Summer of Blah...

Dearest Hilary,

     What a summer of Blah. What happened to the days of Jaws and ET? Oh ya, they were replaced with reboots and The BFG. This was summer lacking of winning blockbusters, leaving the summer dry as Central New York. We're at drought level 4, by the way. What movie stood out from the crowd this Summer? For me, a very small amount actually did. 

     In no particular order: 

Captain Fantastic - Viggo was amazing and featured fine child acting. It was a good ol' fuck the system film

Nice Guys - Thought I was gunna hate it, now I want a squeal

Swiss Army Man - Radcliffe and Dano put in moving performances and the production design and music were stand outs

Tarzan - I can feel your eye roll in Ithaca, but I liked it, and expect more

Sing Street - the only Oscar nominee I will predict now for Best Song, more on that later, also the BEST flick of the summer.

Sausage Party -  I have not laughed so hard and loud at a movie in ages, and it MIGHT squeak out a nom for song?!?

Music of Strangers - best documentary of the summer, OJ not included

     That's it. Only one movie I could solidly suggest. Not even The Ghostbusters reboot could squeeze on the list. It was funny and all, but it lacked a sparked I wanted. 

     I watched dozens of movies this summer, 49 to be exact, of which only one, Sing Street, falls under the category of "MUST SEE." 

     This Summer was filled with lackluster films that were not suggest-able to the masses, only to us cinephiles. I have regular customers that come into my butcher shop to pick my brain about what they should see. What did I suggest all summer? Sing Street, Stranger Things on Netflix and ESPN's epic OJ doc. One was easily accessible to the masses in a theatre, while the others were viewable from the couch; Stranger Things does not even qualified for the Oscars!

     Sing Street. What a fucking experience. Hands down, the number one movie of the summer for me. Fun story, great kid acting, and an infectious soundtrack that will surely be nominated come January. Sing Street is from the same Irish director/screenwriter, John Carney, who brought us the Oscar winning film, Once and Oscar nominated Begin Again. Both for Best Song. I was floored by this movie. I have yet to see Once and I loved Begin Again; after seeing the previews for Sing Street, I had an inkling I would be seeing it multiple times. I saw it three times. "Drive It Like You Stole It", "Riddle of the Model", "Girls", and "Brown Shoes" are stand out songs. The songs left you singing the chorus and tapping your toes by the end of the scene. Unfortunately the song that will be included on the Oscar list will be, "Go Now", written by Adam Levine; it has a strong Oscar scent that will stay fresh till January!

     I was surprised with the abundance of documentaries that I enjoyed, but would not suggest anyone rush out and but a ticket. City of Gold was a great love letter to the food trucks of Los Angeles. Wiener was flaccid. And what the fuck was with the shaved pussy all over his couch?!? It must have been to the vet for something. The poor long haired, ginger cat looked just as sad and miserable as Huma. Dark Horse, a quirky Welsh outsiders-show-up-the-hoity-toity doc, about, you guessed it, horse racing. The Frank Zappa documentary was a fun ride thru a genius's mind. Music of Strangers was the film that moved me the most. Maybe it was the fact that both of us went to a Yo-yo Ma and The Silk Road Ensemble concert in 2009, or that I LOVE crazy bagpipers, or I saw this doc the weekend of the Orlando club massacre; this doc made me cry. It was something I needed at that moment in time. Music can bring cultures together, can heal, and has power. Music of Strangers shows the world what music can do.

Now for the Shit-tastic movies I sat through:

Alice Through the Looking Glass - why was this even made, I saw it for the extra reward points.

The BFG - Big Fucking Deal. What a waste of time; Spielberg should retire from directing fluffy, feel good movies. Stick to war, Steven.

Finding Dory - Let's make fun of memory loss for an hour and a half; nothing like the first one

The Lobster - I liked the commentary on coupling in society, but damn, was this a boring, slow-moving celluloid bore featuring dog murder

Cafe Society - Woody Allen's attempt at a movie. Way to saccharine for me. It is hard to follow up Blue Jasmine. Also, Jesse was playing Woody. Snooze, I have seen it before.

Indignation - To much talking

Free State of Jones - Starts out as a Tea Party-er's dream, then mutates into a Tea Party-er's nightmare. That part filled me with joy!

     After a long summer of not so exciting movie viewing, I am looking forward to a great line up for the fall! Bring on the film festivals! I can not wait for my local film festival, Ithaca Fantastik, in November. The films at the festival are from "The Fantastic genre (which) includes films with elements of sci-fi, fantasy, thriller, horror, or the absurd." Oh, and many entries are international! Every genre you relish.

     Hope you have enjoyed your transition and are settling into your new digs. There are movies galore coming up soon, hope you have found a local theatre to patronize!

Salt and Popcorn, 

Stephen