What I Watched, What You Watched #26

Man, what a week it’s been. We finally have our Oscar nominees, which means I now have a small list of films I need to catch up on before the big day in February. In the meantime, I didn’t watch anything for review today, but I did have a busy week preparing for my Top Ten list.

Speaking of which, my apologies about that list. It was supposed to go up on Wednesday for the Wednesday Listicle. Obviously, that didn’t happen. I’ve been spending a lot of time writing and rewriting it to make sure it’s absolutely perfect. It will be going up tomorrow morning, I can promise you that.

Otherwise, I started the week out watching the documentary Tower. I’m not sure if I’ll be writing a review about it, but I do want to say that it is an absolutely mesmerizing film. The use of rotoscope and storytelling are absolute perfection. It’s not just one of the best documentaries of the year, it’s one of the best films of the year overall. I also watched the films American Honey and The Handmaiden, to see if either could round out my Top Ten. You’ll have to see tomorrow if they made it, but man, they were both excellent films. American Honey was a fantastically lyrical look at lower-class America, while The Handmaiden was an expertly crafted Hitchockian thriller. I may have liked it better than Park Chan-Woo’s last film, Oldboy. And finally, I watched The Girl on the Train. I didn’t quite hate this film the way many critics did, but I will say that for a film trying to resurrect the 1980s/1990s sexy thriller like Body Heat and Basic Instinct, the film really didn’t make much of an impact. I did, however, find myself impressed with the female cast. Emily Blunt, Rebecca Ferguson, and Haley Bennett all deserved better.

Most of television was in reruns this week, so I didn’t have many options. That being said, It’s Always Sunny and Man Seeking Woman both continue to have excellent runs so far, with the former bringing back Fight Milk to great effect and the latter offering up a spoof of haunted house films and Where the Wild Things Are, both to humorous effect.

And one last note before we continue: I served as guest host on the Lizards on Film podcast this weekend, which should be going live sometime today. The podcast is sourced over on YouTube, on Justen Noll’s channel. You should all give it a listen, as I talk Oscar nominations and more. And while you’re at it, check out some of Justen’s short films. They’re pretty good!

What about you? Watch anything interesting this week? Did you manage to catch Moonlight or Arrival, which returned to theaters for a short period of time? Let me know in the comments!

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