Happy First Day of September, folks! Well, even though the last day of Summer in the Northern Hemisphere isn’t until September 22, the ‘ber’ months have begun, which means Summer days are definitely numbered. It’s also the first MN Summer during a pandemic… where we, citizens of the world, had to cope with self-quarantine and stay-at-home order. I can’t even remember the last time I actually went to the movie theater!
Well, my hubby and I finally decided we’ll be seeing TENET this weekend!! The theater would only operate in 50% capacity by blocking seats, and they’re committed to take strategic measures in accordance of CDC, WHO and local health authority guidelines. Of course we’ll be wearing our masks while inside the theater.
So anyway, stay tuned for my review of TENET… in the meantime, here are movies I saw this month:
New-to-me Movies
I watched first two on this list, The Ottoman Lieutenant and The Promise, back to back. I wasn’t all that impressed by The Ottoman Lieutenant with its rather cheesy love triangle, but was curious to read about the history behind the film. So I went to Wikipedia and was inspired to watch The Promise right away upon reading it. Apparently both films were within a month of each other in 2017. Per Wiki, the perceived similarities between the films resulted in accusations that The Ottoman Lieutenant existed to deny the Armenian genocide in 1915.
Man I wish I had known that before I watched the movie. It’s so disturbing how the Armenian genocide inspired Hitler and the Nazis in exterminating the Jews two decades later. Any piece of art that tries to deny/shift blame about something so atrocious as systematic mass murder has no right to exist. Even if the film were good, in this case it wasn’t, I still think it should not have been made, let alone released publicly. I’m surprised Sir Ben Kingsley (whose most famous role is in Schindler’s List!) was part of the cast!
I’m hoping I could write more about The Promise, which is a far better film of the two, and was actually based on historical events. It was directed by Terry George (Hotel Rwanda) and had a great cast – Oscar Isaac, Christian Bale, Charlotte Le Bon and Marwan Kenzari.
The Ottoman Lieutenant
The Promise
The Personal History of David Copperfield (review upcoming)
Project Power (read Ted’s review)
EuroVision Song Contest (read Vitali’s review)
TV Shows/Miniseries
BBC’s Miranda
Black Mirror (Season 4) – Crocodile + USS Callister
ITV/PBS’ Victoria (season 2)
BBC’s The Night Manager
Rewatches
Sleepless In Seattle | The Rocketeer | Cinderella | Tarzan | Casino Royale | Netflix’s MEDICI: THE MAGNIFICENT
Since I still have Disney+ subscription, I decided to rewatch some of Disney favorites (though I actually owned The Rocketeer and Cinderella blurays, ahah). I know I’ve been talking about MEDICI a lot lately, trust me… I will unveil my massive two-part Medici appreciation post in the next week or so!
MOVIE OF THE MONTH
The Personal History of David Copperfield
I had been wanting to see this since it came out last Fall in the UK. Its US release was supposed to be in May this year, but of course it was delayed due to Covid-19. Well, it was well worth the wait! Even though I’m actually not that familiar w/ this Charles Dickens’ classic (I think the only two I’m familiar with are A Christmas Carol and Great Expectations), I really enjoyed the film. Dev Patel did a fantastic job as the lead, a result of brilliant color-blind casting, and further proves he’s a versatile actor. I can’t wait to see him tackle yet another classic character that’s typically played by a Caucasian actor… The Green Knight.
Well that’s my viewing recap of August. What about you, and what’s YOUR favorite film of the month?
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