The lighting in this sequence is fantastic and is a vital ingredient in heightening the tension
Movies
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm Not as funny as the first but certainly very clever. His daughter is the highlight.
I’m Thinking of Ending Things This was cleverly constructed as you’d expect of Kaufman. Plenty to deconstruct after the credits roll.
The Peanut Butter Falcon Such a pleasant movie. Nothing showy, but just all around feel-good, with some pretty scenery and a decent blues soundtrack.
The Squid and the Whale “Truly the filet of the neighbourhood”. Baumbach has a way of tackling unpleasant subject matter in a way that still leaves you feeling good. Those kids are messed up though. The young one especially, smearing his DNA everywhere.
Mandy Style over substance, and I was fine with that. It looked trippy as hell.
Rear Window I’ve been watching some classics lately. Some, like this, I had seen before many years ago. It was even better than I remembered. The suspense still holds up all these years later and it may be my favourite Hitchcock film (or perhaps second to Psycho). The lighting in the final sequence during the confrontation is fantastic.
Vertigo At the other end of the spectrum lies Vertigo. This is one I had never seen before and it regularly tops lists of best Hitchcock movies – but I honestly don’t know why, aside from some technical achievements. It’s got good moments and I can see how it could have been received well back in the day. It just doesn’t hold up. Underwhelming ending.
Rope The third Hitchcock movie I watched this quarter was another I’d never seen before. Rope is based on a play, and it certainly plays like one – and ties shots together to create the illusion of the movie being one single shot. Remarkable for the time.
Lawrence of Arabia This had been on my list for a long time but I’d always been intimidated by its runtime. I watched it in two sessions, using the intermission to break it up. I can see why it’s considered a classic. Cinematography is awesome and captures the sense of scale.
Palm Springs Disappointing. Started strong, but the laughs were too few and the substance too shallow to make up for it. I really just want another Hot Rod from The Lonely Island guys.
RoboCop This one had passed me by in its day but I had to check it out as a fan of Verhoeven’s Total Recall and Starship Troopers. I appreciate how it might have been fresh in its day, but it doesn’t hold up quite like the other two – aside from the in-world news desk and advertisements which were every bit as clever as ST’s newsreels.
Blow Up This was straight up weird. I could have done without seeing it.
Mandy
Series
An Evening with Tim Heidecker This was hilarious. It’s the freshest special I’ve seen in some time. I absolutely lost it several times. If you don’t “get” it then you’re really missing out.
Moonbase 8 Heidecker, Armisen and Reilly – you can’t lose. This was hilarious and leant itself very well to the talents of each of the main cast members.
Aunty Donna’s Big Ol’ House of Fun Great to see some Aussie comedy getting some airtime. Some of this misses the mark, but it’s delivered with such confidence that you glide on by to the good stuff.
Raised By Wolves Christ. What a colossal waste of time. It only caused me to lament that Prometheus didn’t get a true sequel. While that film could have done with less Alien tie-in and more ancient engineer and android story, RBW could have been more grounded. It looked great, but lacked substance. And those kids were annoying as hell.
Fargo (Season 4) This season was grounded in the real world more than the last two seasons. Jessie Buckley is great, and the Wizard of Oz inspired episode was particularly impressive.
The Boys (Season 2) I started this season reluctantly, and was frustrated by the early episodes given that I hated just about every character, but by the time I reached the end I was on board again. Not must-see but makes for decent entertainment.
It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia (Seasons 6-14) I managed to finish this in quarantine. Love this show, although the characters become caricatures of themselves as the seasons progress.
Docos
David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet Ugh we’re fucked.
Outback Ringer Discovered by accident, but I loved this. Covers the excitement of being a ringer up in the top end, and followed along a series of real characters. I could see myself having a good time at the pubs they frequent too.
My Next Guest with David Letterman I miss cynical Dave. He’s become increasingly nice as this series has progressed and it’s less interesting as a result.
High Score Aside from the brief moment of seeing Ken and Roberta Williams, this series was underwhelming. I didn’t finish it.
