Matthew’s Letterboxd Watchlist
A surprise need to go away for work for several days presented a good opportunity to watch some more films, both on the journeys and whilst staying in a hotel. So I took that chance and have had an incredibly good week of films. After several weeks of mixed films, not being sure what to focus on, I think I’m reaching a place of watching classic or lauded films that I’ve not seen and new films coming out that I’m interested in.
What Happened to Monday
Netflix really are putting out a lot of content aren’t they? This sounds like someone watched Orphan Black and wanted to do it as a movie – in a dystopian future siblings are outlawed, but one man secretly keeps his seven granddaughters and they can each go out into public on one day of the week. And they’re all played by Noomi Rapace. Surprisingly good though. The story was more interesting than I expected, and had some good nuance to the difficult decisions most characters had to make as it went through.
Mute
The fact this is by Duncan Jones is basically the reason I watched it. And it’s a pretty average thriller, set in a Blade Runner-inspired future. I’ve seen a number of takes and this is clearly splitting people’s opinions. My question is that this had an interesting sci-fi futuristic world, but that world had no actual bearing on the story told. Which is fine as an aesthetic choice, I just expect there to be a reason you’re going to the effort of telling it that way rather than setting it in the modern world.
A Futile and Stupid Gesture
Another Netflix feature, and one I had been looking forward to watching. I was not disappointed, this biographical tale about the founders of National Lampoon fused the format and subject matter in a superb way. The comedy and style was unique, the film was upfront about what it was doing to present the story, and in not knowing the detail of this story I was surprised as it unfolded. A refreshing take on biopics in the same way that I, Tonya was.
Galaxy Quest
This is one of the great science fiction comedies. It lampoons elements of Star Trek and fans without actually denigrating those things, and then is good enough to stand as its own film. We’ll go into a lot more detail on Pop Culturally Deprived in a couple of weeks, but you can’t go wrong with Galaxy Quest.
Rent
The other film we’re covering on PCD, and one I really should have seen before given how much I like modern musicals. In its historical context this is a terrific piece, and incredibly important. I’m not sure it’s aged as well as it could have, and there are elements that show this is someone’s first major work, it’s a real shame we never got the next great musical from Jonathan Larson.
Christine
The story of the newsreader who shot herself live on TV is a myth that I’ve heard several times over the years. Christine is the months and weeks leading up to that moment, and is a chillingly dark insight into an ambitious person struggling with the expectations and prejudices of the day. Excellently told and performed.
Their Finest
I was recommended to this by @messyfriend70 on Twitter. I will admit I’m not a huge fan of typical British cinema, but I was pleasantly surprised by this as another interesting look of someone dealing with prejudices and societal structures. Plus stories about making films told on film are usually quite fun to watch. Parts of the the final act were very obvious, until suddenly they weren’t and it was surprising in a number of ways.
L.A. Confidential
This is one I definitely should have watched a long time ago, I’ve been recommended to it so often. Actors I enjoy telling a darker story in a manner I like, yes this is one I’m glad to have seen finally. A video essay I watched about Rent talked about how visual storytelling like theatre and film can’t really do nuanced shades of grey in their stories, but I would hold this up as a film that did exactly that. The discussion about how far you should go to ‘do the right thing’, and whether you should rail against it all or work with the system to make changes from within/higher up came across very well, with no clear objective side in the telling.
Recommendation
Easily this week I have to recommend A Futile and Stupid Gesture. I like the National Lampoon films, so that helps with the enjoyment of the story, but the way in which it was told and the mixing of the real world producing the film and fictional world presented were tremendously impressive. It pulls off an interesting story with panache.