in which I am in a tiny critical minority re ‘Free Guy’
everything that happened at Flick Filosopher from Monday, August 9th, to Sunday, August 15th
I fear I may have been too hasty in lifting my self-imposed ban on not reviewing movies that are available only in cinemas while COVID-19 remains a danger. I instituted my ban in June 2020, because everything was absolute shit then, and lifted it in June 2021, because it seemed like we had things under control.
Fast-forward a couple of months, and the delta variant is out of control in the US, and in the UK, where I am, today marks a further lifting of restrictions: if you’re fully vaccinated, you don’t need to self-isolate if you come in close contact with someone who tests positive, even though you can still spread this bastard virus just as well as someone who isn’t vaccinated. (So, the delta variant will be running absolutely wild here in a few weeks, I bet.)
Cinemas are open again on both sides of the Atlantic, and big movies continue to open (*cough* Free Guy *cough*). But even these in-cinemas-only movies are turning up on premium VOD within weeks, because citizens are, for the most part, being more cautious than our governments, and are still mostly avoiding cinemas. (Watch for Free Guy to land in your living room in early September, as we fail to do our corporate duty and buy tickets to see it.).
Maybe I should go back to just staying the hell home until all this blows over.
There are lots of classic movies that I want to watch and review, anyway… and, in fact, watch for an announcement about that soon.
Stay well, and stay safe. Or, as someone wise said around this time last year: Stay positive, and stay negative.
—MaryAnn
new at flick filosopher, Aug 02–08
new and ongoing cinema releases, US/Can, Aug 13
Ryan Reynolds in sci-fi comedy Free Guy… and that’s all I had access to… [get the full rundown]
new and ongoing cinema releases, UK/Ire, Aug 13
Sci-fi comedy Free Guy; robot romance I’m Your Man; more… [get the full rundown]
new and ongoing dvd/blu/vod releases, US/Can, Aug 10–13
Joe Bell arrives on premium VOD; Black Widow moves beyond the Disney+ sandbox; more… [get the full rundown]
new and ongoing dvd/blu/vod releases, UK/Ire, Aug 09–13
In the Heights and Fast & Furious 9 land on premium VOD; more… [get the full rundown]
question of the weekend: What under-the-radar film from recent years would you recommend?
I’m thinking specifically about movies you wish more people had seen so that we — the big cultural We — could talk about it. Or even just so that you could talk to other movie fans about it. [post a comment at Flick Filosopher | post a comment at Substack | post a comment at Patreon]
Free Guy movie review: NPC ya later…
Messy sci-fi comedy, cheerful on the surface but nihilistic underneath, is utterly clueless about all the things it is almost about: AI, gaming, and the bread-and-circuses power of immersive worlds. [read the review | cinemas US/UK]
Tweet of the week…
coming up at Flick Filosopher…
Reminiscence, starring Hugh Jackman and Rebecca Ferguson
Netflix’s animated musical Vivo
Space Jam: A New Legacy (leaving HBO Max in the US on August 15th)
Mark Wahlberg as Joe Bell
Old, the latest from M. Night Shyamalan
Summer of Soul
The Forever Purge
Gunpowder Milkshake
Fast & Furious 9
Luca, the new Pixar animated feature
The Tomorrow War, starring Chris Pratt
Oscar’s Best Animated Feature Soul and Best International Feature Another Round
Disney origin story Cruella
(I swear, I really want to get to all of these…)
follow me…
Twitter | Letterboxd | Rotten Tomatoes | Pinterest