The Other Movies I’ve Watched: Part 1
When I started this blog a little over a month ago, I think my expectation was that I would write several times a week and cover every movie I watched during my furlough/quarantine. I should have known that was a foolish expectation. A lot of times I don’t really have much to say about a particular movie, so why force it? There’s also the issue I brought up at the time, that it’s hard to get motivated to write for free and with little audience several times per week.
But I still want to honor my initial promise to myself, that I would write about every movie I watch over quarantine. So during the next few posts I’ll briefly touch on every movie I’ve watched in the last 5+ weeks. By my count I’ve watched 42 movies since March 21, for an average of 1.1 movies per day. That’s fewer movies than I anticipated watching, but it’s also not factoring the normal TV I’ve watched, like Better Call Saul, ESPN’s The Last Dance, or a rewatch of The Sopranos I’m in the middle of. I’ve only covered 12 movies in this space, so that’s another 30 (and counting) I need to get to. Yes, I have a Google Sheet to organize this because I’m a dork.
These are not listed in any particular order.
Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood (rewatch)
2019 was a great movie year, but OUATIH was still easily my favorite movie of the year. It feels sacrilegious to say Pulp Fiction isn’t my favorite Quentin Tarantino movie — I’ve seen it dozens of times and never come close to tiring of it (other than the scene where Bruce Willis talks about blueberry pancakes with his girlfriend) — but OUATIH comes DAMN close. Part of what makes it special is it’s not universally beloved like Pulp Fiction or even Reservoir Dogs. Many people cherish this movie but perhaps just as many hate it.
My biggest complaint of the movie is it’s annoying to type out. Fuck outta here with the ellipsis.
Rosemary’s Baby
Admittedly, I watched Rosemary’s Baby because of OUATIH. I know it’s one of those movies I *should* watch anyway, but I’m never very eager to watch a horror movie. But since Rick Dalton is Roman Polanski’s neighbor, and Rick even mentions Rosemary’s Baby at one point, I watched it. I am sheep.
Prisoners
It’s a meme at this point that Tom Cruise is our finest movie runner. You’ll hear no dissent from me. I would like to nominate Hugh Jackman as our finest movie yeller, though. There’s a 12-minute YouTube clip of him yelling as Wolverine, but I think this scene from Prisoners is his masterpiece.
The Queen
The Queen was nominated for six Oscars and Helen Mirren won Best Actress for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth mishandling the aftermath of Princess Diana’s death. In hindsight it’s odd that this movie received so much recognition considering it would be a bottom-half episode of The Crown.
The Crown is great. Watch The Crown.
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
This was a movie I watched.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Lady Macbeth
I won’t say much because I don’t want to spoil Portrait of a Lady on Fire, which is one of the best movies from 2019 and most people still probably have not seen it. But to me Lady Macbeth, a movie about a young bride sold into a loveless marriage in the 19th century, felt like the sequel toPortrait of a Lady on Fire.
I enjoyed Lady Macbeth and Florence Pugh is the best young actress around.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III
Please tell me how many other blogs transition from serious period dramas (one of them subtitled) set in the 1800s to a movie where the Ninja Turtles time travel to ancient Japan and wear samurai outfits. I’ll wait.
Lost Girls
I barely remember watching this Netflix movie. It sounds like an engaging crime drama. Amy Ryan plays a mom trying to track down a serial killer that’s killing young women and dumping them near an upper-class beach community in New York. Great premise! That’s why I gave it a shot despite mediocre reviews.
I should have paid attention to the mediocre reviews. In truth it is extremely boring. I know “boring” isn’t good criticism but that’s all the energy I have for this movie. When a movie is only 95 minutes AND I can’t stop looking to see how much runtime is left, it’s a problem.
13th
If you’re going to watch this 2016 documentary about how racial inequality is the point of the United States’ prison system, don’t watch it first thing in the morning. I started it around 8am one morning and I was mad the rest of the day. It’s good when a movie enrages you, but that should be more of an afternoon/evening thing, you know? Nobody should be firing off angry Tweets before they’ve brushed their teeth.
Snowpiercer (rewatch)
Parasite (rewatch)
The last (only?) good thing to happen in 2020 was Parasite upsetting 1917 to win Best Picture, director Bong Joon Ho delivering the best speeches, then making his Oscars kiss.
Even though Parasite wasn’t my favorite movie last year, it was in my top three and I am thrilled that it won a ton of awards and became a hit, first at the box office then at Hulu.
However, after one beer I would probably tell you Snowpiercer is my favorite Bong Joon Ho movie. After three beers I would probably try to convince you it’s the best Bong Joon Ho movie. Snowpiercer, as the kids say, slaps.
