4/27 Corona-Watch-Log
I set up a mini home theater in my tiny (100 square feet) Tokyo apartment. It might be just me being smug about my new rig, but I definitely feel that movies ought to be appreciated on projectors instead of glossy high-framerate TVs.
Some films I’ve watched during this quarantine:
The Godfather (1972)
TigerTail (2020)
Minority Report (2002)
Free Solo (2018)
Gravity (2013)
Taxi Driver (1976)
Uncut Gems (2019)
The Hateful Eight (2015)
The Hangover (2009)
The Terminal (2004)
Contagion (2011)
Tiger King (2020)
Selma (2014)
The Godfather (1972)
I now see why The Godfather is considered one of the greatest films of all time. It’s truly a masterpiece. I want to rewatch this movie a few more times and then write something longer about it. There’s a lot to unpack here with regards to power, respect, organization structure, fear, family, etc, etc
TigerTail (2020)
TigerTail is Alan Yang (co-creator of Master of None (I’m a huge fan of Master of None)) directorial debut. It’s a film about a man immigrating to the United States from Taiwain and explores his relationship with four women: his mother, his ex-wife, the woman he left back home, and his daughter. While I didn’t find the plot compelling, I do think it captured some emotional themes related to miscommunication that take place in immigrant families. Generally speaking, I’m appreciating this trend of media appealing to the emerging group of Asian Americans as people and not as caricatures or racial immigrant stereotypes (Master of None, Patriot Act, etc). There’s certainly a lot of richness in the immigrant experience and that richness does make for good art.
Taxi Driver (1976)
I don’t think any modern film maker has a longer lasting legacy than Martin Scorsese. I enjoyed the use of neon colors and the use of a consistent soundtrack to create a fever-dream-like state. I couldn’t help but think that the modern day parallel for this type of societal-frustration-turned-violence is school shootings. There’s a lot here as it applies to loneliness, community, existential angst, etc etc.
Free Solo (2018)
Free Solo in one word: riveting. Why do humans do dangerous things like climb up El Capitan with no rope? Because we can. Because to not climb is to be inhibited and people want to feel free — free to risk their lives and do the things they want. Also, I appreciated the contrast between Alex Honnold and his normal girlfriend (I say “normal” here in that Honnold definitely has a screw or two loose). I could see this being my favorite movie if I was a granola-ass-Subaru-driving-olive-pant-wearing-Portland-dwelling-Patagonia-as-a-personality-home-brew-best-brew type of person.
Gravity (2013)
Rewatch. I appreciated the special effects and cinematography of Gravity but had trouble getting invested in Sandra Bullock’s or George Clooney’s characters. Something else that is interesting about this film is the lack of characters. Almost the entire film takes place in space and you only see two characters. I’ve also found space films to make the best use of silence (and contrast with noise) as a cinematographic technique.
Uncut Gems (2020)
It’s generally not a high point for an actors career when he / she plays multiple roles in a film. That said, Uncut Gems was original and captivating. No spoilers here but worth a watch.
The Hateful Eight (2015)
Yet-another-Quinetin-Taratino-film-with-Samuel-Jackson. Speaking of Samuel Jackson, he is the highest grossing film actor of all time (I don’t consider Stan Lee an actor since he mostly made film cameos) and he’s 71 years old (which is a lot older than I thought). Onto the film. Part of the reason this film feels so long and pointless is that there is no hero in the film. The whole point of the film is to dissect the characters and how they play off each other — but that’s something that I haven’t had the chance to do yet. So I think I might watch it again.
The Hangover (2009)
A classic.
The Terminal (2004)
Nothing says “early 2000s” quite like: Tom Hangs, Catherine Zeta Jones, an immigrant at JFK, one-dimensional-characters that have very predictable changes, and a feel-good-ending.
Contagion (2011)
Seriously, can you shelter in place and not watch Contagion? A more accurate portrayal of an epidemic would have featured Matt Damon’s character staying an ungodly amount of time indoors and binge watching trashy reality television shows and UberEatsing from the Italian restaurant that’s biking distance from his house. I disagree with the cliche that “this film is a documentary” but its refreshing to see the government in Contagion have a coherent plan and communicate it to the imaginary people in the film.
Tiger King (2020)
I can’t think of a documentary series more fitting to be released during this strange strange coronavirus quarantine.
Selma (2014)
The recency of racial segregation in America is deeply unsettling. For reference, Martin Luther King marched in 1964. — that’s 9 years before The Godfather was made. There’s some great guest appearances from Oprah and Common plus you gotta love a movie with a Otis Redding on the soundtrack. Also kind of interesting George Wallace — the primary antagonist of the film and then-governor of Alabama supported segregation. This makes me interested in learning more about the history and evolution of the Democratic party.
Other notes
As pretentious as it sounds, I’m trying to use watching movies as an exercise in looking beyond immediate entertaining value of the media. An exercise in “seeing” of sorts. What are cinematography techniques utilized and what effect do they have? How does the film make me feel? Why does it make me feel that way? What’s the underlying meaning of the film? Is the film trying to say something? What is trying to say? Is it effective? How does this film compare to other films of the era? What does it say about the time period the film was created or the time period being portrayed? What does it say about our modern times? etc etc
Anything you think I should watch? Let me know.