Recent Reviews - Films, TV, & Books. 2/8/23

With the start of the new year I set some ground rules about what I would be consuming in 2023. Firstly, I knew I wanted to dedicate more of my time to films. If you’ve been following along on Instagram, you know that cinematography has completely captured my heart as of late. I felt it only fair that I turned to the greats a few times a month as I embark on my own little film-making journey ... even if mine is only Instagram reels.

Austin and I do not have a TV - maybe one day when I don’t share a living room with other people. For now we’ve been breaking out our projector on movie nights. I have to admit, it does help with romanticizing movie nights.

Let’s start with hopping into film reviews from the past few weeks.

Film Reviews:

La La Land

Oh how this film was so. much. more. than what I thought it was from everything I heard. I thought “oh yeah, another musical, Ryan Gosling, etc.) But let me tell you, I can’t remember a time when a movie ending left me both heartbroken and content, but that is exactly what La La Land did. When the movie finished we just sat there, mouths agape, unsure of whether to laugh or cry. I’ve since connected with many of you through messages who feel as I do - that this movie is truly a classic that I’m sure will stand the test of time. Do yourself a favor and watch it if you haven’t, though I know I’m one of the 3% that hadn’t yet at this point.

The Pale Blue Eye

This film fell into our laps one night when we were doing the classic “we don’t know what to watch, let’s just scroll through Netflix” bit. The Pale Blue Eye, funnily enough, was advertised as a Christian Bale thriller, not an Edgar Allen Poe biopic. However, we were shocked a few minutes into the movie when it was revealed that the film covers Poe’s time at WestPoint. This naturally thrilled my inner-classic literature buff. I will admit, the end of the movie got a bit cheesy there for a bit, but then it turned itself around. Nothing groundbreaking, but a well-done movie that is a great watch on a chilly winter night.

Bullet Train

So, an embarassing secret about me is that I am a die-hard Brad Pitt fan. I can’t explain it, and I won’t speak for his virtues as a person, but I love his acting. So naturally, Bullet Train was a must watch for me at some point. I thought the visuals in this movie were particularly stunning, and I liked the underlying message that “bad luck” is less of a condition as it is a mindset that can be shifted. Fun movie, but not much more for me personally.

TV Reviews:

I recently watched two shows that both true winners in their own rights. It’s rare for me to find a show that loops me in and keeps me there until the end, so already these two have my praise for simply doing that.

The Queen’s Gambit

I will unashamedly admit that I bought a chess set and started learning as soon as I finished this series. I still play a couple games a week after dinner, and I would guess it will be a long-time hobby of mine. This series was phenomenal. Anya Taylor Joy is a treasure, and I have yet to meet a role of hers that I didn’t like. This isn’t your typical “rags to riches” storyline, there’s definitely some deviations along the way. But I thought it was tastefully done, phenomenally acted by all parts, and most of all gave me an appreciation for the complexity and beauty of chess that I hadn’t known before.

Game of Thrones

Austin and I started this series last Autumn when the House of Dragons hype reached its peak. Neither of us had seen the show before despite the monumental hype it enjoyed for years prior. We were skeptical at first, but it hooked us quickly and held its grip until the very end. I won’t waste your time saying too much, as by now you’ve surely heard of its legendary status in the TV world. I have to concur. It’s worth noting, that a complaint I heard from many people over the years was that the ending of this show was terrible. I have to admit that I disagree. I found it fairly well-done. Rushed, but realistic at least.

I also recognize that these are both shows that were surrounded by quite a bit of buzz in their time, so perhaps these reviews are nothing new. However, if you’re like me and often put off by hype surrounding books and TV, this is my certification that these shows are actually worth the buzz.

Book Reviews:

The Girl Who Played With Fire

These books are thriller royalty, and for good reason. I read the first in the series two winters ago, and I will likely read the next book in the series next winter. I will admit, it took me a solid two months to get through this one. On the one hand, it is a deceptively long book, at almost 700 pages with fairly dense formatting. On the other hand, I sadly don’t have much time for reading these days, so I’m sure that was a factor too. I honestly didn’t mind having this book around that long - each time I sat down to read it, I felt the same giddy anticipation I get when watching a good TV show. It’s the perfect Scandinavian thriller.

That’s all for now! I hope you enjoyed this little Recent Reviews Segment. Please feel free to comment with any thoughts/questions/suggestions!