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Spring Season: Weeks 67/68
The sky was so blue yesterday and the sun was so warm, all I wanted to do was lie down in the field I cross on my way home and close my eyes and see if I could stay there until morning.
ALAS.
This week feels like it's gone by really quickly, but in more of a 'confused fugue' sort of way than in anything good. Though I suppose if it gets me closer to my week off, any state of mind is a good one? One more day of this feels pretty insurmountable right now, but I'm sure I'll get there.
Longest day of the year done and gone. I'm not ready for them to start getting shorter already. I don't know if I ever will be again.
Woof, that was bleak, at least it's still summer and supposed to be hot as hell soon. Movies? Movies.
FILMS
Any Number Can Play (1949): The feel-good family gambling drama I didn't know I needed?? It's corny and poorly acted in places, but it seems like it's gearing up for hacky tragedy throughout the whole thing before ending on this really uplifting series of events and it was surprisingly delightful?
Babylon (1980): Very good, but I would have benefited from more plot to hold my attention between the striking moments of camaraderie or infuriating racism or wordless frustrations. Loved that opening explanation that the original release had subtitles for the Jamaican patois, but they just went ahead and kept them in for the whole thing this time around, because who the hell can understand British people?
The Big Store (1941): Much more of a focus on the extraneous musical numbers than some other Marx Brothers stuff, yes, good, this is much more my shit. And what was up with the terrifying lullaby chick???
Blackmail (1929): Hitchcock really just rolled in, had a snap decision made that this movie was actually going to be his first talkie, and casually busted out some of the most innovative uses of sound I've seen, like hahaha what the fuck, dude? KNIFE.
Les saignantes (2005): It's cheap and dirty, very amateurish in places, confusing as hell, filled with all the coloured lighting of a '90s sci-fi TV pilot, and oh my gosh I loved it so much??? Funny and charming, with plenty to chew on even setting aside all the parts where I had no goddamn clue what was going on. Obsessed with the selection of (VERY early-00s despite it being set in 2025) movie posters in Chouchou's bedroom. Still don't know what Mevoungou is. Calling it part of the lesbian vampire genre feels like a big reach on both terms, but I see where those people are coming from, and I respect them. This totally caught me off guard, enough for me to declare the erotic Cameroonian political sci-fi fantasy movie that seems to be alternately translated as The Bloodettes, Those Who Bleed, or The Bloodiest depending on where you look... Leshia's Pick of the Week!
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021): THE RE-OPENING: TAKE 2. This could have been hot garbage and I would have loved it, just because I'm so happy to be able to go to the movies again (without driving to another fucking province against all guidelines or even common sense, obviously). It was not hot garbage! It WAS an expected step down from the first two, but goddamn, I would follow the (fictional versions of the awful real-life) Warrens straight into hell if they asked me to. A fine time had by all.
The Crazies (1973): Or Code Name: Trixie if you're nasty. This movie would make a great themed paintball game.
Daddy Nostalgie (1990): Heartfelt and sweetly sad. Imagine family members actually trying to connect a little bit on a real level before it's too late, hah, fiction is wild. Do wish they hadn't said daddy quite so much!
Days of Heaven (1978): Enjoyed this much more the second time around, when I wasn't still hoping for much in the way of a plot (in a Malick movie, hah, I'm still so naive at times) and was just looking for vibes, which it delivers beautifully without ever overstaying its welcome. The madman shot an entire movie in the magic hour and slapped a Morricone score on it, like. C'mon.
Days of Wine and Roses (1962): It's, uh, not exactly subtle in its portrayal of spiraling alcoholism, but the two central performances tread a fine line, managing to be both over-the-top and sympathetic (that ridiculous greenhouse breakdown aside). Also it has TV Oscar as movie Felix's AA sponsor, THE ODD COUPLE: INTO THE ODD-VERSE.
Death Rides a Horse (1967): By-the-numbers, easy-to-follow revenge western with plenty of style. That final showdown in the dust storm, so good.
Duck, You Sucker (1971): One of my big themes this fortnight was 'missing maestro hours', and oof, this was a big one for 'scores I know backwards and forwards but had actually never watched the movie of before'. Sean, SEAN, Sean...
Experiment in Terror (1962): My favourite noir about the search for a Mr. Lynch in Twin Peaks. Double feature with Days of Wine and Roses for Lee Remick movies directed by Blake Edwards in 1962!
Fort Buchanan (2014): happy pride month, what the fuck just happened; my stubborn refusal to source some subtitles for this was really at odds with how often characters talked with their mouths full
Frantz Fanon: Black Skin, White Mask (1995): Kinda wish it had picked a lane between the arty reenactments and the straightforward talking heads; it feels like this is two better movies frankensteined together. Still, pretty interesting stuff.
Gilda (1946): PUT THE BLAME ON MAME, BOYS, PUT THE BLAME ON MAME~~~~
Go West (1940): I really feel like I'm Marxing wrong, I find the random piano/harp musical interludes to be worlds more entertaining than the rest of their schticks.
Hard Eight (1996): Was low-key confused for most of it, but I love everyone in this casino. What is up with that Christmas song over the closing credits???
Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard (2021): my god that was so loud
I'm All Right Jack (1959): Had to stop it halfway through to go and get the mail, just so I could care about something again before continuing. So very boring, but I got fun stickers to play with in the mail!
Ice (1970): The platonic ideal of gritty realism, all white leftist infighting and tedious minutiae in service of building out a dystopia that feels all too current even after half a century. All the shitty tedium of a Godard movie, except here it actually works??
Images (1972): Creepy and atmospheric, with some amazing locations. So good, even if I was very confused for much of it. Why the hell didn't Altman do more horror? That one rabbit non-joke may honestly drive me insane, as well.
In the Heights (2021): I'M ALIVE. What an amazing theater experience, it feels like exactly the thing the world needs right now as a tonic to finally pulling out of our spiral into hell world, and I'm kinda bummed that it's tanking?? Whatever, at least I got my fix. I'm not even sure if it's that good, I've seen a fair few criticisms in my peripheral vision and none of them rang particularly false, but it's just such a vibrant, high-energy, colourful, cinematic TIME, I loved it a lot. Leshia's Pick of the Week Runner-Up!
Indagine su un cittadino al di sopra di ogni sospetto (1970): Missing maestro hours continue.
The Ladykillers (1955): A simple, silly story, told in a fun and lighthearted way, even as it veers into delightfully dark territory in the last act.
The Mercenary (1968): I've seen this movie multiple times and I still can't really follow the plot and still don't really care! I'm mostly just here for the L'arena climax, really.
Ripley's Game (2002): Man, I really need to dig deeper into the Ripley Cinematic Universe, this shit's good. "Why did you do that?" Like, damn.
Shaft (1971): I still think this gets overlooked as pure classic neonoir only because of the fun theme tunes.
Shree 420 (1955): Hmm, should I stick with the beautiful woman who loves me for me, or go with the bitch who ripped me off for thousands of rupees and told me to go back to the gutter? DECISIONS, DECISIONS. Every song in this slaps so hard.
That's Life! (1986): My letterboxd review for this is just a Clone High quote, which is how you know it really made an impression. Everyone desperately wanting to fuck 60-something Jack Lemmon was... something. Still, I liked the low-key feel to it, just shooting the shit with Blake Edwards and Julie Andrews in their house, with their friends as most of the supporting cast? Sure, why not? But also YOU'VE GOT CRABS, ASS-FACE
Une semaine de vacances (1980): I'm not sure if I'm more aware of the value of a week off after having so many of them, or if it's been cheapened somewhat. Maybe it depends on the week. A fine movie.
The Witch Who Came from the Sea (1976): Would it be crazy if I got the wonky looking tiger tattoo from this movie? Good goddamn. Horror where the fun gruesome murders are the LEAST horrific part. That entire climax and how understated all the reactions are is gonna stick with me for a while. Leshia's Pick of the Week Runner-Up!
SHORTS
Don't Go Tellin' Your Momma (2021): Sharp, thoughtful, ultimately unfocused. Cool to see that one bit in light of Juneteenth being declared a federal holiday; also illustrates how minor a win that is in the grand scheme of things.
i ran from it and was still in it (2020): Emotional and engagingly edited, but I never quite got a handle on what it was trying to tell me.
Kevin Beasley's Raw Materials (2019): An interesting bit of reckoning with the fraught symbolisms of the past. Butts right up against my limits for 'pretentious talking about art', but short enough not to cross them, nice and engaging all around.
TELEVISION
Loki 1x01-1x02: SO GOOD. I've been getting most of my wild speculations out of my system on Discord, but I will say that it sorta feels like a show at odds with itself in some ways; the central premise of the sacred timeline feels so antithetical to the whole vibe it's going for (which feels like a big part of the point) while also undermining a lot of Endgame (which... doesn't), and I'm curious to see if that ends up balancing out by the end. Either way, I'm along for the ride, this shit is an absolute joy. I will only riot if Mobius doesn't get a jet ski by the end.
still gotta watch the new rick and mortyyyyy
Wrestling:
AEW Dark 3x24/3x25
AEW Dark: Elevation 1x13/1x14
AEW Dynamite 3x23/3x24
IMPACT! Wrestling 18x23/18x24
IMPACT: Against All Odds 2021
New Japan Pro-Wrestling 1x27/1x28
NJPW Strong 2x23/2x24
NWA Powerrr 5x01/5x02
TJPW That's J-PW 1x17-1x20
I just want to go home and watch BTE, send me strength to get through the next... 9 HOURS? FUCK.
ALAS.
This week feels like it's gone by really quickly, but in more of a 'confused fugue' sort of way than in anything good. Though I suppose if it gets me closer to my week off, any state of mind is a good one? One more day of this feels pretty insurmountable right now, but I'm sure I'll get there.
Longest day of the year done and gone. I'm not ready for them to start getting shorter already. I don't know if I ever will be again.
Woof, that was bleak, at least it's still summer and supposed to be hot as hell soon. Movies? Movies.
FILMS
Any Number Can Play (1949): The feel-good family gambling drama I didn't know I needed?? It's corny and poorly acted in places, but it seems like it's gearing up for hacky tragedy throughout the whole thing before ending on this really uplifting series of events and it was surprisingly delightful?
Babylon (1980): Very good, but I would have benefited from more plot to hold my attention between the striking moments of camaraderie or infuriating racism or wordless frustrations. Loved that opening explanation that the original release had subtitles for the Jamaican patois, but they just went ahead and kept them in for the whole thing this time around, because who the hell can understand British people?
The Big Store (1941): Much more of a focus on the extraneous musical numbers than some other Marx Brothers stuff, yes, good, this is much more my shit. And what was up with the terrifying lullaby chick???
Blackmail (1929): Hitchcock really just rolled in, had a snap decision made that this movie was actually going to be his first talkie, and casually busted out some of the most innovative uses of sound I've seen, like hahaha what the fuck, dude? KNIFE.
Les saignantes (2005): It's cheap and dirty, very amateurish in places, confusing as hell, filled with all the coloured lighting of a '90s sci-fi TV pilot, and oh my gosh I loved it so much??? Funny and charming, with plenty to chew on even setting aside all the parts where I had no goddamn clue what was going on. Obsessed with the selection of (VERY early-00s despite it being set in 2025) movie posters in Chouchou's bedroom. Still don't know what Mevoungou is. Calling it part of the lesbian vampire genre feels like a big reach on both terms, but I see where those people are coming from, and I respect them. This totally caught me off guard, enough for me to declare the erotic Cameroonian political sci-fi fantasy movie that seems to be alternately translated as The Bloodettes, Those Who Bleed, or The Bloodiest depending on where you look... Leshia's Pick of the Week!
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021): THE RE-OPENING: TAKE 2. This could have been hot garbage and I would have loved it, just because I'm so happy to be able to go to the movies again (without driving to another fucking province against all guidelines or even common sense, obviously). It was not hot garbage! It WAS an expected step down from the first two, but goddamn, I would follow the (fictional versions of the awful real-life) Warrens straight into hell if they asked me to. A fine time had by all.
The Crazies (1973): Or Code Name: Trixie if you're nasty. This movie would make a great themed paintball game.
Daddy Nostalgie (1990): Heartfelt and sweetly sad. Imagine family members actually trying to connect a little bit on a real level before it's too late, hah, fiction is wild. Do wish they hadn't said daddy quite so much!
Days of Heaven (1978): Enjoyed this much more the second time around, when I wasn't still hoping for much in the way of a plot (in a Malick movie, hah, I'm still so naive at times) and was just looking for vibes, which it delivers beautifully without ever overstaying its welcome. The madman shot an entire movie in the magic hour and slapped a Morricone score on it, like. C'mon.
Days of Wine and Roses (1962): It's, uh, not exactly subtle in its portrayal of spiraling alcoholism, but the two central performances tread a fine line, managing to be both over-the-top and sympathetic (that ridiculous greenhouse breakdown aside). Also it has TV Oscar as movie Felix's AA sponsor, THE ODD COUPLE: INTO THE ODD-VERSE.
Death Rides a Horse (1967): By-the-numbers, easy-to-follow revenge western with plenty of style. That final showdown in the dust storm, so good.
Duck, You Sucker (1971): One of my big themes this fortnight was 'missing maestro hours', and oof, this was a big one for 'scores I know backwards and forwards but had actually never watched the movie of before'. Sean, SEAN, Sean...
Experiment in Terror (1962): My favourite noir about the search for a Mr. Lynch in Twin Peaks. Double feature with Days of Wine and Roses for Lee Remick movies directed by Blake Edwards in 1962!
Fort Buchanan (2014): happy pride month, what the fuck just happened; my stubborn refusal to source some subtitles for this was really at odds with how often characters talked with their mouths full
Frantz Fanon: Black Skin, White Mask (1995): Kinda wish it had picked a lane between the arty reenactments and the straightforward talking heads; it feels like this is two better movies frankensteined together. Still, pretty interesting stuff.
Gilda (1946): PUT THE BLAME ON MAME, BOYS, PUT THE BLAME ON MAME~~~~
Go West (1940): I really feel like I'm Marxing wrong, I find the random piano/harp musical interludes to be worlds more entertaining than the rest of their schticks.
Hard Eight (1996): Was low-key confused for most of it, but I love everyone in this casino. What is up with that Christmas song over the closing credits???
Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard (2021): my god that was so loud
I'm All Right Jack (1959): Had to stop it halfway through to go and get the mail, just so I could care about something again before continuing. So very boring, but I got fun stickers to play with in the mail!
Ice (1970): The platonic ideal of gritty realism, all white leftist infighting and tedious minutiae in service of building out a dystopia that feels all too current even after half a century. All the shitty tedium of a Godard movie, except here it actually works??
Images (1972): Creepy and atmospheric, with some amazing locations. So good, even if I was very confused for much of it. Why the hell didn't Altman do more horror? That one rabbit non-joke may honestly drive me insane, as well.
In the Heights (2021): I'M ALIVE. What an amazing theater experience, it feels like exactly the thing the world needs right now as a tonic to finally pulling out of our spiral into hell world, and I'm kinda bummed that it's tanking?? Whatever, at least I got my fix. I'm not even sure if it's that good, I've seen a fair few criticisms in my peripheral vision and none of them rang particularly false, but it's just such a vibrant, high-energy, colourful, cinematic TIME, I loved it a lot. Leshia's Pick of the Week Runner-Up!
Indagine su un cittadino al di sopra di ogni sospetto (1970): Missing maestro hours continue.
The Ladykillers (1955): A simple, silly story, told in a fun and lighthearted way, even as it veers into delightfully dark territory in the last act.
The Mercenary (1968): I've seen this movie multiple times and I still can't really follow the plot and still don't really care! I'm mostly just here for the L'arena climax, really.
Ripley's Game (2002): Man, I really need to dig deeper into the Ripley Cinematic Universe, this shit's good. "Why did you do that?" Like, damn.
Shaft (1971): I still think this gets overlooked as pure classic neonoir only because of the fun theme tunes.
Shree 420 (1955): Hmm, should I stick with the beautiful woman who loves me for me, or go with the bitch who ripped me off for thousands of rupees and told me to go back to the gutter? DECISIONS, DECISIONS. Every song in this slaps so hard.
That's Life! (1986): My letterboxd review for this is just a Clone High quote, which is how you know it really made an impression. Everyone desperately wanting to fuck 60-something Jack Lemmon was... something. Still, I liked the low-key feel to it, just shooting the shit with Blake Edwards and Julie Andrews in their house, with their friends as most of the supporting cast? Sure, why not? But also YOU'VE GOT CRABS, ASS-FACE
Une semaine de vacances (1980): I'm not sure if I'm more aware of the value of a week off after having so many of them, or if it's been cheapened somewhat. Maybe it depends on the week. A fine movie.
The Witch Who Came from the Sea (1976): Would it be crazy if I got the wonky looking tiger tattoo from this movie? Good goddamn. Horror where the fun gruesome murders are the LEAST horrific part. That entire climax and how understated all the reactions are is gonna stick with me for a while. Leshia's Pick of the Week Runner-Up!
SHORTS
Don't Go Tellin' Your Momma (2021): Sharp, thoughtful, ultimately unfocused. Cool to see that one bit in light of Juneteenth being declared a federal holiday; also illustrates how minor a win that is in the grand scheme of things.
i ran from it and was still in it (2020): Emotional and engagingly edited, but I never quite got a handle on what it was trying to tell me.
Kevin Beasley's Raw Materials (2019): An interesting bit of reckoning with the fraught symbolisms of the past. Butts right up against my limits for 'pretentious talking about art', but short enough not to cross them, nice and engaging all around.
TELEVISION
Loki 1x01-1x02: SO GOOD. I've been getting most of my wild speculations out of my system on Discord, but I will say that it sorta feels like a show at odds with itself in some ways; the central premise of the sacred timeline feels so antithetical to the whole vibe it's going for (which feels like a big part of the point) while also undermining a lot of Endgame (which... doesn't), and I'm curious to see if that ends up balancing out by the end. Either way, I'm along for the ride, this shit is an absolute joy. I will only riot if Mobius doesn't get a jet ski by the end.
still gotta watch the new rick and mortyyyyy
Wrestling:
AEW Dark 3x24/3x25
AEW Dark: Elevation 1x13/1x14
AEW Dynamite 3x23/3x24
IMPACT! Wrestling 18x23/18x24
IMPACT: Against All Odds 2021
New Japan Pro-Wrestling 1x27/1x28
NJPW Strong 2x23/2x24
NWA Powerrr 5x01/5x02
TJPW That's J-PW 1x17-1x20
I just want to go home and watch BTE, send me strength to get through the next... 9 HOURS? FUCK.