Hi all. Going to try to catch up on my monthly roundups. Have to admit I’ve been feeling very depressed & not been in the mood to put posts together but will try to get back to it. I’ll always enjoy talking about really great & really shit movies (it’s all the ones in the middle that are boring to talk about).
Here’s the good & bad shit that I watched in March. Letterboxd reviews posted for the movies I didn’t review on this blog.
MOVIES WATCHED (ranked best to worst):
– Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood – 8/10
– Dune: Part Two – 8/10
– Hatching – 8/10
– Anatomy Of A Fall – Very good, which was nice after being disappointed with the Best Picture nominees this year. My 4th favorite of all the nominees in all categories so far. Sandra Hüller was great as always but thought the kid, Milo Machado-Graner, was especially good. Was very into the story & how it would play out. Loved the dog. And lawyer dude (who was kind of hot?). A nominee that didn’t feel like a chore to watch! – 7.5/10
– An Inspector Calls – Watched this as my daughter read (and loved) the play for school. I was happy to check it out with her since I adore Alastair Sim as my favorite Scrooge. It’s a very good story focusing on class, politics, etc and, honestly, it was cool having it enthusiastically explained to me by my daughter. That’s the power of good storytelling. Oh, and Alastair Sim was great as always. Good stuff! – 7.5/10
– American Fiction – Oh thank god, another Oscar nominee I didn’t hate! I was feeling bad for all my negative Oscar reviews that I posted. This had a great story & I was invested in these characters & interested to see how things would end. See? It’s not so hard to make a film Oscar-worthy AND watchable! Only slightly negative thing is I’m not sure the ending(s) quite worked. – 7/10
– Road House (2024) – 7/10
– Gran Turismo – Well this was much better than I was expecting. This is a real thing they did?! Put video game players into real race cars?!?! That’s nuts. Anyway, this was fun & had more drama & heart than expected. Good sports movie too. And I was loving David Harbour listening to Black Sabbath all the time. I always like the music the old people listen to in movies now. Damn, I’m the old people in movies now… – 7/10
– Oppenheimer – I’ll keep this short since people love Christopher Nolan. I don’t. I’m sorry. Don’t kick me off Letterboxd (or this blog). Too long. As always. Character development lacking. As always. Overblown. As always. I’ll shut up now & stop saying “as always” since I love The Prestige. And liked Memento but need to rewatch it as not seen it since release.
This will win Best Picture. And I’ll be annoyed. (It did. I was.) – 6.5/10
– All Of Us Strangers – I feel bad but this one didn’t work for me the way it seemed to for everyone else. Good performances & I loved the concept with his parents & the reveal at the end was very good. So… Not sure why it left me cold & feeling no emotion? Felt too forced. Think it was just so slow & dreary that I lost interest. I think if you loved A Ghost Story (I didn’t), you’ll love this. – 6.5/10
– The Beekeeper – Dumb but fun. Not quite the “so bad it’s good” kind of thing that I think it wants to be (like original Road House) or as kickass awesome as I think it also wants to be (like John Wick). But probably perfectly enjoyable for anyone who likes those movies. Jason Statham suits this type of role & I can see this becoming a series of films. I’ve certainly seen far worse in this genre. – 6.5/10
– Double Team – 6/10
– Arthur’s Whisky – Won’t change the world but a fun film with likeable actresses. Is very lightweight but so much could’ve been said on what it’s like, especially for women, to age in a society that doesn’t give a shit about you past a certain age. I can relate. Surprised they still make films for those of us who don’t matter. If you like Keaton in melancholy comedies about aging, I’d also recommend Poms which was better.
Feel weird at how well I’m relating to these sort of movies now which star women who are slightly older than my parents. Guess you do start to appreciate the bullshit your mother had to go through as you get older too. – 6/10
– Ricky Stanicky – Admit I like dumb, raunchy comedies. But I do wish they were better films. Comedy & characters weak overall & lying to their loved ones for years annoyed me more than it should have. However, Cena was funny yet again. He does this type of comedy well. So extra star for him & especially his raunchy songs. I’d listen to an album of those. Prefer those Vacation Friends movies, though. – 6/10
– Spaceman – Disappointing. Admit to being a Sandler fan in both comedy & serious roles. Plus as a huge fan of sci-fi & the meaningful type of stories I thought this might be, I was really looking forward to it. Everyone does well in their roles but I didn’t see the point? Found it quite boring & lacking in emotion. I appreciate any movie that tries to tell a story in an unusual way, though, so I give it credit for that. – 6/10
– Napoleon – Ugh. No. Why do I do this to myself? I wouldn’t have even watched several of this year’s nominees if they’d not been up for Oscars. This wasn’t “awful” but it’s just so not my thing. And I’m getting really sick of Phoenix (Beau didn’t help!!). Kirby was good. Um. Yeah. My reviews suck. 🙂 (I’ll give this an extra half a star since Ridley Scott made Alien so I can never ever hate him…) – 5.5/10
– Poor Things – I like to explore a director’s work even when disliking something but I hated The Lobster so much that I refused to watch any more Lanthimos. Yet here I am! Dammit. Why did this show up on services before the Oscars?
Hated this. But I found it aesthetically pleasing at some points (I felt like Busta Rhymes was gonna pop up in some of those shots, though). I kind of liked the weirdo score as well. I still hated this movie, but not as much as The Lobster at least. So I think I’ve been more than fair with my rating. But the story was dumb as shit. Had no clue it was going to be “Horny Frankenstein”.
I hate how shock value often gets nominated for Oscars but only if in the “right type” of film in the Academy’s opinion. Same goes for automatic acting nominations for the “bravery to do sex & nudity” but once again only if it’s in the “right type” of film.
I like some shocking films & I like some very weird ones, but this film was just tedious. Felt like it was trying too hard to provoke a reaction. That doesn’t work for me. Forced is fake, which I find boring. I like more naturally occurring weirdness, I guess? I don’t know… I find it difficult to explain why I hate some directors who do this type of thing (Lanthimos, Eggers) but like others (Jodorowsky, sometimes von Trier). Art is subjective, right? So, although I personally dislike what I’ve seen from Lanthimos, I suppose I can see why he has fans.
Will I watch another Lanthimos film? Probably, if another one is up for Oscars & it shows up on streaming services before the ceremony. And I’ll probably hate myself for watching it.
I should add this: My reviews are often extremely short as I have so little to say about most current films as they’re so bland. But I end up writing a lot more when a film is interesting, even if I hated it. And I always say I prefer interesting to forgettable. So perhaps I found something interesting in this one since I’m still f*^%ing typing?! Dammit! My reviews of Ari Aster‘s films also end up being long, rambling messes like this one. Another very divisive director. Although I do like far more elements of Aster’s films overall (except for Beau… Screw that one).
I’ll shut up now.
(I still hated this film) – 5/10
Movies Rewatched In March:
– Pump Up The Volume – 9/10
– Dune – 8/10
– The Perks Of Being A Wallflower – Loved this at the time. A great adaptation (helps to have the book’s author also write & direct the movie). First rewatch in years & sadly found Watson’s acting far more distracting this time (SO bad). Logan Lerman very good, though, and I kind of forgot about Paul Rudd & Joan Cusack so loved seeing them. Still easily one of the best YA films of the past 15 years. And good soundtrack, which is always a plus. – 8/10
Documentaries & Shorts:
– The Eternal Memory – Another heartbreaker. Man, Oscar season is such a JOY! Wonderful seeing such a loving couple, though. Loved their dedication to each other. Smart, fascinating people. All the best love stories are bittersweet. I know they say it’s better to have loved & lost than to have never loved at all. But it still hurts like hell to lose it.
– Bobi Wine: The People’s President – And another Oscar nominated documentary about another fascinating person. Must be harder choosing the winners of the true stories than it is for some other categories. Do you vote for most heart-wrenching story? Most interesting? The one that is actually the most well-made film? I only managed to catch two this year, but I think The Eternal Memory probably has the edge over this one. Both good, though.
TV SHOWS WATCHED IN MARCH
– Alfred Hitchcock Presents: S1 E1-7 – Binged some of this. Was a huge childhood favorite of mine, along with The Twilight Zone. Not going to talk about each episode, but here are the ones I watched. All great stuff. Especially Revenge & Breakdown. Remembered them like I’d just seen them yesterday instead of 40 years ago… E1: Revenge, E2: Premonition, E3: Triggers In Leash, E4: Don’t Come Back Alive, E5: Into Thin Air, E6: Salvage, E7: Breakdown
– Mr. Mercedes: S3 E1-4 – Loved the books. Enjoyed the first two seasons. But season 3 is far less interesting. It’s now disappeared from the service I was watching this on, dammit, so not sure if I’ll be able to finish it. But I was definitely losing interest anyway.
– Superstore: S2 – Lost track of what episodes I watched & when but we watch at least a few of these a week. A somewhat throwaway but quite enjoyable show once you get into the characters. Must admit I laugh more often than I expected (but it’s certainly no Community).
– Curb Your Enthusiasm: S1 E1 – EXCEPT…. it wasn’t actually S1 E1. I don’t know what it was but it was an episode from years later that I put on by accident. No wonder I was confused as the characters were presented in a way that seemed to expect the audience to already have knowledge of them. God, I’m turning into such an old person! Anyway. At first, I was like “I don’t think I can listen to this dude screaming all the time”. But I did later watch a few episodes from the actual start. And it made me snort laugh a couple of times. SNORT! Not feeling the characters yet (yes, I know we’re meant to hate them but it worked better in Seinfeld for me). Can’t see it being a favorite show but it’s one I’d watch from time to time.
BLOG PLANS FOR THE COMING MONTH
Do want to catch up on posting reviews here as I’ve watched some fantastic films the past couple of months.
And I went to two films in the cinema recently: The Fall Guy (fun) and Furiosa (better than I expected! really enjoyed it). Will probably post reviews of them at some point too.
Upcoming Movies I Want To See:
Inside Out 2! Can’t wait!!! But very nervous, as the original is perfection & Pixar have made too many duds lately.
I’ll end with one of my top five favorite bands since the old fart (like me) in Gran Turismo kept listening to them:
Cinema Parrot Disco 