My Full Brain

Remember a post or two ago I mentioned getting into a routine? Well, I think I found it. I'm sitting at an undisclosed location, sipping a latte, listening to Prince, and thinking about a jumble of things I want to tell y'all about. Or at least two.

Let's start with JoJo Rabbit.

JoJo Rabbit (2019)

My expectations were high, because Taika Waititi. If that's a name you're not familiar with, do yourself a favor and check out the NZ director's What We Do in the Shadows (film, not the tv show, but that's a lot of fun, too.) and The Hunt for the Wilderpeople. Shadows is one of my favorite comedies of the last 20 years. It's clever and silly and even a little sweet when you think of it in terms of enduring friendships. Seriously! I always describe it as a comedy about friendships!

Wilderpeople is also funny, but there's more to it than that. It's a sort of oddball buddies-on-the-run movie, where the buddies are two loners who are on the run from their own grief.

Back to JoJo Rabbit. This is a movie that's been splitting folks left and right. The first time I saw the trailer, everyone I was with exclaimed I WANT TO SEE THAT! Others have said "I'LL NEVER WATCH A MOVIE GLORIFYING NAZIS!" This is an actual thing someone said to me. I think the trailer makes it pretty clear that's not what this film is about. Crowds and critics alike have praised and panned. Waititi has said in his country, something being divisive is a good thing.

JoJo focuses on a young boy in Hitler's Youth Army near the end of WWII. His imaginary best friend is none other than Adolph Hitler (Waititi). JoJo is injured at a training camp, and begins spending more time at home with his Mother (Scarlett Johansson), who slips out during the day for hours, leaving JoJo to discover a young Jewish girl being hidden in a secret room. WHAT A CONUNDRUM! He asks his buddy Adolph for advice, while weighing the consequences for his mother and himself. He's seen those consequences first hand in the town square where traitors are hung for all to see. The story unfolds and by the end the comedy has fallen away, packing a pretty powerful punch.

Focusing on a young boys choice between morality and nationalistic fervor rather than just showing the horrors of the Third Reich (trust me, those get plenty of play here), is very, very clever. Morality vs Nationalism. Gosh, that sounds awfully familiar. Featuring a fantastic cast including Sam Rockwell, Rebel Wilson, Alfie Allen, and Stephen Merchant, along with Waititi and Johansson, newcomer Roman Griffin Davis does a great job as JoJo, but its really his friend Yorkie (Archie Yates) who steals the show. I urge you to get a ticket to this one. Need more reason? There's already buzz ScarJo might get an oscar nomination, and it could a nom for screenplay.

And now, I want to take a second to talk about something dear to my heart. Picture books. I read at least one a day. I can't help it. The covers pull me right in, and I see so many while working at the library. When I read a great one, I share it with my coworkers. Or I point it out to patrons. I put it on display if there is space. I post a pic of it on my instagram and recommend it to friends with kids. But really, what I want to say is these books aren't just for kids. Picture books are for everyone. I mean, adults are writing and illustrating them. Why can't adults read them? Guess what, THEY CAN! I'm giving you permission, right here in my blog. So next time you are in a bookstore, or a library, pick one up that has a cover that draws you in. Maybe you'll laugh out loud, maybe you will tear up, but I bet you will be entertained and probably be reminded of a good lesson. Heck, maybe you'll read just the right book at the right time and you'll feel better about being different. Just, don't let me hear you say they're just for kids. That's right up there with "Sorry, I don't read." Serious offenses, friend. Serious offenses.

Too Soon to Tell

Parasite (2019)

Last night, the topic of best film of 2019 came up. Of course, it's all I've been able to think about since. 2019 isn't quite over yet, but what is the best film I have seen so far? And what has been my favorite. They are not the same, these two things. 

This conversation was prompted by Parasite, which I saw last weekend. Its fair to say that this, Bong Joon-Ho's 7th feature film, is his masterpiece. Or perhaps his masterpiece so far. Its also fair to say that this may just be the best film of the year. Parasite begins as one thing, and ends as another. Some might call it a very twisted comedy, others a horror film. I say its both, and also a tale of class warfare. The distance between rich and poor, a theme familiar around the world. I think that's why this film resonates with so many. Come on, you say, there are plenty of movies about that. Yes, but its Bong's clever storytelling and attention to every detail make this better than all those films. It's his ability to show the lengths to which people will go, how far and also when they realized they've gone far enough. Or endured quite enough might be more accurate.  So, right now, I will say I think Parasite is the best film of the year. 

But its not my favorite film of the year. 

My favorite film of the year (so far) will be hard to suss out. I've loved so many in 2019. Midsommar may top the list for me. Ari Aster's follow up to Hereditary blew my mind. Florence "Lady MacBeth" Pugh gave a powerful performance as Dani, a young woman who had lost her whole family to a murder-suicide and was looking for acceptance, trust, love and a place to belong finds it. Well, its finds her. Oh wow, this is an incredible film. Plus cults. Y'all know how I love cults.

Then, there's Us. Jordan Peele's second film. I loved this with every fiber of my being. Fantastic cast, creepy score, a breadcrumb trail of a story, an allegory for oppression, slavery and denial (cough, cough, talking to you America). I really loved this movie, saw it twice in the theater.  I hold Us and Midsommar right next to each other in my heart for favorite of the year. 

BUT WAIT! I also loved The Farewell. And The Last Black Man in San Francisco. These are both films that take a look at person and place. Where they  and where they came from. I loved the silly and melancholy Wild Nights with Emily. I intend to see The Lighthouse again, Robert Eggers insanely good follow up to The Witch. I also really enjoyed Jim Jarmusch's The Dead Don't Die, Olivia Wilde's Booksmart, Octavia Spencer chewing ALL the scenery in Ma, and Penny Lane's doc on the Satanic Temple's constant challenge to religious freedom, Hail Satan? 

So see, this isn't easy. And I haven't seen  Harriet or Jo Jo Rabbit yet, so stay tuned.  

The End...?

Well, October has ended and with it, my 31 Film Challenge of 2019. For my last four days of October I watched a highly debated classic, a very creepy take on a folktale, an outstanding sophmore effort, and a dud. There's always at least one dud.

Here they are in order:

October 28th: The Lighthouse (2019)

                Robert Eggers' sophmore effort lives up to and exceeds expectations. It definitely bounced way over the high expectations I had for it. The film gives us striking visuals, a spellbinding story, and powerful turns from Robert Pattinson and Willem Defoe as two men taking their 4 week shift at a lighthouse. Loneliness, paranoia, the feeling of being trapped not only with someone you hardly know and are forced internally and externally to deal with ones own guilt and conscience. This is just a surface level commentary on it. By all means get to Cinemapolis and see this movie! Then, find me and we will chat. Theories abound!

October 29th: Hole in the Ground (2019)

                This one had been getting recommended to me for months, but I keep passing it by. What a fool was I! A single mother and her son move to a old fixer upper in the Irish countryside. This house is near the forest which contains a gigantic sinkhole. Scary already. The mom, Sarah (Seana Kerslake), hears a strange story about a woman from the town who started claiming her own son was "not really her son". One night Sarah's son goes missing, and when she finds him something seems just a bit off. The changeling tale is not new, but this take is clever, creepy, and had one an excellent ending. This was perhaps the scariest film I watched all month

October 30th: The Nun (2018)
               This was a bummer. I love horror films about nuns. But this movie was a drag. It was all jump scares you could see coming a mile away, and characters I just didn't care about. If you're looking for a scary nun movie, I suggest The Devil's Doorway.

October 31st: Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)

               I know, people either like this one or don't, but I have always loved it. I found the premise so disturbing as a kid- a big Halloween mask manufacturer plotting to kill kids on Halloween night through the masks. KILLING KIDS! Rarely do you see a kid getting his face melted and snakes crawling out of it, but you do see that in this movie. Scary stuff. Sure, the movie has a squirrelly plot and some cheesy dialogue, but Dan O'Herlihy is so deliciously diabolical as Conal Cohcran, the mastermind behind the deadly masks, coupled with the reveal of what those masks can do and why they want to do it make this one close to my heart and a Holiday favorite. Also, that Silver Shamrock jingle is so darn catchy.

Just because October is over, that doesn't mean the horror movies stop. I say celebrate horror all year round. It's here for us all. Be here for horror.