Hey there friends,
I come to you today with a confession: Perhaps for the first time in the history of this writing-about-films endeavor, I watched no movies in this entire month.
This is not for lack of interest. There are definitely movies I want(ed) to see this month--past tense in at least one case because I unfortunately missed my chance to see one in theaters. For the others, I'm hoping to take advantage of this long weekend to ensure I don't lose out on seeing at least one of them on the big screen (especially since this is my second chance to see one of them after it was featured in a certain film fest I am very fond of).
It's also not for lack of trying. I started "What Men Want" (2019) last night, but commenced watching it too late in the evening and fell short of finishing it. It's also a bit long for a romantic comedy, if you ask me (almost two hours long), so that wasn't helping things. I only have a half hour left to go and will likely finish it eventually, but likely not in time for it to technically be watched in its entirety by the end of this month.
Alternatively, it's not entirely for lack of opportunity. Family visited for the weekend earlier this month, and last weekend Husband and I traveled to see family and friends in our beloved old home city. (I still miss it so much, although now living in our new and also-beloved home city significantly eases the ache of leaving it again.) That left some other weekends during which movie viewing could theoretically have happened.
At its simplest, this shortfall is due to other emotional and practical demands on my time and energy.
Given the nature of this blog, it is of course absurd and redundant to attest that I love movies. I love them so very much. I love the places I get to see movies in our new home. And yet, there were kind of an inordinate number of demands on my overall life force this month. Many of those demands were extremely positive, yet nevertheless a lot of work. Unfortunately, that meant that when there were technically opportunities to go see films, or even to watch something at home, I felt depleted and therefore drawn to entertainment that was less demanding from an emotional, attentional, and time-commitment perspective. While they may be relatively minor, it is a commitment of time, attention span, and emotional vulnerability to watch new movies. I really hate to acknowledge it, but sometimes, when I'm feeling particularly drained, watching a film might not be the most skillful approach to self-care for me.
So instead, this month has been a month of reruns. Husband and I have been primarily watching "Parks and Recreation", which has been a welcome and soothing choice (especially because you know how much I love Aubrey Plaza). It's been exactly what I needed: to feel pleasantly and comfortingly diverted by a familiar, well-made, and much-appreciated show.
I'm hoping--perhaps not altogether unrealistically--that many of the more intense demands of August will subside at least a bit in September. I therefore hope to resume movie-watching where I left off in July. Happily, I've watched so many movies already in 2019 that even taking an entire month off won't meaningfully disrupt my progress toward my annual movie-watching goal.
Looking forward to sharing those with you soon.
{Heart}
Saturday, August 31, 2019
Wednesday, July 31, 2019
How to Survive a "Decade of Fire"
Hey team,
I want to talk about one of the most remarkable movies I've seen this year: "Decade of Fire" (2019).
I feel deeply grateful that I not only got to see this film, I got to see it at my favorite film festival of all time at a screening with director Vivian Vazquez present.
"Decade of Fire" surveys the rampant fires that destroyed whole swaths of the Bronx during the 1970s. Staggering amounts of devastation unfolded as countless fires engulfed buildings and left whole city blocks in smoldering rubble.
"Decade of Fire" captures the misery, peril, confusion, and fear experienced by the residents of the impacted neighborhoods. This pain was deepened by the extent to which many people living in the Bronx internalized the profoundly damaging and racist media narrative that the residents of the very burning communities were to blame for their destruction; to hear the news coverage and public discourse tell it, residents of the Bronx were just too neglectful, criminally-motivated, or morally derelict to care for their own homes.
Investigating and ultimately, rightfully, rejecting this narrative, the film expertly identifies the true culprits that contributed to the devastation. These factors include redlining of communities of color which caused dramatic decline in the quality and condition of available housing, dangerous and fraudulent behavior by exploitive landlords who paid children to commit arson so they could collect ill-gotten insurance payments often without ever being prosecuted, closing of fire stations in and near the Bronx, and racist messaging and neglect from the highest reaches of governmental power on down.
Stunningly, residents nevertheless stayed and fought for the Bronx. They banded together to rebuild, refusing to abandon the communities they loved. In some cases, they formed radical collective construction teams to reclaim burned-out buildings and transform them into gorgeous and modern housing.
As Ms. Vazquez fielded questions after the screening, it became clear that it did not escape the audience's notice that the Bronx depicted in Vazquez's masterwork echoed the Baltimore of today. The comparison is heartrending, as well as its sense of time standing still; the city faces so much despair and hardship, and we have so far to go.
There was a moment at a Baltimore Cease Fire event months ago that I'll never forget. At an event whose central focus was healing and building community in the wake of seemingly relentless violence, there was a response to some people's questioning whether they should stay here that deeply resonated with why we stay and fight, and why these communities and cities are worth fighting for. First, the person responding made the very important point that abandoning a city like Baltimore is in many ways futile because, "I don't know where you could go that isn't impacted by white supremacy." And then, in loving and reverent defense of this city, they said, "Baltimore is magic."
Baltimore is magic. It has no business being beautiful, resilient, brilliant, creative, brave, strong, innovative, poetic, and enduring, but it is each of those things. White supremacy can't stop it. Corruption can't stop it. Systemic oppression can't stop it. A bigoted and neglectful farce of a President can't stop it.
Baltimore's magic is powerful. Those who can't or won't see it have no goddamn clue what they're missing, and good riddance to them. We get to thrive in that magic whether they see it or not.
You can learn more about "Decade of Fire", including watching its trailer, here.
{Heart}
PS: However shockingly unacceptable it is for a sitting President to be actively racist and disparaging against an American city, I urge anyone reading not to be distracted by only the latest incident of his pathetic misbehavior.
Do not forget that the President's tantrum against Baltimore was precipitated in part by Congressman Elijah Cummings' advocacy for innocent asylum seekers, including many children, who remain in despicably inhumane conditions in detention facilities along our Southern border.
If you're even the slightest bit irked by the President's behavior in recent days, please immediately contact your elected officials to express your outrage at the treatment of our fellow human beings, many of whom are your future fellow citizens.
Just like the 1970s in the Bronx and the Baltimore of today, we'll survive this ugly era. But only if we fight back.
I want to talk about one of the most remarkable movies I've seen this year: "Decade of Fire" (2019).
"Decade of Fire" surveys the rampant fires that destroyed whole swaths of the Bronx during the 1970s. Staggering amounts of devastation unfolded as countless fires engulfed buildings and left whole city blocks in smoldering rubble.
"Decade of Fire" captures the misery, peril, confusion, and fear experienced by the residents of the impacted neighborhoods. This pain was deepened by the extent to which many people living in the Bronx internalized the profoundly damaging and racist media narrative that the residents of the very burning communities were to blame for their destruction; to hear the news coverage and public discourse tell it, residents of the Bronx were just too neglectful, criminally-motivated, or morally derelict to care for their own homes.
 |
| Director Vivian Vazquez and a friend as a young woman. |
Stunningly, residents nevertheless stayed and fought for the Bronx. They banded together to rebuild, refusing to abandon the communities they loved. In some cases, they formed radical collective construction teams to reclaim burned-out buildings and transform them into gorgeous and modern housing.
 |
| Residents of the Bronx rebuilding. |
But just like the people who stayed and fought for the Bronx, and who ultimately victoriously rebuilt the Bronx, there are people with immense heart, resolve, and grit in Baltimore who aren't going down without a fight. We know that every person living here has value and a voice. We know what this city deserves and the greatness it is capable of.
There was a moment at a Baltimore Cease Fire event months ago that I'll never forget. At an event whose central focus was healing and building community in the wake of seemingly relentless violence, there was a response to some people's questioning whether they should stay here that deeply resonated with why we stay and fight, and why these communities and cities are worth fighting for. First, the person responding made the very important point that abandoning a city like Baltimore is in many ways futile because, "I don't know where you could go that isn't impacted by white supremacy." And then, in loving and reverent defense of this city, they said, "Baltimore is magic."
Baltimore is magic. It has no business being beautiful, resilient, brilliant, creative, brave, strong, innovative, poetic, and enduring, but it is each of those things. White supremacy can't stop it. Corruption can't stop it. Systemic oppression can't stop it. A bigoted and neglectful farce of a President can't stop it.
Baltimore's magic is powerful. Those who can't or won't see it have no goddamn clue what they're missing, and good riddance to them. We get to thrive in that magic whether they see it or not.
You can learn more about "Decade of Fire", including watching its trailer, here.
{Heart}
PS: However shockingly unacceptable it is for a sitting President to be actively racist and disparaging against an American city, I urge anyone reading not to be distracted by only the latest incident of his pathetic misbehavior.
Do not forget that the President's tantrum against Baltimore was precipitated in part by Congressman Elijah Cummings' advocacy for innocent asylum seekers, including many children, who remain in despicably inhumane conditions in detention facilities along our Southern border.
If you're even the slightest bit irked by the President's behavior in recent days, please immediately contact your elected officials to express your outrage at the treatment of our fellow human beings, many of whom are your future fellow citizens.
Just like the 1970s in the Bronx and the Baltimore of today, we'll survive this ugly era. But only if we fight back.
Sunday, June 30, 2019
Snap Judgment: You Don't Have to Be Book Smart to Love "Booksmart"
Hihi,
It's been almost exactly a year since our last Snap Judgment! We are horrendously overdue for just such a treat.
Let's talk about "Booksmart" (2019)!
"Booksmart" (2019) could by all rights have been a classic (read: boringly predictable) teensploitation movie in the grand tradition of "Breakfast Club" (1985), "She's All That" (1999), and most pointedly last-hurrah-rager-party movies like "Can't Hardly Wait" (1998) and "Superbad" (2007). To up the level of challenge, the film even follows a pretty standard story arc from last day of school through circuitous-and-wacky-journey-to-party to actual party to party aftermath.
Given the well-worn territory it treads, "Booksmart" could have been a truly unremarkable movie.
And yet! It is one of the most entertaining, charming, fresh, and innovative comedies I've seen in a while! First and perhaps most importantly, it is genuinely funny. Its many pit stops in the journey-to-party are fun tangents when they could be tiresome and laborious delayings-of-the-inevitable-arrival at THE party. Even the closing credits are eminently watchable.
I love it when a movie proves that you can be repeatedly laugh-out-loud, inventively funny by NOT relying on cheap, predictable, punching-down jokes. It's only in retrospect that you notice the jokes that weren't made, because you sure as hell don't miss them.
It's been almost exactly a year since our last Snap Judgment! We are horrendously overdue for just such a treat.
Let's talk about "Booksmart" (2019)!
- The odds are stacked against it.
"Booksmart" (2019) could by all rights have been a classic (read: boringly predictable) teensploitation movie in the grand tradition of "Breakfast Club" (1985), "She's All That" (1999), and most pointedly last-hurrah-rager-party movies like "Can't Hardly Wait" (1998) and "Superbad" (2007). To up the level of challenge, the film even follows a pretty standard story arc from last day of school through circuitous-and-wacky-journey-to-party to actual party to party aftermath.
- ...Which makes it ever more the delight!
Given the well-worn territory it treads, "Booksmart" could have been a truly unremarkable movie.
And yet! It is one of the most entertaining, charming, fresh, and innovative comedies I've seen in a while! First and perhaps most importantly, it is genuinely funny. Its many pit stops in the journey-to-party are fun tangents when they could be tiresome and laborious delayings-of-the-inevitable-arrival at THE party. Even the closing credits are eminently watchable.
- The movie is intersectionally feminist and this only makes it awesomer (duh).
I love it when a movie proves that you can be repeatedly laugh-out-loud, inventively funny by NOT relying on cheap, predictable, punching-down jokes. It's only in retrospect that you notice the jokes that weren't made, because you sure as hell don't miss them.
- Great performances partner with a wonderfully humanist ethos.
It's not easy to pull off across-the-board solid performances in a film with a large ensemble cast, but "Booksmart" demonstrates it can be done! The main characters of Amy and Molly (as portrayed by Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein, respectively) are extremely fun and compelling to watch, especially as they navigate fluctuations in their confidence in themselves and in their friendship. Minor characters like Gigi (played by Billie Lourd), Theo (Eduardo Franco), Alan (Austin Crute), Miss Fine (Jessica Williams!!), and especially George (Noah Galvin) enrich and fully round out the story.
With such a wide cast of characters, it is truly noteworthy that "Booksmart" resists falling into the common-in-teensploitation-movies trap of moralizing and judging about "good" and "bad" people. While many characters in the movie certainly encounter minor yet survivable humiliations, these serve only to further humanize them rather than serve them their just desserts.
Instead, in Vonnegut-esque style, every person in "Booksmart" matters. By the end of the movie, you understand that every single one of the characters in "Booksmart" is a valuable, redeemable, complex human being. This only deepens the enjoyment of the movie, because it lacks in mean-spirited schadenfreude and instead introduces you to a range of characters, each of whom you get to know and enjoy.
- And finally: Olivia Wilde!!
Taking all these components into account, it is perhaps not surprising that I gave "Booksmart" a 5.
...Incidentally, this has nothing to do with the fact that Husband's first comment before we even left the theater was, "You're going to give this a 5, right?"
I strongly recommend that you find "Booksmart" quick before it's out of theaters!
{Heart}
Wednesday, May 29, 2019
Micro Post: The "Perfect Bid" for a Perfectly Pure Documentary
Hey team!
I'm here to share a sweet little documentary that I recently enjoyed in my latest micro post!
Today's film is:
This absolutely delightful movie tells the story of Theodore (Ted) Slauson's superfandom of "The Price is Right" and how it led to the improbable but legitimate "perfect bid" episode of the show.
There is so much to blissfully enjoy about this surprisingly pleasant movie. Truly, almost absolutely everyone in this film is sweet, sincere, and positive.
Ted's extremely detailed recounting of his "Price is Right" journey illustrates the capacity of the human mind for passion and discipline--qualities which clearly contributed to his role in that remarkable episode of his beloved game show.
Previous host Bob Barker is deeply charming as he recalls his time hosting the show with deep fondness and gratitude for the audience that made it possible for him to "never work a day in my life." Showrunner Roger Dobkowitz gives us a sneak peek into the inner workings of the show, as well as the friendship he developed with Barker.
All in all, the movie is a lovely testament to how a humble yet extraordinarily dedicated everyman fan can accomplish greatness. In this way, the movie is reminiscent of other memorably gentle yet interesting documentaries like "King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters" (2007). Especially on a tough day when one needs to be reminded of the kindness and decency of humanity, this film is just the remedy.
I gave this film a 4.5
It's currently streamable on Netflix. Please enjoy!
{Heart}
I'm here to share a sweet little documentary that I recently enjoyed in my latest micro post!
Today's film is:
This absolutely delightful movie tells the story of Theodore (Ted) Slauson's superfandom of "The Price is Right" and how it led to the improbable but legitimate "perfect bid" episode of the show.
There is so much to blissfully enjoy about this surprisingly pleasant movie. Truly, almost absolutely everyone in this film is sweet, sincere, and positive.
Ted's extremely detailed recounting of his "Price is Right" journey illustrates the capacity of the human mind for passion and discipline--qualities which clearly contributed to his role in that remarkable episode of his beloved game show.
 |
| Slauson displays his name tags from his many trips to airings of "The Price is Right." |
Previous host Bob Barker is deeply charming as he recalls his time hosting the show with deep fondness and gratitude for the audience that made it possible for him to "never work a day in my life." Showrunner Roger Dobkowitz gives us a sneak peek into the inner workings of the show, as well as the friendship he developed with Barker.
 |
| Dokbkowitz and Barker: still adorable buds. |
All in all, the movie is a lovely testament to how a humble yet extraordinarily dedicated everyman fan can accomplish greatness. In this way, the movie is reminiscent of other memorably gentle yet interesting documentaries like "King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters" (2007). Especially on a tough day when one needs to be reminded of the kindness and decency of humanity, this film is just the remedy.
I gave this film a 4.5
It's currently streamable on Netflix. Please enjoy!
{Heart}
Saturday, April 20, 2019
I Watched Both Fyre Festival Documentaries So You Don't Have To
You're welcome in advance, everyone!
THAT'S RIGHT. I shamelessly and with gusto watched not one, but TWO documentaries about the famously, catastrophically doomed Fyre Festival. And now, I will summarize them both so you can choose which to watch depending on your preference, or to watch both fully aware of what you're getting yourself into, or watch neither because you're possibly a better person than me!
To be honest, I only remember even hearing of Fyre Festival as it was actively unravelling, so I only hopped aboard the hateration extravaganza when it was already abundantly clear what a fiasco the whole thing was.
It therefore wasn't until the whole thing dramatically fell apart that I saw, for example, this extremely over-hyped advertisement for the festival, which by that point had revealed itself to be a grotesque contradiction of the discomfort, woe, and absurdity that awaited the silly, silly people who paid thousands of dollars to attend this nonsense.
Now, for your schadenfreude-y enjoyment, there are not one, but TWO documentaries available, each promising to help viewers understand just what went wrong. They varyingly succeed, yet both offer significant entertainment value.
Documentary 1: "Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened" (2019)
Important disclosure alert: this film was co-produced by Jerry Media and Matte Projects, who are responsible for producing some of the promotional materials that ultimately lured the undiscerning monied set to Fyre festival. This may possibly account for the noticeable absence of anything that might implicate Jerry and/or Matte in the disaster that the festival inevitably became?
If you're looking for a moment-by-moment recreation of the utter catastrophe that was Fyre Festival, this is your film. It provides enough backstory to make it excruciatingly clear that this festival was never remotely coming together; sure the promotional videos were pretty (thanks Jerry/Matte!) and there was lots of boostery buzz from overpaid "influencers" (I shudder apologetically at using this term and promise never to utter it again) on Instagram, but literally nothing else was actually happening, nor should anyone with any sense have ever thought it was happening. I've never planned an event more major than a wedding, and it was quite obvious to me that a few months is not enough time to, for example, literally create plumbing and other basic infrastructure from scratch on an undeveloped patch of an island.
There is very much this sense of Icarus, pumped up on hubris-flavored energy drinks, attempting to reach heights of posh "exclusivity" and crappy EDM, only to plummet to the earth below as his wings of FEMA tents held together with cheese sandwiches melt under the heat of the unforgiving Caribbean sun. And I am admittedly and somewhat unabashedly here for it.
With that preamble, the movie then spends the majority of its time with the festival-goers as they negotiate the ever-more-obvious train wreck that was Fyre Festival. In a gleefully spiteful way, it's certainly entertaining. I don't often like to dwell in that emotional space, but honestly, it's just extremely difficult to muster pity for people with
a) absurd amounts of disposable income that
b) they probably didn't work too hard to earn because
c) THEY SPENT IT ON TICKETS TO FYRE FESTIVAL.
That being said, the film also focuses on the financially devastating consequences for citizens of the island who were recruited to work for the festival, many of whom were not compensated despite being left to bear the brunt of hundreds of hungry, grumpy, entitled festivalgoers. So there is some fleeting moral center to this movie.
I gave this film a 3. Stream it on Netflix here.
Documentary 2: "Fyre Fraud" (2019)
For those of us with a true crime bent and therefore wanting a much meatier dive into the "but seriously HOW?" of Fyre Festival, this movie is for you. It provides a much more thorough, and therefore satisfying, exploration of the super obvious early criminal inclinations of Fyre Festival co-founder Billy McFarland and achieves the notable coup of a first-hand interview with the conman himself.
There is still a decent amount of footage of the actively flailing festival in this film, but it's not so much the centerpiece as the former documentary. Instead, "Fyre Fraud" looks much more extensively at the spoiler-alert-this-guy-is-obviously-a-criminal-in-the-making before and the wow-some-psychopaths-really-don't-learn after.
Bonus: because it is not face-savingly co-produced by people directly implicated in the failure of the festival, it also does the job of examining how Jerry/Matte and other contributors played a role in attempting to pull off this fraud. (I would say the movie does a good job of looking at the other major players, but because this wasn't even attempted in the first doc, the comparative nature of "good" is a bit moot.)
I gave this movie a 4. Stream it on Hulu here.
Enjoy (or don't)!
{Heart}
THAT'S RIGHT. I shamelessly and with gusto watched not one, but TWO documentaries about the famously, catastrophically doomed Fyre Festival. And now, I will summarize them both so you can choose which to watch depending on your preference, or to watch both fully aware of what you're getting yourself into, or watch neither because you're possibly a better person than me!
To be honest, I only remember even hearing of Fyre Festival as it was actively unravelling, so I only hopped aboard the hateration extravaganza when it was already abundantly clear what a fiasco the whole thing was.
 |
| Except I do! |
It therefore wasn't until the whole thing dramatically fell apart that I saw, for example, this extremely over-hyped advertisement for the festival, which by that point had revealed itself to be a grotesque contradiction of the discomfort, woe, and absurdity that awaited the silly, silly people who paid thousands of dollars to attend this nonsense.
Now, for your schadenfreude-y enjoyment, there are not one, but TWO documentaries available, each promising to help viewers understand just what went wrong. They varyingly succeed, yet both offer significant entertainment value.
Documentary 1: "Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened" (2019)
If you're looking for a moment-by-moment recreation of the utter catastrophe that was Fyre Festival, this is your film. It provides enough backstory to make it excruciatingly clear that this festival was never remotely coming together; sure the promotional videos were pretty (thanks Jerry/Matte!) and there was lots of boostery buzz from overpaid "influencers" (I shudder apologetically at using this term and promise never to utter it again) on Instagram, but literally nothing else was actually happening, nor should anyone with any sense have ever thought it was happening. I've never planned an event more major than a wedding, and it was quite obvious to me that a few months is not enough time to, for example, literally create plumbing and other basic infrastructure from scratch on an undeveloped patch of an island.
There is very much this sense of Icarus, pumped up on hubris-flavored energy drinks, attempting to reach heights of posh "exclusivity" and crappy EDM, only to plummet to the earth below as his wings of FEMA tents held together with cheese sandwiches melt under the heat of the unforgiving Caribbean sun. And I am admittedly and somewhat unabashedly here for it.
With that preamble, the movie then spends the majority of its time with the festival-goers as they negotiate the ever-more-obvious train wreck that was Fyre Festival. In a gleefully spiteful way, it's certainly entertaining. I don't often like to dwell in that emotional space, but honestly, it's just extremely difficult to muster pity for people with
a) absurd amounts of disposable income that
b) they probably didn't work too hard to earn because
c) THEY SPENT IT ON TICKETS TO FYRE FESTIVAL.
That being said, the film also focuses on the financially devastating consequences for citizens of the island who were recruited to work for the festival, many of whom were not compensated despite being left to bear the brunt of hundreds of hungry, grumpy, entitled festivalgoers. So there is some fleeting moral center to this movie.
I gave this film a 3. Stream it on Netflix here.
Documentary 2: "Fyre Fraud" (2019)
For those of us with a true crime bent and therefore wanting a much meatier dive into the "but seriously HOW?" of Fyre Festival, this movie is for you. It provides a much more thorough, and therefore satisfying, exploration of the super obvious early criminal inclinations of Fyre Festival co-founder Billy McFarland and achieves the notable coup of a first-hand interview with the conman himself.
There is still a decent amount of footage of the actively flailing festival in this film, but it's not so much the centerpiece as the former documentary. Instead, "Fyre Fraud" looks much more extensively at the spoiler-alert-this-guy-is-obviously-a-criminal-in-the-making before and the wow-some-psychopaths-really-don't-learn after.
Bonus: because it is not face-savingly co-produced by people directly implicated in the failure of the festival, it also does the job of examining how Jerry/Matte and other contributors played a role in attempting to pull off this fraud. (I would say the movie does a good job of looking at the other major players, but because this wasn't even attempted in the first doc, the comparative nature of "good" is a bit moot.)
I gave this movie a 4. Stream it on Hulu here.
Enjoy (or don't)!
{Heart}
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