What did you see this weekend?
Monday, January 18, 2021 at 11:00AM 
While time has lost much of its meaning during the work-from-home lockdown, it's still a holiday weekend which theoretically will give more of us an opportunity to catch up on screenings. For the Martin Luther King Jr Day holiday weekend, Amazon Prime released One Night in Miami and, it's worth noting as perfect holiday viewing, that the Oscar hopeful documentary MLK/FBI is also available to rent online. Here's what was popular in movie theaters, such as they are right now...
WEEKEND BOX OFFICE
- The Marksman $3.2 *new*
- Wonder Woman 1984 $2.6 (cum. $35.8)
- The Croods: The New Age $2.0 (cum. $39.2)
- News of the World $1.0 (cum. $8.5)
- Monster Hunter $920k (cum. $9)
- Fatale $530k (cum. $4.7)
- Promising Young Woman $430k (cum. $3.3)
- Emperor's New Groove *rerelease* $169k
- The War With Grandpa $155k (cum. $19.2)
- Pinnocchio $140k (cum. $1.3)
What have you seen these past several days. My eyes have glazed over trying to catch up / get ahead. I took in Malcolm & Marie and Judas and the Black Messiah (which will not be eligible for the 2020 Film Bitch Awards -- beginning very soon-- as those awards always go by calendar year though they will be eligible for the 2020 Oscars due to that "through the end of February" eligibility extension. I also finally screened The Father, made time for a rewatch of Promising Young Woman, and have been taking in some 1989 movies for a guest spot on the One Inch Barrier podcast so more on those later. What have you been watching?
MLK/FBI, box office, moviegoing
Reader Comments (33)
I saw
On the Rocks which was a pleasant 90 mins with Bill Murray
The Nest which I enjoyed and think Carrie Coon should be in the Best Actress conversation
All the President's Men which is about as perfect a political thriller as you can get,Robards is terrific.
White Mischief which was a wallow in 80's period pieces with strange casts.
Da 5 Bloods which was all over the place,Lindo was solid as was Clarke Peters.
I saw Smooth Talk and Pixote on YouTube. LOL my life is a riot
"El Cid " on Netflix
Dying for an article on your thoughts about Promising Young Woman.
Fourteen, after the Gotham win. Incredible.
I watched BIg with Tom Hanks and Rupaul UK Season 2 Epi 1 cause I needed something light. I understand the price tag but VOD is a bit too expensive for the solo individual. For a family, it's a deal. For a couple, it's about on par. But $24.99 + tax for Promising Young Woman by myself is a lot. Maybe I'll splurge.
I loved Collective (though it made me outraged) and One Night in Miami.
Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan was a gay joy bomb, even with its weak characterization.
76 Days was compelling, but left a lot of questions unanswered.
Straight Up and Almost Love were a pair of enjoyable gay themed flix.
Incitement just hit too close to home to fully enjoy.
Weathering With You and Over the Moon were middling animated fare.
Tenet was great to look at, but story wise a mess.
The Truffle Hunters, Cats + Peachtopia, and Ammonite struggled to hold my attention.
Rhythm Section was a disaster.
I saw 5 of the movies submitted by their countries for 'Best International Feature': You Will Die At 20 (Sudan - I was liking it a lot and then something truly hideous happens and nobody bats an eye so I was annoyed by that; the guy looks like a young Tiger Tyson so that's nice), Jallikattu (India - it's fun and energetic and all the guys have really nice hair), Alelí (Uruguay - really small family comedy, the stakes are low, it was nice), The Mole Agent (Chile - it builds up to its final message and earns it, but it was a bit painful for me to watch for personal reasons, so.. not for me), and Leap (China - sports/propaganda movie -and it has A LOT of sport in it- basic af, Gong Li is perfect and radiant and deserves so much better). And I also watched La Casa Lobo, that scary Chilean animated movie which I had already seen a couple of years ago and was really freaked out by, but I thought it was because I was baked at the time but no, it was the movie that did it. It's extraordinary but quite unsettling.
Undine, which was fine. Sweet story a tad stranger than I expected.
Promising Young Woman and One Night in Miami, both excellent.
I saw Promising Young Woman on Friday - my first $20 rental. While I was watching I really wasn't sure if I liked it or thought it was living up to the hype UNTIL *clap* THE *clap* ENDING *clap*. It's been a while since a film has stuck with me. What style and solid story telling. Looking forward to hearing what other people think. Also Jennifer Coolidge in a grounded, dramatic role YES!
I didn't see new films on streaming this past week but a re-watch of some films and watching some 'classic' ones for the first time:
Bacalaureat ("Graduation", 2016)
A story about going to such elaborate (not to mention unethical) lengths to ensure a bright future to one's daughter was brought to vivid, discomforting, and dissonant life by Cristian Mungiu. A promising child was assaulted before a crucial high school examination period that will determine whether she can get a college scholarship in the UK, and basically get out of Romania. Similar to that college admissions scandal that indicted Felicity Huffman, this story is about a father's determination to do anything to give his daughter the opportunities he missed in life. The act of desperation to make things work sutures you to the story and refuses to let go until the resolution. Graduation raises ethical dilemmas that can strike a chord to anyone with the best of intentions to achieve a life better than what's current but resorted to unorthodox ways to achieve it.
Day For Night (1973)
I've seen this film many years ago and remembered being disoriented by chaotic situations and people who are trying to mount a solid film. The movie is about the art, science, business, and politics of movie-making. Jacqueline Bisset's uncommon beauty is moving, and also distracting although ultimately the characters of Truffaut and Valentina Cortese stayed longest with me after the movie ended. The film offers a glimpse of the drama behind the creation of a film -- full of eccentric characters, of people speaking different languages trying to connect to each other by decoding and sometimes failing to understand the meanings behind actions. I like the idea behind the film's title too. And it's great to see Nathalie Baye in one of her early films.
Barton Fink (1991)
Another film I already saw in the past, only this time re-watching it made me appreciate it more and remember it with fondness. John Turturro is perfection as the titular character -- a prickly, timid, talented, curious, and temperamental playwright trying to write a script for Hollywood. I was entranced by his macabre encounters with the film industry's bigwigs -- like an Alice-in-Wonderland journey to people who are strange, upside down, and might not even be real. How he transformed from a camel to a lion (in a Nietzschean sense) was executed Grand Guignol style complete with fire, mysterious death, and the elusive search for beauty. At times surreal, the story is constructed to make the audience relate to Barton Fink and stay with him as his world slowly transformed into a nightmarish tableau that might be the inspiration he is looking for to keep writing.
Ratcatcher (1999)
A gloomy examination of a life in squalor in early 1970s-era Glasgow. The rodent-infested community's abjection is shown through mundane routines, adversarial relations, and familial dynamics that swing from physical abuse to unsentimental affection. Each day seems like an endless physical, emotional, and spiritual rollercoaster where one must devise a way to stay afloat. The habitus of the neighborhood offers very little (literal) sunshine and hope, yet a boy's hopeful attempt for meaningful place-making in a nearby territory is very beautifully rendered, like an uncorrupted and serene idyll. For a moment, the film seems to undergo a transformation as though it wants to change genre and continue the story in that rarefied space. But when it does that in the end, I truly believed it, even if I know cycles of abuse and unhappiness can still happen. A truly unforgettable film experience.
Pieces of a Woman - great performances from Kirby and Burstyn
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom - disappointed with it, but loved Viola Davis
This is Not a Burial, But a Resurrection (Lesotho) - interesting and unique film (maybe a tad too long)
Vitalina Varela (Portugal) - I really didn't like it at all
Is anyone else baffled that Sam Cooke doesn't get a postscript at the end of ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI...? Really strange, considering he was murdered at the end of that year.
Lovers Rock and One Night in Miami. Both were terrific and featured amazing a capella moments!
Dear Comrades! - really moved by it. I know it's difficult for non-English language performers to get traction but I really think Yuliya Vysotskaya gives an outstanding performance which should be more noticed.
I went for Best Actress vehicles this weekend:
* NOMADLAND - I loved it. Frances McDormand does something very special here. The perfect harmony between director-star-narrative
* PIECES OF A WOMAN - It features the best female performance of the year for me: Vanessa Kirby's. She's amazing and it got me rooting for her in a personal level. Ellen Burstyn is great and Shia LaBeouf is also great (no matter how scandalous his behaviour might be off screen)
* PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN - I liked it, but I felt it's overhyped. Good, but not amazing. Mulligan is delicious to watch (as she always is), but I don't think she delivers winning material as many Oscar geeks claim.
* MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM - It's Boseman's show. Davis is almost supporting, but she makes sure to leave an impression that's strong enough to take her seriously as a lead. The movie itself didn't amaze me. Great production values, makeup and cinematography.
* NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS - I want Sidney Flanigan to be nominated. I loved her performance and the movie itself is daring and touching. It all felt so real and so sad!
Pieces of a Woman - Kirby deserves a nod. Burstyn is very good (when is she not)? but I don't know if she's much better than a hundred ace performers on prestige TV dramas we find all over the place.
Time To Die--a great Mexican melodrama on Blu-ray from Film Movement about masculinity and revenge from auteur Auturo Ripstein. Gabriel García Márquez worked on the script. Worth a look.
Finished "Pretend it's a City." Delightful.
I finally saw "The Dissident". It should absolutely get the Oscar nomination!
Another documentary, a french one called "Little girl" (Petite fille), that I guess is not eligible for Oscars, but it's VERY thought provoking, about an 8 year old, born in a wrong gender. Was nominated for the Best documentary at the European Film Awards (and won the Best sound design).
Also a bunch of international oscar hopefuls (was a little disappointed on the Spanish one, because of how the main character in that film was portrayed like someone a little stupid. But I was even more disappointed on Thailand's "Happy old year" about throwing away stuff that you don't need anymore),
And one slightly better non-english language film from EFA long list, the Icelandic "Echo", that had 56 small stories in the 1h15min film, all 1 or 1,5 minutes long, but the collage of these tiny scenes or stories built one bigger of how weird life is and can be.
I rented News of the World. What a moving film.
Re-watched Nomadland and One Night in Miami... still love them both!!! I'm skeptical about whether Nomadland can win Best Picture at the Oscars, given that it feels way too indie for the Academy's general tastes, though if Parasite winning last year means they're broadening their horizons, I would welcome it winning.
I also saw News of the World, which feels like something in the vein of Ford v Ferrari last year: an old-fashioned genre picture, and while neither is my favorite film of their respective years, I really like them both... though News of the World has the added benefit of Tom Hanks and Helena Zengel (if anyone saw System Crasher last year, you'll recognize her).
I also watched Over the Moon, which is gorgeously animated and very moving in its story, but feels wasted as a musical (the songs are not memorable enough and they just stretch out the emotional moments). I'm really happy I saw it, but it's nowhere near Wolfwalkers, Soul or even Onward (which I recently re-watched, I found it much more enjoyable on a second viewing) in terms of animated films of 2020.
Richter Scale -- I feel the same. Over the Moon ... i was rooting for it but there's something about it that just doesn't feel organically made but, like, programmed. I liked NEWS OF THE WORLD much more than you (and more than most people apparently!)
We finished Bridgerton, we started Servant (maybe I’m wrong but I’m curious about it) and we watched AVA by Tate Handsome Taylor who is making an action-thriller with a tough woman as the leading character. Jessica Chastain was adorable in The Help and again she’s a great threat, pity that Geena Davis presence (as Jessica’s not so sweet mom) reminds us that The Long Kiss Goodnight had a rather superior screenplay
One Night in Miami (discussed elsewhere on this site)
Yeelen (1987, Cannes Jury Prize winner from Mali)
The Becoming Box (2011, New Orleans/afrofuturism/magic realism)
Staged Season 1 and the first two episodes of Season 2 (Michael Sheen and David Tennant in the best kind of lockdown meta)
Deadwater Fell (more Tennant—ah, those Brit smalltown crime drama miniseries)
No Hard Feelings (on Dekkoo—thx, Nathaniel)
Miscellaneous shorts on Dekkoo (widely varying quality and eroticism)
A horrendous first-timer in Lucy in the Sky. I love Natalie Portman but my god, that was awful. The only other film I saw is 3000 Miles to Graceland. Stupid-ass fun. A film that gets more underrated as time goes on. Only if they got rid of the Uncle Krackhead music, it would have a much better reputation.
El Viaje a Ninguna Parte (Voyage to Nowhere) 1986 - Discretly funny and memorable, a good ensemble work and a beautiful cinematography.
Hombre Mirando al Sudeste (Man Facing Southeast) 1986 - An istant classic I must say. What a magnificent screenplay and the score from Pedro Aznar is delightful.
No Sé Si Cortarme las Venas o Dejármelas Largas (I Don't Know Whether to Slit My Wrists or Leave Them Long) 2013 - Quite entertaining, one of the few theatre adaptations I've been watching recently that aproaches the cinematographical narrative. Luis Gerardo Mendez is outstandingly funny
Mecánica Nacional (Nathional Mechanics) 1972 - An effective dark comedy that in moments it feels claustrophobic in an empty space, the acting is good despite the dubbing that was used in that age.
Santa Girl 2019 - My twin brother needed to watch this for an english homework and was so painful to watch that he falls sleep in the middle. The only good thing I can say is that I found McKayla Witt as a convincing elf.
The Duff 2015 - Teen comedies should been the tone of this movie, always funny avoiding the dramatical existencial moments. Mae Whitman has such a great charisma.
Manto Acuífero (The Well) 2013 - The story is developed very slowly but is interesting to watch the story of a separate marriage since the perspective of the child and the (hard, in this case) process to create a new family.
Dos Monjes (Two Monks) 1934 - A two-perspective story brilliantly directed, the production design is very ad hoc to the gothic atmosphere.
La Marca del Demonio (Mark of the Devil) 2020 - Properly acted with good (just good) make up and special effects but the story is just senseless, very bad.
Fuego Negro (Dark Forces) 2020 - Poorly acted with good (very good) cinematography and special effects but the story is just senseless, very bad.
El Cazador (Young Hunter) 2020 - I love that Marco Berger is very true to his own style of slow rythm and exposing manly erotism but this is the first time I watch a storytelling in his movies and this one can be considered a soft thriller.
Azul y No Tan Rosa (My Straight Son) 2012 - I still can't recover from discovering the pathetic English title of this movie. (Why they do this? WHY?). I like how while the story of the leadig character is moving, the parallel stories of the secondary characters are sticking to it creating a more complex story(ies). All the musical moments are the top of the film.
Año Uña (Year of the Nail) 2007 - It works as an experimental work and as a single love story. The screenplay it feels really authentic about youth.
I saw Wonder Woman 1984 and, not sorry, enjoyed it. A bit too long and some clunky bits here and there... the way the internet is coming for it & Patty Jenkins you’d think it was BatmaN & Robin level bad. Anyway, nothing can beat the second Thor for worst superhero sequel or recent memory... god that was one boring turd.
I also watched Black Narcissus from 1947 - I’m wondering if the BBC miniseries adaptation is as good.
I saw Outside the Wire with Anthony Mackie. The movie is so so but he was outstanding. He has great comedy timing.
@ Mirko
I tried watching Ava a few weeks ago and had to turn it off after about 20 minutes, something I almost never do...
NATHANIEL R: Don't get me wrong, I really liked News of the World (just like I really liked Ford v Ferrari), it just fell somewhat short of me loving it.
YES! Can't wait for the Film Bitch Awards!
ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI - easily my favourite of this season's stage play adaptations. The first act is a little clunky, but it gets its footing once they're in the hotel. Great ensemble and so grateful they gave Leslie Odom Jr. plenty of chances to sing
THE DIG - I found this pretty captivating! It gets bogged down in the 3rd act with too many characters and plotlines, but the ending is moving. Another great ensemble here! Getting two Carey Mulligan performances in a month - a gift!
Otherwise, first time viewings of A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN (wonderful) and BIG (bizarre) and another rewatch of YENTL before it leaves Criterion Channel.
I saw Monsoon, a film I've been very eager to see. And... yikes. I was shocked that this was from the same director as Lilting - a film that works so well.
Henry Golding is solid to fine, and very beautiful/hot here. But the film just didn't work as well as it could have.