In an attempt to stick to our movie-related New Years resolutions, Jess and I plan to keep a weekly record of our progress towards our goal. See if we hit our goal this week and what movies we watched. You can also check out our initial resolutions post here.
My big goal this year is to watch three types of movies a week:
- 1 New Movie (anything that has come out in the last 3-4 months)
- 1 Movie From My Netflix Queue (it has to be from the list I cemented in stone at the beginning of 2014 to count)
- 1 Movie I’ve Been Meaning to Rewatch
Lets take a look at what was watched this past week.
New Movies:
- Digging For Fire – As per our three year in a row tradition at this point, Joe Swanberg’s latest Digging For Fire was our Maryland Film Fest pick. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see anything else as I scheduled a weekend trip away before realizing it overlapped, but I was happy to at least see something. It was an enjoyable (and many times awkward) watch, especially watching Jake Johnson’s shenanigans. Just like Happy Christmas, it’s nice in the moment but doesn’t necessarily resonate much longer, unlike one of my favorite 2013 movies, Drinking Buddies. Still Joe Swanberg is definitely someone who I’ll keep watching and still want to dig into his older work.
- Mad Max: Fury Road – Lindsay summed up all my feelings in her review. Long story short, easily my favorite movie so far this year. It’s glorious.
Re-watched:
- Marie Antoinette – Re-watched in preperation for a post in honor of Sofia CoppolMay so I won’t elaborate too much, but I do really like this movie. There’s certainly flaws, but overall there is much more that I appreciate.
- She’s The Man – Certainly a very light-hearted rewatch. On the aforementioned trip I was looking for something to watch in the late evening and this seemed like the perfect choice on the sleepy evening. I haven’t watched it since Amanda Bynes’s unfortunate issues, but it really just bummed me out further that someone with so much potential ended up in such a bad place. Sure this movie is incredibly silly but it makes me laugh, and that’s due to Bynes’s comedic skills. Plus it was the movie that introduced me to the delightful treat that is Channing Tatum.
Off the Queue:
- The Hole – As far as clearing out the queue, this one goes way back. It’s one of the movies that’s been on my queue the longest, and for no real reason. I never hear anyone talk about it and it’s never been recommended. It just seemed like that late 90’s, early 00’s teen thriller that would appeal to me. I probably saw Thora Birch and a very young Kiera Knightley in the cast and added it to my queue, and there it sat for years. I actually found it to be really interesting, mostly because I had no idea where any of it was going. It caught me off gaurd a few times and there were a few really good scenes. Towards the end it got a little too corny, especially with some visuals, but I am glad I finally got around to it.
- And somehow I didn’t see a second movie off my queue. Probably because I started watching season 2 of The Fall. While it’s really good television, it doesn’t count for my resolutions. I will blame its cliffhangers for encouraging me to shirk my responsibilities though.
New Movies:
- Mad Max: Fury Road – I reviewed this HERE. It is insane in the best possible way. Seriously, like in a way you didn’t even know existed until after watching it.
- Iverson – First off, IMDB lists this movie as a 2012 release but it just appeared on Showtime this week so I’m going to count it. The doc dissects NBA legend Allen Iverson (a subject I knew absolutely nothing about prior) and looks at his rise and fall in basketball. It was a surprisingly interesting story that sheds light on how the media and public perception can affect an individual under scrutiny.
Re-watched:
- White Oleander – I literally haven’t seen this in over a decade (eek!) but the title of of the movie remains as provocative as it did my first go around. Unfortunately, the thrills stop there as the movie is one of those cable watches that will only appeal to the Lifetime crowd & my 13 year old self. Michelle Pfeiffer is stunningly beautiful though.
- Mimic – I have a special love for this goofy little creature feature from Guillermo del Toro. It’s silly but fun and boasts some above average visual flair.
Off the Queue:
- I did a piss poor job tackling my Netflix queue this week. I started two movies – The Girl Who Played With Fire and A Serious Man – but fell asleep during both. I will have to put in double effort in the following weeks to catch up.