What I Watched, What You Watched #44

Wow. What a movie week I’ve had. It’s been up, down and all around, mostly thanks to the mindf*ck that was mother! I reviewed the movie here, but I think it’s better you just go see it to make up your own mind, as opposed to the fighting going on amongst film critics.

To prepare for the film, I watched two specific films that would get me in the mood. The first was The Fountain, Darren Aronofsky’s most spiritual film that reached for the stars and didn’t quite get there. I wish there was a three hour cut out there, or perhaps a tightening of ideas, because it’s an interesting premise not quite properly executed. The second was Luis Buñuel’s The Exterminating Angel. Buñuel directed one of my favorite films of all time in Un Chien Andalou, and I honestly wish Angel was as delirious as that one. However, it is still a strong, entertaining production, and worth a watch. I went to the theater to watch the 40^th anniversary release of Close Encounters of the Third Kind for the first time since I was a child. I was indifferent then (it’s a two and a half hour movie where the aliens and humans just kinda talk), but as an adult, it clicked. This is the film that tells me that Steven Spielberg was, from 1975-1982, one of the greatest directors to ever work, finding new and original ways to creatively tell beautiful, family-friendly stories. I saw my first Bruce Lee film with Enter the Dragon, and I kind of loved it. It’s like the Hong Kong answer to Shaft, in the best possible way. The best film I saw this week was A Prairie Home Companion, which feels like a warm blanket, or a comfortable hug in its hometown-folk song testimony. And I closed my week with The Lion King, which I haven’t seen since high school. I’m very vocally not a fan of the film – while I enjoy its music, think it is gorgeous, and sing my praises of the opening scene to the heavens, I don’t connect to it the way I do with Beauty and the Beast or The Little Mermaid, the best films of the Disney Renaissance. However, I did notice new details that made it stand out even more. I may not be the biggest fan, but it’s a classic for a reason, people.

I didn’t watch much in the way of television this week, just second and third viewings of BoJack Horseman. However, I did see one new show that blew me away. I expect to like American Vandal, Netflix’s spoof of the true crime documentary set in a high school. What I didn’t expect was for it to be one of the best shows of the year. It’s really worth the watch, and I hope you all check it out. It’s good for a lot of laughs.

What about you? Do you have a lot of thoughts about mother!? Have you watched American Vandal? Let me know in the comments!