Greetings from balmy Minnesota!! What November?? It actually hit 73 degrees outside today, but what a bummer that both my hubby and I are actually sick with a cold since Sunday 😦 I actually had to forgo the Banshees Of Inisherin press screening that I’ve been looking forward to. Hopefully we’ll feel good enough by this weekend so we can watch it in the theater.

---

In any case, here are what I watched last month:

MOVIES WATCHED + REVIEWED

Marcel the Shell with the Shoes On (2022)

Tár (2022)

Ticket To Paradise (2022)

Black Daddy: The Movie (2022)

Origami In The Garden* (2022)

The Unknown Country* (2022)

---

MINI REVIEWS

The Greatest Beer Run Ever (2022)

Truth can often be stranger than fiction… hard to believe this is actually based on a true story! For some reason, people are still hating Peter Farrelly for his movie Green Book winning an Oscar, so perhaps that explains the low rating of this one. I actually enjoyed this despite not knowing anything about the real-life story which is so crazy it has to be seen to be believed. This is pretty much a Zac Efron‘s show as Chickie Donohue, who left his hometown in NYC in 1967 to deliver beer to his childhood buddies who were fighting the Vietnam War. Efron displays such an earnest quality that makes the character’s inherent foolishness endearing. Russell Crowe has a brief but memorable appearance as a war journalist. 

B+E (Breaking and Entering)* (2022)

I’ve been a big fan of Twin Cities-based filmmaker duo CJ Renner and Sasha Rayl, whose gangster drama GUNN I featured a few years ago. This time Rayl took the helm of “B+E” (Breaking and Entering), about a bored grocery store clerk (Jessie Scarborough-Ghent) who becomes an apprentice of a small-time thief (Micah Chartrand) after catching him in the act. 

From the trailer, I was expecting more of a heist flick, but it turns out more of a drama with some thievery action. Scarborough-Ghent is lovely with her expressive eyes though the movie takes a while to get going. What I do like is the quirky vibe of the whole thing, so overall it’s an amusing watch. 

Minion: Rise Of Gru (2022)

I enjoyed these pill-shaped yellow Minions when the first movie came out over a decade ago. It’s extra amusing for me as an Indonesian as they’d utter some random Indonesian words like ‘nasi goreng’ or ‘terima kasih’ in between their gibberish language. I saw this on a plane to Boston and wanted to see something that won’t make me fall asleep. While the minions still generate some laughs, the novelty’s quickly wearing thin. This one focuses on their boss Gru (Steve Carell)’s rise to be a villain, apparently growing up worshiping a supervillain group voiced by Alan Arkin, Taraji P. Henson, Jean-Claude Van Damme, etc.

Overall it’s just sensory overload with too much bombastic animated action, the story runs out of steam fast and frankly, I’m tired of seeing/hearing Michelle Yeoh being cast a Kung-Fu expert, come on Hollywood she’s SO much more versatile than that.

Funny Face (1957)

So on my flight back from Boston to Minneapolis, I thought I’d watch a classic movie that I haven’t seen before. The idea of seeing Audrey Hepburn in a world of high fashion sounds like a fabulous idea. So perhaps none of the frocks are as iconic as the little black dress she wore in Breakfast At Tiffany’s, but this red gown is absolutely stunning. The story itself is pretty cute though the romance with Fred Astaire (whose character is based on famed photographer Richard Avedon) isn’t as convincing as Hepburn’s other films. Still it was charming enough and I really enjoy Kay Thompson‘s performance as the fashion editor. 

The Sound of 007

This was the last thing I watched in October, which was on Halloween. As most of you know, I don’t do horror regardless of what day it is. I grew up watching Bond movies and my favorite Bond songs are from John Barry so it’s such a treat to see his interviews here and learn some tidbits I didn’t know before. Apparently, Michael Caine was Barry’s roommate whilst he was working on Goldfinger! I love learning about Barry’s collaboration with two music legends – Dame Shirley Bassey and Louis Armstrong who sang some of the greatest Bond classics.

Now, I never care for a couple of songs, the ones by Jack White and Sam Smith, ugh, so I wish they’d highlight the songs from The Living Daylight and Licence To Kill instead. A pity there are no interviews with none of the other Bond actors besides Daniel Craig.

---

UPCOMING REVIEWS

Rosaline* (2022)

A Chance Encounter (2022)

She Said* (2022)

Women Talking* (2022)

Wildcat* (2022)

Empire Of Light (2022)

---

REWATCHES

You’ve Got Mail*

I’ve rewatched this rom-com classic so many times but I still absolutely love this movie!! You just can’t beat Nora Ephron’s wit and charm… her dialog is just so memorable and even iconic.

---

TV SERIES

I feel like I need to have a separate post just to talk about three of the series I watched in October: She-Hulk, Rings Of Power, and Andor… with the last one being my favorite, and thankfully there are four more episodes of season 1!

---

52 Films By Women pledge

Movies indicated with * (asterisk) indicate those directed by women.

Thanks to Twin Cities Film Fest, I saw six new films (+1 rewatch) directed by women last month. It would have been a total of 8 if I hadn’t gotten sick on Saturday morning that I missed Liquor Store Dreams, which I had been looking forward to. I hope that’ll arrive on streaming soon.

---

OCTOBER MOVIE OF THE MONTH

Marcel the Shell with the Shoes On (2022)

Though a couple of the big studio films out of TCFF could be my pick of the movie of the month, I ended up settling with this stop-motion animated feature simply because I could easily watch it again and again. As Shakespeare once said, ‘and though she be but little, she is fierce.’

---

UPCOMING SCREENINGS: Wakanda Forever, The Fabelmans

---

So, what’s YOUR favorite film(s) you saw in OCTOBER?