Good morning!
I hope you all had a great week. This was a pretty busy week for me with a few social obligations. I loved it though. I had a very good friend in town this week and was very happy to see him. We were able to catch a Lakers game, visit a favorite bar, and go to a lovely farmer’s market.
Also, if you didn’t see, I released the long awaited Lady and the Tramp OeuvReport. Those will be coming out again more regularly, so look forward to that! The next will be a personal favorite of mine, Sleeping Beauty.
I’ll also be releasing info on a special new project this week! Keep an eye out for that.
I was able to cross a few more Oscar nominees on my homework list.
All in all, a nice week! Let’s get to the recap!
Movies
Rec of the Week: The Holdovers | 2023 | Alexander Payne ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
A curmudgeonly instructor at a New England prep school is forced to remain on campus during Christmas break to babysit the handful of students with nowhere to go. Eventually, he forms an unlikely bond with one of them — a damaged, brainy troublemaker — and with the school’s head cook, who has just lost a son in Vietnam.
The Holdovers was the Oscars homework I was most looking forward to seeing. It seemed like a perfect movie for me. Indeed, it was. Paul Giamatti is one of my favorite actors of all time, and this might be my favorite performance of his. It’s the type of role he excels in, but it never feels phony or canned. There’s a lot of humanity packed in this movie. Da’Vine Joy Randolph’s Mary Lamb is a perfect example of that. She’s able to find moments of joy while also feeling the deep pain that is losing a son. It’s the joy and sorrow of being alive. Newcomer Dominic Sessa, while not perfect, had a raw energy that worked really well with Giamatti and Randolph. The found family trope is not a new one, not in the slightest. However, the key that makes this one zing is how honest and true it is. Payne loves these characters and makes us love them too, despite their flaws and idiosyncrasies.
Hellboy | 2004 | Guillermo del Toro ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Happy 20th to this baby! I’d been hankering for a rewatch of this series, and having a 20th anniversary this year was a great excuse to act on that desire. If I hadn’t watched this so much growing up, I don’t know if I’d like it as much. It’s not a great script. But the performances and design of everything make up for it so much in my rose-tinted glasses, that I still had a fun time.
Hellboy II: The Golden Army | 2008 | Guillermo del Toro ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Of course, I couldn’t just watch the first one. I remember liking this one even more than the first growing up, and I still feel that way. The designs are more del Toro-esque, which I love. The plot—while nothing innovative—is at least interesting, especially the villains! I wish del Toro would’ve been able to make his trilogy, though. It makes me sad that we got the sludge of the 2019 redo, instead of del Toro’s final part of this story.
The Zone of Interest | 2023 | Jonathan Glazer ⭐⭐⭐⭐ ½
While a little too long, and an effective but eye-rollingly on the nose ending, The Zone of Interest has a new powerful way to show the horror we know was WWII and concentration camps. I saw someone saw this is the perfect showcase of the banality of evil, and that’s exactly what this movie is. Also, Sandra Hüller double nomination where? She’s on a role folks!
Maestro | 2023 | Bradley Cooper ⭐⭐ ½
On a technical level, this movie is very interesting and honestly masterfully done. However, I could not get over how laughably bad the script was. Add on Cooper’s cartoonish take on Leonard Bernstein’s voice, and it was hard to take this seriously. There’s a lot of love for and hard looks at the subject that make it admirable, but it’s difficult for me to actually like this movie.
Close Encounters of the Third Kind | 1977 | Steven Spielberg ⭐⭐⭐⭐ ½
I saw the 4K 40th Anniversary Edition sitting on the shelf of my local movie rental store and realized it’s been too long since I saw this. So much of this was beyond my comprehension as a kid. I just liked it because cool alien effects. After seeing The Fabelmans, it’s hard not to see how personal this must have been for Spielberg. The creative individual who leaves their family behind to follow what they must follow? Mitzi Fabelman, anyone? I loved this, but that’s to be expected with how much I adore Spielberg.
SCAM Girls Movie Club
Japanimation: Anime Arrives on American Soil
Grave of the Fireflies | 1988 | Isao Takahata ⭐⭐⭐⭐ ½
After the first time I watched this, I promised myself not again. But here I am. The final film of this month’s SCAM Girls Movie Club, is a harrowing look at war. Yes, war is hell, we know this from the countless films showing the wounded and dead participating in those wars. Where I think this excels over others, is in its showing is the slow decay war can have on the every man. This film’s every man just happens to be a young brother and sister. It’s a harrowing movie, and one that I will probably watch again, but it’ll be another 5–6 years before I do.
TV
In Progress
Gankutsuou, Season 1, Episodes 12-16
Marvel’s Daredevil, Season 3, Episode 2-4
Tokyo Ghoul, Season 1, Episode 3
Books
Completed
Burn It Down: Power, Complicity, and a Call for Change in Hollywood | Maureen Ryan ⭐⭐⭐⭐
I won’t lie, I wavered a lot on how I felt about this book. Moments felt enlightening, others felt like “yes, we know already,” and still others made me question if this industry is one I still want to pursue a career in. That’s all to say, it was a challenging read for me. Ultimately, I land on this is good and is good for people to read. I think the further you are away from the industry, the more shocking this will be, while the closer you are, the more affirming of your struggles it can be. For a lot of the book, I felt like this is a potentially hopeless problem that this industry faces, but there’s enough stories of good happening that I felt encouraged to learn more and do what I can to join/support these movements. If you want a glimpse into why the recent strikes were necessary and important, this is an interesting glimpse into that world.
In Progress
The Silmarillion | J.R.R Tolkien — 43%
The Big Read
Dune | Frank Herbert - 36%
The Weathered Tome Society
American Gods | Neil Gaiman — 9%
Games
Completed
Video Games
The Day of the Tentacle (Remastered) | Double Fine ⭐⭐⭐
This classic point-and-click adventure game was a fun and easy game, showcasing Double Fine’s (Psychonauts, Broken Age) odd, yet loveable sense of humor and world/character design. I played on my PS Vita, which was honestly the perfect system to play on; I loved the touch screen capabilities! The story was very silly, a tentacle grows arms and decides to take over the world, so you play as a geek, a weirdo, and a metal head to save the world via time travel.
In Progress
NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139... | Square Enix
Portal | Valve
Diablo IV | Blizzard Entertainment (PS5)
Music
Be Quick or Be Dead | Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden continues to be an excellent gym band. I go back and look at some of the lyrics after and feel astounded by how good they can actually be.
Mylo Xyloto | Coldplay
My friends were poking fun at Coldplay, and it just made me want to listen to them. This is probably the album I enjoy the most.
Dark Spaces | Euan Ellis
Much like Hello Meteor, Euan Ellis’ albums are great “I need some noise while working” music. I found this off the Similar Artists tab on Hello Meteor, so if you’ve tried them out, you know the vibe.
Infinity | Euan Ellis
I enjoyed it so much, I had to run another album right after.
American Fiction (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) | Laura Karpman
I removed this on my 2024 Oscar Nominations article, just because I hadn’t heard it. Well, after listening, it deserves to be on there, it’s phenomenal.
YouTube
Some days you just need to watch a good Criterion closet pick. This is one of my personal favorites I revisited this week.
Thanks for reading. Til next time!
- Colton
So glad we agree on Maestro!! Could have been so much better but shot so well.