Tag: movies

2024, Week 1

~ Mark

At the start of this week, I spent some time talking through 2024 goals.  I’m excited for what’s to come. One over-arching desire is to build more intention and reflection. A weekly review may become part of that. It’s a beginning. See where it goes?

School
Last October I went back to school, scratching an itch, giving myself a chance to explore and learn where I hadn’t given myself the chance in the past. This week’s focus is a project around the traveling salesman problem, working in Python.

It’s felt great to see my progress, and see the project transition from googling every step, to more and more code coming from my fingers. Plenty of googling in the future, but that transition from “how to build from zero” to “how to fix what I just broke” is very satisfying. One of the biggest improvements is just making myself form very precise, discrete to-do lists, and knocking them out one at a time.

Running
Fully transitioned to winter-running mode over the last few weeks. Runs in the 30-40ºF range are the new norm for the foreseeable future. Every season, every temperature drop comes with some new anxiety. I never quite remember what I wore last time it was XX temperature. There’s always that little bit of paranoia when setting out, a hard time trusting the wardrobe as I walk out the door – even when I’ve looked up previous runs and used the same setup. But everything settles in within a few minutes. There’s a lesson here. (This is also inspiration for a coding project.)

Pushed myself a smidge on a long run this weekend, just to check in on my fitness… and in the middle of that run I did the fastest 10k I’ve recorded in several years? Felt like I had plenty left in the tank. Really curious to see how much I can improve over these next few months.

Books
Lord of Chaos. In progress. I started a re-read of the The Wheel of Time series roughly a year ago? First read during high school/college. Book six now, and thousands of pages to go. It’s a perfect bedtime read when school and life has me too fried for more.

Blogs & Pods
“One of the most interesting things you can do as a reader is to sit down and think about why you abandon a book.”

Music
The start of the year is always so good for me.

This year I stole the idea of so many, to create an ongoing playlist of stand-out tracks as I go through the year. Sampling from a couple great albums so far:
Nation of Language, “Sole Obsession”
Portico Quartet, “On the Light”
Bulgarian State Television Female Choir, “Polegnala e Todora (Love Song)”

I also have a new running playlist. Most often I’d create them for an immediate need, and delete later on. For the current on, I’ve just kept adding more. I keep it playing from newest-to-oldest, so that the freshest stuff is always near the top as I sprint around town. Recent additions:
Mýa, “Free”
Ghost, “Spillways”

Movies
Bad Boys (1995)
Will Smith before he was charismatic? It’s very much the Martin Lawrence show. I was surprised to see Smith so muted. You have to be wary with comedies of a certain period. Plenty of juvenile crudeness, innuendo, prejudice lurking, and… I’m over it! I’ll still watch the sequel – I hear it’s got more Michael Bay-ness going on.

R.M.N.
Villagers in a small town in Romania grapple with accepting outsiders (room for improvement…) and with their own economic need to leave home to thrive (and how they are received in turn). Empathy as a function of location. A major scene takes place at the most toxic community meeting you’ve ever seen (and it’s sad that you probably know exactly what that’s like!). Influenced by true events, and clear Biblical-refugee echoes here, with its Christmastime setting.

TV
The X-Files
I haven’t watched much since the ’90s. Late last year, decided to revisit. I’d forgotten how much wisecracking Mulder does. This week featured “Fallen Angel” and “Eve”. Strong entries, but “Ghost in the Machine” and “Ice” still have my top spots for the first season.

Three Pines
Another rewatch in progress. I really like my first go-round with this unfortunately one-season show. Mystery series in rural Canada with a bit of coziness, oddball characters, and a season-spanning arc with an indigenous community. It’s nice to watch a crime show where, like Columbo, you sense the lead detective is fundamentally good and decent. Dark heroes are a bit overrated.

Life On Our Planet
Seven episodes in, the mammals are taking over! LFG!

Favorite Movies Watched in 2022

~ Mark

I watched 166 movies this year. I’m proud of that, sort of? Appreciate that I put the time into something I love. But also… probably a good idea to cut back a bit. Or a lot. Stil, I don’t quite regret it, not with some of the high peaks in this year’s viewing. I tweeted some of the favorites I watched for the first time, and thought I’d expand on the stand-outs here.

school-daze

School Daze

Really enjoyed catching up on a few Spike Lee films this year. His Pass Over made my second tier, and Malcolm X just missed the cut. The energy in School Daze is off-the-charts. I love Lee’s willingness to blend genres, do whatever will drive the story in an entertaining way. It may not be a dedicated musical, but if we need to have a dance-off in a salon or enjoy a joyous, raucous step show, we are GOING THERE.

photo of cow in dim light in a forest, still from "Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives"

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives

Completely mesmerized me. The languid forest conversations, visits from the dead, blurring boundaries between this life and the next. This was only movie last year that I re-watched right away, the following day.

two women rest at the edge of a cliff, with Alps in the background; still from "Clouds of Sils Maria"

Clouds of Sils Maria

I like the everyday-ness of this, a view into a rarified world – being a celebrity seems pretty boring a lot of times! And the meta-commentary on its themes – losing your youth and your place in the world. It just glides along.

photo of young girl wearing backpack, with view to ocean in the backgroun; still from "Whale Rider"

Whale Rider

This movie got me more emotional than just about anything else I watched. I love that our heroine is so direct, undisguised in what she wants. We get a glimpse into a community, and see the young teach the old. Ebert sums it up nicely: “There is a vast difference between movies for 12-year-old girls, and movies about 12-year-old girls, and “Whale Rider” proves it.”

two men talk in a dispatch control room full of computers and microphones; still from "The Taking of Pelham One Two Three"

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)

Just a slick propulsive action movie. They don’t make’em like this anymore.

a woman works at a computer in the evening; still from "Kimi"

Kimi

An agoraphobe is forced outdoors. Love the blend of modern concerns – pandemic, surveillance, corporate malfeasance, cover-ups – and Soderbergh’s usual zesty presentation. This would make a fun pairing with The Outside Story.

a hand reaches out to touch a flowering plant; still from "Vesper"

Vesper

I watched this one on 12/31 – a perfect example of why I don’t finish my list until the new year starts. Vesper is a biotech scifi fairy tale in the sodden forests of the north. This is sort of perfect species of science fiction for me: give me a few characters to care about. And sketch their life with such precise details that you understand their broader world without being lectured about its rules. Haunting, hopeful.

Very grateful to have seen these. Thinking about movies in 2023, I need more constraints. Too often, I skipped over things I wanted to see in favor of the zeitgeist, or feeling a need to “catch up”. And too often, I chose movies as the lazy way out, something only to pass the time. Not inherently a problem, but the blend is off. I’d like this year’s movies tilted more toward the ones I’m especially intrigued by, watched when I can bring them the energy they deserve.

~ Mark

Romantic comedy is the only genre committed to letting relatively ordinary people — no capes, no spaceships, no infinite sequels — figure out how to deal meaningfully with another human being. These are the lowest-stakes movies we have that are also about our highest standards for ourselves, movies predicated on the improvement of communication, the deciphering of strangers and the performance of more degrees of honesty than I ever knew existed — gentle, cruel, blunt, clarifying, T.M.I., strategic, tardy, medical, sexual, sartorial. They take our primal hunger to connect with one another and give it a story. And at their best, they do much more: They make you believe in the power of communion.

Rom-Coms Were Corny and Retrograde. Why Do I Miss Them so Much?

John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum

~ Mark

John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum. It was good. I consider myself a big enough fan of the franchise that I know I’m probably grading on a curve, but I think “good” is accurate. I feel like the world is getting a little too big. Too many characters. This world of assassins used to feel more sneaky and underground, now it feels ubiquitous. There were too many coins being slipped across tables followed by meaningful eye contact. Halle Berry had a nice turn. Laurence Fishburne continues to be simply the best at… speaking… words. Love the final pitched battle gimmick: dudes with so much body armor they keep reviving like zombies. If you can’t send infinite waves of infantry, make them recyclable. John Wick riding horseback through the city at night is very much my shit.

Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts

~ Mark

Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts. The old lonesome house, and our weary protagonist, reminded me of Unforgiven. So much western goodness: Leone-esque desert wah wah guitar, church bells, lonesome trumpets; lone figures in a heat-rippled landscape; swords at the ready at the hip or hand like pistols, or resting across a saddle. Interesting gender themes: entitlement, absentee parents, naming children, pregnancy rumors and shaming. Birth scene seems an echo of early trauma. See also: Revenge, MFA, A Vigilante, Kill Bill: Vol. 1, Kill Bill: Vol. 2, etc..

Wonder Woman

~ Mark

wonder-woman

Wonder Woman. Watched on a flight, which is the perfect environment for quietly sobbing at moments of goodness. The origin story can be so tired, but I just loved the moral heart of this one. The No Man’s Land scene is perfect (and well-named…). Dr. Poison is such a great villain. I loved the make-up and sly creepiness and the hoarse voice. Wish she had more to do. The line “It’s not about deserve… It’s about what you believe.” – such a great scene – got me thinking about William Munny. “Deserve’s got nothin’ to do with it.”

Crazy Rich Asians

~ Mark

Crazy Rich Asians. Family drama! Family over mere passion mentioned several times. I like the loving attention to food, and flowers. Interesting that the soundtrack featured so many Asian-language covers of American songs, rather than local originals. I like the reclaiming of the Apocalypse Now helicopter/Wagner scene. Our hero Nick kinda drove me a little nuts with the constant smiling (reminded me of Jean Dujardin in The Artist). Gotta admit I love a good wardrobe change montage – they get me every time. I wonder if there’s some meaning or symbolism that went over my head during mahjong game, specifically the bamboo 8 tile. At the least, an echo of the early poker scene (“playing not to lose”).

Free Solo

~ Mark

Free Solo. Super invigorating. Yeesh. I can’t imagine. There are times I’ve gotten a little bit nervous about moves on a 15ft bouldering wall. I didn’t realize he had a girlfriend at the time of filming. The feat itself was amazing, but what made the movie good was those peripheral relationships. How people around him were stressing out, trying to be supportive without pressuring and without losing their minds. Saw this one on a long flight. Other outdoorsy movies I’ve seen on flights: Wild, 127 Hours.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

~ Mark

Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Second viewing (the first). The opening bombing run is really good. I’d forgotten about it – holds up on rewatch. The casino interlude is so, so dumb. I appreciate the visual contrasts in the salt planet battle. Not just the colors, but the scale, like with Finn’s tiny figure juxtaposed with the gigantic tanks in empty space. We need more like that. So many close-ups. Love the tortured silence of Kylo Ren. So depressed, a mindset to just let it all go, burn it all down. Broader theme here of how brash, seat-of-the-pants heroism is often foolish. The writing still strikes me as bad in many spots. I didn’t notice the first time around how the kid Force-pulls himself a broom at the end.

Us

~ Mark

Us. I didn’t love it, but liked it a lot and it’s grown on me since. There’s so much to dissect and analyze, which is fun, but better to just stew in it and let it creep you out. Jordan Peele has such a vision. I hope he’s making gobs of money and putting into new work. Get Out is also a treat.

Mandy

~ Mark

mandy

Mandy. Psychedelic revenge horror. This was a little too drawn out for me. You’re just immersed in suffering. But its mood and wholeness was great. The woozy rainbow colors and lens flare (like Annihilation), the washes of color. Excellent soundtrack – I’ve been using it for work music ever since.

Eighth Grade

~ Mark

Eighth Grade. I largely can’t relate to this, because I think I was mostly too oblivious in middle school to feel terribly awkward or unfit. The movie is still great, though. Loved the use of the soundtrack, emphasizing the cuts and subjectivity. Great closing speech at the end. Not eloquent but heartfelt, which is maybe better.

Black Panther

~ Mark

Black Panther. Solid entry. Great villain, but our hero is kinda bland. I’m not over the moon with it. Lots of humor falling flat. I selfishly liked seeing the High Museum as a featured setting. Seemed like there’s some Star Wars influence here. Also, love to see MMA becoming a part of the action movie vocabulary. Not just punches and kicks, but the grappling, throws, chokes, holds, etc.. These people should be complete martial artists. The star of the soundtrack was the talking drums. 👌