I have officially finished my Miranda Otto marathon, it took me 3 weeks or so. The only three films of hers I still haven’t seen are True Love and Chaos, also starring Naveen Andrews, Kin, starring Isiah Washington and Three Legged Fox. I just cannot find them anywhere. I hope I won’t need to reschedule my April flight for August, but if I do, I’ll still take time off and just spend the two weeks at home watching films. Here are some quick notes I wrote down while watching the below four films.

   

The Hunt

A brilliant thriller from the producers of The Purge. It’s the film I’ve been talking about for the last 8 month, and every person I mention the plot to says, oh so it’s like The Purge. In a way, it is. 12 people are kidnapped and left in the woods. People are hunting them down. Theyre given guns, but they have no chance. The films stars Hilary Swank as the villain and then from the huntees, you’ll probably only recognise 3 people (inlcuding Emma Roberts and Justin Hartley from This is Us). Those three people don’t live long in this movie. There’s one scene in this that is stopping me from giving it a 10 and it involves an eye and a high heel. I still cannot believe The Hunt’s US release was cancelled or postponed because of Trump.

9/10

The Circle

This is like that Black Mirror episode starring Bryce Dallas Howard where people can rate human interractions. Have they never heard of the Data Protection Act, now superseded by the General Data Protection Regulation? Why on Earth would anyone agree to this? And why did Tom Hanks agree to do this awful film? Watch ‘The Circle’ starring Julie Benz instead.

3/10

Doing time for Patsy Cline

A young musician decides to leave Australia and head for Nashville, but hitchhikes with the wrong couple. He falls for the female, played by Miranda Otto, and police arrest him for drug possesion. He decides to sacrifice his freedom, because he’s conviced the girl will fall in love with him. In his mind he plays this alternate universe in which him and Patsy become these big country music stars and fall in love. His maladaptive dreaming eventually ruins his life, as his love for the girl overtakes his clear judgement. I too have always lived in my head. For me, I think, It comes with being an only child. Constant maladaptive daydreaming though pleasant and reassuring, is dangerous. It’s affected my life, but It’s also saved it. It’s made me into this creative individual and is major source of ongoing writing material. I saw someone on instagram tell Miranda she looks like Susan Sarandon, it must have been the poster for this film that made them think that, because they look nothing like.

‘Yesterday I went to the movies all day by myself. One after the other. I’ve never done that before. I had a really happy day.’

7/10

The Property Man

This is my 20th Chaplin short and they’re all the same to me now. I think I’ll just stick to his feature films from now on.

5/10