No sports, no gigs, no hangs. What am I going to do?
What has anyone done? I’ve been watching movies… a lot of movies. I started keeping track in late May. Here’s the list:
- Spelling the Dream
- Back to the Future
- Back to the Future 2
- The Dark Knight Rises
- Batman v Superman
- The Peanut Butter Falcon
- BlacKKKlansman
- Oceans 12
- The Invisible Man (2020)
- The King of Staton Island
- Ladybird
- The Thing (1982)
- Vice
- Doctor Sleep
- The Lodge
- The Way Back
- Funny People
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
- Searching for Sugar Man
- Child’s Play (2019)
- Parasite
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
- Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
- Glass
- Groundhog Day
- The Illusionist
- The Patriot
- Da 5 Bloods
- Casino Royale
- Hamilton
- The Vast of Night
- Call Me By Your Name
- War Dogs
- Bad Education
- Green Lantern
- Swingers
- Palm Springs
- The Perfect Storm
- Desperados
- Everybody Wants Some
- Star Wars: Last Jedi
(Exhale.) A lot to process. A lot of lonely nights right there. No that’s not true, I’ve watched (parts of) a fair share of these with my wife and we’ve had great times. We saw Call Me By Your Name for the first time last month in the Taos Ski Valley.
It was delightful! What a charming movie. Man, the ending…can you name a better credit sequence? That said, Timmy’s conversation with his Father—woah boy. That was the whole movie right there. Masterful writing and acting!
We saw Hamilton together—which really feels like it’s in a league of its own on this list—and had a magical experience. We did BlacKKKlansman one date night. Not sure if it was fully cooked? Though JDW feels like a superstar. I am sad he isn’t getting his chance to blow up this Summer in Tenet.
Palm Springs was another recent date night—we loved it! I love things that don’t try to take on too much, but rather commit to a contained and sharply executed vision, this felt like that. Last week we drove from Taos back to Austin, pretty rough day tbh, but I found myself eating pizza and finishing The Last Jedi with my wife at like 1AM. That was pretty cool.
But yeah, I lot of this was me making a snack, unfolding the quilt, and pressing play. A few of these I’d never seen: Spelling the Dream, The Peanut Butter Falcon, The Thing. A few just came out: The King of Staten Island, Bad Education, Da 5 Bloods.
Some I loved and wanted to revisit: Ladybird, Everybody Wants Some, Oceans 12. Some I watched because I’d already rewatched the entire MCU during the Tiger King period of COVID…so: Green Lantern, Batman v Superman. And yeah, that’s the list. As you’ll find as this site grows, I love rankings and I love lists. So without further to do, here’s my top 10:
- Hamilton
- Parasite
- Searching for Sugar Man
- Ladybird
- Groundhog Day
- Everybody Wants Some
- Back to the Future
- The Thing
- Casino Royale
- Call Me By Your Name
As I said, I think Hamilton stands in a league of its own. I mean you can put it against any artistic feat in history, right? If I give you The David or Hamilton. What are you taking?
Parasite, yeah it was fantastic. You’re right. Not sure it should have won Best Picture…I think I was slightly, by an inch, a Once Upon a Time in Hollywood guy. But you know, not the way I was an Arrival guy back in 2017 (curse you Shape of Water!!!!). Man, that montage at the end when the son dreams of buying the house and the father just walking out from the basement…Beautiful. Totally gorgeous. Reminded me of the montage at the end of La La Land; another just incredible cinematic vignette.
Searching for Sugar Man, my roommate told me to watch it seven years ago. My bandmate told me to watch it seven weeks ago. Finally did. Yup, they were right. That was awesome. Gorgeous music! I can’t believe he was alive! When he finally went over to South Africa, that was the sort of inspirational, international story that hit damn hard right now during COVID.
Ladybird is just (I just stopped typing to slow clap in my apartment), it’s terrific. What a debut Greta! Wow. You really have “it.” Also, my wife is from Sac and went to High School with Greta, which makes it particularly personal and special.
We just listened to a podcast with Greta and she said that when she asked Timothee to be in it he said he wasn’t “handsome enough for the part.” Lol. Also back in high school my boy Jas would sing “Crash Into Me” with our school’s acapella group and look directly at and sing to his high school girlfriend and it was something else.
Groundhog Day (rewatch), Back to the Future (maybe rewatch?), and The Thing (first viewing), all just super solid. I couldn’t believe how good The Thing was. The practical effects… totally over the top, total kick-ass fun! Also as someone who really identified who Kurt Russell was through the lens of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, seeing young, hot, brooding Kurt was kinda dope. Groundhog Day legit holds up as a masterpiece. And Back to the Future, maybe less like a masterpiece, but fuck yea! Let’s go!
Everybody Wants Some, I mean yeah. I sure want some! Felt very white. God bless the actor who played Dale. I’d be curious to ask him about his experience. That said, give me a movie with a better hang? Give me a movie that more makes you feel part of the crew, and man, what a killer crew! Finn has an open-ended invite into my closest circle of friends.
I think the first hour was better than the second. I know Linklater wanted to slow it down and focus on the key elements—the scrimmage and the love interest—but man, that first hour when it’s just party-cowboy club-knuckles-punk club-ping pong-boom—boom—boom. Yes! Hell yes!
