What I Watched in . . . February 2020

Hello everyone,

Welcome back to "What I Watched In . . .", February 2020 edition. For those of you unaware, "What I Watched In" is a monthly series that recaps the previous month in film for me. It serves as a log of sorts in which I can record and publish some quick and loose thoughts about each of the many films I saw.

Last month, I was able to see 18 feature films, 2 documentaries, and 6 short films.

I've been watching several film "series" recently - loosely associated films with similar characters, creators, themes, or sometimes sequels to one another. I continued on my classics project that I started back in January and focused on two sub-series within the larger project: the first is the "summer of '77" trilogy and the second being the Jacques Tati quartet. As a part of a unit I did in English this month, I watched two films about American slavery. I am also catching up on my Daniel Craig James Bond films as well as my Wes Anderson films in preparation for the releases of No Time To Die and The French Dispatch respectively.

Here is what I watched in February 2020 . . .


Miss Americana (2020)
Dir. Lana Wilson

Miss Americana is complex, to say the least. It serves both as Swift's cry of anger at a system that has hurt her, but also as a triumph over that system. Taylor Swift proves her strength as an artist and her strength as a person here. It’s her own way of becoming victorious over the people who’ve worked against her and using that betrayal and those difficult emotions to prove herself.

The film is about brokeness. Unapologetically so. Nothing is hidden here. Swift has completely opened herself up and is willing to expose everything she’s gone through, but she will only do it on her own terms. She will absolutely be honest, but she isn’t going to let that hurt her. Her honesty is her triumph. It's so refreshing to watch someone so important to our culture to be able to be this honest and this self-critical and critical about the world she finds herself in. Taylor Swift is dedicated to growing and maturing as a person and it shows. Her work here is truly inspiring.

You can read my full review here.

Score: 3.5


Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962)
Dir. Agnès Varda

Classics Series Part 7

Continuing my Classics Project which I began last month with Dr. Strangelove (1964), I got my exposure to Agnès Varda and my first taste of the french new wave.

Set in Paris during the 1960s, the real-time film tells the story of a singer named Cleo for exactly one-and-a-half hours before she goes to the doctor to get results from her latest medical testing.

Cléo from 5 to 7 is a really great film. I was amazed at how well Varda managed to pull off the real-time effect, something I didn't think would work. It manages to be engaging and dynamic while never breaking its verisimilitude. The performances from all of the stars are all fantastic and the direction is a real highlight, as well as the editing. It's truly a remarkable work of cinema and I highly recommend it to any cinema fan or anyone who wants to grow their understanding of the art form.

You can see the full list and keep up with my progress here.

Thanks to UBC Kanopy for streaming this.

Score: 4.5


Airplane! (1980)
Dir. Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams, David Zucker

Classics Series Part 8

This is one of the funniest films I have ever seen. This insane, surrealist comedy is so bizarre and relentlessly funny it almost becomes overwhelming. The jokes come at you without stop and from places you would not expect (including sudden falling watermelons). By the time you've laughed at one, you're hit with another. It's stupid, yet genius all at the same time. I am enchanted and in love with what this team was able to create.

Score: 5


Don't Hug Me I'm Scared (2011 - 2016) [six short films]
Dir. Becky Sloan, Joseph Pelling

If I'm being honest, these six shorts are some of the scariest and most horrifying works of filmmaking I have ever seen. And they are all available on YouTube!

Begining in 2011, Don't Hug Me I'm Scared is a series of six short films created and directed by British filmmakers Becky Sloan and Joseph Pelling. The series follows three main puppet characters in a world designed to look and feel like characters off of a children's television series a la Sesame Street. However, as each episode goes on, things become more and more demented and end in a mess of horror.

There is something so profoundly upsetting about this series - a feeling that's hard to put into words. The best I can do is to wholeheartedly recommend the series. It won't take more than an hour to get through it. Trust me, you won't regret it.

Actually, you most certainly will.

But that's half the fun.


Suspiria (1977)
Dir. Dario Argento

Classics Series Part 9
Summer of '77 Series Part 1/3

This is the first of a miniseries within my larger classics project entitled Summer of '77. I recently found that Suspiria, Eraserhead, and House were all released in the same year, so I have decided to watch them all in near succession to one another. They weren't all released in the summer of 1977, but the title sounded cool.

When I was hunting for streams of this film, I would that about half of them were with Italian dialogue and the other half had English dialogue. I wanted to know which one was the original audio and which one was the dub. I wasn't about to watch a dubbed film unintentionally. As I do in moments of crisis, I turned to Reddit.

According to the great mind of r/flicks, I found that they are both the original audio. During the 60s and 70s, Italian film productions rarely recorded audio on set as their casts were multi-ethnic and were all speaking different languages while shooting the film. Your lead could be speaking English in the scene and the person they're speaking to could be speaking German back, while the scene is being directed by an Italian. Because of this casting and production style, all of the audio had to be re-recorded in post-production.

But the film itself is pretty solid and it's got a nice and spooky atmosphere. The neon, ultra-colorful lighting and production are mesmerizing and it holds up nicely. It drags a little in the middle, but the ending gets so insane, it's easy to forget that. The score and sound design are really strong and bring a destabilizing feeling to the film. All that being said, it's a really solid, very atmospheric piece and any horror fan should check this out.

Score: 4


Harriet (2019)
Dir. Kasi Lemmons

Black Lives Series Part 1


Oh no. Oh no no no no no.

I was tasked with watching this for school. We're in a unit on American slavery and we're consuming a whole lot of literature and this film, along with a few others, was a part of that. Let's just say this was a pretty weak start to the unit.

I must start by saying that Cynthia Ervio is fantastic here. She is genuinely really good as Tubman and I really appreciated what she added to the film. The writing for her part was great as well. However, if Joker taught us anything, one strong performance does not a good movie make.

The rest is not good. The characters, other than Tubman, are flat and uninteresting, the cinematography is ugly (there's 1 shot I actually liked), the editing is messy, and the score is no good. There was one time I actually really liked the music but then quickly realized it was not the score but a Nina Simone song.

The story is amazing and that is somehow the worst part of the whole film. Harriet Tubman is one of the most incredible people in American history, but the film doesn't give due justice to her legacy. Harriet is a film with no vision and no creative integrity on its own. It places all of its hope in being the story of Tubman and thinks that it can escape criticism if it does so.

It's not the worst thing ever, but it's underwhelming at best.

Score: 2


Parasite (2019) [rewatch]
Dir. Bong Joon-ho

In honour of its incredible four Oscar wins, I rewatched the best film of last year: Bong Joon-ho's Parasite. The film swept the awards show taking home three of the "big five" awards (it won best original screenplay, best director, and best picture) in addition to winning best international feature, and made history Oscar night by being the first non-English language film to win the biggest prize of the night.

It's a masterpiece. Absolute masterpiece. Like, good Lord. It's quickly becoming a favourite of mine. Brilliantly shot, expertly edited, carefully staged, with an incredible ensemble cast, and flawless in execution, Parasite is a tour-de-force of cinematic excellence. It's so wholistically brilliant, it's impossible to walk away from it not amazed.

Just go watch it. That's all I ask. Parasite is something truly special. Films like this don't come around all that often.

Score: 5


12 Year a Slave (2013)
Dir. Steve McQueen

Black Lives Series Part 2


Going into this, I knew very little about it. I knew it was well-reviewed and it won a few Oscars, including best picture, in 2013, and I knew it started Chiwetel Ejiofor, but that was it. The all-star cast took me by surprise. Oh, hey, it's Paul Giamatti! And Benedict Cumberbatch! And Michael Fassbender! And Sara Paulson! And Paul Dano! And they all play terrible people!

12 Years a Slave is an incredible film. It is so deliberately slow and that's its best quality. The shots are long, never cutting away from what is in front of the camera, and the scenes drag you through the mud of reality. McQueen wants the viewer to understand exactly what the Southern United States was like in the early 19th century -- the heat, the trees, the sounds, the wind, and the brutal reality of slavery -- and all of it comes in explicit detail. There is no shying around the facts here. I had never seen slavery presented so directly. Films that deal with this topic seem to shy away from the details of slavery, but this one didn't and it was so refreshing.

The intense cognitive dissonance between 12 Years a Slave and Harriet was overwhelming. Harriet scurried away from the truth and presented a weak, feel-good story, but this one didn't and it left all the more impact.

Score: 5


House (1977)
Dir. Nobuhiko Obayashi

Classics Series Part 10
Summer of '77 Series Part 2/3

This is the most insane movie I have ever seen. No doubt about it.

House, an experimental Japanese horror film, follows the story of Gorgeous and her six friends who visit Gorgeous' aunt in the remote corner of Japan. And that's when things begin to go awry.

You have never seen a movie quite like this one. House is 90 minutes of the weirdest and most nonsensical editing, visual effects, and story you could do, and it works together so well. Not to spoil anything, but there is one scene where a man turns into a pile of bananas and it makes perfect sense.

It has the most bizarre creative choices that, on the surface, simply shouldn't work but they do. That's the miracle here. It doubles down, no, triples, maybe even quadruples down on its aesthetics and style that it elevates itself beyond any criticism and any sense of reality. House is nothing short of perfect in its own demented way.

Score: 5


High School Musical (2006)
Dir.  Kenny Ortega

I wasn't planning on watching this. Not now, probably not ever. It wasn't because I held something against the film, it simply wasn't in my field of view. I remember when they first came out when I was young and everyone really liked them, but I hadn't thought of them since then.

I get to theatre rehearsal one week when we're set to learn "Stick to the Status Quo". I mistakingly asked what show the number was from and everyone lost their minds. You don't know where this is from? You've never seen High School Musical? What's wrong with you? I was essentially bullied into watching this.

High School Musical was far better than I ever thought it would be. Like, it's not good. The production quality is cheap, the writing is lazy, and the performances are over the top. But it's also so relentlessly cheesy, it's hard for it not to be endearing. I was far more emotionally invested in the story by the end than I ever thought I would be.

I guess I gotta watch the sequels now.

Score: 3


Casino Royale (2006)
Dir. Martin Campbell

Daniel Craig 007 Part 1/4

Up until this point, my only exposure to 007 had been Skyfall (2012). Not to say I wasn't familiar with the brand. I knew the tropes and the famous bits through cultural osmosis - the cliches, the gadgets, the songs, the characters - but I had only actually seen one of the films. With No Time To Die, Daniel Craig's fifth (and final, possibly) turn as the famous character, arriving in theatres this April, I thought it would be appropriate to start watching his previous films.

Casino Royale begins Craig's tenure with a bang. This quasi-reboot of the series starts off with Bond's maiden mission. The unproven spy is up against Le Chiffre a

Score: 3.5


Bottle Rocket (1996)
Dir. Wes Anderson

Wes Anderson Catch Up Part 1/5

In addition to catching up on my James Bond before the new film, I'm catching up on Wes Anderson's films before The French Dispatch comes out in July. I have already seen a few of them, but there are five others I haven't seen. I thought it would be best to start at the beginning.

Bottle Rocket is certainly the least Anderson-y of Anderson's work. It's cool to see the origins and early forms of his style, but Bottle Rocket doesn't work so well on its own.

It's fun in the moment but suffers from being emotionally and stylistically empty. There's not much to think about. It reminds me, in a lot of bad ways, of Eagle vs Shark, one of Taika Waititi's first films. It's a cool piece of film history, but ultimately forgettable. It simply lacks the energy that makes his later works so incredible.

Score: 2.5



Birds of Prey (2020)
Dir. Cathy Yan

As I said in my review of Birds of Prey:

There’s so much to love about the film: the style, the action, the performances. It’s such a fun and entertaining flick at points. The team dynamics are great. The villains were so delightfully evil it was almost intoxicating. On a technical level, it’s extremely well made and well crafted. I highly recommend seeing it in theatres. The showmanship and the theatrics of the film are complimented greatly in a proper theatre. I left the screening wanting to see more of the Birds of Prey in a future film. But the screenplay leaves so much to be desired. It tries to do double the work by being both a Harley Quinn solo movie and a backdoor pilot for a Birds of Prey spinoff.

You can read my full review of the film here.

Score: 3.5


The Prestige (2006) [rewatch]
Dir. Christopher Nolan

"Are you watching closely?"

I'm going to be honest: this is my favourite Nolan film. Yes, better than Interstellar, better than Inception, even better than The Dark Knight itself. For me, this is the perfect distillation of what his style is. It's a fantastic drama and a wonderfully crafted mystery that pays of so well at the end. Set in London during the late 19th century, the film follows two magicians and their years running rivalry. And that's all you should know about it going into the film in terms of story.

It's a film of mysteries within mysteries compounded with misdirects and red herrings which then all come together for one of the most insane endings in he entire Nolan-verse and, if you're at all familiar with his work, you know what there's a lot. The Prestige is filmmaking at its finest. If you're a Nolan fan and haven't seen this yet or are even just a casual film viewer, go watch it at your earliest convenience.

Score: 5


Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday (1953)
Dir. Jacques Tati

Classic Series Part 11
Tati Quartet Part 1/4

Lots of great atmosphere. Pretty funny at parts. Slow at parts too. I generally liked it and I think Tati has some cool ideas going on. I'm excited to watch them develop over the next few films. That's all I have to say about this one. Moving on.


Score: 3



Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) [rewatch]
Dir. Wes Anderson

"But, Seth," you say, "didn't you watch this just last month? Did you really watch it again so soon?"

Yes and yes. And you can't stop me.

But in all honesty, I watched this one again for my cinema club. We were going to watch The Grand Budapest Hotel instead, but we had to make a last-minute switch.

It's amazing. Still amazing. Beautiful filmmaking. This is my favourite animated movie of 2009. Which means, yes, it's better than Up. If you've never seen a Wes Anderson film before, I suggest you start here.

Score: 5



Quantum of Solace (2008)
Dir. Marc Forster

Daniel Craig 007 Part 2/4

This wasn't great? The editing is atrocious. It's such a scattered movie it's hard to get emotionally invested in it.




Score: 2.5



Eraserhead (1977)
Dir. David Lynch

Classics Series Part 12
Summer of '77 Series Part 3/3

Some scattered thoughts on Eraserhead:

- What the heck is this?
- Wait, the actress who plays Beautiful Girl Across the Hall also plays that old woman in You Were Never Really Here?
- What if we kissed 😍😍 in the pool across from my screaming child? 🤔🤔Just kidding. Unless? ❤❤
- What the heck is this?
- I am genuinely upset right now. I will never revisit this thing. Can I even give this a rating?
- the sound design is cool 👍
- WHAT IS GOING ON? WHY IS HE CUTTING OPEN THE CREATURE??

WHAT.

THE.

HECK.

IS.

HAPPENING????

- "written, produced, and directed by David Lynch". Yeah, of course it was.

From this and the first season of Twin Peaks, I have come to terms with the fact that I will never truly understand David Lynch. I am ok with that. God bless this man.

Score: X


Lady Bird (2017) [rewatch]
Dir. Greta Gerwig

I have never been nor will I ever be a 17-year-old girl, yet I felt every emotion so vividly. Gosh, I love this movie. This is absolutely one of the best movies of the past decade, up there with Moonlight (2016), La La Land (2016), Roma (2018), and Parasite (2019). It's so incredibly emotionally vivid and full of life and character. It stems from so many real experiences and emotions, which gives it depth and a strong grounding in reality. This empathetic cinema.

There is truly incredible filmmaking on display here. If you haven't seen this give it a watch. Greta Gerwig is an extremely talented writer and director. With two amazing films under her belt, I am thrilled to see what she does next.

I've written a few pieces on her films in the past. You can read my essay on Lady Bird here and you can read my review of Little Women here.

Score: 5


Road to Roma (2020)
Dir. Andres Clariond, Gabriel Nuncio

I really liked this look behind the scenes of one of my favourite movies of the few years. Road to Roma certainly isn't a groundbreaking documentary, but it is packed with so much information and radically changed the way I saw the original film. The dedication of the entire team, but especially to writer, director, editor, and producer Alfonso Cuarón, to the look, feel, and emotion of Roma is something to commend. The film is truly unparalleled in terms of sheer grandeur in production.

I rewatched Roma last month and I liked it even more the second time around. I might just have to watch it again after seeing this doc. It truly is a work of absolute genius.

Cuarón is one of the best directors working today. I am incredibly excited to have spent a little over an hour inside his head and his artistic process. It gave me a new appreciation for him and for what he was able to achieve. If you either liked Roma, are an aspiring filmmaker, or are just curious about how movies are made, I'd highly recommend this one.


Thanks to the Criterion Collection and to Netflix for producing this.

Score: 3



Chronicle (2012)
Dir. Josh Trank

The screenplay is pretty solid. I liked the performances. The direction is pretty great as well. Lots of cool ideas going on here.

The problems come up in the third act. The limited budget gets stretched when they get into more effects-heavy territories. The "found footage" gimmick also gets a little unbelievable by the end.

However, the first two acts are really well done. The pacing is solid. It carries a really strong energy and is a pretty entertaining watch all-in-all. It just feels a bit cheap by the end.

Score: 3.5


And with that, February 2020 comes to a close. We'll be back next month.