{"id":175644,"date":"2022-07-03T11:34:57","date_gmt":"2022-07-03T15:34:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=175644"},"modified":"2022-07-03T12:25:54","modified_gmt":"2022-07-03T16:25:54","slug":"june-2022-viewing-diary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=175644","title":{"rendered":"June 2022 Viewing Diary"},"content":{"rendered":"

Watcher<\/em><\/strong> (2022; d. Chloe Okuno)
\nI was super impressed – and totally freaked out – by this thriller, psychological and otherwise. The mood is HEAVY with omnipresent DREAD. I reviewed for Ebert<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Russian Doll<\/strong><\/em> (Season 1 and 2, 2019-2022)
\nI’m in love. This is my second time through the first season and first time through the second. I liked the second season, but loved the first. You can’t repeat what … can’t be repeated. But I appreciated the exploration of the mother’s role (Chloe Sevigny – killing it). If the first season was Groundhog Day<\/i>, the second season was Back to the Future<\/i>, but all filtered through the cranky Gen-X-older-millennial generation’s eyes: a point of view I appreciate. <\/p>\n

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Lost Illusions<\/strong><\/em> (2022; d. Xavier Giannoli)
\nAn adaptation of Balzac’s rags to riches to rags again story. It’s fun, and BIG. I reviewed for Ebert.<\/a><\/p>\n

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Dinner in America<\/strong><\/em> (2022; d. Adam Rehmeier)
\nI thinks I’ve made it clear how I feel about this movie. reviewed this gem – this little movie that could – for Ebert<\/a>. I’ve seen it 4 times now. It’s really good. <\/p>\n

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Jackie Brown<\/strong><\/em> (1997; d. Quentin Tarantino)
\nContinuing on with my Robert-De-Niro-in-chronological-order project. I love this movie so much. It’s interesting to watch Tarantino with an adaptation of someone else’s material. It’s such a VEHICLE and I miss star vehicles. There’s not enough of them anymore. Give me movie stars and just let them walk through an airport, please. Let them do their work. In re: De Niro: he is so freakin’ FUNNY in this. It’s fun to watch him completely remove his intelligence. <\/p>\n

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Wag the Dog<\/strong><\/em> (1997; d. Barry Levinson)
\nI saw this in the movie theatre back in the day and totally loved it. Maybe I’ve seen it since? I can’t remember. Anne Heche completely holds her own and makes me sorry she’s no longer a presence in American cinema. She was weird and ambitious and different. It’s interesting to watch this not just because it’s satire – and Americans, in general, cannot deal with satire because we are so literal (okay, I’ll remove the “we”) but in re: De Niro: it’s fascinating to watch Hoffman and De Niro together and the two very different acting styles. You could REALLY see it in Sleepers<\/i> where Hoffman is acting up a STORM and De Niro barely seems to be doing anything, and is no less effective for that. I love Hoffman, don’t get me wrong, and Midnight Cowboy<\/i> was extremely important for me as a young actor, but … he does tend to be showy as hell. I mean, Papillon<\/i> is probably the most obvious example. Calm DOWN, Dustin. Willie Nelson cracks me UP in this. Seen back to back with Wag the Dog<\/i> is an object lesson in how De Niro REMOVES whatever isn’t necessary for the character. In Jackie Brown<\/i> he removes his intelligence and is wholly incompetent. In Wag the Dog<\/i> he is all comptence.<\/p>\n

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A Cry in the Dark<\/strong><\/em> (1988; d. Fred Schepisi)
\nThis was streaming on Criterion and I jumped at the chance to see it again. It’s been years and it is nigh on impossible to find, currently. Certainly not streaming. The thing I really remember about this – and the thing that still strikes me – is how Schepisi’s theme – or his “way in” – was the public response to this event. All of those scenes of dinner parties and picnics and car drives with random people discussing the case. What a great way to show – not tell – just how HUGE this case was. <\/p>\n

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The Girl from Plainville<\/strong><\/em> (2022; d. Lisa Cholodenko, Zetna Fuentes, Pippa Bianco, Liz Hannah, Daniel Minahan)
\nOnce again, as per usual, this is about three episodes too long – what is it with these docudramas stretching things out – it’s a way to keep people watching things, I know, but it’s aggravating. Despite the fact that a 27-year-old man is playing an 18-year-old kid … I was very impressed, particularly with Fanning – who has an insight into what makes this girl tick. She is unnerving – AND has a number of fantastic “mirror scenes”, an ongoing obsession of mine. One complaint: the thousands and thousands of text messages are, instead, turned into dreamlike conversations between the two characters, in one another’s presence. It’s a mistake. The fugue state the two clearly were in is part and parcel of what was going on: this was a completely text-based “relationship” and it’s different than speaking face to face. Still and all: worth the watch.<\/p>\n

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The Clock<\/strong><\/em> (1945 d. Vincente Minnelli)
\nA favorite. <\/p>\n

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Elvis and the Colonel<\/strong><\/em> (1993; d. William Graham)
\nRob Youngblood is just not right for the part. Beau Bridges IS. <\/p>\n

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\nGood Luck to You, Leo Grande<\/strong><\/em> (2022; d. Sophie Hyde)
\nI loved it. I reviewed for Ebert<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Within Reach<\/strong><\/em> (2022; d. Tess Goldwyn), Burned Rubber<\/strong><\/em> (2022; d. Roman D’Ambrosio), H\u00e5ber<\/em><\/strong> (2022; d. Amour Luciani), Tricks<\/em><\/strong> (2015; d. Beaty Reynolds and Chris Graves), July and Half of August<\/strong><\/em> (2015; d. Brandeaux Tourville), 100 Boyfriends Mixtape<\/strong><\/em> (2016; d. Brontez Purnell), Brontosaurus<\/em><\/strong> (?; d. Jack Dunphy), The Hunter<\/strong><\/em> (2020; d. Sam McConnell), Let’s Get Lost<\/strong><\/em> (2020; d. Sam Stillman)
\nAll short films, all seen at the Adult Film Film and Theatre festival<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Everything Everywhere All at Once<\/strong><\/em> (2022; d. Dan Kwan, Daniel Scheinert)
\nIt was mind-blowing, except for the anti-Semitism. Michelle Yeoh is phenomenal, the role of a lifetime, and she’s had a couple.<\/p>\n

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Elvis<\/em><\/strong> (2022; d. Baz Luhrmann)
\nMore later.<\/p>\n

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A Star is Born<\/strong><\/em> (1954; d. George Cukor)
\nWatched with Michell in Chicago. How many times I have seen this? I know it by heart. I know the order of the scenes. I know the moments, and where they come in the narrative. We had a great discussion about the difference between this and Bradley Cooper’s. In this A Star is Born<\/i>, it is clear that James Mason needs to die, so that she can live. He will never get better, he will bring her down, he knows this, he hears her conversation where she is considering giving up her career to care for him, and so … he walks into the waves, his final act of love. You don’t get that in the Bradley Cooper, maybe because Bradley (my old classmate) is so inherently sympathetic? And so, yes, it is a tragedy, but it’s not a redemptive tragedy. <\/p>\n

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Taxi Driver<\/strong><\/em> (1976; d. Martin Scorsese)
\nIt happened to be on TCM so we watched it. Big discussion about it. The father of one of my favorite acting teachers is in this. He’s the one who gets his hand blown off. Murray Moston.<\/p>\n

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\nClara Sola<\/strong><\/em> (2022; d. Nathalie \u00c1lvarez Mes\u00e9n)
\nI highly recommend this extremely strong directorial debut. I reviewed for Ebert<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Boys<\/strong><\/em>, Season 3
\nFinally getting around to this. I watched Seasons 1 and 2 last year, I think, or early this year, time blends together post-pandemic. I watched mainly to catch myself up in preparation for Jensen Ackles’ appearance and found myself getting sucked in to this twisted tale of trauma and fucked-up father figures (Eric Kripke’s stock-in-trade). I had a couple hours free in Chicago, when Mitchell and Christopher went out to a pride event (I had stayed home – reluctantly – to watch Clara Sola<\/i>) – and so I watched the first three episodes. I am so pleased at what a huge role Soldier Boy is – even before he appears. He’s on everyone’s mind. These early episodes are all about Soldier Boy and what happened to him, building the anticipation. This is just what Jensen deserves. I hadn’t really processed – or let myself feel – just how much I’ve missed him since Supernatural<\/i> ended. Supernatural<\/i> was such a huge part of my life – and the first thing I allowed myself to get obsessed with<\/a> after going completely insane in 2012-2013. It jump-started me writing again about my obsessions. Elvis was radioactive after I went so crazy, wandering up and down in front of Graceland at sunset, and all that. Not an exaggeration. I’m back on the Elvis train, but Supernatural<\/i> came along – 2013 – at just the right time. I decided, once I was at least out of the woods, and being treated for my illness for the first time – to dip my toes in the water of obsession. Or, let’s say, passionate fascination. Supernatural<\/i> was a hook and a hell of a hook, particularly what I am not hesitant to call Jensen Ackles’ genius. Thank you, Eric Kripke, for setting him up so powerfully in The Boys<\/i>. I have missed him – and his work – so much. I mean … his first entrance:<\/p>\n

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Watcher (2022; d. Chloe Okuno) I was super impressed – and totally freaked out – by this thriller, psychological and otherwise. The mood is HEAVY with omnipresent DREAD. I reviewed for Ebert. Russian Doll (Season 1 and 2, 2019-2022) I’m … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2627,4,31],"tags":[2552,2209,2665,2544,1580,2546,485,2095,1899,2208,2206,314,370,2556,335,2560,2516,1168,333,318,2568,2263,1699,2559,200,1382,2637],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175644"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=175644"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175644\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":176056,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175644\/revisions\/176056"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=175644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=175644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=175644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}