Happy Labor Day to my fellow Americans! Well, the Summer Movie season is practically over, can’t believe how fast that went. August is kind of a meh month in terms of movie watching, but hey, award season is coming up, so I’m looking forward to seeing some really great Fall movies (Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale, Hamnet, Project Hail Mary, just to name a few) in the next few months.
Hey, even Daniel Day-Lewis is back from retirement in a new film directed by his son Ronan, Anemone. I’m curious about that film just to see him, though the trailer looked really bleak.
AUGUST VIEWINGS ON LETTERBOXD
(In the order of my rating)
I saw 14 new films in August, two of which are documentaries and one animated feature, The Glassworker. It’s the first Pakistani hand-drawn animated film.
FULL REVIEWS
Suspended in Time | Highest 2 Lowest | EDEN | East Of Wall
The Dry 2 | The Roses | The Thursday Murder Club | Folktales
Revisiting Roman Holiday
REVIEWS COMING SOON:
The Glassworker
A Little Prayer
Match in a Haystack
MINI REVIEWS
Batman & Bill*
A lot of people, myself included, believe that Bob Kane is the one who created Batman, but that’s only part of the story. The documentary highlights Marc Tyler Nobleman‘s quest to uncover the history of Bill Finger, his role in shaping the Batman mythos from the initial idea to the costume, and how Bob Kane received all the initial and later recognition, only to deny Finger’s significant contributions until his later years. While Bruce Wayne is known as Batman’s alter ego, the real creator has always been somewhat of an enigma until now.
Directed by Sheena M. Joyce and Don Argott, this is such an eye-opening documentary that completely changed my opinion about Bob Kane and those who enabled him to keep up such a huge lie for so long. I love the use of a comic strip as a storytelling method, and the investigative journey that is very much in line with the character of the Dark Knight itself. The Batman film where Bill finally got a credit is 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Nobleman’s reaction when he saw it on the big screen was quite emotional. I highly recommend this for every fan of Batman comics/movies, etc., to check out this documentary; it’s streaming on HULU.
Winter Spring Summer or Fall*
I’m not exactly a big fan of teen romance, but the thought of seeing Jenna Ortega in a rom-com piqued my interest. Plus, it’s directed by a woman, and it’s a shorter film, which was just right for my flight entertainment from Boston. Ortega is a charming actress, and she has great chemistry with Percy Hynes White (who was great in My Old Ass), but the plot is really thin, and the ending, which is reminiscent of Notting Hill, is off-puttingly saccharine. At times, the movie even resembles a promotional video for Harvard University, considering Ortega’s character’s admiration for the Ivy League school. The movie is just over 90 minutes long, but it still could use better editing.
52 Films By Women – 2025 Challenge
I am once again participating in this challenge. Per Women In Film (WIF) organization, the basic rules 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 saw 4 new-to-me films #directedbywomen in August, which brings the year tally to 38, so 14 more to go until goal!! I’m really hoping that there will be more female-directed movies during award season, so I can at least come close to last year’s tally of 63. I ranked the movies on Letterboxd; you can follow my #52FilmsByWomen list as I will be updating it regularly.
TV WATCHES
Julian Fellowes has done it again! The Gilded Age season 3 is just as good as the previous two, and the stakes get even higher. I really wish I had the time to write a proper review of this series because it’s such an underrated gem that deserves to win a ton of awards. As much as I enjoyed Downton Abbey, I feel that The Gilded Age is far more complex, intriguing, and intense.
To those unfamiliar with the show, it dives into the conflicts between old and new money in the US, primarily in New York. Fellowes takes it up a notch in season 3 by intensifying the themes of racial inequality through Peggy Scott (Denée Benton), a Black aspiring writer who is determined to fight for women’s suffrage and equality. I really appreciate how Peggy’s story gets more focus this season, particularly her love story with the charming doctor, William Kirkland (Jordan Donica).
Bertha’s ruthlessness knows no bounds… poor Gladys is now a Duchess, and the episode leading to her wedding to the cash-strapped Duke is quite harrowing. Carrie Coon is simply perfect as Bertha, and she wears those amazing frocks with aplomb; she never lets the over-the-top costumes upstage her. Ok, so maybe I will dedicate a post to this series after all, as there are simply too many to write about.
I’m halfway through Netflix’s Untamed series right now. I started watching after seeing The Dry 2, as Eric Bana is always watchable. It’s an intriguing murder mystery set in Yosemite National Park. Fun seeing another fave Aussie, Sam Neill, as a recurring character, too!
AUGUST MOVIE OF THE MONTH
The Thursday Murder Club
This is easily my fave movie of August! I hope Netflix will make more of this murder mystery series. This witty, lighthearted whodunnit makes great use of its stellar British cast. The tone is laid-back and playful, yet it’s still got enough twists and surprising turns to keep mystery enthusiasts happy.
FLIXCHATTER FILM BLOG 
I’m surprised by the good reviews The Thursday Murder Club is getting although I could not convince my mom to see it as she doesn’t like movies about murders and such. I might check it out. My Blind Spot pick in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is my pick of the month although really. It’s the new revival of King of the Hill. I’ve been binging on the old seasons as it is like an old friend returning and reminding me of how good TV was back then. I am eager for the next season.
I still can’t believe how fast this summer has gone by! It still feel like it was yesterday that it was spring. Lol! Speaking of spring, I thought Project Hail Mary is opening in March of next year. Did they move it up to this fall? It looks good.
I saw more new movies than usual last month. My favorite is Highest 2 Lowest, even though the theater I saw it at was crap. But it was only $10 to for a ticket. Lol! I finally watched The Dry, it was good. I have the second one on my to watch list next. Then I finally saw Kingdom of Planet of the Apes, it has some good ideas but it was way too long and there’s not much going on and the lack of action was surprising. Lastly, I watched Head of State. It was surprisingly entertaining but I wish they made it a hard R-rated like the 90s action films and rely less on CGI action scenes.
I started watching Chief of War on Apple TV, so far it’s okay. They are basically trying to emulate Showgun. I also started on Peacemaker season 2. I’m looking forward to watching Slow Horses new season this weekend!
I always think Summer goes by quickly, but this year feels even faster!
Hey, glad that you enjoyed Highest 2 Lowest more, I still can’t get past how terrible the music is, ugh! It kinda ruins it for me, which is too bad as it’s a music-themed film. it made me think, was Jon Batiste or Kris Bower not available??
Anyhoo, The Dry is good, but the sequel is just ok. I finished UNTAMED, not sure about the twist ending though, there’s so much going on in that final episode.
Ahah, funny that you said Chief of War is trying to emulate Shogun, and AppleTV sure has all the money to aim for that.
I’m excited for more SLOW HORSES, yay!
I don’t know who Jon Batiste and Kris Bower are but have they worked with Spike Lee in the past? One thing I respect about Lee is that he will always give new talents a shot by hiring them to work on his films. Heck, he’s one of the few brand name directors that will hire female cinematographers to shoot his films. Also, Cryan Cloogler is doing the same thing. He hired a female cinematographer to shoot Sinners and I hope Autumn Durald gets nominate for the Oscar.
But yes, the score in Highest 2 Lowest was not great. I would’ve prefer that Lee followed the original’s film by not having any background music until the second half.
The main issues with Chief of War of is that the conflicts between the tribes in Hawaiian Islands are not that intriguing like in Shogun. For sure, Apple didn’t mind spending the money on the series since it looks very expensive.
I didn’t like the “twist” for UNTAMED either. I thought it felt a bit tacked on. Let’s hope they will come up with a better twist for season 2.
Jon Batiste and Kris Bowers are two of the best black composers working today, and since the music label where Denzel works is a champion of Black music, I’d think it make sense to hire a black composer or at least someone who understands it better, like Ludwig Göransson who often works with Ryan Coogler.
I love that Lee supports new talents, that’s very cool of him!
Yeah, the season finale seems a bit rushed and I’m not crazy about that twist, though maybe they just want to give Sam Neill something to do? He’s practically the kind, benevolent grandpa until that point.
I see, I don’t follow the music business, so when you mentioned their names, I was like, who? Lol! Ludwig Göransson would’ve done wonders for Highest 2 Lowest film’s score. But Lee has worked mostly with a composer named Terence Blanchard for most of films. Blanchard is not a brand named composer in the film’s business but I wonder why Lee didn’t hire him for this film.
When Spike Lee started out in the film business, he struggled mightily because there were not that many black filmmakers. So, I think that’s why he’s willing to give new talents, especially women and people of color a chance by hiring them to work on his films. He knew what it was like as a minority trying to get into that world.
The Thursday Murder Club is right up there for me.
Surprisingly, I enjoyed Bridgette Jones: Mad About the Boy.
The month went by in a frenzied blur of TV watching, now I can’t seem to remember much at all, except for 2 non movies – The Penguin & The Pitt. (and how much I could not stand, I repeat “could not stand” Severance.)
Thanks for the recap, Ruth!
Oh, I’ll be looking for Batman and Bill!
& Kudos for keeping up the 52 Films by Women!
Oh I enjoyed the latest Bridget Jones as well, saw it a couple of months ago.
The Thursday Murder Club is so delightful, I don’t even mind seeing it again. I hear ya about SEVERANCE, I gave it a shot because everyone raved about it. I liked S1 but somehow I couldn’t muster up interest to keep watching, overall it’s just not an entertaining series.
You gotta check out Batman & Bill, it’s really shocking how a creator could be simply erased like that.
I’m hoping I can beat last year’s tally of 52 Films By Women… wish me luck! XOXO
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