Thursday Movie Picks: Muses

This week's theme from Wandering Through The Shelves is searching for some inspiration. We're talking about muses today. Is it just me or is there a shortage on movies with male muses? Every one I thought of was female. Here's what I came up with. 

1) Factory Girl

Sienna Miller gives a career best performance as Edie Sedgwick, who goes on to become Andy Warhol's muse with tragic results. 

2) Girl With A Pearl Earring

Greit becomes somewhat of a muse for painter Johannes Vermeer. While this film is a tad slow, there are great performances all around. Even Cillian Murphy in that awful wig. 

3) Phantom Thread 

Alma becomes a muse, and wife, and eventually something much stranger to Reynolds Woodcock. I didn't love this movie as much as Film Twitter did but I certainly laughed my ass off at a part that probably wasn't meant to be laughed at. 

Review: Midsommar

Join the festivities. 

Dani (Florence Pugh) has been going through a lot emotionally. Her boyfriend, Christian (Jack Raynor) wants to break up with her, but keeps putting it off. His friends are mostly assholes about it too. When they plan on going to Sweden for a festival, Christian reluctantly invites Dani along. Saying things get weird is an understatement.

Ari Aster has really made a name for himself in the past few years. His brand of horror is weird and very psychological. He's not just interested in gore, he's interested in emotions and this film is very in line with what he's done in the past.

Midsommar is the prettiest nightmare you'll ever see. Its full of flowers and sunlight. It never once gets dark and gloomy, even though the subject matter certainly calls for it. Florence Pugh gives an amazing performance. Dani suffers from panic attacks and the way they're portrayed here was so realistic. This is easily one of the best performances of the year so far. Pugh and Lupita Nyong'o for Us are currently the Best Actress queens. The rest of the cast is great. Jack Raynor and Will Poulter are always reliable as well.

The thing about this film - I loved it - but this isn't going to be something I'd recommend to everyone. I learned that after watching Hereditary. Nearly everyone in my blogging life loved that, but everyone I recommended it to in real life hated it. Midsommar is a lot like Hereditary. It's a bit like The Babbadok as well. If you didn't like either of those, I don't think you'll care for this. A lot happens off screen and there's a fair amount of ambiguity that I know doesn't work for everyone.

The things that happen off screen at times weaken it a bit. This film has a hefty run time, which you really don't feel when watching it but for how many minutes they have, I think had they wanted to delve more into horror, they could've shown a few more terrifying things. 

Recommended: Yes

Grade: A-

Memorable Quote: "Does he make you feel like home?" - Pelle (Vilhelm Blomgren)

Review: Spider-man: Far From Home

Back from the blip.

Peter Parker (Tom Holland) has had quite the year. He fought Thanos, died, came back, and fought Thanos again. Now he wants to have a relaxing summer on a science trip to Europe so he can hang out with Ned (Jacob Batalon) and tell MJ (Zendaya) how he really feels. Only Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Maria Hill (Colbie Smoulders) show up and hijack his vacation when strange things start happening.

Far From Home has the tough spot in following Avengers: Endgame and having to show the aftermath of Thanos' snap. They don't dwell on it, but they manage to show both the hilarious side, and the sad one with people being displaced. 

Holland continues to be my favorite live action Spider-man and he does a great job with all of Peter's emotions. He feels the tremendous pressure of no longer having a mentor in Tony Stark yet still just wants to do regular things like give the girl he likes a necklace. There's never too much Fury in a Marvel movie either, and I'm glad he plays a supporting role here.

Mild spoilers about the villain - I don't consider this a major spoiler because I think it's quite obvious what they're going to do, but the trailers show otherwise,  - I liked Jake Gyllenhaal's Mysterio. Gyllenhaal was really good and even though I can see some fans not being crazy about his reasoning, I like how they inserted it all.

One of the best things about this movie is the special effects. At first they seem strange because we see a lot of Peter flying around without his suit, but they do some really cool things later in the film that reminded me a bit of Into The Spider-verse and it looked amazing.

Far From Home has two very interesting credits scenes that are certainly going to shape the way the MCU moves forward and not just for Peter, so definitely don't miss those. I'm happy to say our Friendly Neighborhood Spider-man has yet to disappoint.

Recommended: Yes

Grade: B

Memorable Quote: "Yeah, it's math." - Betty (Angourie Rice)

Indie Gems: JT LeRoy

The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things

Savannah (Kristen Stewart) has just moved to San Francisco. She takes over an apartment owned by her brother, Geoff (Jim Sturgess) and sister-in-law, Laura. (Laura Dern) Laura wrote a best selling book under what she calls an "avatar", JT LeRoy, a young man who grew up in poverty and prostitution. She convinces Savannah to pose as JT in public, and the rest is history.

I first heard about JT LeRoy around 2006-2007 when I happened upon a movie based on his book - The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things. Asia Argento starred and directed (Diane Kruger plays a version of her in this film) and actors like Jeremy Renner, Ben Foster and the Sprouse twins were in it. It was very disturbing, and also very different from films I had been watching at the time. It grabbed my interest, so I read JT's novels along with it. Of course a quick Google search showed that JT wasn't a real person but the audacity of his hoax was just fascinating to me. 

There's already been a documentary on this hoax from Laura's perspective, plus many interviews, so I was excited to see that this was being adapted from Savannah Knoop's memoir, Girl Boy Girl. (Which I also read and enjoyed) and her side of things is a breath of fresh air in the LeRoy drama.

Kristen Stewart and Laura Dern are so perfectly cast that I can barely comprehend it. They were perfect incarnations of Savannah and Laura. Laura's manipulation of Savannah is so clear, as is her own temptation with living in the lime light. It covers nearly all of the big beats of her memoir. Unfortunately this film is so fast paced that it feels rushed.

If you've ever followed the JT Hoax, this is a must see for you, and even if you haven't, I think this would be an enjoyable nonetheless.

Grade: B+

Watched on: Netflix DVD

Memorable Quote: "Art is fucking eerie, man." - Laura (Laura Dern)

What I Watched on TV in June

June FLEW by. A lot went on for me personally in this month so it felt a bit chaotic but I still had my down time to watch some TV. Here's what was keeping me busy on the small screen in June.

Attack on Titan

Season 3 came to a very beautiful end and it is announced that S4 will be its last. There's quite a bit of Manga left so I'm hoping there's plenty of episodes to fit that all in. And hopefully the guy running things is reigned in a bit because we don't needed forced Eren/Mikasa in every episode. (Seriously, the worst ship)

Big Little Lies

Season 2 has been great so far. The biggest surprise for me has been Adam Scott. Not that I'm surprised he can act, I knew that, but they gave him great material. You can tell Reese is gunning for that Emmy this year. Meryl Streep's Mary Louise is the worst character I've seen in a long time. I hope she gets tossed down the steps at the end of this season.

Euphoria

Euphoria has been a big surprise. I wasn't sure how much I could enjoy a show following teens as I feel so removed from it nowadays but Zendaya is outstanding. The drama surrounding these kids is mostly very interesting and I appreciate how the show is choosing to show a ton of dick instead of the usual female nudity. The dick pic power point in episode 3 was hysterical.

Legion

I've only watched the first episode of the 3rd and final season and as always, I'm confused. We basically followed a new character around for the majority of it. I'm not sure why I continue to watch this to be honest, they're almost too weird for their own good.

Thursday Movie Picks: Parenting

This week's theme from Wandering Through The Shelves is about parenting. Everyone participating this week that is a parent is going to tell you how hard it is, because that's true. Parenting is fucking hard, and you will never believe how much you can worry over someone else, but it's so rewarding. Even if it turns you into an emotional mess. Of course since I'm me, I'm bringing you some depressing parenting movies that I enjoy.

1) Infinitely Polar Bear

So this one isn't completely depressing, but it is completely underrated. Mark Ruffalo plays a depressed man trying to take care of his two daughters while his wife is away at school. I adore it.

2) The Broken Circle Breakdown

Aside from one terribly misplaced scene, this is a very solid story about two people who start a whirlwind relationship, have a child, then struggle to deal with that child getting cancer. It manages to feel a bit different from your usual sick kid movie. 

3) We Need To Talk About Kevin

I read this book right after I had my son and I swear I gave him so many extra snuggles because of it. A great book translated into a great film, and Tilda Swinton and Ezra Miller should've had Oscar nominations for it.

Review: Yesterday

Take a sad song and make it better.

Jack Malick (Himesh Patel) is a singer/songwriter in England trying to make it big while working part time at a warehouse. He's encouraged by his friend and manager, Ellie. (Lily James) One evening, the entire world loses power for 12 seconds, and at that exact moment, Jack is riding his bike and is hit by a bus. When he wakes up following the accident, he realizes that no one else but him remembers The Beatles (among other things) so he takes the opportunity to pass off their songs as his own.

Danny Boyle is one of my favorite directors so I make a point of seeing everything he makes. On top of loving The Beatles, I thought the concept of this film was really interesting. The best thing about this film is Malick and James together. They have absolutely wonderful chemistry and their characters felt the most genuine when they were playing opposite of each other. Unfortunately for them, and Alexander Arnold who plays Gavin, the person who records Jack's first album, everyone else is terrible.

It's extraordinary how much the comedy in this film misses. The two biggest sources of "comedy relief" are meant to be Rocky, (Joel Fry) Jack's stoner friend/assistant. Debra, (Kate McKinnon) the money hungry executive, and to a lesser extend, Jack's parents. Every joke they give goes on far too long to the point where it becomes excruciating to sit though. McKinnon, who I think is one of the funniest people to come from SNL in a long time is spectacularly over the top. She plays Debra like a bad parody, only when no one else is taking that approach it makes her stick out like a sore thumb. 

I had read some early reviews where critics had issues with the world building, which didn't bother me. The scenes of Jack figuring out things like Coca Cola and Oasis don't exist were the only good laughs of the film, though the big "twist" - and I use that term loosely - is bound to rub some people the wrong way.

I never expected to be this annoyed over this film, and it's a shame because I loved James and Malick in it. They deserved a better supporting cast and script that matched their efforts.

Recommended: No

Grade: C

Memorable Quote: "Like Benedict Cumberbatch becoming a sex symbol?" - Ellie (Lily James)