April in Review

MOVIES
Favorite: Songs My Brother Taught Me
Least Favorite: Requiem for the American Dream
Funniest: Hello, My Name is Doris
Important Stuff: The Maltese Falcon
Missed Connections: Silence of the Lambs, Eraserhead, Racing Extinction, Kramer vs. Kramer, Footloose Sing-Along, He Named Me Malala, Galaxy Quest.

STATS
April Movies: Only 4 outside the IWFF
Would-a-Cost: $156 with the  IWFF All Screenings Pass
Total Movies YTD: 28 [not counting the million wildlife films]
Would-a-Cost YTD: $596
Cosmic Dual Membership: $450 - We did it ya'll! We broke even on the membership we didn't even pay for. It was hard work and I'm proud of our commitment. It's funny to get here in April which was not our best performing month due to the house selling/buying project. Now the pressure's off and with summer coming on strong and a house we love being at, we'll see how our movie pace holds up.

OUTSIDE THE ROXY
Trapped at the WIlma on April 25th - Want to get mad? See this documentary about access to reproductive care.
Animal Reunions, Nature PBS
Broad City, Comedy Central on Hulu Start here if you haven't been yet.
The Path, Hulu - If episodes weren't doled out once a week we would already be finished with this show.
The Turner House by Angela Flournoy - Got it from the library only to have a holder rip it out of my hands before I was done. Don't you know I need to read a novel set in an upcoming travel destination?
New York Mag - free with expiring United miles

2nd Half of April

Before we review April, let me flush out the end of the month when posts weren't happening.

I saw Requiem for the American Dream on my own on April 12. It had been on my list to go to a movie alone and this one made sense because Jordan wasn't interested in it. Too bad it was terrible. The beginning of the movie opens with text explaining these interviews with Noam Chomsky occurred over a few years and they were his FINAL interviews. Okay, weird. I guess we've closed the door to him doing any promotion for the film. Also, there's not much that you haven't heard before here. Sometimes that can be good, a refresher on what you know but got lazy about thinking on, like most food docs. But we live capitalism run amuck and concentrated wealth everyday and Noam wasn't bringing out anything beyond the blow your college mind conversation. There were three directors on this films. I'm not sure there's anything in this world that benefits from three directors.

Then we went to a bunch of International Wildlife Film Festival docs with the All Access Pass our Roxy membership awarded us. Fun to live it up with our lanyards and visit interesting environments full of creatures. Here's our list from the fest: Giraffe - Up high and personal [fine and very into puns but strange animation "humor"] | Life Force 2: The Arib Namib [a look into desert creatures] | The Great Auk [animated story for kids with terrible moments of sound, on purpose I think] | The Daughters of the Forest [environmental science based high school for girls in Paraguay - not perfect but maybe my favorite of the fest] | and a bunch of others but I'm boring myself. Here's the schedule if you want to guess at other ones we saw. The main thing we realized during the festival is that it's hard to beat a Nature episode on PBS. These all seemed to be lacking a certain something [information] or having too much something else [human ego].

On April 15, we saw Songs My Brother Taught Me. This movie, set on the Pine Ridge Reservation, is so good. You should see it if you can. Beautiful storytelling and real characters.

Then I missed my first feature playing at the Roxy. Racing Extinction was a holdover from the IWFF and I wasn't feeling it enough to squeeze it into the stressful days of moving. Then April came to a close.

AYATM: The Maltese Falcon

Movie: The Maltese Falcon
When: 7 p.m., Sunday, April 10
Who With: JL
Movie Count: 26
Snacks: popcorn and beer? The Masala spice isn't around anymore. Might have to make another seasoning donation.

Reaction: What the what is with this movie poster? Is that top guy supposed to be Bogie? Fine. Another classic in The Roxy's Essential Cinema series. This one beats The Big Sleep and has some kooky violence that made my day, including a lady kicking a guy in the head when they're both standing, jacket stunts your older brother might pull, and plenty of gun-taking misdirection.

Gotta get that falcon! JL introduced me to the term "MacGuffin," used to describe the quest or object that a movie centers around but isn't flushed out for the audience. Familiar concept but I love the word!

Honestly, there's a lot going on in this movie, comings and goings, alliances and deceits, but never more reciprocated administrative assistant appreciation. A two-way street full of "darling" this, "precious" that, "sweetheart" the other. Bogie knows how to manage his staff of one.

Recommendation: Let’s Go! | Let it come to you  | Let it pass | It's a classic, so you have to
Next Up: Requiem for the American Dream

Hello, My Name is Doris

Movie: Hello, My Name is Doris
When: 7:15 pm, Friday, April 9
Who With: JL
Movie Count: 25
Snacks: I'm guessing we split a bowl of popcorn

Reaction: This is a joyful movie that gets into some of the harder stuff of life when it should but doesn't leave you there. Sally Field is pretty magical as Doris - an awkward older lady who is somewhat emotionally stunted, naive, and relatable.

Director and co-writer Michael Showalter does almost too good of a job looking at young people through a Baby Boomer/Gen X resentment-filled lens. He picks fun at their crafting, tech, music, and lingo while also relying on these ideas to move the story along. The bit that made my brain talk to itself was when rather than establish a dummy social network, the movie oddly relied on THE social network, Facebook, but makes up an alternative interface for it. Why?

Stephen Root is one of those people who makes me laugh by just appearing on screen. Even in this more serious role, his humor seeps out. Part of me wants to think this is a bizarro side story within the Office Space universe, in which Milton's issues have been addressed and now it's time to deal with sister Doris's. All in all, it's a fun sweet movie that I'm glad I hadn't seen the trailer to prior. Semi-spoilers all the way through! Whoa, I just learned that this movie is rated R. That is ridiculous - it's pretty tame.

If you're wondering, "Why the long break between posts, Christine?" well, it's because I had a conference in Phoenix. I was able to sneak into "Chongqing Hot Pot," which I don't think I liked - too violent but the food looked great. I'll let this Variety article explain. It was in a great theatre though, the Valley Art, It's part of the Harkins chain and a 2001 renovation kept the charm and still feels recent 15 years later. They have a great gimmick: if you buy and wear their $25 t-shirt, you get free popcorn for the year. Since returning to Missoula on April 6th and the Roxy on April 9th, I've seen four membership movies and will be getting around to posting-o-plenty.

Recommendation: Let’s Go! | Let it come to you  | Let it pass
Next Up: The Maltese Falcon

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