Author Archives: Kevin Winters

Amplifying Black Voices: Do the Right Thing- A Spike Lee Joint

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If you are tired of turning on the news to see another black person being killed by another policeman then you need to watch 1989’s Do the Right Thing. If you are tired of having to memorize another name on a never ending list of Breonna Taylor’s and George Floyd’s then you need to watch 1989’s Do the Right Thing. If you are frustrated that things seemingly never get better then…well you know.

Every one should watch or re-watch Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing. Especially right now in this moment in time when a chunk of the world is starting to actually admit there is a problem. What you will find is things are exactly the way they were back in the ’80s. In 30 years nothing has changed. And that should make you angry and disgusted. Even if you are tired of hearing about it you need to keep reminding yourself how bad it is because we can’t have another 30 years of unfettered violence by those pledged to protect all of us.

For those of you who are too tired of dealing with the same stories over and over, just imagine having to live through it for decades. Just imagine being 32-year-old Spike Lee writing, directing, and starring in a film about a policeman killing a black man and then waking up on May 25th, 2020 as a 63-year-old man witnessing George Floyd falling victim to the exact scenario you made a movie about. And George Floyd is only one of the many, many, many victims in the 31 years since the movie’s release. Just another name on a never ending list.

The truth is this film could have been released in 2021 with only minor changes (Mookie would work for Grubhub instead of directly for Sal’s Pizzeria for example) and it would be renowned for the timeliness of it’s message. Hell, in a twist of life imitates art, it might have been criticized for shamelessly ripping off the headlines of the George Floyd murder. Sadly, this film represents the present as much as it is a story of the past.

And in the present, as it was in the past, this film is near perfect. It has the feel of a play with an irresistible cast of characters set on a single block in a neighborhood in the borough of Brooklyn. The block is a character. The heat is a character. The pizzeria is a character. The boiling racial tension is a character. It is set in a single day and moves through it with pacing that is impeccable and makes you want to stay forever.

For a while you think this is going to be a movie seemingly about nothing. Just a day in the life of numerous people living in Bed-Stuy on a hot summer day. And it still feels worth your time because the movie is alive and real. Then you realize this film isn’t allowed to be about nothing because people of color don’t have that privilege.

And then it happens. Sal, the owner of the pizzeria is remarking how good of a day it was. Despite the heat he and his sons made a lot of pizza and earned good money. He is a proud Italian-American and even prouder that the mostly black neighborhood that he serves has grown up eating his food. From there everything shifts quickly. Tensions boil over due to a seemingly small thing. It moves fast and before you know it a black man is dead by the hands of a policeman and the single block in a neighborhood in the borough of Brooklyn will never be the same.

Except it will. Because things never change and this is the existence of the block and of black lives. Sure they will all miss their friend that died but at the end of the day he will just be another name on a never ending list.

An Ode to a King: Black Panther

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Over the weekend we should have celebrated Chadwick Boseman’s 44th birthday. It probably would have been mostly unremarkable and easily missed. There would have been a trending hashtag on Twitter, #HappyBdayBlackPanther #HBDChad. And Chris Evans or Mark Ruffalo or someone in the Marvel family would have had tweeted a sarcastic birthday wish mentioning Royalty or King. And we would have all moved on, after all 44 is extremely young.

Alas the world, and 2020, is a cruel place. While Mr. Boseman was celebrated, it was posthumously. Disney proved they might have a tiny fragment of their soul left by replacing the opening logo of Black Panther to one that honored Boseman as a form or remembrance. And there were plenty of tweets but they were marked with sadness and with reminders of the fragility of life.

I, for one, like to celebrate lives instead of mourn them. I believe living 43 years, becoming a successful actor, playing important historical figures like Jackie Robinson, James Brown, and Thurgood Marshall is miraculous. I can’t be sad about this man I never met, I only want to enjoy what he left behind.

To do so I decided to re-watch Black Panther. I am a BIG Black Panther guy, I will defend it to no end. I am typically one who voices displeasure over movies that are overhyped (Avengers: Endgame, The Dark Knight) but I truly believe Black Panther deserves every ounce of hype.

But before this weekend I had never watched it for Chadwick Boseman. I watched it the first time in theaters because I was in the height of my Marvel craze. I watched it the second time in theaters because I wanted to show my support for the black artists the best way I know how, money. The third time was to pay attention to Ryan Coogler’s directing after learning how young he was. Every time after that was probably because I was listening to the Kendrick Lamar soundtrack and it reminded me how good the film was. I never really focused on the man playing the titular role but could you blame me? This cast is filled to the brim with amazing performers, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Winston Duke, MICHAEL B. JORDAN, it’s truly remarkable.

When I finally started paying attention to the man behind the mask I was blown away. Boseman’s performance is balanced, calm, reassuring, and strong. Which is exactly what the role demands. T’Challa is the only superhero, that I know, that has to balance the weight of being a political leader while also physically protecting his people. Peter Parker meanwhile struggles to balance studying and petty thieves. T’Challa has to be political and well-liked. He needs to put his people first, balancing their traditions with their technological advances and with exposure to the harsh outside world. To a world that has proven to not welcome their kind.

T’Challa also has to deal with the death of his father and the king of Wakanda T’Chaka. Boseman displays T’Challa’s emotions beautifully when the character gets one last chance to say good-bye to T’Chaka on the Ancestral Plane: “I’m not ready to be without you.” T’Challa states to his father (a moment that hits the audience even harder in 2020) to which T’Chaka replies, “A man who has not prepared his children for his own death has failed as a father.” The raw emotion and vulnerability displayed by Boseman (and John Kani) in this scene alone makes the film stand above it’s Marvel counterpoints.

This role was more than your typical superhero role. Boseman had to not only had the handle the character with strength, vulnerability, and intelligence but he also had to balance the real world implications of the role. Namely the weight of being the first black superhero in the MCU and the pressure of leading a superstar cast. Somehow Boseman managed to accomplish it all.

That is something worth celebrating.

Amplifying Black Voices: Queen & Slim from Melina Matsoukas

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Queen: “He told me nothing scares a white man more than seeing a black man on a horse.”

Slim: “Why?”

Queen: “Cause they have to look up at him.”

When a story about an altercation between a black man and a white cop comes to light we are fed a typical narrative. The white man was a hero, doing his duty, had no choice to resort to violence. The black man was resisting, aggressive, had a criminal record. There are key words and facts intentionally used to paint a clear picture.

Queen & Slim feels like a free space away from the media slant and away from how we typically engage with stories like this. A bubble where there is no discussion of guilt or regret. No remarks over the dead cop or how he was a hero or how he had a family or how there are good people on both sides.

Instead we are put there. As a voyeur who gets to see exactly what happens. We get to focus on the black people and their journey. We see two young, intelligent black people get pulled over by a cop. We watch as they comply to the cop’s demands even as they get increasingly nervous. We get to see the misunderstanding that leads to Slim shooting the cop dead. And we feel their anguish as they get in the car to drive away. We yell at the screen telling them there is a better option, that logic is on their side, that they were defending themselves, that surely people will understand the circumstances. And then we realize it’s not that simple, there is no better option as a black person. They know exactly how this is going to end and driving away is their best option.

As a white person viewing this movie I’m grateful it provides a small glimpse into what it means to be a black person in America. Of course I will never be able to fully understand what that means but this film provides hints of unspoken bonds and assumed consequences black people face. There is subtext and nuance to this film that I am aware of but I feel only people of color can fully grasp.

It’s in the way Queen and Slim run without much acknowledgment to their options or lack thereof. It’s the knowing nods of, mostly, approval they receive from black strangers. It’s the lack of surprise when an estranged niece shows up at her Uncle’s house needing a place to hide. It’s all there in character interactions, unspoken, unflinching, unsurprised

These interactions are led by incredible performances from Jodie Turner-Smith and Daniel Kaluuya. We of course know to expect this type of performance from Kaluuya thanks to Get Out but his effortless coolness and understated performance plays perfectly to the outstanding Turner-Smith. This is my first exposure to her and it left a hell of an impression as she plays a tough, wildly intelligent, go-getter. Even more impressive is the chemistry the two share as they experience the worst Tinder date of all time.

This film is without a doubt worth your time, especially in 2020. The black experience in modern day America, as far as I can tell, is strongly represented here by Melina Matsoukas in her directorial debut. Of course it’s telling that the best way to express the black experience is through a road trip genre film following the main characters avoiding racial persecution by running away from the police. Truly it’s a more ruthless and honest Bonnie and Clyde where instead of a bored white woman looking for cheap thrills with her amateur criminal boyfriend, it’s two young black people wanting to go home from a fucking Tinder date without being accosted for the color of their skin.

Amplifying Black Voices: 13th from Ava DuVernay

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What’s more difficult? Earning someone’s attention or keeping it? Over the past few weeks the Black Lives Matter movement has finally earned the attention it has long deserved. We here at Flimsy Film Critics firmly believe Black Lives Matter and we do not want to see this movement turn into only a moment, we want them to matter every day going forward.

As two privileged white males the best thing we can do is listen and then use what we learn to help spread the message of equality and the need for systemic changes in every avenue of our world. Not only spread the message but use our platform to amplify their voices. Clearly this won’t solve everything but we feel it is our responsibility to do our part to help keep this obscenely important message alive and well and in the forefront of everyone’s mind.

Watch.

The best place to start in the film world is the documentary film 13th from Ava DuVernay. It’s probably the most recommended film in light of the recent week’s events and there is good reason for that. Just watch it. This documentary sets the stage and clearly lays out exactly how we got to the place we are today. It is harrowing, difficult to watch, and filled to the brim with so much information that it will demand a second viewing just to take it all in.

Listen.

The documentary breaks down how the current state of our judicial system was created to imprison as many people as possible, particularly people of color. It shows the clear transition from the end of slavery to the exploitation of a loophole in our constitution to keep entire generations of a portion of our society down.

Educate.

The film overwhelms the viewer with clear data that lays bare the clear racism that exists in our policies, our policing, and our politicians. It states plainly the horrors that black people face every single day.

Amplify.

Ava DuVernay is the first black female director to have a film nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture for Selma. She was the first black female director to have a documentary film nominated as well for 13th. And yet it has taken weeks of protests and press and attention for my network of people, and myself, to start paying attention to her. Her talent is incredible, her work speaks for itself, and we need to stop ignoring people on the basis of their gender and their skin. We need her voice and we need to listen.

There is no justification for not joining this equal rights movement. There is no justification for not watching, for not listening, for not educating, for not amplifying. The time should have been decades ago but the time is now. Watch. Listen. Educate. Amplify.

Black Lives Matter.

100 Movies Bucket List: Moonlight

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100 Movies Bucket List was a poster given to Jesse by his sister on Christmas 2019. We are committed to watching all of these movies and writing about them. We have no idea how long this will take. What even is time during the quarantine? And sometimes, these posts will include spoilers. Just a friendly warning from two friendly guys.

The 2016 film Moonlight is not just a character study of a young black man growing up in the streets of Miami working through his identity and sexuality. It does more than show his life and his struggles, it actually takes on the personality of the protagonist. The film, much like Chiron, is soft-spoken and pensive, layered with love but with a growing aggression boiling beneath the surface.

Midway through the film that aggression bursts through with a violent act that, in a traditional story structure, would be the climax of the film. However in the deft hands of director and writer Barry Jenkins, the real climax comes in a late scene and is accomplished entirely through dialogue.

The climax coming through dialogue only works because the real beauty of the film is its subtlety. Each cut, each word, and each moment is meaningful and succinct. This is not your typical critical fodder attempting to cash in come award season. Typically films that are upper case IMPORTANT and TRANSCENDENT go out of their way to be as long and drawn out as possible. Moonlight stands out from that way of thinking and proves that a movie can be tragic, lovely, and IMPORTANT without the fluff.

At just under two hours, Jenkins manages to take the audience through the life of Chiron  from bullied adolescent to withdrawn teenager to successful drug dealer. The transitions are smooth and timed perfectly. Just as you think you are understanding Chiron he grows up and changes in ways you didn’t expect. Broken out in chapters based on his nickname at each point in his life (Little, Chiron, Black), and played by three different and remarkable actors, we see the subtle growth of a young man trying to figure himself out. From a skinny, scared child to a muscular drug kingpin, the only trait carried form youth to adulthood is his uncertainty about his own identity.

The direction of Jenkins is best represented by how the three actors portrayed Chiron at different stages in his life. The transition from Alex Hibbert (“Little”) to Ashton Sanders (“Chiron”) and finally to Trevante Rhoades (“Black”) could have been jarring or confusing but these three actors, and Jenkins direction/trust, did a remarkable job losing themselves in Chiron so much that it feels like a natural growth of the character.

Rhoades especially stands out as he had the toughest job of them all to transition Chiron from a scared teenager with an identity crisis to a tough guy masking his insecurities with bravado. Rhoades’ ability to show the scared child in his eyes while walking around with a veneer of a tough guy is remarkable and represents the pains that “outcasts”, especially gay minorities, will go to to fit in or not to be bothered.

Moonlight’s beauty comes from what is unspoken, Jenkins trusts the audience to fill in the gaps based on subtle glances and body language. A trust he can bestow because he carefully constructed a multi-layered loving, tragic piece of art with perfect pacing. It’s akin to reading poetry or listening to a song, it’s best to watch it for yourself and, like the moonlight on your face on a cloudless night at the beach, let its beauty sink in.

 

100 Movies Bucket List: 3 Idiots

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100 Movies Bucket List was a poster given to Jesse by his sister on Christmas 2019. We are committed to watching all of these movies and writing about them. We have no idea how long this will take. What even is time during the quarantine? And sometimes, these posts will include spoilers. Just a friendly warning from two friendly guys.

Once upon a time I was traveling through Southeast Asia on a quest to find myself. Well actually I was on a quest to travel around Southeast Asia and I wasn’t thinking about much else but I was young and looking to connect with the world outside of the suburbs of Colorado.

During my travels my wife and I made a lot of new friends. Most were ex-pats (ex-patriots, AKA extended travelers from the USA), others were from Canada, South Africa, New Zealand, and a few were from Southeast Asia. I wanted to connect with this region so obviously the few from Southeast Asia were my favorite (yes I pick favorites among my friends! Jesse is currently trending up so good for him.)

One such friend was from India. She told us stories of the wars her country had fought in, the struggles her family had endured to survive, and all of her favorite Bollywood movies. Yes we would often transition from the most haunting stories of war to her favorite Bollywood actor seamlessly. Travel friends are funny like that, you feel an instant connection and you have to pack your entire life story and personality into a constrained amount of time.

I remember her recommending 3 Idiots, a coming-of-age Bollywood film. At the time I wasn’t aware of how large of an impact this movie made in the film industry. Based on the name I assumed it was the Indian version of Dumb and Dumber except with three dummies instead of two.

I was very wrong. Unfortunately I didn’t pursue her recommendation, I put it on a list that has since been lost. Thankfully due to another friend (Jesse, you see why he’s moving up the rankings?) and his ‘100 Movies Bucket List’ project the recommendation was given another chance of life.

I’m profoundly grateful as 3 Idiots is an absolute delight. Despite being near three hours long the heart and fun never let up in this beautiful film. And as far as an introduction to Bollywood? Well let’s just say 3 Idiots piqued my interest in Indian film as Old Boy piqued my interest in Korean film. Albeit with far less blood and psychological fuckery.

3 Idiots is a typical coming-of-age story with a traditional collegiate setting that follows three young men as they attempt to survive the unrelenting pressure of a prestigious engineering school. And while the story hits all the usual beats it has a freshness to it thanks to the natural charisma from the wise-beyond-his-years lead in Rancho (played by Aamir Khan who plays a teenage character despite being in his 40’s during filming).

The film is also distinct because it has a secondary timeline, ten years in the future, that provides the audience with a natural fulfillment. Typically the joy behind a coming-of-age story is seeing a young protagonist grow into themselves and then by the end you are ready to let them go in to the world alone because you know they will thrive. It’s like being a parent to a fictional character. But in this film we actually get to see the people they become, in some instances, before we see their collegiate journey. Even better we see them in their grown state while they are on another journey in the present timeline which provides further growth! It’s a beautiful touch that teaches humans are constantly learning even outside of their formative years.

Perhaps that’s why the film resonated with me so much. I may not be Indian nor smart enough to be an engineer but the characters and the story still spoke to me. The two journeys the characters go on, with one journey explicitly shaping who they are in the other, is relatable no matter who you are, especially as you get older and more reflective and you realize how much of an impact your past has on your present and future.

Cheesy as it is the memory of a simple act, in this case a movie recommendation, by a travel friend from another country allowed my mind to jump back to the time my wife and I traversed the great region of Southeast Asia. And the recommendation coming back to me six years later allowed me to connect the dots of my own journey from a wandering 20-something in Bangkok to the present day 30-year-old living in Brooklyn. I discovered I have been in my own coming-of-age story this whole time and it reminded me there is always more to learn.

Friday Film Roundup

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Our Friday Film Roundup is an attempt to share what we are reading, watching, and listening to as we head into the weekend. We plan on sharing major film news, interesting film essays/videos, and recommended films you might want to check out.

Good morning! It’s been a rough week for the world to say the least. We are all stuck inside, away from human interaction and fresh air, forced to spend our time watching movies and TV shows. So really not much different than the norm for some of us.

In all seriousness it’s a difficult time but it’s important we all stay inside and stay safe. So sit back and relax as much as you can and maybe binge that TV show you’ve been waiting to jump into.

Reading:

Not a lot of fun reading right now. And it’s difficult to escape the Corona Virus so let’s just lean into it. SlashFilm has a couple of great resources, one sad, another a small silver lining in all of this mess. First is a tracker of all the cancellations in Hollywood which shows we will feel the impact of this hard time for many months. The second is a list of all the early digital releases so you can safely watch new movies in your home.

And while we are on the subject, Vulture has a breakdown of how COVID could impact the future of the TV industry.

Watching:

Recommendation:

I splurged and actually paid to rent a digital movie (In this pandemic?! Mr. Money Bags over here am I right?). That movie was the Best Picture Oscar winning Parasite and it was 100% worth the money. If you’re on the fence about this movie go ahead and splurge and then watch this great video essay on YouTube (or one of the other million video essays about this movie):

And if you can’t get enough Korean cinema, check out The Handmaiden (streaming on Prime Video), a twisted and thrilling movie that you will not forget.

What I’m Watching:

I thought I would take this section to provide a mini self-quarantine movie diary:

Outbreak – cliche of me to watch this movie right now but come on, Contagion cost money to rent and Outbreak was right there on Netflix. Yes it’s a movie about a deadly virus that gets to the USA. Probably not something you want to watch to escape our reality. However it is a nice 90s throwback that has Dustin Hoffman running around all over the place trying to make the government take him seriously. At first I thought it was unrealistic that the people in power wouldn’t take a viral threat seriously…and then I remembered our president did exactly that. Watch only if you want to reminisce about a time none of this movie felt realistic.

Parasite – I wrote about this above but let me emphasize, watch this film. And then dive into all the Korean films you might have missed (Okja, Old Boy, The Handmaiden).

Mr. Right – Do you love Anna Kendrick? You should, she’s hilarious. Do you love Sam Rockwell? Probably, he’s a well-regarded actor with diverse roles. Then watch this mindless movie and try not to think about it too much. Currently on Netflix

Red Sparrow – I’ll admit I was “working” from home during this movie so I missed a lot of small details. My wife enjoyed it and wanted to rewatch it despite admitting it’s been done before and she had trouble accepting Jennifer Lawrence in the role. Intense and uncomfortable for much of the film, if you watch it make sure to pay attention.

Three Identical Strangers – I don’t watch many documentaries but this one caught my eye. Three young men discover they are triplets separated at birth. What starts as a fun and unbelievable story slowly unravels into dark and astonishing territory. Watch this if you love documentaries, crazy stories, and scientific research. Currently on Hulu

After – One of those teenage romance stories that you hate yourself for watching but can’t stop. Tessa Young is a young (subtle) and sheltered woman with a stable relationship who goes to college and finds herself intrigued by a young man who is dark and mysterious. This story goes exactly how you expect it to but is sweet enough to have on in the background and then not admit to anyone that you watched it. Currently on Netflix.

First Girl I Loved – Another movie about teenagers and love and honestly you can skip this one. Sure it’s nice to see representation for a budding lesbian relationship but this movie is problematic as the plot centers around inappropriate attempts to out two young girls. Don’t get me wrong, that is a serious issue and should be explored in a movie but this film doesn’t delve into why it’s problematic, in fact it doesn’t even bring it up as an issue, it just uses outing as a plot device. It’s on Hulu if you want to check it out but again I don’t recommend it.

Upcoming Flimsy Film Posts:

Welcome to New York: Mystery Film

I’m not sure which movie I want to write about yet but I want to return to this series. Maybe one with an apocalypse twist as New York is a ghost town right now.

Bought It Before I watched It: Jesse Arrives to Arrival

Apparently Jesse hasn’t seen Arrival yet. Which is weird, I thought anyone with a film blog was required to have seen, and loved, that movie. I guess he snuck through. I look forward to his thoughts.

Let’s Talk About: 100 Movies Bucket List

Jesse and I are going to introduce a new quarantine friendly series of posts where we aim to watch every movie on a 100 Movie Bucket List that his sister gifted him. We will introduce the list and discuss what we are excited to tackle.

While We’re Young: Nihilism in Aging

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Noah Baumbach’s While We’re Young is a film that stars Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts as Josh and Cornelia, a married couple of a certain age (mid-40s) finding new friends in Jamie and Darby (Adam Driver and Amanda Seyfried) a hipster couple of a jealous-inducing age (mid-20s).

While seemingly Baumbach’s version of This Is 40, full of his trademark witty dialogue and focus on relationships, this film is less about the relate-able theme of aging and more a nihilistic observation of the phonies of New York City and their inevitable successes.

The movie mostly focuses on Josh who is a documentary filmmaker stuck on a decade long project, either due to a lack of ambition or due to an abundance of morality depending on who you ask. Jamie, on the other hand, wants to be a documentary filmmaker and lacks neither the ambition nor the moral code of honesty.

Of course Jamie’s lack of ethics does not immediately come across to Josh who enjoys the energy and the praise that Jamie brings into his life. In fact Jamie revitalizes Josh and he returns the favor by agreeing to share his resources for a documentary that Jamie is filming.

It’s only much later than Josh realizes Jamie was using him to advance his career and get closer to his successful filmmaker father-in-law. He starts seeing Jaime for what he really is, he quips to his wife that “It’s like… he once saw a sincere person and he’s been imitating him ever since”.

As Josh follows the breadcrumbs to reveal that Jamie has been lying about the documentary he filmed he also discovers that nobody cares. Jamie’s lying and scheming is chalked up to his youth and his ambition and his sins forgiven for the same reasons.

As the themes of old versus young and honesty versus deception bubble up it’s easy to assume the film is suggesting that youth, for all its ambitions  and energy, is used to deceive people. Or that young people can do whatever they want as long as they are following their dreams. But there’s more to it than that. The film has an additional narrative that focuses on Josh and Cornelia’s older friends Marina and Fletcher who just had a baby and have been openly celebrating their exuberance for parenthood. As the film progresses their lives are used as another example of a couple that is living a fulfilling life in contrast to Josh and Cornelia. They’re accepting age with grace and they revel in the mundane parenting experience. This puts Josh and Cornelia in between two drastically different lifestyles that appear fulfilling for the parties involved while they struggle to find fulfillment in their lives.

Of course much like the reveal of Jamie’s dishonesty and Darby’s reveal of their unstable relationship, we find out that Fletcher and Marina are struggling too, “Before you have a kid, everyone tells you, ‘It’s the best thing you’ll ever do.’ And as soon as you get the baby back from the hospital, those same people are like, ‘Don’t worry, it gets better.’”

Both of their couple friends seemingly had it all together. One was hip, well-spoken, and ambitious, the other was mature, calm, and at peace but by the end the veil was lifted and it was clear that both were just playing their parts.

In the end Josh appears destined to be a cynic. No one cares that Jamie is a liar or that Darby seeks out other men or that Fletcher and Marina are dissatisfied with parenting. In fact, Josh appears to be the crazy one, “Josh, you know the world isn’t a giant conspiracy against you” states his wife.

Eventually Josh learns to let go of everything. He lets go of the jealousy, the hypocrisy, the disappointment and moves on in his life. And for Josh it’s less about beckoning Dylan Thomas as he doesn’t “rage against the dying of the light” and, in fact, he goes into the night gently. By the end Josh fittingly emits more of a modern poet in Childish Gambino, “I mean nobody out here’s got it figured out so therefore, I’ve lost all hope of a happy ending”.

While We’re Young is a film about aging but it’s also about learning to let go of things you can’t control. The movie doesn’t tell you to live your life to the fullest or to settle down and have children, it’s urging you to live the life that means something to you and don’t worry about what others are doing because it turns out those seemingly happy people you see everywhere, yeah, well they are just full of shit and probably as miserable as you.

Friday Film Roundup

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Our Friday Film Roundup is an attempt to share what we are reading, watching, and listening to as we head into the weekend. We plan on sharing major film news, interesting film essays/videos, and recommended films you might want to check out.

Good afternoon! Nothing beats a February Friday am I right? Except June Fridays! And July! And…well every other month. February sucks.

Unfortunately for my happiness, my wife is out of town this weekend. Fortunately this means I have time to catch up on my endless movie watch list to fill the crippling void of loneliness.

Reading:

In the future this space will be more fleshed out with many different reviews or analysis or news that stand out to us. For now I only have one post from our friends at Slashfilm (I like to think we are friends even though they don’t know we exist.):

‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,’ ‘Avengers: Endgame’ and the Problem With Nostalgic Blockbusters

It’s a great analysis of one of my favorite topics of the last year, shit talking Avengers: Endgame and The Rise of Skywalker. Except it is actually well thought out and hits on a lot of my personal frustrations.

Watching:

Recommendation: I recently stumbled across Midsommar on Amazon Prime and if you are up for a twisted, dark tale set in beautiful Sweden that will make you want to forever avoid vacations, making friends, being in relationships, and psychedelic drug use then this is the movie for you! Written and directed by Ari Aster (the guy who brought us the unsettling Hereditary) and stars Florence Pugh whose performance makes it worth the horror.

What I’m Watching: My number one goal this weekend is to finally catch the Oscar winning film Parasite, it’s a movie that’s been on my radar for months now and my curiosity is killing me. I’ve been a huge advocate for Korean cinema ever since I say Oldboy and The Handmaiden. Wow I’m into some truly messed up movies.

Outside of that I want to continue the horror trend and finish Train to Busan on Netflix and I’ve been dying to rewatch Cabin in the Woods. 

And while this isn’t technically a “film” (such definitions of what constitutes a film feel arbitrary to me but whatever) Better Call Saul returns to our screens after a loooong hiatus. This show has definitely proven itself even in the shadow of Breaking Bad and now that Jimmy is embracing his Saul side, I expect this show to reach new heights.

And in case you can’t wait until Sunday for your Breaking Bad fix might I recommend you catch up on El Camino which is showing on AMC and on Netflix.

Upcoming Flimsy Film Posts:

Welcome to New York: While We’re Young

I’m jumping back into my ‘Welcome to New York’ series with Brooklyn’s own Noah Baumbach. What happens when a 30-year-old watches a movie about two 40-year-olds making friends with two 25-year-olds? Does it send the 30-year-old into a spiraling existential crisis about aging? Find out on Tuesday!

Let’s Talk About: The Rise of Skywalker

Oh this should be a fun read, two fans who loved The Last Jedi get to discuss all of the shortcomings of the final chapter in the Skywalker saga. I’m sure there will be a lot of yelling in the form of CAPITAL LETTERS.

 

Movies and Data: A Love Story

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I am a natural lover of data. I use that love to keep me motivated on my goals. I keep track of my expenses, my miles ran, and in 2019 I started keeping tracking of the movies I watched. I started with an excel file but now I use IMDb to keep track. It was easy to download the data and then do the below analysis.

2019 was the year I started taking my movie watching habit seriously. I saw some of my favorite movies of all time (Into the Spider-Verse, Y tu mamá también, The Farewell), caught up with some classics I had missed (The Conversation, Silence of the Lambs, Taxi Driver) and sat through some duds (Avengers: Endgame, The Commuter, Always Be My Maybe).

Overall it was a great year and I am pumped to surpass these numbers in 2020. Do you keep track of your movies? Are you a data geek like me? Do you have a better system than me? Let me know and happy new year!

If you want to see the whole list, here is the link: Kevin’s 2019 Movies

LET'S GO SHOPPING!2