(bi)weekly digest: not the cool kind of bi
the very little that happened at Flick Filosopher from Monday, February 26, to Sunday, March 10
Sorry for my absence… again. I had some non-film-related work that occupied a chunk of time, but mostly it’s just that I have been all but paralyzed trying to figure out where to go as a film critic. I can’t recall a time when I’ve felt so overwhelmed to the point that I just freeze up. Some of it is me, everything going on in my head. But a lot of it is the state of the world and how that impacts movies and entertainment and the culture at large. I can’t recall a time, at least when I’ve been a working critic — so, coming up on 30 years — when there has been as much upheaval in the industry.
And we didn’t even get dinosaurs out of it… Damn.
Anyway: I continue to attempt to reboot my brain.
—MaryAnn
PS: Oh! I decided that I am not willing to cede Twitter to the Nazis and the techbros and the angry Karens, so I’m back posting there. *sigh*
new at flick filosopher, Feb 26–Mar 10
my picks for tonight’s 96th Academy Awards (the Oscars for 2023’s films) (winners indicated)
I correctly guessed 12 out of the 23 categories, which is a little worse than how I did last year but better than the year before. So about par for the course for me. [read more]
Dune: Part Two movie review: shifting sands
Ugly, outrageous, brutal, and cynical; a genuinely terrifying film about power and politics as religion and control. There is little escapism here; hits square in the social plexus of horrifying 2024. [read the review | cinemas US/UK]
loaded question: what movies beyond ‘Mary Poppins’ deserve a rethink of their official ratings?
What older movies might warrant a rethink, either to acknowledge their suitability to audiences of all ages or to restrict them to more discerning adults? [reply at Flick Filosopher | reply at Substack | reply at Patreon]
what I’m watching and bingeing
Sugar [debuts globally on Apple TV+ Apr 5]: Colin Farrell as a private detective in a modern Los Angeles crime noir? hell yes! I’ve only just started this (thanks to advanced press screeners), but so far, so yum
The X-Files [Hulu US/Disney+ UK]: comfort TV shouldn’t be 30 years old, but such is the entertainment hellscape we’re currently living in…
Slow Horses S2 [Apple TV+ globally]: didn’t get back to this last week…
coming up at Flick Filosopher…
lesbian crime drama romance Love Lies Bleeding
Anthony Hopkins in WWII-legacy drama One Life
And I really haven’t forgotten about these:
Ava DuVernay’s Origin
Paleolithic thriller Out of Darkness
Andrew Scott in All of Us Strangers
the absolutely brutal The Zone of Interest
Paul Giamatti in Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers
Wonka, finally
Jeffrey Wright in American Fiction
based-on-fact family wrestling drama The Iron Claw
Joaquin Phoenix as Napoleon
Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn
Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore in May December
Priscilla’s problematic romance with Elvis
teen comedy Bottoms
Barbie, finally, for real, promise
murder mystery Anatomy of a Fall
tween classic onscreen Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret.
And more!
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