Happy Fourth of July weekend!! Wow, can’t believe we’re done with the first half of the year! Honestly, June was such a blur, and this recap is late as I went on a weekend getaway to my neighboring state. I’ve lived in MN for 3 decades and for some reason never visited Door County, Wisconsin. It was a charming place and I’ll definitely be back one day, probably in the Fall season.
Well, here’s what I watched last month:
NEW MOVIES
(films indicated with * are directed by women)
The Colour Room*
review upcoming
The Flash
The Super Mario Bros. Movie
I wasn’t planning to see this but got sent a screener via email, so I decided to give it a watch. I’m not at all familiar with the game, so I definitely have no clue about any references made in the movie. I do enjoy animated movies, and though the visuals are great with astounding details and eye-popping colors, the plot is pretty simple, playful and ultimately predictable.
I remember people complaining about Chris Pratt, who’s not Italian, being cast to provide the voice for Mario, which I think is just absurd. I think he did a pretty good job, as did Anya Taylor-Joy and Charlie Day. Overall though, it’s pretty average and forgettable, definitely not as innovative as other Illumination Studios, but then again, I’m far from being the target audience.
The Mother*
review upcoming
Past Lives*
You Hurt My Feelings*
review upcoming
Elemental
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Official Competition
review upcoming
Love Gets A Room
Eiffel
Paris is always a good idea, and that applies to the movies as well. I’ve been wanting to see this for some time as I always enjoy Romain Duris in pretty much anything. Here he plays Gustave Eiffel in a mix of historical drama about the building of the famous Eiffel Tower and the forbidden romance between him and Adrienne (Emma Mackey in her French-language debut). While I don’t think it was the best idea to mix the two storylines, Duris and Mackey have feverish sexual chemistry together. I’ve since learned that the romance is highly fictionalized, which is hardly surprising, but the two actors sure look convincing as star-crossed lovers.
My biggest issue is with the editing which makes it so utterly confusing when things actually take place. Even with the use of super, director Martin Bourboulon‘s way of jumping back and forth between timelines isn’t very seamless. Overall it was worth watching for the cast and I’m even more convinced Mackey has that star quality just like her ‘twin’ Margot Robbie.
Maybe I Do
I started watching this in mid-May on a plane but didn’t time it right so the flight landed before I could finish watching. Well, I probably don’t need to bother. Despite having big names like Diane Keaton, William H. Macy, Richard Gere, and Susan Sarandon, this talky movie wastes all of their talents playing unsympathetic characters. The script could’ve originated from a play, which could’ve worked better in that format, but here it feels pointless and boring. Emma Roberts and Luke Bracey (who I learned was in Netflix’s Holidate, which I haven’t seen) have absolutely no chemistry at all and I often find Roberts to be annoying in rom-coms (i.e. Little Italy). She certainly doesn’t have that same winning charm as her famous auntie Julia.
I think the only saving grace was the scenes between Keaton and Macy, the only moment offering a semblance of warmth and humor. I read a review that says that if the filmmakers were to film ALL of the cast members sitting around and talking about scenes from their previous movies which they collaborated on, this would’ve been a more entertaining movie. I couldn’t agree more!!
Wedding Date*
I don’t know what compelled possessed me to watch this movie when it popped up on Netflix, I guess I was curious since I saw a clip of this very scene not too long ago. Without context, the scene seems ravishing, but can’t say the same about the movie itself. I had seen a few excellent good rom-coms lately (Isn’t It Romantic, Always Be My Maybe, Rye Lane, among others), but The Wedding Date is one that gives this genre such a bad name.
Completely riddled with clichés, implausible (unfunny) situations, and an awful plot that puts a sour taste in your mouth. I don’t normally like to say a movie is rubbish, especially one directed by a woman, but this one is a real travesty. Boy, Debra Messing and Dermot Mulroney deserve SO much better, oh not to mention the talented Amy Adams (yikes!!) Avoid at all cost if you haven’t already.
MI: Dead Reckoning Part 1
review upcoming
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
David Foster: Off the Record (doc)
This doc is fascinating to me as I grew up listening to David Foster’s music, both my hubby and I are fans of his work. Foster is certainly a musical genius when it comes to composing and arranging music. Interviews with superstars like Barbra Streisand, Celine Dion, Natalie Cole, Michael Bublé and Josh Groban offer interesting tidbits about his influence in the music industry. Dion, Bublé, and Groban (whom Foster discovered at age 17) undoubtedly owe their massive success to him.
Having just seen the Whitney Houston biopic recently, I was most curious to learn about Foster’s collaboration with her on the movie The Bodyguard. There are fun tidbits from Clive Davis as well on the project. The soundtrack ends up winning Record Of The Year For and the song I Will Always Love You (that Foster rearranged) went on to be #1 on the Billboard Chart for 14 weeks!! Foster was also responsible for the innovative Unforgettable ‘virtual duet’ of Natalie Cole and her father Nat King Cole. What I wasn’t aware of (since I don’t follow frivolous celeb gossip) is that Foster was once married to the mothers of the Kardashians AND the Jenners, which apparently makes him more famous for being a reality TV star than for his music, ahah.
REWATCHES
Thanks to Elemental, I was in the mood to revisit some of my favorite Pixar movies. Boy, it’s been ages since I saw Wall*E and that movie still holds up amazingly well. The environmental message is pretty potent but yet it doesn’t feel preachy at all. That one and the first Toy Story are definitely top tier Pixar and delightfully rewatchable.
Wall*E
Toy Story
TV SERIES
I finally finished the entire season of SILO, which is one of the best sci-fi series I’ve seen lately. It’s such a great pairing with the hilarious mockumentary Jury Duty. I’ll do a double review of both of these later this month, but both are definitely worth watching!
SILO (S1) – AppleTV+
Jury Duty – Freeve
So I’m continuing the 52 Films By Women challenge I started on International Women’s Day a few years ago. Per Women In Film (WIF) organization, the basic rules are simple: watch 52 films directed by women within the course of one year and share what you watched on social media, using the hashtag #52FilmsByWomen to spread the word, and get more people talking about the women filmmakers that don’t always get attention.
I’ll be doing a half-year tally of this challenge later this month but I’m feeling optimistic I will complete all 52 movies by end of the year! Another strong month in June as I got to see five movies #directedbywomen The Colour Room, The Mother, Past Lives, You Hurt My Feelings, and The Wedding Date.
JUNE 2023 MOVIE OF THE MONTH
PAST LIVES
This was an easy clear winner of the month! I have nothing more to add except to say GO WATCH THIS FILM in the theater!! I sure hope this film will keep its traction all the way through award season next year, because it so deserves sooo many nominations!!
So what did you see in JUNE and which one(s) are your favorites?
…
FLIXCHATTER FILM BLOG 
Since I finished my home theater and haven’t traveled at all last month, I watched quite a bit of movies and shows. On Netflix, I watched Arnold’s new show Fubar, Extraction 2, The Mother and Blood & Gold. Only saw one movie in theater, the new Transformers. Rewatched 2001: A Space Odyssey, X-Men: Days of Future Past (3D), Avatar 2 (3D) and Fast Five. I’m almost finish with Picard season 3 on Paramount+. Once I’m done with that, I’ll start on Silo.
It’s so weird that I’ve only seen one movie in theater and it’s summer season. But there aren’t that many movies in theater that I’m interested in. I’ll probably see Mission: Impossible 7 and that’s it this summer.
I’ve been wanting to check out Fubar, is that worth watching? I’m thinking of watching that in between Jack Ryan S4. I still haven’t seen the first Extraction yet, somehow just never muster enough interest. SILO is a good one Ted, and the ending makes you curious about the expanded dystopian universe the story is set in. Rebecca Ferguson is amazing!
So far this Summer has shaped up to be kinda blah. So I’m not surprised you’re not that excited to go to the movies.
I see Fubar is sort of an extension of True Lies. It’s a lot of fun and Arnold’s great in it, but the real revelation is Monica Barbaro. She and Arnold had great chemistry and I hope she becomes a super star soon. Her character in Top Gun: Maverick, Phoenix, was supposed to the lead had Tony Scott was still alive and made the film. I watched the first two episodes of Jack Ryan S4, kind of boring so far. Hopefully, the story gets moving soon. I like that they finally introduced Chavez, I assume he’ll appear in the recently announced Rainbow Six film.
Extraction is basically Netflix’s John Wick and I think you enjoyed most of those those films right? So, you’ll probably like Extraction. Other studios are still looking for their John Wick, so far only Netflix found theirs.
Watched the first episode of Silo last night. I’ll continue watching once I’m back from my trip to San Francisco.
Ok yeah, I was curious about Fubar because of Monica Barbaro, she’s awesome in TG: Maverick. Boy she would make an intriguing lead if they had stuck to that script.
The first two eps of Jack Ryan 4 are slow, but I wouldn’t call it boring. Michael Peña’s casting is interesting, so he’s a prominent character in the books then?
Ahah, yeah I like John Wick but mostly because of Keanu. I’m not fond of Chris Hemsworth so I’m not sure I’ll check it out. Hey perhaps you can write a review of Extraction 2 since you wrote the first one? 😉
Have fun in SF, Ted!
Sadly, I don’t think Barbaro would’ve been cast as the lead in Top Gun 2 had they stuck with the original idea. If I remember correctly, Jennifer Lawrence was on the studio’s top list of actresses to be the lead.
Yeah, Chavez is a regular character in the Jack Ryan and John Clark novels. He and John Clark (Michael B. Jordan), are the muscles to Ryan’s brain. In most of the novels, Ryan never took part in any of the action scenes, it’s all Clark and Chavez.
Really? I somehow thought you’re a fan of Hemsworth since you’re into Thor, right? But if I remember, I’ll write a review of Extraction 2 after I’m back from my trip.
Yeah I suppose Barbaro didn’t have star power. Ugh, glad they went with Cruise as the lead again, J-Law wouldn’t have been a good fit for it.
I’m looking forward to more Chavez this season. What do you think of Michael Peña’s casting? He’s not someone I normally associate with action thrillers but maybe that’s the point?
I like the Thor movies mostly because of Taika’s direction. Hemsworth is only fun to watch in the MCU and maybe in the small comedic roles like The all-female Ghostbusters, but I’m not fond of him generally. I might give Extraction a shot when I’m bored, LOL. And yes, please do write the review of the sequel when you have a chance, thanks Ted!!
It’s Cruise that stalled Top Gun 2 for years, he didn’t want to play a side character. The project was announced in the late 2000s when Cruise was in the middle of box office misfires. He waited until he gained his box office power again before the went into production. Of course, Tony Scott passed away and Cruise became a box office powerhouse again.
I’m not a fan of Michael Peña casting, he’s way out of shape in the show. I thought the actor that they cast in Clear and Present Danger was the perfect Chavez. Unfortunately, he only appeared in one film. Hopefully, Michael Peña gets in better shape for the Rainbow Six film. Lol!
For sure, you won’t be bore if you watch Extraction. Ha ha! I’m back home on Sunday, I’ll send the review to you sometime next week.
I kinda liked The Wedding Date just for how ridiculous it is. My pick of the month is Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse as it’s just a grand work of art.
I have no interest in that David Foster documentary as I saw clips of it and why would I waste my time watching some asshole sucking his own dick. I saw the clips comedians talk about and he comes off really smug. I read reviews where people trashed the fuck out of it and he is like “Hey, look at all of the Grammys I’ve won”. I’m like…. “oh wow, who fucking cares!” Greatest music producer my ass. I can name 20-30 who are better than him.
Wedding Date is just so stupid, that’s the kinda rom-com that gives the genre a bad name. Can’t believe Amy Adams has been in a rom-com worse than Leap Year, LOL
Ahah, I hear ya about David Foster. He IS totally smug in the way he describes himself in the doc, I kept saying to my hubby that this guy needs a huge dose of humility. That explains the kind of women he married, I mean the mothers of the Kardashians and Jenners produce the worst kind of people in our world today!! Having seen the doc makes me want to learn more about Clive Davis, now he seems like a much more gracious man on top of being a phenomenal producer.
He was also married to one of Elvis Presley’s girlfriends whom Elvis was with after he divorced Priscilla. He was also married to Yolanda Hadid (mother of the models Gigi and Bella) and left her for Katherine McPhee (his current wife) while Yolanda was hospitalized and chronically ill. McPhee meanwhile was married to another man and Foster performed at her wedding and basically broke up their marriage.
Here’s the YouTube clip I saw: https://youtu.be/4gfa-plG_ps
Wow, I didn’t realize he performed at McPhee’s wedding and ended up running off w/ the bride later on. Yikes!
And here is another thing. Bruce Jenner married Elvis’ former girlfriend Linda Thompson and a had a few kids with her but he left her for Kris and she was with Foster for a few years. Hollywood. What a shithole.
Exactly, Steven!! They change partners so quickly like musical chairs!!
My plan is to catch Past Lives this week. I have so many theater movies to catch up on. Seeing Asteroid City tonight!
Hope you love Past Lives as much as I do! I haven’t got around to Asteroid City yet, ahah.
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