Movie Review

by

TV Review: Girls

****

In a move very unlike my usual self, I just finished watching Girls. All six seasons. It was my tired enough to lay on the couch, but not quite tired enough to sleep entertainment over the few months. I had heard pretty brutal reviews of the show but actually loved how accurate it was at portraying a very specific post-college experience, one that many close to me had. There is very little redemption in the show in the truest sense of the word but there is growth, and growth in the same difficult, plodding way that most of us experienced in our 20s where we didn’t yet have any wisdom to not make dumb mistakes and still had to constantly learn from experience.

by

Movie Review: 2001: A Space Odyssey

Movie Review #4: 2001: A Space Odyssey

**

Okay, this was legitimately one of the weirdest movies I have ever seen. I was watching it in my favorite movie theater on a very, very hot day so I enjoyed the experience more physically than mentally. My main takeaway is that it is very much positioned, both internally, and via the main reviews that I have read as “man’s journey.” How is man, as a species, evolving through the ages? But the whole existence of woman is just…completely missing. Like, completely. My interpretation of the end is the last surviving astronaut dies while he is trying to disconnect HAL. The rest of the movie is a vision he is having as he is slowly dying — he envisions himself growing old, and eventually envisions himself returning back to earth as a fetus to embed himself with the hope of purity and that he can try and start again. But — women create fetuses. So the ultimate realization of man in the film is about the importance of one thing for the human race (the fetus) that only women can create. But they get no credit, nor exist, elsewhere in the film and all of man’s progress is based on the scientific male brain.

by

Movie Review: Francis Ha

Movie Review #3: Francis Ha

****

This was a nice movie for a rainy weekend. It covered a woman, Francis Ha, in her post-college years. Frances and her friends are total messes who don’t understand how to “grow up.” In many ways, the movie reminded me of what my post-college years were not like. I know many people who had post-college years like Francis Ha, all of whom were rich and resistant to getting a “real” job. It made me feel both nostalgic and like I hated everyone in the movie. There’s a lot of the true pain of growing up, but also the privilege of choosing to suffer.

by

Movie Review: Coco

Movie Review #2: Coco

****

Ahhh, Mama Coco. An aging woman, losing her memories, thinking that her father had purposefully abandoned her as a child. This was technically a kid’s movie (and I did, in fact, see it with a child), but was such a deep portrayal of familial love. Creative, beautiful, fantastical in turn, it helped the viewer see their place in their own family tree and understand how connected we each are to the ancestors that came before us.

by

Movie Review: Lady Bird

Movie Review, #1: Lady Bird

****

Everyone knows I am a very fussy movie watcher. I don’t want anything too romantic, too sad, too unfair, too long, too white, etc. Lady Bird met all my criteria (well, maybe a bit too white). A coming of age movie about a girl, Lady Bird, becoming a woman (both in terms of aging and losing her virginity), it was a beautiful depiction of family ties, fitting in, society, the angst of growing up, etc. As someone who also went to a bougie private high school on a full scholarship, so much about Lady Bird’s friendships and interactions rung true to my heart (like never letting my friends see the house I lived in). What I loved most about the movie was the mother. Played by Laurie Metcalf, the fierceness and loving authenticity of the mom, and her interactions with Lady Bird reminded me of what it feels like, and what it felt like at that age, to be loved so fiercely but not necessarily parented, or living, in the way you want. And as someone who now no longer identifies too too much with teenagers, there was a growing sense of identity with the mother, and what it takes to shepherd your own children through the world, sometimes against their will. Would I watch it again? Probably not. Do I look forward to watching it with my daughter in 20 years? Yes.