Movies

Gershwin

Chill Culture, Movies

One of the things I particularly enjoyed about My Summer of Love is that it was made in 2004, before smartphones and before social networks became ubiquitous. Thus, it feels really quite dated in a good way. The whole terms of relation are much different. Modern movies are glaring in their omissions of smartphones if they are not present while still being dominated by the social forces of their preponderance.

Also, Summer was filmed before the current deep prudishness had set in so the characters treat sex as just another part of life, like eating or breathing. No, those times weren’t better in every way (the 90s were even better in those respects), but it’s clear that everyone was just much mentally healthier then.

One of These Mornings

Chill Movies

We watched My Summer of Love earlier. Like most movies about girls/women, it’s underrated on IMDB. It’s a beautifully-shot study of the summer love affair of two girls-verging-on-women in the Midlands of the UK. The first one we meet is a lower-class, rough-around-the-edges dreamer who yearns for a better time in her life, often without quite being able to express it.

The other girl is from a posh family and seems to be sincerely looking for companionship and the solidity of a real connection after a recent tragedy has left her grieving.

But this is a deeper and more compelling work than the surface would indicate, and quite a bit darker. I’ll not say more to avoid spoilers as it’s best watching unaware. With great performances by both Emily Blunt and Natalie Press, the film never goes for the easy cliché, either in its shots or its narrative, and never is less than true to its characters and their motivations; the film moves how they would move.

Recommended.

Span

Chill Movies

Both Cailee Spaeny and Kirsten Dunst were very good in Civil War, but the movie itself was meh. It didn’t know what it wanted to say or to be; it committed to nothing. There is a lot of noise and Sturm und Drang but it just has no thesis. At the same time, it’s not observant nor perspicacious enough to be a slice of life (or of death) film, either.

It just was not a good film despite the combat portions being pretty well-done. I wish it had been attempting to say something, anything, to have some history or future or meaning. Not every movie needs that, of course. But this one did.

Not recommended, unless you’re a particular fan of Cailee or Kirsten or both.

Cinematic Omens

Chill Movies

The First Omen was not that good. Kind of meandering and predictable. However, the cinematography was nice.

(That’s a shot of Margaret and her roommate getting ready to hit the town. Our girl Maggie1 is trepidatious about going out in a dress she feels is too revealing, while her roommate applies some peer pressure for her to woman up.)

In addition to just having a great name, Nell Tiger Free is very good in the film, as are Bill Nighy and Ralph Ineson. But you spend most of your time with Nell so she is the reason to watch if you like good acting. Otherwise, skip.

  1. No one actually calls her this in the film.