You know what? I used to call myself a "movie buff," and to some extent I still consider myself one. But it's been a while since I've sat down and watched a movie, and like, really watched a movie. My attention span has been shot to shit since the panorama began. I can't entirely blame it on the panda express though... When I'm not living my
✨b e s t l i f e✨ I lose nearly all interest in my hobbies and that which 💫sparks joy💫. Writing, reading, movies, music.
To say that I was a shell of myself all of 2019—not related to the pandora bracelet—is an understatement. And then before 2019 there was grad school, so that took away my free time. Suffice it to say, it's been a long time since I've binged/critiqued film. The last movie I saw at the cinema was 1917 here in Houston at Greenway (please open back up soon). That was probably in January or early February of 2020. And it was amazing. It wasn't until recently—like, maybe 2 - 3 weeks ago—that I realized how much I wanted to reintroduce that part of my life back into, well, my life.
I've spent a lot of time over the past 28 or so years wondering why I've been so drawn to film. One of the earliest movies I remember watching is IT (the cheesy miniseries version from the early 90s). Not that that particular movie has influenced my taste in movies as a 31-year-old. A lot of it, I believe, comes down to the fact that I've always been absolutely enamored by the human condition, how people communicate, raw emotion, conflict, love, wit, writing, art direction; a good movie has all of that. It's also one of the very few forms of art that requires many, many people to produce the artwork. There's a quote from Julianne Moore—hands down, favorite actress/actor of all time—that's stayed with me for a while...
✨b e s t l i f e✨ I lose nearly all interest in my hobbies and that which 💫sparks joy💫. Writing, reading, movies, music.
To say that I was a shell of myself all of 2019—not related to the pandora bracelet—is an understatement. And then before 2019 there was grad school, so that took away my free time. Suffice it to say, it's been a long time since I've binged/critiqued film. The last movie I saw at the cinema was 1917 here in Houston at Greenway (please open back up soon). That was probably in January or early February of 2020. And it was amazing. It wasn't until recently—like, maybe 2 - 3 weeks ago—that I realized how much I wanted to reintroduce that part of my life back into, well, my life.
I've spent a lot of time over the past 28 or so years wondering why I've been so drawn to film. One of the earliest movies I remember watching is IT (the cheesy miniseries version from the early 90s). Not that that particular movie has influenced my taste in movies as a 31-year-old. A lot of it, I believe, comes down to the fact that I've always been absolutely enamored by the human condition, how people communicate, raw emotion, conflict, love, wit, writing, art direction; a good movie has all of that. It's also one of the very few forms of art that requires many, many people to produce the artwork. There's a quote from Julianne Moore—hands down, favorite actress/actor of all time—that's stayed with me for a while...
The audience doesn't come to see you, they come to see themselves.
And you know what? That resonates with me, always has.
Tonight I watched Cherry, staring Tom Holland and Ciara Bravo, and holy shit, what a movie. Apple has been promoting it pretty heavily over the past few weeks, and it currently has a 100% SOV on IMDB, which is pretty big for a little streaming movie. Don't quote me on this, but I think Holland carries the biggest star power of an Apple original film to date... don't @ me because I didn't verify that statement before writing. I'm drinking Black Box CabSav. Anyway, it was extremely visceral, emotional, disturbing, sometimes beautiful, mostly hideous. There were quite a few parts where I involuntarily covered my mouth, eyes wide. I'd have probably clutched my pearls had I been wearing any. The subject matter is... graphic. Running at 2 1/2 hours, it's a disjointed character study of the havoc that trauma and mental illness can wreak. It's not perfect, in fact, I really question some of the artistic choices the cinematographer, editor, and director took at times because the tonal juxtaposition was too fucking jarring. But it could have been an epic, and in some ways it was. I highly recommend it but not to those who have weak stomachs. And the odd thing is, I couldn't be more different than the characters in the movie, but I still felt like I could empathize with at least some of the emotions that they were feeling, which is weird considering the plot. I feel like that's what makes good art though, right? Accessibility?
Maybe I'll watch movies all weekend. I'm not doing anything tomorrow, and I bet I could get through a good four to five in a day and have food delivered so I can slob out all day? Sounds fun. What I do know is writing again feels good. And movies again feel good. So maybe I should continue doing both? Idk but here's another bomb-ass quote from Julianne Moore:
We impose order and narrative on everything in order to understand it. Otherwise, there's nothing but chaos.