Let's zoom out for a bit, shall we? đ
Help ourselves get a little perspective.
In This Weekâs Edition: Selma director Ava DuVernay gets ambitious | the International Space Station becomes more claustrophobic than normal
Movie Quote of the Week đŹ đŹ
âYouâre only 18 years old!
Then Iâm 19, then Iâm 20, when does my life belong to me??â
hint: basically a gender-swapped remake of another John Hughes productions
THINK THOUGHTS đ
Remember how I outed the new Mean Girls for being a musical? Man, that was so⊠not nice of me. It didnât really affect the outcome much (editorâs note: literally at all), as the movie still did quite well at the box office - $33 million over the holiday weekend. Pretty good for a movie that was initially set to be a streaming exclusive for Paramount +.
But apparently I wasnât the only one calling Paramount out, as the NY Times wrote an article titled âWhen Trailers Hit Mute on the Musical.â Itâs a lot more words that essentially says the same thing (they also gave crap to Wonka and The Color Purple), that studios are actively trying to hide their moviesâ songs. Except they did point out one big exception, Barbie. And not only did that movie not shy away from its musical interludes, they cut an entire trailer showcasing their biggest one.
The Times piece goes on to question why studios donât just embrace the sing-songy aspect of their movies, which is a fair question. They posit that the movies themselves are somehow âafraidâ or not embracing their musical-ness. Iâm sure the filmmakers would disagree, but itâs at least a worthy consideration.
And now, to be fair, there is a big difference between a song or two in a movie and characters conveying each and every plot point via musical notes. I get the distinction. But I tend to agree that if youâre gonna have songs, show the damn songs. Not because Iâm going to be pissed if there is somehow a singing portion I wasnât aware of, but that it might actually compel me to see it. I remember seeing that Ryan Gosling piece and being like, um, I donât know what this is exactly, but I think I love it.
Maybe itâs just that Barbie used that aspect so well (and yes it could be an outlier). Because Barbie herself never sang, it was just Ken. Which only amplifies that characterâs situation.
I guess the whole point might be, either make a legit musical and let people love it for that (see: The Greatest Showman) or include songs that even non-musical people (read: me) would love because itâs so innate to the movie and then you wonât have to be afraid to tell people about âem.
Or ignore what Iâm saying completely because Iâm just a dude in a newsletter who canât sing for shit1.
NEWSY BITS đŸ
What Will Be Nominated for Oscars Next Week, and What Wonât? (Full Article): for the Awards trackers among us! I did read through it and would concur with the writerâs assessments, especially this quote about Margot Robbieâs performance in Barbie âeffervescent comedy is the sort of thing voters often take for granted, and Robbie made her tricky role look as easy as breathing.â - The New York Times
Netflix Launches Milestone Movies Screening Series With âChinatown,â âBlazing Saddlesâ (Full Article): The Flix isnât known for having a large back catalogue of old movies, so this is an interesting effort - will be an ongoing thing where they âhonorâ movies celebrating certain decade milestones. Is it for viewers or is it a signal to the filmmaking community they care about film history too? - The Wrap
EXTRA CREDIT MOVIE(S) đ
Self Reliance - Jake Johnson, aka Nick from New Girl (I think theyâre literally the same person, but like whatevs) writes, directs and stars in a movie where he wins a million dollars if he can avoid getting killed over 30 days. The hook? He canât be offed if heâs with another person. Cue Anna Kendrick and him buddying up (she took the bet too). It looks zany and yet the reviews, which say itâs a solid first directing effort balancing comedy and actual human emotions fairly well, note that it probably couldâve been even zanier. Streaming on Hulu Now
NOTABLE NEW RELEASES đ & đș
To write a book which endeavors to explain why humans are able to treat each other so horrifically is no small feat (to put it lightly). So what then of a movie that tries to craft such a book into a narrative feature film which not only has to create a compelling story to keep viewers engaged and affected, but at the same time get across those same ideas contained within the book upon which itâs based?
Ummmm, also hard?!
Itâs ultimately pointless to compare difficulties, so letâs just say they both seem like arduous, if hopefully rewarding, journeys for their creators.
But likely knowing how difficult it would be, the latter situation is where Ava DuVernay (director of Selma) placed herself when she decided to turn the book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents - a 2020 release which dropped into the cultural conversation at an incredibly fraught time, i.e. in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd - into a movie.
If you havenât read the book (I have not), it - as I understand it - proposes that racism in the United States is explained not merely by skin color by a system of hierarchy, and uses the caste system in India and the Holocaust during Nazi Germany to explain the similarities of the situations (Iâm sure I didnât fully explain that, so please, do some googling - or, ya know, read the book).
Like I said, tough stuff for a movie! But instead of turning it into a Masterclass or documentary, DuVernay uses Caste author Isabela Wilkerson (portrayed by Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) as her center point, focusing on how she came to write the book, while also grounding the movie in her personal experiences.
âItâs hard to recall a movie made for general audiences that takes ideas so seriously, that makes the pursuit of them appear so thrilling, or that is so replete with the intellectual substance of the protagonistâs endeavors. Even good movies about writers often downplay the hard partâtheir work. DuVernay embraces Wilkersonâs work wholeheartedly and rises to the artistic challenge with one of the most unusual and ingenious of recent screenplays.â - from The New Yorker review of Origin
There are various readings and opinions on whether it ultimately all âworks,â but what seems to be at a near consensus is that DuVernayâs ambitions here are massive. And that creates situations where, even for those who ultimately enjoyed it, things breaks apart slightly, but that ultimately you can see not only the passion, but the intent.
Itâs sounds about as far away from an episode of The Golden Bachelor as can be in terms of viewing experience, but thatâs kind of the point. Because sometimes you want to contemplate why the world is the way it is. This movie should do just that, and even if there are things that may not work or you even disagree with, it sounds like youâre sure to be challenged while also potentially simultaneously sobbing.
And post viewing, sure, you can hit play on that next episode, but like, maybe with a greater sense of contemplation about you.
Note: itâs unclear how âwideâ this theatrical release is going to be, so if youâre searching and canât find it, you might have to wait a bit for it to become available as a VOD rental / purchase (Iâve not seen a streamer picking it up yet either)
Out: Friday
Where: Theaters
Details: 2 hrs 15 mins | PG-13 | đ : 81%
Sometimes you just need a good setup for a movie and then you let the things play out from there.
Saaaaay for example Russia and the good olâ US of A getting into an itty bitty squabble on earth (read: nuclear war) which puts two respective trios of cosmonauts and NASA astronauts on the International Space Station (I.S.S.) in a situation more awkward than when two polite party guests grab for that last scrumdiddlyumptious double-chocolate-chip-cookie at the exact same time, âyou have it - no, please, you - no no no, I insist - no, Iiiii insistâŠâ
But while it can be all sorts of stressful for those involved, our human tendency towards voyeurism seems to give us some warped sense of pleasure at watching other people struggle through their peaking cortisol. In part because the gamesmanship which can ensue after the eruption of a conflict often brings out some of our more base tendencies. The people behind I.S.S. obviously think, or at least propose for the purposes of making this 95 minute experience entertaining, that people would gravitate towards skepticism and nationalism in a scenario like the above. But of course it depends on the people involved, which is why reviews make sure to denote the cautious nature ascribed to Ariana DeBose (recent winner of an Oscar for her role as Anita in West Side Story), who becomes the newest member of the I.S.S. crew right before all the shit goes down.
But I donât want to be making assumptions here, so I should say that if you have a tendency to turn into an uncomfortable stress-ball when encountering a scene of humans deciding whether to get into fisticuffs or another round of Uno, this movie might not be your thing. But otherwise, critics say that while by no means perfect, itâs by and large a tight space thriller that should keep you on edge (in a good way), and ya know, maybe make you feel even worse about humanity (in a bad way).
Out: Friday
Where: Theaters
Details: 1 hr 35 mins | R | đ : 73%
TRAILERS! ⯠âIs it fairâŠâ
Spaceman - Is it fair⊠to hope Adam Sandler sticks to mainly making âseriousâ movies (outside of a Happy Gilmore 2 please)?
Abigail - is it fair⊠to kill children, if theyâre not actually children but murderous vampires that look like children?
Suncoast - Is it fair⊠to want Woody Harrelson to live forever so he can play the charming uncle type in movies like this ad infinitum?
Players - Is it fair⊠to think this movie, where a group of friends make a game out of hookups, wouldâve starred Matthew McConaughey in the lead role 20 years ago (now itâs Gina Rodriguez)?
Iâm working on it though!
I've come to understand that I'm a huge Jake/Nick fan