I (re)watched The Batman on a very rainy night in Brooklyn. The film takes place between Halloween and Election Day in Gotham — I meant to rewatch it in October, and then I realized that early November was the perfect time. I lit some candles and ate some pasta and listened to the rain. When this movie came out I watched it in the theaters twice and thought about nothing else for a month. It’s still awesome. I forgot how good it looks. And the score. Fantastic. I LOVE YOU, BATMAN.
This was an in-class watch. Great music. Was the documentary actually about the magazine? IDK. Cool stuff. I slept through some of it.
I watched this with my parents when they were in the city. Very hypnotizing. I think it would be an entirely different experience if we watched with the subtitles. Cool stuff! Later in the month, watching Johnny Guitar, I found myself thinking that it’s funny how similar movies are allowed to be.
Watched at Angelika New York with my parents. Renate Reinsve is incredible. Didn’t hit the perfect pitch for me, but I loved how it looked and sounded. The light was beautiful, the house was beautiful. The Labi Siffre song that played over the credits sort of made my day, because I had been listening to it a lot in the weeks beforehand.
Watched with Dovie while she cut my hair. A movie I would only watch with Dovie. I wish that clothes in movies made today were as interesting and beautiful.
The first of a three-movie-binge. A lonely, week-of-Thanksgiving, don’t-want-to-be-alone-with-my-thoughts kind of watch. Kind of perfect, because it made me feel less weird in comparison to the characters on my laptop screen. I really think Parker Posey is fantastic. The entire film took place in her orbit. Also, a fantastic example of making an interesting film with a house and a handful of characters.
The second of my three-movie binge. I went into it knowing it was the kind of movie that I really like, against my better judgement. I was shocked by the really stellar performance Channing Tatum gave. I was not shocked by the really stellar performance Kirsten Dunst gave. I liked it more than I expected to. I almost cried. Tough to admit. As mentioned, it was a lonely night — I think it struck a chord in the tune of dysfunctionality.
The last of my three-movie binge. I mostly turned this on because I didn’t want to sit with the feelings Roofman gave me. I liked this movie both less and more than I expected. Riz Ahmed was great, Lily James gave her average performance. I liked the movie a lot more before the twist — I was deeply invested (as I often am) in the fairly stereotypical romance. He gave her his jacket! Swoon! A solid film despite not meeting every single one of my personal hopes and dreams. The song that played at the end — Cold Cafe, by Karen Marks (?) — joined the dense ranks of songs I listen to because I saw them in a movie.
A movie I watched on the momentum of the previous day’s three-movie binge. How many times can I say three-movie binge? Dull. I was interested in a fairly detached way. As much as I love the movies, I find it difficult to buy into most movies of this period. I’ve been ruined by the twenty-first century.
Rewatched — to be honest, only the second half — on Thanksgiving at Nailah’s uncle's apartment in Harlem. I was less focused on the film than I was the social dynamics of the room. We got into it after about the ethics of it all; what we would have done; the racial politics. A Thanksgiving movie in the sense that it’s about America, eating, and living together.
A rewatch. This will always be a comforting movie to me. I needed to turn my brain off. I first watched this movie at IFC — a Q&A screening with the actors and directors. It holds warm feelings for me, and plays perfectly into my obsession with weird, pulpy love stories.