June was a jam-packed month, as I saw a good number of new-to-me movies as well as revisiting some others. That included re-watching the first two films in Edgar Wright’s so-called “Three Flavours Cornetto” trilogy and watching the third one for the first time, all ahead of the director’s latest movie in theaters now (more on that later). Also a fun tidbit for June, I saw three different movies directed by a Coppola family member in theaters: The Godfather (thanks to TCM and Fathom Events), directed of course by Francis Ford Coppola; Paris Can Wait, directed by his wife Eleanor; and The Beguiled, directed by their daughter Sofia (who recently won Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival for it). Along with all that, I also watched a few early Audrey Hepburn movies I hadn’t seen before, as she was TCM’s Star of the Month, as well as a few movies featured in the channel’s Gay Hollywood spotlight in honor of Pride Month. So it was a great month for movies, and I can’t believe we’re now halfway through 2017! Can’t wait to see what the last half of the year brings, filmwise. Anyway, onto what I watched in the past 30 days…
New-to-Me: 29
Re-Watched: 8
New-to-Me Films by Decade:
- 1920s – 0
- 1930s – 3
- 1940s – 3
- 1950s – 6
- 1960s – 5
- 1970s – 1
- 1980s – 2
- 1990s – 0
- 2000s – 1
- 2010s – 8
List of New-to-Me Films:
A Few Favorite Discoveries:
Wonder Woman (2017), directed by Patty Jenkins
With the abundance of superhero movies coming out year after year, a lot of them start to feel the same or blend into one another, especially with many movies connecting to one another. While Wonder Woman is another such film part of a bigger cinematic universe, the movie is like a breath of fresh air in the genre, mainly for its focus on a female hero and the commentary on gender that goes along with it. The film also really benefits from being helmed by Patty Jenkins, who presents a familiar formula with a different touch, much of it due to the fact that she is a woman. Aside from all the gender politics that come into play with such a history-making movie, Wonder Woman comes out at a perfect time, showing through the character of Diana the importance of compassion. I really can’t wait to see what Wonder Woman does next.
Come September (1961), directed by Robert Mulligan
Though September is featured in the film’s title, Come September is set in the middle of summer, making it the perfect movie to watch this time of year. As always, Rock Hudson is a great leading man here, balancing with ease the film’s romantic scenes with the beautiful Gina Lollobrigida, and comedic moments with young lovers Bobby Darin and Sandra Dee. It’s a light, ’60s-era rom-com, and with the added sights of Italy serving as the backdrop, I had a really great time watching this.
The Lives of Others (2006), directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
This is one of those movies that I had always heard good things about, so I thought it was time to finally check out right before it expired in FilmStruck. And it didn’t disappoint at all, and I’m glad that, aside from its good reviews, I didn’t know too much about it. The subject matter surrounding the Stasi and East Berlin in the 1980s is also not one I’m too familiar with, so I also found the movie to be enlightening. It’s a gripping historical drama that unravels at a great, steady pace, without resorting to big, sudden scenes to get its message across about living in a heavily policed state.
Baby Driver (2017), directed by Edgar Wright
As I mentioned before, I had preceded my viewing of Edgar Wright’s latest film by watching three of his other movies (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and The World’s End, the latter of which I hadn’t seen before), so it was neat from seeing through those films how the director’s style had evolved leading up to Baby Driver. It’s his first really pure action movie, and the way his previous movies were edited really fit perfectly for this genre, making for an especially entertaining ride. And on top of all that, the music choices in the film are brilliantly infused with everything that happens on screen. Truly a fun movie worth experiencing in the theater!
The Battle of Algiers (1966), directed by Gillo Pontecorvo
I posted another entry for the 2017 Blind Spots series a couple days ago on The Battle of Algiers, another great movie I watched this past month. My thoughts on the film can be found here.
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