Films That I Saw: May 2016

The summer is coming as a lot of things are heating up in a world as I’ve feel more at odds and out of step with what is going on. I have stated about my opinions towards Donald Trump but now, I found myself feeling lost as I’m not sure what to do. I’m definitely not voting for Trump as I think he’s an evil person. I don’t know if I want to vote for Hilary Clinton or Bernie Sanders as I don’t know if they really mean what they say. All of the stuff about Clinton’s emails and all sorts of stuff has me suspicious while Sanders have amassed supporters who have become just as extreme as Trump’s supporters. If this is what it’s going to become, I don’t think I want to be a part of this anymore as I think all of this has become a circus. It’s likely Clinton will win the Democratic nomination and it’s made me uneasy. If I’m at the point of voting for her as she’s the lesser evil of Trump and the country gets fucked up. I’ll blame myself for voting for her but I’ll live with that guilt.

Things at home aren’t going great either as my water heater just went dead and it’s going to cost nearly a thousand dollars to get a new one and for the installation. At the same time, other financial issues forced my parents to switch to another digital cable provider from U-Verse to Direct TV. I find myself baffled for some strange reasons as the last time this happened where we were supposed to switch from Dish Network to ATT U-Verse. There was a film by Rainer Werner Fassbinder film that I had recorded and was hoping to see. Instead, the switch forced me not to see that film along with several others that was in the Dish Network DVR hard drive. Now this has happened again where this time around, two more Fassbinder films that appeared on TCM had been recorded and it’s likely that I’m not going to watch them. All because of money. I really think it’s one of the most evil things that has ever existed as people will do things for a dollar.

In the month of May, I saw a total of 41 films in 29 first-timers and 12 re-watches. Definitely a few films up from last month as it was a good month as one of the highlights I saw this month is my Blind Spot assignment in Yi Yi. Here are the top 10 First-Timers of May 2016:

1. Love & Mercy

2. Fight Club

3. Love and Anarchy

4. The Dance of Reality

5. Salaam Bombay!

6. Captain America: Civil War

7. Leviathan

8. Selma

9. The Hunt

10. The Salt of the Earth

Monthly Mini-Reviews

Like Minds

A 2006 film that is the first feature film Eddie Redmayne is in is an ok thriller due to the performances of Redmayne and Toni Collette where the latter plays a criminal psychologist that is trying to help Redmayne. They’re good in the film as it has some intriguing aspects of death and resurrection but some of it eventually becomes silly as it also features Tom Sturridge as a creepy student as his performance is just fucking crap.

Prince: A Purple Reign

Given the fact that Prince’s passing is still fresh on a lot of people’s minds. I was fortunate to see a BBC documentary on YouTube about Prince’s life and career from the beginning to the mid-2000s of when the doc was made. It features interviews from a few associates including Jill Jones and Dez Dickerson but also tell a lot of insight into his career including his battle with Warner Brothers in the 1990s. It’s a must-see any fan of Prince though it is flawed as let’s hope someone would make a definitive documentary on the man who wowed us all.

Fantastic Four

Now this is not as bad as many people claim to be as I don’t think this is one of the worst films ever made. Yet, that is the only good thing I can say about it as it is still pretty fucking bad as it actually made the two previous ones look decent at best. It’s not just that the script fell short where not only do the actors aren’t given much to work with. It’s also the fact that the film tried too hard to be something different and gritty only to lose sight of what it is about. Four kids who accidentally are given powers as they cope with it and work together. It’s obvious there was a lot of post-production tinkering and other things that prevented the film in being decent as the result is just downright terrible. I think it’s time for Marvel to get the rights of the characters back and for fuck’s sake. Put some fucking pants on the Thing.

Paper Towns

I’m usually not fond of trends as I could care less about this wave of young adult adaptations but this one however was actually pretty good. Notably because of Nat Wolff who managed to sell the confusion and determination of his character who goes on a trip to find the girl that he loves as he used to be friends with her since they were kids. It’s got a good soundtrack as well as moments that are fun though it does play into many of the clichés that goes on in high school. Still, I think it is worth checking out no matter how flawed it is.

Entourage

I used to be a fan of the show as I enjoyed its exploration into the world of Hollywood and what actors had to do to survive as well as needing the support of its friends. Then at the end of the fifth season just as it was going into territory that explored failure and teasing a dissolution between friends. They dropped the ball and the show hadn’t been good since. The film isn’t just like much of the silliness and overblown aspects of the final season but it’s also far worse where it is a bunch of guys dealing with egos, how many girls they can sleep with, status, money, cars, and all of that bullshit. Not only did I not begin to care about these characters but I really found myself being aghast over everything and everyone. I also wanted to pummel Haley Joel Osment to a bloody pulp as this investor’s son who wants to go for the ride and sleep with Emily Ratajkowski. I hate this film, I really fucking hated it. It is truly one of the worst films that I had ever seen and now wish that fucking show never existed. Fuck this movie!

Top 10 Re-Watches:

1. Mad Max: Fury Road

2. Batman

3. Monsters Inc.

4. Road House

5. Seduced and Abandoned

6. John Leguizamo: Ghetto Klown

7. Wolf

8. American Pie 2

9. The Cowboy Way

10. Only You

Well, that is all for May. Aside from a few films in my DVR that I might get a chance to see before I change cable providers. I’m not sure what I want to do as the only theatrical releases that I really want to see are Love & Friendship and The Neon Demon. Other than a couple of films by Bob Fosse for the upcoming Auteurs piece on him, that is pretty much it. In my music blog, I hope to listen to more albums as well as finish my list on all of Prince’s albums ranked as I took a break on it as it was overwhelming. That will be the first of a series of lists I hope to do as I’ve already decided on the second one to be on the Cure whom I hope to see later in June. Until then, this is thevoid99 signing off…

© thevoid99 2016