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Spring Season: Weeks 35/36
I want. To order. A pizza.
Welcome!
So, pretty much the instant I hit post here two weeks ago, our active case numbers for the municipality ticked over 50 and our mandatory mask mandate went into effect, so that was a thrilling night at work. Fortunately, we got some clarification and I am exempt as long as I stay inside of my little work terrarium, which is nice because having to mask up for twelve fucking hours at a stretch sounds absolutely miserable. I feel for my co-workers, having to do their jobs out in the wide open, but not that much, because most of them make much more money than I do. Either way, we are finally getting the full, proper apocalypse vibes, so that's fun. Don't touch my bubble. You're all unclean.
Speaking of shiftwork, it's officially been six months since that particular change went into effect! Where DOES the time go? I have survived! It remains difficult, but I have survived. My sleep habits have not adjusted even a little bit, which is unsurprising to me personally, but feels worth noting. I guess I've gotten used to my eyes just hurting all of the time, so that's something.
Still enjoying being at work for sunrises, so that's something. Looking out the windows to my left and having the sky be all yellow and glowing orange, then looking out the windows to my right and seeing a full on trans flag (or possibly a really faded bi one) is neat! Not remotely worth being awake for, but still neat!
Sean Connery died, which is a big deal for me. He was 90 and almost certainly an abuser of women, so I'm not exactly sad, but it still feels like the end of an era, or something like that. It's a moment! It's also making me ever saltier about the perpetual No Time to Die delays. There were six living canonical Bonds when the last movie came out! Now we're down to FOUR. Come on now!
Trebek is hitting me much harder, even with as much time as we had to prepare. Such is life!
Trying a thing this month where, for every movie I watch, I have to do a little bit of yoga or some other form of exercise to make myself be more active. The movie spoiler zone is... a touch on the small side this week. I'm sure that's just a coincidence, though!
FILMS
The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T (1953): Dr. Seuss wrote a movie! It's fucking wild! At one point a child dreams about his piano teacher marrying his mom and then getting cucked by their plumber! Why does this fuck so hard??? Good shit.
The Angel Levine (1970): A pair of very compelling performances carry an iffy story that I absolutely did not click with or entirely understand. Like, I wasn't even sure he was definitely supposed to be an angel for most of it? But I do think I liked it? And apparently his girlfriend was the Oracle from The Matrix, whaaaaaaaaaaat
The Bank Job (2008): There's SO much more going on in this movie than there needed to be, and I don't just mean all the pointless dutch angles. Good shit.
Les enfants du siècle (1999): Liked it a lot more than I expected to! Would have liked it even more than that if it were at least half an hour shorter.
Criss Cross (1949): Excellent cut of twisty-turny, betrayals-on-betrayals noir where some of the nastiest deeds happen in broad daylight. Brutal ending. Good shit.
Defending Your Life (1991): Afterlife Bureaucracy is a well-worn genre at this point, but this was a really fun take on it. Boy would I not personally fare well in this one! Albert Brooks is seriously just 'what if Woody Allen didn't suck' and it rules. And I WILL HAPPILY TAKE YOUR NINE PIES, EDUARDO
The Empty Man (2020): BACK TO THE 'RONA THEATER WATCH #6! Far too long and baffling in ways that I don't believe subsequent viewings would ever ameliorate, but I dunno, man, I was expecting something really vapid and trashy but this thing swung for the fucking fences, even if it whiffed. James Badge Dale puts in a deeply relatable performance and I started laughing uncontrollably because I thought about the Bill Hader tulpa tumblr drama midway through, so I had a good time with it. Made me want to check out the comic, if nothing else.
Entre nous (1983): Or possibly Coup de foudre? Another one of those movies where the title on the box did not match the title card in the actual movie. Anyway, never before have I seen so many reviews so strenuously stressing the words 'female friendship' over and over again. HAROLD, THEY'RE LESBIANS.
Gallipoli (1981): This didn't feel like anything I should be into (Australian WW1 drama? weeeeeeee), and yet the movie just seemed to fly by? Not too damn bad, even if none of the conclusions it came to were particularly moving. Turns out war is dumb and bad! Who knew!
Halloween (1978): BACK TO THE 'RONA THEATER WATCH #7! Saturday night, a bright full moon, a random end-of-month warm snap, maybe you tried to ruin a perfect Halloween for much of the world, 2020, BUT NOT FOR ME, FUCKER.
Mother (1996): "It's the '90s, mother, it's fancy jam time." A rewatch, but more Albert Brooks, yes, good.
No Home Movie (2015): I tried so hard to find any scrap of interest for any part of what is clearly a very loving and heartfelt portrait. I failed. This thing was damn near unbearable in places. Fuck this movie.
Poltergeist (1982): BACK TO THE 'RONA THEATER WATCH #8! craig t. nelson daddy af don't @ me
Shampoo (1975): Watching something with such a young Carrie Fisher so soon after watching Mother with Debbie Reynolds sure left me feeling some kinda way.
Sullivan's Travels (1941): What. The fuck. Am I missing. With Preston Sturges, man???? This is only the second of his I've watched, but it's considered, like, his masterpiece, and I just. Don't. Get it. It's got good energy and I'm sure it means well, but eeeeeeeccch, poverty tourism and a completely idiotic final act, what is the appeal to this?? It's damn lucky that its leads are so charming.
SHORTS
Ciao Lola (2016): Doesn't quite nail the quirky/clever balancing act and lands in annoying territory, but the ending undercuts that and redeems quite a bit.
Cinetracts '20 (2020): Not surprisingly, a pretty mixed bag of an anthology, but it's got a nice assortment of racial and social justice and pandemic-related stuff, including a lot of places where they overlap. I've never seen the original, so maybe that impacts it somewhat, but it's very well done at being Of The Moment.
The Final Insult (1997): Revisiting some Charles Burnett this month since he had a short in Cinetracts '20. I think the mix of documentary and fiction in this works a lot better for me now that I've seen quite a few more movies that do that sort of thing. Watching tons of stuff is starting to pay off!
Frank Film (1973): This dude totally called his shot on winning an Oscar, damn. This thing is just noise, but of the best kind.
I-94 (1974): Flashing, pretentious nonsense. They're never in the same shot together, I get it.
Merry Christmas (1969): Wrong holiday, so what? SUCH a cool style at play here, even if the message is awful facile.
Michigan Avenue (1974): Did I get what it was going for? No. Was it interesting in spite of that? Also no.
My Josephine (2003): Still just a solid student film. Amurrca.
La novia de Frankenstein (2015): Some interesting beats, never got boring, but anything even resembling a point also never seemed to manifest for me.
The Sitter (1977): BUT WHO WAS PHONE??????????
When It Rains (1995): I still want that frankentrumpet.
When We Lived in Miami (2013): One of those films that is definitely very deep and poignant and complex if you're the one who made it.
TELEVISION
All Elite Wrestling (July 28th - September 9th, 2020): Oh god I'm going to be caught up so soon! Then I'll only have, what, four hours of this shit a week to watch? HOW WILL I COPE? Anyway, this time around I made it out of the summer and right up to the most recent (at least until Full Gear happened this past weekend) pay-per-view event, so that was fun! Current storylines I was particularly invested in included the climax of the Chris Jericho/Orange Cassidy feud (I honestly cannot remember the last time I felt as purely jubilant and hyped up than I did at the conclusion to the Mimosa Mayhem match, there was shouting), the beautiful rise and heartbreaking fall of The Initiative (THEY BOTH TRIED SO HARD AND DID SO WELL TOGETHER BUT JUST COULD NOT OVERCOME THEIR FUNDAMENTAL DIFFERENCES IN THE END I am Leva and her quiet devastation and am so not ready for them to finally square off in the next episode of Dark), and of course, FTR wielding Hangman's insecurities against him like a knife and the tragic betrayal/downfall that inevitably ensued. Where does he even go from here? That post-All Out interview with Tony where he says he feels like he's full of poison oh my god somebody help him HE'S LIKE A DAMN SHAKESPEAREAN PROTAGONIST, GENERALLY THEY DIE AT THIS POINT. [SIDEBAR: Since the US election is still very much looming large in the rearview mirror, this feels like a good time to mention the particularly unique modern sensation of watching something like wrestling and actively trying not to think about the fact that, just going by the odds, about half of the people you're watching could be total pieces of shit in real life. It's weird, and I haven't really looked into the politics of anybody in this club as a result, which is why that, while the news of Jericho's Trump donations certainly came as a disappointment (especially considering how much I loved him when I was a kid), it was actually a net positive because it also alerted me to Hangman Page's many ActBlue donations and, Southern stereotypes being what they are, he was one of the ones I was most quietly concerned about so I'm VERY happy to be able to continue unproblematically enjoying my anxious millennial cowboy OKAY SIDEBAR OVER.] Also, MAN, I had heard about the Matt Hardy bump on Twitter back when it happened two months ago, but even knowing it was coming, that shit was WAY harder to watch than I expected, continuing that match was a TERRIBLE call. Why are you letting this clearly concussed 45-year-old man climb scaffolding!! And after that gruesome botched chair shot, it seriously seems like this feud with Sammy is going to end in a death, what is UP with that kid? ALSO ALSO, I finally got caught up with Being the Elite and am now appropriately appreciative of every member of Dark Order, especially John Silver, my new favourite little 'roid gremlin.
Star Trek: Discovery (3x03/3x04): See recent Star Trek DISCOurse posts!
Welcome!
So, pretty much the instant I hit post here two weeks ago, our active case numbers for the municipality ticked over 50 and our mandatory mask mandate went into effect, so that was a thrilling night at work. Fortunately, we got some clarification and I am exempt as long as I stay inside of my little work terrarium, which is nice because having to mask up for twelve fucking hours at a stretch sounds absolutely miserable. I feel for my co-workers, having to do their jobs out in the wide open, but not that much, because most of them make much more money than I do. Either way, we are finally getting the full, proper apocalypse vibes, so that's fun. Don't touch my bubble. You're all unclean.
Speaking of shiftwork, it's officially been six months since that particular change went into effect! Where DOES the time go? I have survived! It remains difficult, but I have survived. My sleep habits have not adjusted even a little bit, which is unsurprising to me personally, but feels worth noting. I guess I've gotten used to my eyes just hurting all of the time, so that's something.
Still enjoying being at work for sunrises, so that's something. Looking out the windows to my left and having the sky be all yellow and glowing orange, then looking out the windows to my right and seeing a full on trans flag (or possibly a really faded bi one) is neat! Not remotely worth being awake for, but still neat!
Sean Connery died, which is a big deal for me. He was 90 and almost certainly an abuser of women, so I'm not exactly sad, but it still feels like the end of an era, or something like that. It's a moment! It's also making me ever saltier about the perpetual No Time to Die delays. There were six living canonical Bonds when the last movie came out! Now we're down to FOUR. Come on now!
Trebek is hitting me much harder, even with as much time as we had to prepare. Such is life!
Trying a thing this month where, for every movie I watch, I have to do a little bit of yoga or some other form of exercise to make myself be more active. The movie spoiler zone is... a touch on the small side this week. I'm sure that's just a coincidence, though!
FILMS
The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T (1953): Dr. Seuss wrote a movie! It's fucking wild! At one point a child dreams about his piano teacher marrying his mom and then getting cucked by their plumber! Why does this fuck so hard??? Good shit.
The Angel Levine (1970): A pair of very compelling performances carry an iffy story that I absolutely did not click with or entirely understand. Like, I wasn't even sure he was definitely supposed to be an angel for most of it? But I do think I liked it? And apparently his girlfriend was the Oracle from The Matrix, whaaaaaaaaaaat
The Bank Job (2008): There's SO much more going on in this movie than there needed to be, and I don't just mean all the pointless dutch angles. Good shit.
Les enfants du siècle (1999): Liked it a lot more than I expected to! Would have liked it even more than that if it were at least half an hour shorter.
Criss Cross (1949): Excellent cut of twisty-turny, betrayals-on-betrayals noir where some of the nastiest deeds happen in broad daylight. Brutal ending. Good shit.
Defending Your Life (1991): Afterlife Bureaucracy is a well-worn genre at this point, but this was a really fun take on it. Boy would I not personally fare well in this one! Albert Brooks is seriously just 'what if Woody Allen didn't suck' and it rules. And I WILL HAPPILY TAKE YOUR NINE PIES, EDUARDO
The Empty Man (2020): BACK TO THE 'RONA THEATER WATCH #6! Far too long and baffling in ways that I don't believe subsequent viewings would ever ameliorate, but I dunno, man, I was expecting something really vapid and trashy but this thing swung for the fucking fences, even if it whiffed. James Badge Dale puts in a deeply relatable performance and I started laughing uncontrollably because I thought about the Bill Hader tulpa tumblr drama midway through, so I had a good time with it. Made me want to check out the comic, if nothing else.
Entre nous (1983): Or possibly Coup de foudre? Another one of those movies where the title on the box did not match the title card in the actual movie. Anyway, never before have I seen so many reviews so strenuously stressing the words 'female friendship' over and over again. HAROLD, THEY'RE LESBIANS.
Gallipoli (1981): This didn't feel like anything I should be into (Australian WW1 drama? weeeeeeee), and yet the movie just seemed to fly by? Not too damn bad, even if none of the conclusions it came to were particularly moving. Turns out war is dumb and bad! Who knew!
Halloween (1978): BACK TO THE 'RONA THEATER WATCH #7! Saturday night, a bright full moon, a random end-of-month warm snap, maybe you tried to ruin a perfect Halloween for much of the world, 2020, BUT NOT FOR ME, FUCKER.
Mother (1996): "It's the '90s, mother, it's fancy jam time." A rewatch, but more Albert Brooks, yes, good.
No Home Movie (2015): I tried so hard to find any scrap of interest for any part of what is clearly a very loving and heartfelt portrait. I failed. This thing was damn near unbearable in places. Fuck this movie.
Poltergeist (1982): BACK TO THE 'RONA THEATER WATCH #8! craig t. nelson daddy af don't @ me
Shampoo (1975): Watching something with such a young Carrie Fisher so soon after watching Mother with Debbie Reynolds sure left me feeling some kinda way.
Sullivan's Travels (1941): What. The fuck. Am I missing. With Preston Sturges, man???? This is only the second of his I've watched, but it's considered, like, his masterpiece, and I just. Don't. Get it. It's got good energy and I'm sure it means well, but eeeeeeeccch, poverty tourism and a completely idiotic final act, what is the appeal to this?? It's damn lucky that its leads are so charming.
SHORTS
Ciao Lola (2016): Doesn't quite nail the quirky/clever balancing act and lands in annoying territory, but the ending undercuts that and redeems quite a bit.
Cinetracts '20 (2020): Not surprisingly, a pretty mixed bag of an anthology, but it's got a nice assortment of racial and social justice and pandemic-related stuff, including a lot of places where they overlap. I've never seen the original, so maybe that impacts it somewhat, but it's very well done at being Of The Moment.
The Final Insult (1997): Revisiting some Charles Burnett this month since he had a short in Cinetracts '20. I think the mix of documentary and fiction in this works a lot better for me now that I've seen quite a few more movies that do that sort of thing. Watching tons of stuff is starting to pay off!
Frank Film (1973): This dude totally called his shot on winning an Oscar, damn. This thing is just noise, but of the best kind.
I-94 (1974): Flashing, pretentious nonsense. They're never in the same shot together, I get it.
Merry Christmas (1969): Wrong holiday, so what? SUCH a cool style at play here, even if the message is awful facile.
Michigan Avenue (1974): Did I get what it was going for? No. Was it interesting in spite of that? Also no.
My Josephine (2003): Still just a solid student film. Amurrca.
La novia de Frankenstein (2015): Some interesting beats, never got boring, but anything even resembling a point also never seemed to manifest for me.
The Sitter (1977): BUT WHO WAS PHONE??????????
When It Rains (1995): I still want that frankentrumpet.
When We Lived in Miami (2013): One of those films that is definitely very deep and poignant and complex if you're the one who made it.
TELEVISION
All Elite Wrestling (July 28th - September 9th, 2020): Oh god I'm going to be caught up so soon! Then I'll only have, what, four hours of this shit a week to watch? HOW WILL I COPE? Anyway, this time around I made it out of the summer and right up to the most recent (at least until Full Gear happened this past weekend) pay-per-view event, so that was fun! Current storylines I was particularly invested in included the climax of the Chris Jericho/Orange Cassidy feud (I honestly cannot remember the last time I felt as purely jubilant and hyped up than I did at the conclusion to the Mimosa Mayhem match, there was shouting), the beautiful rise and heartbreaking fall of The Initiative (THEY BOTH TRIED SO HARD AND DID SO WELL TOGETHER BUT JUST COULD NOT OVERCOME THEIR FUNDAMENTAL DIFFERENCES IN THE END I am Leva and her quiet devastation and am so not ready for them to finally square off in the next episode of Dark), and of course, FTR wielding Hangman's insecurities against him like a knife and the tragic betrayal/downfall that inevitably ensued. Where does he even go from here? That post-All Out interview with Tony where he says he feels like he's full of poison oh my god somebody help him HE'S LIKE A DAMN SHAKESPEAREAN PROTAGONIST, GENERALLY THEY DIE AT THIS POINT. [SIDEBAR: Since the US election is still very much looming large in the rearview mirror, this feels like a good time to mention the particularly unique modern sensation of watching something like wrestling and actively trying not to think about the fact that, just going by the odds, about half of the people you're watching could be total pieces of shit in real life. It's weird, and I haven't really looked into the politics of anybody in this club as a result, which is why that, while the news of Jericho's Trump donations certainly came as a disappointment (especially considering how much I loved him when I was a kid), it was actually a net positive because it also alerted me to Hangman Page's many ActBlue donations and, Southern stereotypes being what they are, he was one of the ones I was most quietly concerned about so I'm VERY happy to be able to continue unproblematically enjoying my anxious millennial cowboy OKAY SIDEBAR OVER.] Also, MAN, I had heard about the Matt Hardy bump on Twitter back when it happened two months ago, but even knowing it was coming, that shit was WAY harder to watch than I expected, continuing that match was a TERRIBLE call. Why are you letting this clearly concussed 45-year-old man climb scaffolding!! And after that gruesome botched chair shot, it seriously seems like this feud with Sammy is going to end in a death, what is UP with that kid? ALSO ALSO, I finally got caught up with Being the Elite and am now appropriately appreciative of every member of Dark Order, especially John Silver, my new favourite little 'roid gremlin.
Star Trek: Discovery (3x03/3x04): See recent Star Trek DISCOurse posts!