Movies: Months in Review {September & October 2020}

Did I drop off the face of this blog for a full month?  I sure did. 😂  School and work are both crazy right now.  Really looking forward to December when they'll calm down. 😅 

Anyway, here's the new stuff I watched in September and October!

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Adopt a Highway (2019) ● Not Rated

I know it would have been unrealistic if it had ended the way we want it to, but DID I ASK FOR REALISM???  DID I ASK.

(I did not ask.)

(But this was a good movie anyway.)

Barbie and the Twelve Dancing Princesses (2006) ● Not Rated

You don't understand:  I've been wanting to watch this for at least a decade. 😂  Ever since I had the novelization as a kid and fell in love with the dresses & the aesthetic & what-not.  And I finally know someone who owns it, so I was finally able to see it!  Huzzah.

I didn't love it, but I enjoyed the experience. 😍

Magic in the Moonlight (2014) ● PG-13

This was my first time watching a Woody Allen movie, and all pedophilic sexual misconduct allegations things considered, I felt pretty validated when I discovered that it was nothing special.  It reminded me of an inferior version of My Fair Lady.  The plot raises some interesting philosophical questions, and there are some amusing lines and fun costumes, but that's about it.  The characterization and the technical aspects of the cinematography struck me as mediocre — which, once again, I found pretty satisfying, given the Woody Allen debacle as a whole.

Miss Americana (2020) ● TV-MA

I think I knew most of this information already, but I still enjoyed watching the documentary.  It was thoughtfully made, insightful, and strangely cozy.  I especially appreciated learning more about Taylor's experience with the sexual misconduct trial, and the fact that the documentary highlights the ways in which the judicial process enables and perpetuates rape culture. 

Over the Moon (2020) ● PG

I liked this but I didn't love it.  Fei Fei was a cool character; I loved her song (though I maintain that it should have been entitled "Fly Away" rather than "Rocket to the Moon," but whatever). I also loved a lot of the aesthetics.  

But I wasn't a fan of the way the Lunaria parts were done — random, neon-colored geometric shapes and amorphous blob people aren't what I sign up for when I sign up for a movie partially set on the moon, y'all. I was also disappointed in that I didn't really like any of Philippa Soo's songs.  *le sigh*  Aside from that, I thought that some of the characterization and plot development was underwhelming. 

I will say, though, that the "Chamber of Exquisite Sadness" scene was much more to my liking.  

Riding in Cars with Boys (2001) ● PG-13

I have been cheated.  I was promised a funny, uplifting story about complex-but-generally-positive family dynamics, and did I receive that?!  No.  I received a technically well-done but also extremely upsetting look at profound parental abuse.  DID I ASK??  DID I REQUEST??  No, I did not.  I really don't need any more exploration of family dysfunction in my life right now, okay?

The Huntsman: Winter's War (2016) ● PG-13

OKAY THIS GAVE ME FEELINGS I WASN'T EXPECTING

Context:

I've been familiar with the story universe in these movies for years now, because one of my sisters used to like the first one.  She tried to show it to me once, but my Sensitive Twelve-Year-Old Self noped out of that darkness real quick.

But over the past couple of years, I've been feeling an urge to try it again.  And, of course, the second one interested me because, hello, Freya.  Emily Blunt as an ice queen?  Don't even @ me.  But I didn't know everything about how her story was going to play out, or about how they were going to resolve her character arc.  I WAS REDUCED TO EMOTIONS, LET ME TELL YOU. 

And also??  Chris Hemsworth as the huntsman?  What a sublime surprise.  I was expecting him to be a macho edgelord stereotype with a dreadful accent and a moodiness problem. Instead, he's a goofy optimist who picks flowers and defends fawns and reassures people and laughs at his own terrible strategies and is also much more vocal about all his warm-fuzzy emotions than any of the women in the story and honestly? Quality content. We stan. 

I didn't think I would like the romance in this one, but I was yet again pleasantly surprised.  I actually got really invested, and I found it well-rounded and wholesome. 

Now, did I see some weak plotting?  Yes, absolutely.  Some of the character motivations and/or reactions to their circumstances were either unrealistic, generic, or just plain random.  (Like that sudden implication at the very end, during the final battle, that Ravenna also "wanted love & children" — what?)  And some lines were painfully cliched.  But I am more than willing to overlook these minor missteps. 😛 

Overall, definitely recommend if you like dark twists on fairytales!

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms (2018) ● PG

I've been waiting to watch this ever since the first trailers, so I was happy that I finally got around to borrowing it from the library.  I didn't love it as much as my Nutcracker-loving soul wanted to, but I enjoyed it enough to re-watch it. 

Oh, and I loved that they used the "Pas de Deux" music for the father-daughter dance at the end.  That made my as-aforementioned Nutcracker-loving soul happy.  (I actually would have liked to see just a little bit more of the father-daughter dynamic in general, but I'm happy with what I did get.  The last shot was really sweet. 😊)

Unorthodox (2020) ● TV-MA

Been debating watching this ever since it came out.  I've read and watched several survivor testimonies about arranged or forced marriage, and one of the authorities on the subject had both positive and negative things to say about this miniseries.  So I was torn.  Ultimately, though, I decided to watch it when I was stuck and bored, self-isolating in my room after a Covid-exposure.  

I thought it was good!  Shira Haas, man.  That human can make you feel things without moving a muscle, just by sitting and watching a choir rehearse while tears pool slowly in her eyes.  Whew.  I also found the subplot with her mother compelling. 

I would definitely suggest that anyone considering watching it would read some of the feedback it got beforehand, though, just so you're aware of the positive and the negative aspects of its portrayal of the ultra-Orthodox Hasidic community and marriage culture.  It's important to get a range of survivor perspective on an issue like this.

(Also:  It's rated TV-MA for a reason, so be prepared for that.) 

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Have you seen any of these?

What did you think of them?

What have you been watching?