Films That I Saw: April 2024

 

Well this has been a crazy month as Dookie Tank is now in trial while also getting destroyed by Jimmy Kimmel to our enjoyment. Things between Israel and Gaza Strip has gotten worse with Israel also beefing with Iran after blowing their embassy in Syria. Pro-Palestinian protests are now emerging in college campuses in the U.S. though some are claiming this is a form of anti-Semitism (it’s not) while Old Fart Joe Biden is definitely losing support because he’s a fucking pussy. Even though I like to keep in touch with what is going on in the real world, I much prefer to keep myself distracted with other things such as film, games, sports, and pro wrestling. Yet, being a pro wrestling fan is a complicated thing as much as I want to support AEW. Tony Khan is definitely not a boss as he tends to say stupid shit and also does some stupid things including airing the infamous backstage brawl between CM Punk and Jack Perry from AEW All In last year that led to the firing of the former. That was a move that pissed me off as I didn’t watch AEW for a week as that was the kind of shit that reminded me why I stopped watching WCW in early 2000 as that company would be gone a year later.

This has made AEW look bad as it was a stupid rating stunt as rating still went down the week after as well as the fact that they’re going through declining attendances and interest while WWE is still going strong following the events of WrestleMania 40. While AEW does succeed with their pro wrestling matches including the match between Will Ospreay and Bryan Danielson at AEW Dynasty is already considered one of the best matches of the year. Great matches isn’t enough as AEW needs to do better to get a wider audience but also maintain their own identity. They should be lucky they’re not the NWA as they’re just a section on an app for the CW network due to a stupid stunt last October that cost them a lucrative TV deal.

Being away from the chaos that is reality is something I need to do as I’ve been dealing with terrible allergies that has now affected my mother terribly as I had to take her to Urgent Care this past weekend. This year’s pollen season has been horrible as it is why I didn’t go out very much this month even though I still have things to do at home. Especially as I had some news recently that is going to be helpful for me this year as I’m now set to get a brand new laptop much sooner than I realized. Even as it’s going to help me fix a few things in the house as well as getting some things that will give me more access to films. The timing of it is weird but it’s still made me happy as I’m currently writing on the laptop I bought back in 2017 that’s in decent-good condition though there’s a few buttons that I have to press harder in order to write. Once I get the new laptop, I will sell the one I’m using right now after I finish transferring all of my personal data.

If there’s one thing as a blogger who likes to write about films that is frustrating. It’s when you have things planned for a certain time as you’re about to get ready only for things to not go your way. Ever since I completed my Auteurs piece on Kelly Reichardt last December as it had been dormant for four years, I had spent months making preparations for what was supposed to be the next subject in J.C. Chandor but then news about his upcoming film Kraven the Hunter as it had been delayed multiple times with plans set to be released this coming August. Well, that is not going to happen as the film is being pushed to December as that ruined my plans as he’s now being pushed to next year. Instead, I have decided that Michael Mann will be the next subject as I hope to have that ready for the summer followed by David Lean and then Damien Chazelle for the rest of the year with Chandor and Robert Eggers set for next year.

In the month of April 2024, I saw a total of 25 films in 15 first-timers and 10 re-watches with six of these first-timers being films directed/co-directed by women as part of the 52 Films by Women pledge. One of the highlights of the month has been my Blind Spot in Greed. Here are the top 10 first-timers that I saw for April 2024:

1. The Turin Horse

2. The Ballad of Narayama

3. Age of Panic

4. Pinball

5. A Song of Love

6. Life is the Greatest Odyssey

7. Visitation

8. The Night

9. El Doctor

10. Spirit Emulsion

Monthly Mini-Reviews/What Else I’m Watching

El Doctor

The first of three shorts by Suzan Pitt that I saw on MUBI as part of a retrospective on her work in showing seven short films she’s done in her lifetime as this one is among one of her most inventive and offbeat. Notably as it is this 24-minute short in which an alcoholic doctor works in a Mexican hospital where he uses methods that are unorthodox while also engaging with the surrealism. It is a weird short that shows a man who feels disgust with his profession while getting some inspiration from the spiritual world as it’s among one of Pitt’s best shorts.

Visitation

The second of three shorts by Pitt that I saw this month is easily the darkest that she’s done as it revolves around the concept of death as a man deals with his impending fate. It is told through rich yet macabre animation as it plays into the thoughts of a man as if these would be his final minutes of his life as it is really this eerie portrait of death.

Pinball

The final short film that Pitt did in her lifetime is this 7-minute kaleidoscopic animated short that is truly out there as it’s also probably the best short she’s ever done. With the music of George Antheil’s 1952 revision of Ballet Mecanique accompanying the images, it is a short that doesn’t have a narrative but it doesn’t need one as it’s all about the images. It is dizzying yet intoxicating in everything that is happening as this is truly a piece of art.

The Night

This 20-minute short by Tsai Ming-Liang is about a typical night in Hong Kong as it is told largely through some static shots as it alludes to an old Chinese pop song. It is a short that is about simplicity as there is something dream-like in what Ming-Liang is telling as it’s just through these simple images.

A Song of Love

For those who don’t know about Jean Genet, he is a French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist that was quite controversial from his time as he was known for being a homosexual at a time when it was still taboo. He only made one film in his entire career in this 26-minute short film as it is probably one of the most shocking films ever as it is something that would still cause a stir in today’s world even though it was released 70 years ago. It is set in a prison where prisoners try to contact each other despite being apart through prison walls with a guard who is repressed for his feelings for another prisoner. It is definitely not for the faint of heart and this is definitely a film worth seeking out as it is HOT!

Wifelike

AI is definitely something that has been in discussion as of late as it’s definitely scary. This film is about a detective who gains an AI android who looked like his late wife as he hopes to use her as a companion yet she begins to realize who his wife is as they’re idyllic world is nothing as it seems. Even as this detective is trying to kill these rebel AI figures as it’s a film that tries to be a lot of things but doesn’t have much going for it other than Elena Kampouris’ performance as Jonathan Rhys-Meyers’ late wife and new android wife. The film is undone even further through a twist in its third act as it only makes the film much worse than it is despite Kampouris’ performance.

Autobiographical Scene Number 6882

From Ruben Ostlund is this very fascinating 8-minute short film set on a bridge where a group of people are celebrating midsummer’s eve as a young man wants to jump off a bridge to end the celebration. It plays into this sense of chaos of how people react to this and what would happen afterwards. It is a funny short but also one filled with danger as it is worth seeking out.

Life is the Greatest Odyssey



Although it is mainly a commercial for Hennessy’s XO cognac, this seven-minute ad directed by Damien Chazelle is still a lively and inventive one. It is mainly a short in which a man travels through many periods of his life as he walks from one set to another as it is just filled with so much life and imagery. Even as he is carrying a cello throughout the course of his journey as it’s a short fans of Chazelle should see.

Notes on a True Story



This five-minute short film by Luchino Visconti made in 1953 about the life of a small town near Rome where a young girl was murdered as it is about the aftermath in which a town tries to move on from this tragedy.

Spirit Emulsion

A short I saw on MUBI as part of the Whitney Biennial 2024 program is this mesmerizing short by Siku Alloollo that mixes Super 8mm film and digital photography as it plays into a woman reaching out to her mother through spiritual means. It is a short filled with gorgeous imagery as it is a woman trying to say thank you to the woman who gave her life. It is worth seeking out as there’s several shorts including one from the 1960s/1970s by Penelope Spheeris as part of the program.

Dismay

This film from the Philippines by Joel Lamangan about a family whose matriarch dies as the father immediately gets remarried to his late wife’s nurse as his sons conspire to destroy the marriage as an act of revenge towards their mother. Yet, it is a film that isn’t sure what it wants to be as there’s this story in which the farmer is trying not to sell his farm against Chinese-owned corporations as he also owes money to other businessman while his youngest son has fallen for his new stepmother as it’s a real mess. It’s only worth watching for anyone that wants to watch Nathalie Hart naked but would be troubled by the film’s twist towards the end.

Dark Side of the Ring (season 5, episodes 5-8)

This season is a bit more different as it does play into some well-known figures but also some lesser-known figures as the episode on Chris Colt is about someone I didn’t know about but man. That was one nutty episode as it is about someone who never made it to the mainstream as he wrestled from the 1960s to the 1980s while he is also gay and did drugs while he wrestled. Even as there are moments including this story of a giant spider climbing onto a cage as Colt ran out of the venue as that bit scared the fuck out of me. The episodes on both Harley Race and Sensational Sherri Martel are both sad and tragic as the former was this tough figure who won the NWA World Heavyweight Champion 7-8 times in the 1970s and early 1980s yet he is derailed by injuries and this reputation in being this tough man even though he remains revered.

The one on Sherri is also tragic as she is a woman who wasn’t just a great wrestler but also a great manager but years of pain in the ring lead to an addiction to Somas that would ruin her career. Even as it would lead to her own death in the mid-2000s as it is a tragic death as Jake “the Snake” Roberts is on the episode as he was close with Sherri as he’s still shocked that he’s still alive considering the substance abuse endured. The episode on “Gentlemen” Chris Adams is interesting as he is the man that trained “Stone Cold” Steve Austin even though Adams never trained as a wrestler. He was a British wrestler popular in the 1980s in Dallas but was also a bully and quite destructive as Adams’ former girlfriend/Austin’s ex-wife Jeannie Clark was interviewed as well as Kevin Von Erich and Adams’ daughter are interviewed. Yet, the man who would kill Adams in William Brent “Booray” Parnell talks about what happened as the most shocking thing about him is that he looks like George Mizanin aka Miz’s dad. It is a fucked up episode as there’s only two more left in the season as it will about the Sandman and its season finale on the infamous Black Saturday incident.

Top 10 Re-Watches:

1. Poor Things

2. Snowpiercer

3. Lady Bird

4. Batman

5. Batman Returns

6. The Batman

7. Sing Street

8. Aladdin 9. Burrow

10. Saludos Amigos

Well, that is all for April 2024. Next month will be largely devoted to the Cannes Film Festival as I will be doing a Cannes marathon of sort for the month while my next Blind Spot will be East of Eden. I hope to do Challengers and Furiosa next month as far as theatrical releases are concerned as these will all be written in the new laptop. Before I close, I want to express my condolences on those who have passed this month with Eleanor Coppola being among the most important as she is the matriarch of the Coppola family who has done so much in the world of film but also has been this great support to her husband Francis as well as being the stable force as a mother to her children in Roman, Sofia, and the late Gian-Carlo as well as other relatives in Talia Shire, Jason and Robert Schwartzman, Nicolas Cage, and Gia Coppola.

Also who have passed this month and will be missed are Mike Pinder of the Moody Blues, Dickey Betts of the Allman Brothers Band, filmmaker Laurent Cantet, American independent wrestler Billy Reil, actor/writer Brian McCardle, Zack Norman, Robin George, Marla Adams of The Young and the Restless, Margaret Lee, Terry Carter of Battlestar Galactica, art director Ray Chan, Hana Brejchova, Philippe Laudenbach, filmmaker Michael Verhoeven, Harold “Bobby” Davis of the Sensations, MC Duke, Mandisa, baseball legend Carl Erskine, Barbara O. Jones, baseball legend Whitey Herzog, Pooch Tavares of Tavares, baseball legend Larry Brown, music producer Rico Wade who helped introduced the world to Outkast and the Dirty South, Peter Higgs, Clarence “Frogman” Henry, Cole Brings Plenty, music producer Keith LeBlanc (thank you for your work on Pretty Hate Machine), Michael Ward of the Wallflowers, and Joe Flaherty. JACKASS!!! I will miss you Joe.

Then of course, there’s O.J. Simpson who also passed away but unlike those that have passed this month. Motherfucker can rot in Hell as there’s 2 things I hope he’s enduring right now. Getting his ass kicked by his ex-wife Nicole and Ron Goldman and jokes by Norm MacDonald. We miss you Norm. This is thevoid99 signing off…



© thevoid99 2024