It’s been a bit of a nostalgic week; I suppose. TIFF’s continuing Women in Action series only remains as strong as ever and I think it’s also been a really nice time to find some movies that I can watch together with friends, but I also think that I’ve mostly found myself watching a whole lot of old favourites, or in a lot of these cases, classics that I’ve really underappreciated until just about recently. More or less, I think that this week has been a whole lot of fun
Without further ado, these are Friday’s Five Films. If you like what you’re seeing here, remember to subscribe for a whole lot more.
#1: Happiness (1998, Todd Solondz)
Todd Solondz has always been one of those filmmakers that I wish I loved a lot more than I do. But with a film like Happiness, which I had not seen since I was in high school (and far too young to, on that note), how exactly do you recommend something like this to people you love so easily? It’s not easy to, but that may very well be why Happiness is one of the very best films of the 1990s. It’s a very empathetic movie towards people who are often shunned by the world around them, especially as their impulses for whatever makes them happy are born out of darkness. If anything, there’s also a scene where a pedophile confesses his own actions to his son that might very well be emblematic of what this film does so well, in that there are moments that deliver both incredibly dark humour whilst being so achingly sad at the same.
#2: Inside Out (2015, Pete Docter)
I’m a little sad to say that I’ve fallen out of love with Pixar, especially given their recent track record. But I think that Inside Out represents Pixar at their very best, maybe the most highest peak that they’ve really hit after they had a couple of misfires from after Toy Story 3. Truthfully, I think that I’ve only come to appreciate Inside Out over the years, especially because the core concept of this film might be one of the most inventive that Pixar has ever worked with in general, but seeing where it was a moment for them to test out where their formula could be reworked from the ground up. The end result is one of their most thoughtful films, a high that wouldn’t be hit again until Turning Red from a couple of years ago.
#3: Kill Bill (2003 and 2004, Quentin Tarantino)
I might be cheating a bit with this one. I’m listing down Kill Bill volumes 1 and 2 as a single movie, because that’s exactly what Quentin Tarantino had intended these movies to be from the start - and seeing the two of these back to back might very well be one of the best theatrical experiences that I’ve ever had too. Where Volume 1 shows itself off as Quentin Tarantino making a martial arts movie in the same vein as the Bruce Lee films while also taking part in the stylish flairs of the Japanese action films of the 1970’s, paired with Volume 2 it is a very thoughtful treatise on revenge and who it really benefits at the end of the day.
#4: Saving Face (2004, Alice Wu)
I caught a 35mm print of this movie together with a classmate of mine from Sheridan; and it’s long been one of her favourite movies. I think after rewatching it years after having first seen it, I have a greater appreciation for Alice Wu’s lesbian romantic comedy - for in addition to being a wonderful romantic comedy, it’s one of the best films about the Asian-American diaspora and the pressures faced as a result of your own family in turn. Every minute of this movie is just wonderful.
#5: Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991, James Cameron)
What else can I say about Terminator 2 that hasn’t already been said by many friends prior? It’s just one of the best sequels ever made, and considering the very high standard that James Cameron has established with the first Terminator movie, Terminator 2 feels like he’s aiming for something more ambitious, with all its technical innovations but also its rich thematic content, all coming back to the nature of the American military industrial complex. Every minute of this movie just feels like a thrill ride from beginning to end, and it only gets more rewarding with each revisit at that.
The Complete Day-by-Day Log
First time watches are denoted with bold text. Scores are on an out of five star basis.
Friday
Kinds of Kindness (2024, Yorgos Lanthimos) - ✯✯✯
Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003, Quentin Tarantino) - ✯✯✯✯✯
Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004, Quentin Tarantino) - ✯✯✯✯✯
Saturday
Taxi Driver (1976, Martin Scorsese) - ✯✯✯✯✯
The Conformist (1970, Bernardo Bertolucci) - ✯✯✯✯✯
O-Bi, O-Ba: The End of Civilization (1985, Piotr Szulkin) - ✯✯✯✯✯
Polite Society (2023, Nida Manzoor) - ✯✯✯½
Two-Lane Blacktop (1971, Monte Hellman) - ✯✯✯✯✯
Sunday
Pink Flamingos (1972, John Waters) - ✯✯✯✯✯
The Queen (1968, Frank Simon) - ✯✯✯✯
Boyhood (2014, Richard Linklater) - ✯✯✯✯✯
Inside Out (2015, Pete Docter) - ✯✯✯✯✯
The Doom Generation (1995, Gregg Araki) - ✯✯✯✯✯
Monday
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985, Paul Schrader) - ✯✯✯✯✯
Kaboom (2010, Gregg Araki) - ✯✯✯✯
Tuesday
Happiness (1998, Todd Solondz) - ✯✯✯✯✯
Inside Out 2 (2024, Kelsey Mann) - ✯✯✯½
Come Drink with Me (1966, King Hu) - ✯✯✯✯✯
Bound (1996, Lana and Lilly Wachowski) - ✯✯✯✯✯
Wednesday
Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey (2023, Rhys-Frake Waterfield) - ½
Predator (1987, John McTiernan) - ✯✯✯✯✯
Saving Face (2004, Alice Wu) - ✯✯✯✯✯, watched on 35mm
Jubilee (1978, Derek Jarman) - ✯✯✯✯½
Thursday
Neptune Frost (2021, Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyman) - ✯✯✯✯½
Tuesday (2023, Daina O. Pusić) - ✯✯½
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991, James Cameron) - ✯✯✯✯✯
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