What did you watch this week snowflake? (01/13-01/19)

Workaholics... great times. The first episode with the pew test is amazing, but the episode where they take shrooms and then "defend" the office is seriously one of the best episodes of sitcom television ever made. I don't out many into this list. One other that always comes to mind is the first or second season Halloween episode of Bobs Burgers, where the kids get stuck in a fort and miss trick or treating.

have not seen any of yours this week, mon frere.

a woman under the influence (1974) 4.5/5 cassevetes is a blind spot for me, and i feel all the more shamed for saying so after having seen this. it seems clear to me that this film's dna courses through a lot of the indie-snob stuff i've spent the last 25 years swimming in. it's funny & sad & troubling & all the things you'd want a depiction of woman's mental unraveling to be. i just wish it was a little shorter.

tragedy girls (2017) 3/5 starts out as a fun if not overly original serial killer comedy (think heathers meets natural born killers meets ingrid goes west, & maybe you'll get an idea). it's fun in the early going, though i am a bit weary of the mean girl representation in so many films. are people who act like recognizable human beings that rare in high school these days?

i did find it got bogged down in a bit too much plot & plodding around as it went along. i think it would have benefited if it had stayed a little leaner & sparser. it's still fun, but it's not the joyful romp it promised in the early going.

inseminoid (1981) 2/5 has a few ridiculous, crass moments that give it a bit of spark, but there is an awful lot of walking around and peering around the corners of the very cheap sets in this film. it's probably worth a watch if you're a bit of a low budget alien rip-off obsessive, but otherwise you're probably better off giving it a pass.

the burning (1981) 3.5/5 solidly above average slasher. famous for having jason alexander & holly hunter in its cast, but it's worth watching for more than that. it maintains a good pace & doesn't dawdle, & contains competent if unspectacular gore effects.

the final girls (2015) 3.5/5 shockingly enjoyable horror/comedy. not a pleasure on the level of happy death day, but it inhabits the same conceptual universe. and like that film, it's a relatively chaste & blood-free affair. it does run out of steam just a bit in the last half hour or so, but it sticks the landing quite nicely at the end.

goodnight mommy (2014) 3.5/5 solidly above average creepy kids film. it might task your patience in the early going, but this does pay off in an effective & squirm inducing way.

the town that dreaded sundown (1976) 2/5 regarded highly by some, but i found this to be incredibly boring. it does have someone getting killed with a knife taped to a trombone. that scene had a bit of magic in it.

a star is born (2018) 3.5/5 it's good! certainly not the kind of movie i like in general, but i can't really fault anything in it, except that it feels a bit surface level, like we never really dig into these people. but the songs are good (again, not to my taste, but my taste won't gross $200m), and the ending is genuinely moving. i'll never watch it again, but i certainly don't regret seeing it.

a pigeon sat on a branch reflecting on existence (2014) 4/5 this movie...i mean, i think it's great. i might even use that tired old word 'masterpiece.' but if you were to say you thought it was complete tosh, i wouldn't be able to tell you properly why you're wrong. i think it's hilarious in places & bizarrely sad in others, and i love it every time i see it. but don't ask me why it's that good. it just is.

kate plays christine (2016) 3.5/5 scenes dramatizing the life of christine chubbuck, a newscaster who committed suicide on florida tv in the 70s, are interspersed with footage of actress kate lyn sheil interviewing her colleagues & investigating her past. for the first hour or so, i was completely sucked into this. i loved the way it danced between dramatization & documentary. i found after that it had laid out all its cards & had nothing new to show me, but i still found it an interesting watch right up to the end, when it did something that i thought did not work at all, that felt very false & left me feeling like i'd seen something bold & daring upended by a big misstep. still a fun, weird, really unique watch.

anna & the apocalypse (2017) 3.5/5 scottish zombie christmas musical. with all that going for it, it really ought to be the most perfect movie ever. but the best songs are front-loaded, and it loses a bit of steam in the third act. still fun though.

the life & death of colonel blimp (1943) 4.5/5 very warm & endearing & human & touching, and wonderfully colorful as well. it would be an easy 5 and one of the greatest movies ever made if it just wasn't 18 hours long.

I keep forgetting to keep a list of what I watched. 😬 I do recall these:

The Up Series, 35 Up, 42 Up, 49 Up - (doc series, UK, DVD) In 1964, director Michael Apted interviewed a group of seven-year-old British children from very different backgrounds about a range of subjects. Every seven years he has re-interviewed them about their lives. Fascinating, and spooky in a way, to watch years of their lives pass by in a few hours. I still have 56 Up to watch, and I understand there is one more series in the works that may be out later this year. Unfortunately, no subtitles until the last couple of episodes, but still engrossing. 8/10

Unforgotten (2018, DVD, series 2) As good as the first series was, I think this one is better. A body is found in a suitcase when a river is dredged. DCI Cassie Stuart (Nicola Walker) and DS Sunny Khan (Sanjeev Bhaskar) search for answers. Past deeds come back to haunt and change the lives of a number of people. 8.5/10

Also continuing my journey through Death in Paradise (Netflix, 2011-present, series 3-5) Still entertaining, but a few main characters have left and I find it not as satisfying as the first two seasons. 6.5/10