Films That I Saw: November 2023

 

We’re one month into the new year and it’s usually my favorite time of the month as I just love the Xmas holidays as my mother and I have already put our Xmas tree along with decorations inside the house as my niece and nephew are also excited. Still, it doesn’t change the fact that not everyone is going to have a happy Xmas holiday as there’s so much happening as well as chaos in the Middle East between Israel and Palestine. Even as it’s become a subject that some aren’t willing to talk about so that they wouldn’t upset anyone as there’s so much shit that people tend to get pissed off. It is what the world has become as I’ve become numb to the point where I don’t want to get into it. With Univision becoming MAGAvision as my mother refuses to watch that shit while there’s other things that we don’t want to deal with.

Of course for anyone that has read this blog and know that I’m a wrestling fan would want me to talk about CM Punk returning to WWE and honestly. I really don’t want to as I don’t give a fuck about him returning to WWE and I don’t give a fuck about what he has to say. I don’t care anymore because why would I want to listen or talk about whiny, hypocritical, salty bitch who believes in his own bullshit. Besides, I have other things to watch and I’m glad I don’t have cable as I haven’t watched USA in almost a decade. Yes, there’s fanboys and Stans that every fan has to deal with and honestly, fuck them. I’ll stick to AEW and New Japan and what else is good as long as it’s not NWA as that company is a fucking joke.

In the month of November 2023, I saw a total of 21 films in 11 first-timers and 10 re-watches with four first-timers being films directed/co-directed by women as part of the 52 Films by Women pledge as I’ve past that pledge so far by 10 films right now. One of the highlights of the month has been my Blind Spot pick in Eight Hours Don't Make a Day. Here are the top 10 first-timers that I saw for November 2023:

1. Petite Maman

2. Priscilla

3. Long Day's Journey Into Night

4. Vortex

5. Now and Then: The Last Beatles Song

6. Good Thanks, You?

7. Yuki’s Sun

8. The Marvels

9. The Smile-Wall of Eyes

10. Marvel Studios Assembled: The Making of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

Monthly Mini-Reviews/What Else I’m Watching

Now and Then: The Beatles Last Song



I remember when I first heard about The Beatles’ Anthology series as it was to include new songs based on demos that John Lennon created as only two songs were created in Free As a Bird and Real Love. I did hear about a third song that was meant to be created but it was never finished as I thought it wasn’t going to happen. This 12-minute documentary short is about Now and Then as into why this song was never finished back in the mid-1990s because the quality of Lennon’s cassette wasn’t good as it got shelved. Thanks the A.I. based technology that Peter Jackson created as Lennon’s voice is finally heard in full form as the final song itself is just beautiful. There’s elements in the song that moved me including Paul McCartney’s sliding guitar solo that sounds like something George Harrison would’ve created as it is the Beatles back for one last moment of triumph. I wished my dad was alive to hear this song in person as he would’ve loved it.



Yuki’s Sun

One of two short films from MUBI that I watched as this short is one of the earliest shorts that Hayao Miyazaki made as it was originally intended to be a TV pilot relating to a young girl and her adventures while trying to find her birth mother. It is a short that has a lot of what Miyazaki would be known for as well as being this lively four minute short that every fan of his needs to see.

Good Thanks, You?

The second short from MUBI that I saw is from Molly Manning Walker in this short film about the aftermath of a rape. It plays into a woman who has been silent over what had happened to her as she is uncomfortable telling people as she isn’t sure if the authorities would do anything about it. It is a chilling 13-minute film that features a phenomenal performance from Jasmine Jobson as she exhibits the anguish as it plays into a woman dealing with what has happened to her.

Marvel Studios Assembled: The Making of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

The documentary that came out this past summer was something I had in my watchlist on Disney+ as I decided to watch it as it is good documentary though I still have no desire to re-watch Quantumania. Still, I think the work of the production crew including the makeup team, the costume designers, and art directors is solid as they really did a lot of work into the film. The documentary also revealed how Kathryn Newton was cast into the film as Cassie Lang as she originally auditioned to be in Hawkeye as Kate Bishop as there’s an audition she did with Jeremy Renner as it is a good audition though Hailee Steinfeld was the right person to play Bishop. Still, it is something worth watching as the cast and crew interviews are a joy to watch despite the fact that the final film was a disappointment.

The Smile-Wall of Eyes



The Smile is set to release a new album next year as they released a new single and a video directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. The video features Thom Yorke in a surreal moment as there’s a bunch of versions of Yorke as the video is strange yet entrancing to watch. Notably as it plays into some of the textures of the song as the Smile has become this amazing project Yorke and Jonny Greenwood has created with Tom Skinner of Sons of Kemet as they’re an amazing band. Still, I do ponder the status of Radiohead as I do hope they return to make a new album and do that dream double-bill tour with Nine Inch Nails.

Loki (season 2, episodes 5 & 6)

The last two episodes of the season might also be the last episode of the series as it relates to Loki’s own adventure to not only save the Sacred Timeline but also for the fact that he’s become someone that actually cares. Especially with the people he has befriended while also dealing with things are complicated as Tom Hiddleston does give a career-defining performance as the titular character who does make a major sacrifice in its finale in a role that he is willing to take but also with a price that he has accepted as it’s all part of his idea of glorious purpose. The second season is incredible as it not only creates some new twists and turns into what these characters have to deal with but also who they were before they were taken by the TVA forcing them to make some serious changes as it relates to the multiverse. If this is really a series finale then it is a damn good one though it does make me sad that we might not get that family reunion between Thor and Loki.

Wrestling Match of the Month: Swerve Strickland (w/ Prince Nana) vs. Hangman Adam Page in a Texas Death Match – AEW Full Gear – 11/18/23



I’ve seen some violent matches in my lifetime as there’s some that was from Lucha Underground that I don’t want to re-watch as it left me squeamish along with some of the stuff that is happening in GCW with their death matches. This match between Swerve Strickland and Hangman Adam Page went far and beyond what a Texas Death Match should be as violent is just understating what these two men did. This was a personal match as it relates to Strickland trying to push Page’s buttons to the point that he broke into Page’s home and went into his baby’s room as that was reason for Page to want to go to war. Both men put a lot into this match as well as some moments that are just goddamn disgusting as it would involve cinder blocks, barbed-wire wrapped chairs, staple guns, broken glass, barbed-wire wrapped tables, and chains. This is not a match for everyone and certainly not for the faint of heart but goddamn it. This is what hardcore wrestling should be as this is already a match of the year candidate in a sea of great wrestling matches this year.

Top 10 Re-Watches

1. Ratatouille

2. When Nirvana Came to Britain

3. Frozen II

4. Somewhere in Dreamland

5. Sofia Coppola’s the Little Mermaid

6. A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving

7. Riley’s First Date?

8. Tarzan

9. Why You’ve Never Met the 4th Haim Sister

10. Santa’s Workshop

Well, that is all for November. Next month, there will be some films I hope to catch up on as well as some new films with The Seduction of Mimi being the final Blind Spot for the year as I’ve finalized the list for next year’s Blind Spot Series. I also want to make note that I have updated and expanded my Auteurs piece on Sofia Coppola as it has now given me the boost to hopefully finish my Auteurs essay on Kelly Reichardt which I hope to have done before the end of the year.

Before I leave, I want to express my condolences towards those who have passed away this month in the following such as Henry Kissinger, Rosalynn Carter, Frances Sternhagen, Joss Ackland, Scott Kempner of the Dictators, Geordie Walker of Killing Joke, Marty Krofft, Terry Venables, visual effects artist Marc Thorpe, Green Bay Packers player Jim Carter, former Atlanta Braves player Preston Hanna, saxophonist Mars Williams, Peter Spellos, Suzanne Shepherd, singer Sandy Farina, Spiros Focas, astronaut Frank Borman, Janet Landgard, Evan Ellingson, original Stone Roses bassist Pete Garner, Wei Wei, and earlier today, Shane McGowan of the Pogues. This is thevoid99 signing off…



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