This month was a good one for film.
Not only were the Golden Globes this month, an award show finally gratifying all the hard work a production team has put into a piece of art the previous year, but there were some pretty heavily anticipated releases.
In my last column, I gave a list of three of these movies I was looking forward to this February. In no particular order, here are my reviews.
“Malcom & Marie” (2021):
I’m a fan of Sam Levinson as a writer, so when I saw this movie was coming out in February, I was super pumped. The fact that Zendaya and John David Washington were the sole stars in the film was an added bonus.
I watched it the moment it was released on Netflix, and to be honest, I tried so hard to like it. I really did. Don’t get me wrong — I loved all of “The Lego Movie” references and the pure passion for macaroni and cheese that Malcolm’s character had. But looking past all that, these two characters really just saved their best comebacks for this hour and a half of their lives and still got nothing accomplished. The whole movie felt like a constant back and forth with no goal in mind.
The actors did all of the heavy lifting, but no matter how hard they tried, they never could pick up the deadweight that the screenplay proved to be.
“Minari” (2021):
I already knew I would love this one before I even pressed play.
Soonja says, “It’s better to see it than to have it hide. Things that hide are more dangerous and scary.”
Need I say more? There’s so much beauty in this movie, it’s no wonder that it took the Golden Globe for Best International Feature Film.
This movie takes on the empty promises of the American Dream, the grandeur of American individualism and really just all things American. The film is told through the eyes of the young son of Jacob and Monica, David, who tries to fit his family into the cookie cutter standard for American families. He is aggravated with his grandma, who is eccentric and loves to play, rather than homely and an avid baker like the grandmothers of his American friends.
This concept of cultural assimilation and the reality of it is told seamlessly in this film, the message wrapped up in the incredible cinematography, soft colors and of course, “wonderful, wonderful minari.”
“Little Fish” (2021):
“When your disaster is everyone’s disaster, how do you grieve?”
Jude and Emma are newlyweds who live in the near future where a pandemic causing people to lose their memories is coming down hard on everyone they know and love. It’s only a matter of time before it comes for Jude.
He starts having to write his friends names and their connection to him on the backs of their photographs. Every day is an attempt of establishing the past while trying to continue to grow in the future.
This movie is absolutely heartbreaking and I’m honestly not sure if I’m over it yet. After finishing the film, I didn’t know how to continue with my day. I wanted to watch it over and over again and show it to everyone I know. The pandemic atmosphere of the movie is so relevant to what we are living through right now that it’s hard to believe this screenplay was written before COVID-19 even arrived at the scene.
“I was so sad the day I met you. I can’t remember why,” Emma says.
If you like “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” check out “Little Fish.”
Those are my movie picks. As for music, here’s a tune that really stood out.
“Rocky” – Still Woozy (2021)
Still Woozy always delivers with every new song he puts out.
Still Woozy is the solo project of singer/songwriter Sven Gamsky, who records and produces all of his music in his garage. Mixing R&B, funk and indie music, Gamsky is able to create the perfect lucid tone to give any homework session a seriously chill soundtrack.
Next Month:
Here are a few things I’m interested in checking out next month.
“Beartown” (February 23, 2021)
“Raya and the Last Dragon” (March 5, 2021)
“Cherry” (March 12, 2021)
