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.