Movies I Watched This Week (1/20/25 - 1/26/25)
a bit light this week, but here's what's up!
PRE-ROLL
- a bit of a dismal week for most on a global level, and perhaps that permeated my lack of seeking time to watch too much. or maybe it was just the facts of a busy day-job week and Raising a 3-Month-Old. who’s to say!
- in Non-Movie-Watching Business, my current TV watches include both the UK and the US versions of the reality game show The Traitors (the UK version isn’t on Peacock here yet, but I have my methods). my “hot take” - if this even counts as one - is that I much prefer the “normie” genuine high stakes of the UK version over the manufactured theatrics of the reality-star-centric US installments (as much as I adore Alan Cumming’s wonderfully outsized hosting duties). it might also be that - Dolores and Gabby aside - I can’t really stand any of the personalities on this current US season, with contestants either coming off as Boring or Infuriating. Boston Rob sucks. get him out of here!!!!!
- my playwright friend Zack Peercy has a brief run of his one-act “Greetings” currently playing at The Factory Theater here in Chicago through the end of the week. Zack’s work is very heartfelt and humorous and life-affirming, and I hear this one is all of 1-hour-long. go support Chicago playwrights!
THE MOVIES
NOSFERATU (2024, dir. Robert Eggers). watched at Alamo Drafthouse Chicago.
i liked it! not the empty, emotionally sterile work its haters decry it as, nor the modern horror classic its strongest evangelists declare it to be. all in all, Eggers knows what a Good Cinematic Image should look like, and this film is chock full of them, alongside frequent moments of theatrical stylization in blocking and performance that make the film pop. apparently Lily-Rose Depp (MVP) worked with a specialist in Butoh performance for her role here, and it pays off immensely. all in all, a big win for the Mustache Community.
DROP DEAD FRED (1991, dir. Ate de Jong). rented on Fandango at Home.
i’ll be writing about this bizarre work of 1990’s dark comedy for this coming Friday’s edition of Cine-File, so you can read more comprehensive words on that one on Friday. i’ll leave you with this; Rik Mayall is Good in this movie.
honk!!!!!!!!!
THE WILD ROBOT (2024, Dir. Chris Sanders). streamed on Peacock.
what a lovely movie this was for the first 45 minutes, and then oops, there’s then Another 55 Minutes. not that it’s fair to compare to other movies rather than judging this own its own merits, but this has the misfortune of coming out the exact same year as another computer-animated movie about animals working together to navigate a future world filled with rising sea levels, and that one (FLOW, we’re talking FLOW here, people) doesn’t have rampant celebrity voiceovers, a heavy-lifting score, a montage set to a cloying pop song, and an overly plotty narrative. if nothing else, THE WILD ROBOT does, indeed, look very pretty!
a short one of these to start it off over here, but that’s just where we’re at thanks for reading! anything noteworthy that you watched this week? anything to recommend? I hope you have a lovely week! stay warm out there!
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