In June, I started reading books about film in earnest, which inspired a lot of my viewing choices. I began with a reread of Quentin Tarantino’s Cinema Speculation, which is part memoir and part essays on exploitation cinema. Most of my time reading this month was Easy Riders, Raging Bulls, about the New Hollywood movement. Eager to stay on the subject, I also started reading Pictures at a Revolution, which focuses specifically on a handful films from the start of that era. Also this month, I attended the Toronto Japanese Film Festival for the first time.
The Scary of Sixty-First
United States of America | 2021 | 81m | English
Okay, so literally all of the scenes that I think are meant to be either mysterious or sexy or (especially) scary occur without the buildup necessary to give them any impact. Instead they fall flat on their face. None of the dramatic shifts in tone or plot feel like they’re earned. Prime Video labeled this as a comedy as well as a drama, but it’s hard to know where one genre is supposed to begin and the other is supposed to end. I didn’t see this in a theater but if I did I imagine the “Have you heard of pizzagate?” line delivered with Dasha Nekrasova’s signature deadpan, SSRI stare only to hard cut to the next scene would have gotten laughs. Similarly, I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to react when the characters say, “Look, it’s Ghislaine Maxwell!” and then point to a woman who is very obviously not only not Ghislaine Maxwell but rather Dasha’s Red Scare co-host. Did they think we wouldn’t instantly recognize her? Why do you think I’m watching a movie with Cool Adam’s ex-gf in the first place?
The Scary of Sixty-First seemed like it came from Dasha’s desire to express something about Jeffrey Epstein—to keep his name in the Zeitgeist to remind everyone that the official, government-sanctioned account about his life and death was, and still is, highly suspect. But there’s nothing that this film really has to say about that case, other than to appropriate the dark reality of Prince Andrew’s real-life child victim into a half-baked demonic possession narrative which never comes across as anything beyond simply exploitative, goofy, and shocking-for-its-own-sake (whoa, she’s like, rubbing her fluids on the letters “JE”!). I might have given this an extra half star if not for the audaciously unsubtle Eyes Wide Shut reference at the end. Girl, you haven’t earned the right to compare yourself to Kubrick. Downvoted!
Memories of Murder
South Korea | 2003 | 131m | Korean, English
This is the movie David Fincher wishes he was talented enough to create. Memories of Murder is a dark, depressing film. All I really knew about it going into this TIFF screening—complete with a special, one-off recorded intro from director Bong Joon Ho—was that it is featured on effedupmovies.com (and it lives up to that label). Despite all the heavy, macabre moments, there are also some very funny scenes, which are definitely necessary to prevent us from completely hating the corrupt cop protagonists, who routinely torture innocent people in vain attempts to get them to confess to an otherwise unsolvable case. Learning that the director was only 33 when he made this is all the more impressive; he would have been young when he experienced the period of Korea’s military dictatorship which he so deftly portrays here. I should mention that the score is amazing, as well.
Shampoo
United States of America | 1975 | 110m | English
In my quest to watch most of the notable “New Hollywood” films, I decided tonight to watch Shampoo despite once reading somewhere, “Nobody under the age of 60 gives a shit about this movie.”
Fact check: true. What a waste of time. I guess there’s supposed to be some kind of political message somewhere here (it’s hard not to notice the 1968 Presidential election pervasively across each TV that appears in many scenes) but while I was scratching my head wondering which character was supposed to represent Nixon, or the Democrats, or… the American public… or something… I never did find a reason to care about the plot or the unlikable characters. With nothing interesting in terms of camerawork and the lack of an original soundtrack (the rendition of the Beatles’ “Yesterday” played at the party was neat at least), I can’t imagine any reason I would ever want to return to this snoozer of a film. In fact, this was my second time attempting to watch Shampoo; the first time, I quickly lost interest after the abysmal opening scene that stays in pitch-black darkness for way too long. I should have left this abandoned.
Easy Rider
United States of America | 1969 | 95m | English
Rewatched, this time on the Criterion blu-ray that I bought. And my score went down. Oops lol. I do think it’s kind of slow and plot-less (until the famous shocking ending, when a plot suddenly forms around the story, as Quentin Tarantino posits and I agree). It’s kind of a nice meditative movie to watch as the sun goes down. But the moments of excitement come only after long scenes of goofy pothead dialogue, which back when it came out was probably super cool and groundbreaking but now is just a bit tedious to me. (The last campfire scene with Jack Nicholson is an exception, though.) I wonder why more movies don’t do that back-and-forth jump cut thing to transition between scenes…
Supervixens
United States of America | 1975 | 106m | English
A frenetic, insane, and of course pervy movie, which shouldn’t be surprising, coming from the old horn dog Russ Meyer, who made Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. It’s goofy, campy, and mostly fun (I love the music cues), except for that bathroom murder scene which is way more brutal than anything else in the movie and casts a misogynistic pall over the script as a result. I can’t imagine what seeing this in a theater in 1975 must have been like. And I’m still in awe that I found this uncensored on YouTube.
Grande Maison Paris
Japan | 2024 | 118m | Japanese
A boring story about rich people doing rich people things. Beating oneself up over an arbitrary review score bestowed by a handful of gastronomic gatekeepers strikes me more as an odd way to live one’s life rather than a compelling struggle that keeps me on the edge of my seat, rooting for the heroes. Kyoka Suzuki, as Rinko, the woman who unfailingly supports the abrasive, asshole protagonist (for some reason) was the most charming part of the film. There’s at least one scene of great acting when the Korean guy eats the food that he finds simultaneously delicious but also infuriating because of how inadequate of a chef it makes him feel – but outside of that, none of the drama moved me at all. If you’re watching this for the food, you’ll be let down, too, as food shots factor little into the cinematography until late in the runtime.
Liz and the Blue Bird
Japan | 2018 | 91m | Japanese
I definitely can’t fault the animation, which is gorgeous throughout—especially during the colorful story-within-a-story segments. The music, central to the movie, is also flawless.
My issue with this film is that it’s, I hate to say, mostly dull and uneventful. High school girl drama is not my idea of a compelling plot, unfortunately!
A lot of people on this site seem to think there’s an underlying, unspoken queer undertone to the relationship between the two main characters, which gives the story a depth that isn’t readily apparent. (If you ask me, however, such an interpretation comes more from those reviewers’ internet-rotted gooner brains than it does from any evidence in the film—not to mention stated intent from the director or source material). It’s a well-made movie, but I didn’t connect with it as much as I hoped.
McCabe & Mrs. Miller
United States of America | 1971 | 120m | English, Cantonese
It took a while to grab me, but from the phenomenal scene where McCabe encounters Butler and shows himself to be a coward, it’s great.
There’s a weird haziness to the camera lens, making the breathtaking outdoor Vancouver settings all the more dreamlike. This is one of the very few Westerns I’ve seen where it didn’t feel like actors in costumes on a studio set but rather like an authentic town of grimy, dirty old men barely scraping by so that they can indulge in the few vices—drinking, gambling, and whores—that make their otherwise miserable lives worth living.
The audio mixing, as many have pointed out, is absolutely atrocious. I guess that’s the “Altman style” but he manages the overlapping-dialogue thing much better in the other films of his that I’ve seen. This movie is definitely unique but it’s not my favorite Altman. Might be one of the better Westerns I’ve seen, but that’s a low bar. At least Warren Beatty isn’t as insufferable as he is in Shampoo.
Other Movies I Saw This Month
- Midnight Cowboy (1969) [4/5]
- Cells at Work! (2024) [3.5/5]
- The Getaway (1972) [2/5]
- Sexy Beast (2000) [3.5/5]
- Sisters (1972) [4/5]
- The Ring (2002) [1.5/5]
- Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967) [2.5/5]
- Sorcerer (1977) [4/5]
- The Last Picture Show (1971) [4/5]
- Raising Arizona (1987) [5/5]
- Total Recall (1990) [4.5/5]
Best Movies I Saw This Month
- Raising Arizona
- Memories of Murder
- Total Recall
Worst Movies I Saw This Month
- The Scary of Sixty-First
- Shampoo
- Grande Maison Paris
- The Ring
Josh Anderson 