Welcome to my Video Store Update! I'll be running a little monthly blog activity where I recount what I watched in the past month. I did something similar on my site but haven't kept up with it since. Well, I'm back and here to let you know what's been a total let down, a worthy (or not!) re-run, and the staff picks of the month. October has come to an end and there are some great autumnal features to be found on this list.

✮ 𝚕𝚎𝚝-𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗𝚜 ✮

Galaxy Quest was probably the softest let-down of the month but still, a bit of a disappointment. I just thought it would be funnier. It wasn't. Too corny, too obvious. Which is strange because I assumed Alan Rickman would be funnier in this but he's actually not a great comedic actor despite being  in a number of comedy films (like Dogma, coming next month). Sam Rockwell was pretty fucking great though.

7. Mystic Pizza [1988]

Boring. Neither of the romances were interesting but they took up so much time that it totally took away from the sister relationship. Obviously there was still tension that got resolved and felt pretty deserved, it was still a little simple and secondary for my taste.

6. Home for the Holidays [1995]

Could have been good. I kind of loved watching this terrible family come together, not get along at all, constantly trip each other up, but it too led to a very boring romance that I did not care for at all. No chemistry whatsoever. Not even a particle. 

5. Seven Psychopaths [2012]

Oh man, I loved Banshees and In Bruges but Seven Psychopaths totally lacks anything that made those two more understated dark comedies amazing. It's too bombastic. Maybe taking it to the U.S. was a mistake. Of course Sam Rockwell, Colin Farrell, and Christopher Walken were great. But even then, some of the lines were just... so out of nowhere, as if looking for an awed audience reaction. I don't know... maybe I just totally missed the point.  

4. The Black Phone [2022]

I mean... it was okay and I was pretty impressed with the performance of the child actors, especially Madeleine McGraw. However, everything else about it was so run-of-the-mill. Ethan Hawke is generally a pretty great actor but his performance as the kidnapper totally sucked. He was not scary. Sleazy and a freak, yes, but not scary.

3. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri  [2017]

Oh what a let down. It started well and all. You'd think a movie brimming with themes of rape, racism, and police brutality, the film would do such a grand scope justice. Or it would at least try. Nope! The tonal shift is so off putting and out of the blue, I kind of thought... was it some special story trick I missed? Everything it was setting up was spit on, made a joke of, and left, nevermind unresolved, but essentially not even contemplated. Obliviously Sam Rockwell was great! Who cares! It's not going to save the rest of this story. 

2. Adventureland [2009]

Kristen Stewart does a little too much hand in the hair but honestly, she had potential for a serious movie career from the start (this is not her earliest work, of course). But Twilight and the internet really set her back for a while. I wasn't an avid hater but dismissed her back in the day too and I do regret that. However. As cute as she is in this movie, this does very little for the actual plot. Which is pretty boring. The romance is mediocre. Their attraction feels terrible forced. Would have greatly improved if Martin Starr was the lead and the eventual love interest.

1. Voyagers [2020]

This was the worst film I have seen probably all year. It's for sure top three. For some reason me and my brother deluded ourselves into thinking it maybe somewhat interesting but all that hope evaporated pretty quickly. Everything is terrible. The plot, the twists, the acting. What a terrible little movie. Honestly, something happened in the sci-fi boom of the mid to late 2010's movies. Suddenly Netflix and whoever else started to pump them out willy-nilly and with no quality control. A horrible time to be a sci-fi watcher.  

✮ 𝚛𝚎-𝚛𝚞𝚗𝚜 ✮

Look, I saw this piece of trash when it first came out in cinemas. I was the perfect age, the target demographic, for this and every other YA dystopia copycat out there. I hated them. I came around to Hunger Games maybe only in the past five years. So why would I watch this... more than once? Well, something is wrong with my brother. He was insisting that we had to watch this again, as a joke I hope, and to get through the series. I seriously hope he just forgets this in a few weeks...

4. Unfriended [2015]

Not a good movie but we wanted to watch something for Halloween that would not traumatize mum. If your parent is scared by Friday the 13th this movie may be for you. Anything scarier and they may not survive. Also, I am so into how awful this poster for the Russian release is. 'How can you write to us if you're dead?!' Oooh, how spooky!

3. Stardust [2007]

A classic in our house. I actually recently learned about the accusations against Gaiman and though his books feel pretty tainted to me now, the movie kind of survived. I guess because he's quite removed from it and its a labour of so many people that aren't him. I also just love Claire Danes...  

2. The Trotsky [2009]

First time watching my favourite socialist coming of age teen drama with my brother. He enjoyed it. It's an underrated film. Downside: Obviously the relationship between Leon and Alexandra. Everything else totally rocks though. 

9. One of my favourite animated films ever. It's super special. It really reminds me that the new era of CG animated films basically exists entirely under Disney's monopoly and doesn't have the chance to branch out the way it could before. Resources are better available but I am yet to see something as good and cool as 9. 

✮ 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚏𝚏 𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚜 ✮

Look, I will have to start lying if I say this one is actually good. But it's so un-serious you really can't fault it for doing things it's own way. I was also surprised that I was kind of invested in the forbidden romance despite most of the movie being dumb gags and over-acting. Kind of cute. Also some great tracks and general 2000s fashion and understanding of spy technology. 

12. Strike! [1996]

The Mona Lisa Smile and Strike! (which also goes by All I Wanna Do) are set ten years apart but share their central theme. Women in academia circa 1950s and 1960s combating for something more than a little freedom before marriage. So, Strike! has a much more upbeat and boisterous tone than Mona Lisa and whether that's a good or bad thing really depends on your mood. I personally prefer Mona Lisa. Also they both have Kirsten Dunst. 

11. The God of Cookery [1996]

Nothing hits like a Hong Kong comedy. Full of some of the dumbest bits that are preformed so honestly that you kind of can't help laughing.  I still don't like meatballs in soup and sadly the Pissing Shrimp Beef Balls did not change my mind. 

10. Bottoms [2023]

It was not what I was expecting but still pretty hilarious. I can't believe I only got to it now but now is btter than never, I guess. Honestly wish more dumb films like this came out. This looks like everybody had fun making it which is always extra points. Also, Hazel was literally the only cool one, right?  

9. Accepted [2006]

I was actually watching so many school/college based films this month because I was trying to hit a full bingo on ModernGurlz's newsletter picks from September. Though Accepted was on my watch list for a while. I thought it would be totally not funny and Blake Lively was pretty stale even in a seemingly minor role. However, I still found it a pretty good watch as far as stoner comedies go. Maybe its not even a stoner comedy? I don't know, saying that just feels right. I also just enjoy watching movies about whatever kind of scam that inevitably falls apart. Something about the absurd and tragedy, man. 

8. Loser [2000]

Okay, it's a movie with the guy that fucks pie. How good can it be? Strangely enough, I actually really fucked with this one. Mena Suvari is just a fun actress, even with a kind of predictable and ditzy manic pixie she gives something you can empathize with. Jason Biggs has the world's ugliest wig but is otherwise pretty okay in this. I'm not going to lie that his character is like the best dream guy or something but a little refreshing when it comes to typical 2000s love interests. This says more about the writing of the time than this specific film. Honestly, it was just kind of cozy. Silly, sure. But nice. 

So I hadn't seen this one until this year. I know. I may as well confess I don't watch movies. Look, the problems of the movie have been talked to death so I really don't have anything new to add. I was both terrified and impressed with Sam Rockwell's performance. Really just got me thinking about how fucked up it is that we still have capital punishment in this world. It's not legal in France, so at least there's that.  

6. Uptown Girls [2003]

I didn't really find this one as captivating as many do, but something about it still stayed with me. Birttany Murphy. I really love her, she's an incredibly underrated actress, both when she was still alive and now. Though I think she's getting much more of a recognition for her acting. Of course there's no denying that her apartment and outfits look amazing too. Overall, a bit cheesy but still a good watch. 

5. Nimona [2023]

I've been slacking with keeping up with animated films these days. Nimona is near and dear to me though because I remember picking it up in my high school library from a librarian who was super nice to me. I like it a lot, it had the cute Adventure Time art style paired with a dramatic but fun story. I'm not gonna lie, I do prefer the visual style of the comic significantly but I also understand that it would be basically impossible to translate to the screen. Still, I felt like this was a worthy adaptation but I'm mostly itching to re-read the comic. 

4. New Waterford Girl [1999]

So I have a special spot in my heart for films from Ireland, Taiwan, and Canada. Don't ask. Just happened like that. And as New Waterford Girl began unraveling I was on the edge of my seat, again, satisfied to have come across a gem. Its got it all. Religious symbolism subversion. Amazing drab outfits. 90s alt rock. Small town locals vs. a girl from the big city. The only thing that dampened my enjoyment was, not even a relationship, but moments between a character who is underage and their teacher. Totally unnecessary. Moonie Pottie, is like, my idol. Many excellent lines too. The poster really does not do justice to the bleakness of this one.

I think if you really like movies, you're always making lists of your favourite genres, years, actors, and so on. I think the most important, at least just for yourself, list you can make is of your favourite directors. For a long time I found that my favourite films would always have inconsistent directors. Either they would only make one good movie out of their whole catalogue or they would literally just make one movie. No follow-ups. I used to even say that Guy Ritchie was my favourite director. Embarrassing. Or Wes Anderson. He is good, don't take me wrong, but I didn't feel an actual connection to his work. At least not the way I did with certain writers, or bands, or artists. So, I thought I just never would. But... Mike Leigh. How has it been so long and only this month did I first see a Mike Leigh movie? I actually saw Happy Go Lucky first, but shortly followed it by Career Girls. Man, oh, man. It's strange, it has such eccentric and bizarre character exchanges it may put you off. But everything has its place and time and things that might have left you annoyed at first are a stepping stone to what happens later. I cried at the end. I hate saying goodbye to friends. I don't have many, so every genuine farewell would leave me aching. So, I think about my best friends when I think about this movie. I laughed a lot too. Like, not because it's funny in the normal way, but in the way we're you're surprised or put on the spot. Where you don't know what do to do with yourself so you laugh, like you're there with the characters. Listen, I am already a psychopath who talks to movies so its not much but this movie pulled some exceptionally intrinsic emotions out of me.

2. The Daytrippers [1996]

I needed this so bad. Can you just imagine: you're in distress, a possible betrayal is haunting you, and in your panic you tell your entire family. Suddenly, everyone is on a crusade, in a small family car, through a big city,  to find the truth. But each for their selfish reason even though its your life! This is about you, its hurting you. I couldn't look away for a moment, what an amazing film. I actually never wanted to live in New York, not ever. Just wasn't a dream I ever had. Well the dream nearly came about anyway because I was almost convinced that there may be something for me in New York. I have to be reminded that the time when the movie is set has already happened and is long gone. Anyway, what happened to Mottola between 1996 and 2007? This is the only good film he ever made. Superbad is fine. Aventureland is bad. Paul sucks. What happened to the bald motherfucker? I'm really bitter this is all he made in this direction. It's amazing, 

1. Happy-Go-Lucky [2008]

Well. This is it. The best movie of the month, probably of the year. And a deeply personal self-assessment, very self-indulgent and something no one asked for. Sorry. Anyway... I used to teach. I was a pretty good teacher but I'm deeply afraid to join the workforce again, as a teacher or something else. But it's not really about that. I just started missed belonging to something. I missed when I was at university and with my closest friend (she's still my closest friend but we're in different countries now). When we'd shared an apartment and I'm so saddened that I didn't take advantage of our closeness, the lack of physical space between us. We could have went out more. Done more thing together. All this shit is always so obvious in hindsight. I don't want friends in the sense that I feel lonely, I feel pretty good alone actually. But I seriously miss the people with which I had a connection that I know I cant replicate. So I end up looking for no one. How sad. I also miss when you're living your simple life with someone. When you don't want for much. The world just feels so heavy and horrible, that I actually miss dumb problems I used to have a few years ago. It was something I could manage. So, when am I gonna talk about the movie? Now, I hope. I just felt like... I wanted what the characters in the movie had. Even though Sally Hawkins' character is pretty annoying, pretty over-the-top and so on, she's just so gentle, and kind, and enjoying herself in the world. I wanted it so bad it hurt. Mix that with the late 2000s nostalgia and its a deadly recipe. I just really recommend this movie. I'm going to try and watch as much Mike Leigh as I can. I think I found a kindred spirit.

Labels: 2024, monthrecap, october2024, video store update

Garbage people.

It's pretty impossible to like any character in Linklater's SubUrbia. Well, except for the people running the convenience store. The 'kids', who already left high school and go around their small shit hole town being miserable are either outwardly racist or real great bystanders who say and do nothing. Unless it's for meaningful, personal, life-altering - "art", like Sooze's Burger Manifesto, Part One - The Dialectical Exposition of Testosterone. Everyone is rolling in every grave known to man.

That's just point one. The rest of it is stupid too. And boring. In fact, I had to watch it in two sittings, with much time between them. The movie only gets exciting in the end of the first hour. At the start, the main character states: "It's my duty as a human being to be pissed off." And what? What are they pissed off about, and what to they do? Fucking nothing! Because these people live meaningless lives on their own accord. You don't have to run for local government, or be a red cross volunteer, or a doctor. You just need to be less of a shit stain. 

Who would be sympathetic? 

It's so stupid to lash out at others when you've got nothing going on. Trust me, man, I got nothing going on. And it's so easy to take it out on anyone. But I just can't see eye to eye with these pathetic fucks, not when they harass the hell out the Pakistani couple that are trying to make ends meet. There's no redemption for the loser threatening them, and none for the idiots standing around, blabbing on about knowing each other names. It's not better than Totally Fucked Up (1993), but neither are any good.

This is a very rage-filled review, and this stupid little movie deserves every insult. Watch any other Linklater film, spare yourself.

The drunk antics were sort of amusing. 

 Watched: [May 28 2024]

Labels: 1996 film, 90s film, american film, comedy film, drama film, film, film review

Who is she?

Knowing anything about Anna Magdalena, outside of her marriage to Bach and the musical work titled after her, is not necessary for watchers of the film. Even so, the reference to a rather enigmatic woman, like many of her time were, piques an interest. Anna Magdalena, the name itself calls forth romance. 

Though I cannot speak for Ivy Ho (the writer of the film), I think the parallel relationship between the leads, Chan Kar-Fu (Takeshi Kaneshiro) and Mok Man-Yee (Kelly Chen), and the story of Bach and Anna Magdalena are more important that can be said on first glance. But first, the story itself:

Writing a love story.

Chan Kar-Fu works as a piano repair man, overtly shy or antisocial, when he meets Yau Muk-Yan (Aaron Kwok). Going by an alias, charismatic but presumptuous and an enormous slacker, he manages to stay at Chan Kar-Fu's place. An excellent apartment, a balcony fitted with a sizeable fish tank. Soon enough, Mok Man-Yee moves in above them, she plays piano (not well) and develops a rapid antagonistic relationship with Yau Muk-Yan. Spray-painted insults, screaming, and the potential of an arrest. To the misfortune of Chan Kar-Fu who falls in love with Mok Man-Yee, they change their tune and begin a romance.  

And such is the core of the story, a love triangle. Mok Man-Yee, drawn to rebellious types and always disappointed in them. Yau Muk-Yan, promising to change, yet never really coming close. Chan Kar-Fu, who just cannot be Mok Man-Yee's dream guy and he knows it.

The later half of the film takes a turn into the realm of the fantastical. Chan Kar-Fu writes and submits a naive and crude story about fictionalized versions of himself and Mok Man-Yee who work together to deliver a letter from an entity guarding treasure to his lost beloved. In the end of this work, the two end up together, happy. 

See, despite much being mysterious about Anna Magdalena, there is evidence that even after stopping her work as a court singer, quite the prestige, she would still preform with Bach. A kind of husband and wife partnership. Doting and infatuated. It takes that kind of romance to write an everlasting melody. In the ideal, Chan Kar-Fu's story ends just like that. Reality, is not at all the same.

Chan Kar-Fu's own notebook for Mok Man-Yee bears no success, the love is not meant to be. She never even knew. Still, it exists, like the love existed once.

And so.

Although I found the narrative and themes intriguing, waiting to see how much more Chan Kar-Fu could bare, I don't think the film's substance overcame it's style.

The visual components of the film were my favourite part. I liked the apartment. Yau Muk-Yan brushes his teeth on the balcony near a sink with the city just across. On the same balcony, the two have beers in the night. I want to be in a place like that. A dilapidated church is also a pleasant picture. I liked the framing of characters by the camera, intimate in stark clarity. The outfits were largely in neutral tones, colour-blocked to illustrate obvious silhouettes and evoke the character's personalities quite easily. The fantasy segment also provided fun costumes, almost like cheap cosplay or very low budget science fiction films. Visually, this film is exactly what I look for when I want to feel comforted.

Despite this, the character chemistry lacked and I did not root for the union of Chan Kar-Fu and Mok Man-Yee as much as the film likely expected. Still, the thematic experience, unfulfilled love, is an experience familiar to many. A burn, a shock, that wounds unexpectedly and so deeply you think you can never regain a normal, content self as this heart break is happening to you. A fading thing, both sweet and sour, later. Now you can only wonder what could have been, but as time passes, it doesn't look all that bad.

 Watched: [May 30 2024]

Rating: [7/10]

Labels: 1998 film, 90s film, asian film, comedy film, fantasy film, film, film review, hong kong film, romance film