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Spring Season: Weeks 65/66
What the fuck, where did the week go? Work has just been weirdly busy for some reason? It was just month end, what the hell, people!
I shouldn't complain too much, since hey, the week's almost over, but also, I didn't get aaaaaanything else that I wanted to do done. Just marked some more time until death, woo!
Also it's cold and rainy after a week of brilliant warmth, so maybe I'm just grumpy about that (the cold, not the rainy). My mom's insistence on blasting the air conditioning at all hours doesn't fucking help.
Gonna try to focus on the things that don't annoy me! Like the way a bunch of other people took to writing DW entries as soon as I stepped away for a bit! Hello! Love to see it! Keep it up!
Also, we seem to be solidly past our third wave corona crisis, active cases are way down, vaccination numbers are rising, eligibility for my second dose has been bumped up to the end of the month, the THEATER IS REOPENING FUCKING FINALLY YESSSSSSSSS. No more 12-hour road trips to see bullshit for ME (but more on that behind the cut). Hopefully it's not stupid busy to start out with, since I won't be hitting up any non-empty showings until my household is fully vaxxed (apparently we're allowed to mix and match with our second doses? what if I want to get some mRNA this time instead of the one that kills people?).
I guess I could still drive 12 hours just for fun. I do still have a week off of work at a time, after all. ANYWAY, MOVIES.
FILMS
August at Akiko's (2018): The bursts of aural unpleasantness prevented me from losing myself in it entirely, but they also stopped me from just zoning out, too, so... nicely done? Didn't get it, though.
The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye (2011): Humans are so wonderful and weird.
The Brother from Another Planet (1984): Any deeper allegory it may or may not be going for doesn't really land, and the drug subplot veers pretty hard into hokey territory, but this is nevertheless just a really wholesome, feel-good time? I'm so charmed!
Cassandro, the Exotico! (2018): MORE WRESTLING MOVIES, PLEASE. This was a shallow but enjoyable look at some queer lucha excellence~~
The Comedy (2012): Death by slow irony poisoning has got to be one of the worst ways to go.
Cruella (2021): Lloyd Theater Odyssey #2.2! Dumb as hell and way too long, but also a delight to look at and laugh at and overall just a really fun time, actually??? Was not expecting that at all, tbh! Some ludicrous sequences and the constant cavalcade of 'HEY IT'S THE '70s' starter pack needle drops and the terrible CG dogs keep me from calling it a good movie? But man, what a great time. Also, Roger is, now and forever, The Hottest Disney Dude, and I really respected this movie's approach to casting him. It's his personality that makes that big-nosed goof so fine, and we don't see enough of him in this movie for it to do the job here, so both finding someone that looks like him and finding someone who's just objectively really attractive are both losing prospects that would miss the point entirely. Kayvan Novak, while not a traditional Hollywood looker (or styled like one here), instead just looks extremely kind and snuggly, and his casting was a stroke of genius. How dare Disney make me actively want a sequel to one of their unending series of creatively bankrupt rehashes?? I saw better movies this month, but the sheer gulf between expectation and payoff with Cruella mean that I have no choice but to declare the girlboss dog murderer movie... Leshia's Pick of the Week!
Crumbs (2015): This movie feels like I dreamed it.
Dawson City: Frozen Time (2016): Fantastic. A gentle, beautiful, melancholy trip to the past, illustrating just how much film history can be worth after all this time. Lost to fire, time and time again, saved just this once by the ice. Wow.
El Condor (1970): A lightweight plot carried very easily by endearing leads, thrilling gun battle, and gratuitous nudity. God, I'd kill to visit these ruins.
The Family Album (1988): An interesting concept, if not a particularly entertaining one to actually watch. Other people's old home movies just don't do it for me.
The Gambler (1974): That seems like an inappropriate amount of buttons for a teacher to have undone, but I'm okay with it. This somehow stresses me out much more than Uncut Gems, despite being more chill in its tensions? Just watching this guy digging his hole, managing to leap out to safety, only to jump back in for no reason and keep digging time and time again is just so damn frustrating in all the right ways. Probably one of my favourite classic 'difficult man' performances. And that ending!
Hannah Arendt (2012): Bog standard biopic, loaded right to overflowing with cliches and a few hilariously bad supporting performances, but as someone pretty embarrassingly unfamiliar with the material, it probably did its job perfectly on me? I was very intrigued between eyerolls!
Hellraiser (1987): What does it say that this is kind of a comfort movie for me at this point?
Horse Feathers (1932): I find this movie's wonky blend of imperfections to be SO much more engaging than some of the more polished Marx Brothers movies, I don't know what it is!
Intimate Stranger (1991): oh my god I hate alan berliner's dad so much
Die bleierne Zeit (1981): Like her kid, I too was left wanting to know more than I was given.
The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021): An excellent choice for mom's birthday barbecue night. Deserved a theatrical release. Connected was still a better title, but I get why they changed it (generic out of context!).
New Jerusalem (2011): That cassette got me feeling some kinda way, man. I find that I'm much more able to appreciate the intricacies and subtleties in Alverson's work when he's not making me fervently wish I was looking anywhere else but the screen on which it's happening.
Era Uma Vez Brasília (2017): I got progressively more lost as this thing went on, but I didn't mind all that much? The DIY aesthetics are just SO good.
Out of State (2017): The rare documentary that blows me out of the water from the word go, since I had no clue the central premise was even a thing that happens? Like, knowing how fucked the prison industrial complex is, I SHOULDN'T be surprised by it, but jesus.
A Quiet Place Part II (2020): Lloyd Theater Odyssey #2.1! I was really skeptical that this would be able to maintain the tension of the original, with the way the trailers were so focused on flashbacks and the way the world is opening up and bringing in more characters (and hence, more talking). I shouldn't have worried! This was real good!
The Railway Children (1970): Poncy little turn-of-the-century British children having pleasant, wholesome adventures in the country. I really want to hate this, but gosh darn it, it's just too earnest. Apparently the kid playing the middle child was actually 20???? Two years older than Jenny Agutter was???? what the fuck
The Reflecting Skin (1990): An unceasing cavalcade of ludicrous, poorly-acted, over-the-top unpleasantness. The lovely Days of Heaven-lite cinematography can only do so much heavy lifting, here. Laughably awful ending. What a fucking ordeal this was.
Rosa Luxemburg (1986): Probably good? idk it took me like four sittings to get through it
Sangam (1964): Started my month with damn near four hours of classic Bollywood. I wish I could have stayed there. One of those movies where 'threesome' is the CLEAR answer, but everyone's so goddam hung up on societal bullshit that someone has to die instead. So dramatic, all of the time!
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974): bonk bonk bonk
Fehér Isten (2014): People suck, bring on the dogpocalypse. Really wish this hadn't started with the cold open and had just let the ridiculous events unfold on their own; it totally murdered the first half of this movie, I was so bored waiting for them to get to the dogpocalypse factory.
Branco Sai, Preto Fica (2014): Oh boy, I understood this even less than Once There Was Brasilia!
Wrath of Man (2021): Lloyd Theater Odyssey #2.3! It's not classic-flavoured Ritchie if I'm not in a low-level state of confusion the entire time, right? Good shit.
Yeelen (1987): Why was this in the Afrofuturism category? It's like, an African folk magic period film. That feels like the opposite of futurism to me! Do I not know what Afrofuturism is?? Whatever, this movie rules.
SHORTS
The Last Angel of History (1996): Fascinating thesis, explored quickly and captivatingly, even if some of the artist interviews veered into 'utter gibberish' territory at times. I guess that's artists for you.
Clebs (2019): dags
Frisson d'amour (2019): Sad and spare; nicely done, even if the tech-tech trappings feel a little weightless. Or just not integrated well? They felt very extraneous to the story being told, even if future tech-saavy grandma was the focus. Basically, either I didn't get the message they were going for with it, or it was extremely hacky and facile, and I'm not confident enough to judge it either way.
Somewhere to Disappear (2010): An art project about an art project. Substance, where are you? Nice vibes, though.
Stockholmsnatt (1987): oh my god they suck so much "But does she mean the horrible characters or the people who made this ridiculous garbage?" yes
The Sweetest Sound (2001): I enjoyed this a lot, and it really left me feeling justified in my lifelong satisfaction at being the only person with my name. before there was josh fight, there was alan dinner
TELEVISION
Marvel Studios: Legends 1x07-1x08: Fresh entries in Marvel's li'l recap clip montage collection ahead of Loki, HYPE!!!
Master of None 3x01-3x05: Interesting! This was obviously a huge departure for the series, which is what most of the attention has been focused on, but honestly, I watched the first two seasons years ago and remember next to nothing from them, so the impact of the change was probably lost on me, womp womp. It just felt like a new thing and oh hey, there's Aziz Ansari a couple of times. As for the new thing... it was okay! I think I have less patience for art house sensibility TV shows these days, since I watch so many more movies than I used to, but it never really overstayed its welcome (shows being able to have episodes of wildly varying lengths is pretty much the only good change to the format brought about by the streaming revolution). The casual cheating in the last episode seemed weird to me? These are not good people! Lena Waithe has giant hands.
Wrestling:
AEW Dark 3x22/3x23
AEW Dark: Elevation 1x11/1x12
AEW Dynamite 3x21/3x22
AEW Countdown to Double or Nothing
AEW Double or Nothing 2021
IMPACT! Wrestling 18x21/18x22
New Japan Pro-Wrestling 1x25/1x26
NJPW Strong 2x21/2x22
NWA Powerrr 4x08
NWA PowerrrSurge 1x03
NWA When Our Shadows Fall
TJPW That's J-PW 1x13-1x16
I shouldn't complain too much, since hey, the week's almost over, but also, I didn't get aaaaaanything else that I wanted to do done. Just marked some more time until death, woo!
Also it's cold and rainy after a week of brilliant warmth, so maybe I'm just grumpy about that (the cold, not the rainy). My mom's insistence on blasting the air conditioning at all hours doesn't fucking help.
Gonna try to focus on the things that don't annoy me! Like the way a bunch of other people took to writing DW entries as soon as I stepped away for a bit! Hello! Love to see it! Keep it up!
Also, we seem to be solidly past our third wave corona crisis, active cases are way down, vaccination numbers are rising, eligibility for my second dose has been bumped up to the end of the month, the THEATER IS REOPENING FUCKING FINALLY YESSSSSSSSS. No more 12-hour road trips to see bullshit for ME (but more on that behind the cut). Hopefully it's not stupid busy to start out with, since I won't be hitting up any non-empty showings until my household is fully vaxxed (apparently we're allowed to mix and match with our second doses? what if I want to get some mRNA this time instead of the one that kills people?).
I guess I could still drive 12 hours just for fun. I do still have a week off of work at a time, after all. ANYWAY, MOVIES.
FILMS
August at Akiko's (2018): The bursts of aural unpleasantness prevented me from losing myself in it entirely, but they also stopped me from just zoning out, too, so... nicely done? Didn't get it, though.
The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye (2011): Humans are so wonderful and weird.
The Brother from Another Planet (1984): Any deeper allegory it may or may not be going for doesn't really land, and the drug subplot veers pretty hard into hokey territory, but this is nevertheless just a really wholesome, feel-good time? I'm so charmed!
Cassandro, the Exotico! (2018): MORE WRESTLING MOVIES, PLEASE. This was a shallow but enjoyable look at some queer lucha excellence~~
The Comedy (2012): Death by slow irony poisoning has got to be one of the worst ways to go.
Cruella (2021): Lloyd Theater Odyssey #2.2! Dumb as hell and way too long, but also a delight to look at and laugh at and overall just a really fun time, actually??? Was not expecting that at all, tbh! Some ludicrous sequences and the constant cavalcade of 'HEY IT'S THE '70s' starter pack needle drops and the terrible CG dogs keep me from calling it a good movie? But man, what a great time. Also, Roger is, now and forever, The Hottest Disney Dude, and I really respected this movie's approach to casting him. It's his personality that makes that big-nosed goof so fine, and we don't see enough of him in this movie for it to do the job here, so both finding someone that looks like him and finding someone who's just objectively really attractive are both losing prospects that would miss the point entirely. Kayvan Novak, while not a traditional Hollywood looker (or styled like one here), instead just looks extremely kind and snuggly, and his casting was a stroke of genius. How dare Disney make me actively want a sequel to one of their unending series of creatively bankrupt rehashes?? I saw better movies this month, but the sheer gulf between expectation and payoff with Cruella mean that I have no choice but to declare the girlboss dog murderer movie... Leshia's Pick of the Week!
Crumbs (2015): This movie feels like I dreamed it.
Dawson City: Frozen Time (2016): Fantastic. A gentle, beautiful, melancholy trip to the past, illustrating just how much film history can be worth after all this time. Lost to fire, time and time again, saved just this once by the ice. Wow.
El Condor (1970): A lightweight plot carried very easily by endearing leads, thrilling gun battle, and gratuitous nudity. God, I'd kill to visit these ruins.
The Family Album (1988): An interesting concept, if not a particularly entertaining one to actually watch. Other people's old home movies just don't do it for me.
The Gambler (1974): That seems like an inappropriate amount of buttons for a teacher to have undone, but I'm okay with it. This somehow stresses me out much more than Uncut Gems, despite being more chill in its tensions? Just watching this guy digging his hole, managing to leap out to safety, only to jump back in for no reason and keep digging time and time again is just so damn frustrating in all the right ways. Probably one of my favourite classic 'difficult man' performances. And that ending!
Hannah Arendt (2012): Bog standard biopic, loaded right to overflowing with cliches and a few hilariously bad supporting performances, but as someone pretty embarrassingly unfamiliar with the material, it probably did its job perfectly on me? I was very intrigued between eyerolls!
Hellraiser (1987): What does it say that this is kind of a comfort movie for me at this point?
Horse Feathers (1932): I find this movie's wonky blend of imperfections to be SO much more engaging than some of the more polished Marx Brothers movies, I don't know what it is!
Intimate Stranger (1991): oh my god I hate alan berliner's dad so much
Die bleierne Zeit (1981): Like her kid, I too was left wanting to know more than I was given.
The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021): An excellent choice for mom's birthday barbecue night. Deserved a theatrical release. Connected was still a better title, but I get why they changed it (generic out of context!).
New Jerusalem (2011): That cassette got me feeling some kinda way, man. I find that I'm much more able to appreciate the intricacies and subtleties in Alverson's work when he's not making me fervently wish I was looking anywhere else but the screen on which it's happening.
Era Uma Vez Brasília (2017): I got progressively more lost as this thing went on, but I didn't mind all that much? The DIY aesthetics are just SO good.
Out of State (2017): The rare documentary that blows me out of the water from the word go, since I had no clue the central premise was even a thing that happens? Like, knowing how fucked the prison industrial complex is, I SHOULDN'T be surprised by it, but jesus.
A Quiet Place Part II (2020): Lloyd Theater Odyssey #2.1! I was really skeptical that this would be able to maintain the tension of the original, with the way the trailers were so focused on flashbacks and the way the world is opening up and bringing in more characters (and hence, more talking). I shouldn't have worried! This was real good!
The Railway Children (1970): Poncy little turn-of-the-century British children having pleasant, wholesome adventures in the country. I really want to hate this, but gosh darn it, it's just too earnest. Apparently the kid playing the middle child was actually 20???? Two years older than Jenny Agutter was???? what the fuck
The Reflecting Skin (1990): An unceasing cavalcade of ludicrous, poorly-acted, over-the-top unpleasantness. The lovely Days of Heaven-lite cinematography can only do so much heavy lifting, here. Laughably awful ending. What a fucking ordeal this was.
Rosa Luxemburg (1986): Probably good? idk it took me like four sittings to get through it
Sangam (1964): Started my month with damn near four hours of classic Bollywood. I wish I could have stayed there. One of those movies where 'threesome' is the CLEAR answer, but everyone's so goddam hung up on societal bullshit that someone has to die instead. So dramatic, all of the time!
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974): bonk bonk bonk
Fehér Isten (2014): People suck, bring on the dogpocalypse. Really wish this hadn't started with the cold open and had just let the ridiculous events unfold on their own; it totally murdered the first half of this movie, I was so bored waiting for them to get to the dogpocalypse factory.
Branco Sai, Preto Fica (2014): Oh boy, I understood this even less than Once There Was Brasilia!
Wrath of Man (2021): Lloyd Theater Odyssey #2.3! It's not classic-flavoured Ritchie if I'm not in a low-level state of confusion the entire time, right? Good shit.
Yeelen (1987): Why was this in the Afrofuturism category? It's like, an African folk magic period film. That feels like the opposite of futurism to me! Do I not know what Afrofuturism is?? Whatever, this movie rules.
SHORTS
The Last Angel of History (1996): Fascinating thesis, explored quickly and captivatingly, even if some of the artist interviews veered into 'utter gibberish' territory at times. I guess that's artists for you.
Clebs (2019): dags
Frisson d'amour (2019): Sad and spare; nicely done, even if the tech-tech trappings feel a little weightless. Or just not integrated well? They felt very extraneous to the story being told, even if future tech-saavy grandma was the focus. Basically, either I didn't get the message they were going for with it, or it was extremely hacky and facile, and I'm not confident enough to judge it either way.
Somewhere to Disappear (2010): An art project about an art project. Substance, where are you? Nice vibes, though.
Stockholmsnatt (1987): oh my god they suck so much "But does she mean the horrible characters or the people who made this ridiculous garbage?" yes
The Sweetest Sound (2001): I enjoyed this a lot, and it really left me feeling justified in my lifelong satisfaction at being the only person with my name. before there was josh fight, there was alan dinner
TELEVISION
Marvel Studios: Legends 1x07-1x08: Fresh entries in Marvel's li'l recap clip montage collection ahead of Loki, HYPE!!!
Master of None 3x01-3x05: Interesting! This was obviously a huge departure for the series, which is what most of the attention has been focused on, but honestly, I watched the first two seasons years ago and remember next to nothing from them, so the impact of the change was probably lost on me, womp womp. It just felt like a new thing and oh hey, there's Aziz Ansari a couple of times. As for the new thing... it was okay! I think I have less patience for art house sensibility TV shows these days, since I watch so many more movies than I used to, but it never really overstayed its welcome (shows being able to have episodes of wildly varying lengths is pretty much the only good change to the format brought about by the streaming revolution). The casual cheating in the last episode seemed weird to me? These are not good people! Lena Waithe has giant hands.
Wrestling:
AEW Dark 3x22/3x23
AEW Dark: Elevation 1x11/1x12
AEW Dynamite 3x21/3x22
AEW Countdown to Double or Nothing
AEW Double or Nothing 2021
IMPACT! Wrestling 18x21/18x22
New Japan Pro-Wrestling 1x25/1x26
NJPW Strong 2x21/2x22
NWA Powerrr 4x08
NWA PowerrrSurge 1x03
NWA When Our Shadows Fall
TJPW That's J-PW 1x13-1x16
no subject
no subject
me in 2021: frank you fool, gimme the damn box, sensation has no morality and murdering dudes makes women hotter
girlboss dog murderer spoiler zone
her dress turned into a parachute. i just want fashion crimes. can i have fashion crimes without dog murder. (she gave them the dogs??? I NEED TO KNOW WHERE THIS CONTINUITY GOES)
can't believe they did a 'what do you expect, yellow spandex' gag but with
the dog murder
Re: girlboss dog murderer spoiler zone
Re: girlboss dog murderer spoiler zone
I want to know where the hell they're going with the sequel, if it'll just be a Wicked-style 'here's what she was REALLY up to during 101 Dalmatians' since dog murder would be somewhat OOC in this particular continuity, or if they lean into the AU and just do FUCKING WHATEVER, WHAT A BATSHIT MOVIE THIS WAS, HER DRESS TURNED INTO A PARACHUTE
I kinda want both
and also ship Cruella/Jasper a li'l
Re: girlboss dog murderer spoiler zone
emma thompson's delivery of "she killed my dogs and made a coat" was wonderful, can't believe they made that line work (by showing us that she has the dogs and likes dogs, SURELY SHE CAN'T DO THE DOG MURDERS)
but also maybe they'll just do FUCKING WHATEVER. she sewed golden moth eggs onto a dress! her dress was a parachute! it's a found family crime shenanigans movie!! but also a hamartia-based tragedy about the dog murderer I guess????
and also ship Cruella/Jasper a li'l
same except not really a li'l. be better for jasper, cruella
Re: girlboss dog murderer spoiler zone
same except not really a li'l. be better for jasper, cruella
HE AND HORACE DESERVE THE WORLD, CRUELLA, GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER
Re: girlboss dog murderer spoiler zone
jasper reacts to things so appropriately he would not stick around for dog murder even in the grip of a toxic relationship SURELY
Re: girlboss dog murderer spoiler zone
which I'm assuming she does, though, that little enclave they formed at the end with Artie and John seems tailor-made (ha) for bonding and shenanigans, Hell House is the Normandy let's see this metaphor all the damn way through
Re: girlboss dog murderer spoiler zone
this being ONLY FOUND FAMILY ADVENTURE SHENANIGANS
Re: girlboss dog murderer spoiler zone
Re: girlboss dog murderer spoiler zone
Re: girlboss dog murderer spoiler zone