June 22, 2023

Day: 22, Movie:22

As we are starting toward the last week and a half of the June Swoon 2, there are some films that I have never heard of before. Significant Others is one of those. I found it while going through Prime (it looks like it was on Paramount +) and the premise sounded decent. The Rotten Tomatoes score was fresh so I put this on the list.

Unfortunately, I did not like this one much at all.

A couple go hiking on a trail and plan to spend time in the wilderness. Harry (Jake Lacy) was much more excited about the trip than Ruth (Maika Monroe) was, but harry had more on his mind. After hiking awhile and setting up camp, Harry proposed marriage to Ruth. However, Ruth is very anxious about marriage and she had a panic attack.

The next day, they find a dead deer, covered with some kind of black goo. Harry thought it had some kind of disease. Ruth came across a cave that held a surprising truth that she was not expecting.

I won’t go any farther to eliminate any spoilers, but this film took a big step down from this point on. I had some tension building at first as I wondered what was going to happen in these woods. When it happened, things changed dramatically, including a tone that bounced all over the place.

The film was short, but felt longer than it was. The performances were fine and the film looked decent. Still, I feel that much of the story went off the track after awhile.

June 21, 2023

Day: 21, Movie: 21

Today’s June Swoon 2 film was a real surprise. Honor Society is a coming-of-age comedy that was on Prime (Paramount +, I believe) starring a strong cast of young actors in a very creative and unexpectedly funny movie.

Honor (Angourie Rice) was a senior hoping to escape the town she lived in by getting a recommendation to Harvard from her sleazy guidance counselor, Mr. Calvin (Christopher Mintz-Plasse). She discovered that she was one of four potential candidates for his recommendation and she decided to go out of her way to bring the other three candidates down.

Honor is also our narrator for the movie, breaking the fourth wall and talking directly to the camera during each scene. This worked extremely well because of the charming nature of Angourie Rice. It also helped us get inside the head of Honor, whose behaviors and actions were pretty rotten. Because she kept speaking to us and explaining the thought process behind everything, Honor avoided becoming one of the ‘mean girls’ that typically populate this kind of movie.

In fact, although the group of characters in this movie certainly fall into the normally stereotypical tropes of a coming-of-age movie, these characters defy those expected roles.

As Honor is moving through her plans, you can see the development of the character and the lessons she learns along the way. You knew something was going to come crashing down at some point, because it always does in this style of movie. However, I will say that Honor Society pulled off a late movie twist that I did not see coming that played with all of the expected tropes. I was very impressed with the reveal in this film.

Mind you, things turn out a little too nicely, with the feel of a sitcom. The way this high school film ended this story was too perfect for it to be realistic, but it did feel like something more fantastical than a realistic portrayal so I did not hold that against it.

The cast was excellent. Gaten Matarazzo, Armani Jackson, Any Keum, Kelcey Mawema, Avery Konrad, Kerry Butler, Danny Wattley, Miku Patricia Martineau, Andres Collantes and Michael P. Northey are all great in their roles. Gaten Matarazzo gave an especially strong performance here, getting to do more than he has done on Stranger Things.

I did not expect to enjoy this as much as I did. It was a lot of fun, filled with a fantastical story mechanic and plenty of laughs. Angourie Rice was very charming and she is so likable, even when her character is pulling things that you shouldn’t be liking. A hoot of a film.

June 20, 2023

Day: 20, Movie: 20

Today’s June Swoon 2 film was one that I found on Peacock the other day as I was searching for more 2022 movies to add to the list. It is a film from New Zealand directed by Gaysorn Thavat called The Justice of Bunny King.

Bunny King (Essie Davis) was a woman who had been convicted of manslaughter after killing her abusive husband in self-defense. Bunny had her kids taken away from her and placed in the system. Once she had served her time, she came out and had to jump through several hoops in order to attempt to regain custody of her kids.

She started to live in the garage of her sister’s (Toni Potter) home because Bunny was unable to find a home of her own and that was the first step in getting her kids back. However, Bunny caught her sister’s husband Bevan(Erroll Shand) molesting his step-daughter Tonyah (Thomasin McKenzie). Bunny’s sister did not believe Bunny and took the side of her husband, throwing Bunny out of their house.

Bunny stealing Bevan’s car, taking Tonyah and hiding out with her. Bunny’s plan was to have a birthday party for her daughter, who was turning six. Things went poorly after that.

Essie Davis was magnificent as Bunny King. You could tell that Bunny had plenty of problems, including a temper that caused her to fly off the handle, but you knew that she loved her children and she loved her niece. Even though she may not have made wise choices, she did them for the right reasons and that made her easy to root for even though she was basically kidnapping Tonyah.

Thomasin McKenzie, who appeared in other great movies such as Last Night in Soho and Jojo Rabbit, was exceptional as the young girl who Bunny was trying to rescue from the abusive circumstance she found herself in. McKenzie was quiet and moving as she displayed the loyalty to Bunny despite Bunny’s rapidly elevating behavior.

The story was dark and at times tough to watch. Bunny’s bad behavior was never acceptable, but you certainly understand where it was coming from and at the heart of the woman was love. Not a role model for sure, Bunny King is a survivor and a force of nature. She actually reminded me quite a bit of the character of Leslie from To Leslie. Both women are rude and their malfeasance is against norms, but they have a hidden strength.

The Justice of Bunny King is on Peacock.

June 19, 2023

Day: 19, Movie: 19

Last year, Andrea Riseborough received a controversial Best Actress in a motion picture Oscar nomination from out of nowhere for her role in the independent film, To Leslie. It was unexpected and got a lot of people talking.

She deserved that nomination 100%.

I watched To Leslie this morning for the June Swoon 2 on Netflix and this movie was excellent. Andrea Riseborough played Leslie, a former lottery winner who drank away her winnings and ended up leaving her son, James (Owen Teague).

Hitting the bottom, Leslie returned to her hometown trying to find any way to survive. When local motel clerk Sweeney (Marc Maron) offered her a job as a maid, Leslie finally had to confront the demons that had sent her down her life’s path.

Andrea Riseborough was amazing as Leslie. Her performance was stellar, with every look, every glance filled with pain and meaning. The struggle of alcoholism was real and Riseborough portrayed it with an achingly powerful realism.

She masterfully played on the emotions of the viewers. At the beginning of the movie, I found her to be a horrible character and, before long, I was rooting for her. She ran the gamut of emotions and I was never quite sure what the end result of the film was going to be.

Marc Maron as Sweeney was a awesome supporting character as well, bringing a lifeline to Leslie just when she needed it. At first, you wondered why he decided to do what he did for Leslie, but as the film progressed, his motivations became obvious and perfectly understandable.

The film also featured an epic performance from Allison Janney as Nancy. When we first meet Nancy, you could understand and support her and as the movie moved along, Nancy became more of an antagonist that the audience could hate. This character was so three-dimensional that she felt like a real person who held grudges and who had reasons for them.

These characters in this movie were extremely well written and developed. They were real people facing the difficulties that life brought and not always facing then in a positive manner. There is an authenticity to the story and the characters that serves this film well.

June 18, 2023

Day: 18, Movie: 18

The June Swoon 2 continued today with another interesting documentary that was on Prime. Wildcat focused in on a British war veteran Harry Turner who left Afghanistan suffering from PTSD. Harry traveled to Peru where he joined up with wildlife biologist Samantha Zwicker, who was involved in the rescue of wild animals threatened by poachers.

As he was joining up, they received a baby ocelot named Khan and Harry became very connected to the wildcat. They began working with the baby ocelot in order to be able to release him into the wild in about a year and a half.

However, tragedy struck, leading to the cat’s unexpected demise, and the subsequent arrival of a second ocelot baby for the pair to raise.

I will say that this documentary was only partially about the cat; it was really more about Harry and Samantha and their traumatic backgrounds. The film does a remarkable job showing the mental distress that Harry was going through, and the illness that he suffered. The portrait of a man who tried to deal with his mental illness by cutting himself on the arm. How he spoke about the suicidal thoughts that troubled him. This was one of the most compelling parts of the doc.

There was also some great moments with Harry and his parents and younger brother who came to Peru to visit him. The relationship between Harry and his brother came through extremely well.

This was a top notch documentary that really has a solid and emotional story at its core. Wildcat is a great story for animal lovers as well as those who are interested in human drama.

June 17, 2023

Day: 17, Movie: 17

After a busy day at the theater and writing reviews, I was able to finally get to the June Swoon 2. Today, I went on to Shudder at Prime and picked out a horror/thriller called Burial.

A group of Russian soldiers have the task of taking the body of Adolf Hitler from the bunker where he had shot himself and deliver it back to Russia to Stalin. They are being pursued by German soldiers determined to reclaim the body of Der Fuehrer.

The Russians included translator/intelligence officer Brana Brodskaya (Charlotte Vega) who was determined to not fail in the transition of the body back to the Soviet Union.

The film also included a local Polish man Lukasz (Tom Felton) who helped the Russian avoid capture by the German, which included the  German “Werewolf” partisans.

There is not much of a horror element to the movie, being more of a thriller/war movie. Still, there are some suspenseful scenes with the characters in the woods and some of the images connected with some delusions that were tense.

I enjoyed this movie. I liked the way this movie was framed, with actor Harriet Walter, playing an older version of Brana, narrating the story of what happened during the final days of the war in Europe. The film truly picks up steam when Tom Felton arrives and we first learn about what is inside the box.

This was a good watch on Shudder and is a quick watch too. I liked this one.

June 16, 2023

Day: 16, Movie: 16

Hulu is the location today for the June Swoon 2 as I came across a dark comedy/drama film directed by Jerrod Carmichael called On the Count of Three. This was a film where the premise really snagged me when I came across it.

Two long-time friends are both at a point in their lives where they are both suicidal and agreed to shoot each other. Played by Jerrod Carmichael and Christopher Abbott respectively, Val and Kevin have had horrendous backstories that have led them both to stand opposite each other with a gun pointed at their heads.

However, Kevin hesitated and knocked the gun aside, wanting to have one more day to do some things that they wanted before the end.

Dark and funny at times, Val and Kevin run around the town doing some shocking things that do a great job of informing these two characters. They are so messed up, but you can’t help but find yourself rooting for them and hoping something happens to change their minds on the ultimate end.

Tiffany Haddish, Henry Winkler and J.B. Smoove have vital supporting roles in the movie that give the pair some dramatic characters to play off.

The third act of the film is dramatic and the ending is amazing. No spoilers, of course, but it is a satisfactory ending to the movie.

On the Count of Three is an excellent dark comedy with some wonderful character development.

June 15, 2023

Day: 15, Movie: 15

Today’s June Swoon 2 film is on Netflix and it deals with a very heavy subject. The Son was a film directed by Florian Zeller and starred Hugh Jackman and Laura Dern. Depression is a tough challenge that many people struggle with daily.

Peter (Hugh Jackman) and Kate (Laura Dern) split up years before when Peter met and fell in love with another woman Beth (Vanessa Kirby). The divorce was tough for their son, Nicholas (Zen McGrath), who held on to the pain he felt.

When it was revealed that Nicholas had been skipping school, Kate chose to have him go live with Peter to hopefully help him. Peter was very busy at work and he saw what he wanted to see when it came to Nicholas.

Nicholas continued his struggles at his father’s home, slipping back into some negative behaviors.

There was a lot of melodrama in this movie to the point where it felt like there was too much. While the performances were solid, the material was not up to par. It seemed as if there was nothing deeper than what was shown and some of the dialogue was iffy.

I had a major problem early on that pulled me out of the story. As someone who works in a school, I can not imagine how a student could skip school for a month at a time without someone checking on him. It happened in this movie with two different schools and that just did not feel realistic to me and that caused me to disassociate myself with the story.

Anthony Hopkins appeared as Peter’s father, but he was completely wasted in the film. His appearance was literally just a few minutes, making this role nothing more than a cameo.

The key is that there is not enough specifics or development of the character of Nicholas. He is very surface level and, because of that, we are unable to access the important part of the story that would help with the emotional beats of the film. Zen McGrath does a good job with what he was given, but there just was not enough of a portrait of this character.

The Son was a sad story that does not go any deeper than that. The actors are very good with the limited details they are given and instead of three dimensional characters we get melodrama.

June 14, 2023

Day: 14, Movie: 14

This Places Rules was the latest movie released in 2022 that will be today’s entry on the June Swoon 2 list. It was released on HBO on December 30, 2022 and then on HBO Max the next day. This documentary followed the events that led up to the January 6th insurrection, and was directed and hosted by journalist and YouTube content creator Andrew Callaghan.

The film went to several of the major events prior to Jan. 6th, interviewing the extremists on both sides. This doc does a great job of not only laying out the bizarre thoughts of Trump supports, Qanon wackos, and Proud Boys, but also extremist on the left like Antifa and BLM.

Some of the wildest scenes of the movie involved Alex Jones, host of Info Wars. His far right propaganda highlighted some of the worst natures that we as the people have, while truly showing that what Jones (along with others) really wants is to make money off the selling of merchandise. It was revealed that Proud Boy leader Enrique Tarrio not only sold Trump merch, but also merch for Joe Biden.

The interviews of random people at the rallies are jaw dropping. Some of the insanity that comes from these people defy all logic. Another fascinating moment of the doc was his interview and time spent with the Spencer family, who were big Trump supporters and Q-believers, in particular the young kids of the family. Then, at the film’s end when Q’s dates passed without anything happening, the disappointment and realization of this family that Q was not what they thought was an amazing punctuation on the film.

Callaghan’s confrontation near the end of the film of “The Inglorious Patriot” Dave Todeschini was epic. Todeschini spent all of his times talking about his personal battle against the pedophiles of the world, how Hollywood would drink the blood of babies, only to have Callaghan point out to him that in 1999, Todeschini had been arrest and convicted on sexual abuse charges of young boy.

While This Place Rules is not a laugh out loud film, the humor comes in the shocking realization of what some people really think and what they are willing to say or do.

June 13, 2023

Day: 13, Movie: 13

Olivia Colman has become one of our best current living actors working, and she brings her best no matter what project she is in. This is a perfect example as today’s June Swoon 2 is Empire of Light, a film that did not receive near the amount of love as many had anticipated.

According to IMDB, “Hilary (Olivia Colman) is a cinema manager struggling with her mental health, and Stephen (Micheal Ward) is a new employee longing to escape the provincial town where he faces daily adversity. Together they find a sense of belonging and experience the healing power of music, cinema, and community.“

There was a lot of good things here. First was the performances, led by Olivia Colman. Michael Ward was excellent as Stephen. There were solid supporting performances from Colin Firth, Toby Jones, Tom Brooke, Crystal Clarke, and Tanya Moodie.

There were also several very good scenes in the film that brought some emotional heft and strong character development. The film looked beautiful too.

This is where things kind of went off the rails. The positives of this film are there, for sure, but there are other issues that drag this down, most of which deal with the story being told.

The film did lack a general narrative throughline. It felt as if it tried to do way too many different things and none of them worked together very effectively. The movie lacked a focus as this film felt as if it were about mental illness, racism, the power of the cinema and theater experience, relationships at the work place, adultery and the use of power to get your way. These all were used and most of them used equally which made the film feel too muddled.

There also seemed to have a couple spots at the end of the movie that could have served as an effective ending, but it kept going back to continue the story. Some times that works, but here it just felt like the movie wasn’t sure how to end.

Empire of Light had its moments and Olivia Colman is, once again, exceptional, but it feels to much of a mess to be a great movie. It is currently passable at best.

June 12, 2023

Day: 12, Movie: 12

With the June Swoon 2 in full swing, I came this morning to an Academy Award winning film that I had not seen from 2022. Women Talking was written and directed by Sarah Polley and won the Oscar for the Best Adapted Screenplay, as well as being nominated for Best Picture.

Women Talking featured a powerful ensemble cast that included Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Jesse Buckley, Frances McDormand, Judith Ivey, Kate Hallett, Shelia McCarthy, Ben Whishaw, August Winter, Liv McNeil, Michelle McLeod, and Emily Mitchell.

It was 2010 and a group of women from a Mennonite colony discovered a horrendous secret. There were men in the colony who would take horse tranquilizers and drug the women in order to rape them. When one of the men were captured, he revealed the others involved too.

These men went to a neighboring city for trial and most of the men from the colony went to help with bail, leaving the women and children behind. The group of women who had all at one time been raped or assaulted came together in order to decide what they were going to do. Would they stay and allow it to keep happening, would they stay and fight or would they leave the colony?

Most of the movie was this debate among the women, trying to keep themselves and their children safe as well as keep their religious faith.

There is a reason this was a screenplay winner at the Oscars. The dialogue and the character interactions here were remarkably powerful and covered every aspect of the situation. The conflicts within each woman was shown with understandable relatability. There was anger, grief, guilt, confusion all beautifully portrayed by a very talented ensemble cast. None of the survivors had the same reactions and that made it all the more potent.

There is not much action going on, but you do not miss it because the tension of the conversations were so high, you feel as if you’ve seen such a dramatic decision.

Women Talking could be a challenge for some people, but it is an outstandingly acted film with amazing character driven dialogue that provides an empowering message.

June 11, 2023

Day: 11, Movie: 11

I have been waiting anxiously to watch this Korean made film for the June Swoon 2. Decision to Leave was a popular hit of the international films last year, but I have been pushing it off because of the length. The film was almost 2 hours and 20 minutes, which was long for a film that required reading.

Before I go on about the movie, I have to complain about the captions. The English translation was small on the screen and some of the dialogue went too fast. It was difficult to keep up with the flow of the story without being 100% sure what they just said. I have said that in previous subtitled films, you forget that you are reading and just fall into the story, but this time the reading was more difficult at times that it never truly allowed me to lose myself in the story.

That is not necessarily a flaw of the film as much as it was Vudu and its presentation. I will not hold that against Decision to Leave, but there is no doubt that it affected my viewing pleasure.

According to IMDB, “From a mountain peak in South Korea, a man plummets to his death. Did he jump, or was he pushed? When detective Hae-joon (Park Hae-il) arrives on the scene, he begins to suspect the dead man’s wife Seo-rae (Tang Wei). But as he digs deeper into the investigation, he finds himself trapped in a web of deception and desire.”

I did enjoy this movie with its mystery at its core. Exactly how much of a role had Seo-rae played in her husband’s demise or was it actually just suicide? The film does a great job of keeping the story going as you are never sure what the truth is.

The relationship between Hae-joon and Seo-rae felt wrong for most of this movie as you could never be sure if she were playing him or if she was just a victim of the situation. This relationship caused Hae-joon’s marriage to crumble, although there are some hints in the movie that implied that Hae-joon was already not very happy with the path of his life.

Reason to Leave was directed by Park Chan-wook, who also directed the iconic film Oldboy. Park Chan-wook created a beautiful look to the film and brought a great deal of magic to the love story.

Decision to Leave tells a solid romantic story with touches of tragedy mixed in. The performances are all really strong and the film looks lovely. It is a touch long, but it takes its time telling the story effectively.

June 10, 2023

Day: 10, Movie: 10

The June Swoon 2 continues today with Breaking, a movie based on a true story starring John Boyega.

Former Marine Brian Brown-Easley (John Boyega) “is denied support from Veterans Affairs, financially desperate and running out of options, he takes a bank and several of its employees hostage, setting the stage for a tense confrontation with the police.” (IMDB)

John Boyega was amazing as the desperate Marine was and how he was trying to shine a light on the problem that he was facing. It was not just that he needed the money, which he did, but he wanted that the VA, which had denied his money, to make things right.

Boyega showed how troubled Brian was, both with the situation and with the mental aspect. He was more than just a troubled man. He was shown to be a good man even though the two hostages he kept in the bank were afraid for their lives. Nicole Beharie and Selenis Leyva are tremendous as the two bank employees remaining as hostages. The negotiator was played by Michael Kenneth Williams and he brought an empathy unlike most any other character in the film.

There was a lot of tension developed in the film by not only the situation but also the character dialogue. You were never sure exactly what was going to happen. You might feel that this situation was going to end up tragic, but there were plenty of uncertainty about what was going on. That made this an effective way to create a mood.

I am not sure if the film was able to shine enough of a light on the problem facing Brian. There are issues with the way the VA treats some vets and this film touched on it, but it needed to go into it more if they wanted it to be a message.

Breaking was a film that I had always heard positives about, but I never got around to seeing it in the theater or on streaming. It made a great film for the June Swoon 2.

June 9, 2023

Day: 9, Movie: 9

The June Swoon 2 this morning features a movie that was utterly beautiful.

Bill Nighy gave an Academy Award nominated performance as Mr. Williams, a grim and humorless bureaucrat whose life changed after receiving a diagnosis giving him just a few months to live.

Mr. Williams decided to do something worthwhile will the few months he had remaining and he took up the fight for a local playground.

Bill Nighy is absolutely transcendent in this role. He is subtle and powerful with every glance and every slight word. He is never over-the-top, even though the situation could call for it. He was reserved yet determined to not fail in his final effort.

He had become withdrawn and callous within his job before the diagnosis altered his thinking. He spent some time with a former co-worker, Margaret Harris (Aimee Lou Wood), whose energy and willingness to embrace life attracted the old man. He wanted to remember how to engage in the daily joy of being alive while he still had the opportunity.

The film started off making it seem as if the leading protagonist would be Mr. Williams’s newest co-worker, Mr. Peter Wakeling (Alex Sharp), but he ended up as a supporting player in the story. Through his eyes, we get the chance to see the results of what Mr. Williams was able to accomplish.

Living was directed by Oliver Hermanus and the film is an adaption of a 1952 Japanese movie Ikiru which had been directed by EYG Hall of Famer Akira Kurosawa.

I have not seen the original film from Kurosawa, but this new adaptation is lovely, life-affirming and filled with a zest for life that is too easily lost. Bill Nighy is spectacular in his reserved and measured performance that will no doubt break your heart while inspiring you to do better. Living was a wonderful experience.

June 8, 2023

Day: 8, Movie: 8

A Netflix documentary featuring Robert Downey Jr and his father Robert Downey Sr. has been on the streamer for awhile now, existing on My List since it came out. The June Swoon 2 allows me the chance to actually watch this.

Robert Downey Jr. is clearly one of the most charismatic actors we have today and this documentary shows that. It also spends a lot of time with Sr. and we get a good idea where a lot of RDJ’s personality came from.

The best parts of the doc were when we saw Jr. and Sr. interacting, especially when they included RDJ’s son Exton.

The documentary was shot in black and white and it added that gravitas to the film. It was a feel of something special and you get some truly amazing moments between father and son.

One of my favorite moments in the doc was when RDJ was singing a German folk song, “Fischerweise” with Sean Hayes on the piano. It was a request from Sr. and it is apparently something young 15-year old RDJ did in a contest. This section of the doc was hilarious.

Thinking back, I probably should have saved this film for Father’s Day in the June Swoon 2, but it fit today better, time wise. This is a beautiful love letter to a father from a son and from a couple of classic filmmakers.