Watched, Read, Reviewed: February 2024

Hey all! Happy April! Man, I’m so glad the clocks have finally changed here in the U.K. – these dark & dreary days are not helping my mental state. Love when it stays light for longer in the evening.

Here are my reviews for all that I watched in February (watched a lot of Oscar nominees in February & March). Will try to post the March roundup soon too. Been watching far too many movies to try to pass the time alone.

MOVIES WATCHED IN FEBRUARY (ranked best to worst):

– Past Lives – Finally! Another Oscar nominee this year that I actually liked! Maybe loved. This was a beautiful film. Made my heart both swell & break. That can be dangerous at my age – I can’t handle more heartache! Such strong characters with a deep connection. Loved them. I need a happily ever after…

I added this to My Top Ten Films Of The 2020s (so far) list. I’ve also done a ranked list of the 33 Oscar nominees that I’ve seen this year (including shorts etc). This movie is 3rd on that list. I’d say I only loved the top three (and maybe the fourth, Anatomy Of A Fall, which was also great). And hated the bottom three, one of which was up for Best Picture (Poor Things). Remember when the Oscar nominees were more… watchable? – 8/10

– Suncoast – Good performances from all but Nico Parker is the star here. She’s great as the teenager wanting to live a normal life while having to help her single mother with the full-time care required for her brother. Man, her mother made me so mad sometimes… A heartbreaking story that may hit too close to home for anyone in a similar situation. – 7.5/10

– Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One – I have to confess I’ve not seen all these films & can’t say for sure which I missed (2 & 4, I think). Spy films aren’t my thing despite being “exciting” (you’d not believe how few Bond films I’ve seen). The stories are so samey & blend together into one for me (like Marvel). However, I really enjoyed this one! Probably helps that it’s a “rogue AI” story, which is SO my type of thing.

I may rewatch all these from the start someday as I know they deserve it. I do think this series is an excellent example of this genre & Cruise’s brave stunts are truly amazing (and stressful). I absolutely love the strong female characters, especially in these final films. All the characters are very strong, which is more than can be said for a lot of action films. For the first time, I’m actually looking forward to the next Mission Impossible film. – 7.5/10

– Society Of The Snow – Good film, performances & character development. Makes me want to watch Alive again, which I’ve not seen in years. Such a tragic story but the will to survive is so inspiring that it’s easy to see why this event has been explored in so many documentaries, films, etc. A solid true story survival film. – 7/10

– Killers Of The Flower Moon – Compelling story. Great performance from Lily Gladstone. DiCaprio & De Niro feel like they’re just phoning in these Scorsese performances now, though. Disappointing. And despite a compelling story, the film did drag in places & was too long. Well made, as to be expected, and it’s one of the better Best Picture nominees this year. But it’s certainly not up there with Scorsese’s very best. – 7/10

– Mission: Impossible – Fallout – Watched this only because I realised I’d need to see it before watching Dead Reckoning before the Oscars. Preferred Dead Reckoning but both were good & have me thinking, as mentioned above, that I should give the rest of these a rewatch from the start (plus a first time watch for a couple of them). – 7/10

– Nyad – Quite enjoyed this, but I’m a sucker for feelgood true stories about people with so much determination to accomplish something big (which my lazy ass can’t relate to at all). Great characters & thought Bening, Foster & Ifans were all very good. Honestly enjoyed this more than some other big Oscar nominees, which I found a complete chore to sit through. – 7/10

– The Marvels – This was fine. Not the best MCU film but certainly not the worst. Really enjoyed seeing these three working together & Kamala Khan is a fun character. Loved Nick Fury as always & the kitten thing was hilarious. But, as with most Marvel films, I couldn’t now tell you the plot & cannot for the life of me even remember the villain. Disposable entertainment. But still a bit better than I was expecting of this one. – 6.5/10

– The Fabelmans – I never expected a Steven Spielberg film about the love of cinema, which is so my type of thing, to be so boring? It’s certainly no Cinema Paradiso. I did still enjoy parts of this semi-autobiographical tale & loved David Lynch but I just didn’t really care about all the dull family drama. It just didn’t capture that “love of film” like I was hoping. And I was distracted by that horrible haircut on Michelle Williams. – 6.5/10

– Orion And The Dark – Rarely a fan of DreamWorks so to say that this is one of their slightly better films isn’t a huge compliment. I find their characters very weak compared to Pixar, Disney, or Ghibli & I already remember very little of this 2 months after I watched it. I remember decent animation & an okay story that felt too similar to the absolutely brilliant & far superior Inside Out. Fun but forgettable. – 6.5/10

– Rustin – Not sure what to say about this Oscar nominee. The film wasn’t quite as compelling as I’d expect considering such a strong & interesting story. Can’t explain why. Very good performance from Colman Domingo, though, so am glad it’s getting recognition with a nomination. Is certainly a film that is still worth a watch for its story & main performance. – 6.5/10

– Flamin’ Hot – A fun film which I obviously only watched because it’s up for one Oscar (original song, which I can’t even currently remember). A better film than I expected for one that’s about the guy responsible for bringing us Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. One of those perfectly pleasant “rainy Sunday afternoon” watches. Enjoyable but forgettable. But still more interesting than you’d expect. – 6/10

– Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken – An okay coming of age story, similar to Turning Red, but I feel like its target audience would have no interest in watching this & see it as being for kids. But let’s be honest – nothing will ever top Inside Out in capturing what a girl feels like when growing up (still my now-teen daughter’s favorite film, as it’s timeless in a way that I’ve never found of any DreamWorks films). Meh. I’ll forget this in a year. – 6/10

– El Conde – It’s that time of year again when I hate myself for wasting my time on stuff I wouldn’t normally watch. But it’s up for an OSCAR! Whoopie shit. Cinematography? Fine, it looked good. I’ll give it that. But I hated everything else. To be fair, I’m just not a Larraín fan I guess. Hated this even more than Spencer (maybe). – 4/10

Movies Rewatched In February

– Blade Runner – Rewatched this in memory of my husband as it’s a favorite of both of ours. Absolute sci-fi classic. And still just so visually stunning. Man I miss films like this… – 9/10

– Waitress – Adore this film. One of my favorites from the past 20 years & one of my most rewatched in that time. Reviewed it in full already here. Would love if it was one of those films that I talked someone into watching & they ended up loving it too… RIP Adrienne Shelly – Thanks for the beautiful film. – 9/10

– Fight Club – First rewatch of this in many years. Holds up well & still my favorite Fincher film. Still love Brad Pitt in this. Still love it ending perfectly with Where Is My Mind playing. Not a fan of recent Fincher films – I miss his older stuff like this. – 8.5/10

– Ted – Rewatched this after watching the TV series. It’s a fun film. What can I say? I like vulgar teddy bears. – 7.5/10

Documentaries, Shorts, Miscellaneous Watched In February

All were Oscar nominees…

Documentary:

– American Symphony – A good documentary (stuck it in a list of Oscar nominees to watch so just assumed it was up for the documentary Oscar but it was only up for song). A very talented guy. Such great commitment to his music as well as his lovely wife. I’ve seen too many cancer stories in these two months since losing my husband, though. Affects far too many people. Heartbreaking.

Shorts:

– Invincible – A heartbreaking short about a troubled boy in a youth detention centre who wishes to escape. Found it the most moving of the shorts I saw this year. By the way, if I’ve seen them, they’re available somewhere in the U.K. Worth a watch.

– The After – Yet another heartbreaker (why do Oscars shorts have to be depressing 90% of the time?!). Too bleak, though. Glad it’s not based on a true story. I often avoid stories with kids being hurt or killed… Can’t take that.

– Island In Between – A fascinating short about the islands of Kinmen, of which I knew absolutely nothing (but I never know anything about anything, to be fair).

– The Barber Of Little Rock – Again, a worthy true story for an Oscar-nominated short. I do appreciate that the nominations get me watching these sort of things (when available) & it’s great when they bring awareness to issues that not all of us may be aware of.

– The Last Repair Shop – And another worthy true story I was completely unaware of. I think it’s great that this group of people keep the musical instruments working for students whose lives are sometimes made better through their love of playing those instruments. Inspiring. 

– Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó – A fun short with two great ladies who have lots of personality. Didn’t expect the farting in an Oscar nominated short…

BOOKS, TV, MUSIC, MISCELLANEOUS IN FEBRUARY

TV SHOWS WATCHED

– Schitt’s Creek: S4-6 – Binged the shit out of this while depressed. It helped a tiny bit (I guess). Ended up liking this show quite a lot by the end. Loved these characters.

– The Office (U.K.): S1-3 – Binged this as well. The most TV I’ve watched in years. Need to take my mind off of things. This was good – I can see why it was popular. Holy shit they portrayed office life perfectly! Best thing to do that since Office Space. I’ve worked with every single one of these characters. And I don’t often rewind scenes to rewatch them so you know they’re damn good when I do that. Rewatched that kiss a good few times. Perfection. Loved that ending so much. Glad I finally checked this one out. Am curious about the US version too now but discouraged by how many damn seasons there are. Typical Americans! Have to outdo everyone. Ha. For anyone who has seen it, is the US one worth watching? I’ve seen some clips & it honestly doesn’t look as good…

– Shrinking: S1 – Maybe wasn’t the smartest choice to watch this one at the moment considering the subject matter (spouse who has passed away). Honestly, though, it’s a great show. Liked it a lot. And Harrison Ford is fantastic (man he was hilarious while high!). Really looking forward to a second season. Are we getting one?! Hope so. This ended on a cliffhanger…

– Superstore: S1 – After Schitt’s Creek, I wanted another lightweight sitcom to binge (especially while eating supper – I’m a “watch TV while eating supper” person. Don’t tell anyone – they say that families shouldn’t do that but it’s just two of us so screw it – it’s what we like to do!). Anyway. Daughter had seen a few of these episodes when things broke & we could only watch live TV for a little while so she said she’d like to check these all out from the start. I’ll say it’s one that takes a while to get into but, just like Schitt’s Creek, I ended up hooked once getting to know the characters. Creek is better but this one really has grown on me a lot & I look forward to watching an episode most nights.

– Ted: S1 – Yeah, I like vulgar teddy bears.

– The Summer I Turned Pretty: S2 – Daughter & I chose this one to watch together. We laughed a lot at the OTT teenage drama. First season was much better than this second one, which does a “back & forth” timeline thing which is completely unnecessary for a teen drama like this. No need to overcomplicate the story…

– Silo: S1 E1-7 – Read this first books years ago. Liked the story a lot but clearly not enough to read the rest of the books. Remember the book being too long & dragging the story out too much. Show is feeling the same way. Love Ferguson but I’m bored with the show.

– Avatar: The Last Airbender: S1 E1-2 – Daughter liked the animated series a lot. We weren’t feeling this live action version – Doubt we’ll continue.

– One Day: S1 E1 – Liked this book & original film adaptation. Figured I’d check out this new adaptation but, meh, what’s the point? The film was fine. Not bothered about sitting through an entire series to watch this story I already know yet again.

– Brooklyn Nine-Nine: S1 E1 – My attempt to find another sitcom. I fell asleep. Maybe I’ll retry at some point… Is it worth it? The first episode certainly didn’t grab me (but many sitcoms start that way).

BOOKS READ

– The Girl Before by JP Delaney – Intriguing story. Hateful characters. One of those very much along the same lines as The Girl On The Train, The Woman In The Window, etc. Will be very surprised if they don’t adapt this into a movie. Which will of course be mediocre, like the book (and all the others just like it). But they’re guilty pleasures for me. At least it’s a slightly unusual concept. Here’s the plot synopsis from Amazon:

“EMMA: Reeling from a traumatic break-in, Emma wants a new place to live. But none of the apartments she sees are affordable or feel safe. Until One Folgate Street. The house is an architectural masterpiece: a minimalist design of pale stone, plate glass and soaring ceilings. But there are rules. The enigmatic architect who designed the house retains full control: no books, no throw pillows, no photos or clutter or personal effects of any kind. The space is intended to transform its occupant–and it does.

JANE: After a personal tragedy, Jane needs a fresh start. When she finds One Folgate Street she is instantly drawn to the space–and to its aloof but seductive creator. Moving in, Jane soon learns about the untimely death of the home’s previous tenant, a woman similar to Jane in age and appearance. As Jane tries to untangle truth from lies, she unwittingly follows the same patterns, makes the same choices, crosses paths with the same people and experiences the same terror, as the girl before.” – My Rating: 2.5/5

BLOG PLANS FOR THE COMING MONTH

Will post my March roundup (once I’ve actually written the reviews). And I’ve started April by watching some brilliant films, so looking forward to reviewing those. One immediately got added to my all-time favorite movies list, which rarely gets new additions…

Upcoming Movies I Want To See:

No clue. I bitched at Odeon for not letting anyone under 18 have annual passes as it’s pointless for me to get one for myself & not be able to include my daughter but we sure don’t seem to be missing anything good at the moment anyway… Are any good movies coming out this year?! Did really like Dune: Part 2 a lot but that’s all this year has had to offer so far?! It’s already April! Man, think back to the 80s when you’d have multiple absolute classics released every damn month.

Since I mentioned it above in the Fight Club review, I’ll end with the Pixies song Where Is My Mind? (I know that feeling…)