Round-up 9: Rewatchables

I had an enjoyable and eventful week of cinema! Many rewatches, but ultimately a well-rounded list of genres and subjects. I was on assignment, in a foreign environment, but a nice big TV and a sweet doggy to keep me company. With this in mind, I tried to take full advantage of the time and space before me.

            Started the week with a viewing of Jesse Eisenberg’s A Real Pain (2024), which swept up some awards throughout the big season. This might take the cake for my favorite of 20204, the quick-witted, snarky comments and back and forth between Jesse and Kieran Culkin is exactly my kind of writing. The screenplay particularly goes off with its human connection, specifically in the context of the cousin’s relationship throughout the film. It’s rarefied air to see such a brilliant marriage of convincing, realistic character drama and laugh-out-loud comedy that ends with you feeling you’ve been punched in the gut. After seeing this film, I fully believe that Mr. Kieran Culkin earned his awards; a full and complete dive into a broken adult man fighting to find his place in a rapidly changing familial landscape. The tight 90-some-odd minute runtime assists in the emotional damage delivered in the final act, you can hardly feel it coming, and then it hits you as the credits start to roll. An absolute powerhouse of a film, and one I’ll definitely be returning to soon.

The next evening, I watched Jim Jarmusch’s The Dead Don’t Die (2019), which had an all-star cast, was headed by the perfect kind of cinema weirdo, and had a painfully weak script and even more painful execution of plot. The twist on the zombie genre was fun to begin with, but quickly became a tired, overly dry satire with little reward or payoff in the end. I wanted to like this one, I really did, and don’t get me wrong, it had a couple of laugh out loud moments, but beside the occasional quip between Bill Murray and Adam Driver (the two leading roles, of which the rest of the cast was equally as huge in star power), this was a major let down.

            To round out the comedy double-feature with something more in line with actually laughing, I gave the infamous The Interview (2014) another go-around. I’d only ever seen it once, probably not long after the major controversy surrounding it, and I recall thinking “meh”. However, following the bummer that was The Dead Don’t Die, I was fully on board with the absurdity. Crude sex jokes combined with over-the-top slapstick comedy hit in the midnight hours, but not much beyond that. Unfortunate that Mr. James Franco took such a route out of the mainstream, being a not-so-great guy, because he had some serious comic chops. I wish in another universe, there is an iteration of Kim Jong-Un who leans into the character, how funny would that be? A Kim who loves Katy Perry and margaritas, what a thought. Who knows? Maybe he got so wound up over it because it touched a little too close to home. One can dream.

My next double feature was a bit more absurd and more catered towards self-comfort and attempting to find some tranquility that evening. Beginning with a viewing of the original, very first Spy Kids (2001) by Robert Rodriguez. For a kids’ movie, this is nightmarishly designed in an aesthetic and even camerawork. I suppose this is a compliment to Mr. Rodriguez, who brings an adult lens to the child’s world, but never in an alarming capacity. The star-studded cast of adults totally embraces the vision, which amplifies the childlike wonder of the story. I followed this one up with another viewing of one of my all-time favorite comfort films: Mamma Mia (2008). Is it ridiculous in almost every facet? Yes. But is it well-choreographed and paced with exciting energy? Uh, double yes! The singing is very hit or miss, but the way in which the pace makes up for stutter-steps is actually quite impressive. I always have a great time watching this one, and I feel no shame for saying so.

            The next evening was after a long-ass day of school that had wiped my energy straight out. I remedied the terrible mood that followed with one of my favorite nostalgia hits, Ice Cube’s classic tale of LA hood life, Friday (1995). I remember watching this with my best friend so many years ago, close to midnight, both of us sucking down Monster energy drinks and laughing our asses off at the shenanigans of Cube and Chris Tucker’s characters. While hilarious in many regards, what makes this a standout film to me is the rapid switch into serious drama between the characters, where life and death are considered. The first two-thirds of the film or so are a straightforward hangout comedy, with an ensemble cast of characters messing with one another as they go about their daily lives. The final act completely subverts the audience’s expectations by going into the crime and drama genres, and then just as it wraps up, swiftly concludes on a happy ending. It shouldn’t work, not in the way the film is so quickly paced, but by God, it does. This is a testament to Ice Cube’s writing ability and, moreover, his innate sensibility for balancing comedy and drama. It might be due to the memories I have connected to it, but regardless, I hold it up as a benchmark for others who attempt to copy it.

I ended the week with one last double-feature (I had a house to myself, wanted to take full advantage of the big TV). Beginning with another great comedy that has stood the test of time better than many others of its subgenre, Ben Stiller’s Tropic Thunder (2008) still hits in all the right places. I’d argue, the satire and commentary on race in film has only grown in hilarity given the sensibilities of Hollywood these days. Robert Downey Jr. really swung for the fences with his role in blackface, which is why he got nominated by the Academy for it. What very well could’ve been a picking of low-hanging fruit instead is a surprisingly tasteful mockery of what Hollywood was to become in the following years. I finished out the night rewatching Pixar’s Monsters Inc. (2001). While many will argue these films are for children, I would argue they are written with the express intent of being enjoyed by all age groups, and I’d like to think my experience corroborates that. I laughed and I cried, but more importantly, and I think what surprised me the most about the viewing was how locked in I was for its entirety. The internal conflict with John Goodman’s Sully and the corporation he works for, as he finds out the true nature of what it is he does, hits me harder as an adult than it would have as a youngling. These writers knew what they were doing, which is pretty on par for Pixar, but being from my childhood, the maturing lens alters how the story unfolds and how it is to be interpreted. Always a favorite, personally ashamed I went as long as I did without a rewatch.

Overall, a very successful week of cinema. Trying to get myself to branch out more and switch up genres from day to day. Final exams are coming up very swiftly, so I'll be spending a bit more time on that front over the next couple of weeks. Filling in the space with film, television, and literature. Challenging myself to embrace a new direction. Until next week.