March in Review

MOVIES
Favorite: None truly stole my heart but let's give Boy & the World an honorable mention.
Least Favorite: There wasn't a dud in the bunch
Saddest: Son of Saul
Funniest: Where to Invade Next, in Michael Moore's way
Funnest: Hail, Caesar!
Most Surprising: The Lady in the Van
Important Stuff: Embrace of the Serpent
It's Art, Dad: Anomalisa
Missed Connections: Tangerine, Clueless, The Wisdom to Survive, Shaft, The Clean Bin Project Was TCBP super annoying or surprisingly charming?
Anticipating: Springtime bike rides to the theater. Also Eraserhead and The Maltese Falcon

STATS
March Movies: 8
Would-a-Cost: $128
Total Movies YTD: 24
Would-a-Cost YTD: $384
Cosmic Dual Membership: $450 - I think we'll break even in April!

Outside the Roxy
Pitch Perfect II, HBO
The Detroit episode of Togetherness, HBO - maybe a Whites on Display version but, I'd say, not inaccurate
It's Great That Garry Shandling is Still Alive
Iceman Reborn, PBS
La Maravilla by Alfredo Véa, Jr.

Boy & the World

Movie: Boy & the World
When: 5:30 PM, Monday, March 29
Who With: JL
Movie Count: 24
Snacks: Popcorn with Nutritional Yeast, Masala, Garlic and Curry seasoning. Good, but a bit much.

Reaction: What a sweet and scary movie. Very beautifully animated with mixed media and a textures of brushstroke that make you feel likes it's being created right in front of you. We see the boy in this world miss his dad, explore an adventure in search of him, and navigate farm labor and revolution. Part of the story is reminiscent of Diego Rivera's Detroit Industry murals at the Detroit Institute of Art (one of many great reasons to visit Detroit!). There was another part when he uses a kaleidoscope and reminded me of little EN with virtual reality at the holidays.

We shared the audience with a three year old boy and his dad which was really fun. The boy did such a good job identifying trains and owls and seemed transfixed by it all. The other group in the audience was made up of three grown ups who made too many trips to the concession stand during an hour and a half long movie, talked.the.whole.time.andmademeveryupset! I was almost hoping they were the same people from Mavis! but, unfortunately, this type of person exists in multitudes, dudes. It got to the point where I almost asked, like, what do you get from this experience? But instead, I sent over some glares and only complained to JL and you. There is no way they were following the plot and there wasn't much dialogue and sound was a huge part of it, so please! Shut your pie hole (Shout out to NS and the subversive cross stitch kit).

Recommendation: Let’s Go! | Let it come to you so you can control the experience  | Let it pass
Next Up: We've got Requiem for the American Dream and Hello, My Name is Doris coming soon. And I'll put together a March in Review post soon.

Anomalisa

Movie: Anomalisa
When: 7:15 PM, Saturday, March 26
Who With: JL
Movie Count: 23
Snacks: Popcorn with our go-to spice blend: Masala, Garlic, Nutritional Yeast

Reaction: This is a heavy movie. I feel like I can't say too much or I'll ruin it. It took us a few minutes to understand the main character's world, which I'd like to think was intentional. David's phone call home from the hotel was the trippiest but gets you on board. He's not the stablest person, but that seems like a lot to ask from anyone who often travels for work. There's a lot going on here and his speech at the end may hold all the secrets to the universe but I'll have to give it another listen to be sure.

Recommendation: Let’s Go! | Let it come to you  | Let it pass
Next Up: Boy and the World

The Lady in the Van

Movie: The Lady in the Van
When: 7:30 PM, Tuesday, March 22
Who With: JL
Movie Count: 22
Snacks: Dino Cafe Apparently their last FB post was in 2012.  I got the gumbolaya for the first time and JL got the brisket po boy. Both were great and followed our traditional orders - me getting something stew-ish and JL going for the sammy.

Reaction: Maggie Smith maggiesmiths her way through this movie with all the defensiveness layered on top of sass, on top of snark, on top of vulnerability that you come to expect from her but also surprises you with her depth. I think I first met Maggie Smith in Hook. She stays with you through it all, doesn't she?

This story speaks to the shared humanity and individual dichotomies with which we all get through life. There's an interesting character device in the non-caring carer that expands the movie beyond what you may expect from the trailer. I read that there are plenty of Brit cameos throughout; the only one I spotted from across the pond being James Cordon.

Recommendation: Let’s Go! | Let it come to you  | Let it pass
Next Up: Anomolisa

Embrace of the Serpent

Movie: Embrace of the Serpent
When: 7:45 PM, Saturday, March 19 (post Irish Days)
Who With: JL
Movie Count: 21
Snacks: We ate and drank so much at JP and VP's Irish Days bash that we walked right passed the concessions.

Reaction: Holy Smokes! This movie is a force. It was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film and comes to us from Columbia. We get to time travel to the 1900s and 1940s and travel travel to a black and white Amazon to see the story of how indigenous cultures were affected by white explorers. (It's not good.)

This story shares many similarities with co-nominees, Theeb and Son of Saul, including a river escape and unabashed tellings of the disgusting effect of inhumane power imbalances.

Recommendation: Let’s Go! | Let it come to you  | Let it pass
Next Up: The Lady in the Van

Hail, Caesar!

Movie: Hail, Caesar!
When: 7:45 PM, Saturday, March 12, 2016
Who With: JL, ST, CT and we ran into AW, AD, and LY
Movie Count: 20
Snacks: Pre-gamed it at the Bridge with JL, ST, and CT. Slices and TWO salads 'cause we healthy...and each couple split a popcorn. Also, that chipotle garlic salt we handed over to the Roxy is almost all gone and done making people cough. So, you're welcome and we're sorry.

Reaction: The fun old-timey splashy productions and studio movies within the movie are really fun. Not a ton of story to analyze, I don't think. Just fun, inconsequential communism.

Recommendation: Let’s Go! | Let it come to you  | Let it pass
Next Up: Embrace of the Serpent

Where to Invade Next and Repo Man

Movie: Where to Invade Next/Repo Man
When: 5PM/9 PM, Saturday, March 5th
Who With: JL
Movie Count: 18/19
Snacks: The Bridge in between movies, delicious red lentil dal!

Reaction: I'm sure there is an obvious theme brilliantly tying these movies together that I'm missing but I haven't thought about them at the same time until I sat down to write this. I almost forgot we saw them in the same night.

Where to Invade Next is wonderfully frustrating. Fellow Michigander Michael Moore, sporting a camo Tigers cap, goes to war exporting foreign ideas that put humans and society as a whole first. Ideas like sufficient vacation time (including two extra weeks for a honeymoon, thanks Italy!), offering school lunch as a class on nutrition and manners (h/t France!), prisons that treat people the way any human person should be treated (shout out to Norway!). These ideas work so well to create a society that functions statistically better for the individual and the whole. People are taken care of by these ideas, rather than worked to the bone, increasing debts, and struggling more than we should have to. That was my big take away. We struggle too much.

I am a very fortunate person, grew up in Detroit suburbs with middle-class parents and white/hetero privilege. I have been able to avoid student debt, love the best person, and have a great community to call home. Whether it's luck, privilege, work or some blend of it all, "success" for the most part, comes down to working full time. Even when life runs smoothly, it all feels just a bit harder than it should. And this is from someone who's got the guilt (thanks Catholicism!) knowing it would be so much tougher if any one of those factors weren't there. Moore's movie shows us it doesn't have to be this tough; we don't have to be this tough. Jon Schwartz offers a nice write up on this and the WTF interview is good too. See it; you'll be all fired up afterwards.

Repo Man is a strange, funny movie and, surprisingly, the first we've seen from the Roxy's Movie Cult series. I've never seen the slightest touch of science fiction that we have in Repo Man in any other movie. Well, except for those Felicity time travel episodes. Also this post requires a nap disclosure, I may only think the sci-fi was light if it all happened during a brief nap toward the end; apologies if that's the case. Anyway, we ride-along with Emilio Estevez as he learns the ropes of the repo bizz, bonds with his co-workers, and then a car chase or something else climactic happened. Glad I saw it.

Recommendation: Let’s Go! | Let it come to you  | Let it pass
Next Up: Hail, Caesar!

Son of Saul

Movie: Son of Saul
When: 5:30pm on March 3
Who With: JL
Movie Count: 17
Snacks: Who remembers? Popcorn and Cold Smoke is my guess.

Reaction: Intense. I had never considered the operation of gas chambers during the Holocaust beyond knowing the concept and knowing it is horrible. Son of Saul follows Saul through his duties of rushing people through undressing and into "showers," and the clean up of clothes, blood, and bodies afterward. It is not an easy movie, heightened by the visual focus on Saul with everything beyond him blurry.

If you have the chance, see it. But make plans to hang out with a baby or puppies afterwards. It will help.

Recommendation: Let’s Go(! the exclamation point seems gauche here) | Let it come to you  | Let it pass
Next Up: Where to Invade Next - Michael Moore's latest

February in Review

Favorite: Pride
Least Favorite: The Big Short
Saddest: Bear Story
Funniest: World of Tomorrow
Most Surprising: The Big Short in how much I didn't like it
It's Art, Dad: World of Tomorrow
Missed Connections: Timber the Treasure Dog, Chasing Buddha, West Side Story Sing-Along, and Cinema Paradiso

STATS
Total Movies: Six movies this month; 16 year-to-date. This number doesn't include the Big Sky Docs although we saw the fewest in our nine years in Missoula. Just three: Mavis!, The Witness, and Shorts Block 7
Would a Cost: $96

Recommended Viewing and Reading Outside the Roxy
The Staircase, Sundance Doc Channel
Mavis!, HBO
Spy, HBO
Side Note: This was our first month without Netflix and it wasn't so bad. We'll get it back for Gilmore Girls, don't you worry.

Gold Citrus Fame by Claire Vaye Watkins, and her short stories: Battleborn