Casual Consumption: 2023.6 in Films and Series
THIS WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED VIA TINYLETTER ON DATE STAMPED
I have been wanting to write something out into the world. But since middle of last year, I've been practicing keeping some things to myself or at least processing experiences on my own first. I got engaged in January and heavily contemplated whether I should write about it here in my Tinyletter, which is subscribed by friends, acquaintance, and strangers alike. I mean, I've read about stranger's family problems, financial struggles, and identity crises on their personal newsletters. But perhaps I'll save my oversharing for another day and just tell you about a couple of series and films I've consumed and enjoyed in varying levels as of late. A case of displacement.
Disclaimer: I don't care for spoilers. I strongly believe they don't exactly spoil anyone's watching experience and actually allows you to enjoy stories more. (Please! Click on that link. It's an article from University of California that references an actual study by a UC San Diego pyschology professor.) And so if I end up saying some spoilers below, I'm not sorry and it's your fault for not having the self-discipline to stop at this point.
Title: About Fate
Where I Watched: Amazon Prime
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Thoughts: Anything Emma Roberts star in is guaranteed an easy or at least bearable movie to watch. So if you need something light to watch or as a background noise which you can still kind of follow with a few glances here and there, you can go for this. It was cute when she was younger and remain to be cult-classics to this day but I just don't understand why Emma settles for substandard trashy romcoms. It's not like she's typecasted like The Rock, Angelina Jolie and Richard Gutierrez are?
Title: Jerry & Marge Go Large (2022)
Where I Watched: HBO Go
Rating: ★★★★★★★
Thoughts: I'm giving it my favorite number rating. That's how much I loved it. It fascinates me that this is inspired by a true story. And that it involves legitimate mathematical skills. And that it stars a sweet, retired couple who is in it out of pure enjoyment. And that everything's legal. I'm against gambling where factors to winning is all luck and/or guts but this is not it at all.
Title: The Sex Lives of College Girls Season 2
Where I Watched: HBO Go
Rating: ★★★★☆
Thoughts: Anything Mindy Kaling produces, I devour. That woman just gets me. Kimberly Finkle, played by my better-preferred Chalamet, has to be my favorite. She's just charming and naive, with a quiet confidence and no bitterness in the world despite being the poorest of the girls. Leighton comes in a close second, for the amount of ownership she's done to her struggles. Whitney doesn't make any significant impact as she floats through the season aimlessly. Bela is just annoying, reckless, and with questionable morals... why does Mindy create all her teenage female Indian frontrunners in the same mould? My theory is they're all based on her. But A+ scriptwriting.
Title: The Interest of Love
Where I'm Watching: Netflix
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Thoughts: I'm just watching 'til the end cos I'm hooked. (Have yet to watch the last 2 episodes) I doubted it at first because of the age difference (What is up with South Korea and really wide and obvious age gaps between love interests that isn't even addressed in the story?) but Sang-su and Su-yeong has impeccable chemistry especially in that first kiss! But I don't think Su-yeong, the self-sabotaging woman that she is, deserves him. I don't believe she slept with Sang-su's bestfriend but I agree with Sang-su: regardless if it was true or not, it was scary that she would go that length just because she has no self-control and don't know how to communicate. Mun Ka Young, though, just has a charm that makes you want to root for her. I think she went to the province to resolve her feelings of guilt and remorse towards her father, and only then she will be able to accept the (very blind, it's almost ridiculous) love Sang-su is offering her. Some say that their love story is more realistic than other love stories but I strongly don't believe that cheating is simply an ordeal a couple has to surpass or that toxic individuals are mended by true love. So if they ended up together, that would be a misery.
Title: You People (2023)
Where I Watched: Netflix
Rating: ★★★★☆
Thoughts: This film didn't pull me initially. It looked like another stupid comedy with skin-deep political correctness, both of which it kind of are. But I decided to watch it because I saw Bretman Rock watching it on his IG story. (And that, kids, is how we are influenced on the daily.) But surprisingly, it had a level of nuance not most comedies have. It wasn't self-satisfied with its wokeness, unlike the reboot of Gossip Girl. And some parts made me warm inside, which is all I really ask of romcoms. I love their chemistry. I love that even though they're not the usual fit and modelesque protagonists, that the movie didn't have to address how their looks stood against the conventional type and just presented both of them how it is. And I loved Eddie Murphy serious.
Title: Argo (2012)
Where I Watched: Netflix
Rating: ★★★★★
Thoughts: Few people know but I can watch CIA movies any time of the day, which says a lot because I can't even say the same for K-drama or a good Pixar/Disney movie. I don't know why it took me this long to watch Argo. My mind is blown. A cinematic genius. From the alternating of real and movies footages to the sheer balls of Tony Mendez to the casting. How was that a 2-hour film?
Title: Promising Young Woman (2020)
Where I Watched: HBO Go
Rating: ★★★★★
Thoughts: To be clear, I'm against violence and blackmailing, or threats of any kind. But as a woman who had been exposed to the dangers of being born female in this society since I was a kid, this has been such a satisfying movie to watch. Will I castrate all vile men? No. But do I think they deserve to be castrated? Of course, and with no anesthesia nor sterilizing of tools. But also, I don't get the synopsis and critics’ review-- this has nothing to do about nice men. We have (500) Days of Summer for that.
Title: True Spirit
Where I Watched: Netflix
Rating: ★★★★☆
Thoughts: If you can't tell yet, I love movies based on or inspired by true stories. When she set sail for her solo, nonstop, and unassisted circumnavigation, I looked at the time marker and couldn't believe that the movie really is mostly about her while she was out at sea. It sounds stupid, but I know very little about sailing so I couldn't believe there is that much to show about sailing, even though alone. I knew she was going to make it because I looked up Jessica Watson and her Instagram shows her at an older age. But I loved the journey nonetheless. Especially the pink boat, the satellite phone calls, the blogging, and the daily vlogging--all things that resonated with me, and felt nostalgic because we're around the same age. I wish they'd shown Abby Sunderland, who attempted the same challenge shortly after her, and that Jessica's parents also circled Pink at some point in the journey. That would've been cool.
Title: The Wedding Ringer
Where I Watched: Netflix
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Thoughts: Normally, I would skip on Kevin Hart. I don't get why he's always shouting or agitated, if not both. But this seemed like a promising comedy so I watched it with my fiancé. It made me realize that sometimes, a good movie just has to zero in on one irrational fear of ours and expound on it in imaginative ways. This was a cool, light, predictable watch. I don't usually watch comedies because a lot of times, when they're written by a man, it's usually slapstick which I don't find funny at all. And somewhere in the middle of this, it became that way. I wish my eyes have never seen a dog lick peanut off of someone's balls or a malnourished senior ride a van through a bridge undergoing construction. But I enjoyed it in spite of it all.
What have you been watching lately?