Thoughts on 5 Films

1. The Worst Person in the World - There's just so much praise for this film, and I think it's...okay? There are some great scenes, I like the actors, and I think it feels very authentic and genuine in the way it depicts this character and her relationships. But, it's also very long and slow, she is super annoying, and I found myself rolling my eyes through so much of it. It felt like a Norwegian Greta Gerwig movie (which is a good thing according to some, but not always for me).There is, most definitely, a stand-out scene - and it's the running sequence that is featured on the poster, although the poster fails to capture why it is so special. Renate Reinsve is wonderful (and reminds me a little of Dakota Johnson. Actually, I recall someone saying that the inevitable English language version will star Dakota, and that makes total sense. But please, God, do not remake this). I also really like Anders Danielsen Lie - he's a cutie (and he was also in Bergman Island - a film from 2021 that I liked more than this movie). Like I said, I think their relationship feels quite genuine, but it doesn't necessarily mean much because I think a lot of people fake their way through relationships. Not that they don't care about each other, but because it feels safe or comfortable for whatever reason. And I do think a lot of people have that feeling of being "the worst person in the world" for having a connection to someone else, or multiple people at the same time. But that's kind of ridiculous? It's totally normal, I think. I also don't really think they had much chemistry anyway. And, I repeat, the movie is far too long. I thought it was almost over, and there was still a whole hour...of...not much. I read some reviews after watching this, just to try to understand why it is so universally praised, and a lot of reviewers describe it as "funny", which is sort of shocking?! Is it supposed to be funny?? I did not get that at all. And I didn't laugh once. 

2. Summer of Soul - Not usually a documentary fan, but I'll always make an exception for Questlove. He is always in my answer for those prompting type questions like "name three celebrities you'd want to be stuck on a deserted island with" etc., because he's so knowledgeable and passionate about music/movies/pop-culture history and trivia. I just feel like I could listen to him talk endlessly (and I don't even get the impression that he likes to talk that much, so I don't think he would annoy the crap out of me, instead he would be super chill. I've clearly thought about this way too much!). I recently read his book, Music is History, and his knowledge on the topic blew my mind. It makes perfect sense for him to helm this documentary about this forgotten, but historically important, musical event - the Harlem Cultural Festival. But I think, also, this is the perfect time for this story to be brought to life. With all of the shift in focus to diversity in film and entertainment, I think it's important to shift the conversation to the content of this diversity. And something that I've heard from black critics, co-workers, and friends is that the ultimate part that is missing is black joy. While it is necessary to have stories of slavery, oppression, racism, etc., these are the only stories being told and it's exhausting. It brings me back to the Lovers Rock segment of Small Axe, because it was so impactful, for me, because it was something that felt so rare - surrounded in major events, ultimately it's just a story of a house party with guests dancing and celebrating. It's just so beautiful. And back to this documentary, it is just a big celebration of black music, history, culture, and most importantly, joy. I loved watching the audience reactions, I loved the mixing of different genres of music - everything from jazz, to gospel, to motown, to afro-cuban musical styles being celebrated under one umbrella. My favorite part was Nina Simone's performance (I had no idea she could play the piano like that!). And the last 10 minutes are very powerful. I will say, though, (and I'm so sorry Quest), but Flee deserved the Oscar win in the Documentary category. This is still wonderful, though. I think 2021 might be the first year in history that two documentaries are in my Top 20 (Flee is currently ranked #7 on my list). 

3. Windfall - I really, really like this movie. Way more than I expected to. I saw very few people talk about it, and it seemed like one of those movies that was released pretty quietly (by Netflix). I see a lot of people throw the word "Hitchcockian" around when critiquing pretty much any film that falls under the thriller genre, and usually it makes me laugh. But this feels like the most "Hitchcockian" film I've seen in a while - like, there is definitely inspiration throughout with the music, some of the shots, the use of space, the pacing, the dynamic and tension between the characters. There is also something very modern about it. AND it's trimmed down to a perfect runtime of 90 minutes. Every scene is building to something, but you're never really sure what that is - and then when *it* happens, my mouth actually dropped open. Just a perfect sequence of events that is truly shocking, and then continues to unfold in a very unexpected but very satisfying way (*vague spoiler* she saw her opportunity and fucking took it!! LOVE IT.). I think the cast is great - Jesse Plemons is just killing it lately. I love his genre mixing casting choices - he can be funny, he can be a villain, but he's truly at his best as a funny villain. I also really like Lily Collins. I wasn't a big can of hers until recently I watched a movie in which she played someone with an eating disorder (I can't remember the name, and I'm too lazy to look it up....something with Bones in the title...maybe??), and she was stunning. She definitely won me over, which was unexpected (I will never watch Emily in Paris, though, sorry that looks horrendous and I get suckered into watching trash television way too often, like fucking Bridgerton. God help me, I have to watch season 2!). They both work perfectly off of each other. Just overall this is very well-acted, well-made and solidly entertaining. 

4. Master - This is actually very different than I was expecting - I thought it would be more about slavery, which it is definitely referencing with this allegorical storytelling. And the allegories are very obvious with lines like "it will follow you" and "it's not supernatural, it's America", but ultimately it does do something very different with its core theme - in that it shows the internalizations of institutionalized racism (by literally setting it in a college, again...it's very obvious). *spoilers ahead* The twist is also extremely obvious - I wrote in my notes as soon as that character appears, "she's not actually black, is she?", because she felt so inauthentic from the very moment she spoke. So I think that's a bit of a failure, because I think the audience is supposed to be surprised by the revelation of a professor passing as black (the entire third act is based around this revelation that I was literally, like "yeah, duh, we know"). However, the confrontation scene is genuinely spectacular ("I don't have to prove my blackness" "FUCK YOU!", I clapped). There are a few other annoyances too - first, there is a whole "supernatural" aspect within the story with the students reading The Scarlett Letter as a backdrop, but that seems really inauthentic to me because that is something you read and study in 10th grade, not at a supposedly prestigious college?? If I spent that much money on college and then I went to class and the told me we were going to read The Scarlett Letter, I would demand a refund. Also, I don't think I like Regina Hall?? I feel like I used to like her, but she was sooooo bad in Nine Perfect Strangers (like shockingly bad), and this feels similar. She just overdoes everything, and it's kind of hard to watch. It feels really long, too. For only being 100 minutes, I felt like it was at least 20 minutes longer than that - which is almost worse than actually being 120 minutes long! I don't think this is a bad movie - The ideas are all there, it's just the movie doesn't do a good job of telling them. 

5. All the Old Knives - Now, this is a bad movie. Not terrible, but definitely on the cusp. The story is good, and there is great chemistry between the leads, but it's just sooooooo slow. It could have been, at least, a 3 star movie, if it picked up the pace (at literally any moment - I just waited and waited for it to come alive and it never does), and had some snappier dialogue. This is another movie that lays out the twist pretty clearly from the beginning - he is definitely in clean-up mode. I like Chris Pine a lot (he is definitely the winner of the Chris debate, as far as acting and charisma goes), and Thandiwe Newton is so great on Westworld (she should have been showered with awards nominations for that role), but they just can't hold my attention with this dull spy thriller (can it even be called a "thriller"? It's like the events after the thriller part). I can't even muster up anything else to say about it.