"I'm afraid I can't do that, Dave"

   And the movies from the previous post are:

• 2001: A Space Odyssey (68)
• District 9 (09)
• Hidden Figures (16)
• Love & Friendship (16)
• Rear Window (54)

   Watching 2001: A Space Odyssey was an experience. We had an installment of Movie and Cocktail Club that featured this movie, and three out of the four of us had never seen it before. What a ride. This movie is a) very long, b) has a large proportion of dialogue-less time, and c) was really enjoyable. When it ended I immediately started looking up criticism and commentary to read. Turns out, some people are VERY SURE about What It All Means. Also, Dave is bizarrely good looking. What does THAT mean. 

   Josh and I watched District 9 on January 20th, and let me tell you, that was a weird cognitive moment. Earlier in the day, 45 had been inaugurated, and then I was watching a movie about violence and misunderstanding towards refugees, forced relocation, building a wall to keep Others out, resistance only borne out of an experience of sharing in the suffering of a marginalized group, a lack of transparency in government, and a group of oppressors who believed that what they were doing was right. Does that, perhaps, remind you of something? I'm going to go ahead and say that, along with Children of Men and other dystopian movies, District 9  is only becoming more relevant and poignant. 

   Hidden Figures is required viewing. Go to a theatre, buy a ticket, spend money to watch this movie (as far as you are able; if cost is prohibitive, by all means, obtain it in another way. Please just watch it). This movie is not only required viewing, but also made me laugh out loud, made me tear up, made me confront internalized biases, was super interesting and entertaining, and only very slightly pulled its punches. Seriously. Hidden Figures. Go see it. This is not a drill. Do not pass Go, do not collect $200. Plus it's about NASA during the Space Race so, uh, SPACE. 

   Will Love & Friendship enter the my ranks of comfort watches? Trick question: it already has. 

   Rear Window is one of Hitchcock's triumphs, in my opinion. A high-stakes bottle episode! Grace Kelly's clothes (the real star)! Suspense! It's got it all. 

1-5, 2017

Another year, another movie count. Can you guess them all??????

movies of 2016

   This blog became mostly a movie blog rather than a book blog this year, due to: my brain. I started grad school. My reading and writing energy has been aimed elsewhere. And guess what? It was a good year for movies. This list may or may not include all the movies I watched this year, because I'm not always good at updating the list in my notes app. This list also doesn't include the tv I watched, just because I don't feel like including it. There was quite a bit, because I love tv. If you want to know my favorites they were the new X-Files episodes, Stranger Things, and Brooklyn-99. I have some THOUGHTS about Stranger Things which I may or may not share at some point in the future.

   Here's a legend for the list: an * marks a re-watch, bold means I watched it in theatres, underlined means I cried during a commercial for the Olympics that played before the movie started, italics means it was one of my faves this year, and a + means it's a documentary. If you want to read more about the movies, click on the "Movies" label and voila: there are all the movie posts, even though I didn't talk about the last few movies I watched.

• *Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (80)
• *Star Wars: The Return of the Jedi (83)
• *Tombstone (93) I love this movie so much. Can't stop won't stop.
• *Star Wars: The Force Awakens (15) a second theatre viewing, lovin' that stars war. 
• *Mad Max: Fury Road (15) WE ARE NOT THINGS.
• Stranger Than Fiction (06)
• *Cowboys and Aliens (11) 
• Mad Max (79)
• Mad Max: Road Warrior (81)
• Mockingjay, Part One (14)
• *Princess Bride (87) I'm not marking this as a favorite for the year because it is a favorite for the AGES. 
• Zoolander (01)
• Room (15) This movie is beautiful and heart breaking and uplifting.
• Matchstick Men (03)
• Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome (85) I feel like people drag this movie, but I really liked it. Two men enter, one man leaves, am I right? Gotta get me a chain mail dress. 
• Brooklyn (15) 
• *Cat Ballou (65) Another favorite for the ages.
• *Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (09)
• Zootopia (16)
• +People of a Feather (11)
• Mockingjay, Part Two (15) I watched this while delirious as a result of driving for twenty hours in two days.
• *Flight of the Navigator (86) I watched this while eating waffles with my boyfriend.
• Huntsman: Winter's War (16) I don't care what ANYONE says, these movies are CINEMA GOLD. 
• +Somm (12) 
• +Somm: Into the Bottle (15) Can recommend watching two wine documentaries back to back while drinking cheap wine with your parents.
• Love & Friendship  (16) SO GOOD that I saw it twice in theatres. I paid ACTUAL MONEY, TWO TIMES. 
• True Lies (94) <3 Arnold <3
• The Secret Life of Pets (16) Do not recommend. 
• *Galaxy Quest (99) This is a comedy classic, clearly.
• *Emperor's New Groove (00)
• Star Trek: Beyond (16) The Sabotage scene? Hilarious. "Classical music" is such a good gag. 
• Matilda (97)
• *Mad Max: Fury Road (15) DID YOU THINK I WAS DONE WITH THIS MOVIE? I'M NOT. I NEVER WILL BE. I LIVE, I DIE, I LIVE AGAIN.
• Bring It On (00) Somehow hadn't seen this movie until now.
• Groundhog Day (93) I had a lot of thoughts about this one. Gonna watch it again soon, I think. 
• *Sahara () This is one of my all-time favorite movies, here I stand I can do no other. 
• +A Year in Champagne (14) This somehow became the year of Mad Max and wine documentaries. 
• *Northanger Abbey (07)
• Annie (14) Finally watched the newest version of Annie and you know what? It might be my favorite Annie.
• Doctor Strange (16) 
• Captain America: Civil War (16) I was weirdly disappointed in this one. I'm not sure if I saw it in theatres or not. 
• Arrival (16) IT AMAZED ME, please go see it. 
• *The Big Lebowski (98)
• Rouge One (16) An installment of Star Wars that is all about the cost of war? Yes please. 
• Spectral (16) Hilariously bad.
• *Red 2 (13)
• *Master & Commander (03) Boats boats boats!
• La La Land (16) Not perfect but you know what? I loved it.