These past few days I’ve been rewatching Veronica Mars, and catching up on many Charlie Chaplin films. I’m trying to watch full filmographies of 10 directors. I am also captivated by Leah Remini’s Scientology and Aftermath A&E series. The best film I watched at the pictures in the recent weeks is Midsommar, a quick review of it can be found below. Three of my summer shows ended, Orange is the New Black, Big Little Lies and Divorce. The Handmaid’s Tale season 3 ends next week.

 

Midsommar

A group of young adults, including two antropology students goes on trip to Sweden to take part in a summer festival. The film is so brilliant, it’s even better than Ari Aster’s previous horror attempt, the amazingly creepy, Hereditary! The cliff scene was shot so amazingly, you knew exactly what would happen, yet you were glued to the screen with eyes wide open and just like the characters, became witness to the goriest deaths of the film. The audience laughed when the elderly lady pushed the boyfriend’s buttocks to ‘help him’, but the cliff scene is what will stick with you for years.

9/10

American Fable

A young girl living in a fantasy world is faced with a wake up call when she finds a man inprisoned in her family’s silo. The little girl is played by Grey’s and Everything Sucks’s Peyton Kennedy. It’s a beautiful horror/thriller and I loved every minute of it.

8/10

Annabelle Comes Home

Toy Story 4

Woody looks after Bonnie’s new toy, Forky. Within a week of watching Toy Story 4, I’ve decided to rewatch the 1st and 2nd Toy Story. Woody and Buzz’s inability to escape from their neighboor’s cellar makes me question their outdoors escapades in the next 3 films. Also the animation back in the 90s was very limited, whereas here, it really is lifelike. Toy Story 4’s ending made me cry just as much as the previous one. The evil doll Gabby Gabby voiced by Christina Hendricks was the most precious one of all.

‘She’ll be okay. Bonnie will be okay.’

‘Does this mean… Woody’s a lost toy?’
‘He’s not lost. Not anymore. To infinity…’
‘…and beyond.’

7/10

The Lion King

Remake of the original The Lion King. You cannot deny that the live action here is breathtaking, but this is not a good remake. Other than the cute, life-like animals, this version doesn’t bring anything new to the story. If anything, it helped me realise the story was very simplistic all along. I admitt, I dozed off 20 minutes in, but I’m glad I woke up just in time for the stampede scene, which was amazing. If you see this at Odeon, don’t forget to pick up your A3 poster, with the furry trio, Simba, Pumbaa and Timon.

5/10

Child’s  Play

A boy is given an Alexa type AI doll, that turns deadly. I went in expecting to hate it and was nicely surprised by how gory the last act was. Sadly, the doll was ugly and not creepy at all. The doll being possessed by a serial killer is what made the franchise creepy, the 21st century Aritficial Intelligence upgrade isn’t that intriguing.

6/10

 

The Last Movie Star

An elderly movie star is invited to a film festival. He doesn’t know it’s not a real festival. Burt Reynolds gives his last performance, accompanied by Moder Family’s Ariel Winter. I cried through the entire thing. RIP, Burt.

7/10

Spoor

Hunters start dropping dead, it looks like the animals may be finally getting their revenge. I’ve been vegan for 9 years, and vegeterian for more than I can count, so this film is perfect for me. If you’re against hunting, this Polish film from Agnieszka Holland is for you.

9/10

War Games

A teenager accidentaly accesses military system and thinks he’s embarked on a series of tests for military to train on. Tic Tac Toe really is the dumbest game of all. WarGames was quite entertaining and made me wish I was still a teenager. It’s also 300th new film I’ve seen this year.

7/10

I love you, Now Die. The Commonwealth v. Michelle Carter

A brilliant HBO documentary about Michelle Carter who encouraged her clinically depressed boyfriend Conrad Roy III to take his own life. I’ve been following this case closely since 2014 and yet I didn’t know anything about Michelle’s obsession with Glee, The Fault in Our Stars and her lesbian tendencies.

8/10

Love Story

Two young adults fall in love, soon one of the falls ill. I’m a little biased, because my dad listened to and hummed the Love Story theme for a big part of my childhood. But as much as my dad and I both liked Ryan O’Neal in Paper Moon, the Love Story theme, is the best thing about this classic romance.

6/10

Easy Rider

Two men ride Peter Fonda motorbikes, get high, hookup with girls and talk to locals they meet during their road trip across America. Then they have long night chats, that are equally boring. I don’t like stoners and hippies, so the ending was oddly understandable.

5/10

Escaping the Madhouse: The Nellie Bly Story

A reporter volunteers to be locked in a mental hospital to write an article. I couldn’t figure out if it’s more American Horror Story Asylum or The Handmaid’s Tale. This film, starring Christina Ricci, Judith Light and Revenge’s Joshua Bowman, wasn’t very good, but I was still surprised to find this story on Lifetime.

5/10

Wake Wood

What would you do to get 3 days with your dead loved one? Would you sacrifice your own life? Parents of a girls killed in a dog attack decide to bring her back for 3 days. The last 5 seconds were definitely the most intriguing and I wish they showed us what he cut out.

5/10

The Last Word

5/10

To follow what films I watch, add me on letterboxd: JoanneHolly