some movie notes
Jul. 16th, 2021 04:27 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sasha_featherRight now the problem is, when I try to go to bed, even if I'm tired, I get Restless leg symptoms pretty badly. So I'm trying to stay up and do things instead.
I finished reading "For Real" by Alexis Hall and I loved it.
Some movie notes:
Monsoon - library DVD
A very quiet and slow movie that I ended up liking quite a bit. Henry Golding plays Kit, whose family fled Vietnam when he was 6. He is now returning with his mother's ashes, to find a place to spread them. He re-connects with his 2nd cousin, Lee, and journeys around Saigon and to Hanoi. He hooks up with an American man named Lewis, and they decide to see each other again. There are lots of long shots of Henry Golding just walking around and looking at things; arty shots of him in a mirror or through a window; shots of him riding along on the back of a scooter. He's extremely good looking, of course, so this is easy to watch.
There is very little dialog and almost no music; instead we hear traffic noises, birds, and rain. Kit wears the same light-weight pink shirt in many scenes, perhaps indicating that he's a light packer, or that he really loves that shirt.
Through the few conversations Kit has, we learn that everyone is affected by America's war with Vietnam; they are grappling with the past and trying to find their way forward into the future. Lewis' father fought in the war; Kit's parents fled after the war, and then refused to talk about it. Kit befriends a woman who is a tour guide for an art museum; he observes strangers on a train. The traffic is heavy and relentless, but the rhythms of Kit's life in this place are slow.
This is a gay movie but it's also not; it's more about place, time, uncertainty, change. There is no homophobia, Kit's gay identity is almost incidental.
With it's slowness and gentle manner, this film encourages contemplation.
Summer of Soul - Hulu
A documentary about the Harlem Cultural Festival that took place in 1969. Very enjoyable! Beautiful to look at, incredible music, with some important political and historical content. Features performances by BB King, Nina Simone, the 5th Dimension, Sly and the Family Stone, Gladys Knight, and many others.
It reminded me a lot of another concert documentary I saw a couple of years ago, and of course I don't remember the name. It was about a California music festival in maybe 1963, and featured the Mamas and the Papas, Otis Redding, and Jimmi Hendrix lighting his guitar on fire. It was a documentary with no narration or commentary. Both these films have a soft, lush color to them, and of course stunning performances.
I finished reading "For Real" by Alexis Hall and I loved it.
Some movie notes:
Monsoon - library DVD
A very quiet and slow movie that I ended up liking quite a bit. Henry Golding plays Kit, whose family fled Vietnam when he was 6. He is now returning with his mother's ashes, to find a place to spread them. He re-connects with his 2nd cousin, Lee, and journeys around Saigon and to Hanoi. He hooks up with an American man named Lewis, and they decide to see each other again. There are lots of long shots of Henry Golding just walking around and looking at things; arty shots of him in a mirror or through a window; shots of him riding along on the back of a scooter. He's extremely good looking, of course, so this is easy to watch.
There is very little dialog and almost no music; instead we hear traffic noises, birds, and rain. Kit wears the same light-weight pink shirt in many scenes, perhaps indicating that he's a light packer, or that he really loves that shirt.
Through the few conversations Kit has, we learn that everyone is affected by America's war with Vietnam; they are grappling with the past and trying to find their way forward into the future. Lewis' father fought in the war; Kit's parents fled after the war, and then refused to talk about it. Kit befriends a woman who is a tour guide for an art museum; he observes strangers on a train. The traffic is heavy and relentless, but the rhythms of Kit's life in this place are slow.
This is a gay movie but it's also not; it's more about place, time, uncertainty, change. There is no homophobia, Kit's gay identity is almost incidental.
With it's slowness and gentle manner, this film encourages contemplation.
Summer of Soul - Hulu
A documentary about the Harlem Cultural Festival that took place in 1969. Very enjoyable! Beautiful to look at, incredible music, with some important political and historical content. Features performances by BB King, Nina Simone, the 5th Dimension, Sly and the Family Stone, Gladys Knight, and many others.
It reminded me a lot of another concert documentary I saw a couple of years ago, and of course I don't remember the name. It was about a California music festival in maybe 1963, and featured the Mamas and the Papas, Otis Redding, and Jimmi Hendrix lighting his guitar on fire. It was a documentary with no narration or commentary. Both these films have a soft, lush color to them, and of course stunning performances.
