Gentleman Jack

I’ve been putting this series off since it came out, saving it for a special occasion, but I couldn’t possibly put it off any longer. The parts of Anne breaking the fourth wall to mischeviously smile at the camera are my favourite.

‘You do know what people say about her, don’t you? That she can’t be trusted in the company of other women.’

‘Not me, I was there to study anatomy’.

9/10

The Fountain

I read a review once saying this film is Aronofsky’s love letter to Rachel Weisz and I can certainly see that. After several attempts over the years, and with complete lack of patience for sci-fi or fantasy, I finally decided to give it another go, since it’s on Mubi now and all. The Fountain is metaphysical, artistic, slightly pretentious and visually beautiful.

6/10

Muriel’s Wedding

My obsession with Australia and my love for ABBA started with this film. And Rachel Griffiths and Toni Collette of course. Whenever my parents listened to ABBA when I was a kid, I would roll my eyes and say they were lame. And then I watched Muriel’s Wedding at 12. Since then I cannot listen to ABBA and not tear up thinking about this film. Favourite quirky film right here.

‘When I lived in Porpoise Spit, I used to sit in my room for hours and listen to ABBA songs. But since I’ve met you and moved to Sydney, I haven’t listened to one Abba song. That’s because my life is as good as an Abba song. It’s as good as Dancing Queen’.

‘You listen to 70s music. This is the 90s!’

‘I’m not alone. I’m with Muriel.’

10/10

Mulan

This was added to HBO Go today and I finally got the chance to watch it. Despite all the controversy, I enjoyed it a lot. Gong Li stars in a supporting role as the Witch. I also really like the fact that Disney cast a 32 year old Liu Yifei to play teenaged Mulan.

7/10

Isle of Dogs

It took me 7 sittings to finish it. I am glad I refused to see this at the cinema, because I would have slept through this fairytale and wouldn’t have understood anything. This surely could have been told just as effectively without sending dogs off to an island and teaching them how to talk. The Fantastic Mr. Fox is much better.

6/10

The Lie

‘This is a paid advertisement for birth control’. Convince me otherwise.

I miss The Killing, it was one of my favourite shows. I would have seen this sooner had I known it was co-written and directed by Veena Sud who created the US version of The Killing, and yes it also stars Mireille Enos. I liked the scene on the bridge at the beginning when the father finds her and tries to figure out what has just happened.

‘How long has she been cutting herself?’
‘She started a few months after you left. I had her talk to somebody, but she didn’t stop, so I don’t know what to do.’
‘She was such a happy little girl.’
‘Yeah, she was.’

5/10

Love Antosha

According to Letterboxd, I’ve seen 15 films starring Anton Yelchin, but as it turns out I didn’t know much about him. I didn’t know anything about his parents or that he had cystic fibrosis. Anton was extremely talented and passionate about his craft and it’s a real shame we lost him so soon.

8/10

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

Why are they wearing the stupid red beanies? Bill Murray looks like Papa Smurf for crying out loud! This might just be my least favourite Wes Anderson. At least they played/sung David Bowie’s Life on Mars a couple of times. Also Willem Dafoe steals the show.

6/10

The Fruit Fix

I don’t have time to watch anything for another 2 weeks, but a friend sent me a link to this short on social anxiety, and I decided to watch it between meetings. Over a decade ago, I developed a really bad social anxiety after a traumatic event, and I’m glad it’s gotten better with age. I still feel anxious and uncomfortable with people who don’t know me and often rethink every single word, but It’s manageable now.

6/10