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Movies I've been watching
🕑 Added 2020-07-28 09:10:11 +0000 UTCHello! A long time ago, I made a Patreon post about some movie recommendations for you all. It's been a while, so I thought I would do a new one with some fresh films - mostly stuff I watched in 2020 (and a lot I watched in lockdown).
As usual, I'm trying to pick stuff that isn't ultra mainstream and obvious. Instead, these films should open your eyes to new directors, writers, genres, and so on! Let me know what you think in the comments down below.
Blindspotting is a powerful movie about race and identity that is well worth a watch in the current climate. It's mostly a heart-warming and poignant movie about two dopey friends, but it takes a sharp right turn towards an unforgettable finale.
Game Night is an underrated comedy. It's twisty, dark, and very funny. Like the excellent Knives Out by Rian Johnson, both movies will have you on the edge of your seat, guessing what's going to happen until the very end.
The Lighthouse is a weird and intense psychological horror movie. Filmed in stark black-and-white and framed in a claustrophobic 4:3 aspect ratio, watch Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe slowly go nuts as two lighthouse keepers in the 1890s. Like lockdown, but with more farting.
Next up is Paddleton, which is the first movie to come out of a four-picture deal between Netflix and the Duplass Brothers. It's a charming, heart-breaking story about two single dudes who go on a road trip when one of them gets a terminal cancer diagnosis.
Palm Springs, on Hulu, is the latest Groundhog Day-style time loop movie. This one innovates on the formula by bringing more than one person into the same loop, and then watching their relationships unfold. It's also very funny - as long as you're into Andy Samberg, that is.
Private Life is about an older couple that is coping with infertility. It's dark and bracing and very funny. Tully, meanwhile, is about a woman coping with post-natal depression. Also dark, bracing, and very funny!
I'm just gonna dedicate this whole next paragraph to the films of Hirokazu Kore-eda. This Japanese director makes slow-burn, slice-of-life character studies that focus on relationships. And food. Lots of gorgeous shots of food. I especially like Shoplifters, Still Walking, After the Storm, and, my favourite of all, Like Father, Like Son. That one absolutely wrecked me.
If you liked those, you might also enjoy Driveways - a slice-of-life about an unlikely friendship. First Cow, which is the latest glacial-paced movie from the excellent Kelly Reichardt. And The Farewell - a movie where a grandmother isn't told about her terminal illness by her family because that's, apparently, just how it goes in China!
Searching is a thoroughly inventive film. It's about a man looking for his missing daughter, and it's all done on a computer desktop. So expect FaceTime calls, web searches, YouTube videos, and so on. It's a little goofy and it stretches believability like 50% of the time, but it's undeniably fresh and pretty gripping to boot.
If you need proof that you don't need darkness to make a horror film work, check out Midsommar - which is horribly unsettling despite taking place in the idyllic Swedish countryside in the middle of a blisteringly hot summer.
If that wasn't intense enough for you, check out Uncut Gems. This is a non-stop fever dream about Adam Sandler's New York jeweller character getting increasingly out of control in a relentless pursuit of the next big win. Your butt cheeks will be clenched for 2 hours straight. The Safdie Brothers' previous film, Good Time, was equally bonkers.
You've hopefully heard of Marriage Story - the wonderfully acted and hilarious depiction of divorce, featuring Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson. If you need more marital movies, The Wife is about a husband and wife whose professional secret starts to tear them apart.
The Last Black Man in San Francisco (pictured, top) is about gentrification and identity and some of it went a bit over my head, as a white dude living in Britain, but I loved it nonetheless.
Everyone's raving about Parasite - Bong-Joon Ho's black comedy about class. But with good reason. It's brilliantly inventive and extremely funny - and a film that uses architecture to express itself in really clever ways.
Freaks is like a low-budget X-Men movie but… well… good. Nothing amazing but very enjoyable and it's nice to watch a superhero movie that doesn't feel burdened by needing to be the cinematic event of the century.
Hustlers is a based-on-true-events film about strippers turned thieves in New York. The posters and whatnot didn't appeal to me, but I watched it anyway and found it really interesting and engrossing. I've always got to try hard not to let silly stereotypical preconceptions get in the way of good stuff!
Finally, the documentary Three Identical Strangers is just twist after twist after twist. It's very engrossing, though its central message is a bit too simplistic for such an incredibly complex topic. It will definitely invite discussion, though!
Comments
Mr. N. Hacksaw
Thanks also from my part for the recommendations. It's an interesting mix of movies that I know already (but appreciate for the most part) and a few that I have never even heard of. If it doesn't take too much out of your schedule, I'd appreciate you sharing your Watch List with us. (Also: Wondering how you manage to squeeze in that much movie time with all the rest that you're doing -- one day, you'll have to tell us the secret behind your productivity :) PS For a second there, I thought that you were talking of Tod Browning's 1932 classic "Freaks" and thought: "low-budget X-Men movie" is certainly an original take on it. Alas, the reality is more mundane. (But a movie I hadn't heart about yet, so it's a welcome name drop!)
Game Maker's Toolkit
Yeah, definitely not easy right now. You can get it from Amazon US with a VPN but it's a faff - should hopefully be more easily available in the coming months
Robert Furey
Where can I watch First Cow in the UK? I can't seem to find it anywhere?
Jovan Jovanovski
Finding a trustworthy source for movie and games recommendations is risky business these days. I think we would like getting recommendations from you more often, if you have the time and inspiration of course. Thanks a lot!
Game Maker's Toolkit
Haven't seen that one, will check it out! Ta
Kat (Pixel a Day)
Thanks for these Mark, we’re in lockdown here in Melbourne for another four weeks at least - always glad for more ways to fill the time!
Matt Kimmich
I posted this on Twitter, but it would've probably made more sense here: if you like Kore-eda and haven't seen his early film After Life yet, do check it out. There's an otherworldy element there that is handled with his usual deft, gentle touch.
