weekend watchlist: a couple of treasures for Pride Month
Plus a lovable English crank and a put-upon Texan mom. (First published June 18th, 2022, on Substack and Patreon.)
Dominic West
Downton Abbey: A New Era movie review: should we improve society somewhat, or nah?
Steady your heart palpitations: it’s the same old era for the nicest feudal hangover. The delusional reactionary fantasy of wealth and privilege for some, cheerful servitude for others remains intact.
Tomb Raider movie review: raiders of the old movie
Another videogame adaptation in which empty avatars run around perfunctorily because that’s what the plot requires of them. There’s no humor, no fizz, no movie magic at all.
Oscar Nominated Animated Shorts 2018 (90th Academy Awards) review
My pick: I suspect that this year’s winner will be “Garden Party,” a spectacular debut from new French animation studio Illogic that I am sure we will be seeing a lot more stunning work from.
Testament of Youth movie review: woman’s war story
A compassionate, distressing tale of a woman’s determination to find her own purpose, full of heartbreaking moments that pile up until they’re unbearable.
Pride movie review: hanging together rather than hanging separately
One of the rare movies that gets absolutely everything right, bursting with happy-tears emotion about solidarity, friendship, and smashing bigotry.
John Carter (review)
This dreary Disneyfied inconsequence features all the bigotries of century-old pulp fiction and none of the romance, neither the sexual nor the adventurous kind…
female gazing extra: crisp white shirt
Guys look awesome in a crisp white shirt. And so I present a selection of gorgeous guys who look even more gorgeous in a white shirt…
female gazing at: Dominic West
Dominic West hadn’t really jumped out at me until just recently, when a one-two punch made me realize he’s not just a ruggedly handsome face…
The Awakening (review)
An elegantly creepy tale of a haunting that, wonder of wonders, one may approach equally well from the perspective of total supernatural belief or entrenched skepticism…
