Happy February! We’re technically still in Winter in Minnesota, but you wouldn’t know it looking at the weather forecast. We’ve had a mild December and just a few frigid days in January, but it ended with a record-breaking temp. Per MPR, yesterday was the warmest Jan 31 in 150 years in the Twin Cities as temp topped out at 55 degrees on Wednesday afternoon. It broke the previous record of 46 degrees by 9 degrees, whoa! My hubby and I went out for a walk around a nearby lake in a light jacket, and the weird thing was I still saw a few people ice-fishing in the middle of the frozen lake! That’s Minnesotans for ya!

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In any case, here’s what I watched last month:

NEW MOVIES

(films indicated with * are directed by women)

Memory

I first heard of this film when news came out that Peter Sarsgaard won Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival last year. Somehow his name dropped off the radar come award season, which is a shame as his performance was terrific here. It’s a well-acted two-hander starring Sarsgaard and the always-watchable Jessica Chastain, Memory is a deeply layered and moving drama about past trauma and finding connection when you least expect it. It can be slow and tough to watch at times but well worth your time just for the lead performances alone.

Leo

This was a really cute animated movie with Adam Sandler, Bill Burr, Cecily Strong (who’s so funny on SNL, I miss her!). The idea of a 74-year-old lizard named Leo and his turtle friend escaping their Florida school terrarium is quite a hoot. I was expecting a silly fish-out-of-water (well, a lizard-out-of-its-terrarium in this case) comedy, but LEO turns out to be quite a gem of a movie about unlikely friendships, loyalty, and aging gracefully, plus there are some life lessons delivered in a fun but endearing way. Oh, just so you know, this is an animated musical, but the songs are catchy and entertaining!

Poor Things (review)

Gran Turismo

I grew up loving cars thanks to my twin brothers, and my late brother used to play the Gran Turismo video game. What I didn’t realize was that this movie is based on a true story where gamers get to compete in real racing cars, thanks to crazy but ingenious ideas by a Nissan marketing exec (Orlando Bloom). I had just seen Archie Madekwe in Saltburn but he gets to flex his acting chops in a leading role here. The movie centers on two underdogs, Jann the gamer (Madekwe) and a failed former race driver Jack (David Harbour) working together to achieve the impossible. Overall I find it more enjoyable than Ferrari and the racing scenes, including the crashes, are well-staged, it uses CGI in an effective way to showcase the video game elements that enhance its storytelling. I was surprised that Neill Blomkamp directed this, I haven’t liked anything he’s done since District 9 in 2009.

Anatomy of a Fall*

Origin* (review)

Wingwomen* (Voleuses)

Mélanie Laurent directs and stars in this French action comedy… the tone is a bit off but manages to still be quite entertaining thanks to exhilarating high-octane action and the fun chemistry of the female cast, notably Adèle Exarchopoulos.

True Spirit*

An incredible true story of Australian teenager Jessica Watson, the youngest person ever to sail solo non-stop around the world. The subject matter is so fascinating that it deserves a much more compelling movie! Wish they gave the talented Cliff Curtis something worthy to do here.

Rebel Moon Part One: A Child of Fire

My goodness, where do I start?? I was curious to see if this is as bad as the critics say… well, as it turns out they’re spot on. This is the most inept, boring, pointless movie… not sure why people even compliment the visuals as it’s visually garish + ugly! Apparently, the project started out as Zack Snyder’s space opera concept pitch to Lucasfilm that got rejected. Well, Star Wars isn’t the only thing Snyder mined for inspiration, the 135-minute overlong slog is a chaotic compilation of so many better sci-fi fantasy franchises: Lord of the Rings, Avatar, Magnificent Seven, Kurosawa samurai epics, and so on. It’s such a waste of the talented cast, with Charlie Hunnam being the only bright spot (the one star is mostly for him) but wish he picked a better movie. This is by far the worst movie I saw of the entire month, probably of the year, too.

NYAD*

review upcoming

Priscilla*

review upcoming

Argylle

review upcoming

Silent Night*

Watch my trailer post about this dark comedy here

review upcoming

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TV SERIES

I managed to finish two miniseries this month! Love both of them… I’ve written a review of BODIES, and will write about Lessons in Chemistry later this month. I highly recommend both of them, it’s time absolutely well-spent!

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Per Women In Film (WIF) organization, the basic rules of 52 Films By Women are simple: watch 52 films directed by women within 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’m starting the year strong with no less than seven movies #directedbywomen – woot! During the second week of January, I watched four female-directed movies back to back: Anatomy of a Fall, ORIGIN, Wingwomen, and True Spirit, then added the other 3: NYAD, Priscilla, and Silent Night in the last week of the month.

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JANUARY 2024 MOVIE OF THE MONTH

I saw Poor Things much later than I would have liked but it was well worth the long wait!! It ends up making up my top 3 of the year, beating out Oppenheimer! It’s currently my favorite of Yorgos Lanthimos‘ work, though I have yet to see Killing of a Sacred Deer. Bravo to Emma Stone for her spectacular performance and for getting her first Oscar nom as a producer!

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So what did you see in January and which one(s) are your favorites?

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