February was a lighter movie-watching month, at least compared to my usual viewing habits. But it was still a great month of film, especially for screenings around L.A., from retrospectives honoring Peter Bogdanovich and Sidney Poitier to a couple of my favorite filmmakers making special in-person appearances, Paul Thomas Anderson and Barry Jenkins! I’ve also been catching up with a few new releases and this year’s awards contenders, a trend that will continue in March as we approach the Oscars at the end of the month. In fact, the films I’m highlighting in this post are among this season’s Oscar-nominated films. So with that said, a quick look back at what I watched for the first time over the last few weeks…
New-to-Me: 20
Re-Watched: 15
New-to-Me Films by Decade:
- 1910s – 0
- 1920s – 0
- 1930s – 0
- 1940s – 1
- 1950s – 1
- 1960s – 0
- 1970s – 3
- 1980s – 1
- 1990s – 1
- 2000s – 2
- 2010s – 2
- 2020s – 9
List of New-to-Me Films:
- Texasville (1990)
- Mask (1985)
- The Worst Person in the World (2021)
- A Hero (2021)
- The Hand of God (2021)
- They Call Me Mister Tibbs! (1970)
- The Organization (1971)
- Duel in the Sun (1946)
- Marry Me (2022)
- Death on the Nile (2022)
- Good-bye, My Lady (1956)
- Brother John (1971)
- Kimi (2022)
- Beast (2017)
- Wild Rose (2018)
- The Cat’s Meow (2001)
- Bring It On (2000)
- The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021)
- Cruella (2021)
- Cyrano (2021)
A Few Favorite Discoveries:
The Worst Person in the World (2021), directed by Joachim Trier
I’d basically been impatiently waiting to see The Worst Person in the World since it premiered to rave reviews at Cannes last year, so I was happy to finally see it last month. It’s stayed with me since I watched it on the first weekend of February, partly because the protagonist Julie is a young woman trying to come into her own as she reaches her 30s, which I myself will be approaching in less than a week. While the characters in this film certainly aren’t perfect, the performances from Renate Reinsve and Anders Danielsen Lie really drew me into the story, and their work is among my favorites from 2021. I would’ve loved to see both stars get more awards recognition, but I’m glad the film earned Oscar nominations for Best International Feature Film and Best Original Screenplay!
The Mitchells vs. The Machines (2021), directed by Michael Rianda
The Mitchells vs. The Machines was a movie I meant to get around to watching when it came out last year, as some of the film’s producers were also behind Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which I adore. Despite how long it took me to finally watch this, I really enjoyed the movie and it exceeded my expectations. It’s filled with a fun mix of animation styles and great humor, but most of all it has a wonderful family dynamic driving the story. It’s up for an Oscar in the Best Animated Feature Film category, which is stacked with a good set of nominees this year, it’s tough for me to pick a favorite of the bunch but I’m glad this film is among them!
