Weeks 30-44 of 2023
Killers of the Flower Boo, and other Halloween Tales
Grief is a hell of thing. A dear friend died suddenly in August and I was thrust into the gloom and darkness of funeral planning amid a terrible loss. And then I started a very intense rehearsal process for a show, which despite its content (death, suicide, alcoholism, etc), brought me a lot of joy. Busy joy. And then my dear aunt died suddenly and I was thrust into the gloom and darkness of funeral planning amid a terrible loss. So needless to say, my brain has been everywhere but in my head.
The last thing I’ve wanted to do while grieving is watch anything substantial. Especially something new. I just cannot retain any information or develop any critical responses, and for the most part, I don’t think that’s fair to the movies!! But I’ve been out there, still watching and waiting and rating.
Before I forget: Household Spirits runs for two more weekends in Chicago! Buy your tickets HERE and read the reviews HERE.
WHAT I'VE BEEN WATCHING
~ not a first time watch
* a theater watch
213) WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS~ (2014)
What a joy to revisit this delightful film! Silly and scrappy, but still a surprisingly put together film. Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement are great here as the directors, actors, and overall helm-ers of this whole endeavor. There's a great quality of improvisation, but the film never gets away from itself. What an exciting job. Love all the weird little encounters they have. A great time.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Source: Hulu
214) SECRET INVASION: SEASON ONE (2023)
Not a lot happening here. Some fun people. Overall, so medium. The thrill is pretty gone.
⭐️.5
Source: Disney+
215) HAUNTED MANSION* (2023)
Fine! A meh spooky little summer release. Probably more fun in the fall, probably more fun with a better script, but sure why not. My favorite Disney ride to have multiple movies made about it.
⭐️⭐️
Source: Regal Theater
216) TAXI (2004)
Not me trying to watch Taxi Driver and just settling for this instead. Honestly...not the worst. I was surprised how much I didn't hate it. Queen Latifah deserved 200 more movies to lead that were better than this one. Thank zod the Jimmy Fallon actor era is over.
⭐️⭐️.25
Source: Max
217) TAXI DRIVER~ (1976)
Pretty good movie. I’ll admit, every time I gear up to watch it, I anticipate that it’s going to be some kind of a chore. Some kind of a Very Prestigious Movie chore, but nope it’s an absolutely fantastic film. Scorsese . What a guy!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Source: ☠️
218) MARRIED TO THE MOB~ (1988)
I love this movie so much. I think it's so funny and so romantic. Michelle Pfeiffer looks incredible, big surprise. Dean Stockwell and Mercedes Ruehl are incredible supporting players in this. Matthew Modine is the brave nerd of my dreams (JK it's obviously Rick Moranis in My Blue Heaven). I love every inch of this movie, especially the soundtrack.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Source: ☠️
219) SPY KIDS~ (2001)
It's been a crazy month, so I'm going back in time! I watched this with a huge group of kids on the last day of camp. They loved it! So much so, that when the DVD froze RIGHT before the final climatic battle, they're was nearly a riot. I told them that sadly the thumbs kill the family, it's a very sad movie.
But seriously this movie absolutely rules? Antonio Banderas is terribly hot.
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Source: some broken old DVD
220) ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN~ (1976)
This was a weird movie to watch in the midst of extreme grief. It's been one of my favorite movies for decades, so I wasn't engaging with it the first time. It's such a great feat of film. A lot of lightning in the bottle kind of alchemy, especially with Redford and Hoffman. It's an incredible screenplay by William Goldman (and only William Goldman lol), 2/12 Angry Men, and the immediacy of it. Truly impressed how quickly this was put together in the wake of Watergate. Alan Pakula never misses? On this watch, thought about the absence of women in the newsroom meetings, but that women are key informants to drive the plot forward. Robert Redford, what a specimen.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Source: Amazon (purchased)
221) THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR~ (1975)
Look sometimes we need to watch a couple of our hottest people kiss. This movie is so much more than just that but heck yeah it's definitely that too. Redford looking his hottest here, Faye Dunaway in my favorite performance of hers, Max van Sydow being a mysterious, layered creep! This movie lights the fuse very early on, and it's a sprint all the way through. The thriller part and the romance(?) part are so roughly intertwined and I love it.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Source: MGM+
222) BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID~ (1969)
The Redfordaissance continues. Good goddamn, this is a magnificent motion picture. It's so funny and sweaty and what a picture about eras ending. Paul Newman mega wattage star power, it's really off the charts. Some of my favorite musical moments in film. Katherine Ross secretly keeps the film afloat??? It feels great to watch this movie. #woodcock
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Source: DVD
223) THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER* (2023)
Dracula! He's on a boat! This was just okay, I wish it had been better. I wish I didn't know that it was Dracula going in, what a reveal that would've been. Corey Hawkins continues to be my stealth favorite. Dracula was pretty scary, hate that guy. The soundtrack was great, some real bum bum bums.
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Source: Regal Theater
224) NETWORK~ (1976)
A hell of a picture! This was the final film in our 1976 session of Is This Film Club? - what a fun summer project! This movie is so unsettling and modern and melancholy. It doesn't go down easy, it's too spiky. But oof am I in the mood for some cynicism. William Holden is the MVP for me here, one of my favorite actors of all time. But Peter Finch really explodes. Faye Dunaway is icy but accessible and Robert Duvall holds it down. Sidney Lumet, truly one of our absolute greatest filmmakers.
⭐️⭐️⭐️.75
Source: Amazon Prime (rented)
225) COP LAND (1997)
Dudes rock. Favorite guy after favorite guy just having a hard time dealing with their emotions. Robert Patrick is the MVP here. Would've loved more De Niro, bit who wouldn't??? Harvey Keitel is peak dirtbag here, what a smooth sonuvavitch. Ray Liotta, what a treasure. Ugh, he didn't have a much acclaim as he deserved. Can we talk about how much I love James Mangold? This, Kate & Leopold, Ford vs Ferrari, Logan? I love him.
⭐️⭐️⭐️.25
Source: Chicago Public Library
226) WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS: SEASONS 1-5~ (2019- Present)
Sometimes you have to fully rewatch the show you just binge watched weeks ago. This was a great comfort/grief watch. Nandor & Guillermo 4ever and ever and ever. Matt Berry is an international treasure. Natasia Demetriou is so funny and I love her whole thing. One of my favorite things going on in the world.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Source: Hulu
227) TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES (2014)
Let's go girls. This movie is eh. I needed to turn my brain off and be a blob, so that was great. I don't fermenter a thing about anything that happened. Exactly what I wanted.
⭐️⭐️.5
Source: MGM+
228) TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS (2016)
Some very disgusting Krang-based imagery here. Truly vile. I'm sick! Glad Will Arnett got some money. No hotter Casey Jones than Elias Koteas, am I right?
⭐️⭐️
Source: MGM+
229) BATMAN~ (1989)
Yes girrrrl get it! This was a great, comforting watch. Nicholson is just incredible. Mark Hamill is MY Joker but this performance absolutely lives up to the hype. Tim Burton, you beautiful bastard (let's not talk about the last 20 years). Michael Keaton is such a great unpredictable Batman, what an absolutely inspired choice. Let's watch it again right now? Prince 4ever
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Source: Max
230) PRIDE & PREJUDICE~ (1995)
Just amazing. So much gazing at each other. Colin Firth knows how to LOOK at a woman. I live Jennifer Ehle's Elizabeth, I love it all so much. I could watch 58 hours of this. It really hits the nostalgia buttons and Mr. Darcy really hits all the other buttons. Bingley 4ever!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Source: DVD
231) KEY LARGO*~ (1948)
This movie rules. It's so sweaty and mildewy and Humphrey Bogart is very dashing. My all time favorite performance in this one is Claire Trevor. What a killer sad drunk. I absolutely loved seeing this in a packed house at the Music Box, surrounded by people who had never seen it.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Source: Music Box Theatre
232) JURASSIC PARK*~ (1993)
This exquisite movie back in theaters AND in 3D? Incredible stuff. Y'all I got SCARED. Those dinosaurs, while not to blame, are goddamn scary. Maturing as a woman is shifting your crush from Ian Malcolm to Alan Grant. Laura Dern MVP. Steven Spielberg, he really knows how to do it, huh?
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Source Regal Theater
233) 65 (2023)
They told me I'd see Adam Driver fighting dinosaurs and by golly that's what I saw. Could've seen more dino fighting, if I'm honest. But one of our greatest weirdo actors needs to pay the bills and hey why not. Very medium chomps, but not bad chomps. Very few stomps. 90 minutes!
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Source: Netflix
234) LAGUNA BEACH: SEASONS 1-2~ (2004-2006)
A great, vapid grief watch. I watched this show religiously my senior year of high school and it's so proto-reality show, so lame, but I'm like omg will Steven and LC miss in Cabo???? Turn your brain off, slip into a mushy coma.
⭐️.5
Source: Hulu
235) AIR~ (2023)
Lots of lingering mixed feelings about celebrating the capitalistic successes of corporations, but okay this is a good movie. My man Ben does double duty as director and actor. The Matt Damon fat jokes are unconscionable xoxo. Viola Davis is the absolute boss. A completely boring movie without her.
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Source: Amazon Prime
236) THIS IS THE END~ (2013)
Not as funny as I remembered, mostly because of the dudes involved. Seth Rogen great. Jay Baruchel the best. Craig Robinson absolutely. Danny McBride in small doses. Pre Trump, pre covid apocalyptic prediction. Medium holds up.
⭐️⭐️.5
Source: Netflix
237) THE THIRD MAN~
Absofuckinglutely. This movie is the best and I adore it. I had a bunch of cool gals over to watch this and we rocked out to the zither music and cheered at that very last moment because fuck you Joseph Cotten! Not really but Holly Martins, you're a fuckboy. Orson Welles hot. Take me to Vienna.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Source: Criterionnnnnnn DVD
PS Yes I bought the soundtrack on vinyl after this xoxo
238) SUNSET BOULEVARD~ (1950)
A fabulous motion picture. Gloria Swanson 100%. She just kills it. So glamorously unglamorous. William Holden is cynical and dry to the bone here. Billy Wilder once again proves himself my absolute favorite. I can't believe that 70 years ago we were like oh the movie business is changing and so different and time gone by and today we're feeling that way all over again. A magnificent film.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Source: DVD
239) STALAG 17~ (1953)
Y'all it's so good. Yes, it's a POW camp comedy, but I wouldn't even classify it as a straight up comedy. The stakes are high. I live the ensemble, a true smorgasbord of character actors. Some great performances, with Bill Holden really holdin' it down (dumb). This has been one of my favorite movies for my whole life and I love revisiting it. There is a lot of joy and silliness, but so much pain and sadness too. Is this my favorite Billy Wilder? Perhaps.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Source: DVD
240) TILL (2022)
It's really criminal that Danielle Deadwyler did not win an Oscar for this performance. This movie is quite difficult to watch, but it's so important, especially now as people keep trying to pass laws that encourage white people to look away from history. A strong portrait of an extraordinary woman, who never asked to be extraordinary.
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Source: Amazon Prime
241) THE WOMAN WHO WASN'T THERE~
This documentary is so insane, I can't believe it's so short. I have seen this a bunch of times at this point and I just can't quite understand the motivations here. I mean, I can. But it's the audacity! And a story only possible in the early days of the internet. A really interesting and sick record of our need to belong.
⭐️⭐️⭐️.25
Source: Amazon Prime
242) DEAR ZACHARY: A Letter to a Son About His Father~ (2008)
I was feeling particularly grief-y and decided to revisit this absolutely devastating documentary. Take care of your heart work this one, it's very intense. But it's also made with such love and affection that it almost feels more like a video diary than a doc. But it's extremely effective storytelling.
⭐️⭐️⭐️.75
Source: Amazon Prime
243) THE HILLS: SEASON 1-6 (2006-2010)
My brain is so smooth! In deep grief, I started watching this nonsense and it helped me turn off the sad parts of my brain into neutral. Whitney 4ever. All the men on this show are absolute garbage juice. Spen*er Pr*tt should jump into a pit of thornbushes and stay there. But yeah I was grateful to be a dumb dumb for a while.
⭐️⭐️
Source: Hulu
244) PRIDE & PREJUDICE~ (2005)
A seminal text. An invigorating experience. A film that ruined me, in terms of romantic expectations. You're telling me that real life isn't shot like a Joe Wright film? Sick. It's a gorgeous movie, a wonderful adaptation. Keira Knightley knocks it out of the park and Tom Wambsgams can GET IT. Like SIR. Woo! Did you know that 3/5 of the Bennet sisters are Oscar-nominated? And one of them was married to Elon Musk? Fun facts everywhere. Everyone in the cast is perfect, even bobo Orlando Bloom Wickham. Hand flex tho.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Source: Netflix
245) PERSUASION (2022)
I regret to inform everyone that I really liked this. It's quite silly, worth lots of very #cool modern references. Dakota Johnson is fine, the Wentworth is fine, it's fine. It's no BBC P&P but it's serviceable.
⭐️⭐️.5
Source: Netflix
246) DRUNK HISTORY: SEASONS 1-3 (2013-2015)
A mid-10s gem. I found it very relaxing to watch this silly even if sometimes predictable show. Jack Black always the MVP.
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Source: Hulu
247) LOST IN AUSTEN (2008)
Little mini-Austen marathon concluded. This was maybe too much for me? It just gave me a headache trying to re-reimagine the P&P narrative. Pass!
⭐️⭐️
Source: Amazon Prime
248) FREQUENCY~ (2000)
Best movie ever. Okay no, not by a long shot. But this one has nostalgically buried itself so deep in my heart, I love it so much. I needed to cry out my feelings recently and I knew this one would turn on the valves. Michael Cera jump scare! Yahoo being a life-changing business investment! Captain Holt of the 9-9! My favorite time jumping murder mystery crime procedural father son drama.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Source: DVD
249) SAVIOR COMPLEX: SEASON 1 (2023)
Whew! Boy oh boy do I hate Christianity! Some real sick shit here that really hurt my heart. A great docu-series though. This woman should be in prison xoxo
⭐️⭐️⭐️.25
Source: Max
250) THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS 2 (2019)
In my quest to watch every movie that Harrison Ford has ever been in, I watched this too. If you are a child, sure. As an adult, I only liked the Harrison Ford as a stoic farm dog parts.
⭐️.5
Source: Chicago Public Library
251) SNAKES ON A PLANE~ (2006)
Sometimes I want to look at my phone.
⭐️.25
Source: who knows
252) BETRAYAL: THE PERFECT HUSBAND (2023)
Meh this was only okay. Docu-series based on a podcast, both by the direct victim. So it's just all very personal and not very nuanced. I mean obviously this man should be publicly flogged, but just not that compelling of a documentary.
⭐️⭐️
Source: Max
253) PET SEMATARY (1989)
Holy shiiiiit this movie was wild. Definitely not what I expected! Herman Munster I love you! That road does seem really scary. This movie got fucking disgusting real fast. Some very wild, borderline bad movie stuff here, but generally a good time.
⭐️⭐️⭐️.25
Source: Max
254) FRIDAY THE 13TH~ (1980)
A fun romp. Appropriately spooky. Kevin Bacon. A classically fabulous ending. This one legitimately scares me. Happy Belated Friday the 13th!
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Source: Max
255) FRIDAY THE 13TH: PART 2 (1981)
Not a bad retread of the original. And we get the man himself. The ending was very funny to me. There's a formula and they stick to it!
⭐️⭐️.5
Source: Max
256) FRIDAY THE 13TH: PART 3 (1982)
I chanted HOCKEY MASK HOCKEY MASK as soon as it popped up. So obviously bad 3D lol. All of these people are so interchangeable that I was like yeah sure go ahead. Really rooting for Jason in this one!
⭐️⭐️.75
Source: Max
257) FRIDAY THE 13TH: THE FINAL CHAPTER (1984) - Utterly incomprehensible! I had to look up the plot of the movie during and after! Corey Feldman, no! Crispin Glover, eek! I couldn't with this one. I just couldn't.
.5
Source: Max
258) FRIDAY THE 13TH: PART 5 (1985)
Okay if I thought 4 was incomprehensible! I was practically yelling at the TV to SHOW ME JASON SHOW ME JASON. Very Scooby-Doo over here. Very unwoke but I too would like to go to a loony bin in the woods, just without all the murder.
⭐️⭐️
Source: Max
259) FRIDAY THE 13TH PART VI: JASON LIVES (1986)
Let's fucking go. Dumb! This is where the whole series turned a corner into a cuckoo land that I kinda liked. So much inexplicable dumb stuff here, the How Did This Get Made episode is exquisite. Tony Goldwyn!
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Source: Max
260) FRIDAY THE 13TH PART VII: THE NEW BLOOD (1988)
Haha okay I really liked this in a what the absolute fuck way. Carrie meets Jason, for kinda no reason? Would not be able to pick any of these actors out of a lineup.
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Source: Max
261) FRIDAY THE 13TH PART VIII: JASON TAKES MANHATTAN (1989)
False advertising! This is Jason on a boat! He shows up in New York for like 8 seconds. But I absolutely love that "toxic waste" is a big plot point. Really speaks to my Captain Planet-era childhood. Mid, as they say.
⭐️⭐️
Source: Max
262) JASON GOES TO HELL: THE FINAL FRIDAY (1993)
Hahaha this one is very stoopid. And super disgusting. Fucking worm ass sludgy Jason. Very Lifeforce, but it's Jason! He really does go to hell. Was very nervous for that fucking baby.
⭐️⭐️.25
Source: Max
263) FREDDY VS JASON (2003)
Yes. Absolutely. Baby Jason Ritter! This is so 2003 including that crazy CGI Freddy caterpillar or whatever. Not scary, not thrilling, but yes I did cheer when these two fuckers finally face off. Would and will watch again.
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Source: Max
264) KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON~ (2023)
Scorsese: pretty good! I wouldn't say it's my favorite of his films, but it's pretty stunning. I'll be completely honest, the end of the movie was not my jam. It felt very dumbed down for a show audience. But what a hell of a last shot. Lily Gladstone was a quiet revelation and Leonardo DiCaprio looked like absolute shit. Such great that-guys all around. Yes, it's long but blah blah blah. I'm excited to see it again.
⭐️⭐️⭐️.25
Source: Regal Theater
Good night!