Hi everyone,
I've continued to pick up the pace a bit on watching movies this month, which is a welcome change from the first third of the year. Two of the three movies I saw in July (again, I emphasize I've been picking up the pace *a bit*) were:
"Brats" (2024) is a documentary directed by and starring Andrew McCarthy, who tediously makes the rounds of most of his fellow '80s teen movie stars to contemplate the ramifications of being labeled the "Brat Pack" by some jealous prick-y reporter and overblow the importance of the John Hughes suite of teensploitation movies that rocketed them to fame. Those aforementioned ramifications were apparently to grievously and irrevocably derail McCarthy's career, a fate which he tries unsuccessfully to generalize to all of his Brat Pack brethren, the likes of which include Demi Moore and Rob Lowe (whatever happened to them, anyway?).
And the impact of those films? Look, I have a major soft spot for "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" (1986) and "The Breakfast Club" (1985). John Hughes clearly had a visionary impact on films for children and teenagers in the '80s and '90s, and as a child born and growing up during those years I don't know how I wouldn't have fondness for his work. But here again "Brats" massively overreaches as it overdraws the boundaries while mapping the impact of what was ultimately only about a half-dozen films.
(Also it will never cease to irk and confuse me that Matthew Broderick is never included as a member of the Brat Pack? Just why?? It makes no sense!!)
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| #JusticeForFerris |
Despite a short runtime of just 92 minutes, this film was so circular, repetitive, and preoccupied with vindicating its creator that it felt like it dragged on forever. I gave this movie a 1.
I was excited to watch "Babes" (2024) given my deep and abiding love for Ilana Glazer and everything she does. The film has a lot going for it, including a healthy dose of Glazer's unique comic delivery, a resonant contemplation of friendship between women in the context of adulthood and parenting, and some deep poignance about love and grief.
That said, "Babes" somehow doesn't achieve its full potential. The comedy doesn't hit as hard as it could given the excellent core cast of Glazer, Michelle Buteau, and Hasan Minhaj, and some of the scenes feel a little stagey or under-finessed. Perhaps "Babes" has the opposite problem to "Brats" in that it suffered from trying to stick to a typical comedy's solidly-under-two-hours runtime when instead it would have benefitted from a bit more room to breathe into the interpersonal and existential spaces it only just started to explore.
In any case, I gave it a 3.
In reflecting on these two films, in addition to every other film I've watched this year, I'm realizing that I've made it more than halfway through 2024 with barely any movies cracking a rating of 4 or higher. I'm not completely sure what's going on here, although I think a part of it is definitely my overall emotional stamina being pretty depleted by the time I could, theoretically, sit down to watch a movie.
The thing that really puts films at the top of my rating scale is that they pull a lot of emotional weight. Lately, I'm just not in the market for more of that. This is not to say I'm emotionally weighed down, but more accurately that I'm emotionally very full. So while the movies I've been watching this year aren't exactly the most thrilling or satisfying things I've ever watched and there's definitely some disappointment that goes along with acknowledging that, I suppose this is also an opportunity to appreciate movies that tread lightly.
That said: I'll be looking for some chances to watch some real bangers before the year is done.
{Heart}
