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My Week in Movies: February 2 - 8
Feb. 9th, 2020 02:18 pmI'm slowly working more movies into my life. Television's hold on me was a passing fancy. Cinema 4 life!
Movies I've seen before are in italics.
The Hypnotist (2001)
Judex (1963)
John Mulaney: The Comeback Kid (2015)
Pygmalion (1938)
Clouds of Sils Maria (2014)
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939)
House of Games (1987)
Birds of Prey (2020)
The Little Foxes (1941)
With the exception of the Mulaney special and Birds of Prey, everything was watched on Criterion Channel, which I will not shut up about, because it's the greatest streaming service nobody is watching right now.
The Hypnotist is a short by Anna Biller, which means it's deliberately stagey and overperformed with a serious retro vibe. I liked it, largely because it has no illusions about itself and just does what it wants and gets out.
Judex is based on a silent-era serial, which isn't surprising, because it's largely just a series of events only loosely connected with each other. For instance, the big climactic battle is between the villain and a character we met just 5-10 minutes earlier. The ostensible hero is not involved at all (although calling him a hero is a stretch because his first major act is to fake someone's death and then kidnap them). I liked its goofy energy though and I might actually watch it again someday.
It's weird watching My Fair Lady without the musical numbers.
I'm a fan of KStew and Criterion had Clouds of Sils Maria, which is a chamber drama about an actress dealing with her age and her assistant (Stewart) who struggles with gaining the actress's respect for her intellect. It's about a lot more than that, obviously, but you know, I'm not always good at pulling out nuance in a way I can verbalize. My film critic days are clearly behind me.
I don't know why I watched The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex because I fucking loathe Errol Flynn. I guess Michael Curtiz and Bette Davis supersede that, but this was kind of boring.
I really liked House of Games, but I'm a sucker for a good con thriller. I figured out the bit pretty quickly, but that didn't diminish anything, which is the sign of a good thriller.
Birds of Prey is pretty good. I'm not as wild about it as some of my contemporaries, but it has great action, a delightful sense of humor, and strong performances.
Mom recommended The Little Foxes to me. I should probably call her and discuss it. I enjoyed it overall. Bette Davis is great as always.
Next week I'm at TGIFemslash, so you can expect a double-size Week in Movies on February 23rd.
Movies I've seen before are in italics.
The Hypnotist (2001)
Judex (1963)
John Mulaney: The Comeback Kid (2015)
Pygmalion (1938)
Clouds of Sils Maria (2014)
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939)
House of Games (1987)
Birds of Prey (2020)
The Little Foxes (1941)
With the exception of the Mulaney special and Birds of Prey, everything was watched on Criterion Channel, which I will not shut up about, because it's the greatest streaming service nobody is watching right now.
The Hypnotist is a short by Anna Biller, which means it's deliberately stagey and overperformed with a serious retro vibe. I liked it, largely because it has no illusions about itself and just does what it wants and gets out.
Judex is based on a silent-era serial, which isn't surprising, because it's largely just a series of events only loosely connected with each other. For instance, the big climactic battle is between the villain and a character we met just 5-10 minutes earlier. The ostensible hero is not involved at all (although calling him a hero is a stretch because his first major act is to fake someone's death and then kidnap them). I liked its goofy energy though and I might actually watch it again someday.
It's weird watching My Fair Lady without the musical numbers.
I'm a fan of KStew and Criterion had Clouds of Sils Maria, which is a chamber drama about an actress dealing with her age and her assistant (Stewart) who struggles with gaining the actress's respect for her intellect. It's about a lot more than that, obviously, but you know, I'm not always good at pulling out nuance in a way I can verbalize. My film critic days are clearly behind me.
I don't know why I watched The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex because I fucking loathe Errol Flynn. I guess Michael Curtiz and Bette Davis supersede that, but this was kind of boring.
I really liked House of Games, but I'm a sucker for a good con thriller. I figured out the bit pretty quickly, but that didn't diminish anything, which is the sign of a good thriller.
Birds of Prey is pretty good. I'm not as wild about it as some of my contemporaries, but it has great action, a delightful sense of humor, and strong performances.
Mom recommended The Little Foxes to me. I should probably call her and discuss it. I enjoyed it overall. Bette Davis is great as always.
Next week I'm at TGIFemslash, so you can expect a double-size Week in Movies on February 23rd.
