’s Kanopy service (first movie watched via that platform!)
Where watched: at home with Matt when we were both feeling under the weather.
*As seen in the delightful The Hunt for the Wilderpeople
Tamara Jenkins’ Private Life is a sad and funny tale of a couple trying everything to become parents, specifically through fertility treatments. I cannot say enough about how good Kathryn Hahn is in this movie–she’s unrecognizable from the comedic roles I have loved her in, and incredibly real. Aside from being a movie worth watching, this sheds light on the high hopes sold by the fertility industry, something probably foreign to women who don’t want children, or who can easily conceive.
Cost: Netflix monthly subscription fee ($7.99)
Where watched: at home
I can finally exhale, because A Star is Born (2018) ignores the travesty that was the 1976 version and restores what made the 1937 and 1954 versions magical: a story of gentle love and nurturing talent through kindness and adoration. The plot has always focused on how a woman must transform herself to become famous, but for some reason seeing those transformations in the current day really annoyed me.* This movie is also a meditation on the power of performance and provides many examples of the magic of a live audience.**
Cost: $5.55
Where watched: Regal City Center Stadium 12
*What a man needs to be famous: a guitar and a microphone. What a woman needs to be famous: specific looks, particular hair color, ability to dance, the right clothing, etc. etc. etc.
**Despite what people say about the last song not quite being up to the emotional heft that is necessary Lady Gaga gives it her best and nails the final shot.
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I watched here.
Cost: $1.50 via Redbox
Where watched: at home with Matt who really liked it.
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While The Sisters Brothers is a good addition to the Western genre, it didn’t dazzle me on many fronts. The acting was good, with John C. Reilly being the standout.* This is not a movie for people uncomfortable with animals—horses mostly—in peril.
Cost: $9.00 or some such nonsense, though free for me because I’m still drawing down that sweet, sweet gift card.
Where watched: Regal Fox Tower
*I’d love to see an Oscar nomination for him because he aptly captured his distaste for the outlaw lifestyle and his deep love of his brother.
