Movies: Months in Review {June & July 2020}

Baby Mama (2008) ● PG-13

I like this.  Tina Fey and Amy Poehler make as fantastic a team as I expected they would, and I also love seeing Dax Shepard, Greg Kinnear, Steve Martin, and Sigourney Weaver in their roles.  

That said, there are a few instances of what appears to be "casual racism"; and even though those instances aren't framed as good things, they aren't framed as dreadfully serious things, either.  So.  That makes me a little uncomfortable. 

Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012) ● PG-13

This is very heavy, and the narrative wasn't my favorite.  That said, it was an important one and I'm not aware of another film quite like it.  There were moments that were extremely moving, and lines that got caught in the back of my throat because they were so piercing.  ("This is my favorite thing" almost made me cry.)

Also:  Quvenzhane Wallis is amazing.  It's official.  I'd liked her in Annie (2014), but the fact that she made this movie at the age of 5-6 is extraordinary.  

BlacKkKlansman (2018) ● R

I watched this in tiny increments, spread out over a couple of weeks.  That wasn't intentional, but it's how it played out, and honestly that may have been a good thing.  It's an excellent film, but emotionally draining (in a good way).  

It makes you tired, as you get another glimpse of the oppression that Black people have been (and still are) experiencing in this country.  It makes you scared, as the 1970s Klan members say things that are eerily similar to things you've heard people say in 2020.  It makes you think.

Hamilton (2020) ● PG-13

That's it.  That's the whole show.

YAAASSS. 😀  Broadway came to us, haha!  

I definitely enjoyed this.  The show has been causing a lot of debate, and it's important to be respectful of that.  You can appreciate something for its good qualities without denying that it has flaws or room for improvement, and I think Hamilton may be an example of that.  

In that way, finally getting to watch this was a bit trippy for me.  There's patriotism on one hand, and there's nationalism on the other; and especially now, it can be increasingly difficult to distinguish the two.  So, when experiencing Hamilton, there was some dissonance.  You're watching a dynamic, powerhouse portrayal of America's founding fathers struggling to create a nation, and you're listening to them sing about beautiful ideas that, sadly, have never yet come to fruition in that nation.  Moreover, you're listening to them sing about beautiful ideas in which they themselves, by their actions, proved they did not truly believe.

It's a messy situation, because human beings are messy.  We screw things up.  We commit heinous atrocities that we try to excuse as the customs of our times.  And there is space both to acknowledge the universality of that human frailty and to prosecute it when it crosses certain lines.

Obviously, there's a lot to discuss in that arena, and this isn't really the time or the place, so, to close, I'll just share a few of my favorite lyrics. 😀  These always Hit Different, man:

• "The moments when you're in so deep, it feels easier to just swim down."

• "I may not live to see our glory, but I will gladly join the fight."

• "A civics lesson from a slaver?  Hey, neighbor:  Your debts are paid 'cause you don't pay for labor."

• "I'm not here for you."

• "You know, I'm just like my country:  I'm young, scrappy, and hungry, and I am not throwing away my shot."

• "I hope that you burn."

• (also pretty much anything that Jonathan Groff sings in the entire show 😂)    

Just Mercy (2019) ● PG-13

Again, a critical examination of social justice in America:  both racially and legislatively.  The movie provokes many questions about discrimination in the prison system and about the legitimacy of the death penalty in general.   

Ocean's 8 (2018) ● PG-13

I've been wanting to see this since its first trailers, and I'm glad I finally got to do so.  It wasn't extraordinary, but it wasn't meant to be.  It was meant to be fun, glamorous, and witty, and I think it accomplished all three of those objectives.  The cast is everything I ever needed from a heist movie.

Also, for all my John Mulaney fans out there — meaning you, Katie 😄 — this movie always makes me think of that joke he made several years ago:  the one about how the Ocean's movies wouldn't work with an all-female cast.  HA!  Proved him wrong, didn't they? 😜

Pitch Perfect (2012) ● PG-13

This was one of those that I'd never actually watched, but essentially knew as well as if I had.  If that makes sense.

I've "kept up" with all the PP films, but hadn't watched any of them all the way through until now.  I'm still interested in seeing the other two at some point, but this one, sadly, didn't impress me.

The cast is still fun; the music is still fun; some of the lines are still fun.  But other elements seem irredeemably tasteless to me; and I'm not referring to the innuendo.  I'm referring to the running vomit gag, to the pratfall cat-fights — that kind of thing.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011) ● PG-13

Once again, this one is worth watching for the cast alone; but the story is solid, too, and the aesthetic is gorgeous:  the vibrancy of the colors and the light, the textures, sounds, India . . . exciting and beautiful and a bit cathartic.

Maggie Smith's character development was nice, but it could be argued that her racism should have been more directly condemned/addressed.  Still, as I said, we do see her change.

I thought the way the writers handled the dysfunctional marriage was also pretty good, for a secular film.  Obviously, there's a lot to explore with that, but I think they did well with it. 

The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2015) ● PG

There were things I loved about this sequel, but overall it wasn't as good as the first.  I was also a little disconcerted by Richard Gere's character.  The way they try to patch up the relationship between him and Sonny's mother seemed problematic.  "Yeah, I lied to you, but so what?  It wasn't a big lie or anything."  That's what it felt like they were saying.  😬  Which, obviously . . . no, heh.

But, again, there were fun things, too. 

What have you been watching recently?