Films That I Saw: July 2024

 

Summer has officially begun and… IT’S HOT AS FUCK!!!!! Honestly, this is ridiculous heat for June and thank goodness I had gotten some money to repair a tube in the air conditioning two months ago. Seriously, this is not a good time to go outside these days and why would anyone want to go in 90-to-100-degree weather with horrible humidity. The fact that more than 1,300 pilgrims died at Mecca during Haji season is terrible while something happened to a friend of my mother where her grandchild’s car seat nearly went on fire because of the heat and thank goodness she got the kid out in time. My niece and nephew usually would want to go outside but this heat has forced them to stay in the house. Watch Disney+ or YouTube while I was fortunate to download a few games for Mateo to play including some learning games.

I’m just glad that I can stay home while my mother and I can pick up my niece and nephew during noon at a therapy center for them since they’re autistic as we would go to Chik-Fil-A once a week as the kids really like the food there and Mateo likes to play in the indoor playground at the place. I am aware of some of the horrible social/business affiliations the franchise has but I am more concerned with my niece and nephew eating good food and having a good time. Right now, I am just indifferent when it comes to politics and social matters. Plus, I am so over these fucking climate protesters who are just a nuisance in disrupting events and wreaking havoc at museums and certain world landmarks. What did Stonehenge ever do to them? Honestly, these protesters should be knocked on their asses by dancing dwarves with Spinal Tap playing in the background.

It has been five years since the passing of my father as I do think about him every now and then as I have learned some things about why this troubled relationship between my father and his sisters has been as if they have done some horrible things to him. One of my uncles who is married to one of those bitches fucked over my dad over money as there used to be this tradition where my parents, my sisters, and I would drive to Newnan every Christmas Eve to spend the holidays with them as it was a fucking bore. I hated going there and then in 2000, I told them “I’m not going” as I chose to stay home. The last time they went to that awful house was during the Christmas holidays in 2008 when my dad found out that my uncle had spent the money that was owed to my dad on these new trucks he bought. It pissed him off and my aunts were saying awful things about my youngest sister Cynthia who was at the party as my mother got mad as they left the party as they came home much earlier than I expected to as they were pissed. A month later, Cynthia died as my aunts were in my house for much of that month and it was terrible.

I tend to think that my sister’s passing, a lot of the toxic attitudes of my relatives from my father’s side, and all sorts of personal issues are what led to my own depression in 2010. My mother had told me about what they did as we have not seen them in five years and want nothing to do with them. I can forgive my father for his faults and issues as there were moments that were difficult. However, I cannot forgive my father’s siblings for not just lying to him and saying awful things about my mother, myself, and my siblings. They also stole from us and took advantage of us as they were envious of us because we had what we needed. Sure, they had bigger houses and all this lame shit with some horrible people around them, but they lack character, taste, and love.

In the month of June 2024, I saw a total of 23 films in 12 first timers and 11 re-watches with one first-timer being a film directed by a woman as part of the 52 Films by Women pledge. Not a bad month although I didn’t have much time to watch a lot of things due to the presence of my niece and nephew though I did get a major highlight this month in my Blind Spot film in The Informer. Here are the top ten first timers that I saw for June 2024:

1. Inside Out 2

2. Tori & Lokita

3. The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar

4. Lady Chatterley’s Lover

5. The Unknown Girl

6. Wham!

7. The Ratcatcher

8. Michael Hutchence: Mystify

9. The Swan

10. City Hunter

Monthly Mini-Reviews/What Else I’m Watching

Mystify: Michael Hutchence

INXS is truly one of the great acts from Australia as their approach to post-punk, funk, pop, and rock n’ roll has made them one of the most enduring acts of the 1980s and 1990s. This documentary about its late singer Michael Hutchence is a fascinating film that explores a man who was truly one of the greatest frontmen ever in rock n’ roll as he had the look, charisma, voice, and a quality that few singers have had ever since. The documentary is told through archival footage as well as audio interviews from those who knew him including his bandmates in INXS, managers, Bono, other musicians, and a few of his former girlfriends including Kylie Minogue and Helena Christensen. It does have a few flaws as it doesn’t do enough to explore some of his solo work while he was still in INXS, but it does tell a lot about his own insecurities and faults as it would escalate in August of 1992 when he got into a fight with an angry cab driver in Copenhagen where Hutchence fell on a street curb. The injury would not just cost him his sense of smell but also some changes as the film also had some revelations about his chaotic relationship with Paula Yates and everything that led to his suicide in November of 1997. It is a film worth seeing not just to know more about Hutchence but also essential for fans of INXS.

D.I.Y. Duck

This 3-minute short film from Disney Animation Studios that celebrates Donald Duck’s 90th birthday is a hilarious hand-drawn animated short in which Donald is hoping to read a book only for the lamp to not work. He tries to install a new lightbulb, but it does not work where he would constantly travel to a hardware store to get a bunch of things as everything goes wrong. It is truly what to expect in a Donald Duck short, but it is so fun to watch.

Wham!

This documentary from Netflix about one of the big four acts of the Second British Invasion of the 1980s that included Duran Duran, Culture Club, and Spandau Ballet is about the rise of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley in how they formed this duo that would rule pop music in the 1980s. Directed by Chris Smith and a film that also utilizes archival footage and interviews including some rare and unseen footage left in the vaults. The film shows the formation of this group from two schoolboys who had a love for music with Michael being someone who would get better at it as he would have a grand vision for how he wanted the music to be. Ridgeley’s role proves to be crucial as he was the one that encouraged Michael as part of the reason into why they split up is because Michael wanted to be taken seriously as an artist. Yet, Michael often gave Ridgeley a lot of credit for helping him in gaining the confidence to be a solo artist as this is a phenomenal film to see for not just fans of Wham! It is also a look into the art of pop music and how it took two young British kids to make it big.

City Hunter

Anyone who has followed the career of Jackie Chan will know that this film is not one of his favorites as it does not have much of a plot and it has some dumb and dated jokes that will not fly today. However, it is so fun to watch as it revolves around a detective and his often-neglected assistant, who is his late partner’s daughter, stowing away on a cruise ship where it had been taken over by terrorists. Adding to Chan’s conundrum is that he is hungry for food and is surrounded by beautiful women while trying to protect a business magnate’s daughter. Along the way, lots of shenanigans ensue including some fight scenes where Chan gets some help from Bruce Lee and one of the most hilarious fight sequences ever involving the video game Street Fighter in which Chan plays multiple characters from that game including Chun-Li where he looks beautiful in drag. Just watch the clip below:



Lady Chatterley’s Lover

This film is a true gem and certainly better than I thought it would be as it had a looseness that I did not expect to see and feel. Notably as Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre created something that is different from previous adaptations of D.H. Lawrence’s novel as it is also vastly superior to the famed 1981 film adaptation by Just Jaeckin starring the late, great Sylvia Kristel in the titular role that leaned a bit more towards softcore porn. This version does maintain its approach to explicit nudity but there is a more primal approach to the sex scenes as well as a sense of innocence thanks in part to Emma Corrin’s tremendous performance as Lady Chatterley with Jack O’Connell providing an incredible performance as her lover in the groundskeeper Oliver Mellors. It is a film filled with rich visuals with its usage of hand-held cameras and a majestic score by Isabella Summers. It also has a great supporting cast, including Joely Richardson as Sir Chatterley’s caretaker Mrs. Bolton as it is a bold choice since she played Lady Chatterley in the 1993 TV miniseries.

Who Killed WCW?

From VICE is a new documentary series made by the people of Dark Side of the Ring and co-produced by Dwayne “The Crock” Johnson is about the rise and fall of World Championship Wrestling as it is a four-part documentary series that features interviews with the Crock but also Eric Bischoff, Vince Russo, Diamond Dallas Page, Konnan, Booker T, Brad Siegel, Ted Turner’s son Teddy Jr., Madusa, and others as it talks about how WCW had risen from the ashes of Jim Crockett Promotions for the NWA when it got bought by Ted Turner in 1988 as a regional promotion into a big-time national promotion that was seen by many. The series unfortunately has some holes as it plays into a lot of things that did hurt WCW while they also went into conspiracy theory mode into how it got sold to WWE with several blaming head of Turner Programming in Jamie Kellner who had just died days before the final episode of this series aired.

However, one of the people who is interviewed was someone who wrote a book about WCW as that book revealed that the reason Kellner cancelled WCW programming was because Bischoff and Fusient Media had a clause in their contract over the ownership of the timeslots of TNT and TBS in case WCW programming got cancelled. It is a fine series, but it does not really go into a lot about what killed WCW where it was made to make WWE look great since the Crock is a member of the board of WWE’s new owners in TKO.

The Acolyte (season 1, episodes 1-5)

While I will admit that the show is not perfect and does not reach the heights of other series such as The Mandalorian, Andor, and Ahsoka. I do feel like some of the criticism the show has received has been unfair and it mostly comes from a bunch of whiny fanboys with sand in their vaginas. So far with episodes left in the season, it is a show with a lot of intrigue as it plays into the mystery into the deaths of three Jedi masters in the hands of a young woman trying to prove herself to her mysterious master. Starring Amandla Stenberg in a dual role as long-lost twin sisters Osha and Mae with the former being a former Jedi Padawan who has given up the life to be a mechanic-for-hire while the latter is a young woman seeking revenge on the Jedi masters whom she believed killed her family. Stenberg is impressive as is Lee Jung-Jae as Osha’s former master Sol who is among those that is targeted as it has some great appearances from Carrie Anne-Moss, Jodie Turner-Smith, and Dafne Keen as Sol’s new Padawan Jecki. The most recent episode is the most intense as it includes some serious lightsaber battles and deaths that rock the series as well as the reveal of Mae’s master.

Top 10 Re-Watches

1. Trainspotting

2. Betty Blue

3. Nebraska

4. Inside Out

5. Coco

6. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

7. Pauline

8. Lava

9. Riley’s First Date

10. Termination Man

Well, that is all for June. Coming in July where I hope to watch a couple of theatrical releases in Kinds of Kindness and The Bikeriders while I also hope to watch films by Justine Triet and Michael Mann as the latter of which is for the Auteurs series as I have not gotten started on it. My next Blind Spot film will be Sergio Corbucci’s Django as well as whatever is available on streaming services that I have access to. Before I bid adieu, I want to express my condolences on those who have passed away this month as it includes such giant figures as Willie Mays, Anouk Aimee, Donald Sutherland, Jerry West, and Francoise Hardy along with other notable figures in Martin Mull, music producer Peter Collins, Orlando Cepeda, Sika Anoa’i of the Wild Samoans, Bill Cobbs, Tamayo Perry, editor Bud S. Smith, American football player Darren Lewis, Taylor Wily, No Wave music legend James Chance, costume designer Anthea Sylbert, Buzz Cason, actress Evan Evans, pro wrestler James Castle, voice actress Nancy MacKenzie, Tony Lo Bianco, Yoshiko Kuga, songwriter Mark James, Eric Vu-An, Chet Walker, Kinky Friedman, Larry Allen, and Brother Marquis of 2 Live Crew. Until then, this is thevoid99 signing off…

© thevoid99 2024