Rambling Film

It's another companion reads edition over at Wandering Through The Shelves ! This was a bit tough for me when we did this for movies, and even more so now that I'm limited to TV series. Here's what I came up with.  1) Watch True Blood - Read The Cutting Season: This comparison is more about the setting than anything. True Blood took place in Louisiana, as does The Cutting Season. While you'll find no vampires in TCS, you will find a murder mystery and True Blood has never been short on those. 2) Watch The Handmaid's Tale - Read The Testaments: Okay, this might seem like an obvious pick, but if you found yourself getting somewhat annoyed with the TV show, reading The Testaments again will get you right back in it. I've mentioned before that I think The Handmaid's Tale as a show is far better than Margarat Atwood's book because it actually answers questions. She's nowhere near as vague in The Testaments. 3) Watch Sharp Objects - Read The Sundown Mote...

Unhappy with her life as a reporter stuck on the lifestyle desk, Loretta McLaughlin (Keira Knightley) asks for an assignment to follow a series of murders in 1960's Boston. She's the first reporter to connect the dots and broke the story of the Boston Strangler. Along with her coworker, Jean Cole (Carrie Coon) they continue to cover the story despite the rampant sexism thrown their way. Hulu, man. Just when I think I'm out they pull me back in. Truthfully I'm surprised this film went straight to Hulu but I'm happy for it because it's nice to get a quality film without having to leave my house occasionally. I love movies about reporters and while this one might not be to the level of Spotlight or All The President's Men, it's a perfectly watchable film. It's a very brisk film clocking in at under two hours. We get right into it with Loretta and follow her from clue to clue, story to story. The film spares us for the most part of gratuitous violence....

  What I knew going in: Nothing! Arati (Madhavi Mukherjee) is a housewife in 1960's Calcutta. When her husband's job isn't bringing in enough for them to survive, she takes a job as a sales woman and befriends an Anglo-Indian, Edith (Vicky Redwood) who gives her a different outlook on life.  I'm fairly sure I added this film to my Blind Spot List after someone else blogged about it too. When I sat down to watch this today, I really went in blind. It's been so long since I've read anything about it and what a surprise.  We love a feminist film, and watching Arati come into her own was satisfying. She is such a fully realized character. Strong, smart, a little shy, but as soon as she's given the freedom she needs, she soars. Even though her family isn't thrilled about her new job, she does her best and what more could we ask for? The film does slow down a bit when it's not focused on Arati, but those scenes are few and far between. I was really blown a...

Alice (Anna Kendrick) is in an abusive relationship that she does her best to hide. She finds herself in an unintentional intervention about this when she goes on a birthday trip with her two close friends, Tess (Kaniehtiio Horn) and Sophie. (Wummi Mosaku) Watching this on International Women's Day was fitting. I love female friendships, and the ones in this film felt so real. Alice being in her situation is not an easy person to be around before she admits to what is really bothering her. Sophie is understanding, Tess is annoyed, but it's also Tess who ends up getting these feelings out of her. I just loved the way these three women came together to work through Alice's trauma. It never once felt inauthentic.  Anna Kendrick has spoken about her own experience being in an emotionally abuse relationship and that's why this role spoke to her. I can imagine it wasn't easy for her to act out Alice's panic attacks, her hair pulling, her overall anxiety, but Kendrick ...

Mills (Adam Driver) is a pilot who takes a 2 year drop transporting passengers to another far away planet in order to pay for his daughter's (Chloe Coleman) treatment. When an asteroid hits his ship, he crash lands on Earth, a mysterious planet to him with one surviving passenger, Koa. (Ariana Greenblant) They realize quickly they're not alone. Adam Driver being a hot dad and fighting dinosaurs was all that was needed to get my ass in a theater seat on opening weekend. I expected nothing more than to gawk and be entertained, and I was! This type of movie doesn't require high expectations.  I appreciate how creepy the dinosaurs in this looked. The film is heavy on jump scares, which they didn't need but at a brisk 93 minutes the film never slows down. The mission is simple, and they keep moving forward. I was legitimately tense at times for what they were going through. Driver is great, obviously. There's a bit of humor involved here which was fun to see him get into...

Movie's biggest night is upon us! Jimmy Kimmel hosted and did a decent job despite wasting our time with some segments. They showed all 24 nominees on TV which was a plus after that mess last year. They also had all 5 Best Song performances (more on that below) The In Memoriam ended with a QR code to scan to see more dead people, which was tacky as fuck. Also, Charlbi Dean didn't make the televised memoriam, despite being the lead actress in Triangle of Sadness, which was yet another choice.  I went 16/24 with my picks! Below is a list of winners + my thoughts.  Best Picture All Quiet on the Western Front Avatar: The Way of Water The Banshees of Inisherin Elvis Everything Everywhere All At Once The Fabelmans TÁR Top Gun: Maverick Triangle of Sadness Women Talking They did it! For a while people on Film Twitter were worried about an All Quiet upset. While it's not my favorite film of the nominees, it's a very cool win and I'm so happy for it.  Best Director Martin Mc...

This week's theme from Wandering Through the Shelves is not just about movies, but about books that could go along with them. No necessarily the books the film is based on, but just ones similar in tone. This one is tough, honestly! But I enjoy a challenge. Here's what I came up with. 1) Watch: The Girl with All The Gifts. Read: Station Eleven - Both Station Eleven and TGWATG originated as novels, then got the TV treatment (TGWATG in movie form, while Station Eleven got an HBO mini series) They're both post-apolcalyptic stories around young women and fit well together. 2) Watch: A Silent Voice. Read: Blubber -   The Silent Voice is a very heart-wrenching film about childhood bullying and forgiveness and Blubber is about a girl who stands by as bulling is happening. They're different in tone, but they continue the subject on how you should treat people and stand up when you see bad things like this happening. I think they work well together. 3) Watch: Smile. Read: Horn...

Peter (Hugh Jackman) is a busy man with a new baby with wife Beth. (Vanessa Kirby) His ex wife, Kate (Laura Dern) shows up one day to inform Peter that their son Nicholas (Zen McGrath) is really struggling with depression. Now he insists on living with Peter, who now has to find a way to take care of his son and intrigrate him into his new life.  Remember when everyone was predicting Hugh Jackman would get an Oscar nomination for this performance before it came out? How could they not? It's Florian Zeller's follow up to the esteemed The Father. After watching this, it's hard to believe they come from the same director. Everything about this film aside from Vanessa Kirby bothered me. Beth is innocent, and did not deserve to be questioned as much as she did. She is the only one that isn't completely stupid or cringe-worthy. Peter says he wants to help Nicholas, but lacks the fundamental understanding of depression and teenagers in general to be of any use. Kate behaves i...

The Oscars are a week away! Now is the time to share my official picks. My only hope at this point is hopefully I don't bomb as hard as I did during the SAGs. Below are the nominees, who I think will win and in some cases, who should win instead. Best Picture All Quiet on the Western Front Avatar: The Way of Water The Banshees of Inisherin Elvis Everything Everywhere All At Once The Fabelmans TÁR Top Gun: Maverick Triangle of Sadness Women Talking Who will win: Everything Everywhere All At Once Who should win: The Banshees of Inisherin Look, EEAAO is a good movie and I will be pleased as punch when an oddball sci fi film like this takes the top price, but for me personally I think Banshees is the best film here.  Best Director Martin McDonagh – The Banshees of Inisherin Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert – Everything Everywhere All At Once Todd Field – TÁR Steven Spielberg – The Fabelmans Ruben Ostlund – Triangle of Sadness Who will win: The Daniels Who should win: Martin McDonagh ...

When bags of cocaine are thrown out of a plane and littered around a forest in Georgia, a bear happens upon them and develops an addiction, all while taking out several groups of people in the forest.  There are several different groups of people that make up this film, but I'd spend 1000 words explaining who all of them are and this movie isn't worth that. I admit I was pretty hyped about this. It looked outrageous and fun in a way I was hoping Violent Night would be, but I should've learned my lesson because this somehow ended up being worse. The lone laugh in my theater wasn't even about the bear. It was about someone accidentally getting two fingers that aren't even next to each other shot off at once.  I loved that Elizabeth Banks would direct something like this but after watching her directing, maybe it's not for her. The way this film is shot and edited was very distracting. There's so many cuts when people are having a simple conversation. It's...

February meant starting a few new shows that I've been meaning to get to for ages. Here's what I was watching on the small screen this month.  The Last of Us - This show is just SO good. Even the episodes that I'd deem the "worst" are still far and above many shows I've watched previously. This show gets you to care about everyone before they are brutally ripped away from you. And I want Joel and Ellie so badly to just settle down and be safe in a community but alas, I know how the game goes, and that won't happen. There's 2 episodes left as I'm writing this, and I'm not ready. Abbott Elementary - Sitcoms are hard for me to get into. Especially network ones, but Abbott is the best sitcom I've seen in years. The cast is excellent, I legitimately laugh. I just adore this so much. I'm glad I finally started watching it. Black Bird  - I finished up Black Bird on Apple TV and this was a very solid mini series. 6 episodes, great performanc...