This Week in Movies
It is that time again—where I recap my non-podcast related weekly watches and tell you what you 100% need to be watching! (And 0% too, I suppose.) So when we left off last I was feeding you an excuse or two about getting way behind schedule and just sent the links to my Letterboxd Diary and the review I wrote about Joker. If you haven’t had the chance to read that post or check those out please do—I’m really proud of that review!
Now, on to this week. It’s been admittedly a little light in the last 11 days since that post. I watched the movies that I needed for the podcast and a couple others but the time got away from me as I spent a lot of it preparing for my two upcoming half marathons. Nevertheless, I do have a few gems in here.
The Last Black Man in San Francisco (2019): I believe that of what I have seen this year this movie is the best. It centers around a man named Jimmie who is trying to reclaim his family home in a gentrified San Francisco. The price gauging and rapidly changing culture around him and his best friend cause feelings of disenfranchisement and pain as he watches the city he knew and loved leave him behind. The acting is spectacular and emotional and the movie looks gorgeous. But beyond that, it is a relevant, compelling story that is so easy to latch onto with rich characters and a beautiful display of the city in which it’s set. Absolutely watch this one (on most streaming services except iTunes).
Zombieland: Double Tap (2019): Okay so let me just start out with this story: In early November of 2009 a freshly 17-year-old Nikki had a week off of swim practice having just performed very well at her state meet. She left school in a big hurry rushing down to the Century 16 cinema in Anchorage, Alaska to see her first-ever (legal) solo Rated R movie in theater. That movie was Zombieland. She laughed her ass off and fell in love with all the comedic timing of the leads and found yet another wonderful Emma Stone performance (she loved Superbad and Easy A quite a bit)! So when she found out, a week shy of her 27th birthday, that there was going to be a sequel she was elated. And as she watched the movie on the big screen lovely nostalgia feeling flowed through her and she laughed and gasped with her former teenage self. Basically, I loved the first one and it was a meaningful viewing for me (and has staid a favorite) and this one didn’t disappoint me AT ALL. If the original Z was up your alley this one will deliver. :)
Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011): This one is a little hard. It’s a story starring Elizabeth Olson and Sarah Paulson about a girl (Olson) who escapes a cult and goes to live with her older sister (Paulson). Her behavior (due to trauma and featuring flashbacks) becomes more erratic and psychotic and her sister and brother-in-law try to figure out what to do. This movie focuses on trauma but doesn’t give you much of a release or catharsis. It’s a hard one to watch, keep that in mind, and I’ll honestly have to rewatch it again when I’m more prepped to handle it. It is a beautifully shot and acted film though.
Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989): If you haven’t seen or heard of this one you have to be under a giant rock. But basically two dudes about to fail history need to pass their big final speech or one of them (Ted) gets shipped to military school and they time travel to collect historical figures to help out with the assignment. It’s a great buddy comedy and I’m guessing most of you know this already.
So that’s it! Like I said, it’s been a light week for movies. It probably will be again. We have three movies to discuss during this week’s episode and I have to actually do some research on it as well, HOWEVER, we are definitely going to see The Lighthouse and I imagine I’ll watch some movies on the plane to California. Enjoy the last and next episode, and I’ll be back soon with another week in watches.