(17 movies watched. Thank you, vacation!)
Excellent Noir
Good dancing
Very well done.
A quite good, sad story
Funny and slightly painful
Friggin’ amazing!
A worthy adaptation
Enjoyable hoodlums
Delightfully dirty
Bring a tissue
All-Black cast, from back in the day.
Some good bits here. Especially if you ever dated a drummer.
Engrossing
Perfect
Delightful adaptation
“Adore”
Amy Shark
“Because I had a great night ’cause you kept rubbing against my arm”
This song–which Wikipedia tells me is from 2016–is being played with some regularity on one of the local radio stations. The lyric above caught my ear and is the reason the song is featured this month.
I was so obsessed with boys as a teenager (and into my twenties). To this day, I wonder about the causes of that obsession and am thankful I don’t have to worry about raising a daughter to not be obsessed in that way. I was completely the girl who would chalk up a great night to something that might be entirely unintentional. And “adore” is the exact right verb for what I felt for guys I liked.
I’m happy that period of my life is over, though I’m not fully convinced that it wouldn’t return if I found myself single again.
“This is the Day”
The The
This song is featured in the movie Every Day, which was a worthy adaptation of a really great YA novel. I had a passing familiarity with this song, and I love when the music people involved with movies pluck just the right song to pair with the narrative and give a new audience a chance to also enjoy the song.
Also: When I worked for Bread & Circus (Whole Foods’ name in Massachusetts) one of my co-workers had a tangential connection to The The. Her husband had gone on tour with them, playing harmonica.
“Electric Love”
BORNS
Also featured in the movie Every Day, I just love everything about this, from the first word, “Candy,” to the last “Baby you’re electric love.”* I like it so much, I’m not 100% certain I have not already included this in the Song of the Month rundown. A quick search tells me I haven’t, so welcome “Electric Love.”
*I did some cross-checking because I would have spelled it “your electric love” but I could see how “you’re” also works. Most lyrics have both ways.
Here now is a report on Job Spotter, which is an app I found out about from the Financial Panther website. Kevin, the man behind Financial Panther, reports on his side hustles and the amount of cash they bring in. It’s not an insignificant amount of cash for Kevin. I thought I would dip my toes in with Job Spotter.
To use Job Spotter you download the app and then whenever you see a hiring sign you take two pictures: one of the hiring sign and one of the storefront. The app guides you through the process. After you submit the sign/storefront photos, Job Spotter assigns a point value to them. You can then cash in the points for Amazon credit. Each point is worth one cent of Amazon credit.
I already walk around and take pictures of things, so Job Spotter is a perfect match for me. And while I didn’t make a ton–the $13.91 total you see below was for January and February, it’s more than I would make if I didn’t stop for 10 seconds and take a photo.
It feels a little bit like a treasure hunt. First you find a sign (so exciting!) and then waiting to see what the point value will be is also exciting. While most things aren’t worth a lot of points–that 106 value I got for the Living Room Theater is the exception, not the rule–the points do add up.
David Levithan wrote a fabulous novel about a person named A who wakes up every morning in the body of a different person. While the book is from A’s perspective, the movie makes Rihannon–the girl A falls in love with–the focus. Aside from featuring 14 talented up-and-coming actors as A,* this movie is a somewhat magical love story that is also heartbreaking.
Cost: $9.25 (special vacation treat, also I had a gift card, so it was free)
Where watched: Regal Pioneer Place (which I have not been to in a very long time.)
*Fun to spot: Justice Smith who was Radar in Paper Towns; Lucas Jade Zumann, who was Jamie in 20th Century Women; Jacob Batalon who was Ned in Spider-Man: Homecoming, and of course Angourie Rice, who was so very good as the daughter in the Nice Guys.
Random note: As the movie started the production logo of Orion Pictures appeared. “I haven’t seen anything by Orion Pictures in years,” I thought to myself. “I wonder what they’ve been doing?” I checked the IMDB trivia and learned that this is the first full-length motion picture to be produced and distributed by the revitalized Orion Pictures. I felt very smart.
poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2018/every_day.html
Given that I’ve written an entire book set on buses, and that I also love poetry, it is no surprise at my great love for this movie. I’m also a fan of movies where not much happens, and there is that too in this film. The scene with the two guys chatting about the girls that are totally into them will probably remain my favorite cinematic public transportation moment of the foreseeable future.
Cost: free from library
Where watched: at home
poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2016/paterson_ver2.html
An amusing poster comment from the peanut gallery on the IMP Awards site:
IMP Award for Most Unfortunate Name Placement
(He is referring to Golshifteh Farahani, who plays Adam Driver’s wife, and who looks nothing like the dog sitting on the bench)
With the opening scenes, I steeled myself for yet another film of an insufferable man causing everyone to rotate around him. Thankfully, an underutilized Kristin Scott Thomas set him straight and we could proceed with the events leading up to the evacuation at Dunkirk.* I found the scene in the subway charming, and also annoying as it seemed very much a manufactured-for-the-narrative moment.
Cost: $6.00
Where watched: Living Room Theater, who has changed their menu for the worse. I had a very sub-par sandwich, and I used to really enjoy their sandwiches.
*This would make a nice double feature with Christopher Nolon’s Dunkirk, also released in 2017.
poster from: http://www.impawards.com/intl/uk/2017/darkest_hour.html
I like the pinwheel pattern this dishcloth makes.
So, yes, it’s progressive for its time, which does not keep it from being fairly offensive today.* But still, you get performances from Ethel Waters and Lena Horne, and a really awesome nightclub scene that recycles some tornado footage from the Wizard of Oz. I think it’s worth watching, despite its flaws, because how often do you get a movie with an all-black cast?
Cost: $2.99 via Google Play
Where watched: at home. This is the first film in the Vincente Minnelli Marathon on Filmspotting.
*From the Wikipedia article about the movie: “The script was submitted before production to the NAACP. In a letter to the Editor, a writer of the film said he received a letter “congratulating [them] on the treatment of this black fable, which avoided cliches and racial stereotypes.” While the NAACP might have been on board with it then, I can say now that watching this movie today I found it rife with cliches and racial stereotypes.
Oh my goodness, when will I learn to bring tissues to Pixar movies? I loved this film, Miguel’s family and the portrayal of the Land of the Dead. The music was also fantastic, with “Remember Me” nestling itself perfectly into the narrative.
Cost: $4.00
Where watched: Kennedy School–which was good, because I could sink down into the couches while crying.
poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2017/coco.html
If you are down for raunchy humor this movie is hil-ar-i-ous and very fun. Much as Kate McKinnon had her star-making turn in 2016’s Ghostbusters, so does Tiffany Haddish loom large and hilarious in every scene. Overall, a rollicking good time.
Cost: $1.50 from Redbox
Where watched: at home with Matt
poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2017/girls_trip.html
