What's in a name? That which we call a newsletter... 🌹

Jul 15, 2020

PINNED: this newsletter is supposed to be a friendly recapping of the movies in, and coming to, theaters. But those movies don't exist right now. Until that changes, I'll either be suggesting old favorites to revisit, pointing out recent flicks you may have missed or calling out notable new VOD / streaming options.

I'm back from the road trip, just in time for everything to shut down again (I'm in CA) thanks to "the bullshit." Whiiiich means the title of this email is going to continue to be wildly misleading for the foreseeable future. Gonna to see how I can evolve it, but also open to suggestions / preferences. Really.

Being home also means I was able to catch Palm Springs, the movie I gave a bit of love to a couple weeks back with my intro "joke." And ya know, I'd say it was worth it - both the viewing and the joke. It's a delightful movie. As mentioned previously (and ham-fistedly?), it has a bit of a Groundhog Day element to it, but it's certainly its own thing. Both "brighter" and yet sadder than the Punxsutawney set classic. The release timing really is uncanny as the repetitious elements are only enhanced by our current state of affairs. Suffice it to say, I'd recommend it again and again (and again).

As for the this week's suggested watches, I'm only offering up two again as I get back into things. Both are directed by black woman (notable for separate reasons - see below), but are quite varying in genre.

Cutoff? Go here, click "most recent edition."

THE OLD GUARD
(2020)

Look. 👀You probably didn't need me to tell you about this movie. It's a big budget shoot 'em up flick on Netflix (ya know, the service with a huge ad banner on the top of their menu). In fact, I just looked and it is the #1 piece of content on Netflix right now. Sooooo, why am I even bothering to tell you about it? 🤔

Well, in part to give a shot out to Gina Prince-Bythewood, who directed one of our previous "Does It Hold Up" entries - Love & Basketball (note: it hold's up!). She's actually the first black female director to helm a movie like this (an expensive "tentpole" comic based movie), which is very rad. I had actually been curious what she'd been up to after watching L & B and wondering why she wasn't getting "bigger" movies and whelp, here we go. Plus, it has Charlize Theron wielding a double sided axe as she recruits a young (black) woman into her band of (nearly) immortal fighters trying to balance the good in the world. Soooooo.

And to assuage any fears that it may be notable, but sadly a notable miss, it's sitting comfortably at 82% recommended on RT (175 reviews) and The NY Times gave it a critics picks. So yes it's technically yet another big budget trope"y" action heavy comic book action movie, but at least it's a seemingly good version of a big budget trope"y" action heavy comic book action movie!? Which, considering our collective circumstances, isn't all too terrible of a thing to ask for. 🤷‍♂️

Note: if you're curious how Prince-Bythewood got here, read this interview.

MISS JUNETEENTH
(2020)

And on the opposite end of the "bigness" scale, we have Miss Juneteenth. A movie whose creators probably couldn't have imagined the environment they'd be releasing their baby into.

The movie was actually released on Juneteenth of this year (i.e. not yet a month ago). But even though it's especially timely in that it covers the holiday many weren't even aware existed before this year and stars / covers the experiences of black people, it probably gets a little lost in the conversation of movies that touch on race in some aspect (see: 13th, Do The Right Thing, Just Mercy etc.). Probably in part because it is a first time director, no stars, relatively "contained" story etc. So sure, makes sense.

But while the movie does highlight how race affects people's experiences, it also, as stated, highlights the experiences of people - and apparently does quite well at it (see: 99% on RT). Meaning, even if its central tenent isn't race, it can still convey those aspects while telling a broadly universal story with characters who are busy living their lives.

And speaking of, the central characters are a former pageant queen (see title) in Fort Worth, Texas and her daughter. Mom is pushing for a better life for her daughter by well, pushing her daughter. Mom may have won the contest back in the day, but it didn't exactly put her where she wants to be. A fact her daughter reminds her of when she gets forced to join the pageant - kids, so damn logical sometimes.

So, even if others aren't aware of Miss Juneteenth, at least you now are (and can tell them about it)! Peep the trailer and see what you think.

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