Horses are good company -- The Witcher

List of stuff I've watched, catching up from the last couple of weeks. Watching stuff is about all I can do right now. Due to concussion I'm watching things in English, with minimal flashing lights and otherwise visually easy to process, and taking recommendations.

Bank of Dave - boring but fine. nice to see Joel Fry (of Our flag means death) playing a young lawyer, who is helping a man start a small bank, and going up against the establishment. Comp het romance plotline was dull.
Beautiful Game - about the Homeless World Cup (soccer). Not very good but not horrible.

Merpeople - 4-ep documentary series about people who are, or want to be, professional mermaids, who perform at shows. The best part of this was the costumes and the photography. I appreciated that they showed the society of fat mermaids, and talked about queerness and race. Netflix.

By Hook or By Crook - an independent film from 2001 about two trans guys who are best friends. They are living a marginal existence, having adventures. This was super interesting and I loved it. The captions were terrible.

Last Voyage of the Demeter - Dracula thriller with a cool concept-- these people are at sea on a big sailing vessel, and a monster is on board with them-- but this was a bit disappointing. Not as fun or twisty as it could have been. You know the monster is going to live, so there is nothing satisfying in the narrative.

Godzilla Minus One. This is in Japanese but has a pretty decent dub, which worked much better for me cognitively. I went in knowing almost nothing about this film, and ended up absolutely adoring it. It's also the first Godzilla film I've seen. So, if it interests you at all, I encourage you to check it out. I have a lot of thoughts about this film but will save those up for a later post.

Under Paris - also has an English dub. This is a silly movie about a huge shark in the Seine. A scientist, some cops, and some young eco-warriors are trying to find the shark and almost all of them get eaten! It's just ridiculous and fun, and there are many scenes with divers down in the catacombs. A good bad movie where you sort of root for the monster.

Sue Bird: In the Clutch. A documentary about the career of the WNBA star. This is about 90 percent basketball, and 10 percent about her being a lesbian and an activist, coming out publically when she started dating Megan Rapinoe, etc, which are the parts I'm more interested in. Sometimes I wish I liked sports but we must accept who we are. Netflix.

QueenPins - a comedy about two friends who do some non-violent crime, via stealing and selling coupons. The two friends are pretty great, played by Kristen Bell and Kirby (both of "the good place"). There is a parallel plot involving cop-like dudes tracking the queenpins, and these people I hated. I've never liked Vince Vaughan, and the other guy was a fatphobic loser stereotype. So, I liked half this movie fairly well and hated the other half.

A Walk in the Woods - Did not finish, due to really nasty, vile fat phobia, specifically directed at fat women. Shame on you, people who made this film.

Out of Africa - 1985 adaptation of Isak Dineson's memoir, about her adventures in East Africa in the early 20th century. It's simultaneously a beautiful, well-made romance, and then it's also so disgustingly colonialist and racist. What a bizarre world we live in.

The Boys in the Boat is very enjoyable, kind of cheesy, nice sports story. a BOATS (based on a true story) of some young men rowing crew in the 1930s, and they went on to win the Berlin Olympics. Directed by George Clooney. I especially liked the costumes. Not a great deal of conflict in this which makes it relaxing viewing but not outstanding. The character development could have been better, but overall it's a good time, very pretty, and no flashing lights!

Next I am going to watch the PBS documentary about this same subject.

Feeling the need to zone out in front of comedies and documentaries right now; here were a few that were thought-provoking or entertaining or both.

Atsuko Okatsuka: The Intruder, wonderful stand-up special from a comedian who is popping up on my "for you" pages, and she is hilarious. Really looking forward to more from her.

Trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBoMRo3t-Bk

I tried the first 4 episodes of Hacks, about two women working together in the field of comedy. I liked a lot of things about this, some things made me uncomfortable, I'll probably watch more of it.

Carrie Pilby, on Netflix, was unfortunately not very good. I liked that it's a coming-of-age story about a brilliant, nerdy, lonesome young woman. I did not like that she was in an abusive relationship with her teacher, and that she doesn't seem to realize that it was abusive, so that was a bummer. Her father does express concern over that but the whole thing kind of dragged the movie down.

Stay on Board: the Leo Baker story is a doc about a trans guy who is a professional skateboarder. Neat to see the board tricks in this and learn a bit about the sport. Much of the discussion in here is the Olympics: skateboarding was added to the Olympics for Tokyo, and Leo qualified but did so as part of the women's team, so he is faced with a dilemma. Honestly, really a condemnation of the strict gender roles in sports.

Short documentaries:
Zion, about a disabled wrestler.
Jon was trying to find aliens, about a quirky rural gay guy.

Strange Way of Life is a short fiction film by Pedro Almodóvar, about queer cowboys, and starring Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal. You'd think I would have loved it. For some reason, maybe down to my mood and high pain levels, I found it stiff and unconvincing. There was a complicated back story and too much wooden dialog.

I am curious about other people's opinions and might watch it again because it's in my areas of interest, and I felt like, surely I'm missing something here. As a vidder: it's so incredibly frustrating when the film makers cut away from gay kissing, or in this case, fade quickly to black. For an R-rated short film this showed very little that one might be able to use in vids, a pity.

I watched a few things that had minimal flashing lights, yay.

The Pez Outlaw is a delightful documentary on Netflix about a regular guy who got into selling rare Pez dispensers to collectors. He was a "gray market" seller, not quite legal but not quite illegal. Very funny, quirky people, a good time.

Where the Crawdads Sing, also on Netflix but leaving soon. Kind of heavy subject material, dealing with abuse, abandonment, sexual assault, but from the perspective of a woman who survived these things, and made a life for herself that she loved. The Carolina wetlands that she lives in sustain her materially, intellectually, and spiritually. Some beautiful wildlife scenes in this! David Strathairn plays a kindly lawyer who defends our heroine from murder charges, after her ex-boyfriend is found dead.

She Said, a BOATS (based on a true story) about the journalists who investigated Harvey Weinstein. Again this is heavy subject material, but it focuses on investigative journalism, truth telling, and the hard work it takes to bring the truth to light. I enjoyed this a lot. Ashley Judd stars as herself, in a minor role. I Loved Carey Mulligan, Zoe Kazan, and Patricia Clarkson, who all came across as very kind and competent.

The Holdovers

As this began I was like, OMG was this shot on FILM? It's so beautiful!

Turns out it was shot on digital but made to look like old film, warm and colorful.

This is a quiet film about lonely and grieving people spending a few weeks together in 1970 at a boarding school--they "hold over" during winter break when most of the people leave. I really enjoyed it. Well written and acted characters, and it's about connection and platonic relationships. A little too long at 2 hours 13 minutes.

I watched a documentary about Lil Nas X's first tour, Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero which was fairly light, fun, non-demanding viewing. I think he is wonderful!! I really appreciated hearing him talk about his relationships with his family, his love for his backup dancers, seeing the fun outfits, hearing from fans. Hearing him talk about other Black queer artists was moving. This does contain vomiting and flashing lights at concerts.

He's only about 24 or 25, and got famous early. When he talked about stuff that happened in 2019 it felt so long ago.

Some things on Netflix.

The Dads
A 10-minute doc that shows dads of trans kids who are trying to be supportive. This was nice but felt too short, like it's the opener of something longer.

Gender Agenda
A showcase of various gender-y comedians, put together by Hannah Gadsby. Loved this.

Heart Shot
A 20-minute fictional lesbian film, well made but didn't make a lot of sense because it felt like the opener to a thriller film. I'd love to see the whole film though! Features two young lesbians of color.

Long Shot
A short documentary about a man who was falsely accused of murder. His lawyer went the extra mile for him and got his case dismissed, using TV footage from "Arrested Development"-- a live shoot at a baseball game that just happened to have the defendant on camera. The arrest was really traumatic for this guy and it's luck and a good lawyer that got him free.

Blazing Saddles
I really enjoyed this and would have watched it sooner if I'd known how gay it is. Gene Wilder and Cleavon Little light up the screen, what a joy. Towards the end there is a song and dance number featuring men singing about bottoming, which they call "The French Mistake." This looked really good too-- film plus traditional and natural light! What a concept.

The Volcano: Rescue from Whakaari
A documentary about a disaster in New Zealand in 2019. People went on guided tours to an active volcano! For years! Then eventually it erupted and killed 22 people. Others were left with severe burns and trauma. This one has haunted me a bit. on the one hand, why would anyone take such a tour, but OTOH the companies doing these tours took advantage of naive tourists. One young man lost his whole immediate family. This was a disaster that was totally preventable. One thing I liked about this film was how it emphasized people helping each other.

All of Us Strangers. 2023, dir. Andrew Haigh

A dreamy, emotionally raw fable about a lonely screen writer named Adam, played by one of my favorite actors, Andrew Scott. Adam is living in a brand-new, nearly empty high rise apartment building. He forms a tenuous romantic connection with his only neighbor, Harry, played by Paul Mescal. Meanwhile, he rides the train out to the place where he grew up, and through some trick of imagination or magic, finds his parents there at their old house, frozen in time, 1987, just before they died in an accident. Adam gets to meet his parents as an adult and discuss his life. They are younger than he is now, and are open, warm, and frank about their flaws.

Well, I don't know how to write about this film because it's like it reached right into my chest. I found myself thinking of the movie "Weekend," and how that felt like queer therapy, like someone kind was speaking directly to me, acknowledging the joys and traumas of simply existing as a queer person. It's the same director. Good job Andrew Haigh!

The LA Times called this the best film of the year, and I also agree with the review given by Sheila O'Malley at Roger Ebert dot com. I've been contemplating this line, "Both films showed Haigh's sensitivity to human behavior, as well as the good care he takes of his actors, the room he gives them to feel and create... Haigh loves actors." The implication here, and of course the truth, is that many directors do not love actors, and they do not take good care of them. Part of what makes All of Us Strangers so magical is that care and love coming through.

It's an incredible piece of art. Some viewers may find it slow. I found myself settling into the quiet of the film, and of course Andrew Scott is incredibly beautiful. The parents are played by Claire Foy and Jamie Bell, and so just 4 people are essentially the only characters, so it's intimate like a theater play. The colors are delicious. Bring tissues.

Content notes: this deals a lot with death and grief. Contains drug and alcohol use. One extended scene, at a dance club, has lots of flashing lights. Discusses homophobia from a queer perspective.

Other reviews:

https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/all-of-us-strangers-movie-review-2023

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/dec/29/a-generation-of-queer-people-are-grieving-for-the-childhood-they-never-had-andrew-haigh-on-all-of-us-strangers

https://www.npr.org/2023/12/26/1221725627/director-andrew-haigh-talks-about-love-and-loneliness-in-all-of-us-strangers

I have been watching a lot of low-stakes comedy of the "structured improv" variety, including TaskMaster, After Midnight, Game Changer, other shows on the DropOut streaming service-- "Dirty Laundry" and "um actually". Very silly and cheering. These are hitting the spot lately. I listened to an interview with Sam Reich (who is the boss at DropOut) and was very impressed with him.
https://www.npr.org/2024/02/06/1197954697/game-changer-sam-reich-dropout
(audio and text available).

I watched the first two episodes of "Wheel of Time," and i like it, but the violence / gore level is a little higher than what I am wanting right now, for instance dead animals. I'll probably keep watching anyways.

My roommate and I watched the first 3 episodes of "Mr. and Mrs. Smith", a series starring Donald Glover and Maya Erskine. This show is a delightful spy / romance / action mashup, very well-made. The actors have great chemistry. The violence and gore level is again a little high for me but tolerable.

We also watched "Ava," a film I'd never heard of, starring Jessica Chastain and John Malkovich. I have a feeling very few people watched this movie, and it got negative reviews, but I enjoyed it. Ava is an assassin who has problems galore and I liked seeing her solve them with determination and violence. Even though this is about an assassin, the gore level is lower? It felt more stylized and the camera didn't linger on gross things. Also kind of movie/comic book fake, where Ava gets in these hugely physical fights and walks away with nary a scratch. Fun.

I watched about half of the most recent "Mission Impossible" movie, and I liked parts of it but overall it felt endless and exhausting so I turned it off. The car chase in Rome was fun, zany, well done, with good comic moments between Tom Cruise and Hayley Altwell. But there are these huge info-dump sections in between the action, where the characters are trying to explain the plot, perhaps to themselves because the plot makes no sense. To be clear, the plot needn't make sense in this kind of movie, people want action and gadgets, so when they kept on trying to explore an all-powerful AI and a secret key, that was exhausting. Being a vidder has changed my brain, I have a better understanding of editing and visual story telling, and the editing of this movie sucked. They kept showing the same still image while doing voice over of the mission instructions-- folks, you need to keep motion going and you can put a voice over track over literally anything. Give us some visual interest and cut the length of your film down. LITERALLY cut to the chase please.

I knew I was going to love these films, and I did, they were so beautiful.

Society of the Snow, Netflix.

This is based on the story of the rugby team that crashed in the Andes in 1972, a very famous incident. It is in Spanish; there is a quality English dub that I watched due to cognitive reasons.

(*If I try to listen to Spanish, my brain starts working trying to figure out what people are saying, and due to post-concussion syndrome, steam starts to shoot out of my ears and my brain makes a noise like metal on metal. I found it interesting that I was reluctant to watch the dub and had to "allow" myself to do it, a bit of ableism coming undone there. So anyways I watched the dub with captions also.)

This is a beautifully acted story about death and survival, a tough subject but an amazing journey, very affecting, gorgeously edited. The actors are Argentinian and Uruguayan-- a big improvement from the 90s American film version.

I was very impressed!

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

The book is one of my all-time favorite novels. This film was not well promoted, I think due to the strikes? Which is too bad, and I hope it can find its audience beyond the theatrical release. Right now, possibly due to being new, it is rent-only at various streaming services.

The story follows Ari, a teenager in El Paso Texas in 1987. He befriends Dante, who offers to teach Ari how to swim. The story follows Ari as he slowly discovers his sexuality.

Beautiful, quiet, contemplative, really everything I wanted from this adaptation, I got. The young actors are unknowns and they are amazing. The director, Aitch Alberto, is a trans woman.

Superb!!

Tonight I watched Begin Again on Netflix, it was a delightful hidden gem. Keira Knightley plays a singer-songwriter who connects with a depressed producer, played by Mark Ruffalo. They decide to make an album together and it's about the joy of creativity and friendship. They record the album outside in various NYC locations in the summer. Also has Kathryn Keener!

It's leaving Netflix later this month!