weekly digest: a very bad movie, and much worse reality
everything that happened at Flick Filosopher from Monday, September 5th, to Sunday, September 11th
As some of you may already know, I’m an American who’s been living in the UK for the past eleven and a half years. I knew this country was gonna lose its collective shit when the Queen died… and I was right. From the sex toys–and–naughty lingerie chain Ann Summers thanking the Queen:
(I’d like to think the company is thanking her for being a customer…)
to the bike rack in mourning:
shit isn’t just being lost: it is getting flushed down a black hole of WTFery. And this is only the beginning. It’s all very likely to get stranger, even scarier, as the nation is forced to reconsider its own cultural character in the absence of the woman who shaped it for 70 years.
That’s on top of these stresses: Brexit is finally really biting, and the UK is about to enter a tough autumn and winter of eye-watering gas and electric bills and food costs spiraling into the stratosphere. At the same time, an absolute fortune will be blown on a state funeral for the Queen, and then a coronation for the new King. It is possible to simultaneously understand why such commemorations are important and also wonder how it’s possible for a nation to find big money for some things yet not for others. What should a nation’s priorities be?
We get something of an answer in the new prime minister, a former Shell executive and now a servant of global corporations, most notably those that continue to pull in enormous profits from fossil fuels. This is not encouraging.
This is a sadly perfect encapsulation of the United Kingdom right now:
The next weeks and months are going to be… interesting. And the impact on pop culture in coming years will almost certainly be profound. I will be watching closely and carefully.
—MaryAnn
new at flick filosopher, Sep 05–11
new and ongoing cinema releases, US/Can, Sep 09
Romantic drama True Things and historical military actioner Medieval are new and exclusively in cinemas; more… [get the full rundown]
new and ongoing cinema releases, UK/Ire, Sep 09
Comedic whodunnit See How They Run and sci-fi horror Crimes of the Future are new and exclusively in cinemas; more… [get the full rundown]
new and ongoing dvd/blu/vod releases, US/Can, Sep 06–08
Survival drama Beast debuts on premium VOD; Marvel installment Thor: Love and Thunder arrives on premium VOD and Disney+; more… [get the full rundown]
new and ongoing dvd/blu/vod releases, UK/Ire, Sep 05–08
Black comedy A Perfect Day is new on demand; live-action Pinocchio debuts on Disney+; more… [get the full rundown]
fall film preview…
I had to cut tons of movies I wanted to mention, for space. I might post a longer version in a day or two, if there’s interest. [read more]
Blackbird movie review: Michael “Riverdance” Flatley flatfoots his way into filmmaking [pictured]
Long rumored — long threatened? — writer-director-producer-star Flatley’s self-financed pabulum opus is baffling and hilariously awful. It exists only because an incredibly rich man has money to burn. [read the review | cinemas UK]
weekend watchlist: some much needed yet very realistic eco-optimism
Plus adventures in drinking, hanging out in bars, and murder. (First published August 7th, 2022, on Substack and Patreon.) [read more]
loaded question: what loaded question — about movies, TV, pop culture in general — would you like to put to Flick Filosopher readers?
What would you love to pick the brains of other movie fans about? [reply at Flick Filosopher | reply at Substack | reply at Patreon]
what I’m bingeing
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law [Disney+ globally]: much cute, very entertain
Ted Lasso [AppleTV+ globally]: (have not started Season 2 yet)
The Rings of Power [Prime Video US | UK | globally]: now caught up through episode 3… and I’m still not sure I’m feeling it; the characters are pretty blah, and I’m finding it tough to care much about them
Tweet of the week…
coming up at Flick Filosopher…
George Clooney and Julia Roberts buy a Ticket to Paradise
comedy mystery See How They Run
Kevin Smith’s Clerks III
adventure thriller Fall
kiddie superhero stuff DC League of Super-Pets
John Boyega in Breaking
Korean airline thriller Emergency Declaration
Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis
oddball buddy dramedy Brian and Charles
period drama Mr. Malcolm’s List
Pixar’s Lightyear
Jurassic World Dominion
trips through multiverses with Everything Everywhere All at Once and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
adventure comedy The Lost City
historical revenge drama The Northman
Moonfall
time-traveling ghost story Last Night in Soho
Kenneth Branagh’s autobiographical Belfast
based-on-a-videogame action-adventure Uncharted
And more!
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Crimes of the Future gets my recommendation for a cinema visit:
https://polarisdib.substack.com/p/movie-recommendation-crimes-of-the