I got back on track with my usual movie-watching habits this month, though I didn’t quite reach the equivalent of watching a movie a day. Still, it was a good month with a great mix of films, ranging from the classic era to the ones much more modern. I surprisingly didn’t feature any movies made in the 20th century for this particular monthly wrap-up post, which I think is a first on this blog (that’s aside from my 2016 Blind Spots mention that I always add at the end). But I did enjoy a lot of what I saw, whether old or new; I just happened to enjoy the newer movies a lot more this time around. This is also a shorter post, so if I had more time to I probably could’ve squeezed in a couple of older films, but oh well. Anyway, onto what I watched in the past 30 days.
New-to-Me: 29
Re-Watched: 3
New-to-Me Films by Decade:
- 1920s – 0
- 1930s – 2
- 1940s – 4
- 1950s – 7
- 1960s – 6
- 1970s – 4
- 1980s – 1
- 1990s – 1
- 2000s – 1
- 2010s – 3
List of New-to-Me Films:
- Norma Rae (1979)
- Home Before Dark (1958)
- Young Bess (1953)
- Marriage on the Rocks (1965)
- Ada (1961)
- Downhill Racer (1969)
- Lilith (1964)
- The Invitation (2015)
- Something’s Gotta Give (2003)
- The Angel Wore Red (1960)
- Bright Road (1953)
- Midnight Madness (1980)
- Scarecrow (1973)
- Bridget Jones’s Baby (2016)
- Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong (2015)
- The Green Mile (1999)
- Island of Love (1962)
- The Secret Heart (1946)
- Sons of the Desert (1933)
- The Lady in Question (1940)
- The Unfaithful (1947)
- Two Smart People (1946)
- Five Came Back (1939)
- The Long, Long Trailer (1953)
- Scared Stiff (1953)
- Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday (1953)
- I Never Sang for My Father (1970)
- The Frisco Kid (1979)
- September Affair (1950)
A Few Favorite Discoveries:
Something’s Gotta Give (2003), directed by Nancy Meyers
Nancy Meyers is one of those directors whose films feel like a nice, warm blanket, they always put me in a good mood (despite my envy of her characters’ living spaces). This particular movie was a real treat to watch just because of its stars, Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton, both of whose careers really sky-rocketed in the ’70s. And they previously co-starred alongside Warren Beatty in Reds, another one of my favorites, so it was nice to see them reunited too. They have really wonderful chemistry here, and it makes me wish they had had more opportunities to star in other movies together, but at least they got to be in two movies, both of which are quite different from each other. Aside from Nicholson and Keaton, the movie has a great supporting cast, especially Keanu Reeves and Frances McDormand.
Bridget Jones’s Baby (2016), directed by Sharon Maguire
This is easily my favorite movie of this month, I had such a great time watching it! I loved it so much, that I think it might actually be my favorite Bridget Jones movie? Granted, I only saw Bridget Jones’s Diary for the first time a couple of years ago and haven’t re-watched it since, and I haven’t seen the second movie (and don’t plan on seeing it anytime soon given the reviews). Anyway, Bridget is a very relatable but highly likable character (especially this time around because of her job as a news producer, like me!). It was a treat to revisit her a decade later and see how much she’s grown as a person, along with her friends and of course, Mark Darcy. While the plotline was a little predictable given the genre, the way everything played out with the story and characters felt organic, nothing felt too forced. It was really lovely seeing such a fun romantic comedy in the theater, I only wish the genre would make a big comeback because I miss their abundance.
The Green Mile (1999), directed by Frank Darabont
I posted my monthly entry for the 2016 Blind Spots series a couple of days ago on The Green Mile, another film I enjoyed watching this month. My thoughts on the film can be found here.
